I don't know why it didn't occur to me to post here before, but I know that there are a whole bunch if you on here! I've started a fantasy hockey league that covers the second half of the year because...well...I really enjoyed playing the first half and didn't want to stop just because "Season 1" ended.

In brief, you have 30 million dollars to put together a team, and you score points based on how well your players do. You also get 2 trades per week, and the prices of the players fluctuate depending on how many people are buying and selling. So not only are you trying to get the most points, but you're trying to build your team financially so that you can get better players as it becomes worth more.

If anyone would like to join, there's still a lot of room.
Click here, click on "Get your free team now," and then register and pick a team name.

League: Hockey Night in Suburbia
Password: toronto

Although the season starts today, you can join the league any time you like (but the sooner the better though so you don't fall behind in the standings). And let me know here too so I know who you are on there.

Following the footsteps of my NaNoWriMo friends monkeyman and gruberman who write and post short stories every week, I've decided to do the musician's version. I'm going to write and record an original song every week, and each Monday, I will post it on my new website! An insane goal to be sure, but one that I hope will get me into the habit of writing regularly and not being afraid to share it. Feedback of course (positive or negative) is welcomed!

The first song is called In the Wings, and was posted yesterday. Check it out!

I did the same one in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

( 2007 away... )

Here's my victory on tape!


Edit: Wow, Toronto is ALL OVER the NaNo site today!
My video is featured on the NaNo Video Site!...cool! And so is our Subway Write-In!. Finally, if you listen about half way through the latest NaNoRadio, I'm on that too :D

And with just under four days remaining in National Novel Writing Month....I bring you the following conversation that indicates the state of my brain.

linden_tree need happier subject. does incense ever expire?
gleefulfreak no!  in fact, it improves with age
gleefulfreak at least the good stuff does
linden_tree well then why is this stick so stupid?
linden_tree i light it...i blow it out, and it does nothing
gleefulfreak it is stupid!
gleefulfreak i usually light it, let it flare for a moment, then wave it around till the flame goes
linden_tree am i doing it wrong?
gleefulfreak if you don't let it catch enough before you extinguish the flame, it just won't burn
linden_tree *watches yet again as the flame extinguishes on its own, and it doesn't burn*

linden_tree *realizes how stupid she is, and turns the stick around*
gleefulfreak oh deb, TELL me you did not light the bamboo end
linden_tree *shifty eyes*
gleefulfreak if you lit the bamboo end, please go to bed because you need to sleep! :)
linden_tree i didn't pay attention when i stuck it in the thing
gleefulfreak that's why i like japanese incense - it's a solid stick, you can light either end, or break it and only burn a bit at a time
linden_tree ya...it's the incense's fault.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is my only text update for NaNoWriMo 2007. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm at 46289 so far, and expect to win tomorrow if I can manage to write my dark and disturbing scenes in a well-lit coffe shop full of hyper Wrimos.

Day 8
Day 9 (Excerpt!)

So last year I updated here like a fiend during NaNo, but this year I've taken a more visual approach and have been posting updates to the NaNo Video group. If you want to see how my NaNo is going, check these out :) Some of them are set onto private and can only be accessed by these random links; that's why I'm not just posting one link to my profile on there. Anyway, I'll post 'em up here as they go up, I'm trying to do one every day.

Day 1 & 2
Day 3 (featuring Joseph starting his NaNo and a trip to the store)
Day 4 & 5
Day 6 (Toronto Writing Session #2)
Day 6 (Challenge to NY and Chicago)
Day 7 (so very stressed)

After choir, I took darling_diva on a mystery walk to "New York" and here's what we saw.

Yonge Street is on Fire - Oh no!

Scurvy...matey...Pourquoi n'y a-t-il jamais plus de rhum...and now I'm off to Harlem for choir practice.

My boss is taking a week off and therefore...so am I! I knew this was coming, and I was hoping I would be able to visit gruberman in Winnipeg, but alas, if I want to be computer'ed by this year's NaNoWriMo, I need to keep all the money I have squarely in my bank account until some undisclosed day in October when I shall gladly purchase my Macbook.

Since pretty much everyone else is working, I'm going to try and tackle the back log of stuff I've been procrastinating on because "there's never enough time" to do them.

Boring stuff:

1) Clean, and PAINT (woohoo!) and reorganize my bedroom!
My room is a very violent shade of dark yellow right now. I was totally fine with it at first because at least it's a COLOUR, but I've since proven to myself that colours actually do influence how you feel. It's impossible to relax in my room (even when it's clean), and what I really need is a tranquil space. So I'm painting it whatever neutral colour my mom has in the garage...I'm not even sure what it is yet. I'll post pictures if it ends up being a cool makeover

2) Clean the bathroom

3) Go through all my old clothes in both houses, and Freecycle what I don't want.
This is all part of my attempt to simplify my life by simplifying stuff


Other Stuff:

1) Buy a baby gift

2) Spend two hours with choir music before Wednesday afternoon
...because after missing last week's rehearsal, I really need it

3) Compile a list of songs I can play/sing, for busking purposes

4) Busk

5) Check out Harlem on Yonge Street

6) Write 3 real letters.

7) Work on Jen/Jon's wedding photos (and hopefully finish 'em)
I still have my cousin's wedding and henna party to do, but I'm trying to keep things managable here.

8) Start Costa Rica Scrapbook
This will probably involve choosing photos

Too ambitious, do you think?
(As an aside, I totally abandoned my mission101, haven't I - oops)


I've got to run to a baby shower now, but one more thing to share. ( Remember this thing I was working on back in the day? )

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
( 4. Post results: )

Warning: Clicking the link is NOT work safe!

ladyjutea Debs~ I'm bored~~~
ladyjutea Oh my GOD. http://www.boytaur.net/
linden_tree you...
linden_tree ...ARE...bored
linden_tree oh WHY did i click the naked picture?
ladyjutea Naked pic?
ladyjutea You mean you actually clicked on one of these pictures?
ladyjutea Why, Debs? Why???!!!
linden_tree because i wanted to know what a boytar was
ladyjutea HAHAHAHAHA
linden_tree and now i will forever have a 3-penised boy burned onto my retinas
linden_tree and his name is harold
ladyjutea I'm glad i got scared off by the picture on the main screen
ladyjutea 3 penises, eh? What is wrong with people?
linden_tree what i don't understand is...how the heck do they have such great abs if they're centaurs? like...seriously...how the heck do you do crunches like that?
ladyjutea You're putting way too much thought into this, I think. =P
linden_tree no, really! how do they do it? i work in a gym so i've seen it all, and i have no idea how that's possible!
ladyjutea *shudder* This must be a joke website, right?
ladyjutea And yet there are people posting naked pictures of themselves.
linden_tree how in god's name did you find this
ladyjutea http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2271


linden_tree my friend just sent me to the most disturbing site ever
gruberman Oh dear - dare I ask?
gruberman Was it the kids worshipping George Bush video?
linden_tree worse
gruberman Oooo -what could be worse than that?
gruberman You're keeping me in suspense!
linden_tree you truly don't want to know
linden_tree http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2271 it's something off here
gruberman Men's Long Hair Hyperboard
linden_tree i like that one! but no...
gruberman Ahahaha!
gruberman Furrs Fur Christ!
linden_tree lol keep reading
gruberman That Boytaur sure has nice abs!

Here are some photos from the "Midnight Magic" Release party at the Bay and Bloor Indigo - definitely, I'm thinking, the biggest release in Toronto that night! Besides agent_maxine, I also bumped into bunnyhero, pissenlit and jrs_1138 (the latter two waited in line with me and took all sorts of random videos)!



( Speak Parseltongue and Enter... )
Full set here!

Final Predictions for Deathly Hallows (plus a couple of pet theories)...

Again, like the Quiz, there no book 7 spoilers behind the cut, just speculations. Same warning applies though: if you are further behind and don't want heavy hints at what books 1-6 hold, I suggest you don't click..
( Behind the cut they go! )

So there we have it! Also, if anyone's planning to go the release party at Bay & Bloor, keep a look out for me! I'll be there with agent_maxine and in black with Gryffindor colours!

I'm still formulating my final predictions for the book which I'll post later, but browsing around on the net, I came across a nifty little editorial on MuggleNet.Com, which is actually a prediction quiz for Deathly Hallows! It's 101 True-False questions to do before the release, and then once you finish the book you can see how many questions you've gotten right!

Let's compare! Drop me a comment with your answers (I'll do the same) and let's see how we do. All comments will be screened until...let's give it a week or so, shall we?

There are no Book 7 Spoilers behind the cut, however the quiz assumes you've read book 6, so if you are further behind and don't want heavy hints at what books 1-6 hold, I suggest you don't click. However, if you know nothing about Harry Potter and aren't concerned about spoilers, come on in and make some fun guesses.

Onto the ( True-False Divination Quiz )

I've just received word from wolfbite that the radio said that the book has leaked, and there are media sources out there sporting some MAJOR spoilers, for example today's Toronto Star.

Sounds like this is definitely the time to stop reading and listening to the news, and stop extraneous surfing on the web and typing "Harry Potter" into google...and then after the danger has passed we can write to the Toronto Star and tell them how much they suck. Also, if you know of any specific sources that are putting out these spoilers, please pass 'em on!

So...in a surprise move, my part time job got canceled tonight, so Jonathan and I joined Matt, Elana, and many of her family seeing Order of Phoenix this evening. Yes, I know I should be packing, but I couldn't resist coming online to post briefly about...well...

WARNING, SPOILERS: ( The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. )

Lately, I feel like all my LJ is is an easy way to ask people to do stuff!

Potter comes out TOMORROW NIGHT (!!!!!!)! I won't be able to make a midnight showing because Wednesday is my longest day of work, but I was toying with the idea of going to see it myself on Thursday afternoon after I get off work (it would be ~2:30 at Silvercity Yonge/7). So my questions are,
(a) Is there anyone else who isn't seeing it at midnight and with an exceedingly weird work schedule and/or a lot of free time who wants to come with me?

(b) Are there any plans to see it next week? (I can't do this weekend but I don't mind waiting to see it because I'll likely be thick into books 1-6 by then)

Edit: The showtime (3:20) doesn't quite work out for me since the movie is over 2 hours long and I'd still have to get home. I'm not going to see it tomorrow but will shoot for next Thursday or Friday, afterwhich book time! Anyone want to go then?