The things (we) do

I owe the new kids in the programme for reminding me about Christmas Light Night. I had completely forgotten about it. Actually, I only went to see the parade last year by pure luck. I just happened to go into town for dinner and there it was. I know, it's silly.

I'm really glad they reminded me of it as the Steampunk Exhibition at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science down in Broadstreet. It has the coolest sign outside for the exhibition and I want to steal it :D I've already been to it but tonight, there are going to be special activities and things so I'll be going again.

It just so happens that one of the artists in this exhibition is someone I know from Montreal. He makes really awesome Steampunk jewelery. I had no idea he was going to be exhibiting in this so I was really surprised when I saw his name on a plaque. It was pretty cool 'cause it was a surprise. That said, I do remember an MSN status message of his mentionning Steampunk jewelery at some point but we haven't talked in forever so, I forgot he did that. I guess he didn't know I was in Oxford or surely he would have told me ;) Well, I'm hardly ever on MSN anymore. Not really my cuppa.

Anyway, he's having a giveaway thing and I'd love to win something of his because they're pretty awesome without being really over the top like some Steampunk stuff which is cool but you just don't know where to put it. Heheh. I love his rings in particular because they're pretty wearable while being very much steampunk and I could incorporate it into my wardrobe without worrying about looking like a crazy person :D
Anyway, he has an Etsy store that you can visit to see what he does.

Writing Marathon

So, I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I've been at it for many a year and I feel more prepared now than ever. Add to that the lack of a job after next week and you have a happy NaNoer if not a happy recent graduate who has bills to pay.

I'm going to start over with the NaNo novel I meant to write last year and only got 2000 words through. No, it's not cheating, I'm starting completely over. I have an outline, I have an idea of where it's going to go and I've got a freezer full of meat to reduce grocery shopping time to almost nil. That and a very near kebab van should help me sit down and write.

I'm gonna use NaNo for a whole lot of things,

1) it's fun
2) I need to get into a writing rhythm
3) Weight-loss: I'm too lazy to be getting up mid-paragraph to get more food :p
4) Money saveage: won't be eating out as much
5) I'll have something novel-like at the end that might be editable to usefulness. I'm much better at editing than writing :(

Also, if I don't keep writing before I work in publishing, I might never do it.

The Post-MA stuff begins now

Well, it started a while ago but I've been procrastinating on the whole "Hey! This blog is no longer aptly named!" bit. Whatever! But the truth is, although I don't yet have my results (but it's not like they're gonna flunk me), I'm not really in Publishing U. anymore. I'm more like in Publishing limbo (party! I'll get the pole, you get the hollowed-out coconuts with refreshing alcoholic beverages in them).
I'm temping at Elsevier right now, a job I wouldn't have gotten without the help of my friend Emma. The publishing lesson for today is thus: NETWORKING! That and make friends. Noone likes someone they don't know (erm...duh?). Also, hang out somewhere better than Morals, that place does not increase your coolness factor ;) Then again, I've never been "cool" so what do I know? But Bar Aroma on Cowley has nice cocktails. So, it's worth going even if I'm the one recommending.

Mmmh! Cocktails! Now I want a French Martini from Angel's (Little Clarendon Street, in front of the Duke of Cambridge), like a chocolate-cherry truffle in your glass but without the chocolate bit. This is one occasion where I don't miss chocolate. I might stop by after work although drinking alone is saaad.

Oh yes, because I'm at work right now (hence the somewhat hyperactiveness you may or may not have noticed in this post... FREE COFFEE! Also, just had lunch so eh!). Relax, I'm on my lunch break so you people aren't making me shirk (that's a word right? I'm sure I read it somewhere...) my duties. Also, I think I'm suddenly getting too much oxygen. I've been sick since last wednesday and unable to breathe properly since. My nose is unblocked right now so I can breathe. D'you think I might get the bends if I go up or down the stairs? Maybe I'd inspire an episode of House if I did. Might be worth a try, as long as they cast me in the me role. Anyway, lunch break over, well not really but I wanna go on Facebook.

Hope you're all enjoying the course so far, I was really jealous of those of GenAwe 2.0 (go on, I know you want to have that on a T-Shirt) that went to Frankfurt. It's hard to believe that just a year ago, that was me. Hope your feet hurt less than mine kids :) How did you like the Frankfurt red-light district? Fun, innit?

Welcome, Generation Awesome 2.0

Yes, I know I haven't posted in forever. You try to keep a blog while: 1) writing your dissertation, 2) looking for accomodation, 3) looking for a job and 4) trying to get a boyfriend. Not easy, nope. And yet, I managed 3 out of the 4 ;) Plus, I got myself a cat, the first step of my life plan B: Become Crazy Cat Lady. You know, if plan A doesn't work out. You can't be too prepared.

Still, epic win for me. Chantal 4 - Universe 0.

I'm still living in Headington but now I'm 1m away from The Brittannia, a bad idea considering I love their food but shouldn't be eating out every day. It's not a sustainable lifestyle. I have a lovely house I share with 4 other people and... a DOUBLE bed! Woooo! I've always wanted one! So much space! And the fact that most of it is unnacountably occupied by a 9 week old kitten doesn't change the fact that it's a grown-up bed and it's mine.

But now that the diss from hell has been handed in, with time to spare I might add *gloat*, I find myself with way too much time in my hands. I've been on a couple of job interviews, a couple I would have loved to get but apparently I wasn't the right candidate for them. Oh well... That said, I applied for what could very well be my dream job today. So, fingers crossed!

Oh, and the cat's name is Bingley.

In other news, I finally got to meet some of the lovely people who've been reading my blog (all of the lovely people who read my blog?). Thanks to Polly for spontaneously recognizing me in the street, it made my day :D We went for lunch on saturday and now I wish I could do the year again so we could be coursemates. I'm dubbing you "Generation Awesome 2.0". Don't let me down ;)

Creative Commons Survey

Hi all, I've created a survey for my dissertation. I'd be infinitely grateful if you would complete it and/or pass it on to friends who might be interested in the subject.

Also feel free to link to it from other websites, blogs, forums etc. that are relevant to writers, readers and everyone interested in copyright law and Free Culture.

Thanks :)

Creative Commons and the Podcast Novel Survey

Because it's interesting

First things first, just got an email to inform us p-grads that our results will be online on Monday 22! *stressss* I'm fairly sure I passed every module but I'd love one more distinction (I only have the one I got in Production and Design last semester). Not that it really matters but it's nice and would be a nice way to finish.

I'm definitely not going to get a distinction (that's above 70 here in the UK, weird) in my dissertation because 1) I've hardly been working on it, 2) it's not the most interesting subject in the world (at least, not to me but how much is natural interest and how much I'm biased by dread... I don't know) and 3) at the pace I'm going, I'll be pulling crazy all-nighters which means it'll be decent but riddled with typos.

It's ok. I just need a passing grade and then I out of Academia for a looooooooooong time. THANK GOD!

But speaking of the dissertation, I've been doing a bit of reading and I'm finding Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture really interesting. It's available for free online (under a Creative Commons licence of course :) ) and well worth a read. It's also very easy to follow rather than uber academic so never mind if your brain isn't wired for sesquipedalian prose, mine ain't either. It's been relatively easy finding good sources for pro-CC arguments but I can't seem to find the anti-CC arguments unless they are cited in pro-CC literature. Any help would be welcome...

One of the interesting things (to me anyway) that Lessig mentions is how Doujinshi culture works. Doujinshi are manga created by the average Japanese Joe, some of who have amazing artistic skills but nevermind that, that are sort of like fanfic but for manga. The rules are that your doujin cannot be a mere copy of a manga, it has to add something. Legally, it's copyright infringement but the reality is that the trade and sale of doujinshi is a huge market and there are very few cases where copyright holders sue. Part of the reason for this is that doujinshi helps manga's commercial success in Japan.

So, would derivatives such as fanfic help literature sell better?

My opinion is that for some genres such as Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Crime (Adult and YA versions of all), it probably would. This are genres that already have quite a lot of fanfic going so I'd say that shows there's community interest in getting involved and manipulating the lit. If you'd encourage that to go in certain directions, it could produce interesting results. I need to think more about this...
But I don't think it would help sell more memoirs or chick lit... I could be wrong of course but I just don't see it.

the update

So I haven't posted in forever. So sorry, got caught up in stuff.
First, the semester is FINALLY OVER! Thank all the Gods Humanity has ever worshipped! It was seriously starting to get long and exhausting. But we did learn an aweful lot like, I don't like to work in a team :p We spent a whole day watching everyone's presentations which was really interesting. I only had a very small idea of what everyone was doing so I was really surprised by how good everyone else's projects were.

That said, I thought some of them really weren't viable if it had been a proposal for real. But the ideas behind it were really intriguing. We don't know yet which group has the best proposal. I have no idea when we'll be told but I sure hope it's us in Education :D I think we had a very solid proposal. Maybe not the most exciting but in the real world, it's usually the safest option that makes it. Sad but true.

I think my favourite idea was the Trade Fiction division. They were going to do a range of lit in translation but they would translate best-selling novels from other countries rather than literary fiction which is what most commonly gets translated. It's a great idea but I thought it wasn't very realistic. It demanded a very high investment and the risk would have been really high. Still, I would have loved it if someone did that. Also, their presentation was really funny.

We're now in Dissertation/Major Project time but I have done very little work which is making me very stressed which makes me procrastinate even more. Not a good combination. I wish I had picked a Major Project rather than a dissertation. The schedule is more obvious :) Some people on the course are doing real projects for real publishers as in making actual books that are actually going to be sold in bookshops. It's scary but it sounds so awesome too and you have resources and money to do it. I would recommend to future students that they take one of these on (they are usually advertised by lecturers or they come and give a bit of a presentation and take CVs and stuff). I didn't go for it because I thought it was beyond my abilities but I wish I had now. It also counts as awesome work experience and looks amazing on the ol' CV.

I keep forgetting that the dissertation needs to be bound so I have actually a bit less time than the deadline. I really should be working harder :(