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Mendalla
11 hours ago
Canada

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I just made a major shift in how I write my stories. For a while now, I have been using Obsidian for note taking. It stores notes as files in a folder structure using a markup language called Markdown (the editor on this site uses a simplified form of it, in fact). And somewhere along the line, I realized that I could actually just write my drafts in the Markdown editor in Obsidian so that my drafts and notes were all in the same place. If I need to do more sophisticated formatting, I can still switch over to LibreOffice Writer, and the latest release of LibreOffice actually supports importing Markdown files. Even better, the "vault" (as Obsidian calls it's folder) is just a folder on my hard drive with sub-folders beneath, so that I can copy files into and out of it just using Linux Mint's File Manager (or Windows Explorer if I'm on a Windows box). The maker of Obsidian offers relatively cheap synchronization using their own private cloud, too, so I can easily have access to my vault on multiple devices including my phone.

Right now, I have a folder in my vault for notes, with sub-folders for each idea or story, then another where I actually keep drafts. However, for a rather long, involved work I have been playing with (possibly a first novel), I created a folder in the vault just for it, with one subfolder for drafts and another for notes and planning (things like a timeline of the backstory and the various themes and questions I want to address). Makes for much better organization than having drafts and notes in different programs and also allows me to link between notes or between drafts and notes.

Main downside? No formatting beyond what Markdown supports. But for a draft that will go on here, that doesn't really matter. The text gets pasted into the StoriesSpace editor anyhow. For day to day writing, I don't really need much formatting. And, as I said, I can always import the Markdown files into LibreOffice for formatting.

So how are you writing these days? Word processor? A writing tool like Scrivener? Long hand (hey, Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman were still doing first drafts longhand last I heard)?

Sadly, Canadian blues, rock and pop singer Sass Jordan. "Sadly" because we lost her the other day at only 63. She packed a powerful, husky blues-rock voice. Four Juno (Canadian music awards) nominations with one win.

I like both but I think guitar is my favourite. Amazing what a skilled musician can do with only six strings and some tuning.

Listen: Rock or Jazz?

pounces on a cupcake

Now that's a good use of pumpkin spice. Forget the lattes and chais, pumpkin spice belongs in desserts.

Good afternoon. Cool but otherwise nice here today. I'm nursing a bit of a headache but might try to go out soon and do some yardwork. We'll see.

Later, alligators.

Hm. I can do both but probably prefer horror since I'm an old horror fan.

Read: Drama or Horror?

From the same show, "Heavy is the Crown" was second new LP song with Emily. Her long, powerful scream midway through sold me and a lot of fans on her as a vocalist given that screaming was one of the hallmarks of her late predecessor Chester Bennington.

Yeah, Eminem has actually done some stuff that got me listening. I have a mixed relationship with rap.

Which brings me to ... Linkin Park, one of the best of the nu metal bands mixing rap and rock. The band launched a new concert film and live album last week, their first live project since the band returned from hiatus with new vocalist Emily Armstrong. And wow, what a show. This song got a huge response from the audience. It was really their first big hit, dating to the turn of the century (i.e. 2000). Great performance by the band and the audience here.

It's always Halloween when you're a metal fan. Japanese band Sigh by way of example.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I don't think California knows what fall is, honestly. We seem to be stuck in perpetual summer. Yech.

Why do you think everyone else idealizes the place? Especially those of us in Canada and northern parts of the US.

Blanket but it depends how low it goes. Come December or so, definitely heat (my wife has the furnace going already).

CD or streaming?

The Italian band Frozen Crown dropped a new album today, but my favourite release of theirs this week is their new cover of "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's a somewhat overdone song in terms of the number of covers, but doing it as a power metal ballad definitely put some new spark in it.

And with symphonic metal titans Nightwish hitting 30 this year, there's a new collection coming out to celebrate, including a live album and DVD of their 2022-23 Human neutral|: Nature tour. That tour was delayed twice due to the pandemic, then almost derailed when vocalist Floor Jansen was diagnosed with breast cancer. However, the tumour was removed and Floor back on the road in fairly good time (and she remains cancer-free to this day, though I don't know that she's formally "in remission"). This is from their show in Amsterdam, which is basically home turf for her (she's Dutch but not from Amsterdam itself).

And finally, we have a rather dark video for a lovely new song by UK wunderkind musician-producer-singer-songwriter Steven Wilson. His new album is coming later in the Fall.

Quote by Cora
Finally, I'm so happy Autumn has come around again, my favorite season.

Mine, too. Been a nice one around here, too. Sunny, reasonable temps (esp. after the hot summer), just a couple wet days.

Nice to see you again. And a warm welcome to the new puppy!

I learned classical Latin starting in high school and then as part of my Classics degree. Never really took the time to see how Ecclesiastical Latin differed other than I know it's derived from the Vulgate rather than the Classical Latin of Cicero and the like. Good luck with the studies!

I remembered that as soon as i went over. Added a new comment. Thanks, Kat.

So for my annual stab at a Halloween spooky story, I finally went to the deep well that is vampire lore and literature. I have been fond of vampires since childhood (really) so it is odd that I have never gone there before. Well, I did once but that was long long before I found StoriesSpace (in fact, before it existed) and the story has been lost to the mists of time. Mercifully. It really needed a lot of work.

So here is a thread about vampires, those (often) black-clad beauties of either (or ambiguous in some cases) gender who feast upon our blood, souls, and other things. There is an element of sexuality to them, but that is not always explicit or central. There is also hunger, corruption, control, and other themes. Traditionally, they are the dead brought back to life but in literature, there are also vampires who are hyper-evolved predators (with us as the prey), vampires who are demon-possessed living persons, vampires who are embodied demons or spirits, and so on.

Are you a vampire fan?

What are you favourite movie/literary/TV vampires and vampire stories?

Have you written vampire fiction yourself?

With Halloween a month away, let's talk vampires.

We have learned on another site of a loss to our community. Fuzzy1954, who published here mostly as a poet, passed away. He was a lover of music, of stories, and was a big part of the community at one time. RIP and sending good vibes to his friends and family.

Good morning/afternoon/evening, what ever it is where you are!!

Time to revive this place a bit. I've given the cafe a spruce up and restocked the fridge with cold bevvies and ice cream.

Coffee is on, a dark roast from Costa Rica and a decaf. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Kenyan Kembaa along with a pot of Sunshine Tea, a nice herbal I found.

And there's goodies, too!