02-10-03 @ 10:51 am EST

Gah; I knew putting the title of my story in the subject of the last entry would spell its doom. Readers, really, most of last entry was not about my story. There's some stuff about the shuttle and the journal limits in there too. C'mon, four views for the past 24 hours...no change...eegh. I hope that was just the weekend and not my poor titling. I'd've entitled it "Countdown To The End Of Manitou Island, Pt. 1; + Journals & Shuttles" or some such if there was room.

Anyway. I couldn't write yesterday because my stupid ISP, for the THIRD day in a row, cut out at approximately 5:30 AM, RIGHT when I'm getting back online. According to the main page the problem is with AT&T--as always! At least, as my ISP always says--they can never claim responsibility for any problems. I've just noticed the similarity between me not being able to access my d4d_archive.tripod.com and tehuti_88.writing.com URLs--the first part of the URL (subdomain or whatever) has an underscore in it, and for some reason my ISP doesn't recognize such URLs, so I cannot access ANY of them. According to THEM, it's a problem with the URLs (only because the error page says the underscore isn't recognized--well, then why did my Tripod site work for so long and then suddenly STOP?), but if that's so, how come everyone ELSE can access them just fine, but not me? It's not the browser as I'm running IE6, and it's not the sites as others can plainly see them, and I used to be able to; so it's my ISP. But according to them it's not their problem. So because of NMO, I cannot view ANY sites that have an underscore in the subdomain if the subdomain comes before the dot. Dumbasses.

But anyway, now it keeps cutting out every morning right when I get back online (didn't this morning though--a first!) and according to them the problem is really with AT&T. Yeah, right. Our phone provider isn't the best (they STILL have not fixed our phone line, so there is STILL some OTHER lady occasionally getting our calls, and me having to occasionally wait like on a party line and eavesdrop on this other lady talking while waiting for her to FREE UP MY OWN PHONE LINE!), but if it's their fault, how come I can dial up just fine? And why does it cut out at the same time every morning? On the main page it mentions AT&T and that update was at 9:30 PM on Saturday; so how come everything worked just fine Saturday night, after 9:30, UNTIL 5:30 AM? Hmmm? They won't fess up.

So I lost about four hours of my time yesterday, but while I was fuming over that I proofread a bit of Part 61 of the Chronicles (still stuck on that one; Fe'kheru and Ikhi'et are so sweet) and wrote until Part 110 of MI reached 28kb! It's ALMOST completely done! So at least something good came out of the crap.

I had some memorable dreams during my nap but didn't take note of them so they're almost all gone. :( All I can remember is one part right before I woke up...I was at a public fountain inside a building and it was set into this wall, this patterned wall...it looked like the floors at my high school, this smooth tile/broken rock-type stuff. I pressed the button to get a drink since I was very thirsty (I kept drinking things in my dream, I remember now), and the water SPRAYED all over the wall! I stood and watched it hit the wall and run to the floor. It made a mess, but I smiled because it was kind of funny. My mom was nearby and I carefully got a drink and was going to show her the flaw in how the fountain was built/situated but never got to; I think I woke up then.

Oh, I finally remembered more! It may have been influenced by what was on TV, which was first The Dead Zone and then L&O: SVU. In DZ the main character got a blood transfusion and then spent the entire episode trying to locate which donor was going to die that day. I missed the ending, but in one part he went into a bookstore and got chummy with the clerk, who was an aspiring but suicidal writer facing yet another rejection slip. In my dream, I was in a class that seemed to be like my junior high art class and there was a girl there who I think I talked to somewhat; she was shy, which is saying a lot as I'm about as shy as they get! I believe she was a Wiccan or a pagan and in an attempt to be friendly I was asking her about her faith; I think she had a book that explained some of it, and she showed me that. Later on I was sitting on the couch with Ma and I had just received a book in the mail. Big sized, softcover, red, shiny. Something about the supernatural or witchcraft. I sheepishly admitted I had this book already, yet had forgotten I'd ordered it, so had ordered another copy, and here was the duplicate. I'd wasted some money, but oh well. What would I do with it?

"I wonder if I should send it to Mya (my old best friend)?" I said aloud (Ma was in Dad's usual seat, and busy doing something like beading). For some reason I had Mya's old snail mail address and I still had not written her in years, but I knew it would still be current. I thought of writing to her again under the pretense of sending the book...then perhaps she would ask me how I had been, I would write back, and we'd become friends again. Who knew, it might work.

Then a better idea struck me. "That girl!" I exclaimed. "The girl from my class. She'd love a book like this. I'll give it to her." And I proudly resolved to give my duplicate book to this pagan girl. It wasn't QUITE the kind of book she would best like, as it was written from a non-pagan perspective, but I knew she'd appreciate the gesture. I knew how it felt to be shy, and I knew how much I'd like somebody trying to get to know me through my own interests.

There was more but it's gone by now. For some strange reason the water part of the dream really stuck with me and still does. I can still see it in my head. Very odd.

I have been totally slacking off on everything lately but I feel I deserve it a bit for nearly finishing Part 110 so quickly! It's only Monday! I hope a new CSI is on tonight; please please please. I was mad at first because I thought Cartoon Network cancelled Inu-Yasha, the ONLY good cartoon remaining on Adult Swim, but before going ballistic I went browsing the Adult Swim and Inu-Yasha Groups at Yahoo! (it was not any Adult Swim Groups but rather an Inu-Yasha fan Group, go figure, that helped me) and discovered that it is just on hiatus and should be back next month. In the meantime they've replaced it with this stupid-looking Reign: The Conqueror, some modernistic Aeon Fluxish Alexander the Great tripe. I'll record it, but I don't think I'll like it. God knows why they've kept Lupin III, the piece of crap that it is. Everyone has sticks for legs and they're obviously skipping episodes!

But anyway, that means that since Inu-Yasha isn't on, I don't have to get up to record it, so I can take my old regular naps. Yes! When it comes back though it's going to be on a HALF HOUR EARLIER so then I'm REALLY going to be screwed. -_- *sigh*

I just got this cool scene in my head of the supposedly treasonous Lieutenant Djuta returning to his tribe; all the major lieutenants, Nehef, Ahai'ikh, Be'shen, Hiath'ikh, except maybe Resikh--are sent out to arrest him by Captain Rik'hia (THE BASTARD!), but being lieutenants like Djuta is they refuse to do so (the lieutenants don't like the politics of being captain, so tend to stick together); Rik'hia throws a fit (scum!), but Captain Ahen subdues him (go Ahen!) and the lieutenants pass through. Ha ha, Rik'hia! I hate him for what he did to Khetai. Scumbag. But this scene will have to wait until much further along in the storyline as it's being written. Oh my Gawd, but now I'm seeing these scenes in my head the same way I've been envisioning Manitou Island the past months. Gawww. o_O;;;

Well, that made absolutely no sense whatsoever to anyone but me, so I guess I'll go now...tar...