Enthusiastic Failure

I think i’ve gotten through ‘researching adoption’ as far as i can at the moment, considering it’ll be years before i’m actually ready for a kid… oh, and i’d like to move, hopefully to Ireland but at any rate Very Far Away from the Valley, and preferably before trying to adopt (yeah, take a kid who’s already been removed from one home, barely let him get settled in, and then move out of the country. That won’t cause trauma. None at all.)

So most applicable laws will probably change, either through the simple changes of time (i’m thinking it’s going to be at least five years before i’m ready to deal with having a kid) or location (the Hague Convention should keep that aspect from having too much influence, but there’ll probably still be some differences).

But i’ve done as much research as i can this far in advance, and i’ve subscribed to at least thirty adoption blogs. Between the lot of them any major law changes are bound to be mentioned; plus this way i get to better notice all the ups and downs of kids, and social work, and kids traumatised by (social work/first families/foster care/orphanages/Disney films/and all the other potential triggers i’m forgetting about right now), and even more varieties of adoption trolls (including the Well-Meaning Religious Troll – that’s, um. Really one i did not expect.)

I think i can count ‘research adoption’ as ‘done’, then, as it’s as done as it’s going to get without a good dose of personal experience.

random other stuff

• My cousin had a kid this weekend. Or, rather, his girlfriend had a kid… but yay! Children! *digs out knitting supplies*
• Not technically religious trolling, but it does tie in with some of the major reasons i’m not fond of organised religion… the remaining reasons usually attributable to religious trolls.

Apparently before 1992, Italian citizenship was automatically revoked if someone gained citizenship in another country. My great-grandfather was naturalised in 1917, and my grandfather wasn’t born until 1927 – so, no Italian citizenship for Grandpa, and thus none for me.

But – if my great-grandfather hadn’t been naturalised, my grandfather would have (as near as i can tell) been born with dual Italian-American citizenship – as did my two eldest great-aunts, both born in America before Salvadore was nationalised. And it strikes me as very odd that the Italian government would revoke citizenship from people who may damn well plan on going back home someday, but grant citizenship to children born in America, as well as to their children… It may be citizenship law really is that quirky. Or i may be reading something wrong.

If i’m very, very lucky, i’m misreading this, and in such a sense that i am eligible for Italian citizenship. Then again, this is government bureaucracy in action. It’s probably really that quirky.

Though there is always a small possibility Salvadore worked out getting dual citizenship instead of automatically losing his Italian citizenship (…i’m presuming Italy had some form of dual citizenship before 1992…)

I’ll probably end up writing a long and well-documented letter to the Italian consulate before i know for sure whether or not i can be considered an Italian citizen.

random other stuff

• I want this railing and i do not care if it does not pass code. Well, the amount of weight it looks like it can support (not much) could be a problem, but it’s beautiful. It hits the perfect sweet spot of natural and abstract, not looking too kitschy-tree-hugger but not a random almost-pretty mess, either.
  There are no stairs in my house for which such a railing could be used, though. *tear*

Novel – i’ve gone through and marked all the things i need to fix, and am starting to slowly go through and actually fix stuff. I still hate editing, but i’m more motivated to do it anyway this time around.
Webcomic – am slowly coming to the realisation this is Really Going to Happen. In one month, if all goes according to plan. It’s at oh-crap-time-to-freak-out levels, especially seeing as this is something i’ll need to update and work on pretty consistently even after it’s up and running.
Bike – i’m… saving for it. That counts for something, right? At any rate, it’s warmed up enough for me to use my regular bike and ride everywhere now, so i’ve got about eight months before i’ll have any reason to ride a folding bike to the bus stop.
Presents – i’m on 2 out of 5 presents actually bought or made in advance (the first being a knitting book i bought my youngest sister for Christmas) – i’m making a present for my mum now. It’s at the über-shiny dammit i want to show it to her right now! phase.
General Research Stuff – My religious research has jumped through Paganism, Vodou, Catholicism, and Buddhism, with a touch of re-learning about my own Protestant religion. Mostly i’m reading Pagan/Catholic stuff – i’m having a hell of a time finding good information on Vodou and nothing Buddhist has really caught my attention any further than ‘huh, i should really read this article… someday… in the near future.’ I’m also planning on spending part of this month researching adoption, which i am in no position to do right now anyway but whatever, reading won’t kill anything.
Back to the subject of religious research, despite my relative disinterest in Buddhism, now that it’s bike-riding weather again i’m going to see if i can find a local temple to visit. I kind of doubt it, as i live in an almost ridiculously Christian-Right part of Pennsylvania, but it’s worth a look.

random other stuff

• Geeky home decor – i’m most fond of the Pantone mugs. Which i can’t use. Because i’m still trying to avoid tea catastrophes.

I put another $50 in my Kiva account and sent it off to a café owner in Armenia and an antiquities dealer in Bolivia. So, except for reloaning money when it comes back, my Kiva goal is met. Yay!

…i probably should have done this, oh, any other week ever. I’ve already spent a bit too much this week (hello, shiny new computer, shiny new external hard drive, and shiny pile of books…) and i’m wanting to start saving up for a folding bike so i can use public transit without being limited to the ridiculous only-twice-a-day route i actually live near. But as i’m going to be spending the Kiva-money eventually anyway… well, why not now. Karmacilly offset half a hard drive or something.

Click for full-size

Timing out how long it takes me to do a comic so i have some idea of how much i can do. This one’s kind of a crappy script but i wanted to time everything, including the writing.

And, yeah, i should probably do a bunch of scripts and take an average, but i don’t feel like timing out a pile of script-writing :P So just the one, for now, and i’ll re-average after i actually know what i’m doing…

The final comic is going to be on a site layout where i can actually fit the whole thing at full size. And probably just lineart for at least the first few months, as adding even greyscale took up about half the comic-making time. I’ll save greys or colours for when i can actually do lineart in relatively brief time.

I’ve done up to Week 5 in Pace and Kyeli’s 52 Weeks to Awesome course. Week 5 being ‘Introduction to Introspection’ – basically getting inside your own head and figuring out why your subconscious is messing with you.

So i’ve spent most of the week tinkering around with things i’m having trouble with – like my deep hatred of editing. Can’t exactly finish a novel without editing it, and it’s the thing i’ve gotten stuck on every time.

Discovery? I really like my stories.

‘Duh’ moment, and seemingly has nothing to do with my dislike of editing stories. Except i don’t like the first draft so much. I like the idea, i liked writing it, and now i just want the whole editing process to be done with so i can have my nice shiny story already.

Apparently the i just want the whole editing process to be done with bit is the only bit to have been bubbling up to a level of consciousness at which i actually notice it. Taken out of context, it’s very easy to mistake ‘i just want this to be done’ with ‘i just don’t want to do this any more.’

I wonder if editing will be any easier if i just start constantly reminding myself my ‘hatred’ of editing is really impatience…

random other stuff

• The anti-global-warming argument: What if we’re creating a better world for nothing? (and the older, actually-a-post-instead-of-just-a-comic What I’d Say if I Was Wrong About Climate Change) And, for those who genuinely enjoy yelling at the radio, Breakpoint News had their own bit of AGW this week.
• Why Piracy Works flowchart – i’m not one to condone piracy just because the legal version is mildly annoying, but yeah. Pirates = strip out everything unnecessary in order to shrink file size; MPAA = cram as much ‘we need to increase profits and decrease piracy as much as possible’ crap in as they can fit on the DVD.