Gacked from kristine_smith: Each year, hundreds of words are dropped from the English language. Your job, should you choose to accept it--save one. Just hit the adopt-a-word link, and go from there.

My word is igniparous which means bringing forth fire. Sample usages provided were:

The heroes were scorched by the dragon's igniparous emanation.

We were all amazed at Mr. Copperfield's igniparous act until we discovered a box of matches up his sleeve.

Alternate definitions found on the web include:
1) Producing fire
2) Giving "birth" to fire
3) Experiencing a burning sensation during the birth of a child.

Yeah, not so much on number three.

Gacked from everyone.

Grab the book nearest you. Right now. Turn to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal. Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

The outside of the container must be labeled ORM-D, Cartridges, Small Arms.
--Handbook of Forensic Services, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Laboratory Division

Gacked from suricattus, rolanni and others.

From all over the friends' list:

1. Go here: http://www.careercruising.com/default.asp
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top results.

Jobs I've held are in bold.

1. Criminologist (ironic considering the current project)
2. Political Aide
3. Critic
4. Writer
5. Public Policy Analyst
6. Translator
7. Market Research Analyst
8. Activist
9. Communications Specialist
10. Print Journalist
11. Lobbyist
12. Historian
13. Computer Trainer
14. Lawyer
15. Computer Programmer
16. Criminal Lawyer
17. Civil Litigator
18. Professor
19. Judge
20. Business Systems Analyst

Interesting number of results in the legal profession, which is a default career in my family. Not only is my brother an attorney, but three out of my nine cousins are also attorneys, and a fourth cousin who's a Jesuit studied law at Oxford.

AFI listed what they considered the best films, but they missed gems that must be watched over and over again, those movies where you drag your friends over, hand them a drink and insist that they watch.

Here's some of mine:

Split Second
"We need bigger guns" and "You want me to put out an APB on Satan?"

Major League
Wild Thing and "You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"
"Hats. Hats for bats. Keep bats warm."

The Replacement Killers
Mmm.

American Dreamer
The 1984 movie, about a woman who becomes convinced she's really a famous writer, living a life of international intrigue.

Terminator and Terminator 2
T2 is better than T1, but T1 gets bonus points as an 80s movie. (The hair! The clothes! I remember wearing those!)

There are also classic Schwarzenegger flicks including Raw Deal, Commando and Predator, which are all worthy, as well as Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. Unforgiven may get the AFI's nod, but A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly go better with beer.

So what movies would you put on your list?

jpsorrow tagged me with the Eight Things Meme, and I'm in writing-avoidance mode, so here goes.

The rules are:
- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I put myself through college--a private engineering school. I was eighteen and figured that between scholarships, student loans, and what I'd saved from working through high school I could afford freshman year. I could have gone to the state university at a fraction of the cost, but instead I took the leap of faith and figured that I'd go for a year and figure out how to pay for the next year when the time came. My parents never saw a single bill.

2. I'd always wanted to learn how to ride a horse, so I took lessons when I was in my twenties. I wasn't good, but I was determined.

3. The first time I was in an airplane I jumped out. Also the second and third times. I was in college, and 3 parachute jumps equaled a term's worth of required gym credits. On my first jump, as I was crouched next to the door, the pilot asked me "First jump?" I replied "First plane ride." He was laughing so hard, he was bent double over the controls as we took off.

4. I'd also missed out on Irish dance lessons as a child, so as an adult I took lessons and joined an adult dance troupe. This was a few years before Riverdance made Irish dancing popular. We rehearsed in the back room of a bar, and rather than warming up and stretching we relied on the properties of alcohol to loosen our muscles.

5. After three years and two completed novels, I realized that I was never going to be a published romance writer. I decided that if I was still going to be unpublished, I'd rather be an unpublished science fiction writer, so I canceled my plans to attend RWA's annual conference and booked a ten day bike trip in Ireland for that same week, so I could clear my head. Right before I left on the bike trip, my agent called to say that Zebra wanted to buy JANE AND THE BLACK SHEEP.

6. I studied Spanish and French in high school, and took awards for both. I minored in German in college. And I'm ashamed to say that I've lost virtually all of what I once knew.

7. I have an extensive repertoire of Irish drinking songs, folk music and sea chanteys, due to a youth well-spent haunting bars. (Yes, Virginia, the drinking age was 18 when Patricia was a wee lass and used to go out every weekend to hear her favorite groups.) When I'm working hard I sometimes find myself singing without realizing it. One bike group figured out that I'd passed them during a rest stop when they could hear the echoes of my singing coming back over the hill.

8. People tell me that my brother Andrew and I look eerily alike. Neither of us can see the resemblance.


Feel free to consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play along.

After reading everyone else's 10 Things list, I decided to give in to my inner lemming and post one of my own.

10 Things I Know About Writing

Warning: the following advice has not been proven to be generally safe and effective. As with all writing advice, use at your own risk, under the supervision of a professional. Your individual mileage may vary.

1) Your book is never as good as you think it is.

2) It's also never as bad as you think it is.

3) It is good to have a routine for writing.

4) Except, of course, when it's not.

5) Being with other writers is energizing.

6) Comparing yourself to other writers can only lead to unhappiness, as there will always be others who are more successful (however you define this) than you are.

7) It is good to have a career plan.

8) Having a career plan does not mean that you are in control of your career. There are too many variables outside your control that can alter your career path for good or ill.

9) The longer you've been in the business, the more you know. I am constantly learning new things about writing and being a succesful author.

10) Anyone who tells you they know the one true secret to being a sucessful writer is deluded, angling for you to buy them a drink in the bar, or both.

I blame kaygo for this.

( Click here for memeage )