the hypercube of happydalek

You know those books you read occasionally as a kid that were usually written in second-person and at the end of each chapter you had a choice of what direction to take the plot?  I called them "pick-a-path" or "choose-your-own-adventure" books.  Turns out, the technical name for them is a "gamebook."  I've been thinking for a few months now that it would be a really ambitious, interesting project to attempt to write one, what with my fondness for plot twists and alternate endings.  I feel like Doctor Who is a blatantly, screamingly obvious choice for a project of this type.  Talk about timey-wimey!  I'd love to twist it so that various plots and storylines would double-back on each other in interesting ways and have a really cool influence on established history and Who canon, and posting such a story online would make the whole thing easier to do.

The problem is...where to start?  And why am I even considering this when I have tons of half-developed projects already screaming for attention?  I could also see a project like this being open to multiple authors, to tackle all the branching plot points and different endings.  it could be epic.   

So, after blowing my chance last year, I'm going to try to get into a field school this summer so that I'll actually have a ghost of a chance of getting a job where I could actually use my degree.  (What a ka-RAZY idea!)  The program that looks most promising to me is this one.  (God bless shovelbums.com!)  Bonuses include a slashed price tag if I take it for no college credit (which would be my default choice cuz' I'd be graduated by then), and I'd be working on a colonial site (which I have prior experience doing).  Also the application deadline is still months away.  But if I take it for no credit, I wonder if that'll bump me off the short list should the slots start filling quickly.  The program would likely prioritize students going for credit over "freelancers" like me.  Hmm...but if I do it for credit, I'd have to apply to the school and pay the full tuition price. 

In other news, I have to go get mah pikture for teh yearbook and I have spots on mah face.  Feels like high school all over again.  *facepalm*

Excuse my francais, but I just checked my university email, and found yet another "timely warning" in my inbox.  The university posts/issues these whenever criminal activity has been reported on or around campus, to inform the students about what's happened and ask for information/leads.  Typically, there might be about two of these issued per semester.  This newest warning is the FOURTH this semester, and there's still almost two months left to go. 

To highlight just how unusually bad things are, the first timely warning of the term happened before classes even started!  In order, the warnings were:

1.  An alleged gang rape that happened at a party just off-campus.   (The girl eventually stopped cooperating with the police and dropped charges against the freshmen football players who were accused.  The players were expelled anyway.)

2.  A dude in a white truck who was driving around campus apparently trying to pick up a suitably innocent-looking young woman to befoul.  (I think this pervert's been cruising the university for awhile, because I seem to remember prior warnings that were pretty similar in details.)

3.   A freakin' ARMED ROBBERY where two guys broke into an apartment and started waving a handgun around.

4.  Now, some guy was seen wandering around the student center, using his hand to simulate shooting himself in the head with a gun.  One witness claimed he actually HAD a gun.

So I say again, what the hell, people?!  GEEEZ.  Used to be, the worst that'd happen was some losers would break into an unlocked apartment and make off with your beer and maybe your ipod or laptop if you were dumb enough to leave them there.  Why is everybody going so hardcore all the sudden?

I've recently found out that there exist in various Who novels TARDISes that can take the shape of actual people.  One, Compassion, was a companion of the Eighth Doctor. 

But if you have a TARDIS shaped like a person, how do you get inside it?