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July 17th, 2009
July 16th, 2009
talkingdonkey
 | 01:51 am - Writer's Block: 5//7//5
Two for the evening...
staring at the sky
dark clouds say i'm
up too late.
cars scream along
at 2 am and the night owls drink
'til the morning calm.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/numb.gif) *
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July 15th, 2009
minisinoo
 | 09:21 pm - Strange ailment
Hit 45 (or close) and fall apart physically. :P
I have ... something ... wrong with my jaw. Yes, I've gone to the doc, but they aren't sure what it is either. Gave me antibiotics (and painkillers), but she seemed dubious that it'll work and told me to call back Thursday if I'm not improved ... it's Tuesday night and I'm pretty sure I'll be calling Thursday.
So -- (last) Thursday morning, I woke up with pain under my jaw, around the lymph node, but I thought it just a pulled muscle, as that does happen. Sometimes I sleep on it wrong and my left shoulder WAS hurting up to the jaw along the line of that neck muscle. I have rheumatoid arthritis in my neck (thanks to injuries in dance years ago), so I'm used to neck pain. Didn't go away Friday and I noticed it was really the lymph node that was hurting -- but not tender or that swollen -- and by that night, it had turned so severe, I couldn't sleep. Fortunately, I had some left-over Tylenol 3 from when I broke my ankle. I took that, and got to sleep, but it was bad enough it woke me every 4 hours when the drug wore off.
By Saturday morning, I was really tired and worried, but it all ... faded. By mid-afternoon, I had little pain, and wasn't on pain-killers. I thought maybe it was just something freakish but ... it's back that night. Same story, and it all repeated Sunday. So I start looking up what could be wrong with a lymph node, and the most obvious things don't add up. I had a flu-ish thing, but it was back in early/mid-May and has been gone for over a month. There is no fever, no weight loss, and it came on FAST. The node isn't that large, or soft. And about the only thing I'm pretty sure it's NOT is a tooth abscess. No tooth sensitivity, no swollon or aggravated gums and I've never had a cavity in my life (no joke). I do have back fillings, but only to fill the deep crevices. Doc didn't think it was that, either, and she looked.
Monday, I went to the doc and nothing immediate popped to her mind either; she prescribed the antibiotics mostly to eliminate infection, and wants me to call back Thursday. There's been no change. About the only things I can say about this is that it really HURTS most in the jaw joint, even more than the lymph node, but it started in the lymph node ... and it hurts most when I lie *prone* and/or at night. I think it may be as much time of day, as when I try to catch up on sleep by napping in the day, it's not as painful -- but still more painful than sitting up, while the pain does come back in the evening, even sitting up, and then gets really bad when I lie down. Now all the muscles are tense from the continual pain, which makes THEM hurt.
Anyway, it's really weird. I feel fine except for the pain, and the tiredness from difficulty sleeping. But I suspect I'll be at the MRI center sometime next week, unless the antibiotics kick in before Thursday and it does prove to be just an infection of the lymph node.
(Yeah, I realize cancer is a possibility, but right now, I'm not really showing any of the other clues associated with cancer, and it doesn't run in my family, so it's not high on my list. I'm more concerned that this is the arthritis moving to yet *another* inconvenient joint. I need to make sure any diagnoses make it clear that this is NEW, not part of a pre-existing condition, should it ever interfere with, you know, my ability to lecture and thus force me onto disability. One of the fun things about being single. I have only me to rely on for a paycheque.)
ETA: Hadn't thought about TMJ, but that may very well be it ... I'm no stranger to joint problems of all sorts, so this would be just one more.
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hibernate
 | 12:39 am - Children of Earth
( So about this Torchwood thing. Spoilers, obviously. )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://www.motvind.net/bilder/moodthemes/moodtheme_doctordonna/contemplative.png) contemplative
Current Music: Hello Saferide - Highschool Stalker
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July 14th, 2009
zakhad
 | 07:29 am
my provider broke my website and I can't figure out how to fix it.
dammit.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/threnody/mice/m-angry.gif) aggravated
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talkingdonkey
 | 01:17 am - Brown Paper Packages...
Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter. Then, write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal. Give out letters to your commenters in return.
I have received the letter "G" from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) hani.
( Read more... )
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talkingdonkey
 | 01:11 am - Prompt: Friends
Thoughts on my best friend and applying for jobs led to this
( Read more... )
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July 13th, 2009
lizbee
 | 03:20 pm - FIC: "The Weight of the World in Her Hands" (Russell, R?)
Title: The Weight of the World in Her Hands
Summary: "Police custody was every bit as dull as Holmes had anticipated."
Notes: I don't even know. I had an irresistable urge to wrap up the dangling threads of LANG in such a way as to make Russell suffer. (And that separates this from the rest of my fic, how? you ask.) cesario said it was worth releasing to an audience. I always do what she says.
Warnings: Implied offscreen kidnapping and rape. Mostly unspoken? I don't know.
( The Weight of the World in Her Hands )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/lizbee/rmt/exhausted.gif) tired
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saragoose
 | 04:14 pm - knock knock?
Does this thing still work??
Anyways, yes it's been ages. Occasionally, I've been popping in to check the flist, but really, not so much with the online lately.
But as I'm heading off to see Harry Potter with [ Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<lj-user="witchling">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.] Does this thing still work??
Anyways, yes it's been ages. Occasionally, I've been popping in to check the flist, but really, not so much with the online lately.
But as I'm heading off to see Harry Potter with <lj-user="witchling"> this week (midnight show at metrotown!!), I'm feeling rather fannish, which eventually leads to lj usage. Sometimes...
Mostly, though, I've been really enjoying the summertime. I've gotten a lot more serious about running, I go 3-5 days a week now, for at least 20min and sometimes over an hour. It's quite strange, but I really love it. And crave it sometimes. I'm planning on doing a 10km "race" in the fall and training to actually run it with some speed. I could blather on about running for ages but it's probably only interesting to me!
Not to worry, though. Other summertime activities have included beer and nachos on various patios, reading in the shade and watching movies.
I went and saw Food, Inc. on Friday. It's hard for me to explain without telling you all about the whole movie, but basically it's a documentary about where our food comes from. Of course, nothing's ever that simple, and food is this incredibly political, controversial Thing. If you're at all interested, I'd definitely recommend it, although be warned you might need to close your eyes a bit or require tissues.
And finally and most exciting (for me) is that on Friday, I'm heading up to the Queen Charlotte Islands for 10 days!!!! The trip has been booked for nearly a year and I'm beyond excited. The trip will be spent mostly on a sailboat around the islands with oodles of day trips for hiking and exploring the beaches!! Not exactly a tropical vacation (the islands aren't that far from the Alaskan Panhandle...) but as a total geek when it comes to marine life, I'm beyond excited! I'll be sure to take lots of photos!
I think that's about all the excitement in my life. Still working, still looking for a proper job, still being a dork. The usual...
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talkingdonkey
 | 01:15 am - Prompt: Bees
Interesting, I've never had a piece where the dialogue wrote itself first and then the skeleton came second. I know this is not my best, but it was interesting to try because it was a challenge from what I would have instinctually have written.
( Read more... )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/accomplished.gif) accomplished
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July 12th, 2009
talkingdonkey
| 11:45 pm - Writing Contest!
I've entered a writing contest!
I would love it if you went and voted for me. All you have to do is click on the link, register and and click to vote. :) Please, and thank you!
http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/322
( Read more... )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/hopeful.gif) hopeful
Current Music: Free Man in Paris
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talkingdonkey
 | 01:37 am - Prompt: Doing Good
I rarely grant favors. His music warmed my heart however. He lulled my three-headed hound into a quiet sleep and all across the Elysian fields, souls stopped to listen to his lyre. His own love heard his song, and she wept, falling to her knees where she stood in line to cross the river. The snake that had bit her wept, and I allowed her lover into the Underworld to save her.
They almost made it out. I watched them like a proud parent. I, the God of the Underworld, wanted love to conquer all. I wanted him to beat my odds, for her to breath once and regain her color in the sunlight. I wanted to hear more of his songs, but I wanted them to regain the joy that surely they had once known.
I could not just let him take her though. Otherwise other lovers, those who sang no sad songs of tomorrow and those who had died of old age or any other affliction would come to me and beg not to cross the River Styx. Scarred war victims might scream about their unfair treatment if he had no trial to burn through, so I made it easy. Don’t look back. Lead your love forward and don’t look back. Tell her of the past and lead her toward the future.
The other gods came and watched. His passage became a spectator sport as he towed his dead love on. Persephone dropped empty pomegranate husks as he walked past her, determined. Demeter drank a goatskin of wine merrily and listening to nearby satyr piping a tune of his own. Even Hera and Zeus watched from a vantage point in the clouds.
Yet, no one said a word to the young man. No one cheered when he reached mouth of the Underworld. Everyone merely held their collective breath as he stepped into the brightness of the day and turned to smile at his love. She jerked once, convulsively in his grip, her pale hand glowing the sunlight, and fell back into the Underworld. She screamed, new music for the Underworld to cry to.
No one ever remembers the favor I gave them, that small good thing. He only remembered the pain and asked the snake the fall upon him with its venom. The snake, remorseful, fell upon the singing boy waited with him to see him join his love. I went myself and took him. The Muses wanted his voice, but I stole his Soul - I carried it away to her and gave it to her in the golden Elysian Fields, and they met each there in that eternity forever.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/neko/kaokitty/hot.gif) hot
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July 10th, 2009
minisinoo
 | 09:41 pm - Indie Twific Awards voting open + rambling on fandom trends
I decided to do this as a separate post from the story announcement so I wasn't cramming too much into one.
Voting for the Indie Twific Awards is now open. As I mentioned earlier, three of my Twilight stories have been nominated. These awards are intended for lesser known stories in the fandom. They say: "And because everyone was a newbie at some point, we want to acknowledge the great up and comers. Those wonderful diamonds in the rough, which with a bit of polishing, could be a heart shaped diamond hanging from a charm bracelet..."
Honestly, I don't think that quite fits me as it's been a long while since I was a newbie writer of anything, and even in fandom, I probably verge on dinosaur status. :p I certainly hope my stories aren't rough and still in need of great polishing. Nor is it true for several of the others nominated. Now, to be fair, the award people also add "under recognized Twilight Fan Fiction" to the list -- but in truth, I think that second category should be the primary category. A lot of the stories qualify because they're not novels, they're posted primarily on LJ (not the chief Twilight fic dissemination place), they're canon, they feature less popular characters or pairings, or they're gen.
Twilight fandom is strongly dominated by novels (which is a bit unusual for fanfic), but the result is that one-shots and novellas slip off the radar quickly. It's also dominated by Edward-Bella romances, including a huge number of the "all-human" subcategory. Now as we mostly all know, romance is a large chunk of fanfic in ANY fandom, but given that at least 3 of the original source novels are, essentially, Romance novels, that very tight romance focus shouldn't surprise. Yet that means gen stories do even less well in Twilight than in other fandoms -- readers come for romance in SOME form even if not E/B. (Although slash hasn't heretofore done well either, romance or not, but that seems to be changing. I have a few theories as to why slash was so slow to take off in Twilight, but won't go into them here.) Last, some characters -- especially the natives -- are not only not popular, they're out-and-out rabidly hated by large chunks of the fandom. As my few Twilight stories tend to be shorter than typical, gen, mostly canon-compliant and 2 of the 5 feature Leah (who's popularly demonized in much fanfic), it's no surprise if they aren't what the fandom particularly wants to read. :-D
That's okay. This is not a rant; it's a series of observations. After almost 10 years writing fanfic and a good 15 years reading in various fandoms (although not as many fandoms as some of YOU), I'm well-aware that each fandom develops popular pairings, characters and fads. And as someone who has, from the very outset, tended to BUCK fandom trends -- writing Cyclops/Phoenix when Logan/Rogue was all the rage, writing Cedric, and now writing canon gen Twific -- when you choose to take the road less traveled, you aren't going to win a large readership. In the past, I've sometimes managed to win one anyway, but that's not going to happen in Twilight until the sun sets in the east because it's just not the nature of the Twilight fandom beast. I still write what I want to write.
All that said, and while I really don't expect to make it past this round, I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR that I APPRECIATE those who may have nominated my stories. It's certainly an ego-boost and lovely compliment. In the end, I'm just glad my own dabbling in Cullen family dynamics and vampire-werewolf relations does amuse at least some of you besides me. :-)
This first round is the "weed out" round due to the massive number of noms. The voting closes the 12th, I believe, which is ... Sunday. So if you DO want to vote, make it snappy. :-)
FULL LIST OF NOMS in all categories.
CLICK TO VOTE. (All mine are in the 'complete' category.)
Cowboys & Indians: "Best Alternate Universe," "Best Characterization, non-E/B," "Best non-E/B storyline," and "Most Original Storyline."
"This is My Beloved Son": "Best Canon"
"Beauty, Shining in Company": "Best Canon," "Best Original Character," "Most Original Storyline."
Also, several stories that I follow are nominated there. I'm not going to give a complete list since the number of noms is HUGE. (Hence the weeding down ...) But if you're looking for reading material, go check out that list of noms linked above.
ETA: Another observation on the fickleness of awards ... I dearly wish "Beauty" would win SOMEthing, but it's the one least likely to win anything, I suspect. Why the wish? IMO, it's one of the best stories on my site, writing wise. Certainly it's better writing than some that have raked in awards, like Climb the Wind. But the latter is novel-length, and strongly emotional, and hit a nerve in the fandom at the time -- became my "Claw" story (to use penknife's amusing term) -- and basically CONNECTED with readers. And that's key in fandom. We can't really predict it, or manipulate it. It happens, or it doesn't. And it's what causes stories to become popular (and win awards) ... or not. But it is indicative of how much emotion drives awards, not "quality of writing." If it were quality of writing my list of story awards would have different titles in it.
I'm not sure that's "wrong" or even "bad." It just is. We vote with our hearts, not our brains.
(Please note, I'm rating my stories against each other, not trying to paint myself as hugely better than other authors! Not that arrogant. *grin*)
ETA2: I have been ADMONISHED by email, ha. But a good point. The reason Climb won more awards than Grail is because by the point Grail was finished, most of the old X-fic awards were dead. This is actually a relevant point for comments on awards. Grail probably was more popular and had a better plot/was better written, so the fact is won no awards had less to do with popularity than with availability of awards in any given fandom at any given time. Very, very true.
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minisinoo
 | 04:34 pm - "The Star Quilt" (Cowboys & Indians sequel) Leah, Alice, Jasper (gen)
WHEW! It's DONE. For sideadde, rennaise, smellyia, and wolvesnvamps, for the Support Stacie Auction. I just hope it fills at least some of what you ladies were hoping for.
Summary: In the wake of their road-trip to Texas, Leah and Jasper may have formed a nascent family -- but where does that leave Alice? And after everything that's happened to Leah, can she still hope for even an approximation of a normal life? c. 11,500 words
Characters: Leah Clearwater, Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale
Genre: largely gen, coming-of-age, canon pairings apply
Thanks to sideadde for the editing. The lovely cover image was done by serendipity_50.
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July 9th, 2009
lizbee
 | 08:00 am - I'm sorry, I didn't expect Babylon 5 to turn me into such a lame shipper
A thought I had while watching "War Without End": the problem I was having with the Sheridan/Delenn relationship was that he's all human and sort of bluff and soldiery, and she's much more intellectual and sort of ethereal. But then there was the bit where they were walking down the corridor of the White Star with Sinclair, and I sort of blinked and the world shifted.
Sheridan and Delenn are Ron and Hermione. This, sadly, leaves Sinclair to be Harry; he is appropriately Destined, but Daniel Radcliffe could act Michael O'Hare into the ground. (On the other hand, some people might consider the HP series improved if Harry had mysteriously vanished early on -- transferred to Beauxbatons, for example, until such a time as he could be sent back to help found Hogwarts. This idea is 100% Snape approved.)
Anyway, having come to this significant realisation, I can now rest happy and ship them properly. Although, I like to believe that Lennier occasionally sends Sheridan copies of Improving Works of Minbari Philosophy, and Sheridan looks at them for a minute, then passes them on to Marcus.
Also, I did watch "Walkabout" and "Grey 17 is Missing", but I fast forwarded through all the bits with Franklin or Garibaldi. I don't have much use for Franklin at the best of times, but I can't help thinking that On The Eve Of A Devastating War is not the time to go, "Actually, I'm having a spiritual crisis. BRB, appropriatin some culture nao!" I know there were Circumstances, but still.
Then I watched "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place", which was sort of awesome for the Londo-G'Kar fake-out, and the bit where Delenn is all, "I maked you a war fleet", and Sheridan's like, "OKAY I HAS TO KISS YOUR FACE NOW".
I was less enthralled by the bit where the reverend goes, "BTW, Sheridan, she loffs you. Idiot". At first I was all, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" But then I had flashbacks to Rusty the Shipper Dalek. Turns out that Doctor Who has left me violently allergic to scenes where outsiders observe Obvious Truths about pairings. But then there was face kissing, so that was okay.
ON A TOTALLY UNRELATED NOTE: Bella Swann/Albus Dumbledore. The House o'Squid ships it. Do you?
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/lizbee/rmt/happy.gif) cheerful
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July 8th, 2009
minisinoo
 | 01:22 pm - Hee!
Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder
http://www.joke-of-the-day.com/jokes/age-activated-attention-deficit-disorder
Very funny, both because my son is ADHD (so I've seen the real thing ... which isn't so different), and because I've HAD days like this ... and I bet you have too. :-D
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lizbee
 | 07:33 pm - Oh hai, Babylon 5 peeps!
Do I actually have to watch "Walkabout" and "Grey 17 is Missing"? Judging by the summaries, they both look dire.
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tired