Sithly Toves

after purchasing a pre-lit Christmas tree at Target. There just isn't time for a fresh one, with the afternoon of winding sparkly white lights around all the branches, not with my sister off to California for business next week, and all sorts of social obligations. The cable repair guy was here, as was our cleaning lady, two furry tyrants, and lots of rain.


In other news:

all you need is love ♥

Spencer Smith would approve this message, I'm certain.

http://community.livejournal.com/lj_releases/41072.html

Among the 'features' added:

Title of post in Last Post, Friends Pages, Calendar view (every page where displayed multiple entries) now links to entry.

One problem, though. The code broke the Smooth Sailing layout. The whole thing.

You're supposed to test these things first, boys and girls.

ETA: Looks like it was fixed. But how long until something else breaks?

I posted about this earlier under flock (mostly because I am still wary of posting publicly about work in any kind of detail), and I am kind of already worn out with thinking and talking about it, but I got laid off today. My last day at work is 12/15. (thanks again to everyone who's already been so supportive. I really, truly appreciate it, more than I can say.)

I guess I will have lots of time to write and bake holiday cookies.

fleurdeleo took me out for a tasty early dinner and I stuffed myself with nutella and banana crepes, and the food coma made me fairly sanguine. I am sure the real freak out is coming, but right now I am still in the "WTF just happened?" stage.

So my question (the first of many, I'm sure) is, those of you who have given up on having a landline and are only using cell phones, does that work for you? Especially while job hunting? I am trying to think of easy expenses to cut, and that is one of them, as the only reason I have a landline these days is for emergency internet purposes when the cable goes out, and I can give that up to save $40 a month (plus $24 on long distance I never use, and $19 on the back up dialup service I never use).

*

To cheer me up, romanticalgirl wrote me an adorable Frankentim ficlet: Five Finger Discount, which totally nails their season 4 car conversation dynamic. ♥

I did post a story yesterday, because what I really needed to write was a coda to 4.10 featuring girl!Sam. *facepalm* Ah, well, when the going gets tough, I write girl!Sam fic:

Quidquid deliquisti
Supernatural; girl!Sam/Dean; au; spoilers through 4.10; adult; 1,620 words
Sam can't throw stones.

It was much pornier in my head, but it ended up being more about the conversation than the sex. Funny how that happens. I also finally gave in and made a beggars would ride tag, so all the stories that go with that/use that as a background are tagged now. *facepalm* I am still stubbornly refusing to call it a 'verse, or a series. You can read any of the stories as standalones, I think, though possibly they make more sense if you've read the first story, because then you've got all the background I'm working from. I still want to write random casefiles with girl!Sam, too. I don't even know, guys, but I've given up trying to figure it out. It makes me happy.

*

I love the song "Keep Yourself Warm" by Frightened Rabbit (it was playing when I started writing this entry). I feel there is a story to be written in thse lyrics: I'm drunk, I'm drunk / And you're probably on pills / If we've both got the same diseases / It's irrelevant, girl. Possibly a Kara story I will never write. or maybe angsty Max/Alec?

*

The Office ( spoilers )

*

Meanwhile, I went to my manage icons page and saw this: Currently uploaded: 145 out of 195. 195! Woo! I misread the earlier post and thought they were capping it all - permanent account + loyalty icons and everything - at 150, so that was a nice shock. I know what I will be doing at work tomorrow. *snerk*

*

I realise I haven't done a Dear Santa missive...

Ok Yuletide fairy! Yay doing one of my choices and not dropping me on the pinch hit list at least once will totally make my holiday.

RequestFandom1: The Sweeney
RequestFandomChar1: George Carter/Jack Regan

Any manner of smut involving George and Jack would make my head go splody with delight. In fact any Sweeney that I haven't written will make my head go splody with delight. Bitching is welcome. Case set up is welcome.

RequestFandom2: New Tricks
RequestFandomChar2: Gerry Standing/Sandra Pullman

Sandra in charge and Gerry doing her bidding like the good squealing little bottom he is... Banter is welcome, her realising how much she likes him despite the fact she shouldn't would be fun. Him wheedling and cajoling her into being a bit less of a stick in the mud would be good. Her just throwing him down and doing him till he cries would be good too. ;)

RequestFandom3: RPF - British Actors
RequestFandomChar3: John Cleese/Michael Palin

I know this would be hard but they seem such great friends and so cute together that just something about them nattering on and being silly and coming to the odd realisation on how oddly gay some of their skits together are would be fun. I'd like something from the Python years, maybe about their writing together or something similar. Banter is welcome.

RequestFandom4: Curry and Pepper
RequestFandomChar4: Cai Lai Go aka Curry/Jiu Jai aka Pepper

ANYTHING!!!! I love these two. Make them fight like the old married couple they are. Have their cop friends torture them about it. It's all in the movie!!!! Bitching is extremly welcome.

As you can see Santa, I like banter and witty dialogue. I like it even better than hot smut. Trust me that's saying something. Thanks for taking on the task and Happy Holidaze!

Twenty degrees and snow falling... Denver is lovely.

Thank heavens for warm scarves and gloves and coats and My New Hat!

Title: Just a Little Wager
Author: Rushlight
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Reno/Cloud
Rating: NC-17
Category: humor, PWP
Summary: Inebriation and betting really don't mix... except when they do.
Author's Note: Once again Rushlight stumbles into a new fandom. ^_^ I know this one's been around for a while, but I just recently finished playing the original FF7 game and watched the Advent Children movie. I've fallen head over heels for these characters and the world they live in, but my knowledge of anything outside those two sources is completely nil. So please forgive any inconsistencies with any of the other FF7 games, etc.
Acknowledgments: Many, many thanks to wufei_w for beta-reading and encouragement. :D

( Just a Little Wager )

Pushing Daisies

( spoilers )

Oh, show, I will miss you so much!

I watched Life, then, and I really do enjoy Crews and Reese's partnership, and I kind of love Ted a lot, but they need to get rid of Donal Logue. Also, I need to catch up on all the eps I missed.

And now it's L&O with Katee, and I am fading fast. I was at work late and I didn't sleep well last night, and man, I am totally going to bed when this is over.

***

US troops quartered on US soil -- where they may be called to respond on active duty against Americans, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. Is that something we want?

Whither goest the stock market? A comparison over the past years back to 1826.

The Texas indictments against Cheney and Gonzales have been dismissed.

A former Guantanamo prosecutor, who has resigned as an act of conscience, is telling the truth about what he saw there, and it is making a difference.

I have no idea what the Somali pirates would do with 130,000 inflatable breasts that were apparently 'lost at sea'. I'm sure someone can come up with an idea or two.

Roger Ebert is a lot smarter than Ben Stein, and proves it.

Note to the Vatican: Jesus would like to speak to you concerning "love your neighbor as yourself".

Bush wants to destroy full and free access to health care, even as we have it now, under the guise of religious liberty.

A little ignorance goes a long way in policy and politics.








Interesting pictures of endangered species -- including a salamander I don't want to meet in a dark alley and a transparent frog.

OMG TABELLA!!!!

<3

Light resins and maybe a bit of wax. I can taste the resins dancing on my tongue when I inhale.

<3 So far it's the same in the imp as it is dry. Mmmmmmmmm

Bad week. And it's only Wednesday. whimper

Busy as hell at work both Monday and Tuesday. THEN the contractors want to start a day early on the downstairs (phase two) of the house renovations, which entails ripping out the main level bath and 'laundry room' (HA!). Arthur is forever traumatized (again) when his upstairs litter box has to move downstairs. But the framing is in for the new powder room when I returned home Tuesday.

The neurologist has determined that my migraines are mostly photosensitivity triggered -- bright lights do it for me. So at my semi-yearly check-up today at the opthamollywoggle (who I love because she's a wacko, a wonderful wacko but still) she dialates both my eyes and hello, bright sunny day, I do not want. The neurologist, with whom I have a follow-up visit immediately afterwords, thinks this is amusing. The Child thinks it is further amusing that her mother looks like a space alien. Bad Child. No House.

I have One Day to do the laundry before they come in tomorrow, move the washer and dryer to the garage, dig a hole in the floor, move the electrical box for the dryer, move the washer something (? water box?) for the washer, and begin doing whatever it is they have to do for the rest of it. Fast shower in the morning before work, I guess. Arthur is certain to become traumatized again.

And I'm still unhappy that I didn't get the tub I wanted upstairs. But maybe I can convince MrHamill that someday we need to renovate the basement and can put in one hella huge jacuzzi tub down there, where there's plenty of room and all. Of course, not until after we've managed to pay off all this crap, which is gonna take a long while, I suspect. If ever.

The whole thing is just one big inconvenience and I'm whining, so pay me no mind. I'm also trying my damndest to get caught up on email and things, to which I'm woefully behind. I've got stuff I haven't replied to since MAY, and there's no excuse for that. As for writing... I dunno. Maybe a nibble. But no time, no time at all. Because, of course, it's the hols, and that means parties, for my work, for MrHamill's work, for his Covenant Group, for my friends... no time anywheres. Gah.

Okay, never mind. Here's an insta-rec instead. (I never do these, because what I think is absolutely spectacular someone else thinks is lame but I just fucking love this story!) Secrets by Keira Marcos (SGA, G, slash). It's just talking but damn. I wish I'd written it because she crawls into John's head and Rodney's head and this is exactly what I think they'd say. But then I'm a hopeless romantic anyway.

This isn't the whining you've been reading... move along... move along... hand waves

( Icon meme )

Second tangent: Data loss is bad. As is hacking. How to prevent the former. What's facilitating the latter (beware if you've ever had a Hotmail address linked to LJ). Also, pouncer at insanejournal, just in case.

Holiday cards were just mailed \o/ Everything else holiday related: epically behind. I had to escape to the post office because Gum Snapper was being particularly annoying, but now that I'm back she's off to the gym and I'm listening to This Is Ivy League and grooving.

My sister went to this classical concert benefit thing last night, and it was supposed to be all snazzy (she brought a party dress into work so she could change), but her friends were an hour late and there was no time for her to indulge in the promised gourmet vittles and she hates classical music anyway. Mom and I have a theory that her numerous childhood ear infections damaged her hearing at certain frequencies, thus making violins painful to listen to. I even gave her a spare set of earplugs on Monday night. She was most snarly upon her return home, until Mommy fed her chicken noodle soup and Teddy licked her face.

I am finally beginning to feel somewhat better. I woke up on Monday, took a breath, and had a sudden blinding realization: why yes, I did have bronchitis. My habit of hoarding excess antibiotics proved useful in banishing the pain.

In fannish news, the blogging antics of My Chemical Romance are filling me with unholy levels of glee. Especially since it sounds like I could geek out about things Star Wars with both Gerard and Mikey Way.

In search of: detailed reports of the Panic DVD release party thing in NYC and the Fall Out Boy concert in Chicago.

On Gossip Girl: Jenny annoys me. She didn't used to, but this constant screeching make me want to sit her down and tell her she's fifteen years old, chill. Also, did she pick up a coke habit while hanging out with Agnes? What's the deal with the continual anxiety attacks?

This was so not what I meant to write last night. *facepalm*

Quidquid deliquisti
Supernatural; girl!Sam/Dean; au; spoilers through 4.10; adult; 1,620 words
Sam can't throw stones.

Thanks to mousapelli for listening to my titling woes.

( let he who is without sin cast the first stone )

~*~

Feedback is always welcome.

~*~

I had this awful dream last night where someone on my flist sent me links to go look at a community that was rehabbing and woobiefying the Comedian because he's being played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I threw up a little in my mouth. And then I woke up and was a little queasy at how plausible the dream was.

Night before last, I dreamt I went on a bunch of job interviews. *shudder* On the upside, I was apparently Pam Beesly in the dream, so I got to make out with Jim Halpert.

Speaking of whom, John Krasinski and Zachary Levi need to star in something together. Think of the adorable!

I don't even know. I was hoping to have fic to post, but as always lately, I have distracted myself from writing again.

*goes back to it*

***

Woot!!!!

Raging Rudolph!!! OMG it's on youtube!!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Okay, now change.gov is posting Wordle "word clouds" of Tom Daschle's health care talk on their website.

I swear, it's only a matter of time before Obama starts posting memes, Biden begins to upload his chatlogs, and Rahm Emanuel starts to post self-insert RPF.

The fandom-as-relationship meme, gacked this time from minim_calibre:

(Is this about sources or about fandoms? Because my responses might be different. Um. And I added one, which I mentioned in my comments last time I did this.)

The one who seduced you and fucked you over and broke your heart in a million pieces and laughed about it: X-Men Movieverse, I think, even still. Because by the time HP killed off Remus, I'd already moved on. But I can't even enjoy rereading my XMM stuff. I get queasy thinking about it. And I've never even seen X3. I could also put Gilmore Girls here, because wow, I am STILL bitter.

The old flame you don't see very often any more but whom you still really enjoy getting together with for a few drinks and maybe a pleasant nostalgic romp in the sheets: HP. Firefly. BtVS/Angel. West Wing. Sports Night. What? I have a lot of fandoms!

The mysterious dark gothy one whom you used to sit up with talking until 3 a.m. at weird coffeehouses and with whom you were quite smitten until you realized ze really was fucking crazy: Veronica Mars.

The one you spent a whole weekend in bed with and who drank up all your liquor, and whom you'd still really like to fuck again although you're relieved ze doesn't actually live in town: Dark Angel.

The steady: Supernatural. It's not the healthiest relationship, but it's happy-making when it's working, and oh, boy, has it been working this season.

The one you repeatedly cheat on your steady with: Ocean's Eleven. Iron Man.

The one you find yourself too tongue-tied to do anything but stare at adoringly, clinging to hir every word: Battlestar Galactica. I really want to write BSG fic, but all my brain wants to do is go ZOMG KARA IS AWESOME. So.

The alluring stranger whom you've flirted with at parties but have never gotten really serious with: in terms of writing: Bones. I'd like to write Bones, but I just can't get motivated. Mostly because the show is giving me what I want re: Booth/Brennan. I still need to write that SPN crossover, though.

The one you hang out with and have vague fantasies about maybe having a thing with but ultimately you're just good buddies 'cause the friendship is there but the chemistry ain't: again in terms of writing: Chuck. I love watching it and talking about it, but I have almost no interest in reading or writing fic for it. Same goes for Pushing Daisies.

The one you think you might marry, but you need to spend some more time together: Friday Night Lights (though again, not necessarily from a writing standpoint) It was rocky last season, but wow, it pulled itself up out of that rough patch beautifully.

The one your friends keep introducing you to and who seems like a hell of a cool peep except it's never really gone anywhere: Life. I just never actually remember it's on.

The one you slept with on the rebound who still smiles at you, yet you have no interest in any more: House.

The one who's slept with all your friends, and you keep looking at hir and thinking, "Hir? How the hell did ze land all these cool babes?": SGA

The one your friend has fallen for like a ton of bricks and whom ze keeps babbling to you about on the phone for hours, and you'd be happy for hir except you just know it's going to end badly: Heroes. Well. It kind of already has, no?

***

And I know it's not funny, really, but the more I read about the whole Plaxico Burress thing, the more hilarious I find it. He used Harris Smith as his alias in the hospital, and told them he got shot at Applebee's. (source) I can't even... I don't have words for that level of WTFery.

Apparently Mad-Eye Moody was right and you shouldn't shove a loaded gun into your sweatpants: YOU COULD LOSE A BUTTOCK!

***

[eta] From the AWESOME files: ZOMBIE HAIKU:

Zombie Haiku by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle
into that zombie plagued night.
And take the shotgun.

*dies*

***

I just saw this on the feed for change.gov (i.e., the website of the office of the President-Elect). Link to the full story here.

President-elect Obama has championed the creation of a more open, transparent, and participatory government. To that end, Change.gov adopted a new copyright policy this weekend. In an effort to create a vibrant and open public conversation about the Obama-Biden Transition Project, all website content now falls under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License: [...]

Change.gov has incorporated additional features designed to make the Transition more accessible and its content more open and re-useable. For every video posted – from the weekly addresses, to press conferences, to speeches, to “Inside the Transition” pieces – there are links to high-resolution QuickTime video files beneath embedded videos (these are also available via the Transition’s podcast), so that the video can be saved to a computer and edited at will. The Obama-Biden Transition Team is continuing to explore ways to use new media to create a more transparent Transition. This is part of an ongoing planning process to create a 21st century government that is more transparent, participatory, and effective.

(I wonder if Obama and Co would like an account with the OTW's Archive of Our Own? *g*)

I'm in Denver. So far, the hotel is absolutely charming.

It was snowing this morning in Indianapolis. Winter wonderland and all of that... I am in such a holiday mood now!

*yawn*

But first, I sense an impending long winter's nap... well, at least until morning.

G'night, lovelies!

I realize I never posted about last week's Bones. ( spoilers )

Then tonight I watched Pushing Daisies. I am still incredibly SAD that it's been cancelled, because its AWESOME CANNOT BE TEXTUALLY RENDERED. ( spoilers ) I am going to miss the show so much - it kind of hurts to watch knowing there is so little left - but I will be looking forward to the dvds.

And then there was Chuck. ( spoilers )

***

batagur is looking for some long stories, so I thought I'd post a few Torchwood links.

A Matter of Time, by demotu (20 chapters + epilogue). I just finished this one yesterday, and it was great. I'm a complete sucker for wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stories, and this was definitely one. It's a great look at Jack and Ianto's relationship, and at how Jack changes over the years. There's some nice development for Ianto, too--I'm not fond of stories that Mary-Sue-ize him to the point of unrecognizeability, and this one doesn't.

Get Loved, Make More, Try to Stay Alive, by dsudis (8 parts + 2 epilogues, but honestly I think the story is better on its own without the epilogues). It's mpreg-ish, but not really. And, yes, it's another w-w, t-w story. I can't help it.

Kingdom of Air, by ninjasnano (5 chapters + epilogue). Gen, mostly--there's some J/I in the background, but mostly it's what happens when the team is sent to the Himalayas while Jack is off with the Doctor. I stayed up past midnight finishing this one, and I think I've read it twice since--it's very compelling and a fabulous story.

The Theory of Two Centres, by copperbadge (8 chapters). No time-travel here, but an interesting look at pre-Torchwood Ianto, and a good, creepy plot.

Parts of the Process, by asrai (17 parts, depending how you count them). Ianto goes traveling with the Doctor.

Attrition, by Lazuli Kat (she has an LJ, but I don't remember what it is) (37 parts, some short). Don't be scared off by the colors on the index page--the story is more readable. Jack comes back after traveling with the Doctor, but Ianto isn't exactly falling at his feet.

Reclaiming Camelot, by tanarian (something like 14 parts, IIRC). Another "Jack Comes Back" story.

The Sic Transit Tempus series, by jadesfire2808 (15 main stories, plus some extras). Gen, but kind of slashy if you squint. It's a look at what happens to Jack from the 1950s until present-day Torchwood, and it's great. Jack's characterization is terrific, and Jades has created some wonderfully complex OCs.