January 29, 2008
92924
You're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine… You're on my list, so I want to know you better!
Be honest! Copy from here and fill it out directly to me in a comment, then repost the empty questions at your own blog.
1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
A.
2) What was your dream growing up?
A.
3) What talent do you wish you had?
A.
4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
A.
5) Favorite vegetable?
A.
6) What was the last book you read?
A.
7) What zodiac sign are you?
A.
8) Any tattoos and/or piercings? Explain where.
A.
9) Worst habit?
A.
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
A.
11) What is your favorite sport?
A.
12) Do you have a negative or optimistic attitude?
A.
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
A.
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
A.
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
A.
16) Do you have any pets?
A.
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
A.
18) What was your first impression of me? (hmmm…careful!)
A.
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
A.
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
A.
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
A.
22) What color eyes do you have?
A.
23) Ever been arrested?
A.
24) Bottle or can soda?
A.
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
A.
27) What's your favorite place to hang at?
A.
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
A.
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
A.
30) Do you swear a lot?
A.
31) Biggest pet peeve?
A.
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
A.
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
A.
35) Do you believe in God?
A.
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
A.
PS- My answers are here.
January 26, 2008
Fic Rec – Coming Home to Crickhollow
I just read Calanthe's story Coming Home to Crickhollow. It's set after Merry and Pippin return to Crickhollow after the Battle of Bywater. There are some really stirring images of how the two hobbits might have been changed by the quest, and what pressures they might face from their families on their return. Be forewarned that it contains slash (M/P explicit, Frodo/Sam implied), and actually very well-written and believable slash at that. But it's more than just slash, and takes a really nice view at how a sexual relationship between these two hobbits might have played out.
I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys hobbits with emotional depth and resilience – it's all of that, but Merry and Pippin still feel distinctively hobbity. Having tried to walk that line in my own fic, I know how difficult it is. Calanthe pulls it off admirably. And it's just the right length – 3 chapters, roughly 11.5k words, so it has some meat without being too long. This story has gone on my shortlist of things to consider nominating for the MEFAs. Of course tastes vary, but if this seems like a topic you might find interesting, give it a read.
January 24, 2008
that year meme
gave me 1994. This is the year I turned 12.
1994 was a tumultuous and epic one for me. About a week after school got out that summer my dad and I had our first big fight (over something I had said in Sunday school). I had been invited to visit some family in Trier, Germany, and I took the opportunity to do it. I actually ended up living there, from June 1994 through August 1995, and so it was a year that should changed my life. I went to Rome that Christmas and saw the pope speak, but what made a bigger impression on me was the simple beauty of my aunt playing “Stille Nacht” in the centuries-old cathedral.
And then there was the infamous water balloon incident of that fall (which would not have been half as mischievous or fun if we hadn't dyed the water so the boys thought it would stain). Jo was seventeen and quite adult in some ways, but still an overgrown teenager in others. But really, the less said about that whole thing, the better. 
I was actually supposed to be confirmed that fall, but I didn't because I was out of the country, and somehow never went through with it even after I returned to America – I was baptized as an infant and joined the church as an adult when I went away to college, but no confirmation for me.
On a worldwide scale…. I remember lots of high-profile crime happening that year. It's when Tonya Harding hurt Nancy Kerrigan's leg, and when Byron Beckwith was convicted for his murder of the civil rights leader Medgar Evers back in the '60s. The first struck me as absurd –I was not much into pop culture at the time and couldn't understand why everyone cared so much– but the second case affirmed my sense that things turned out okay in the end.
Another formative event in 1994, though probably not as widely-known, is that it was the year that Shannon Faulkner was admitted into the Citadel. She was the first woman to be admitted there; it was in my home state (at the time) of South Carolina. What amazed me so much wasn't that she got in, but the assumption that people made that first she would never survive, and that if she didn't it was because of the inferiority of women. This wasn't so much a feminist issue; but it got me thinking about the difference between physical and psychological strength.
And then of course there is the crash of USAir flight 427 in Pittsburgh. No survivors. It's one of the first deaths on a large scale that I remember. And also the first time I can remember being afraid someone was dead, aside from elderly relatives and neighbors; an uncle was supposed to have been flying on that flight, but had been reassigned at the last minute.
That's the high points, anyway.
PSA: LOTR Read-along
Hey guys,
A friend of mine is running a community read-along of LOTR. I thought some of you guys might be interested in it. If you'd like, feel free to join along.
We'd like to invite you all to join us at the LOTR Community Reading Group, recently spearheaded by Dancingkatz (Christine). It is one of several sister groups for writers and readers of LOTR Fanfiction of different genres. At the Community Reading Group we are reading our way through first the trilogy and the Hobbit, and discussing them a chapter at a time. This is a rather fascinating experience because some readers are brand new to the fandom, while others are seasoned veterans, with many of us scattered in between. We are learning from each other as we go along, sharing our insight and opinion on the story and the characters. This is not a group for movie verse, although thoughts regarding the differences between the books and movies are welcomed into the discussion.
Following the philosophy of all our Community Groups, we host a very friendly, supportive atmosphere for our members. So please stop by and see what we're all about and come read with us! The mods welcome your questions, thoughts, and ideas for the group.
Cathleen and Christine
Moderators
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Community_Reading_LOTR_v2/
January 22, 2008
91720
I just received my first acceptance letter, at University of Leeds. It doesn't have guaranteed funding (I have to apply for that separately) but I'm in.
This is big news. Leeds is probably one of my top choices, it is a fabulous school for my research interest and it is in the U.K., where I'd love to live.
a rose by any other name….
Gacked from
A good title can make or break a fanfic. List (at least) five recent fanfics you've written. For each one, explain how you came up with the title and what it means.
Like many of my quotes, “They Also Serve” is an allusion to a literary quote, either Tolkien or otherwise. This story is in an odd way my anti-feminist manifesto, looking at the hardship women would have faced when they didn't pull an Eowyn but instead stayed quietly at home and kept the home fires burning. The title is an allusion to Milton's “On His Blindness,” specifically the quote I mention at the end of that poem.
2. Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair
This vignette series is both Denethor/Finduilas and Denethor/Thorongil, so it was tantalizing to have that ambiguity in the title – is the true love Finduilas or Aragorn, both who I imagine to have black hair? The title alludes to a Scottish folk song.
This title is also an homage to one of my favorite passages from my own fics, from the end of Pride and Despair. Denethor's last thoughts before his death on the pyre.
Black was the colour of my true love’s hair. Blue was the wave that drowned Númenor that was. White was the crown, and white was the Tree, but black was the banner that bore them all into the Shadow-lands, when Elves and Men last drew swords together, and postponed our fall for a time. Black was the eastern sky in the dream that drew Boromir from my side; black are the sails that now bring our doom closer; black is the night that never shall lift. Black is the stone that torments me, even now.
(Note, you need to be on my “mature” filter for the above link to work.)
This one gets its title from a line in the appendices of LOTR. When Aragorn first meets Arwen he introduces himself by saying, “Estel I was called, but I am Aragorn, Arathorn's son, Isildur's Heir, Lord of the Dúnedain.” This story is about Aragorn settling into the Angle and dealing with the fact that he's been lied to his whole life, so the double-meaning of Estel as “hope” seemed pertinent.
4. Summer Daze
Finally one not based on a quote. This was a follow-up to my previous story, “Summer Nights,” and as it was about the struggle between emotion and reason and impulse and morality, I couldn't quite resist the pun.
(Note, you need to be on my “mature” filter for the above link to work.)
This is from another Tolkien quote: Faramir says in TTT that Gondorians stnad before meals and look “towards Númenor that was, and beyond to Elvenhome that is, and to that which is beyond Elvenhome and will ever be.” This is one of my favorite quotes, and in all honesty I was just waiting for a fic that fit the line well enough for me to use it as a title.
January 19, 2008
meeeeeme!
1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say?
I would probably be really weirded out, because I'm not sexually active. It would mean either immaculate conception, pt. II, or that I'd been raped at some peoint with a drug so I wouldn't remember it.
2. Do you trust all of your friends?
I try to. Trust is something that comes very hard to me. I probably trust in everyday things, but there are certainly things about myself I've never told to more than a select few.
3. Would you move to another state or country to be with the one you love?
Hard to say. If it was important to the other person I probably would (though moving to an entirely different type of place –like to the middle of the country– would be a harder decision). But I've done long-distance relationships my whole life and wouldn't feel compelled to for myself.
4. Do you believe that everything that happens happens for a reason?
No. I think I used to believe that, but it's just too emotionally painful for me to think there's a reason behind all the bad stuff that happens.
5. Can you make a pound in change right now?
I'm unclear – if we mean the weight unit, I will when I run to the grocery store and buy another roll of quarters, probably. If we mean the British pound, I probably have the equivalent of that in quarters lying around to make the American equivalent of a pound.
6. Which one of your friends do you think would make the best doctor?
I actually think Dwim would, with her perceptive nature for seeing to the heart of problems. And of course there's the ones that actually *are* doctors.
7. Are you afraid of falling in love?
I am not afraid of the love itself, but I have definite trust issues, which makes it hard not to be afraid of being that open.
8. How many cars are on your drive?
No cars at all. I do have a shiny new sticker on my student ID that lets me on the buses for the next four months….
9. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times?
Absolutely. Entirely too many of them reside in Middle-earth, but some real ones too.
10. What’s your most favourite scar?
Harry's.
(Hey, it didn't say it had to be mine!
11. When was the last time you flew in a plane?
Christmas '06. (I took the train this year.)
12. What did the last text message you sent say and who to?
It's been ages. I think it was with my sister several months ago.
13. What features do you find most attractive in the preferred sex?
I don't really look at the physical, though they shouldn't look grungy. I guess I pay most attention to their sense of humor and their intellect.
14. Fill in the blank. I love___________
Mozart. (Seriously, I've been on a kick of listening to him lately. Most relaxing.
15. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future?
By near future if we mean three months, “write my thesis.”
16. Do you ever disobey your parents?
My biological parents: hardly ever in actual deeds. I did dare to not believe the same things, which in many ways was worse.
My aunt and uncle, who I consider as close as parents: in little things, from time to time, but nothing huge.
17. How many kids do you want to have?
I have no real desire to have kids, at least right now. I'm only twenty-five, so my opinion may change as I get older or meet the right person.
18. Would you make a good parent?
I don't know. I've not had great role-models in that department, so I really don't think so. But you never know.
19. Where was your default picture taken?
It was actually created by our very own . I forget when I picked it up.
20. What’s your middle name?
Not in LJ-land, especially not unlocked — sorry.
21. Honestly, what’s on your mind right now?
That I really should be reading the history book I got out of the library. Or doing Latin translations. I feel lazy.
22. If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?
I'd move to Germany full-time, when I was about thirteen.
23. Who was or will be the maid of honour/ best man at your wedding?
I don't know. Possibly my sister, possibly my cousin Erika.
24. What are you wearing right now?
Still in PJs, actually. I never quite got around to getting dressed.
25. Righty or Lefty?
Righty when it comes to writing, but fairly ambidextrous from typing and piano.
26. Best place to eat?
Juji's, the Middle-Eastern cafe down the street.
27. Favourite jeans?
I prefer sweats, actually, but I always like medium blue.
28. Favourite animal?
Cats. Though coyotes are gaining on me.
29. Favourite juice?
A mix Welches makes: orange-pineapple-apple.
30. Have you had the chicken pox?
Yes, as a child.
31. Have you had a sore throat?
Yes, earlier this week.
32. Ever had a bar fight?
Not in one, but I've seen them.
33. Who knows you the best?
I do, I think.
34. Shoe size?
11 in open-toed, 11.5 in close-toed. (That's in American sizes.)
35. Do you wear contact lenses or glasses?
Glasses.
36. Ever been in a fight with your pet?
Not physical, but if you've ever owned cats you'll realize how absurd it would be to answer no to this question if we allow heated disagreements on what is acceptable behavior….
37. Been to Mexico?
Nunca – pero fui proxima, cuando visite San Diego.
(Never – but I was close, when I visited San Diego [at least in my broken Spanglish])
38. Did you buy something today?
No, but I'll be going grocery shopping shortly.
39. Did you get sick today?
A little stuffy, but otherwise okay.
40. Do you miss someone today?
Yes. :-S My cousin Jo.
41. Did you get in a fight with someone today?
Yes. :-S My mother, by email. (Yes, email fights are possible!)
42. When is the last time you had a massage?
I don't know if it counts, but I had a bit of a scalp massage the last time I had my hair cut. If that doesn't count, I can't even remember when.
43. Last person to lie in your bed?
Me.
44. Last person to see you cry?
A classmate.
45. Who made you cry?
No one really made me cry – I had been in counseling that morning, I checked my email and saw how busy the MEFA post-mortem was and was just thoroughly overwhelmed and exhausted and couldn't help it. That happens sometimes.
46. What was the last TV show you watched?
House, last night.
47. What are your plans for the weekend?
Thesis research. I'm going out to lunch tomorrow with a friend. May try to go out to see a movie on Monday (long weekend).
48. Who do you think will repost this?
I'll be interested in anyone who does.
49. Who was the last person you hung out with?
I guess Lyllyn, last night on IM. If in person is all that counts, then classmates between the start-of-term assistant meeting and class on Wednesday.
January 18, 2008
90937
You know, for two days now I've been trying to figure out why the arrow keys no longer let me move through my Excel worksheet, but instead worked like pressing the up or down arrow on the scroll bars. This has been going on for three days now. I thought I'd maybe accidentally set some option by hitting the wrong key combination (that happens sometimes in Word), so I nosed around the FAQ to see what could cause this.
To my credit, I am a touch-typist, and my keyboard is on a tray under my desk. So I don't actually see the little lights that are lit. Microsoft's help files were helpful for once. They helpfully pointed out that if you wanted to use the arrow keys like the arrow button on the scroll bar, you just had to hit the scroll-lock key. I pulled out my keyboard and saw that I had in fact hit that.
On the plus side: Excel now works again.
On the down side: I really should have caught this three days ago. Next thing you know TS people will be showing me how the problem is I put in the batteries backwards. *g*
Ah, well. I suppose we're all allowed our little moments of incompetence.
January 17, 2008
LOTR fanfic request
I just read Old Man Willow by . It's a really creative and original (if a little dark) AU. To say more would be to give away the surprise. However, if you like Tolkien fanfic that's a bit off the beaten path (but still thoroughly canonical), give this one a read.
January 16, 2008
90585
When I saw this I quite literally wimpered. It's that cute.
http://dailycoyote.blogspot.com/2008/01/baby-with-boot.html
Enjoy
