Hermits United

Thank you to pinkfinity and regala_electra for the lovely v-gifts.

♥

*

\o/

Three sets of minutes done! Well, not done-done, because they still have to be reviewed/revised etc. but the hardest part is done and the first drafts are now in the hands of the appropriate staff members for editing. Woo!

*

Apparently I'm now famous in fleurdeleo's office because I gave her half the baked goods I made last weekend and she brought them into work and they were a big hit.

I brought in the cheesecake to my office today for the potluck luncheon (which is in lieu of a holiday party? I don't even know), and the funny thing is, yesterday, a number of people asked me if I were bringing something in today - I guess the blueberry cake and the banana cake made an impression. Heh. Winning the world over with baked goods - a sound strategy.

The people I sat with during the luncheon liked the cake, so that was a winner. Someone actually asked me if I ever made grain pie, and I was able to say I have, and then someone else recommended Veniero's grain pie, which recommendation I totally seconded.

I'm full of a lot of food - there was pulled pork and brisket and ribs and pierogies and chicken with string beans (too spicy!) and mac and cheese and a dozen other things I didn't even get to because I was so full with what was on my plate. Boss 2 made pineapple rum punch and I had a half a glass of that as well. And for dessert, a piece of cheesecake (I made it! I had to taste it!*), a chocolate mini-cupcake, a bite of apple crisp, and a half slice of flan. Everything was very good, but I totally want to curl up and go to sleep now.

FOOOOOOD COMAAAAAAAA.

So I mentioned that I decided I would bake for Christmas gifts for the adults in the family - there are four couples I usually buy for, and this seems like a cheaper, more personal gift (and also easier than trying to figure out what to get them either as individuals or couples). Of course, I had to listen to a harangue from my dad about it, as he mansplained why he thought I shouldn't do it, and just buy gift cards instead (is there a special subcategory for dadsplaining? because I think he does it to my brother, too). I was like, I'm not twelve years old and I have thought it through and it's totally workable, especially if I do most of the baking in their somewhat larger and more counter-space-having kitchen (plus! an industrial size KitchenAid stand mixer! Woo! *is mad jealous of that*). So we had one of those "I'm at work and can't yell at you like I'd like to so I'll speak in furious hushed tones on the phone" arguments the other day and the upshot is that I am baking for Christmas, but I am also taking an extra day off to do so (my boss was all, "that's fine - nothing is going on 12/23 anyway").

I won't even go into the way my mother makes me crazy sometimes, and specifically how she did so yesterday, because arrgh!

*deep calming breaths*

I love my parents, but dear god, the can be infuriating sometimes.

ANYWAY. I ordered a springform pan to be sent to their house since they don't have one and I don't want to lug mine from home, and I also ordered these star-shaped bake and give paper pans from King Arthur Flour. Anyone ever use them? It seems like a great idea, but do they really hold up in the oven? I guess I will find out. I don't think they're good for cheesecake though, hence the springform.

I also took care of my nieces' gifts yesterday - the boys just get Best Buy gift certificates these days - so I feel much more on top of things than I did earlier. Heh. I love Christmas shopping and I'm good at picking out gifts for people, but the past few years have been harder - I don't seem to get much in the way of Christmas spirit until it's much later than is wise to start shopping. Doing a lot online helps, and walking past the trees being sold on the sidewalk always perks me up, but still, I miss being more excited about the holidays.

So I was thinking of redoing my delicious tags regarding food - right now that's the only tag I use for anything food-related. When I started, I didn't think there would be much - the online menus of a couple of restaurants I order from, some food-related gift ideas, and that's it - but clearly there is more than that. I bookmark more recipes these days than stories (which is a whole other rant I won't subject you to), so I am thinking I should maybe differentiate a little to make things easier to find. Maybe food: recipes: [type of recipe, i.e., meat, pasta, dessert, etc.], food: information, food: menus? Hmmm...

I wrote most of this post earlier, before the luncheon and now I am too brain dead to remember if there was anything else I wanted to say, so I'll just hit post.

--
*I don't taste the things I don't like to eat, even when I've cooked them myself - I am a very finicky, unadventurous eater. When I used to cook regularly for the family I often made things I don't eat, but I wouldn't have brought something like that in for strangers, anyway.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/105072.html. people have commented there.

My hair is thick and knots if you look at it funny, so for years I've used a detangler or leave-in conditioner - usually Infusium 23. I ran out and they didn't have any in the CVS in my neighborhood, so I bought this L'Oreal leave-in conditioner gel, and it says on the bottle that it smells like rosemary and mint.

Maybe in BIZARRO WORLD.

It smells more like the backseat of a Cutlass owned by a guy named Joey Bones in 1986. After it's been locked up tight on a 90° day. Ugh. Works really well, but makes my hands stink of nothing that resembles rosemary, mint or any combination of the two. Sigh.

I'll use it, I suppose, but I am going back to Infusium after this. It doesn't have a horrible smell.

*

So my LJ comments have started slowly trickling in. Yay? I'm glad I didn't post any fic during this time of no notifications.

I made a cheesecake tonight to take to work tomorrow. Hopefully it came out as good as the one I made Saturday. It looks good and smells good. Sadly, my oven was not big enough for me to put the cake pan in a hot water bath, so the top cracked. (The largest pan my oven fits is a 9x13", but a 9" springform does not fit in that.)

Then I watched Criminal Minds. ( spoilers )

Then I watched Glee. I tried to dl some of the songs from tonight, but iTunes tells me something is being modified and therefore I cannot. But I really liked ( song spoilers )

*

I'm done with two sets of minutes and 3/4 of the way through the last set, and then hopefully I can actually do some work on my yuletide story at work. That would be good. I still have the same 73 words I had on Saturday. Sigh. I used to be good at this writing thing. What the hell happened? Possibly baking is my new fandom? I was an enthusiastic baker when I was younger and I've enjoyed rediscovering it, and I am more squeeful about it than I am about fandom these days. Hmm...

Speaking of which, I need to go unfrock my cheesecake, and then I am going to bed.

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/104750.html. people have commented there.

Still no comment notifications (even recent comments is running slow), but I am neck deep in minutes, and need some entertainment, so, a meme, gacked from cereta:

If I came with a warning label, what would it say?

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/104462.html. people have commented there.

Recently, I browsed through this book in a store, when in the second foreword (not the one by Pterry, the next one) I came across a description of Neil Gaiman as "bearing a startling resemblance to Dr. Gaius Baltar of Battlestar Galactica fame in voice, looks and manner, only slightly less agitated". Hm, thought I, despite being a fan of Mr. G. and somewhat fond of Gaius B. this had not occured to me before, but on the other hand, let's check out the evidence:

( Cousins? )

At the very least, I am now wondering about just where Neil Gaiman's story telling abilities come from. :)

Apropos, the other day I reread The Kindly Ones and The Wake, aka the conclusion of the Sandman saga, and found it as awesome and rich as ever. I'm also more affected by Lyta Hall than ever and wish I had the Lyta standalone The Furies by Mike Carey here, but monanotlisa has it. The Kindly Ones is as much, if not more, Lyta's tragedy as it is Morpheus'. ( Spoiler for a classic Greek tragedy, Sandman style, ensue. ) Lyta haunted me then - which resulted in my Angel/Sandman crossover, Ouroborous, where she and Connor collide and end up helping each other come to terms with their pasts and presents - and I find she still haunts me now.

Big Bang Theory

Sheldon! ♥

( spoilers )

*

Castle

( spoilers )

*

Hopefully today will be less fraught and crazy-making than yesterday was, and I will be able to get some work done on my yuletide story. I am worried I won't live up to the source, but then I think, in some ways, who could? Which will make more sense once I can talk about it.

*

LJ, please to be fixing comment notifications ASAP. It is really freaking irritating that I'm still not getting any.

*

Lastly, thank you again for all the lovely snowflakes. I wasn't able to get to everyone before they shut it down, but if I could have, I would have. *heart*

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/104195.html. people have commented there.

I LOVE THE WHOLE WORLD
BUT THE AO3 CODERS MOST OF ALL
BOOM-DE-YADA, BOOM-DE-YADA...

:-D

In only-minorly-related news, apparently my long-slumbering infatuation with Merlin UK fandom has re-manifested. The trouble with tag-wrangling and thinking about what Freeform tags I might want on my own bookmarks is that I keep finding all kinds of neat new things to read!

Which reminds me... not for official tag-wrangling, but for my own bookmarks... I'm thinking I want to start using nonfandom-specific tags for the following concepts, because when I'm reading in Merlin and Smallville (and other?) fandoms, I find myself seeking these themes out:

Secret Revealed
Secret Revealed To Partner
Secret Revealed To Partner - Unresolved Sexual Tension
Secret Revealed To Partner - Established Relationship
Secret Revealed To Ally (or perhaps To Friend? hmmm.)
Secret Revealed To Nemesis
Secret Revealed Anticlimactic

What do you fine folks use to tag or bookmark such concepts?

ETA: Oh oh oh! I almost forgot! I've stumbled across a couple completely adorable Fred & Ginger fanvids recently! I think I found one of them via veni_vidi_vids and another via... um... hang on, I've got it here in a tab somewhere... aha! stultiloquentia and someone else (sorry, I can't find you!) right around the same time, and the others via google-searching trying to figure out where I'd found the first one, before I remembered!

glvalentine's rec of Love You Madly by roseytrebles

Fanvid: "Happiness" [Astaire/Rogers Films] by icepixie

They Can't Take That Away... by duckmilk productions

Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance) by StrictlyTaboo

Support For My Argument by vespersaw

Also Caught by vespersaw, featuring not only Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but also William Powell and Myrna Loy, and Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn...

*swoon*

(I must interject here that never in a million years did I ever expect to find fanvids including footage of Captain Blood (and Robin Hood OMG) aside from the fantastic One Night Fandoms: A Tribute to Yuletide by eruthros and thingswithwings!)

This entry was originally posted at http://elke-tanzer.dreamwidth.org/1018626.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Did who_daily to fill in for someone on maternity leave. Finally finished. SO glad I don't do this regularly. It's a bit long. I've been working on it since 5:45 PM; it's a little after 8 PM now.

However, I am running into some fun tidbits, ( Spoilers for the Christmas specials )

Is LJ still holding anyone else's comments hostage? My post from this morning got several comments that have not yet showed up in my inbox. Very annoying.

Also, thanks to ivydoor, latcxvi, and inell for more snowflake cookies. What, was there a sale at the bakery? :-) Yum.

In the immortal words of Kitty Pryde, yeahbuwhat?

( Spoilers have watched too much tv )

Somehow, I was struck by this plaintive little story in the local paper:

Mason City officials say one person was injured in a fire that apparently started when a shoe placed next to a heat lamp in the top of a fish aquarium overheated.

The fire happened Sunday afternoon at a mobile home. Officials say the fire was contained to the aquarium that was a housing a lizard.

Fire Capt. Richard Paulson says one person was injured and taken to a Mason City hospital. The person’s name was not immediately released.

Paulson says the lizard died in the fire.

Poor lizard. And I can just imagine the kind of living space where a shoe is likely to wind up on top of an aquarium.

Thank you so much to ingridmatthews, spectralbovine, tygress girlmostlikely, tartanshell, midnitemaraud_r, devildoll, and also to the anonymice for the snowflake cookies! ♥♥♥♥♥ *twirls you all*

[eta] Thanks also to the folks at crack_impala for the snowflake they sent to unfitforsociety. *g* [/eta]

I have been very meh recently and now I feel all warm and loved.

I've fallen behind completely on answering comments, so I am declaring today comment amnesty day, and getting rid of all the unanswered comments (on anything but fic - those I will try to answer) from before today.

I have three sets of minutes to write now, plus yuletide and broken toys. Yay?

Have a poem:

Rhymes and Songs

It's late now, December, a few trees
continue translating.
A menorah
holds up its little buckets of light.
An old woman with hands to her ears,
two homeless men discussing the nature of evil.
It's a clear morning.
Everyone's carrying luggage. There're gaps
between passersby, larger than usual.
The sun sets silver shields
in a row of window frames, all but one,
where a girl in a fur hat looks out.
Dawn riddled with memories
fading and dispersing among the trees,
fever subsiding —
you think, at last I can do what I want,
but mostly
you're building on the silence,
the solemnity of things left to themselves.
White limousine at the corner: an
intricate, depressed millionaire
trolling for a girl so beautiful
& frightened she might be enticed.
And a new life, arduous
and dire, commences. Years
on a backcountry farm near one of the Great Lakes,
a bent for poetry, little rhymes
& songs
to soothe yourself
and children you've come to know.

~Charlie Smith

~*~

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/104108.html. people have commented there.

Star Trek Reboot

Living on the Promise in Your Last Kiss by dreamlittleyo (Kirk/Spock) This was very hot , sad in some ways, and I loved the character voices.


Stargate Atlantis

Mirrored In The Visible by (Lorne/Zelenka) I had a blast reading this story! I loved the plot, the action was good, and I liked how Lorne and Zelenka fell in love. :)

(tags: recs-StargateAtlantis f4 Lorne/Zelenka first-time length-medium)

Stricken by squeaky and taste_is_sweet (Sheppard/McKay) INSTANT REC!!! I LOVED the plot, the character voices, and I was on the edge of my seat for most of this story. I also really enjoyed the large cast of supporting characters. :)

(tags: recs-StargateAtlantis Sheppard/McKay crossover torchwood f4 recs-instant!rec author-leah)

Second Verse by sgamadison (Sheppard/McKay) I liked the plot and this was fun to read.

(tags: recs-StargateAtlantis f4 Sheppard/McKay length-novel)

Surrogate by seekergeek (Sheppard/McKay) INSTANT REC!!! I had a blast reading this story. I absolutely loved John's character voice and the plot worked for me. :)

(tags: recs-StargateAtlantis mpreg first-time f4 recs-instant!rec length-novel Sheppard/McKay)

http://amalthia.dreamwidth.org/591336.html#comments

Tags: recs:sga, recs:startrek

Earlier this week I got a virus on my computer. I didn't have time to reformat for and re-install everything during the week and yesterday I had a headache most of the day so finally after 5 days of not being able to use google I reformatted my computer and I spent the last 5-6 hours re-installing everything and making sure my settings are correct.

Now this time, i'm using Acronis True Image Home 2009 to make a image of my system/c drive so next time I should be able to load the backup up that I'm making right this minute instead of spending another whole Sunday reformatting and re-installing.

I've never made a disk image before so I'm a bit leery as to how it's supposed to work and I'll probably end up overkilling on backups but seriously this last virus was most annoying!

I should have some recs coming up soon! I couldn't post anything through the week because being online was an exercise in frustration with pop ups all over the place!


http://amalthia.dreamwidth.org/591056.html#comments

I love all the holiday greetings! :) Though I'm puzzled as to why I'm getting them all today??? Did I miss the fandom memo that today is the day to send out virtual gifts???

Though I'm a bit baffled as what I did to deserve everyone sending me cards I can't deny that it touched me and I really appreciate it.

Thank you!

thevinegarworks, ladyflowdi, bigmamag, rejeneration, thenyxie, scarlett_o, and morcalivan


http://amalthia.dreamwidth.org/590745.html#comments

I can't stop laughing about this, although the fact that this guy is an elected official should give me pause.

In the opinion of Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman, President Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night on the war in Afghanistan was deliberately timed to block the Christian message of the "Peanuts" television Christmas special.

Wiseman made the statements on his Facebook page, where he declared Obama to be a Muslim. Only people on Wiseman's "friend's list" had access to the post. ( Unsurprisingly, the mayor also doesn't get the Friends List concept )

I'll be over here, listening to Joe Cool's Blues, one of my favorite albums. Wynton Marsalis' dad Ellis wrote some of the music for the Peanuts specials, and Wynton and his brothers join their dad and other artists to record these favorites. Now, that's family values transformed into art.

Thank you to deirdre_c, marciaelena, catdancerz and dotfic for the lovely snowflakes in my userinfo! ♥♥♥♥♥

*

LJ, let my comments go!

*shakes tiny ineffectual fist*

*

\o/

Giants beat the Cowboys! That always makes for a great Sunday. And they swept them this year, so I think that means they have the upper hand should it come down to a tiebreaker.

*

After brunch, I went to Supercuts and while she was cutting my hair, the hairdresser quizzed me on 19th c. novels like Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice (well, technically movies adapted from 19th c. novels). I thought she said she'd read Jane Eyre, so I kind of spoiled it for her (crazy wife in the attic omg!) but she didn't seem to care. She said she was going to bump it up on her Netflix list, 'cause she likes the creepy ones.

Generally, I hate having to chat while having my hair done, but this conversation was amusing and also about something I am familiar with, which is not usually the case. Also, she washed my hair with this lavender and mint shampoo that I really liked so I ended up buying it. Obviously, the way to upsell me is with conversation about books and things that smell nice.

*

I have a whopping 71 words on my yuletide story. Wah! Also, I am trying to figure out how I am going to find a beta who knows the source, because I'd like someone who is at least familiar with it to read the thing over when I finally finish it.

When that's done, I can focus on Broken Toys, among other things. I think I know what I'm writing for that, but writing it in my current unable to write state should be interesting.

Stupid writing. Why so hard?

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/103705.html. people have commented there.

I'd like to thank dreamlittlyo, mickeym, varkelton, and stormcloude for the virtual gifts. :) The snowflakes look awesome. :)

ETA: and I just got a new one! Thanks denyce! :)


http://amalthia.dreamwidth.org/590367.html#comments

( In which I praise Dollhouse to the heavens and then knock it down so fast it gets instantly killed. )

...

In other news, T-Minus 2 hours until the unbearable noise starts. I love football, but I hate obnoxious football fans. Trufax.

Two thumbs up for both the flourless chocolate cake, which tastes like a really intense fudge brownie, and the Sicilian cheesecake, which is just yummy, with a hint of orange flavor (I wonder if adding almond extract would work. hmm...).

***

Here is some music I uploaded. The theme was "songs to wake up to" and I did two small sets:

for when you need to ease into the day with some softness:

For No One - Azure Ray
Raining in Athens - Azure Ray
The Shape I Found You In - Girlyman
You Will Rise - Tom McRae
Anna Begins - Counting Crows

for when you need to get the adrenaline going:

Every You Every Me - Placebo
Back in Black - AC/DC
Wherever I May Roam - Metallica
One Girl Revolution (Battle Mix) - Superchick
Slow Down Gandhi - Sage Francis

I uploaded this for angelgazing, because it is THE Remus Lupin theme song (pre-Azkaban, anyway) in my head:
There Is a Boy Who Never Goes Out - the Lucksmiths

And here are some songs I was thinking should be SPN vids:
Rise Up in the Dirt - Voxtrot
Sam and Dean, saving people! hunting things! the family business!

Red Shoes (The Angels Wanna Wear My) - Elvis Costello
Sam and Dean v. angels

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello
Down In It - Nine Inch Nails
Terrible Lie - Nine Inch Nails
Sam wondering how things got all fucked up, and if it's even possible to fix them.

***

Now I have to go get ready to meet fleurdeleo for brunch. And then another day of not-writing my yuletide story! Woo!

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/103496.html. people have commented there.

Recently, a friend of mine wondered in an aside what a Watchmen adaption by Orson Welles would have been like. Clearly, this was an idea of pure genius. Because Welles had both the absolute fearlessness and cheek, and while managing to infuriate half the fanbase before ruthlessly jettisoning some of the main characters along with subplots and plundering other Moore works for dialogue inserts, he'd have created something breathtakingly original in its own right.

(Also the meta of it would have been fun. Because in Watchmen the book, one of the earliest excerpts from Hollis Mason's memoirs mentions listening as a fan to Orson Welles on the radio, playing The Shadow/Lamont Cranston, one of the earliest superheroes.)

This train of thought of course brought me inevitably to contemplating other adaptions of comics classics by legendary directors, or rather, which legendary director would match best to which classic comics. Here are some ideas:

Charlie Chaplin: Mad Love by Paul Dini. Come on, it would have been awesome. Given how Chaplin loved to branch out (see him playing both Hitler in The Great Dictator and a serial killer in Monsieur Verdoux), you know he'd have been utterly unable to resist casting himself as the Joker. And as Harley Quinn? Paulette Godard, of course. However, in my head this adaption is a silent one, because though I do like Chaplin's later sound movies as well, the silent film is his true and most perfect medium. It would have been the best and most unique of all Batmenverse based films.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Phoenix arc, by Chris Claremont. Hitchcock, expert in neurotic heroines and heroes as well as people going mad and trying to hide it, would have excelled at the original Jean Grey tragedy. Mind you, given that as Joseph Cotten put it in his memoirs he didn't understand why actresses didn't dye their hair blonde for the privilege of working for him, he'd have been sorely tempted in switching hair colour between Jean and Emma (if the Hellfire Club would have shown up in his adaption, that is, and knowing Hitchcock, I think it would have), but in the end he might have resisted.

Billy Wilder: Alias by Brian Bendis. Noir look at the underside of the Marvelverse, first person narration that really works instead of coming across as superfluous, sharp dialogue, inner brokenness? So a Wilder thing. He'd have probably ended up having a hate/hate relationship with Bendis as he did with Raymond Chandler on their shared script for Double Indemnity, but the result would so have been worth it. Including Barbara Stanwyck as Jessica Jones.

Just watched both last week's and last night's episodes of White Collar back-to-back. ( Cutting for spoilers )