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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Sunday, December 27th, 2009 |
maiac
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5:20p |
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| Saturday, December 26th, 2009 |
hsifyppah
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2:16p |
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seanan_mcguire
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11:49a |
Bullets are optional, awesome isn't.
If you're in the Seattle area, come to the Wayward Coffeehouse tonight at eight for HEAPING PILES OF AWESOME. Dude, I dressed Mel like Captain Tightpants for you people. That counts for something, right? And our set list is made of win. And what Betsy does on "Mama Said" will break your heart. See you there.  Current Mood:  busyCurrent Music: Vixy and Tony, "Mal's Song." |
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morganminstrel
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11:27a |
Interesting continued...
Continuing the conversation I referred to here, R. Fiore responds to Jeet Heer, who comments back. And then, the conversation continues. I'm finding this interesting (and I'm not sure I entirely agree with all of it, especially Fiore's characterization of Eddie Anderson and the reaction to him) and I hope you guys are too. More as and if I see it... Current Mood:  thoughtful |
hsifyppah
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10:08a |
I had a morning latte with my parents, after almost a week of no coffee on account of illness, and felt Very! Energetic! upon my return and determined to mount on the wall the lovely framed photo of Joe & I they gave us for christmas. All of the hammers in this house have gone in to hiding. If I needed a plumb bob, a mitre box, an enormous vise, a mason's pointing trowel, or a metric wrench, no problem, but the hammers are off taking their stat holiday in Cuba I don't doubt. Anyway, after a frustrating but ultimately fruitful half hour in which I employed the services of a copy of the Merck Manual, a can of soup, a 1.25lb dumbbell plate, a butter knife and finally a piece of dental floss, I succeeded in mounting the picture. As I stood back to admire the placement, I knocked the neighbouring photo, my favourite wedding photo (Joe is pretending to be a zombie eating my brains and I look quite sad about it) on to the slate floor and the frame shattered. ARGHH! But I had a spare frame of identical design, and after a bit of sweeping up and confiscating bits of glass from the cats, the front hall looks very dapper and I feel terribly accomplished. Now I think I will have a bit of stollen and try to stop wiggling quite so much. I sent my father home with a guitar! He is keen to pick it up to be able to jam along with me when I visit! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!!! He plays violin and flute, (in a "I was in a local symphony 30 years ago but only pick them up once or twice a year these days" kind of way) but we've never played together. (I don't think he knows any guitar, but I have pictures of him playing mandolin in the 70s. I'm sure he'll pick it up right quick.) He was SO happy when I took up first guitar and then banjo. I had years of piano lessons as a child and we had a lot of tearful "I want to quit!" "Noooooo" "Okay maybe six months more" exchanges until I finally gave it up. He despaired of having any musical children, (I was in choirs on and off, but it's not the same, see) mourned over it, and then out of the blue I fell in love with the banjo. I'm so excited to get to play with him soon. I think this is my best christmas present, much as I am in lust with my new hat. |
maiac
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7:32a |
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supergee
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6:05a |
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supergee
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5:32a |
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| Friday, December 25th, 2009 | |
morganminstrel
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10:15p |
Doctor Who 30.17--"The End of Time, part one" by Russell T. Davies
Oh. My. Goodness. I need a moment, I think I'm still recovering from that ending. Hang on. So, here we are at the penultimate David Tennant Tenth Doctor episode and, ultimately, the beginning of Russell T. Davies' last word (for some time anyway) of Doctor Who. It's been an incredible journey, four years long--five, if you count Eccleston's year, and I think we should. Russell has already done what seemed to be his big sum up in last year's series finale, but this was...something else. It starts off as a sequel to "Last of the Timelords" and then moves to a place that, well, I never thought it actually would. And it left me with my mouth hanging open. Is it absolute perfection? No, it really isn't; there are parts that work better than others and there are bits that don't feel thematically Doctor Who. One could argue that it's the show's job to continue to grow and push the envelope, but there were some pacing issues that....well, I rolled with it, obviously, and was well rewarded. I'm going to add, pre-spoiler space, that I wouldn't watch this with any younger kiddies. There are moments (only moments, though) here that are honestly disturbing enough that I'd hold off on putting them on until after the kids are well asleep. (And I'm talking to one person in particular here.) And, you know, it has to be ( spoiler space time )NEXT WEEK: The End. For Russell T. Davies as writer/producer, for David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor...and possibly for Time itself! "The End of Time, part two" by Russell T. Davies--can't wait! As an extra note, for those in the US who can't get the show by...other means, I wanted to mention that the BBCAmerica cable channel will be showing this episode on Saturday 26th December (tomorrow as I write this). They'll be showing part two on 2nd January (after a huge marathon of Tenth Doctor episodes, so you'll undoubtedly have another chance to see part one) as well. If you've been enjoying "New Who," you....you really need to see this. Click here for my previous Doctor Who reviews. Current Mood:  excited |
hsifyppah
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10:42p |
Use recipe books with pictures of plates on the front! Do I have to explain everything!
I am MUCH better! Amoxicillin, kiss kiss! Well, no kiss kiss yet, I might still be infectious, but tomorrow perhaps. My parents and Joseph and I are watching "one last episode," (the tenth today) of Black Books, which I was given for christmas - yay! Mum and I are laughing ourselves stupid and I made a new icon while we ate some christmas chocolate. Joe and I hosted xmas dinner at our house for the first time, and both of our families came. Ohhh the eatings. We made: braised rabbit with pancetta & fermented black beans, wisconsin-in-a-pan (taters, onions, kielbasa, thick-sliced bacon, and rather a lot of heavy cream,) broccoli & cheese sauce, creamed onions, a million mashed potatoes, a cheese plate, lemon meringue pie, grumpy punch, and a green salad. It was such a Lunderville event: the evening ended with Tom, Ben & Dad driving off to my sister's apartment to fix the fuse box and rewire some things. Hee hee hee. (Well, that makes it Such An Abbey Event too. I just really, really found the right family to marry in to.) It feels so right to fill our house up with people and feed them way too much food. (Speaking of which, are you all coming to our New Year's Eve party?) Joe and I made a safety llama! My parents moved to Sechelt a couple months ago and all their neighbours have hideously ugly lawn ornaments - buoys, driftwood sculptures, plastic animals (the neighbours have a wasp,) etc. Except for mom and dad! They're outcasts! We had to remedy this situation. Seph bought a wicker reindeer, pulled off all the christmas bits (which made it look rather less like a deer) and spray-painted it orange. I made a jaunty sequined scarf and a shiny rainbow-checked-lycra saddle blanket for it. It's very, er, subtle. Now I just have to make sure it actually leaves the house with them tomorrow when they go back home. I got the most awesome hat from santa. It's the same style as my beloved burlap cap which I lost in Seattle last February (I blame the space needle,) but soft brown fabrics with a wee embroidered bee and some crazy honeycomb hexagons. Traditionally mom & dad give me a really ugly bee ornament of some kind, but this is actually quite tasteful and I may not take it off for the next week. <3 |
mrgoodwraith
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5:38p |
My best wishes...
...to you all! Whether or not you celebrate any of this season's holidays, I wish you happiness, contentment, and joy, both now and in the coming year. Beyond that, as the Psalmist says, "May goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life." :-D |
judifilksign
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4:45p |
And All is Merry and Bright
Christmas morning was quiet. We took turns opening gifts. This year, I teared up, because Sparkle was unusually talkative, and I got to hear some of her thoughts. "Oh, look. There's a bear on the box. Hello, bear. What's inside you?" "Oh, I really really like this!" and "Oh, what pretty paper. It's all smooth and shiny." Casual words I had not expected to hear her express - this might be my best gift of the season, my peek into her thoughts. (And finding that they're so sweet - bonus!) The boys really like their Nanoscopes, although tech support to make them do whatever they do is having difficulty. The grandparents gifted us with Nerf guns, including the Vulcan I'd posted about in the past. They're allowed to shoot them in the hallway. Irish had gotten his brother Dino some science eye protector goggles. Who knew they'd be so useful so quickly? They've been very good about not shooting at anything alive. Gift-wise, the kewl toy of the season for the family has got to be the MindFlex, (Thank you, Nana!) where you wear a headband that transmits your electric thought impulses to the game, which causes a fan to spin to raise and lower a ball, which you then thread through an obstacle course. Very Jedi-apprentice. My padawans are pretty good at it already. I couldn't get the ball to move, stare as I would at it, so I started reading the directions, and WHIRRRR! off it flew! Dino said "Mom, *thinking* about a melody works better than *singing* one!" The kitties think this toy is amazing, and crouch nearby, watching the ball mid-air, floating enticingly near. My DH made a lovely dinner for us, which we ate mid-afternoon. We've had a relaxing day together, just being family. Tonight, we'll watch the DVD of Star Trek, the remake. Bring on the popcorn! I hope your holidays are as stress-free and full of family and love as mine has been today! Tonight, though, my DH must go prepare the toy store for the day after Christmas sales. Current Mood:  contentCurrent Music: video game music |
seanan_mcguire
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12:53p |
Many times, many ways.
Pretty much every culture I'm aware of has some sort of winter celebration, whether it's religious, secular, or somewhere in-between (since killing a dude to bring back the sun doesn't necessarily imply a particular faith, but definitely implies a belief that something out there takes requests). The depths of winter are the time when we most need to have faith in something, because in the days before cheap insulation, imported food, and really good central air, failure to have faith meant that you were prepared to have the sun go away forever. That's my favorite thing about this time of year. Everybody gets something they can celebrate. Even if all you're celebrating is not being the dude who finds the bean in his bread. I celebrate my family, both blood and chosen. I woke up beneath a veil of purring blue cats. I spent the morning at the International House of Pancakes with my mother, my little sister, and my little sister's girlfriend. And now I'm on my way to Seattle to spend a week with Vixy, who might as well be my sister for as much as I love her, and Tony, and Jennifer, and all the other members of my extended family that I can cram into my days. I won't see everyone this week; not everyone is there to see. But I celebrate them all. I celebrate reconstruction. We all burn bridges in our lives, either accidentally or on purpose, and while we may be sorry that we did it, it's hard as hell to shape the ashes back into something useful. In the last year, I have been fortunate enough to rebuild some bridges that provided essential access to the highways of my heart. Just as importantly, I've finally admitted that some bridges needed to be condemned, and ordered them quietly, respectfully torn down. I am happy with the choices I have made, and with the bridges I have built. I celebrate my writing career. I've been a writer for as long as I can remember. I was explaining the plot of a short story to my mother the other day, and she said "You always have to be writing something, don't you?" I'm not sure even she realizes how true that is. It took me a long time, and a lot of effort, to get to where I could say that my work was of publishable quality, and there are days when I wake up and go "Wait, what? Was there some sort of mistake?" The sight of my book on store shelves has made me cry more than once. It's just amazing. I celebrate the fact that we are living in the future. I'm writing this entry from 36,212 feet; I know that because the Virgin America trip display tells me so. I can send new stories to my beta readers without the words ever having touched paper—in fact, at least one story managed to make it to print without ever, so far as I know, being printed in any form prior to the page proofs. I can post this entry, and you can read it no matter where in the world you are. We are accessible to each other in ways we have never been before, and for all that it's a double-edged sword, I can't imagine living any other way. I celebrate you. I celebrate the fact that you have things in your lives to celebrate, and those things are not the same as mine, and that's amazing. I celebrate the fact that we have all shared another season (although not necessarily the same one, since it's summer in Australia), and the world has continued to turn. Have a wonderful winter. I promise that if I get any say about it, the sun will be coming back again. Current Mood:  gratefulCurrent Music: Fame, "I Sing the Body Electric." |
filkertom
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1:57p |
More Christmas Videos
It would be very easy to just embed the entire musical Scrooge, but these are some of my favorite scenes: The entire movie is on YouTube, and if you haven't seen it I think you'll like it. Several other vids I was planning to link to here were linked to in the previous vid thread, but there's no shortage of the good stuff: There are a gazillion more I haven't linked to -- 'cause that's for you. :) |
maiac
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11:46a |
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filkertom
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9:06a |
Dangerous Wands
I would TOTALLY see this. Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) huskiebear. What kind of HP mash-up would you make, if you could? I've seen 'em with Superman, Transformers, Pride and Prejudice, Devil May Cry, Twilight, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean, and remember that I tend to stick with only Harry/Hermione fics at Portkey. And of course there are a lot of variations of this. |
supergee
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9:05a |
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qnvhrtz
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8:00a |
Christmas Eve Service
Last night I decided to visit a childhood tradition. I visited the church that our family attended for many many years whenever we were in Kalamazoo. My parents, two of my brothers, and I all had our marriage ceremonies there. I am glad to say that the atmosphere was precisely what I remembered it to be. It was warm and rich and beautiful. As a stranger to the congregation, I still felt as if I was welcome. No one went out of their way to chat with me, but the nonverbals were comfortable. No one looked at me with scorn, or "we don't know you, go away" skank eye. They also did not swarm upon me with the desparation of carnivores that haven't eaten for weeks. This was a relief. I could sing all the hymns with just the words printed in the bulletin. No musical notation required. Yhe organist was moving at break neck speeds which made a couple of the hymns a challenge to sing. (C'mon Bill, I understand wanting to move the service along and keep an upbeat tempo, but please allow those of us that are singing enough time to actually enunciate the words, and breathe occasionally.) I could still recite most of the service and did so inside my own mind as it was read aloud. It was a very pleasant and soothing experience. It made me wish that congregation could exist solely as a group of people enjoying spiritual respite in a crazy world. Unfortunately, I know all too well, that with organizations comes politics. I don't want know that side of the story, ever, even if my impression of the current minister is very good. The tone and tenor of a service stems from the person that leads it. They have the right person. Current Mood:  contemplative |
supergee
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5:15a |
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filkertom
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5:02a |
Happy Merry Whatever It Is You Celebrate At This Time Of Year If Anything
The real reason I love Dickens: There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say... Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it! I say again, because I must never forget it or let you think I might have forgotten it: Thank you for being in my life. You keep me grounded. You get all the jokes. You give so much of yourselves. And you make everything worth it. I love you all. Merry Christmas. |
daisy_knotwise
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1:25a |
A Happy Holiday To All...
It's raining hard enough that I can hear it on the roof. The Presents for the morning are all wrapped and the stockings filled. Katie has taken all the bulbs out of the candelabras That are in the upstairs front window. She has done this before, but the bulbs are not where she left them last time. The Weather Chanel is on, but they haven't shown me the maps I want to see. I want to change the sheets before bed, but I'm pooped. Have a happy holiday! Love, GHR Current Mood: content |
| Thursday, December 24th, 2009 |
quadrivium
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8:45p |
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seanan_mcguire
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5:46p |
Alice meets SANTA.
Some of you may remember how last year I took my crazy little bluepoint princess, Lilly, to enjoy a memorable meeting with Santa Claus. (She was the first cat this particular pet store Santa had ever encountered "on the job." Interestingly, he declined to return to the store this year, forcing us to go elsewhere for our Yuletide cheer. I can't swear that this is because of my pointy little princess, but when the red velvet hat fits...) Because I am an equal-opportunity torturer of my cats, I decided that this year, it was Alice's turn to go out and meet the big man. So I called my mother, slapped a temporary harness on my normally collar-free cat, and went haring off for a date with destiny...or at least, a date with the local pet store Santa who hadn't retired due to cat. The proof is in the picture:  Alice was very well-behaved. She didn't claw, hiss, spit, bite, or try to get away, although she did sing opera to express her displeasure with the time spent in the career. (Much like Lilly, she calmed immediately once I got her out of the box and just held her.) This Santa was definitely happier about having a cat in his lap, and admired her at great length. It occurs to me that last year, I took Lilly to see Santa, said jokingly that I hoped she hadn't wished for a pony, and wound up bringing home a Maine Coon. I'm scared now. Current Mood:  quixoticCurrent Music: We're About 9, "Reading You." |
filkertom
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8:23p |
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filkertom
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6:15p |
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