Firstly: Hello! Thank you for agreeing to write me a story in a little fandom we share. I am super excited!

Secondly: I was in a terrible hurry when I signed up because for some reason I was mistaken about actual deadline times/dates, so if those prompts read like I whipped them off in five minutes, that's because I totally did. /o\ I know waving my hands and saying "I like these people GO!" is sometimes not actually very helpful, so I'll give you some more information here in case you want or need it. :) These are all just suggestions that you may take or leave; nothing do-or-die.

YULETIDE is open!!

I've got my list of fandoms-offered put together. Next up: narrowing down requests list. *rubs hands together*

(Starting...now. Okay, now. Now. Now.)

Pages of epic book report: .5/15
Love for mass media: 4/10 ("weirdly fond")
% of research proposal complete: 10
Loads of laundry: 1!
Hours studied for history course: 0
Brownies eaten: 2
Cups of tea: 1 (Mmm.)
Episodes of break-time TV: 1 (Pushing Daisies first season finale.)
Sadness over untimely cancellation of beloved show: 10/10
Musical glee clips watched: 0 (\o/)
Creative writing break-time wordcount: 233
With character development? ...No.
With plot, then? Still no.
Trips to youtube: 0 (\o/)

We are not in such bad shape I think!

1. It has been snowing all day. Like it means it. It's OCTOBER NINTH. That is so not okay with me.

2. Today I bought a hat. It is grey and knitted and I think rather dashing.

3. Today I also bought Jurassic Park, and its two sequels. *happy sigh* I have a few friends who have never seen it (my response to which was WHAT followed by WE WILL FIX THIS), so maybe we can do that later next week.

4. The Vampire Diaries is totally actually getting sort of good. Bwahahaha.

5. A couple weeks ago for school I read McLuhan's Theories of Media, and did not particularly enjoy it. However! It had a lot of really interesting ideas about the way we use and perceive space that I keep being reminded of while going about my daily life. Yesterday I was watching some vids, and my brain was all like "Vids! Using acoustic space! And non-linear organizational systems! ...Good grief."

6. My roommate is currently making fake blood. Heh.

7. Yuuuuuultide!!

This last weekend the Prime Minister of Canada sang the Beatles with cellist Yo Yo Ma while playing the piano. Possibly for kicks, or for strategic political gain, depending on who you ask. (I do not ask.) For viewing pleasure:



Hee. My favourite is the violinists giggling in the background.

...Aaaand there was a whole paragraph about poetry here, except then I realized my point could be boiled down to a whiny "...But I like commas!" and that doesn't require a whole paragraph to say.

Back to work.

In an effort to sort of keep up with thinking about the things I watch, drive-by thoughts on the television I've been following around lately. Spoilers range from Not Really to Vaguely So on the official spoiler meter.

( Glee. Cut for guest stars. Does anybody care about guest stars? I don't really care about guest star spoilers. And this guest star spoiler is AWESOME. )


The Big Bang Theory - Is it just me, or was the Howard Index of Creepy impressively low? I secretly love Howard, although not as much as I love Raj, but my favourite Howard is when he's not being incredibly skeevy.


Criminal Minds - Basically boiled down to 1) OH HOTCHNER I am rooting for you so hard, and 2) Emily Prentiss continues to kill me with how awesome she is all the time. *draws sparkly hearts*


( Supernatural )


Fringe - On episode 14. Waiting impatiently for exciting reveals I know are coming soon. Wishing Astrid had more to do; I would totally watch the Astrid Show. Who wouldn't, man? Peter and Walter's relationship continues to be the heart of this show.

* *

So in an effort to put off buying a coffee maker for a little bit, I bought a container of no name instant coffee. And- well, it's awful. I knew going in that it wouldn't be good, but my goodness. It doesn't even really taste like coffee. It's like someone made coffee, let it sit for a solid week and then made it into powder through the use of sketchy scientific additives. (Actually, how do they make instant coffee? Note to self, look that up later.)

Anyway! It's bad. But I figure that somewhere out in the universe there must be the One True Instant Coffee Recipe, you know, the the one that magically turns instant grossness into something beautiful. It must exist! For the last few weeks I have been trying different things out with varying levels of success. Pinch of salt? Better. Drops of vanilla? Good. Accidentally spilling too much vanilla? ABORT. Most coffee recipes I've found online that look pretty cool have as a fundamental ingredient decent coffee, so I'm out of luck there.

Tried nutmeg/cinnamon/sugar/cream superfecta in reasonably okay real coffee earlier tonight, and it was pretty good. Will attempt with the instant stuff tomorrow. *rubs hands together*

Oh man, okay, so I had today off? And nothing planned? And I accidentally wasted the whole entire thing. Like I watched Bones the whole time while eating rice krispies.

...Okay so now it's about an hour later and I've cleaned the kitchen, and thus feel a little less pathetic. I'm actually kind of looking forward to going to work at 8 AM tomorrow morning just because it is assurance that things will actually be accomplished, by me, before the sun goes down. Good grief. Someday my lack of get-up-and-go will reach critical mass and I will actually overdose on dry cereal and crime procedurals.

And now for something completely different! Mulan. Mulan is a lovely movie. I was listening to that 'be a man' song, which is sung mostly by Captain Li Shang, and thinking about how awesome Captain Li Shang is. Because dude, he is awesome. Almost as awesome as Mulan. (That's why their love is pure!)

Anyway, Li Shang is a pretty cool dude. Wikipedia tells me he his primary character traits are uptight and pretty, which is of course a fabulously entertaining combination! Like, uh, Ned from Pushing Daisies. Or Agent Hotchner from Criminal Minds. There must be more, I just can't think of them.

Is there excellent Li Shang-is-awesome fic out there? Doubtful. Will I go looking? Absolutely. (There should be a random Disney drabblefest free for all. That would make all my dreams come true! All my Disney-related dreams. Or, well, most of them. 80% of all my Disney-related dreams! Get on that, universe. I can wait.)

Vividcon vids are starting to come in! I download the ones available, and watch them, and flail around a little, and when I refresh my reading pages there are MORE VIDS. \o/ \o/ \o/ IT'S LIKE EXTREMELY AWESOME MAGIC.

I'm watching last night's final performance show for So You Think You Can Dance right now. The best moment all season for me was definitely the audience's collective HOLY SHIT when Jeanine finished her last solo. That girl can DANCE, you guys.

Just discovered giant fucking spider in bathroom, when it is TOO LATE TO VACUUM WITHOUT DISTURBING HOUSEHOLD. Agh. Someday I will live with people who understand late-night spider emergencies. Spent 10 minutes cursing like pirate and steeling self for the inevitable before successfully trapping 8-legged hellspawn in plastic container with big heavy phone book for lid. It was- it was too big to squish, not even under a shoe or the business end of an old golf club.

Decided to just put it in the garage, still trapped, and then finish releasing it into the wild tomorrow. After stepping through door, was immediately fucking DIVEBOMBED by winged fluttery creatures of the night! Nearly died of heart failure but, my goodness, I did not drop my giant creepy prisoner. The world remains safe.

I'll just be over here, waiting for my skin to stop crawling.

And like, okay. Spiders gross me out, but I understand! They are living creatures! It's not their fault they are inherently disgusting! But you know what? I don't care, that fucker was huge. It probably eats other, not!mutant spiders in its spare time. For funsies. Because it can.

Enjoy your freedom, Mr. Spider. WINTER IS COMING.

Finally going to finish watching the first series of Skins. Am clinging to Jal as she is glorious beacon of reason and sanity in stormy ocean of sketchy decisions. Is going quite well.

Edit: Halfway through the first episode of series two. So good but at the same time aaaaaaaagh my heart. Oh, Tony. (I don't want anything bad to happen to my lovelies ever again but I've seen a couple random episodes from later on this season and I knooooooooow thiiiiiiiings.)

Edit Two: ...AGH MY HEART.

I ordered some books from Amazon that I kind of really want to read and now the package has arrived. It is sitting in the post office as I type this! But I can't get my package until FRIDAY because despite being delivered to my parents' mailbox address they are not allowed to pick it up for me because I never signed anything saying they could. AAAAAARGH INCONVENIENCE.

On that note, dear annoyed lady at work today: although obviously nobody is perfect, the vast majority of the time? MY COMPUTER PWNS YOUR CRAPPY MENTAL SUBTRACTION SKILLS, so shut up. No love, -me.

I'm going to bed now. May tomorrow be filled with rainbows and unicorns.

Things in the weather:
It rained all day today - got nearly an inch! - which is a very good thing. And voila! An appropriate time to use this icon. Erm, except that it's not fall. But still.

Things on the internets:
From ontd_startrek, Space Olympics. They're in the space olympics!

This sweet rescue video filmed to look like a miniature.

So I guess there's a dreamwidth block party going on this weekend? Not sure if I will get around to posting/participating, but I would like to link to this party mix from bossymarmalade because there is some awesome dance music going on over there.


Things on the television:
This afternoon I realized it was really important that I watch Atonement, the specific reasons for which are complicated and a little bit pathetic and in any case do not need exploring at this juncture. It was very pretty (yay) and tragic (agh my soul). Also it turns out James McAvoy is Scottish! The world makes more sense now. Also I feel like my love for special features is totally vindicated, because if I hadn't watched them I may never have clued in to the Scottishness of James McAvoy, and that would have been a darn shame.

Had today off work and so went shopping. I was even fairly successful! I got the chips in my windshield fixed up, and got a much-needed haircut, and then wandered around the mall for a few hours trying to find clothes. Ugh, clothes shopping: my arch nemesis. I did find some things I needed - but not jeans, NEVER JEANS, ARGH - which was good. And! I purchased some scrunchy-curly hair gel stuff, which apparently makes your hair curly. pollyrepeat  doesn't believe me that this product exists/works, but I HAVE SEEN IT WORK. I find your lack of faith disturbing, dear.

I am currently finishing up the last series of Black Books, which is an utterly fabulous show whose existence I was made aware of by this vid by dualbunny. It's about a drunk and angry Irishman and his friends! Sometimes they go on adventures, but Bernard isn't into leaving his shop very much, so mostly they have hilarious shenanigans instead.

Probably my summer television schedule will consist of mainlining random shows and also tuning in with great devotion to So You Think You Can Dance. I am kind of in love with SYTYCD. I am kind of ridiculously excited for it. Was I this happy about dancing last summer? I don't remember. Probably not. (Philip! Asuka! Evaaaaaaaan!)

In obligatory Star Trek news, Star Trek continues to be made of awesome.

Oooh, and I almost forgot! I have the new Andrew Bird CD now. YAY. Have not listened to it all the way through, but it is very good thus far. I just love what he does with the violin. And whistling.

Speaking of music, I think I need to link to this, which is All My Little Words performed a this shaggy-haired kid and his gameboy. SO GREAT.

I have run out of things to do on the internet. OH NO. Now the only things left to do involve getting off the couch! Truly I am pathetic today.

Also I think I need a Star Trek icon. And a Star Trek desktop wallpaper. And to see Star Trek again.

So I was just paging through some of my open firefox tabs, and came across a James Norrington story I was planning to read. I got, like, two sentences in and was suddenly struck with this strange urge to clean/organize my bedroom. This is significant, because I've been home from school for almost two weeks and am still living out of suitcases. That's just how I  roll. But I feel sort of- guilty, I guess? reading about Norrington while surrounded by stacks of paper recycling and dirty socks. I suspect Norrington does not approve of dirty socks.

Anyway. Here is the story in question: The Loquacious Dead by cupiscent . One night a year the dead talk, unless you're James Norrington.
It is quite excellent. Spoilers for DMC. I may have to rewatch those movies soon.

Also! Yesterday I bought a black jacket with lots of buttons. It reminds me of Martha Jones' awesome black jacket that she saves the world in. Possibly I have accidentally started calling mine the saves-the-world jacket, but you can't prove anything! I tried looking for pictures of Martha's awesome jacket (Martha had a lot of awesome jackets, actually), but couldn't find a good one. Oh well.

When is Torchwood coming back?

A few things:

1. The lovely pollyrepeat has posted her Castiel story! Ineffible (or: How to Fall in Seven Easy Steps), 1600 words, PG13, Team Winchester. If this is where Supernatural goes, I will be a very happy individual.

2. I have been a crazy fandom drifter since Christmas, even more so than usual, and my random television watching has begun to reflect that. Possibly I am going fandom stir crazy, and in an effort to find something awesome and new I am mainlining anything I come across. Currently underway: Six Feet Under (which is SO GOOD), the West Wing, and randomly, Skins. Skins is this crazy British show I had only sort of heard of about wacky teenaged shenanigans, and it's kind of awesome. I'm also watching starting to watch Buffy season 5 with a friend of mine, and am seriously considering dl-ing Being Human. The pilot sort of underwhelmed me, but I've heard good things, so. We'll see.

The moral of this story is that when I don't have a home base fandom, I make up for it by shopping around lots and lots.

3. beatonna's history comics are always pretty awesome, but the one today is particularly so. FOR FRANCE!


And now the question of the day - to work on an essay that desperately needs attention, or to watch urban ninjas on youtube?

Actually, that's not much of a question at all, is it. I mean, ninjas.

It's Monday! I just finished writing a microbiology quiz, which was the only class-type thing I had to do today, so now I'm sitting pretty in my (freshly vacuumed!) room. This afternoon I'm going computer shopping with a friend of mine, whose laptop last week muttered something about a light and then imploded. Very unfortunate. We head out after lunch, and I have it on good authority that there will be beverages. Iced lattes are looooove. Possibly I will wear my new shoes, although they kind of pinch my feet (which I didn't realize when I bought them last weekend, humph). But the only way to break them in is to wear them through the pain, right? I think I read somewhere that real, proper shoes don't need to be broken in. Hmmm.

I think I need a new fandom. Fake News, while incredibly happy-making, just doesn't have long - or who am I kidding, even short-term sustainability. It's one of those things that should come with a cautionary label, like Traveler, or Jumper, Pushing Daisies: WARNING. COMES WITH NOTHING. SERIOUSLY, NOT EVEN IN YULETIDE. Yeah. pollyrepeat recommends Sports Night, but I don't know. I've enjoyed what I've read so far, Amanda, just not enough to want more. *is sadly fandomless*

I have just made a list of things I would like to get done today. None of them look particularly fun, and I think the internet might be running out of Stephen Colbert clips, so instead I am going to post Yuletide recs. I actually haven't finished going through the archive yet. Sorry, potentially fantastic stories in fandoms M through Z. I will perhaps get to you later.

( Favourites, A through- well. I'm pretty sure I got through L, anyway. And also X. )

Hooray, it's 2009!

Also, Yuletide's authors have been revealed today. Written for me was Dye My Eyes by slipsthrufingers (or ittykat ) - A few years after the events of New Canaan. Ben is still in a funk over Sophie. Libby decides to take matters into her own hands.

This is a lovely Carnivale story about Ben, Libby and Jonesy going to the movies together, being friends and generally very adorable. I just adore these characters, and how very messed up they all are. But they try so hard! Thank you again, fantastic and no-longer anonymous Yuletide author. :D

This year I was assigned National Treasure, for Alice, who wanted a vacation-type story:
The Spoons Are Historical - Ben and Abigail are determined to have a relaxing vacation. Riley runs in and out, tempting them with spoons and adventure.

Every year (and by every year, what I actually mean is this year and last year, when I started participating), upon receiving my assigned fandom, I always seem to enjoy a moment of really? I signed up for that? And then I spend a while brushing up on canon and trying to find an angle by which to approach. That was definitely more difficult this time around; I had to restart the thing several times because I was unhappy with the sort of tone it was taking. I think I'm happy with the end result, though. Enormous thank yous are owed to the fabulous pollyrepeat for betaing, writing, and hand-holding.

In continuing the comparison between Yuletide 2008 and 2007 in terms of successfulness: story was uploaded earlier this year than last year! \o/ Huzzuh, huzzuh. Okay, well, not that much earlier, but still. One must take one's victories where one can. If we continue this trend, next year I hope to be sitting pretty with even more precious minutes to spare. Also this year I have been a commenting ninja, a much-needed improvement upon last year.

I will probably do a set of recs at some point, but I'd kind of like to finish going through the archive first. I think I am partway through 'L'. Many excellent fics read so far.