travel: I <3 NY
Someone talk me out of buying a new shoulder bag for my trip to New York. Even though I don't really have a good overnight bag. I have one, but the straps are super uncomfortable, and that's a perfectly valid reason to buy a new bag, right? I was considering an L.L. Bean Boat and Tote bag, because they're classic and durable and I'm a New England girl at heart. My problem with them is the lack of organization inside. (No pockets.)

I have basically wasted my entire afternoon trawling ebags and Modcloth and a ton of other sites looking for the perfect bag, then talking myself out of spending the money. This one's my favorite, even though it's completely useless as an overnight bag.

All in all, not the best use of a Sunday afternoon! I should probably just make a bag. Except I never get around to making any of my sewing projects, so that's not going to happen. I did find a pattern for making purse skirts for my Thirty-One purse, though, and considering how much I hate most of their fabrics, that's a project I do want to master. As soon as I finish the jacket I started cutting out today and then wandered away from. ::sigh:: I am useless when it comes to follow-through.

Still, New York! I don't care if I have to carry my stuff in a garbage bag. Though they really will turf me out of the fancy hotel if I show up like that.

Last night my sister and I went to see the touring company of Les Miserables. She bought the tickets for my birthday, and I had a gift card for the popular sushi bar in town (also a birthday gift) so we had sushi and really good French wine and then I sobbed through the entire show. As per usual. I think my sister thought I was having some kind of breakdown, but the truth is I always start crying at the overture and pretty much don't stop until the end.

I have a bunch of e-mails to send and also a couple messages on OkCupid to answer. Instead I'm probably going to look at more bags.

I really love that bag. I'm not going to buy it. But I really love it.
glee: GQMF
Do you know what drives me kind of crazy? When a studio releases a movie featuring a ton of popular music, and also releases a soundtrack of the movie, except with none of the popular music on it. It's not that I dislike the instrumental pieces scored specifically for the film. If they mixed it up and did some of each that would be lovely. But completely ignoring all the popular music you licensed for the film, including a song sung by your star, because you don't want to pay more royalties? LAME.

Which is to say that rather than buying the score for Monte Carlo, I have spent some time in the past week putting together an unofficial soundtrack of the songs listed in the credits. I have been mostly successful in cobbling together a complete list, but I'm missing a few tracks. Which is where you come in! Perhaps you happen to have one of the following songs lying around, or maybe you can tell me where to find it:

The DC Soul Orchestra - Love Is Grand
Lyn Murray - To Catch a Thief
Kaolin - Je Reviens *

Regardless of whether these songs turn up, I will post my (mostly) complete 'soundtrack' at some point. I'm sorry to say that Bonnie Dune didn't make the cut, but there's a Selena Gomez & The Scene song** to help you deal with the pain.

In marginally related technology fail, I made a couple new ringtones this morning and I cannot get them to sync to my iPhone on my new computer. It's very irritating and I have a feeling it has something to do with the software 'upgrade' iTunes made me install when I synced my phone to the new version of iTunes this weekend.

Unrelated to any of the above, yesterday, in the midst of my latest pity party, [personal profile] jb_slasher said a bunch of nice things about me. And it wasn't even pity, because she posted at the same time I was having my pity party. It's nice to have awesome friends. ♥

Do you know what I wish? I wish there were podfics of all my fic. Is that weird? I don't even care, I love having podfic of "Offside Pass" on my phone and I am greedy for more. You should feel free to take that as blanket permission, podficcers! All I ask is a link to the podfic so I can download it and then brag to all my friends.
__________________________________________
* This one is actually available to purchase on Amazon, but I can't decide from the preview if I like it enough to bother spending a dollar on it.
** Don't front; you know you are hoping I assign my Selena ringtone*** to you.
*** If I ever get iTunes to put it on there.
travel: starting point
I took the day off work today, which was a fantastic decision. So far I have run some errands, done my nails, and ridden my sister's spin bike for 45 minutes. So much harder than I remembered! Worth it, though, because while I might not be able to walk tomorrow, I am feeling really motivated to get back in shape.

I've been searching for that motivation for a long time now, and it had eluded me. I don't know what's different this time, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Unfortunately my scale appears to be broken, so I don't know where I'm starting from, exactly. I think it might just need new batteries. I hope so, because that's an $80 scale I can't afford to replace.

Does anyone participate in community sustained agriculture? There's a local farm here that offers shares 26 weeks a year, and they deliver to the downtown farmer's market, so I could pick up my basket during my lunch break on Wednesdays. It's $20 a week for a small share, which is about the same cost as good a spin bike, so it would have to be one or the other. It's an investment for sure, but it might be a good way to get myself to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables than I currently do.

They don't start up again until spring, so I will think about it for awhile. I just want to fit into my pink pants again! Is that so wrong? And that's why I've got another date with the treadmill tomorrow.

I am kind of over my snowy Cory Monteith LJ header already. I wish I had the talent to make really cool graphics.
glee: GQMF
No Tim Gunn on Runway All-Stars? I want my money back, Lifetime.

Also? )
glee: neck porn
In case anyone wanders through here looking for Those Old Streetscapes, you can find the latest chapter at AO3. I'm afraid that's the best I can do until such time as LJ is working again.

I try not to be a fatalist about these things, but I fear this may be the beginning of the end of fandom on LJ. Not that many people have migrated to DW, however, and it's so *lonely* over here. I miss my people, especially this week when work has been super-stressful.

This whole mess does make me really grateful I never bothered with a permanent LJ account, however. And I wouldn't even mind moving to DW if it wasn't for the icons. And I'd miss LJ's scrapbook a lot. And, you know the people.

I do have some DW codes, I think, if anyone's in need.
misc: jennifer's body (is lovely)
+ Happy birthday to [personal profile] rabidfan and [personal profile] bubbleslayer! I hope you both have great days.

+ LJ under another severe DDoS attack. Quelle surprise. I keep telling myself I need to get back to crossposting at DW. Perhaps this is LJ's way of forcing me to do so?

+ There is some serious(ly awful) personnel stuff happening at work which I have to deal with. One of my employees (the one I actually like) has had to leave very suddenly for reasons which I will not disclose here. I totes almost cried on the phone with him this morning. Way to be professional, Caroline. He's such a sweet kid, though, and a really hard worker. The whole situation sucks.

+ Speaking of which, I have to go deal with that now instead of writing fic all morning. More's the pity.

+ I came up with an idea for a Will-centric Glee Christmas fic on my way into work today. Thanks a lot, brain.

+ I will be posting my Kurt/Puck [community profile] au_bigbang fics on August 8th and August 20th. THE ART, you guys. I haven't even seen all of it yet and it's spectacular. I'm really excited to show it to you.

re: LJ

Apr. 6th, 2011 11:58 am
misc: jennifer's body (is lovely)
Now the conspiracy theorists are saying the Russian government's backing the DDoS attacks on LJ.

I hate to admit that this is the sort of thing I secretly feared when the Russians bought LJ. For the first time in all the years of LJ-related panics, I am genuinely worried about the future of the platform. If it becomes political, fandom as a whole becomes collateral damage, basically. The most obvious place to take refuge is DW, but it's still invite-only, and that's going to keep a lot of people away.
glee: finn hudson is lickable
Since I have no fan fiction to offer today, and I don't particularly care to be doing any of the things I should be doing (i.e. my job, or figuring out the ending of Trains) I feel that today is the perfect time to start a new series which I am calling "I Watch So You Don't Have To".

The series will consist of reviews of movies featuring various Glee cast members. I reckon all these posts will be image-heavy, and I cannot always guarantee work-safe images. I don't think there's anything in this post that will get you in trouble, but there is a lot of shirtless Cory Monteith, so I suppose it depends on your job.



Hybrid: aka the Cory Monteith Werewolf movie that is not really a werewolf movie at all. )
glee: neck porn
Title: Longer Ways to Go
Fandom: Glee
Pairing(s)/Characters: Kurt/Puck, Will/Finn
Rating: PG13
Summary: All good things must come to an end. ~3800 words.
Series: Down Is Where We Came From
A/N: I...haven't written in this universe for awhile. Feels a little rusty. AO3 link.

It turns out Hudson’s a total slut. )
misc: probably full of nargles
Yuletide:

Yuletide authors were revealed sometime shortly after midnight (I know because I happened to notice while I was posting the fic I finished yesterday) which means I can claim the six fics I wrote. First up, the fics I wrote for my actual recipient:

Together An Ocean (2987 words)
Fandom: Ghost Hunters RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Gonsalves/Dave Tango
Characters: Kris Williams, Amy Bruni, Kristyn Gartland, Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Steve Gonsalves, Dave Tango
Summary: When Amy joins the team, she already has plenty of experience with investigating. It's her fellow teammates she has a lot to learn about.
A/N: With many thanks to [personal profile] jengeorge and [personal profile] goddessdster for looking this one over. I didn't make you look over the scene I added at the end, since you were just doing me a favor to begin with, but I think it fixes what you both felt was lacking in the original version.

the improbability of perpetual motion (1822 words)
Fandom: No Ordinary Family
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Katie Andrews, Stephanie Powell, Daphne Powell
Summary: Dr. Powell's the superhero, and Katie's the sidekick. But sidekicks are pretty important too.
A/N: With many thanks to [personal profile] writingpathways for the beta. I was busy panicking about the Ghost Hunters fic being awful, so I spent a weekend learning the entire canon for "No Ordinary Family" and ended up writing this. Which is how I came to have two fics for my original recipient in the end.

And the rest were treats I wrote just because I couldn't resist the requests. The first two are So You Think You Can Dance RPF, both set during season seven, plus a Child's Christmas In Wales fic I wrote on a whim and then bit my nails over until reveals, and a Camp/Glee crossover that's not really much of a Glee fic at all:

romance in five acts (1244 words)
Fandom: So You Think You Can Dance RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Billy Bell/Robert Roldan
Summary: Billy always knew he wasn't going to win.
A/N: This is the last one I wrote (hence the lame title; they grew increasingly lamer the closer the posting deadline got) and I wasn't that confident about writing Billy, but in the end I think it turned out okay. Plus, I mean, Billy and Robert have a history. There's a spark there from the start.

Pas de Deux (3630 words)
Fandom: So You Think You Can Dance RPF
Rating: Mature
Relationships: Ivan Koumaev/Travis Wall
Characters: Allison Holker
Summary: It's season seven, and Ivan's watching Travis' star rise.
A/N: With many thanks to [personal profile] cinderlily for looking this one over for me.

Parables of Sun Light (1600 words)
Fandom: A Child's Christmas In Wales
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Jim/Dan
Characters: Jim, Dan, Jack, Narrator (A Child's Christmas in Wales)
Summary: Sometimes growing up means growing apart. Sometimes it doesn't.
A/N: This one's the result of going to see a coworker participate in a dramatic reading of holiday stories, and then downloading and listening to Dylan Thomas' reading of the entire text on repeat while I sewed Christmas gifts.

Bravery Practice (3561 words)
Fandom: Camp (2003), Glee
Rating: PG13
Relationships: Vlad Baumann/Michael Flores, Kurt Hummel/Noah Puckerman, Rachel Berry/Finn Hudson
Summary: It's only because Michael's tired of being alone on Christmas.
A/N: And finally, when I saw that someone had requested a Camp/Glee crossover, I just couldn't resist. For a long time I couldn't figure out how to start it, then I didn't have enough time to make it a true crossover, so in the end the Glee parts are more of a backdrop than anything. I think the promise of Kurt/Puck has drawn in readers under false pretenses. Sorry about that! (They're there, it's just very much background to the actual action.)

And another Sandlot rec:

This one is not a Yuletide fic, but it was written for me especially by the lovely [personal profile] jengeorge, who is not only the beta of, like, my dreams, but also just a really cool person. So the fact that she took it upon herself to write a fic she knew I desperately wanted and didn't think I could request (before I figured out that The Sandlot was a choice for Yuletide this year) fills me with all kinds of joy.

Plus, she's a good writer. I am slowly dragging her down into the fic writing abyss with me. It's what friends are for!

Look Beside You, Benny/Smalls, PG13. Go read it and give her some love. She deserves it.

Picspam

One Princess dress and some fannish picspam under the cut. )

There is also some Finn/Will fic here, in case you missed it last night. That's right, I was posting Glee fic at midnight last night, after spending the evening drinking wine at my sister's and editing fic while we watched Inception. If it's really true that what you're doing at midnight is what you'll do all year, I suppose that means I will be writing DIWWCF fic for awhile yet. I could think of worse ways to spend 2011.
glee: dorks in love
Title: like a carrot on a strong
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Finn Hudson/Will Schuester, Kurt Hummel
Rating: NC17
Summary: Turns out there's a big difference between "I want you" and "I love you". ~5560 words.
Series: Down Is Where We Came From
A/N: I couldn't decide whether to post this right when I got home from my sister's house or not, but here I am, so I guess the answer is 'yes'. What was the question again?

( In which Finn really needs to stop telling his mom he's going to be home early. )
glee: neck porn
Title: the people I saw (were the people I know)
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Finn/Will, Kurt/Puck
Rating: PG
Summary: Sarah's sitting across the table from her Spanish teacher. ~2280 words.
Series: Down Is Where We Came From
A/N: With thanks to Cat Stevens for the title. You know how I feel about titles.

( Sarah's sitting across the table from her Spanish teacher. )
misc: probably full of nargles
It's Christmas Eve! Or, more accurately, Christmas Eve Day, since apparently Christmas Eve refers to the nighttime portion of the day only*. Anyway, usually by now we are all sick to death of Christmas music, so instead of any more traditional carols, on the last day of the calendar I offer you six songs about snow**.

Jeremy Messersmith -- Snow Day
The Leisure Society -- The Last Of the Melting Snow
Van Morrison -- Snow In San Anselmo
Pat Green f/Natalie Maines -- Snowing On Raton
Ella Fitzgerald -- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
The Cure -- Snow In Summer

Enjoy! I wish you all a very happy Christmas, whether you plan on sitting around a tree with family opening presents, or if it's just a regular old Saturday in your world. I hope either way it will be filled with good cheer and good food. The princess dress is nearly done, and I need to go finish that, but y'all, it is something to see. I can't wait to show you!

One last thing before I go:

Since it is Christmas Eve (Day), that means in less than 24 hours, Yuletide stories will be revealed. I promised [personal profile] jengeorge I'd let her know when the Yuletide Madness portion of Yuletide opens for last-minute stocking stuffers. I didn't forget! It just hasn't happened yet. It's their first year completely on AO3, and the girl who usually does that portion just had a baby, so it's not happening the usual way. More's the pity!

However! If any of you are at home and wondering what you could do with your day, check out this post for an explanation of Yuletide Madness and a link to posted prompts, so you can write treats. And if you want to wait until Madness opens, it'll give you something to do during those glumpy, post-Christmas days before the new year.

Personally, I will be in a cabin in Pigeon Forge with my family during those glumpy post-Christmas days, enduring forced activities such as Dollywood! And The Titanic Experience! But I have an iTouch, so I can probably write on the sly***.
___________________________________________________________
* My father is very particular about that. Seriously, he scolds me if he hears me using the term 'Christmas Eve' to refer to the entire day. I'm almost 40; I don't really enjoy being scolded by my father. So don't tell him I said it was Christmas Eve already.
** Really this is just an excuse to post some Van Morrison. Though he does mention Christmas. And pancake houses! Can't really go wrong there.
*** I'm not obsessed. It's a coping mechanism.
glee: finn hudson is lickable
Title: The Sacrament Of Penance
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Finn/Will, Kurt, Carole
Rating: PG13
Summary: It's inevitable that they'd forget to pick up something for Christmas dinner. ~4800 words.
Series: Down Is Where We Came From
A/N: Here is another little DIWWCF-flavored Christmas gift for you, dear friends list. Well, the ones who enjoy the Glee fic, anyway. Sorry, everybody else! Mostly I just finished this so Finn would shut the hell up. Now I am going to go finish Zachary's knight boots and then get going on the princess dress. No, really, I'm going. Here I go.

( Finn’s considering ditching him and just going out for the stupid chicken stock himself. )
misc: probably full of nargles
Today's songs were not originally on this year's calendar, but the other day the lovely and generous [profile] thunderemerald alerted me to the existence of Carbon Leaf's new Christmas album, then very kindly hooked me up with it. Thank you again, I love it!

There are nine original Christmas songs on the album, some of which are quite beautiful, some of which are just downright silly, all of which are totally fun. Today I give you the title song, as well as a New Year's song, because I like to include at least one on every calendar for the non-Christmas people who wander by:

Carbon Leaf -- Christmas Child
Carbon Leaf -- Toast to the New Year

Okay! It's the day before Christmas Eve, I am full of coffee and French toast, and I went out last night to do the last of my Christmas shopping, so the sewing marathon can begin! I believe I will break it up with short bursts of writing, just so I don't start crying at any random point during the day. Sewing has that effect on me sometimes!

At least I don't have to go anywhere today. It was bad enough last night at 10:00 when I was stuck in line at Joann behind some woman whose card was declined, and the employees all just wanted to go home, and who can blame them, Joann staying open until 10:00 is just not right, except it really helped me out with my interfacing emergency, so I was as nice and pleasant as I could be while I was there. It did not make up for the awful, unreasonable lady with the declined credit card.
misc: probably full of nargles
Yesterday was the winter solstice, in case you missed it, which means that starting today, the days get longer again. Yaaaaaaaaaay.

Today's musical selections come to you from The Puppini Sisters, a swing-style retro vocal harmony act who are not actually sisters. Here they give us a fresh cover of "Step Into Christmas" and a fun rendition of "Mele Kalikimaka". Y'all know how I feel about "Mele Kalikimaka".

The Puppini Sisters -- Step Into Christmas
The Puppini Sisters -- Mele Kalikimaka

Last night, in addition to finishing as much of Zachary's costume as I could without going to the fabric store, I made treats for work. It's my last day until next year! That calls for treats. Mostly I just made Rice Krispy Treats because it's a tradition to bring them to my one coworker who loves them, but refuses to make the fresh ones for herself even though they are the easiest thing ever.

But I saw these in the Red Envelope catalog a few weeks ago, and they were so tiny and adorable, so I was all, "I could make those". Last night I gave it a go. And what do you know, they're tiny and adorable! )
misc: probably full of nargles
This morning we go back to Pink Martini for that classic favorite, the Ukrainian Bell Carol, or as you may know it, The Carol Of the Bells. They perform it here in the original Ukrainian. Vocals by the Pacific Youth Choir. Have "La Vergine degli Angeli" (from Verdi's "La Forza del Destino") as well, just because it's gorgeous.

Pink Martini -- Shchedryk (Ukrainian Bell Carol)
Pink Martini -- La Vergine Degli Angeli

Guess who got no sewing done last night? This girl! Alas, I have been spoiled for the finale of "The Sing-Off", which I usually watch on Tuesdays at my sister's house (in place of Glee) so I will skip that tonight and come home to sew instead. Possibly also make some treats for work. Tomorrow's my last day until next year! I think I've been so busy I haven't even mentioned that I'm on vacation next week. More on that later, I'm sure.

I am really tired! But I have too much to do, so that's just too bad for me. Whatever, only four more days and it won't matter anymore, regardless of what I did or did not get done, and then I will have a whole Yuletide archive to dive into and no time to read any stories, because I will be with family. (My netbook's tiny; surely I can sneak fic in while no one's looking.)
glee: neck porn
Title: the river's running course
Fandom: Glee
Pairing/Characters: Puck/Kurt, Burt, Carole, Finn
Rating: PG
Summary: Of course his father gives Carole a digital camera for Christmas. ~5700 words.
Series: Down Is Where We Came From
A/N: I made [personal profile] cinderlily look this over and she assured me it wasn't too cheesy. (I don't know if I believe her, but I'm going with it.) Liz, I know I said I was going to add more, but then I thought of a better way to go, so I ended it at the part you've read. Just in case you think either of us has lost our minds or anything. Thanks for the reassurance. ♥

( Christmas morning at the Hudson-Hummel compound. )
misc: probably full of nargles
For today's selection we travel to a land of warm tropic breezes and suntanned children dreaming of a Santa who delivers their presents on a jetski pulled by eight chatty dolphins. Or something. Anyway, it's Jimmy Buffett:

Jimmy Buffett -- Christmas in the Caribbean

The knight costume is nearly done. All I have left to do is sew the hood and the little boots, and then attach the dragon crest* I made for the tunic once I find the time to run by Joann for some fusible webbing.

It's possible I fucked up the cape by virtue of forgetting to cut out a piece of it, but I'm hopeful that his scrawny little neck will still fit in it, because that kid is seriously tiny and I'm making a bigger size than he needs so he can grow into it. Also, the whole thing is made out of satin, which is the worst fabric to sew with ever OMG and I have to deal with it some more tonight. Much as I hate constantly ironing wrinkles out of cotton, at least it behaves itself while it's under the needle.

Regardless, I will finish that costume tonight after I swing by the grocery store, because the cupboards are seriously bare around here, then I'll come home and sew some more. I did actually write another Yuletide treat yesterday in my vast spare time, but that's it. I'm cutting myself off from the Yuletide fic now. Honest! If I waste any more time writing this week, it'll be DIWWCF-related***, because I really want to get through Christmas Day in that universe before next year in RL.****
________________________________________
* In place of the cross on the kid's chest in the picture; Zachary's crazy for dragons, so I freehanded one that I think came out pretty well, for a one-dimensional felt dragon.
** And it's not even the one I meant to have written! Well, it's not the one I thought would be easiest, at any rate. Actually I'm pretty nervous about it, but the person I wrote it for has two other fics posted already, so if it's awful hopefully she'll still get something she loves.
*** I have 4600 words, give or take, of the next part, so if all goes well and work continues to be dead, I will hopefully finish that at some point before 5:00 pm. Stranger things have happened!
**** Does that even make any sense?
misc: probably full of nargles
So a few days ago there was a discussion in the comments section of one of the advent calendar posts, in which some of you expressed that you actually enjoy the traditional stuff. Usually I avoid it because again, this is not the mall, but occasionally I manage to sneak in a song or carol that's a traditional part of my Christmas experience, like "In the Bleak Midwinter", which is one of my favorite hymns, or "Children Go Where I Send Thee", which is, of course, about as traditional as it gets.

My point is that I do have a lot of traditional Christmas music, so I thought today I would offer you a baker's dozen of traditional Christmas songs. Some of them are Jesus-y, some of them are not. There's something for everyone! Unless, of course, you really hate all the traditional stuff, in which case I will have something for you tomorrow.

1. Dolly Parton -- O Little Town of Bethlehem
2. Kenny Rogers -- The Christmas Song
3. The Chieftains -- Ding Dong Merrily On High
4. Bee Gees -- The First Noel
5. Rickie Lee Jones -- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
6. Beach Boys -- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
7. Blackmore's Night -- Emmanuel
8. Kristen Chenoweth -- I'll Be Home For Christmas
9. The Chieftains -- Oh Come All Ye Faithful
10. The Drifters -- Silent Night
11. Ella Fitzgerald -- White Christmas
12. The Drifters -- Oh Holy Night
13. Johnny Mathis -- It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (Shoutout! You know who you are.)

Thanks to [personal profile] tao for the Blackmore's Night album, which he hooked me up with day before yesterday. The rest I have collected from lots of places over the years.

And now, if you need me, I will be chained to my sewing machine. Except for a small break to work out. The situation is getting dire, guys. It's a good thing I work best under pressure.

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misc: jennifer's body (is lovely)
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