My fics are also compiled at seekers_in_love; there's a little extra here.

( One Shots, Etc. )
( Slashed-Up Canon Series )
( Spark, Tremble & Sigh - AU, pre-DH series (in progress) )
( Drabbles and Ficlets )
( Music )
( Meta, Humor and Other Writing )

Memo from our building management corp:

Please be advised that on Tuesday, February 2nd (weather permitting) the contractor will begin waterproofing the front of the building and then will move to the back of the building.... The workers will not require access to your apartment. During this time, you may experience some noise when they are breaking out the joints.

Huh, shouldn't that be soundproofing? Because if we can hear them toking up, the insulation is clearly inadequate.

Actually, I have no idea what they mean by "breaking out the joints." I suspect c_smith_author knows. Anyone?

My babysitter just told me she isn't available to work on Sunday afternoons... she has Quidditch practice!

Really.

Here's an article about local collegiate Quidditch.

Also: are Jen and Brad really getting back together, or is it all hype?

Comments, like cheese and wine, improve with age.
- who_la_hoop

When I first started on LJ, I did not know The Rules. One such Rule is to reply to all comments, especially comments to fics or other writings. I did not know a lot of people when I started back in 2006, so I was surprised to get quite a few comments for an early humor piece I wrote. I responded to some of the comments, but not all. Then when I realized it was rude for me not to respond to comments, it was Too Late. Or so I thought.

Inspired by who_la_hoop, today, (or whenever I can), I will be stepping into my steam-powered, brass-plated time machine and traveling back to reply to these comments, some dating from as far back as 2006. So don't be surprised if you see my username in your inbox today. :)

Why are apologies so difficult? They must both be sincere and perceived by the wronged party as sincere. The problem is that this scenario often occurs:

1. Y expresses outrage, annoyance, offense etc. over something X did or failed to do.
2. X apologizes.
3. Y continues to expresses outrage, annoyance, offense etc.
4. X continues to be apologetic.
5. Y continues to vent.
6. X starts to feel attacked. She becomes defensive and comes up with justification for her offense.
7. Y gets even more miffed and accuses X of not taking responsibility or being insincere.
8. Argument continues ad nauseum.

Y is upset because of X's action or inaction, but X has lost face by apologizing. Y can end the argument by accepting the apology and allowing X to save face. But if Y does not accept the apology, X will inevitably try to save her own face by explaining or providing an excuse for her actions. Which of course will enrage Y, who will claim the apology wasn't sincere to begin with.

I have seen this happen in relationships (mine with my husband, of course), and also online (don't ask me to give examples, this isn't about any incident in particular). At what point is an apology enough?

Poll #1503472
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34

If someone wishes you a Merry Christmas, and you don't celebrate Christmas, you:

And if you do celebrate Christmas, how would you respond if someone wished you a Happy Hanukkah (during Hanukkah, that is)?

At any rate, whether you celebrated the holiday today or simply had the day off, I wish you the happiest of occasions. That covers things, doesn't it? (Although F said it better).

Just wondering. I can't have been the first.

Thanks to enablelove,lotuslizzy,sesheta66,the_flic,phoenixacid,romaine24,furiosity,missdewey,tray_la_la,rickey_a and midnitemaraud_r for the snowflake cookies delivered fresh and hot to my profile! *nibbles*

Do you have a recommendation for a really, really good book? Preferably a novel or memoir, with a richly written world and characters that a person can get lost in? Would love to find something new to read, a plus if it's available on Kindle. This doesn't include fanfic, since I'm rarely able to sit at my computer and read, and the PDF conversion doesn't work so well for Kindle.

BTW: the babies are doing great - both sleeping almost through the night (whew!). Will post new pics soon on the twins filter.

If everyone isn't bored of this already, from the writer formerly known as Sansa and loads of other folks:

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So ask me something you want to know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

I think I've done this one before, but hey, no reason not to do it again!

Leave me a comment telling me your favourite word, in any language.
I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

My answers, to nuclearsugars's questions:

1) How has your life changed since you've become a mother?

In so many ways. Never sleeping more than 4 hours at a time is one of them! But something that I didn't expect is that I've developed greater compassion. For example, the other day someone was blocking the driveway with their car when I was trying to get out, and instead of immediately feeling frustrated and pissed off as usual, I wondered if the driver needed help (and then I was surprised to feel that way). I love my babies so much, and maybe that makes me feel more kindly towards others in general. It's really a great feeling to have this little family.

I have also changed the way I dress, as I usually end up sleeping in what I wear during the day. Goodbye pants with zippers, it's yoga pants and loose tops for me every day now, and shoes that can be pulled on with as little effort as possible. And skirts only worn with leggings, as I'm crouching and bending so much. And you Brits know when I say pants I mean trousers! LOL.

2) If you had to name only one thing you miss from the West Coast, what would it be?

The Pacific Ocean and miles and miles of beach.

3) What's one thing in Boston that California doesn't have?

Decent pizza, with very few exceptions. Man, I could really go for some right about now.

4) What do you think you'll be doing 5 years from now?

Well, I'll either be back to work in a conventional sense, or I'll be participating in some sort of cooperative home school group with other parents. The public schools in my area are pretty good, but my husband and I both like the idea of a less structured approach to learning (with of course plenty of opportunities to socialize with other kids).

5)What are you best at?

Parallel parking! I rule.

Dan Radcliffe to star on Broadway in 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying'

Babies, what babies? The ever-charming DanRad + one of my favorite musicals of all time = awesome! I am so going to NYC for this! Anyone else?

I have less and less free time these days, so I may not be around much for the next few months at least, though I still read my flist when I can. Plus, I may be very slow in responding to comments, so I hope you'll be patient. (And am about to delete my comment offering to pinch hit for HD Hols - what was I thinking?)

I will post to my twins filter on and off, but that means you won't see my posts if you're not on it. I filter simply as a courtesy to the happily child-free among us, and if you want to be on the filter, just ask.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know. Am enjoying motherhood, but at the same time, miss my social interaction with you guys. I never realized how much time LJ took, but I sure do now.

ETA: Everyone who was on the pregnancy filter is automatically on the twins filter: I just changed the name.

Can anyone point me to a non-partisan summary explaining the salient points of Obama's proposed health care reform? I haven't been online much lately,but all I've seen is that he's asking for proposals from the House and Senate with an intent to sign legislation by October 2009, and that no proposals so far have been approved.

Also: please share your criticism of this article by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. Yes, he's obviously more of a free-market libertarian type who prefers small government to large. And his argument over whether health care is a intrinsic right or not is basically a philosophical one based on his own opinion and a rather outdated strict interpretation of the Constitution - whether it's officially declared a "right" or not won't impact whether or not the reform is enacted. But what do you think of his claims that "All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments" and that "although Canada has a population smaller than California, 830,000 Canadians are currently waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment...In England, the waiting list is 1.8 million." True or not?

And the husband claims that in the UK, congestive heart failure is not covered under National Health as it's perceived as a terminal condition, despite the fact that treatment can prolong life 10-15 years. True or not?

Please try not to pick personal fights or start any international incidents in the comments... I'm just hoping to learn some facts here, unclouded by any sort of pre-conceived bias or blind trust in the current government. In particular, can we successfully implement health care reform in the US, and how?

I approve of the idea of socialized health care and support it in general. What I am not sure about is whether it will really work in practice for the U.S. and what it will entail, and I also wonder how we will pay for it.

ETA: Now I realize what I'm really missing about not going to work... the political arguments and discussions!

I succeeded in stopping myself from signing up for hd_holidays. I had my comment all typed up and everything. I even previewed it. But I didn't press send. It's just too hard to predict if I'll have time to make any writing commitments at this point.

Maybe I'll sign up to pinch hit! *iz still tempted* Really, it's great to see H/D fandom so active again. I missed it.

So on this mothers-of-twins mailing list I've joined, an anxious parent wants to know if there's a consultant she can hire... to find a preschool for her 15 mo. old toddlers! Preschool consulting - now there's a racket. What exactly would they do other than know the area schools and be able to describe them? Oh, I forgot,there's the grueling admissions process. Never too early to gather experience and material for that Harvard application.

ETA: Thanks to emmagrant01 for mentioning this documentary about the elite preschool phenomenon:



In other news, the clever and beauteous blamebrampton has urged us poor HP fans who won't be at Azkatraz to pimp the following new comm "like the wind" : now Brammers, how exactly does one pimp like the wind, and what doth the wind pimp? I know it cries Mary, but I wasn't aware it was in the business of procurement.

Anyway, come join azkatrazathome and have fun with us!

libby_drew suggested I play, so here goes:

Wouldn't it be neat to look at a sample of our work from Way Back When and hold it up against something We Just Wrote? Have we grown as writers? Do we have a lasting style – the kind that's connected to us and not necessarily to our technical proficiency?

( Early 2006 )

( June 2009 )

Meme rules: Reply to this meme by yelling - or typing - "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you. Or explain in the comments. Or not at all. The choice is yours.

nuclearsugars gave me these five words:
( CALIFORNIA, VICTORIAN, ELOQUENCE, MOTHER, & BEAUTY )

***
( A dream )

***
( What's going on now )

1. I hate moving. It makes me so tired I can't think straight. Also there is something so sad about packing up and leaving... a sort of finality that you can't call this place "home" anymore. I really would love to be somewhere to put down roots for a while. *sigh* We'll be in our new place on Friday.

2. elisa_rolle wrote a really interesting post for shared_wisdom on the connection between slash fiction, gay romance, and "gay novels" (what I would call gay literature). Most of the fanfic writers I know of who've gone pro have written either fantasy (Sarah Rees Brennan, Jaida Jones) or romance (Erastes). I wonder why that is? Is genre writing easier to market than literature, especially gay-themed literature?

3. Merde, il pleut! (not yet, but it looks like it's about to start). Thanks to silentauror for alerting me to the existence of this excellent umbrella, available here (scroll down).

4. I have a bitter, metallic taste in my mouth, and most everything smells and tastes bad to me. Was briefly worried about dire illnesses until I read online that this is not an uncommon pregnancy symptom. It's really weird! I just ate a Thin Mint and it tasted like bitter cardboard.

Desktop wallpaper meme, nicked from everyone!

01. Post this meme along with your current wallpaper.
02. Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper!
03. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!




I'm using this wallpaper to remind me to work on my somewhat moribund book, miracle_flight -derailed first by travel and then by pregnancy. Most likely I'll squeeze out a chapter after we move next week. The image is a gorgeous painting by raitala of my character Professor Thomas Ardesco - and he looks just as I always imagined! Before I started writing, he was supposed to have a much bigger role in the story than he does now. Well, you never know what might happen when I actually finish.

Unrelated: pregnancy is eating my brain. Today I washed an apple in the office bathroom instead of the kitchen. *headdesk* I didn't realize until I was walking out and taking a bite.

I've been obsessed lately with reading about the latest Craigslist killer - the so-called Womb Raider in Oregon who advertised a baby clothes exchange, then ended up killing a pregnant woman and crudely cutting the nearly full-term fetus from her body (the baby did not survive). According to Wikipedia, there have actually been a number of these fetal abductions in the US, though they're quite rare - always committed by other women. Reading about all this is like a horrible accident you can't turn away from... you just want to know more. I am not personally afraid, but now I have decided not to buy anything from a stranger on Craigslist until my pregnancy has concluded, even though I could save a lot that way and I doubt most sellers have criminal intentions. Though I'm not as paranoid as this particular commenter:

So here is a proposed recommendation: if you are pregnant and past the point where your baby even MIGHT be viable outside your body, DO NOT TRUST TO BE ALONE WITH ANYONE except maybe very close family members. That other "pregnant" woman you met at the mall, in the supermarket, consignment shop, drug store, even church or anywhere else just MIGHT not be pregnant at all - except in her own mind and with YOUR BABY! And if another "pregnant" woman seems to be trying to form a special friendship with you - especially as your pregnancy reaches the "viable" stage - LOOK OUT!

Oh, come on now. So I can't talk to another pregnant woman in the bathroom at work for fear of abduction?

And I don't believe Craigslist is to blame: just the fact that anyone can list an ad doesn't mean it's a hotbed of murder and other crime. Below is my favorite comment on that subject:

The cause of all these evil evil things is Craigslist. Haven't you noticed all these horrible things keep happening because of this List?... If people are not allowed to talk about these things and then LIST them, they would not happen. It wasn't good enough to get rid of the sex ads we have to get rid of the entire LIST. There was that guy who posted a LIST in 1517 and soon all those German Bibles began appearing: the world has never been the same.

I believe the last line must be a reference to Martin Luther. Watch out for German Bibles! ;)