sweet subtle alchemy

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 )

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! ;)

Title: Bedposts and Broomsticks
Author: anthimaeria
Pairing: Hermione/Ginny - no H/D here, sorry (but it's only because Ginny and Hermione weren't aware of it at the time!)
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All characters are the copyrighted works of J.K Rowling. No profit was made by the writing of this story, nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author. Also, all characters are assumed to be of age for the reader's jurisdiction.
Summary: Hermione gives in to an odd obsession and reaps the benefits of same.
Word Count: ~1600
Notes: Pure smutty PWP - if you're looking for plot, there's none here whatsoever! Un-betaed, un-Britpicked: feel free to point out any obvious errors. Cross-posted to hp_femsmut.

( Bedposts and Broomsticks )

Last night I went with noeon and my unborn twins to see this film. Without spoiling anything, it didn't really deliver.

( Little Ashes - SPOILERS under the cut! )

* Meme stolen from noeon and venturous1:

The next five people to comment in this post [and who specifically ask for it] get to request a drawble of any pairing/character of their choosing that I am familiar with from me. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level.

Slash, femmeslash, het - anything goes! I can't promise it will be good, though.

* Speaking of noeon, we're going to see Little Ashes tomorrow, basically to watch Robert Pattinson and Javier Beltran lust after each other. It's about Salvador Dali's university days with future famous pals Federico Garcia-Lorca and Luis Bunuel, and has received very mixed reviews. Judging from the trailer, the characters affect heinously fake Spanish accents, but it will have to be seen how much that affects our enjoyment of the film.

* And do pop over and check out this hot, sexy little H/D comment fic by melusina_hp, based on the extremely uncommon fetish of ballooning. Comment fic is always welcome in my LJ!

* Will update the pregnancy filter as soon as I steal the latest ultrasound pics back from the husband. The twins are fine, despite the fact that things are a bit cramped for them at the moment. I'm very glad I'm not the Octomom. Again, if you're not on the filter and wish to be - let me know.

Lastly, happy belated birthday to bryoneybrynn! I'm glad we're friends.

Ballooning

Found a link to this randomly online. And this is something I've never seen in a fic, either.

Hope you're all having a good Memorial Day/bank holiday/Monday!

Okay, so apparently there's been a post about "BNFs" and the pain of new/underappreciated writers, which I missed as I'm not on this particular person's flist. A few things I would add were I privy to this post:

1. What is a BNF? I prefer the term "established writer" myself, as it's more inclusive. Anyway, to my mind, a BNF on LJ is someone who has a large number of people on their flist who are specifically there to follow their fics (ETA: OR their art,icons, vids, recs, layouts or meta: I'm focusing on writing here as it's easiest for me to discuss). I figure the "large number" is around 500; I've heard others say it's 250. Whatever. Some "BNFs" are exceptionally talented, others are amazingly prolific, and others are, inexplicably, neither. And yes, there's a goodly number of folks out there who are fabulous writers but for whatever reason haven't developed a following. Which brings me to my next point:

2. What should an underappreciated writer/newbie do in order to get more readers? Simple. Get yourself out there. Participate in fests and challenges. Post fics on your LJ. Rec others' fics. Offer to be a beta reader. Some have gotten their start by writing an (authorized) sequel or follow up to a well-known fic, or one by a well-known author. I did this when I started writing, not to get more readers but because I was so inspired by a particular fic that I had to write the next part. I did not ask the author for permission, and that was a mistake, though she was flattered and not angry, despite the fact I wrote H/D non-con. Anyway, enough of that. New writers, get yourself out there. Keep writing, and make an effort to improve, no matter how good you might be right now. You will be read. I promise.

There is an exception to this, though, and it is for writers who write in very small fandoms. It's the ship and the fandom that draw in most readers before they look for the writer's name, and if they're not into either your fic may be passed by, no matter how good it is. Try posting on comms like rareslash or the like, and you may attract a more adventurous audience.

Oh, and like many of you, I'm on

THE ANONYMOUS WRITING FEEDBACK MEME

. I know I haven't written for a ridiculously long time, but some good strong concrit could get me in the mood again. Or if you don't care about being anon, do it right here. I'd love to know what I could do better, either with my fanfic or original stuff. And I'll still respect you in the morning.

I haven't seen it yet, so have been skipping spoilers, but I have to ask:

( under the cut, because of bizarre new LJ graphics that are very, very big and very, very ugly )

ETA: What is up with these new poll graphics? I don't like them! How do I get rid of them??

Okay people, I have three Dreamwidth invite codes. Anyone want them?

Also, for those of you who've never been able to successfully syndicate Fandom Wank as a feed on LJ (come on, I know you read it), I created an LJ feed from Dreamwidth that works just fine: fandomwank_dw (ETA: Oops, that's actually fanwank_dw. Sorry!).

Night!

ETA 2: Only one invite code left!

* I'm now on Dreamwidth here - thanks to calanthe_fics for the invite! I do not plan to post there unless something horrible happens to LJ, as I can hardly keep up here as it is. Nevertheless, please feel free to circle me or grant me access as some of you enterprising peeps have already done. As far as you all who plan to post different content to your DW journals, or to post exclusively to DW, my plan is to read you on feeds. Would any of you who fit into those categories please let me know? I've already added heathen_arcade's feed. I heart feeds!

* This swine flu possible pandemic thing is most annoying. I would not care about the risk personally if I wasn't pregnant, but because I am, I must buy Expensive Downtown Parking Passes for two months as to avoid the subway full of potential coughers/sneezers. There is also the possibility of bicycling to work, but I don't know if my legs can handle it. They are not being terribly reliable or useful at this point. Will try a test run today and see how it goes. Are any of you modifying your usual behavior because of the flu threat?

* Will post more interesting content later, when I'm not feeling quite so dull, bulky, and sea-spongelike.

No, this isn't my "new fandom," but I love me some Holmes/Watson! clarity_lore created this "somewhat comic take on all that innuendo, overt or otherwise, in the various Holmes and Watson films and shows." Very well-made, and worth watching even if you're not a fan. Go here to the original post to leave the vid-maker some love.



Also: I am having a great time reading the controversial opinions that melusina_hp invited in her post today (flocked, but I think most of you are on her flist). I've nodded enthusiastically and shaken my head in vigorous opposition, but most of all, I've been entertained.

Okay, time to go make apple pie!

What a beautiful, sunny day it is here! I'm going to the pool. It will be like a giant beach ball swimming in a bikini (since I can't fit my regular one piece). :D

Fest thoughts:

1. If there are obvious typos in the header or fic summary, it would be awesome if the mods would fix them before posting! I know this is not strictly a mod responsibility, but it certainly can be an inducement not to click. It is for me.

2. hd_worldcup is posting non-anon this time around, and after some thinking, I've decided it's largely a good thing. Sure, it's harder for non-established writers because some readers won't read fics written by authors whose names they don't recognize (it's not the same for art, because most people will click out of curiosity regardless). But I think the hardcore reccers and fest followers who read every fic will make up for it by putting the word out about fics they like.

What I really like about non-anon posting is that it seems to deter readers from making overly critical comments. Of course, I realize that if you put your writing out there, you cannot control others' responses and should be prepared for any sort of reaction, and that readers have the innate right to criticize whatever they read. Still, criticism can be hard to take, especially when it's posted for all to see. At this point, I welcome criticism and honest, non-flaming opinions, but not all writers do, and it can be disheartening when you've worked hard on a fest fic only to read comments tearing it down. Without the mask of anonymity, I've noticed that most readers are not so bold as to express their critical thoughts directly to the writer in public. Good or bad thing? You tell me.

Listen up, gals: these guys are looking for a third.

Anyone want to help them out? ;)

Who says you can't go home again? Tonight, with the aid of the following recipe, I took a trip back to the 1970's and the Americanized Mexican restaurants in LA which our family used to frequent. The restaurant would always be dark, with a flickering candle in a glass jar on the table. My mother would always complain about the endless baskets of hot tortilla chips the waitress kept bringing ("They'll spoil your appetite!") My father would always order the flan for dessert. My siblings and I would usually have the fried ice cream. But I digress.

Tonight, I made vegan enchiladas. And I cheated by using canned enchilada sauce (to my husband's absolute horror), as making real sauce takes too damn long. It turned out that the sauce made all the difference, as it provided that authentic, unmistakeable 70's taste.

Here's the recipe (cobbled together from several different ones):

( 1970's-Style Vegetarian Enchiladas )

Someone on wilde_century recently recommended this book, and I was intrigued enough to search for more information about it. Schijnbewegingen (Tricks of the Trade) is an acclaimed gay historical novel for young adults by Floortje Zwigtman, first published in the Netherlands in 2005, and translated into German as Ich, Adrian Mayfield in 2008.

This review summarizes the plot as follows:

Adrian Mayfield is born in the poor East End of Victorian London, the son of a pub landlord and a seamstress. However, a different career lies in store for him.

It’s not a scenario that the street-hardened lad could have envisaged: a wealthy older gentleman falls in love with him and takes him home. The man is Augustus Trops, a second-rate artist from Flanders. He introduces Adrian to the flamboyant circle of Oscar Wilde, where he meets other men like Augustus and finds work as an artist’s model. The work pays well and he meets the most interesting and powerful people of his time.

Adrian is very pleased with his new life at first. Everything appears to be going swimmingly. Until, that is, London’s beau monde decamps to Europe for the summer holidays, as happens every year.

Adrian, by now accustomed to luxury, ends up without any income. In a male brothel he discovers the flip side of his new life in the two-faced London of the nineteenth century, where gossip, blackmail and brutal police violence make homosexuality a highly dangerous way of life. Then he faces the choice of whether to put his integrity and his friendships on the line so that he doesn’t have to live in a moldy, cockroach-infested garret.

Have any of you read this in German or Dutch? It may be time for me to learn some German. Or is there an unofficial English translation lurking out there somewhere on the interwebs?

Also: when I was looking for info on this book, I came across this completely unrelated link from nightkate: Playboy Playmate Below-the-Waist Hairstyles, 1971-2008 (NWS!) As you scroll through the list, the women's bodies change remarkably. Much, much more hair in the 70's and 80's, as well as bodies which are less streamlined and more natural for the most part. The latest Playmates almost look like they're made of smooth plastic.

This is so much fun. If you're not on leochi's flist, be sure to check out her 50 Glances, Gazes and Expressions Table. That's right - 50 different pieces of art! Mainly Harry/Draco, but some other pairings and a bit of gen as well. Oh, and H/D cats, too. leochi has captured an incredible variety of moods here, and the individual pics aren't large so it shouldn't take forever to load. Enjoy!

Okay, this is embarrassing. *deep breath* Harper Valley PTA.

I must have seen this when I was about 10, because it came out in 1978. It was an ultra-corny, cheesy comedy starring Barbara Eden, and I thought it was just hilarious. I remember my sister and I used to enact scenes from the movie with our stuffed animals (which we also did with episodes of Laverne and Shirley).

Perhaps needless to say, it is not my current favorite movie. I don't have a #1 favorite, but up at the top are Velvet Goldmine (every time I watch it, I notice something different), Shortbus, Slums of Beverly Hills, Spinal Tap, Head, Maurice, and Slacker. And I'm sure there are more which I can't think of at the moment.

Off topic: today is grocery shopping day, after I pick up Uther, who the vet says is in better shape after hydration. Does anyone have any recs for summer recipes? I don't use meat and dairy cooking at home, but I usually can "hack" meat and dairy recipes into vegan versions. I'm craving fresh food and impatient for summer to start.