I updated my fic page! Go me! I am so bad at updating. LOL I added in a new section: Miscellaneous Fic. Currently home to SGA, CSI and BabySitters Club. I'm quite pleased with the way the graphic turned out on the main page - half of it was added in by me. LOL
Next up on that site, I want my original stuff to have it's own site/design and to try and put up a drabble page on it and the Zoo.
Well, I began my novel. 600 words in. It's linked in my sidebar, as well.
I still can't believe I'm even attempting this. LOL
Two years ago, I wrote two stories. Last year, I wrote 3. This year, I've already written 4 (pop, BSC, 2 HP), with definite plans for a 5th (sesa, natch). So, of course, what do I do about this?
Decided to add a novel, too.
Why yes, I am insane, thanks for asking. I decided what the hell, it can't hurt. I got a nibble of an idea and then this morning, it just crystallized. I got a brainstorm, played with it, and then when I was driving home, it clicked. I had a plot, theme, crisis point and resolution. And just as I realized I had a workable story plotted out, the sun came out and lit my car. I started cracking up.
Now, it's not going to be the Great American Novel. It'll be American, and a Novel, but totally crappy and a cheesy romance, to boot. Yay cheesy crappy romances!! *g*
I'm debating how to go about this. Post it here? Make a new journal just for it? Make something on LJ, like my vacation journal? It needs to be someplace public so I feel accountable. LOL
Would you look at that! Two stories finished by the deadline. Go, me! I'm impressed with myself. LOL Media fic, even. Even rarer.
I present the fully updated Harry Potter website:
Chasing Rainbows
New fics are both Ron/Hermione, Countdown and Safety Matters. I also updated my gallery page with my new Ron/Hermione wallpaper, Message Board. I am so proud of that wallapaper - my manipulation, my pegboard, my cards and all.
Enjoy!
Instead of writing the 6 ficlets/stories my friends requested, I played around with my website. <.g>
Chasing Rainbows:
*I updated the pictures and text fonts on the Index Page
*I updated my original works page with my last wallpaper: Original Works
*I updated Remember WENN with a new story: Holiday Interlude
*Resolved to give my original works page its own name and layout.
The Zoo
*Updated my site with two new stories: A Romantic Thing (Lance is pretty sure Justin is woo-ing him) and The Lovely Things Thanksgiving Brings (JC and Lance's First Hosted Thanksgiving. Do those ever go well?).
Not bad, not bad. I feel rather productive!
Now I just have to write Ron/Luna, Lorelai/Luke, Scott/Betty, WENN/Harry Potter crossover, Sports Night adopting a stray and domestic JC/Lance. Oy. Oh, and pray for a snow day tomorrow. I'm scared to drive in 8 inches of snow!!
It's August, I have the window open, and I'm wearing track pants, my beloved Titanic sweatshirt and woolen socks. I'm also reading "Christmas with Anne," a collection of LM Montgomery's Christmas stories. Thankfully, Christmas music is not yet in rotation. But dude! It's in the 50s. It will come.
Mailed off my deposit for grad school today. It was, uh, not my finest ten minutes. Oh, well, luckily did not run into anyone I knew on the way to the post office. And at Starbucks, the sweet guy smiled at me and told dad, hours later, what time he had seen me. That made me laugh.
I'm in love with Jamie Cullum's voice. I wish an nsyncer would put out a jazz album. And by nsyncer, I mean JC, who would rock it beautifully. Or Joey, who has the best voice. Or Chris, who put the most amazing spin on things. Maybe Lance, with the soothing bass. But mostly JC and Joey and Chris.
I found an nsync/Harry Potter crossover. Slytherin Lance, Ravenclaw Chris, Gryffindor JC and Justin, Hufflepuff Joey. Loved it.
I feel all cuddly. I need happy fic.
Ages ago, Kristine and I both posted about Customized CLassics.com, which took classic books and let you personalize them. They asked for suggestions, I told them Anne of Green Gables, and they listened! They now have AGG, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island ready to personalize. And I get a free copy of AGG! Such a fun, fun idea. My code is RINAS (or click on the link above), to credit me if you want to get some books of your own. <.g>
Back to Justin on SNL! I love this ep. Only one crappy skit in the entire night, yo. Him as Jessica Simpson is the best. <.g>
First off - 1500 posts. Wheee, I rock.
Second - finished HP earlier tonight. Fucking hell. I cried. It was great. Beyond great. Some of the revelations weren't very revelationy, but others were. I cried. I loved certain aspsects. Some made me gleeful. Others made me want to throw things.
Can't wait to read again.
Less than 6 hours until the new Harry Potter book!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. There's a street in Oak Park that's turning into Diagon Alley for the night, and daddy's taking me. Then we get the book at midnight! And I read all night long. LOL
I hate not being able to post here. Even when I get online, I feel like I'm never alone in my room to post. I love spending time vegging with mom and Josh, and I don't want it to stop, but it seems to be getting later and later and I get tireder and tireder, and just don't wanna expend the typing energy. LOL
Mom is currently addicted to my solitaire game. <.g> You know, the one that comes with the computer? It's so funny. I love watching her play.
Who here also uses XP? I set up my new OE, although I still have yet to move my mail over, but even though I typed in my pws and set it to always remember, I ALWAYS have to type them all in again the first time after I sign on. I hate it, and want it to stop. Ideas?
Also, need to remember the pw for the main accont. I think it's on my old computer, in my old mail. LOL Good reason to try again to move things!
Um, what else? Job getting better, still don't love it. Driving like mad, do love it. Ready to fall asleep NOW, and planning on being awake for another 12 hours. This is where my new pack of pixie sticks come in handy.
Okay. Wearing a Quidditch jersey and ready to find Diagon Alley. Wheeeeeee! I'm taking my digital camera, so pictures are forthcoming.
I also learned, from Kristine, that you, too, can star in your favorite Classic Novel. <.g> It's quite the interesting idea - you can insert yourself and your friends into things like Romeo and Juliet. Which, incidentally, can now have a happy ending. <.g>
"Oh Lance, Lance. Wherefore art thou Lance?"
"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Rina is the sun."
Lance and Rina. Doesn't that have a nice, classic, Shakespearean ring to it? <.g>
Wow. I was randomly going through bookmarked sites tonight, and trying to find stories I hadn't read yet. I hit paydirt over at TNL's site. Of course, most were AU, and I don't read those often. Just a personal thing, although I certainly have read quite a few.
So. Just randomly decided to click on To See the Queen. It was there, I needed a story to read, boom.
Yeah. I never, ever thought my favorite nsync story would be an AU. But here we are. Chris is a scholar/professor of art history, Justin is a grad student, and they're investigating the lives/connection of famous painters Joshua Chasez and JA Fatone, 150 years previous. Lance is there, too. <.g> But seriously. Wow.
I love history. I love puzzles. I love how the puzzle pieces were collected over the story, and then they all started to be put together. I love love love stories like that. And this one delivers in spades. Just, wow. I so seriously want more of these characters. I highly, highly recommend it. And hey, bonus - you don't have to be nsync fans. Which I know most of my readers aren't. <.g> So give it a whirl! It's wonderful.
Read a cool story today! HP, Lavender/Parvati, Real Methods of Divination. PG, slash-ish, so sweet and adorable. They find their best friend in each other. Loved it!
Gacked from various LJs. Quite fun.
We went to Border's today, after we bought Josh's wheelchair. It made me realize that, yeah, my blog is pretty damn shallow 95% of the time. <.g> Believe it or not, I do have interests outside of nsync. So, I figured I'd take at least a brief moment to recommend some books I've read this past week.
Find Me, Rosie O'Donnell
This was a fast read, but extremely well written and very intense. It's not a typical auto-biography, or linear in anyway, but I felt I came out of it knowing a bit more about what an extremely complex and flawed woman she is, but still one I really would love to know. Parts of it were hard to read...some parts I identified with more than I would have liked, other times she went farther than I would have. It's almost not even her story, in the way she presents it. I found myself wrapped up in Stacie and Melissa's lives just as much as I was Rosie's, and their problems hurt me. Like Rosie, I kinda want to fix them. <.g>
It's an unconventional format, but I enjoyed it. It worked well. Some chapters were a page long, others much longer, but they were all as long as they needed to be. It was moving and, again, intense, and the very ending almost had me in tears. But happy ones. Like I said, it's a quick read (took me only a few hours, 213 pages), but one well-worth reading, IMO.
Lucky Man, Michael J. Fox
This book knocked me on my knees. It's a far more traditional style than Rosie's, and far more dense...took me 2 days to read this one, and I loved every moment. It grabs you from the start...his sense of humor, dry wit, irony, everything is there from page one. It starts with the day of "The Pinky Rebellion," when his first tremor began. From there, it takes us back to before he was born, with his grandmother, through his time after Spin City. His determination and strength is demonstrated with every word, and I loved the look at his life and work.
I'm really not sure what else I can say about this...he's a good man, a good writer, and he shared a lot in this book. Definitely high on my list of recommendations.
The Giver, Lois Lowry
This wasn't the first time I read this book. I've been reading it for many years now, but it still holds the same resonance for me. It is a children's book, yes, and I've seen it read as young as 3rd grade in the schools, but it's so much more than that. Everything about it is metaphor, and it has to sail right over the heads of 8 year olds. It's about a boy named Jonas, who lives in a Community where everyone is the same. The committee chooses jobs, spouses, etc. Children are born to Birthmothers and every December are given to a family. There is no love, there is no sex (adults take pills to stop the Stirrings), no unemployment, differences are to be ignored, everyone does what is told - and everyone is happy. It's a perfect world, but at the price of giving up everything that makes human beings unique. When Jonas is 12, he is chosen to be the one person in the community to hold the memories of the past...of happy things like rainbows and birthdays (weather is climate controlled), and of horrible things like war and pain. I'm not describing this well, and I apologize.
But the book makes so many statements about everything, I believe...capital punishment, families, government/Big Brother, shallowness of spirit, human engineering and cloning, etc. One of my favorite lines is between Jonas and The Giver, as Jonas is realizing that he can see the color red (there are no colors in this society), because his friend Fiona's hair is changing. The Giver laughs and says that Fiona does have bright red hair, and that it and kinks like it must drive the genetic scientists insane...I love that because it shows that it's not actually possible to completely get rid of the differences. They're always there, even if they aren't seen or commented on. It's also kind of scary, because there were still people who were willfully trying to eradicate those things.
Watching Jonas move from acceptance of his life to fighting against what is set is an amazing journey for the reader, though,...if anyone has read this, I'd love to discuss it. I have some feelings on Elsewhere that are apparently not the typical reactions of people, but I feel is a valid interpretation. <.g> If you haven't read this, it's an excellent book.
Currently, I'm rereading Mansfield Park (Jane Austen), and next up on my list are Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham (Phyllis Richman), Night (Elie Wiesel), and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (Rebecca Wells), all of which I purchased today at Border's (along with a new CD, from Norah Jones. I plan to do a review and upload some songs this week <.g>). So, that's what I'm reading now. Hope you like at least some of them. : )
I love my writing class. <.g> John, the teacher, broke the rule and they did my story while I was gone. Whooo! LOL Okay, admittedly, I am curious as to what was said. Nghi said they had this fairly big debate about if Roger and Chris ended up sleeping together that night or not. <.g> Okay, personally, I don't think anything happened that night. Maybe after the war, who knows. But I left it really, really open and a lot of people complained, because they wanted to know. LOL Apparently he started out the discussion by pointing out that I wasn't there, so they could talk about how much they hated it....gee, thanks. <.g> But really, most of the comments were really positive. One didn't say anything, and one had some quibbles but liked some of it. And wow, my teacher really liked it. Or likes my writing, at any rate. I got comments such as, "Your sense of rhythm between dialogue and exposition is admirable," and "This is such solid, sane writing that mostly all I want to do is get out of your way and let you run." He also thinks that I have another novel idea out of this, plus I should keep writing in general. It makes me happy to read things like that...I have such a low opinion of my own writing skills that sometimes I feel bad for allowing it among the masses. So his comments, and the rest of the classes's, too, made me less guilty for inflicting it on them. LOL Of course, it also made me want to work on my two stories-in-progress, but I sadly can't really do that tonight. <.g> Well, maybe if I get to page six tonight...I'm on page five now. Yay!
Well, don't that beat all. I finish my story. I go to DupIt and get it copied. (It only took five minutes! And it was all collated and staped and oh-so-pretty! Wonderful thing, DupIt is.) I go to class....it's CANCELED. And unlike last time, it doesn't say to stick around and exchange stories! I was there for 10 minutes and only one other guy showed up, so I don't know if we missed an announcement or what. I guess I could have hung around another five minutes until 5 to see if anyone else came, but every other time, at least 3/4 of the class has been there by 4:55. Man, I so could have used an extra two days to work on it! Blah to him.
Well, now I have three hours to get work done before we start On the Line. : )
When I went to bed, it was raining. I could hear it. When I woke up, it was just bright and grey. So I figured we were in for a cloudy day. I looked out...snow and ice everywhere. BLAH! It's freaking spring! Give me winter back...it was warmer then.
I spent most of my day yesterday working on my last story for writing class. It's set in December 1941, about this guy, Christopher, getting ready to go off to war and spending his last Saturday night with his best friend, Roger, whom he's also in love with. Gee, that one sentence summary is better than the story! LOL I asked Jennie, Kate and Aarti to read it, and no one was mortally offended by it, which is good. <.g> So today I have to change my print cartridge and get ready to print it. It's 8 pages, so I haven't decided if I want to print all 18 copies out myself or just one and pay to have it copied. I do it doublesided, so that's only 4 pagesx18 copies, which is what...72? That does sound a lot. LOL
The other thing I did was drive with Kate for over an hour, hitting six stores, in an attempt to find and purchase nsync's PopOdyssey Live "for my brother." <.g> Not one place down here had it!! That is so annoying. But we tried, and took the time to procrastinate, and will just have to wait for the DVD on April 23.
I am SO COLD! UGH! I don't want to take a shower...I'm freezing as it is, without adding in the wet factor. Maybe I'll try and put that off as long as possible. <.g> Of course, I do have to go to both classes today. In 376, we might fight to NOT have the exam on Wednesday. He told us the Wednesday before break that he would tell us today if we were having an exam on Wednesday! I studied a bit, but nowhere near the level I'd need if I wanted to pass. Which I do. So we'll all yell at him if he doesn't push it back.
What do I need to do this week? I need to start researching my 376 paper topic...I decided to write about the feedback types in speech. I need to study for 376. I need to finish my MI tests and start writing a rough draft. I need to study for the 385 exam that is next Tuesday and CANNOT be pushed back. Or else I have to explain to my teacher that I won't be at the exam because I'll be in Chicago getting ready for the nsync concert. <.g> Wouldn't that go over well? I need a good excuse just in case. Something that involves already having plans to go home...perhaps I'll move the RTS get together to that weekend and promise to do a sample on one of the kids. Then do a sample on Josh over the weekend.
Well, that does sound fairly reasonable. This morning, I'll finish my tests. Tomorrow, I'll try and start researching 376. Wednesday, I'll start writing a rough draft of MI. Thursday, I don't have time for anything. Friday, I'll study 385 and 376. Saturday, ditto, plus some 376 writing. Sunday morning, ditto, Sunday afternoon, spend time with my parents, who are driving down for Easter. See, all sounds good. But I still don't want to move now. LOL
I LOVE my writing class!!! LOL So very cool. Anyway, there's this girl named Nee who's in it, and she lives in a dorm on the way to my place, so we walk back together. We started talking about our stories...turns out she wrote a bastardized version of Little Red Riding Hood. So I told her about mine, and she thought it was the funniest thing. Then we started talking about fanfic, she asked what fandoms I wrote, and it turns out she likes HP too. And get this...HP slash! LOL I was excited to meet a slash fan offline, what can I say? <.g> We both love Lupin, and get totally squicked by things like Snape/Harry.
We also talked about what books we're reading. I told her about To Say Nothing of the Dog, and she told me that she just found out her favorite author teaches here. So she was excited about that, but also worried because she really dislikes his latest books and is afraid that she's going to go all, "What did you DO?!" to him. LOL So I actually know someone in a class. This is a new thing. <.g> I like it.
I uploaded my first file to my new domain! Wheee! LOL Without further ado, I present Lysandra and the Five Elves. If you see any glaring errors, let me know by 2:30pm CT. Otherwise, I'd prefer not knowing. *giggle*
The story has been printed and is FINISHED! Whoooo! I've been making changes every so often, but I think this is it. (It better be it...I just fixed my printer and made it print!) The last page and a half was just so heavy, but I kinda fixed it by inserting nsync lyrics in there. (ie, "I'll tell them tonight. It's probably going to start a fight. But I know that I can't take any more." "That ain't no lie," Buck said, shaking his head. <.g>) And then she walks off saying "Bye bye!" and CJ calls out, "Bye." Made it a little better. LOL
It's so weird having the morning off! Class doesn't start until three today, so I'm watching Xena and eating breakfast. Or I should be, I put the waffles in the toaster a few minutes ago. LOL But now I'm going to do my other assignment for today, which is writing a character/setting sketch of Kate's room. Should prove interesting. *g*
It's SO weird not posting at Blogger! LOL I'm the sort that hates change, so this is a challenge. But everything is so pretty here, and easy to use. None of that wondering if my post will get eaten or not be posted. <.g> I did like being able to see my last few posts as I was writing, 'cause I always forget what I've already said, but I think I'll get used to it pretty quickly. Oooh, I think I'm gonna find a searchy thing to put on here. That would be fun. LOL
Done, done, done, done! My story is done! I'll link to it tomorrow when I have a chance to upload and stuff. *giggle* So happy and exciting. Even if I'm not thrilled with the ending.
Big HUGE thank yous and hugs to my Lady K, who put in hours of work getting the domain set up and movable type ready to go, and moving all my archives over. Not to mention making this design over the weekend!! Isn't she the best? I think she is. *g*
Time to move away from the computer now. LOL Tomorrow morning, I really must figure out why my printer won't print.