Taking Eccentricity To New Levels

ZOMG

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 07:09:40 GMT

Wednesday is approaching! The car has been booked. Yeah, a rental will actually save enough on gas compared to our guzzler to make it worthwhile, and besides, Dorkboy needs transport while I'm gone; plus, he's bound to drive less than a thousand miles while we're away. ;)

So, yeah. Seems like yesterday when subvers posted in her LJ that she is so going to Dallas, and now it's here, a year or so later.

I'll definitely be at the meet-up on Saturday at the Marriott and likely at the Mob meet on Friday starting at the Anatole, but according to ladyofthemasque, moving elsewhere.

rdholmantx promised to take me to Ikea, which I'm also tremendously looking forward to. I mean, I haven't seen a decently cheap furniture shop in years! Oh, and I'd love to go to the yarn store, too. Their arsenal of turquoise yarn looks amazing, and I'm nearly done with the second sock of one pair, so I'll need some new yarn soon. Then there is the construction site of the Dallas Opera, which I absolutely have to see. And I can probably think of a few other places, too, such as that museum Robbi mentioned, all about conspiracies. Me? Conspiracies? Nevvah. *looks around with shifty eyes*

If you wanna meet up any place, leave a comment or email me.

Here beez proof!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:18:25 GMT

shalimar1981 has arrived.

We had dinner together, had splendid amusement provided by her little one, and now both crashed out. :)

squee

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:15:42 GMT

I will shortly leave for the airport to pick shalimar1981 and her little one up. *squeeeee*

ZOMG one week till Dallas ZOMG!!!

ROFL

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:28:41 GMT

I've just received my first virtual gift on LJ. You can admire it on the profile page.

This guard dog here is happily chewing her new bone. *snicker*

Thanks, love. I really appreciate it! :))

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:47:20 GMT

So, geminiscorp and I were chatting the other day, and she was saying how her muse was obliging for once. I didn't have time to participate in the drabble meme, and besides, my drabbles always turn into monsters, at least size-wise, so I offered to write her some music in return for a fluffy drabble, which you can read here.

I'm finally done with it, and you can hear the results by clicking here. Hope you like it, gem!

ETA: Yahoo are very stingy with their bandwidth, so if you can't access the above link, you can also download it by clicking this.

ETA: Just discovered a better solution. Yeah, I'm slow sometimes.

Reaquainting With Beethoven

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:26:43 GMT

He had spent the last six months manipulating an old Time-Turner so it would take him back to the past. Not mere hours, not even months or years, no; he wanted to go back to the year 1817.

It was not the kind of activity one decided on at the spur of the moment; no, it had to be well-planned. Thankfully, his clothing was the sort that would have fitted well into the era, so he did not have to worry about that. Nevertheless, going by Arithmantic calculations, he would have the best results when the moon was in the same position as she was on that day in the past and when it was the same day of the week—a Wednesday. One Wednesday with the moon two days before waxing into the perfect circle had already passed some months ago. The Time-Turner had given him trouble, and he could not afford the risk of getting lost in time.

For a short moment, he reminisced how life had become valuable to him the moment the Dark Lord had been vanquished. After all that time thinking–expecting, even—to not survive the major battle that had been expected to happen by both camps, Dark and Light alike, he'd started to appreciate life. And decided to live it to his liking. Then he concentrated again on his task, went over his calculations once more. Everything was in order.

He placed the Time-Turner around his neck and turned it, silently counting down the decades, then shorter turns for years.

At first, he doubted the success, as Hogwarts looked exactly the same. He hurried outside and headed for Hogsmeade, out of the grounds so he could Apparate.

When he arrived in Vienna, a sigh of relief escaped him. It looked like early 19th century. He headed straight to the Staatsoper, with barely ten minutes to spare before the performance.

A quick Distracting Charm and Severus Snape held a ticket for Row B, seat 33. Right in the centre. He silently took his seat, taking his cloak off before he sat down to wait for the performance to start.

The lights went out, voices quietened, coughs lessened. Briefly distracted by an almost-late-comer, who took the seat next to him, he focused on the stage where the orchestra had started tuning their instruments.

Then silence. An old man shuffled to the conductor's desk. The music started, sending shivers down his spine. This is how it's supposed to sound...

He lost himself as the composer himself conducted his greatest work, the Ninth Symphony, that would become known the world over, that would never be forgotten, that would bring many moments of peace to humankind. He didn't notice that Beethoven was nearly deaf; he conducted his composition with a grace that anyone else could not have mustered. He didn't notice the late-comer on his right watching him curiously. The world had stopped spinning for now, and all he felt was peace. Peace within himself. A novel perception. One he would remember until the end of his days.

He did not notice the short pause before the final movement, and when the choir started to contribute to the beauty of the music, his eyes filled with tears. Also unnoticed by him. Truly, it is an Ode to Joy

The applause continued and continued, the audience now standing up, cheering the composer and conductor, who looked merely pleased. Pleased for having managed to please an entire audience. For a moment, his eyes locked with Severus. He couldn't say later whether it had been his imagination or not, but he refused to think about it.

Eventually, the applause died down and the audience began to move towards the exits. Except Severus Snape and the late-comer. Eventually, he turned to see who sat next to him.

"Miss Granger! What on earth are you doing here?"

"I've come to find peace, sir."

He nodded empathetically, lost for words. The former know-it-all, now his colleague, had lost much of her eagerness. The war had affected everyone, he figured, and the younger generation possibly more so.

"And, did you find it?" he asked after a silence.

"I think I have," she whispered.

His expression changed to something akin to a smile. "Would maybe the Uraufführung of The Magic Flute ensure that you know whether or not you have found peace?"

He was awarded with the most beautiful, genuine smile he'd never dared dream of. "I think it would, sir."

"Come. Let's go back to Hogwarts, and we'll find out a good time to visit Mr Mozart. I'll be relieved not having to do any more Arithmantic calculations."

She laughed in a most delightful manner. "I'll do those gladly. After all, that's what my job is."

They Disapparated together and strolled back to the castle in an animated conversation.

Prompt from SW69:
Snape sneaks away from the castle to see one of his favorite composers and his orchestra. However, one of his colleagues is also there, skiving from her teaching duties. What happens?

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:22:24 GMT

Belated, Happy Birthday to lariopefic and merlina_thalia and a Happy Birthday today to irishredlass69!

Hope you had/have wonderful days, and may this coming year be the best yet!

Yay!

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:22:20 GMT

He beez home!

I spent the afternoon learning how to change the dressing, how to measure blood sugar and how to give insulin shots. Very strange, that. But Dorkboy is home, and we're much happier, and he's recovering faster.

Thanks so much, everyone, for your kind words of support. I read all comments and emails out to him tonight, and it cheered him up considerably that so many online friends I only talk about to him, people he's never spoken to, have so many good wishes for him.

We have a hopefully nice and peaceful and relaxing weekend ahead. I managed to convince the kids to skip self-defense class tomorrow morning, which means I don't have to go out except buy some onions and ginger, which is more local than the classes. My brother, who's been planning to come over for the past three months or so, finally turned up today and is spending the night here, which means I'll get to see him again in the morning. That makes me happy, too.

Oh, and I have two nearly-mature cayenne peppers out on the patio, and two of the tomato plants have started flowering again. There's hope yet for more tomatoes! All in all, things look considerably brighter than a week ago.

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:27:58 GMT

Grateful thanks to you all for your kind words and support! You cannot even begin to imagine how much that means to me. Yeah, crankydragon, it is the Baptist. Not that I knew about their reputation, but adding traveling time with a child not old enough to visit just wasn't an option... At least here, I can go back and forth several times a day.

They had scheduled surgery for this morning, but it didn't actually happen until after 5pm. Took about 45 minutes. Apparently, it was quite a sizable abscess, which they drained and then packed. It seems to be fairly common in the summer months for people with a compromised immune system to develop such abscesses. He was quite miserable tonight after the surgery, but they're giving him morphine to control the pain and assured me that he'll be much better tomorrow. I was very grateful that the nurse on duty tonight was competent, not only with her offerings of explanations without me even asking but also being very sympathetic that I went home because Little Man especially is very upset that his daddy is ill. And his 18-yr-old sister shouldn't be asked to deal with that kind of emotional trauma. The nurse said that he's likely to spend most of the night sleeping, and I'll go back in the morning.

wants to scream

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:30:43 GMT

So, DB had a spot on his thigh. It's not a new thing; he's had it quite often. Usually, it appears, develops giving him discomfort for a day or three, then bursts and disappears. He had surgery once for it, them removing it and assuring him it would never come back. Yeah right. It reappeared two years later, developed, made him miserable for a couple of days, burst and disappeared. And has done so a few times since. Not this time around. It appeared and developed, giving him extreme discomfort for days on end, and it never burst or disappeared. By Sunday, he was in enough pain to demand to be taken to emergency care. This is the South, yeah. Eight hours spent in ER on Sunday, and they finally decided to keep him in, seeing he couldn't walk properly or talk properly and was near screaming in pain. They gave him antibiotics iv-style, and since yesterday, steroids, along with heavy-duty pain killers. Tonight, very finally, an actual MD who has a say in the matter of patients, saw him and decided it's time to drain the damn spot. In the morrow. Morning or afternoon, who knows.

I just love the efficiency of the hospital. Not. Nurse No 1: "Are your vaccines all up-to-date? I'll give you a tetnus jab, just in case."

DB: "Yes they are, and no, thank you."

Nurse No 1: "Why ever not? You need to be up-to-date!"

DB: "I am up-to-date, the last jab being less than two years ago."

Nurse No 1: "But, just in case?" She looked hopeful here.

DB: "Ma'am, have you read the package insert of the tetnus jab? The very one you can't spell properly I bet. It says every ten years a booster is required. Furthermore, the package insert also states that the jab should not be given at a time of acute infection."

Nurse No 1: "oh, but it won't do any harm."

DB: "I'm sure you're right," rolling his eyes, "but, honestly, no thanks."

The same scenario the next day about the flu shot. Uh, yeah, he really wants 25 mcg of mercury in his system when he's acutely ill.

Meantime, he's been filled with painkillers, antibiotics, and steroids.

Finally, it looks like they're doing something aside from drugging him. Draining the damn thing. In the morrow. Who knows when tomorrow.

I've not slept in two nights and been going between hospital and home. Wish me luck?

Admin, anyone?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:36:21 GMT

Have you ever thought about becoming an admin on an archive?
We are currently taking applications for admins.

What we are looking for:
** Good grasp of grammar, punctuation, and spelling
** Willingness and ability to learn
** Willingness to conform to a set standard (so all admins are asking for the same things)
** Good sense of humor
** About 10 hours per week, especially during training; may be less once training is over depending on the size of queue (which varies)
** Someone who is dependable and trustworthy

If you would like to apply, please click on the link below. There is a questionnaire and then a short test.

Apply here

gigglesnort

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:46:07 GMT

Uh. Yeah. Mah poor hubby...

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Poor (Failure)

Take the test!

In other news, we successfully dodged those tornadoes in the Chicago area yesterday and made it to the hotel in one piece. Well, four pieces, duh. The journey was considerably helped by Miss Melbourne, the very Australian voice of the GPS that came with the rental car (hubby is visiting a client, so it's expenses paid, which resulted in a rental car, a hotel room with a jacuzzi, and decent wine). Miss Melbourne got a bit upset every time we left the I-57 North, and each time she sighed, "Re-cal-culating," she sounded a bit more long-suffering, but she got us here safely, despite part of the I-57 being closed due to tornado damage, which irritated her no end, especially when she realised that we were ignoring her instructions of taking u-turns and instead followed the road signs...

Today was spent swimming in the rain, whirlpooling both in the rain and indoors and inroom, and steambathing. And several trips to Starbucks. *nods* My kind of holiday. I've always suspected I'm genetically far closer to a dolphin than a human. For tomorrow, a trip to Trader Joe's is in order, oh, and a trip to the yarn store that carries Opal yarn. They have Hundertwasser designs! *iz happy*

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:31:04 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, geminiscorp!

Here's hoping you've had a wonderful day, and may the coming year be the best one yet!

Pizza Night!

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:16:38 GMT

For the first time in simply ages, I made pizza tonight. It came out really well, so I'm posting the recipe and a pic.

For two 12" pizzas

Dough:

1 1/2 cups (300ml) luke-warm water
1 packet of active dried yeast
1 tblsp honey
4 cups (800ml by volume) of flour (I used a mix of organic white and spelt flour)
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Dissolve honey in water, then add the yeast and stir until dissolved. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until yeast is foaming. Add flour gradually and knead, like, forevvah. When it's still fairly sticky (and you have about half a cup of flour left), cover and forget about it for half an hour or however long it takes for the dough to double in size.

Meantime, take two fresh tomatoes, peel them (ie. dump boiling water over them) and cut them as finely as you can or throw in the blender. Heat two tblespoons of olive oil, add fresh tomato, 6 oz (about half a tin) of tinned tomatoes, 3 oz tomato paste, lots of oregano, lots of chopped up fresh basil, 1 tsp salt, black pepper to taste. Bring to boil and reduce heat to low (or else your entire kitchen will be splattered with red dots). Do not cover. Let simmer for about half an hour to thicken. Let cool.

Return to the dough. If it's about double in size, knead again, make sure your hands are floury or else the dough will stick. Split dough in two roughly equal parts, cover and let rise again for about 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, ponder the toppings for the pizza.

Oil your baking trays with a very thing layer of olive oil. Knead each piece of dough separately, then pull it into a roughly round shape or whatever your baking tray is and fit it on there. Brush the surface of the dough with a little bit of olive oil so the ingredients won't soak through.

Spread the tomato sauce about evenly over the two pizzas, then add other ingredients. I added fresh spinach, feta cheese, munster and provolone to one pizza. The second pizza is half provolone and half pesto.

I had a feeling it would come out well, by it definitely exceeded everyone's expectations.

Drabble Pimp

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:50:00 GMT

Little Man wrote me a drabble, which you can read here. If you leave a review, he'll dictate me the reply. :) And yes, that Oxford comma is his very own! *proud parent grammar nazi*

Sat, 31 May 2008 05:31:57 GMT

Srsly, I'll neither stalk you nor beg you. If you can't be arsed to friend back in a month or so, I get the message. *snerk*

Went to see Indiana Jones today *gasp*. Yeah, I know, me going to see a movie. I enjoyed it, though. Highly entertaining.

Also managed to polish/write 1500 words of the new chapter that cannot be named. I'm happy.

WTF?

Fri, 30 May 2008 04:27:54 GMT

I just posted an entry for the potterplace Anything Goes Challenge. So, up comes a little window in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, informing me that LJ has just sent a notice to facebook that I posted adult content. WTF? For starters, it wasn't adult content, it's pimping a pg-rated artwork. Secondly, since when does LJ post to facebook on my behalf? I don't recall giving them permission. And I'm not even the same user name on there! *grumbles*

Not your everyday airlines

Sat, 24 May 2008 04:59:36 GMT

*snicker*

And another one:

Anyone...

Fri, 23 May 2008 05:15:00 GMT

... know how to rip youtube vids? Or where I can download a bully-instigated fighting scene? It's for a non-profit video. thanx.

Fri, 23 May 2008 03:03:31 GMT

Snagged from lilyginny27

Random quotes that resonate. Go here and pick your favourite ones.

Most of the basic truths of life sound absurd at first hearing – Elizabeth Goudge

Say little, and love much; give all; judge no man; aspire to all that is pure and good – White Eagle

I simply cannot understand the passion that some people have for making themselves thoroughly uncomfortable and then boasting about it afterwards – Patricia Moyes

Intimacy is what makes a marriage, not a ceremony, not a piece of paper from the state – Kathleen Norris

Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything – George Lois

Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it. – Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), Letters

To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains – Mary Pettibone Poole

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:37:15 GMT

Cuz dhark_charlotte is spreading the eeeeebil earworm...

Fic Rec

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:24:41 GMT

It's short. It's satisfying. And, boy, is it hot!

Clicky

Sunday again?

Mon, 19 May 2008 02:08:30 GMT

Dang, where did this week go???

Much has been written this week, and today I'm taking a little break from writing. Dorkboy brought me back sockyarn from Chicago, it's Hundertwasser colouring, the design follows the colour of The Road to Socialism, and it's wickedly colourful. So I've spent the afternoon knitting. About half the heel is done now, and I'm really looking forward to wearing them. I might need new shoes because the colours of the yarn clash with just about every Converse pair I have.

My patio garden is thriving. Three mini-tomatoes have come into existence, as well as one cayenne pepper, about an inch and a half long. The green onions are getting a bit thicker finally, after growing and growing into stick-like greens for the last couple of weeks, and the sage is threatening to take over the terrarium, so I think I'll have to make pasta with sage butter for tomorrow's dinner. The basil is finally starting to look like basil, as is the oregano. Oh, and the cilantro. Tomorrow's breakfast shall include some home-grown baby spinach.

Vaccination?

Sat, 17 May 2008 06:19:32 GMT

Something came up in chat tonight, and because it's late and I'm tired and have to be up early in the morning, I offered to continue the discussion on LJ. So here goes.

If you're that keen on convincing me why I should allow myself or my children be injected with a cocktail of poisonous substances, then please provide me with the scientific evidence, ie. link to scientific studies that prove to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that vaccines are beneficial rather than damaging.

I spent nearly eight years of my life looking for that scientific evidence. I started out because I wanted to disprove someone who told me I'm a "believer in the religion of medicine". I was desperate to find a scientific proof and subscribed to medical journals, which cost me a fortune. When I finally gave up, I had never felt more disappointed.

For example, one would think there'd be plenty of double-blind studies out there, proving that vaccines are beneficial. Well, I'll be darned. Didn't find a single one.

Don't bother linking me to "news". The "news" also tell you how wonderful diet coke is. Or ready-made meals that contain more poisons than edible stuff, let alone nourishment. Or how wonderful meat is. So, just don't. I want scientific evidence.

Give me a clue why it might be beneficial to inject mercury, formaldehyde, aborted fetal tissue, animal dna, alunimum directly into the blood of a human. All in one go. And that's not even mentioning the "virus" which is "weakened". Weakened with what kind of methods? Ethical? I doubt it.

And, as someone was afraid of meeting me or my children since we're not fully vaccinated, please tell me why you are afraid if YOUR children are fully vaccinated to meet my unvaccinated children??? You are told when you bring your children into your doctor's office as well as by TV commercials that once your children are vaccinated, they are fully immune to the disease they're vaccinated against. Why are you afraid of non-vaccinated people if the vaccines are so safe and protective???

I have been reading my f-list religiously. Each time vaccines are mentioned, they go together with the mention of sickness. The flu vaccine wasn't "the right strain that's why I had the flu anyways", or the flu vaccine "made me sick like hell". The anti-cervical cancer vaccine "made dd really sick, but at least she'll be protected now". Oh, rly? She might be so well protected that she'll never have children. Read the package insert, at the very least. And for crying out loud, please do your research.

Meme

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:01:21 GMT

Comment on this post and I will pick seven interests from your profile. You then make a post in your journal explaining what the interests are and what they mean to you.

Here are the seven that keladry_lupin picked out for me:

1. yarns: I learned to knit last autumn and discovered the beauty and variety of yarns. It is a fascinating world, not just the very many varieties of wool but newer materials, such as paper, corn, soy, hemp, bamboo. Wearing a pair of socks made from bamboo is just seriously cool.

2. paco de lucia: He's a Spanish guitarist who almost single-handedly brought Flamenco to mainstream worldwide. His style is unique and watching him play is kind of experiencing a musical orgasm.

3. hollow earth: One of my favoured books when I was a child was Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and the idea that there is life in the middle of the earth fascinated me.

4. raw milk: I like dairy products, but am saddened that milk has been processed beyond recognition before it reaches the tables. I wish it would be left up to the customer whether or not we want our milk pasteurized, homogenized and whatever else -ized.

5. soap making: It's a hobby of mine. As addictive as writing, musicking, knitting, cheese-making. I don't do it often these days, mainly due to time constraints. I need a Time-Turner. *nods*

6. john mclaughlin: The American answer to Paco de Lucia.

7. free energy: The technology to create electricity that doesn't use the earth's resources has been around for a good hundred years. I don't like the fact that it's suppressed in the name of making money.