jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Default)
Happy St Patrick's Day to all who are celebrating!

Well, after yesterday's wash-out in the afternoon, I'm determined to be productive today. I got an early start when J elbowed me in the head at 4.30 this morning, so I'm both raring to go and kind of knackered. So much so that having ordered and paid for my coffee this morning, I walked out of Pret without it *facepalm* Don't worry, I went back for it ;)

There are hundreds (literally, actually, albeit in groups of 15) of 6th form students being given tours of the library this morning and this afternoon, which is always a fascinating experience. They don't look nearly as young as I was expecting, and this year, fruffy skirts are in fashion, mostly worn with short jackets and lots of necklaces. Last year, it was dresses with footless tights. They're generally very well-behaved, and it's the undergraduate guides we have to keep an eye on.

Right. Time to get productive. *rolls up sleeves*

ExpandThings to get done today )

Hopefully that's a)useful and b)achievable. It's not particularly sunny here today, but I'm feeling fairly chirpy right now. Everyone else's Wednesdays going/been/will be okay?

ETA: Why are the last few lines showing up in link-style when they're not a link? *prods LJ* I know people have been complaining about screwed-up code updates, but this is ridiculous. There's no html there, LJ. What are you doing!?
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Default)
Or, at least, lots of difficult things after breakfast. Still, it's actually GOOD to be busy, so that's okay. Plus, I did some beta'ing for Z last night (Rusty, I haven't forgotten yours - I'm printing it for lunchtime!) and yes, okay, so that's where the other half of my brain went. Am feeling much more positive about life in general and my writing in particular this morning :)

So positive in fact, that I have a list. Woot!

ExpandOkay, so it's only exciting to me, but it's still a good sign )

I think that's enough for today :) Although 'dry out' should possibly be on there as well. Call this July? FAIL, WEATHER, FAIL.

How's everyone else doing? Keeping busy
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Default)
Despite sleeping extremely badly last night - which I'm putting down to heat and allergies - I'm feeling much better this morning than I did yesterday. Not quite back to myself, but definitely on the way, especially since washing my hair is always theraputic, even if it does need a cut.

Huge thanks to everyone who thought good thoughts etc about the STUFF I was talking about last week. Nothing's going to happen on that front until at least July, but we have good news to be going on with. Work is also still going well, and I'm starting to pick up and put right all the mistakes I made earlier this year when I was not quite as on top of things. I like being good at my job, and it's definitely something with lots of room for improvement!

I'm also encouraged because while the beginning of my [livejournal.com profile] tardis_bigbang story sucks like a straw, the final 3rd is actually not too bad. Since I do my best writing under extreme time-pressure, that's not really surprising, I guess, but it's given me hope for finishing by the weekend. My [livejournal.com profile] spn_summergen prompts are perfect for me and I feel like my brain is starting to come back online and wanting to do stuff.

Speaking of which, today's list looks long, but most of these are small jobs:

~ Listen to podtour
~ Record podtour
~ Go through flagged messages
~ Send stamp to Dawson
~ Send book to Houtschild
~ Covers to BR
~ Update Georgia list
~ Create East Asia fund
~ Untangle Brill invoices
~ Copy serial invoices
~ Sort order folder

~ Find ALNM tickets
~ Choose Red Letter Day
~ BAU Big Bang admin
~ Tidy new story list
~ Buy shampoo, anti-histamines, lunch Shampoo, conditioner, drugs, fruit, paper and roll achieved for under £8. Result!
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Default)
Happy birthday, [livejournal.com profile] aeron_lanart!!! Hope it's a good one, hon.

~ Today is a bank holiday and I am at work. There is something wrong with this picture. On the other hand, after spending all Friday lying on the sofa and most of yesterday dozing, I'm actually ready to get some stuff done. And did I mention that my work is awesomely understanding about my health? I'm so lucky on that front, and it's a counting my blessings kind of day today.

~ I'm not going to be around as much as usual for the next few weeks, since we were broken into at the weekend and my netbook was stolen *cries* (as well as our wallets and J's laptop). I will be getting another, just not for a little while, which is going to curtail my online access. BTW, those of you with netbooks, what have you got and what do you recommend?

~ Less surfing might not be an entirely bad thing, since I have a stupid amount of stuff on my writing plate right now, and maybe less time online will mean more words on the page. Anything's possible, right?

~ I am busy every night this week. All with good stuff, but I'm starting to wonder if this is what it's like to have a social life. Weird.

~ Flautists on my flist, how do I play a 'C' without dropping the flute or losing the note? I'm teaching myself at the moment, and right now I can only manage one or the other...

~ ExpandThe return of the list of dooom )

~ Yes, you did read right in that table. Because we are a bad influence on each other, [livejournal.com profile] greyias and I have signed up to co-write for this year's [livejournal.com profile] sgabigbang. That's THREE Big Bangs for me this year, plus the SPN Summer Gen challenge. Bring it on *wibble*

~ There's probably more, but I need to get coffee before my 3 hour enquiry desk shift. Hopefully the students are all in exams or Bank Holidays *crosses fingers*. There's so much to do!

~ I am rather vague today. This could prove problematic.

[I'm just going to keep adding 'ETA's to this as I remember things. By the time Californian folks see it, this post is going to be epic]

~ I made a lemon drizzle syrup cake last night, and it is exceedingly yummy. I meant to bring it to work for those of us slaving away while everyone else is at home, but it's still sitting on top of the bread-maker in the kitchen. It's one of the easiest and yummiest cakes ever, and I've put the recipe under the cut. ExpandTyped from memory, so apologies for randomness and to Nigella Lawson )
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Text - Hardcore Genficcer)
I'm having a listy kind of day:

#1. I have now spent 2 days ordering books in languages I don't speak and some I don't even understand. Serbian is the hardest to spell, Romanian resembles Italian more than I had realised and a surprising number overall are in English. We've now ordered from 46 countries. Just over 60 to go...

#2. Because it's Friday and I abandoned common sense some time around Wednesday lunchtime, I've signed up for [community profile] spn_summergen. Sign ups close tomorrow!

#3. You lot are no help at all when it comes to deciding what to write. Apparently I should start the NCIS one first, but only just. You're wonderfully enthusiastic, thanks, folks. It actually helps an embarrassing amount. This is a terribly against-the-grain thing to say in fic-writing circles (they're probably going to take away my pencil sharpener), but I do actually write for other people. Not for the comments (although I won't deny my utter delight in them), but because I hope the words I put down will entertain someone else as much as they did me. I don't write to order, but I do write to give pleasure to others as well as myself. The stuff I write just for myself? That stays under private lock. Anything public was written because I love to entertain, I love reading and I love the thought that what I wrote might just be the right story at the right time for somebody else. For me, it's like sending a postcard or letter or email to someone, except it's to a wider audience. This no doubt makes me an unbearable egotist, but that's just how I feel.

Anyway, my current deadlines are lining up nicely. Far enough apart that I'm not under too much pressure, close enough that I've got the drive to get them done:

22nd May - [profile] team_sga (yes, this is the pirate fic)
14th June - [community profile] tardis_bigbang final draft
19th July - [profile] bau_bigbang first draft
1st August - [community profile] spn_summergen (from a prompt that I'll get on 1st June)
16th August - [profile] bau_bigbang final draft

Looking at that, I won't be doing the SGA Big Bang this year unless there's a prompt that compells me to write. Given my current ambivalence to SGA, that's highly unlikely, plus I want to write my Bibula Harena sequel at last.

#4. We now have a confirmed artist for every story at [community profile] tardis_bigbang. This makes me happier than I can say. *twirls*

#5. It's nearly the weekend! We have almost no plans, although I do hope to get most of the housework done tonight so that I can write most of tomorrow. This sounds like a good plan :D

How's everyone doing? Plans for the weekend? Something that I must/read see following the SPN and Criminal Minds episodes this week? Anyone for tea? *swirls pot*

[I'm still cross-posting to dreamwidth and have 4 invite codes if anyone wants/knows anyone who wants one. Friends of friends welcome :)]
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Random - open sign)
I'm having a listy kind of day:

#1. I have now spent 2 days ordering books in languages I don't speak and some I don't even understand. Serbian is the hardest to spell, Romanian resembles Italian more than I had realised and a surprising number overall are in English. We've now ordered from 46 countries. Just over 60 to go...

#2. Because it's Friday and I abandoned common sense some time around Wednesday lunchtime, I've signed up for [livejournal.com profile] spn_summergen. Sign ups close tomorrow!

#3. You lot are no help at all when it comes to deciding what to write. Apparently I should start the NCIS one first, but only just. You're wonderfully enthusiastic, thanks, folks. It actually helps an embarrassing amount. This is a terribly against-the-grain thing to say in fic-writing circles (they're probably going to take away my pencil sharpener), but I do actually write for other people. Not for the comments (although I won't deny my utter delight in them), but because I hope the words I put down will entertain someone else as much as they did me. I don't write to order, but I do write to give pleasure to others as well as myself. The stuff I write just for myself? That stays under private lock. Anything public was written because I love to entertain, I love reading and I love the thought that what I wrote might just be the right story at the right time for somebody else. For me, it's like sending a postcard or letter or email to someone, except it's to a wider audience. This no doubt makes me an unbearable egotist, but that's just how I feel.

Anyway, my current deadlines are lining up nicely. Far enough apart that I'm not under too much pressure, close enough that I've got the drive to get them done:

22nd May - [livejournal.com profile] team_sga (yes, this is the pirate fic)
14th June - [livejournal.com profile] tardis_bigbang final draft
19th July - [livejournal.com profile] bau_bigbang first draft
1st August - [livejournal.com profile] spn_summergen (from a prompt that I'll get on 1st June)
16th August - [livejournal.com profile] bau_bigbang final draft

Looking at that, I won't be doing the SGA Big Bang this year unless there's a prompt that compells me to write. Given my current ambivalence to SGA, that's highly unlikely, plus I want to write my Bibula Harena sequel at last.

#4. We now have a confirmed artist for every story at [livejournal.com profile] tardis_bigbang. This makes me happier than I can say. *twirls*

#5. It's nearly the weekend! We have almost no plans, although I do hope to get most of the housework done tonight so that I can write most of tomorrow. This sounds like a good plan :D

How's everyone doing? Plans for the weekend? Something that I must/read see following the SPN and Criminal Minds episodes this week? Anyone for tea? *swirls pot*

[I'm still cross-posting to dreamwidth and have 4 invite codes if anyone wants/knows anyone who wants one. Friends of friends welcome :)]
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Fandom - CM - Caffeinated & Competent)
...y'all are sure I don't owe you stuff, right? Because I've got no clue right now, so you could tell me pretty much anything and I'd believe you.

Things are definitely picking up here, in good ways, although I could do with more of the picking up and less of the tired. Since that's always the way, I'm not worrying too much and aiming for earlier nights.

But (are you ready for this?) today I am awesome because I cycled to work through the rain, which I didn't want to do. Yesterday I was awesome because I didn't eat the chocolate cake in the library even through I wanted to. On Monday I was awesome because I went to my Slimming World group after a month away. I am also awesome because I've made the hospital appointment I need (beating off the phone system with a stick), I'm working on getting some other help and I'm still sticking to my eating plan, despite the chocolate cookies in the staff room. They're my 'working late' treat, and I'm not going to have one til the end of the day. *stays strong*

Yup, that's three days of awesome, folks. *buffs nails* So come on and tell me - how are you awesome today? And getting out of bed totally counts.

I had a very cool idea for a Macguffin last night, and I think it's going in the story I'm brewing for [livejournal.com profile] azure_chaos, which will also be my first NCIS story. Apparently mainlining S1 and S2 for a few days has given me the bug.

There's still lots to do and a long, long way to go before I feel close to better again, but I figure I'm making a good start :) Also, my list-table is getting bigger, although that's not necessarily a good thing...

Expandeh, I'll get there. )
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Random - bicycle and umbrella)
First and most importantly: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DONUTSWEEPER!

Have a great day, hon. I do have a present for you, but Stuff got in the way of my finishing it. I promise to send it before it becomes a Christmas present ;)




Speaking of which, do I owe anybody anything? I mean, I know I have deadlines coming up for various things, but I have this nagging feeling that I've forgotten to return something to someone. As far as I know, the only beta-work I'm sitting on right now is for [livejournal.com profile] apiphile, which doesn't count as work because I'm enjoying myself too much. Oh, and [livejournal.com profile] donutsweeper, I know I've got yours too, but that'll have to wait til the weekend, if that's okay (do let me know if it isn't and I'll *make* time - not a problem). I need to print it and go through it by hand, which is definitely my preferred method of editing.

I have things that would probably make a post, but right now, I'm too hungry to put them in a sensible order (I don't get off the enquiry desk for another 40 minutes *gnaws furniture*), so I've just tried to put my list together instead.

One thing I do know is that I need a couple of hand-holders to get my SGA pirate!story done, but I don't know who from my regular beta-group is around/has the time to help. So if you remember 'Port Call' and are able to help me put together a follow-up, I'd much appreciate some people to bounce ideas off.

ExpandIt's thrilling as ever, and I plan to keep copying, pasting and updating it, hence the layout. I like tables ;) )
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Fandom - CSIM - animated Calleigh bang)
So very, very, very glad it's Friday. Thanks to some lateral thinking from my wonderful other half last night, we managed to get Firefox 3 re-installed. Unfortunately, it still can't download anything, but Firefox 2 can, so I'll have to run them side by side for the moment. I'm wondering if it would help to go back a few versions, or something like that. We'll see.

Anyway, today's list isn't too long, assuming I can stay awake long enough to get through it. I spent a lot of yesterday making my project spreadsheet the shiniest of very shiny things, and it now works like a dream, so hopefully I can plough through lots of routine stuff today. It's so lovely when something just *works*, without needing prodding every five minutes.

Right. More coffee, then to get through my nice little list:

ExpandThis does seem to have helped me get a lot done this week! )
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Text - deep need to complain)
I hate having my morning routine interrupted. *sigh* Things went rapidly downhill after my earlier post, mostly because my other half got up and human interaction was required.

After we'd stitched his head back on where I bit it off, he drove me into town for the blood test. Have I mentioned before how awesome my doctor's surgery is? Not only did the nurse see me early, she picked up at once how scared I was, and was...not sympathetic, exactly, just. Understanding. I HATE needles so very much, but I can handle it if the person wielding it just gets on with things. I had a nightmare at one blood test where the nurse basically mocked me for it and got me so wound up that I couldn't hold still enough for her to take any blood and when she did it hurt. So. Yeah. Nice nurse=very good things.

But with my eating routine thrown like that, I've been off-kilter all morning. Tired and grumpy and not really able to concentrate. Grrrr.

But. Lists have helped this week, so let's keep at it:

ExpandIt's not too long although 2/3 of it is copied from yesterday )
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Random - Kermit Klein)
My brain is kind of full right now, so hopefully this will empty it a little:

#1. I have a Dreamwidth account under the name of jadesfire although I have no intention of moving there full-time just yet. ExpandRead more... )

#2. [livejournal.com profile] bau_bigbang Author sign-ups close tomorrow, although artist ones will be open for some time yet. Do drop in and see what other people are up to and decide if you want to take part. There looks to be a good range of fic, from femslash to gen, and probably lots of casefic if that's your thing.

Photobucket


Come join us!

#3. [livejournal.com profile] tardis_bigbang is still (yes still) recruiting artists. Take a look at last year's contributions here - all kinds of art are encouraged, from the most basic line-drawings to full-on vids, so if you're looking to get into a fest for the first time, this could be your chance!

#4. I've now gone into serious research-mode for my Big Bang, and will be posting to my writing journal about it soon. The usual suspects, who've already had email from me, will end up on that filter, but if anyone else wants to watch me flail, just drop me a comment. Tentatively, I'm writing a Nine, Jack and Rose adventure, involving dragons, battles and magic. Hopefully it'll be fun…

#5. I promised more about the weekend, although to be honest there's not a whole lot to tell ExpandSuch as it is… )

#6. Writing Supernatural is fun. I'm not sure I want to do that much of it, and the fandom makes me nervous, but there's lots and lots of gen out there for me to plough through, so I'm very happy.

#7. Pretty soon, I need to write SGA again, for the [livejournal.com profile] team_sga fest. I've said I'll write PIRATES! again (yes, I have to format it like that) so I just have to hope my brain is a bit more lively by that point, because right now, I think Port Call stands fairly well on its own. Hummmmm…

#8. I love that there is now a Twitter tag for when Neil Gaiman links to something and therefore crashes the site as over 200,000 people click through: #neilwebfail. This amuses me WAY more than it should :D

#9. I honestly could not love my doctor more. After ten flaily minutes with him, I have a referral, a blood test appointment and good advice on what to do next. Of course, I also still have the tiredness and the twitchy face (getting seriously annoying now…) but at least I also have a rough plan of attack.
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Random - Gwen pouring drink)
ExpandTGI FRYDAI )

It's been a funny morning and it's not quite 9am:

~ I had one of those nights where you dream so much that you feel you've been up all night, and I finally made myself wake up at 4.30 just to get some rest.

~ For unfathomable reasons, I've had "Ode to Billie Joe" stuck in my head, which considering I can't get the lines in the right order is getting annoying.

~ I did a proper double take on the road just outside work when a weird elevated van drove past. That's the only way I can think of describing it - the chassis was obviously too big for the body work, and the wheel arches were about a foot about the tyres. The whole thing looked like a refugee from Scrapheap challenge and very out of place in the middle of Oxford.

~ I have a new handbag! It's big enough to fit my netbook as well as all my handbag gubbins in, it's smart enough for work and only cost £4.50. I love Oxford charity shops \o/

~ My Bobby!fic, which was supposed to be a short little background piece has morphed into a 3700 word monster, and I haven't got to the action yet. BREVITY FAIL!

~ [livejournal.com profile] bau_bigbang is almost ready to opening \o/ \o/

~ I have so many links for you, as well as some to post to my library blog, but for now, have a Star Trek/A-Team mashup (which I might have posted before but is still worth seeing) and Poetry at Tech, videos of contemporary poets reading their work. Not my kind of thing, but I know some of you are more into poetry than me.

~ *scuffs feet on ground* I'm kind of shy about asking this, but. Would one of you who's got actual graphic skills (as opposed to my pretend ones which mostly consist of pressing buttons in Picasa to see what happens) have the time to make me an icon? I just want one with text that says Hardcore Gen Ficcer in whatever format you think looks pretty. It'd take me hours, whereas I get the feeling that it's a five minute job if you know what you're doing. I have nothing to offer except unending gratitude and the credit, of course *puppy eyes*

*BOUNCE* I HAZ ICONZES! With huge thanks to [livejournal.com profile] caersmane for mad graphics skillz.

~ Am watching The Mentalist and kind of enjoying it. I'll probably put something in [livejournal.com profile] that_other_show about it later.

~ ETA: Gmail have sorted out the pesky 'inbox' problem, thank goodness. That's better.

~ DID I MENTION THAT IT'S FRIDAY?!?!?!?!?!
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Random - Heart hands)
- I'm doing a lot of posting at the moment, even for me. Three times a day is frequent, by anyone's standards. New people *waves*, er, sorry if you turned up looking for content and got the random outpourings of my chatty brain instead. Old folks *waves harder*, it'll probably wear off at some point, but if I'm getting a bit random /gabby for your flist, no harm no foul on defriending, I promise.

- The link below goes over to [livejournal.com profile] villainy's journal. I'll let her explain:

"This here is a VALENTINES MESSAGE POST

Send your friends a hug, confess to crushes, leave a message for someone you're unreasonably fond of, whatever you want. All messages will remain screened until Valentines Day. This isn't just for couples, it's for anyone you think deserves a little love. Anonymous or not, you're free to choose; just make sure you include the LJ name of the recipient.

Then, come Valentines day, I'll unscreen any and all comments and scuttle around informing anyone who's been left a message, linking to this post right here."

AND THIS IS THE LINK


- Critias is an SGA fanzine that's currently inviting submissions for issue one. If you fancy giving it a go, email Annie on ashton7[at]aol.com. Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] wildcat88 for the info. Oh, and Annie is very friendly, so if you want to submit something but don't know where to start, do email her and say so. Worked for me :)

- For those of us who can only watch in horror at what's happening in Australia, there is stuff we can do.

- Also, UK folk, in this cold snap, please remember your local charities working with the homeless. Even if you can only spare a few tins of soup, that's a few hot meals for people who wouldn't get one otherwise.
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Cute - Boo helmet)
Did you miss me? Did you? Considering I only had to skip=80 to catch up with everyone, I'm thinking that there wasn't anyone around to miss me! But at least you left the place standing, so that's something.

The exhibition was a bit of a wash-out in the morning, but got interesting in the afternoon. If you've never seen Turning the Pages then open that link in another tab NOW so that you can explore. Seriously, I can't think of a single person around here who wouldn't enjoy it, and the things they're planning to add next year? Wow. This is as close as most of us are ever going to get to seeing a Leonardo da Vinci notebook or illuminated Haggadah up close. Just incredible.

My biggest disappointment of the day was not managing to get one of the free stuffed pigs that the British Library stand were giving away. Since I'd told my husband I'd get him one, I popped into John Lewis in the evening and bought him one. It has incredibly long legs and weighted feet so that it stands up! I got so distracted/excited by this, that I forgot I'd already bought my work secret santa present in M&S and bought a second one in JL *facepalm* All this shopping goes straight to my head.

Of course, going to the JL website (to try to find you a pig picture), I've just seen that they have a 20% off sale on Radley bags until Saturday. I love Radley bags *whimpers*

Otherwise, things about me take the usual list form:

- I went to the doctor this morning for other things, but also because I appeared to be growing scales on my face. You can't see them unless you look really hard, but they've been a little bit itchy, and more than a little disconcerting. Apparently it's eczema (which I guess I should learn to spell), which isn't a huge surprise, but it does mean that a)it's going to be tricky to get rid of and b)there's no telling when it will come and go. Grrr.

- My manager and I are being taken out to lunch by a book supplier today. My first business lunch!

- I have further proof that my flist is the awesomest thing in the history of awesome, since [livejournal.com profile] crystalshard sent me a beautiful pair of sparkly earrings and a silky jewellery roll. Thank you! They're lovely!

- I had dinner with an old, old friend last night, and it was brilliant. We've been through a lot together, but lost touch a little, and it's liking meeting her all over again. I think we like each other even better this time round, and I feel as though I'm getting a little piece of my past back.

- I really, really need to do the Christmas shopping thing. Meep!

- My [livejournal.com profile] sga_santa story collapsed. Again. While my Yuletide one is getting sorted, thanks to some timely intervention from the flist (thanks, guys!), I don't seem to be able to get the SGA one sorted in my head. And with [livejournal.com profile] miss_zedem not able to get on Yahoo much either, I feel like I'm missing the other half of my brain, and it's the half that has the good ideas... I'll think of something, but I'm at the flail stage where I'm convinced I just need to give up. That's not going to happen, but this bit's always a struggle. Worth it, but a struggle. At least part of the problem is my usual 'shape' issue. ExpandCut for odder-than-usual writer-babble )

As I think I've already said, I'm not really doing holiday cards this year - if you put a wishlist up, or I already have your address, and I manage to get organised enough, I hope to send you something, but I'm not doing a big shout-out for addresses yet. This is because I will be doing one in January for Morocco postcards, and if I attempt to do both, I might just bankrupt myself buying stamps. But I've skimmed everyone's wishlists, and do hope to make a post office trip soon...

Otherwise, things I want to do today/tomorrow apart from work-type-stuff:
ExpandRead more... )

Do I owe anyone anything? I get the feeling I do but can't quite remember. Please yell at me if I've forgotten (at jadesfire2808[at]gmail.com if you don't want to embarrass me in public ;)).

Ooh - [livejournal.com profile] fajrdrako, did you get my email? Gmail's been erratic lately, so just checking.

How's everyone doing? Good days yesterday? What did you get up to without me?
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Text - Research)
Good morning, lovelies. Everyone alright out there? I'm a very happy clam with my little lightbox under my monitor, and I don't have to come into work tomorrow! Well, I'm on a course in London, which is sort-of work, but I like being in London so that's okay :) I'll miss you all though, especially since I'm out all weekend. Withdrawal's tough.

Enough about me, though. Go on, get out of here - there's lots of good stuff out there:

# Make sure you go through all the Wish Lists that are starting to turn up out there (*cough*mine'shere*cough*). We can all do small things that make people very happy, and I know how excited I get - if everyone else only gets *half* that excited, you must be bouncing off the walls.

# Speaking of which, [livejournal.com profile] consci_fan_mo is now open for prompts. From the user info:
"Three weeks of short stories of the sci-fi and fantasy kind, whether they be fanfiction or original works. The sort of stories you can curl up on the sofa with, while the weather does its worst outside, and can finish reading before your tea goes cold and your biscuit goes soggy in the saucer."

This is a comm designed especially for people who are filled with dread by NaNo. Short fiction only, original sci-fi/fantasy and fanfic all welcome. Go leave a prompt, or see if something sparks your imagination. Should be a good month!

# This book is intriguing me muchly, and I think it might suit some of you as well. Technically YA, it's set in an apocalyptic, telepathic world. Oh and it just won a prize. Sounds intriguing.

# Apparently there's going to be an X-men movie reboot. Hmmmm...

# [livejournal.com profile] galpalficathon is going strong, with lots of awesome female-centric stories. Mostly friendship, some slash, and it's good to see the girls getting some fic-time. There's lots of fandoms represented, so go take a look!

# Terry Pratchett folks! That's *definitely* not our cow!

# If you haven't voted in the Last Fic Writer Standing round, please do so! It's an interesting selection of stories this time round, with everyone picking different ways to get round the 'no dialogue' rule. See if you can guess which is mine (I think I'm pretty spottable, but then I would think that...)

# And finally. Quantum Tic Tac Toe. Oh yes.
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Happy - donna thumbs up)
It's going to be a funny old day. I have lots of stuff to get done, both fannish and work-related, and I also got this email in my inbox:

ExpandCut for length )

Also, have I mentioned recently how awesome my work are? No? Well, since I'm sitting here basking in the glow of my lightbox, I really should have! It's tiny but very bright and I'm just trying to work out how to position it so that I feel the benefit without blinding myself. Something tells me that's important. ETA: Okay, I've only had it 45 minutes, and I'm already in love with it. Completely. It's tiny but oh, so bright. *basks*

In other news, [livejournal.com profile] greyias and are having too much fun. Seriously, you let two crack-inclined writers write together and anything could happen. I hope to get a big chunk of that fic done to today so that Grey's Photoshop efforts aren't wasted. *rubs hands together* This should be fun.

In between that, I'm working on the Wizard of Oz fusion, because it amuses me, and my [livejournal.com profile] sga_santa fic. Yuletide is lurking at the back of my brain but I'm going to need help for that one, I think, once I work out who to email for it!

And finally:

Photobucket

Voting on Round 3 of LFWS! I ended up being reasonably pleased with my entry this time, despite all the restrictions. See if you can spot me, and do leave some votes. Comments are now optional, so you don't need to give long justifications if you don't want to. Having said that, writers love feedback, and some useful stuff has come out of it, so do think about saying why you voted as you did, even if you don't comment on every story.

How's everyone else? And where are the the links to your wishlists, hmmm? I swear, I love giving presents even more than I love getting them :)

Have a good day, folks.
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Writing - The English Language)
I'm still tired and grumpy today, so am going to throw a whole bunch of links at you then run away to write.

#~ This is an interesting psychometric test, looking at the connection between art and personality. There are paintings to look at, then a basic personality test to take. I score average for things like 'conscientiousness' and 'extraversion', high for intellectualism and low for emotional stability. Well, I'm not going to argue with it...

#~ This week's A Wonderful Way to Make a Living is about guys who work in special effects, including the SFX supervisor on Doctor Who! Unfortunately, they've now taken down last week's, which was equally fascinating, but this article in The Times is on a similar note - The White Hat Hackers.

#~ [livejournal.com profile] bironic! I heard this and thought of you!. I love the BBC radio series Five Numbers. Simon Singh is a brilliant communicator, and manages to make complicated maths sound really simple. The first series was such a success that they made Another Five Numbers, but the one that caught my attention was the episode in A Further Five Numbers on the number 6. Everyone's heard of 6 Degrees of Separation, and many have heard of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but apparently you can do it with mathmaticians too... Each programme is only 15 minutes long and well worth the listen.

#~ If you haven't left a story at [livejournal.com profile] bringthehappy, then please do so! Or just go have a read and a smile. There's some lovely stuff there in all sorts of fandoms, including Torchwood, House, NCIS, Psych and more.

#~ Also check out the story that [livejournal.com profile] aeron_lanart wrote me for my birthday, Every Girl Deserves A Party. Thanks, hon!

#~ There's now a podbook version of [livejournal.com profile] rustydog's reading of my SGA "Five ways..." story. If you haven't downloaded, listened and told her how awesome it is, please do so! Podficcing is hard work, and this is a wonderful reading. The MP3 version is here, and the Podbook one, with a cover courtesy of the fantastic [livejournal.com profile] cybel is here.

#~ You've probably all seen this, but I just discovered [livejournal.com profile] thingswithwings's wonderful vid The Glass. It's multifandom, almost non-fandom, and gave me a wonderful warm feeling at the bottom of my heart. Make sure you watch all the way through to the dedication.

#~ And once that one's made you 'ah', go see [livejournal.com profile] crystalshard's Torchwood crack-vid I will Survive, which will make you giggle.

#~ The rest of the day consists of posting fic, writing fic, editing podfic, recording podfic, doing the ironing and finishing my typing job that will contribute towards a baby computer. Lugging the other half's laptop around yesterday, I really, really remembered why I want one. Looking on the internet this morning really, really reminded me that I can't afford one. Yet ;)

#~ If anyone else wants a commentary on anything, now's the time to request it! I'm up to 4 stories, and can probably go to 6 before my brain breaks :)

Any other cool stuff for me to waste my time on? I'm still working my way through VVC recs, [livejournal.com profile] fan_eunice's page and various other rec lists, but feel free to point out ones you think I might enjoy. Have a good day, guys!

Stuff

Aug. 18th, 2008 09:33 am
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Random - Ten/Hello)
*waves weakly* Whoever's nicked my sleep quota, please return it asap. My eyelids feel like sandpaper and my vision keeps unfocussing. Which is tricky when my job is to stare at a computer screen all day. This should be fun.

After last week was a total disaster, mood-wise, I'm determined to do better this week, if only to restore my confidence in the idea that yes, I do have a brain after all. There's the usual 'more in hope than expectation' list under the cut, but I thought I'd resurrect my Things That Are Good list, since that cheered me up so much earlier in the year.

1. Our bedroom now looks like a bedroom-come-study, rather than the place old boxes go to die.

2. Lunch out with my mother at Brasserie Blanc yesterday. Wonderful food, fantastic service, and I have a new favourite restaurant in Oxford.

3. We got rid of two HUGE piles of boxes to parents yesterday, so that we're actually starting to be able to see the floor in the living room.

4. We've sold over 30 things on Ebay, and a dozen or so books to Blackwells, netting us a pretty good total, which should off-set all the meals out we had during the move...

5. [livejournal.com profile] major_jim, bless him, got up early to give me a lift to work this morning so I didn't get wet. Have I mentioned lately how awesome he is?

6. People read and liked my Big Bang! I haven't had much of a chance to read over the weekend, but hope to get down to it in my lunch hour today - it'll stop me going out and spending money and eating things I shouldn't.

7. After a truly awful start to the morning, weather-wise, the sun is now coming out.

8. I have some gorgeous, inspiring art for my [livejournal.com profile] artword fic, which I intend to get finished this week. I've also had reassurance that my top sekkrit fic doesn't suck, and that it's not the story that I've finally lost my marbles on (it's gonna happen some day...)

9. I'm taking next week as holiday, since I've got the days, I won't get paid for them and I don't want to work on my birthday. A week to sleep sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

10. I have already processed 4 books this morning, and it's not quite 10 o'clock. Hopefully I can keep up the pace, and more or less clear my shelves by the end of the week. Then I can tackle the other shelves, that still have problems on them that I inherited from the last person to do this job.

(bonus)11. WE GET INTERNET THIS WEEK! In theory at least. I'm not holding my breath, but I am letting myself hope...

That's not bad, is it? And I do feel better for it. Now, onto the to-do list:

ExpandRead more... )

How's everyone else? I know some of you had rotten weeks, and some of you had good ones. What went well? What's going to be better this week? Let's see if we can get Monday cheered up a bit, shall we?
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Thinky - Rose tilted head)
My brain is a total mess at the moment, so I'm list-writing like crazy. I don't think this post is going to be the exception. More will no doubt end up going on here as I think of it, but for now, it's just my "Really need to do this stuff" list and a question.

Question first:

Why is there no SGA AU where they're gymnasts? I'm watching the Olympics at the moment, and seriously, some of these guys are flying. Why don't we have an AU where John's a gymnast and Rodney's the coach? We have sock AUs, penguin AUs and cookie AUs. We have them as vampires, musicians, shop owners, ice-skaters, marine biologists...and yet no gymnasts? Come on, fandom, you're letting me down here! I do have a couple of hundred words from an old X-men fic that I think is a pretty good gymnastics description. Maybe I'll have to dig them out and write it myself...

Ooh, and another question that I've just thought of. I've more or less given up on picking fic off the Doctor Who and Torchwood newsletters, but I feel the need to get back into reading. Does anyone have any author recs that I could follow - not just single fics, but whole bodies of work that I can get stuck into? I've got a couple of SGA things on the go, but I want to get back to Torchwood soon, and I need some inspiration. Anyone who's maybe only just got into the fandom, or you've only just discovered or you think I might not know for some reason? Anyone?

ExpandToday's list of doooom )

That's a long list, but a lot of it is achieveable sitting right here, so that's what I'm going to do! I'm adding the [livejournal.com profile] sgabigbang stories that I want to read to my del.icio.us account (I use this name) and do go read them, guys. These stories took people weeks to work on (well, other people. I wrote mine in 6 days, but that's because I'm an idiot) and were real labours of love. I hope to get through them and the [livejournal.com profile] tardis_bigbang ones over the next couple of weeks, and will return with recs! But I'd love to hear other people's picks as well.

How is everybody? Going to have a nice weekend? I'm here at work all day tomorrow, and it's deadly quiet at the moment, so spammage ahoy...


ETA (see, I told you):
ExpandAnd the 'baffling the librarian' award goes to... )
jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (Jack - with blue cup)
I'm going to try to restrain myself today - after an internet-low weekend, I got a bit carried away with the whole posting thing yesterday, sorry. Goodness knows what I'll be like next Tuesday when I've had no internet at all for four days. Remind me to investigate TxtLJ. My network isn't supported. Ah well.

Randomly, we watched the House that was on Five US last night (Lines in the Sand). Damn, I'd forgotten how good it is. This does not bode well. I barely have room in my brain for two active fandoms (DW/TW, SGA). I'm not sure there's room for a third *whimpers* But...say I did want to get caught up quickly on House S3 & S4, and assume I know the rough outline of the Tritter arc. Just say I wanted to do that. Not that I do, purely hypothetical, you understand. Which episodes are 'must-see's? If I'm catching up. Which I'm totally not.

Anyhoo, today's stuff:

1. SGA fic! I'm quietly pleased with this. For some time, I've been aware that I focus on the guys when I write, and it was great to do something that showcased Teyla, just a little. It didn't come out quite how I expected, but I'm pleased with the results anyway.

Title: Genus: Wraith (the Who Are You remix)
Author: [livejournal.com profile] jadesfire2808
Original story: Class: Insecta by [livejournal.com profile] cupidsbow.
Ratings/Warnings: PG/None
Summary: John is better, and it is good to have him back. She is relieved and happy. Of course she is.

2. Big Bang Promo! If anyone wants a preview of the fic-that-ate-my-life and that I haven't stopped going on about recently, it's here. [as a completely random aside, I love that in the comm, bolded text comes up orange. Pretty!]

3. Writing List. This would be a WIP meme, if I had really started any of them properly. ExpandAs it is, it's just a list )

4. To Do List. Yeah, this should probably come before the writing list, but like that's going to happen.
ExpandMostly moving stuff )

5. More coffee. Yes, this is important enough to have its own entry on the list. Definitely.