First off, I must wish a very happy birthday to petzipellepingo. Not only is she a great person, but she also works tirelessly to keep us all abreast of news in the BtVS fandom and the rest of the world. I hope you eat lots of cake and get everything you wish for, Petzi! ((((hugs)))




And to all my fellow flisters who celebrate the holiday: have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! Eat as much turkey as you want, because you know you'll burn off the calories fighting crowds of irate housewives at the black Friday sales! :)

Current weight loss: 18.8 pounds. Now, if I can just maintain my momentum through the holidays...

Total weight loss so far: 14.8 pounds in 36 days.

My clothes are getting pretty loose now. I'm hoping that by the time I return to the doctor in January for my follow-up, I'll be able to fit into my "skinny" jeans. :)

It's been way too long, but things got crazy here and I was away from the interwebs for a while. Chance has a bum foot, poor boy. Nothing serious, thank God, just a minor infection caused by all the mucky weather lately. But it requires a good bit of care. I've been having to pack it with betadine soaked cotton, which isn't exactly comfortable for him. The vet actually warned me that I might get kicked and to be careful, but Chance has been just as good as gold. In fact, now he automatically lifts his foot without me even having to ask him to. He's such a sweetheart.

On the weight loss front, I'm stuck at just under fourteen pounds. I only lost like three ounces this week, which is annoying. But given the time of the month, I'm not exactly surprised. Once my boobs stop being swollen to twice their normal size, I'm thinking the scale might be kinder to me. ;)

I wanted to do NaNoWriMo this year, but so far I haven't even had time to think about it. I might still try, but given how far behind I am it hardly seems worth the effort. I haven't written much of anything in the past month because I haven't had the time. But now that I'm getting a bit of breathing room, I think I can get back into the groove. I haven't given up on QBT or on the revision of "Falling." (For those of you who don't know, this is an old story I abandoned in favor of FtTP. I've had a few requests to finish it, but I plan to do some fairly heavy revision first. I think I've improved as a writer since I first began that story.)

Meanwhile, I'm becoming totally obsessed with Dexter. Honestly, Michael C. Hall just blows me away with his acting. One moment I find myself laughing at his wit (or, yes, lusting after his body) and the next he has me chilled to the bone, completely disgusted by the fact that I had felt myself identifying with him. That, my friends, is real talent. And speaking of talent ... who the hell would have thought John Lithgow had it in him? I've never been a fan of Lithgow. Not that I disliked him or anything; I just don't enjoy the kind of slapstick comedy he's known for. But this season on Dexter he has completely surpassed all expectations. He plays Trinity so skillfully that I think the character might be surpassing Brian Moser as my favorite baddie.

I'm only getting to see the current season of Dexter because DirectTV gave us three free months of Showtime and Starz as a thank you for renewing our contract with them. I don't know what I'll do when the three free months are up. I'm both poor and frugal, so keeping the premium channels isn't likely in the cards. But I do love me some Dexter. :(

I'm off to check my flist now. If I've missed anything major in your lives, please give me a head's-up. I haven't intentionally been a terrible friend. I promise. Forgive me? (((hugs)))

Okay, so maybe it was random. But those boys did make a pretty pair, didn't they? ;)

So, the writer meme has been making its rounds on my flist. You know. The one that starts out by asking: what's the piece of writing you're most proud of? And it has left me feeling very inadequate. Not because there is nothing I feel proud of, but because reading that first question made me realize just how limited my potential answers would be. When it comes to fanfiction I have written the following: one very long complete fic, one very short complete fic, and two very incomplete fics. That's it. After over two years in the fandom, that seems rather pathetic, especially since most of the other writers I know have a dozen or more titles to their credit. Stupid, faulty self-esteem. How I hate you.

Speaking of writing, I'm still working on the next chapter of QBT. I feel that it's finished and I'm fairly happy with the chapter overall, but at the same time, I'm having second thoughts about the plot. I'm considering removing the element of William tutoring Elizabeth for a few reasons. (1) Beyond a few phrases I remember from high school, I don't speak French. (2) I only added that element to adhere to the guidelines of a challenge, and since I basically abandoned all the other guidelines it seems odd to bother with this one. (3) It's pretty unrealistic for someone of William's stature to offer to tutor anyone, for any reason. If I had been smart, I would have given him a different social status ... but I didn't. (4) I can pretty easily manipulate him into a friendship with the thirteen-year-old Elizabeth without using tutoring as a plot device.

The problem, of course, is that I already posted the damn thing on the archives and altering it might confuse or irritate people. This is a good reminder to me of why I need to learn to be patient and not post anything until I have at least a few chapters in reserve. It's not like working under pressure does my Muse any good anyway. Obviously. You guys see how much I update.

In other, non-writing news, hubby and I went to a used book sale at Perimeter Mall over the weekend. It had been going on all week and the best titles were mostly gone, but we still got eleven books for $7.50. I picked up Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex for $1, and I've been wanting to read that one for a while, so I'm pretty pleased.

Also this weekend, hubby and I began watching the first season of Dexter. We don't get Showtime, so we had missed out until now. Thank God for DVD, because this show is absolutely fascinating.

Today, I feel sort of odd. I was fine until about two hours ago, and then my limbs and back began to grow very achy and sore, almost like I had been beaten. Not only have I not been beaten, but today I haven't even engaged in any activity more strenuous than grocery shopping. I hope that doesn't mean I'm coming down with something. The Invention of Lying comes out Friday, and I intend to see it. Well, that and Toy Story 3D.

Shut up. It's a film from my youth and I'm feeling nostalgic. :P

Once again, I have stolen this from debris4spike. What can I say? She has all the cool memes. :P

Post a picture in my comments of what you think describes me when you think about what/who I am. No matter how surreal or plain. An image of anything that cries unbridled_b.

Give no written explanation.

Just an image.

Post this in your journal and see what images you get.

Go on - Have fun!!

Happy birthday to brunettepet, rebcake, and kathylovesspike. I hope that many gifts are unwrapped and much cake is consumed. :)

Okay, I know this entry makes me a big dork, but I can't help myself. I suppose it just never occurred to me that readers would put so much thought into something I had written. I don't know the author of the meta, but anyone who wants to write a detailed analysis on the themes and character motivations in FtTP is welcome to be my new best friend. I just wish she hadn't noticed grammar/style errors in some parts of the story.

Actually, what I really wish is that I hadn't made those grammar/style errors in the first place. But there's no point in asking for the moon, right? ;)

Anyway, for those of you who didn't see the link on petzipellepingo's journal and have no idea what I'm talking about ... click.

Well, I've finally moved past my writing lethargy. A big part of it was, I think, that I was trying to rush the William/Elizabeth interaction. I had that part of the chapter perfectly mapped out in my mind, but every time I tried to commit it to paper things just seemed ... incomplete. And there was a reason for that. It turns out that William didn't want to get right to tutoring her in French; he wanted to go to a garden party and fraternize with an alcoholic. Okay then, William. It's your story. Go right ahead. ;)

In other writing news, I've rewritten the epilogue to FtTP. Well, not really rewritten. Basically, I just fleshed out some of the scenes and smoothed what I felt were rough spots in the narrative. I'm debating whether to post it now or give it a week or so and see if anything else occurs to me. I hate to be one of those people who constantly tinkers with a chapter or a fic, but I just can't seem to help myself. Anyway, when I do decide to post it, I'm only going to post it here until I get feedback from you guys. No point in changing anything on the archives if I've only made matters worse.

I also got an interesting thought from goldenusagi's journal. She recently finished her popular fic Sideways and wanted to know if any of her readers had any questions about the story. It never occurred to me to ask anyone that about FtTP, but I do like to navel-gaze. So if there is anything you'd like to ask me, go right ahead.

1. Comment to this entry saying 'ICONS!' and I will pick 6 of your icons.

2. Make an entry in your own journal and talk about the icons I picked!

Behind the cut are 6 icons that debris4spike picked for me. I didn't make any of them myself because, well, I rarely make anything worthwhile. ;) But you can read my fascinating comments on why I chose them. Hey, if you had something better to do, would you have visited my journal in the first place? Yeah, I thought not. ;)

Spoiled? My dog? Never! Sabaka was just feeling a little cold after being out in the rain. Any good pet parent would have done the same. ;)

Gacked from lady_yashka

Give me the title of a story I've never written and feedback telling me what you liked best about it, and I will tell you any of: the first sentence, the last sentence, the thing that made me want to write it, the biggest problem I had while writing it, why it almost never got posted, the scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage, or something else that I want readers to know.

Anyone want to see what I wasted the last half hour doing? No, it wasn't writing. And it's probably pretty dumb to show this to you when I still haven't finished the new chapter. But, hey. I'm trying to inspire myself. :P

Ugh, I have been so lazy about writing lately. I don't have writer's block. Actually, when I'm going about my usual routine, I'll find myself mulling over new scenes or bits of dialogue. But when it comes to actually putting it down on paper (or, rather, in Microsoft Word) I just completely lose my focus. The only excuse is laziness, I guess. I'll get on my laptop with the intention of finishing the second chapter of my new fic--it's completely written in my head--but then I'll let myself get distracted by emails or lj and before I know it, my free time is gone and I haven't gotten anything done. It's a terrible habit I fell into during my period of FtTP-related writer's block, and I need to break myself from it. I guess I just need to figure out a way to motivate myself to work and to hold myself accountable when I goof off.

Happy birthday to beloved_77! She's one of the first people I got to know in the BtVS fandom and also one of the best.

I know you've been battling a con-related cold, but I hope you feel well enough today to have a great party. Eat lots of cake and don't forget to make a wish when you blow out your candles. ((((hugs))))

(1) Some idiot repeatedly fired a semi-automatic pistol while we were riding on a public road (the dumbass was standing in his front yard, less than 100 feet away from us, shooting at beer cans) and Chance didn't flinch, not even when the horse we were with spooked and tried to bolt.

(2) A German shepherd, who has always been very friendly before, decided to attack Chance while we were cantering past his house. The dog ran out in front of us and grabbed Chance's front leg, nearly throwing him to his knees (and me over his head). I had to beat the dog off with my crop but, again, Chance was a brave little toaster. After I checked his leg to make sure he was okay (thank God, he was), he continued on his way as if nothing had happened.

(3) A utility worker in a bucket truck was trimming tree branches alongside the road and nearly dropped one straight on our heads. It ended up grazing Chance's left shoulder, but aside from staring at the worker with a "WTF was THAT for?" look on his face, my boy remained unruffled.

(4) All of this happened during a single ride last Wednesday. And you know what? On Friday when I went to tack him up, he was eager to go. What a trooper. :)

Happy birthday to pfeifferpack, the nicest person in the BtVS fandom. I hope you get everything you wished for because you more than deserve it. ((hugs))

DragonCon takes place less than two hours from my house and all the cool kids are going to be there ... except me. Natch. I don't really care about the event itself; last year I had no idea who half the actors even were. But it was fun being able to hang with some of my fandom peeps. I was hoping that I could head down to Atlanta for a day, but that isn't looking likely. I can't really justify spending the money and I also don't want to inconvience my hubby, who would be in charge of giving me a ride. (We technically have two vehicles but only one is safe to drive at the moment.) Hubby is a sweetheart and said he wouldn't mind, but the only day it would be feasible would be Saturday and tickets on Saturday are outrageous. I mean, fifty bucks? Seriously? I could spend a day at Six Flags for half that. Not to mention, it seems terribly selfish to ask my dear husband to drive me to the event and then pick me up afterward. I mean, where's his fun? So, yeah, this is one of those times when I have to be an adult and not get what I want. And you know how much that sucks.

Anyway, I just needed to take a moment and bitch about it. Sorry about that. I'll go back to writing fanfiction now. ;-)

I put together a playlist of the songs I listened to when I wrote FtTP. Not all of them, of course. My Rhapsody "writing" playlist has 255 songs on it; these are just a few of my favorites. I'm an alternative girl, so it might not be to everyone's tastes. But, hey. It's free. ;)