Nothing else matters ...

I'm sitting here reading at my computer, simply enjoying a nicely smutty story, when all of a sudden the STENCH of skunk hits me. Uggh. That's vile. Vile and stinky.

The fam went to Amb's house for a barbecue today. Amb and Phil invited several of their teacher co-workers and their families over and one of the teachers takes one look at my fingerless gloves and goes "Oh, I like those." I was like, "Thanks!" See, mom! Not everyone thinks my gloves look like stripper gloves!

Word on the street is that Heather is going back to her apartment tomorrow. I'll be glad to be back down to myself and one dog in my bed. You just can't understand how terribly I sleep when we're all loaded up with humans and animals. Not to mention that Bailey insists on sleeping right up against my legs.

This is is a random journal. I apologize.
Later.

I did my babysitting duty this morning. It was cake, people. I got to Amb's house as she was finishing feeding the kiddo, she handed him off to me to go take a shower and HE SLEPT ON ME THE ENTIRE TIME WHILE I READ. Ha! Of course, the part I'm not telling here is that I was actually there to babysit Amber. I just threw the Ryan-sitting in as a bonus. :) Really, though, I was only there for about an hour and a half before they had to leave to a doctor's appointment. The good news is that Ryan is gaining weight (he had lost nearly a pound and that's more than the docs like babies to lose) and it seems like his ear issues aren't since I slammed a door behind him and he jumped like he heard it.

Anyway. I read a book.
Book #82 - Heat Wave by Richard Castle - Yes, this is a book based on the TV show starring Nathan Fillion. Only it's not. It's the book that Castle wrote in the TV show. Confused? Don't be. It goes like this: Kate Beckett = Nikki Heat and Rick Castle = Jameson Rook. More or less. Maybe less. Whatever. I'm confusing myself now. Nikki Heat is a homicide detective and Rook is the award winning writer shadowing her on her cases. They're dealing with murder. It's hot. Literally hot, not sexy-hot. It's one of those easy books that doesn't tax the brain too deeply and you can zip through like something zippy. Engaging fluff is a nice way of putting it.

The last week or so I've been reading a vast amount of short stories online. Not fanfic, but original stories. As with fanfic, some of them are perfectly awful. Painful, even. And some of them ... wow. Some of them are so intricate that I'm enthralled. Some of them put published authors to shame (LJ Smith, I'm looking at you). I should really start compiling the ones that make me giddy because I'd hate to never be able to go back and enjoy them again.

I had more to say at one point, but I've forgotten all of it. All. It's a sad, sad thing, really.
Later.

I have this long rant about Wells Fargo- the sucktastic bank I used to work for and the one who's currently screwing up my mortgage- but I'm too upset to type it out right now.

Instead, I'll ask this question ... why did all the clocks on my computer reset to different times this morning and why can't I fix one of them? Seriously. My computer clock said it was 2:30 pm (4 hours ahead of my current time) and my Fox Clocks (a firefox app that tells me different times around the world and which I have installed on my toolbar) says it's 10:30 pm (12 hours ahead). Fox Clocks is the unfixable one. I can't figure out how to go in and manually change the time. I told it to update and it did but it updated to the wrong time again. Weird.

So, sucky morning on the phone with the bank and bizarre temporal disturbances that are throwing my computer into an alternate dimension. I've yet to decide if today will turn out to be a good day or if this craptastic vein will continue.

On the other hand, that bad movie I was watching last night wasn't all that bad. Sure the main chick mispronounced "ankh" painfully, but I cringed and moved along and didn't let it destroy my enjoyment of ghosts in the Old West. Ankh is not pronounced with a long "a" sound at the beginning. I'm just sayin'. I'm also just sayin' that I'm tired of reading fanfic with people who are "wondering" around. Wondering? Seriously? I wonder why you can't put an "a" in there and make it wandering.

I think I've almost got all the ranting out of me. Well, except for that fuck you one that's brewing for Wells Fargo. Which I'm still too upset to talk about. Fuckers.

I'm going to go watch it rain now.
Wish me puddles.

I had a weird day yesterday, mostly related to family. I think I'll start by talking about the non-family stuff.

I was reading a fanfic last night and it was well written and decently characterized but the fact that the author kept putting these massive "Author Notes" at the end of each chapter started bugging me. Even though I wasn't really reading them. I guess it's fine to thank people for input or helping you through a squeaky spot but when the bulk of the notes is about what the author was trying to convey or why something was important that they added in ... that feels sloppy to me. Shouldn't you be writing it instead of explaining it once you've written it? And if you feel that you have to explain every little thing you're either a very bad writer or you think your readers are idiots. The thing that kinda bugs me about this is that the actual plot of the story was good. I just couldn't handle another chapter of "the box of dinosaurs symbolizes grief and how nobody is able to move forward until they deal with that grief". Good grief! Just write the fucking story and let us draw our own conclusions. Maybe once I get through my blinding rage at such sloppy storytelling I'll be able to finish the story. Maybe.

I reviewed another movie at blabapalooza. That makes two for the year. Not too bad considering we're only on the 8th of January!

So. The family stuff. We got a call yesterday from my dad that he had a heart attack Wednesday night. Other than phone calls every few weeks, we don't really see see him or anything. I was trying to tell jenah that it's like there's this static picture of my dad in my head and he's just the same as he was before he left. Same age. No major health problems. That sort of thing. I guess this felt like it came out of nowhere. We're not involved in his life except for what he tells us about since he lives out of state and we don't have that daily/weekly/monthly interaction so we don't know if he has had health problems or anything. This feels like it came out of the blue.

He's fine and everything and he should be released from the hospital today but it was weird. Unexpected. Threw me for a loop.

I'm not looking for sympathy comments or anything just trying to get the things that are in my head out where they might make a little more sense to me. I think I've accomplished that. More or less. Or should I write up an author's note at the end of this journal so that everyone understands what I was trying to say? Ha! I crack myself up.

Well, there you have it.
I've vacuumed and laundered and now I'm going to watch some tv/movies. Yes!

I thought I'd start out the new year by finishing my book ...

Book #1 - Malice by Chris Wooding - I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It sounded good. The cover is really cool. But those things don't mean squat if the writing falls flat. I'm pleased to say that isn't the case here. Malice was creepy. It crawled and chittered and grew as you saw more and more of this twisted world. The story had enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. Plus, it gave that extra little dollop of plot that pushed the book from being a one-storyline wonder into something big and grand. I want to know what's going to happen to these kids. I want to know how they're going to get out of their predicament. The revelation about Kady and her time in San Francisco took me by surprise.

The plot? Rumors are whispered about the comic Malice. Rumors of a ritual that takes those that perform it into the comic itself. Following a trail of missing children, Kady and Seth find that the rumors are true and that escaping Malice is even harder than getting in. I'm pretty darn excited to get my hands on the second book in the series. There are so many things I want answered. Arrgh. The official website says it will be out in 2010. Nice.

Since it's a new year and all that I was looking back on my reading resolution for 2009. I wanted to read 100 books. I did that. I read 109. I finished my last one on December 15th. That's 2+ weeks that I didn't finish any books. Hmmph. I'm sticking with 100 books again. That's such a shiny number. It makes me happy.

I also like to mention that if I reach back in my (dusty) memory all the way to 2008 I can admit that I didn't write anything (non-journal, that is) at all that year. Damn me and my nervous breakdown. Quitting my job and being an unemployed slacker did lead me to write a bit in 2009. It's still not up to the level that I'd like it to be, but I can work on that. However, I feel like my journal writing and movie reviews have really picked up this last year. Still, I signed up for NaNoWriMo and cranked out 1000 words on an original piece. I wrote another chapter on my Supernatural fanfic (which I started in 2007, I think). Well, a chapter plus part of another chapter. I should really finish that.

Not great, but still totally workable. Read and write. And hopefully find some sort of job that pays me to do both. Or at least one of those. :)

There you have it. Books, resolutions and ramblings about writing. All the good things in life.
Okay. I'm out. I have nothing to do. I might have to start another book. Yes!

PS- I totally did a monthly and yearly wrap-up for blabapalooza. I wrote up a shitload of movie reviews over a 2 month period. Rock on!

I posted another review at blabapalooza last night. That's three. Three movies I've reviewed this month. I'm on a roll! Plus, I have a bunch of movies sitting on my DVR that might get their chance in the sun.

However, I didn't write on my SPN fic yesterday. I didn't even open up the file. Bad me. I'll be better today. I think. I do have a bit of a full day ahead of me. A Costco run with my mom to pick up the fixings for my birthday dinner. And other stuff. None of which I can remember at the moment. Nice.

I realized this morning that Cole's first flag football game is this Sunday. Not next Sunday as I originally thought. Oops. It's a good thing the director of the league sends out weekly emails or we'd be missing that first one.

I'm going to tack this last thought on at the end of the post so that maybe people won't read it and think I'm crazy. Are you ready for this? I've never cared for the Where the Wild Things Are book. Although the movie looks ... interesting, I really have no overwhelming urge to see it. I'll probably have my mom credentials revoked or something now, but it's the truth. I never cared for the book. I can't pinpoint why. It's just not something that captures my fancy.

See? Nobody read that.
Later!

Supernatural update: I'm up to episode 11 of season 4. I'm really, really enjoying season 4. It's incredibly neat going back and watching these episodes that I've only seen when they were first shown. It's even neater when you watch them in context with the previous seasons. So much stuff is thrown out in the earlier seasons that seems to relate to what's going on in season 4. And season 5, now that I think about it.

The point of all this is that I'm loving this marathon. I'm even getting a little sad that it's nearing it's end. I'm not ready to give up the boys yet. Boo. On the other hand, I could always just restart the marathon from the beginning once I finish season 4. Does that make me sound all fangirl-crazy? Shut up.

It also turns out that I have an outline going for the Supernatural fic that's brewing in my head. Notes and everything. I know where it's going to end, I'm just not sure about all the in-between stuff. Let me just say that I've known how this particular story is going to end for a long time. It's always been the in-between stuff that has pickled my brain. So raise your collective glasses and tell my muse to get off her ass and inspire the crap out of me. *raises glass*

In the world of non-fandom (aka: real life), Cole is on his way to Pennsylvania. And? Tomorrow I could potentially sleep in. That really depends on the dog. However, I don't have to get up early to take anyone to school or get them breakfast or anything like that. I kinda feel like I'm going to be playing hooky. It's an interesting feeling.

I'm going to go work on my outline now. The boys need some plot to get them where they need to go. Or something.
Later.

My desk is strewn with Zombie-related notes and paraphernalia. It's frightening. I have the Zombie Survival Guide and a page of notes on what my next Zombie project is going to be. Not to mention the oodles of Amazon pages I bookmarked for said Zombie project. Zombies, we're what's for dinner!

I have fallen into deep obsession with Spock/Uhura fanfic. Too bad there's not too much out there. On the plus side, the people who are writing it are talented and not ... not talented like in some fandoms I used to follow. It's amazing how well some people can get Spock's voice down. yeah, I've been home by myself for the last few hours and I've barely roused myself from the computer because I need to rrreeeeeaaaddd these.

Random fic rec ... Lunch and Other Obscenities by rheanna27. Not at all smutty (I didn't know I was allowed to read non-smut), but rather an extremely well-written look at cultural differences between Uhura and Gaila as they struggle with being roommates. Yes, there's some Spock/Uhura but it's more getting to know one another than anything else.

Back to my Zombie stuff ... did you know that you could buy machetes through Amazon? I didn't until I searched for them. I never thought I'd have a need to own a machete. You know, until I started worrying about the Zombie hordes attacking. Wow, I've been watching/reading way to much Zombie stuff lately, haven't I?

I'm going to organize some of those Zombie thoughts a little better so I can get started on my machete-wielding page.
Later!

This post is totally dedicated to my darling oddmonster because not only will she be able to completely relate to what I'm about to write, she'll also do a reflexive fist pump upon reading it. *nods*

I bought new books at the book sale at my grandma's library today. $13 worth of books. The killer find was a set of 8 Agatha Christie books for $10. Hardcover. In perfect condition.
They consist of (in no particular order):
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Five Little Pigs
Cat Among the Pigeons
The Hollow
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The A.B.C. Murders
The Body in the Library
The Moving Finger

I unwittingly picked up The Mysterious Affair at Styles first and according to the synopsis it's the first Hercule Poirot novel. Is that correct? Is there any particular order I should read them in or are they fairly self-contained? No, I've never read Christie before, but I'm finding this first book to be very engaging.

So, Odd, it's your solemn duty to inform me of how I should proceed. Do it!

In other news, after reading through some of my old fic (handily housed at bay12_fic now), I have a hankering to write. I want to write Torchwood and Doctor Who and SGA and anything I can wrap my brain around. Too bad I just got sucked into these Agatha Christie books. Now I doubt I'll find the time to do anything but read and catch up on all the shows I've missed lately. Woe.

I think I also forgot to mention that my mom drove past the house the other day and she's reported that the scaffolding is off everywhere but the backside (HA! Backside!) and the house has been painted a lovely shade of mocha. I want to move so badly it hurts. 2 months!

And finally, I've watched through episode 10 of season 1 of Torchwood.
Things I've learned thus far:
TORCHWOOD is an anagram of DOCTOR WHO.
Apparently everyone in Cardiff is bisexual. Also, being of an alien species does not mean that you won't be having sex with one of the regulars.

Important stuff. Important stuff.

I have a wedding to go to tomorrow and a very pretty dress to wear to it. Yay!

I'm done.

Here's the fic I wrote for the two_of_us_fic-a-thon back in October. I meant to put this up way before now. Bad me.

Title: Not what you think
Characters: Dean Winchester, OFC
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine.
Summary: Dean. In the woods. With a girl. Somehow it's not what you think.
Spoilers:All Hell Breaks Loose.

Written for the lyric prompt:
I said who put all those things in your head,
Things that make me feel that I'm mad.
-She Said She Said by The Beatles


( Not what you think )

As always, comments are greatly appreciated.