Aletheia ~ Veracious Reality

Mostly greens this time: collards, something that's either chard or beet greens, some greens that I can't identify but are clearly for cooking, green cabbage, a small head of broccoli, and cherry tomatoes. Still have last week's collards and beets, too. So - I found a recipe for beans and greens, cooked white beans w/ the greens then cooked in them, with garlic and olive oil. Should be okay and seems easy, which is a plus. Also going to make herb-baked chicken breasts and Russian potato soup, along with cooked radishes (SO is dubious, but willing to try) and cooked beets for me.

We're having Thanksgiving at our neighbors' (J & C), so I'm not responsible for the turkey, yay! SO is supposed to go over later today and find out what they'd like us to bring; he's already volunteered to bring the butternut squash and apple dish, but probably I'll make at least a couple of other things also. Thus I will not do the grocery shopping until after that's been determined. Sometime this week or maybe next weekend, I plan to make cranberry-nut bread for local gift-giving, too.

In the meantime, back to work on the pathfinder. The library catalog was being uncooperative last night; here's hoping it's working right this morning.

After much swearing and hairpulling: My Masterlist of fic and art is finally up to date again :D

MASTERLIST

Or in my case, working on the weekend. We didn't have our usual Friday "date" tonight, i.e. going out for dinner, partly b/c we both have work to do tonight, partly b/c we had to eat out so much last weekend while traveling.

I graded quizzes and reading responses and wrote up the last paper assignment for one class this afternoon; also finished/submitted an LIS assignment, and spent 1+ hour in the library looking up stuff for the other one (due tomorrow). Dictated some drabbles and posted one (link at end).

Juno was not good tonight; our neighbor-across-the-street J. was over talking with SO and brought his dog Luna, and the two dogs were playing pretty well in the back yard. I fed Juno when it was her dinner time, and then gave each dog a biscuit. Juno ate hers immediately, and when Luna didn't and dropped it in some leaves, Juno went after Luna's and there was a brief brawl. SO and J. managed to separate them quickly, but clearly they cannot both be given food in proximity, or else there will have to be very close supervision.

Okay, I have to work on this assignment. It's not conceptually difficult or anything, but substantial. Sigh. Not due till midnight tomorrow, but it would be good to get most of the content worked out tonight and then all the formatting etc. tomorrow - it has to be presented as both a paper flyer and a web page/site.

Have I said lately how glad I will be when this semester is over? All right, here's the drabble:

• Luck [Kirk/McCoy, general]: Kirk's in sick bay, again. Here at LJ.

Still taking Eight Crazy Nights prompts; Thuvia, I’ll hold a space for you unless you tell me otherwise.

Week-old TV thoughts (boy am I behind: this is not a good semester for fannish activities for me!):

( SPN, The Real Ghostbusters )

( Last week's Fringe ) comments on DW

( I hope this is to your liking. )

Spam! Wrote this not long after TDK came out but never posted it. Since the evil twin just wrote Joker/Scarecrow with similar elements, I knew I had to post it as the same time as hers or I'd never do it. Team Porn does Arkham. Arharhrh.


The Frayed Ends
Batman. Batman/Joker. R. ~1000 words. Nolanverse. Violence.
Darkness gathers into a swarm around them and Bruce doesn’t want to let the bastard take one more goddamn breath.


( Read Me. )

Just a little something to get me in the groove for doing homework. Done without access to my usual brushes so there are several big things that make me go DDDD:, but I didn't want to spend more than an hour on this. Warmup means warmup, Pondy.

Avengers. Steve/Tony. G.



( Steve & Tony Warmup Drawing )

Interesting article on AfterElton: Why are Women Interested in Gay Men? It's Not Because They Want to Sleep With Them!* Fortunately it dispels the myth that gay men/slash just appeals to straight women -- 38% of these polled identified as lesbian/bi/other -- and the explanations offered are a little more sophisticated than the usual "it's just like men liking lesbians." I'm less happy that the wording on some of the questions assumed heterosexuality (bad, AE, bad!) and were painfully American-centric, but some of the comments quoted manage to go beyond these limitations. All in all, pretty interesting read.


* Thanks to gealach_ros for the link!

Title: Bloodlust
Author: eeyore9990
Characters: Bellatrix/Rabastan, Bellatrix/Rodolphus, Bellatrix/Frank, Alice
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Torture, Non-con
Themes/kinks chosen: symphorophilia: arousal by watching or causing destruction and/or death
Word Count: 1015
Summary: There was something so very powerful about holding another life in the palm of her hand, dangling it from the tip of her wand.
Author's notes: Not my usual fare, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to write this. :D Thanks to kathrynthegreat for looking this over and letting me know it didn't suck donkey balls. Heh.

Please heed the warnings before clicking.

1. Write down the names of 10 characters.
2. Write a fic of fifteen words or less for every prompt, using the characters determined by the numbers. Do NOT read the prompts before you do step 1.

1. Eli Sunday (There Will Be Blood)
2. Rose Tyler (Dr. Who)
3. Claire Bennett (Heroes)
4. Gwen (Merlin)
5. Kozue (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
6. Tohma (Gravitation)
7. Major Henry West (28 Days Later)
8. Donny aka the Bear Jew (Inglourious Basterds)
9. Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
10. Sansa Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire)


( 15 Words Meme )

Author: Bitterfig
Title: Validation
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Peter/Claude
Summary: Set during season 1. There was more to Peter than Claude was willing to see.
Beta Reader: Fedink
Word Count: 1185
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Sex, violence, elements of D/s.
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any illegal acts taking place within that fiction are NOT condoned by the author. Depictions of any questionable, illegal, or potentially illegal activity in said fiction does not mean that I condone, promote, support, participate in, or approve of said activity. I grasp the distinction between fiction and reality and trust that readers will do the same. I do not profit from the fan fiction I write, and all rights to the characters remain firmly in the hands of their creator.


( Validation )

My mother has a theory, which is genius I think, that the worse the economy is at Christmas, the more lights and decorations people put up. My own anecdotal evidence gathered since the age of ten suggests this is mainly correct. It's some kind of reaction formation thing. "We have no money, so this is going to be the BEST, BRIGHTEST CHRISTMAS EVER!"

Seriously, look around yourselves on December 18th. You'll see what I mean.

I have a new theory that is related to this: when the economy tanks, television writers start KILLING EVERYONE. I suspect it has something to do with desperation to retain viewers as the ad money dries up and things get more competitive, making use of the link between profundity and death. Which does exist, but not nearly as intensely as most professional writers think it does (see: modernist theatre's relationship to the end-of-show suicide. Just because it worked for Chekhov* doesn't mean it works for everyone).

At the end of the day, if one is searching for meaning in modern life -- meaning and ratings -- then death's not a bad way to go. That's crass to say aloud, but it's also true. And there's nothing inherently wrong with an examination of death, self-sacrifice, and our place in the world.

But seriously now.

The debate goes back and forth endlessly about the meaning or lack thereof in a given death on a given show, and if someone does find beauty and meaning in death, that's okay. I understand, better than I used to, why people do; if not emotionally, then at least intellectually. My theory isn't about whether a given character's death is profound or stupid.

It's just that there's been so much death on so many of my shows that I'm afraid to turn on the television. Meaningful or not, I'm tired of it. I'm scared next Tuesday Abby's going to get shot. I feel like I can't watch TV until unemployment drops back below 8%.

So until then I'll just be over here with my Stranger Than Fiction DVD.

* At the end of The Sea Gull, which culminates in an offstage suicide, the audience in Moscow was silent for a full minute. Chekhov thought he was ruined; he thought the play had tanked. It turned out, nobody could gather their wits enough to applaud, at first. This is an epic legend, in theatrical circles.

Wow, that "Buffy vs. Edward" vid I stumbled upon a while ago has triggered a veritable avalanche of fannish obsessions...

First, it sucked me into all things "Buffy" (and subsequently, "Angel") to an almost unhealthy degree. Then I came across the rumour that David Boreanaz is actually capable of getting through a whole TV episode without whining if he's not in Wheydonverse, so I went to check out "Bones".

What can I say? I'm halfway through season 4 at this point, and I'm seriously hooked. Diehard vampire fan that I've always been, I still have to admit that some actors obviously work better without fangs.

In other news, I've got myself an "Archive of Our Own" account, but the uploading process is a right pain in the ass, so I'll probably wait until some of the bugs get sorted out.

And now back to that fest fic... *eyes deadline*

Attended a benefit dinner last night with J, maiki, and Susan for a non-profit that we've done a lot of work for. Materials that both Susan and I had designed were all over the place and it was really nice to see it all out and looking snazzy. Susan's done a lot to get their informational materials/reports looking clean and professional. I did the benefit's programs, invites, and carried over from last year was a set of promotional posters which I'm still proud of. The project, per usual, made me gnash my teeth at times, but I do enjoy working for them, and it was flattering when people whom I didn't expect compliments from told me they were impressed by the invitations in particular. :D Leading up I had this worry about the pagination on the program booklet since I worked entirely remotely and never saw a proof (or even had time to run one myself!) but everything turned out beautifully and typo-free. By this point, I've done enough recent work to have a solid design portfolio again, so with so few classes left ahead of me it's nice to have that in addition to what's shaping up to go on my reel.

I didn't mingle much, as J and I were introduced to some great people early on and there was no incentive to bother straying away from the interesting conversation to rub elbows with people outside my industry. It was somewhat fascinating attending something like this after so long, and also after now having worked on catering from the serving end! The appetizers, by the way, were awesome. I wish we offered some of them on our own menu, especially the warm cranberries and almonds in phyllo cups. Yum.

My shoes were remarkably comfortable. I haven't worn actual heels in forever and it's nice to confirm that my knee can handle hours standing around in 3" heels.

Ohhh. This is lovely.

*soft moan*

I finished editing and submitted two fest fics today. Which leaves yuletide and 3fan_holidays yet to go, for which I don't have bunnies quite yet (and am still reviewing source material for Yuletide anyhow). So I'm in good shape there, yay! Have some drabbles to work on in the meantime so my commute will be sufficiently occupied.

Did do some LIS work, some reading and beginning on an assignment, but will need to finish that up after dinner and turn it in. The other assignment I'll be working on tomorrow and Saturday, oh yeah. That's a big one - creating a pathfinder aka finding guide, in both paper and online versions. My other task this weekend, Sunday, will be to finalize my resume (and send it to my various recommenders) and see if either of the jobs I was looking at is still open, and write letters if so.

Took Juno to the dog park and also picked up some beer for SO, as he'd been out for a week. It was warm enough that I had the back door propped open this afternoon, and our neighbor dog Scruffy (Juno's best bud/playmate) escaped his own yard twice and came visiting, once even coming upstairs with Juno. I returned him and I think they've located the escape point and fixed it now.

I have salmon casserole in the oven for dinner and it smells yummy already. SO should be home soon...

Of course. But I may only have a glass, or perhaps two, and as you won't want wine perhaps I will have to order by the glass, although it never seems quite right.

This was supposed to be anon commentporn, but then it wasn't fulfilling what the OP had asked for so I wrote it for Blue instead.

Boys' Club
X-men RPS. Hugh Jackman/Liev Schrieber/Taylor Kitsch. NC-17. 3400 words.
God, tonight he'd be a slut for it if that's what they wanted.

( Read Me. )

I'm bendy again!

Say what you like about chiropractors, and I don't deny a lot of it, but I can bend over without looking like an old man for the first time in weeks. My wii fit trainer approves. He didn't even yell at me when I fell over during the Sun Salute. Which is a hard yoga pose to fall over during. But the point is I fell over because I'm a klutz, not because I had no lower-back mobility.

Also I have nasal spray that the doctor recommended, but I've never really used nasal spray before. Is it supposed to drip back out? I feel like my brains are falling out my nose when I use it.

HI. I'M SAM STARBUCK, BUT YOU CAN CALL ME MR. OVERSHARE.