User:	solo
	Date:	2009-01-06 19:16
	Subject:	Oh, hello 2009!
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	procrastinating
	Music:	...もういいから自分のやり方で...

This afternoon, k_julia left. rheasilvia left a couple of days... or maybe three?... ago. Now I'm catching up with cleaning, grading coursework, preparing accounts for an annual conference this coming weekend, sorting files (why the fuck do I have three versions of the countdown?)... basically, busily re-establishing order in my life, and this is of course the time when one most likes to procrastinate look back on the previous year and reflect on one's descent into madness changing circumstances and outlook.

( So, meme. A few days late but hey, nobody wants to see these things anyway and I was busy. )

From tomorrow, what counts for my normal life should resume. :-) In fact, I have to teach something or other tomorrow night. I should really check what that was. Hmmm...

	User:	elke_tanzer
	Date:	2009-01-06 07:56
	Subject:	In 2009, I resolve to get caught up with my life.
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	determined

If you get emails out of the blue from me regarding ancient obligations and gifties, it's because I'm making a serious effort to get caught up. This week, that'll include treewishes (email sent), wyomingnot (comment sent and answered), dragovianknight (I will email tonight), and vimeslady (who I've had trouble getting in touch with multiple times, but I will be trying again to email tonight).

If I have some obligation to you, and I have not emailed you by this coming weekend to make good, please email me and remind me of whatever it is that I've forgotten or that my old email crashes and/or overzealous spam filters ate.

And I will also be finally finishing backing up and transitioning content from my LJ this month.

It's feeling more urgent now that there are rumblings that the owners of LJ just laid off much of their LJ-related staff (possibly without severance). Some details about that are here:
http://twistedchick.insanejournal.com/79159.html?style=mine
ETA: http://twistedchick.insanejournal.com/1683461.html?style=mine

How to back up your journal:
http://brown-betty.livejournal.com/284083.html (for Windows)
http://liz-marcs.livejournal.com/413098.html (yes, right now LJBook is completely overloaded because many many people on LJ are panicked and trying to use it all at once, but there are other options... and no, LJ will not be vanishing overnight)
http://antennapedia.livejournal.com/238132.html (for Mac)
http://antennapedia.livejournal.com/266462.html (for Mac)
http://zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com/480601.html?style=mine
and my posts at http://elke-tanzer.insanejournal.com/tag/lj+transition
ETA: and http://morgandawn.insanejournal.com/221445.html?style=mine and http://morgandawn.livejournal.com/tag/ljtools
ETA: also http://karma-apple.insanejournal.com/8073.html

A note from synecdochic about the progress on Dreamwidth (for journaling):
http://synecdochic.livejournal.com/302379.html

Pages from the Organization for Transformative Works about the Archive Of Our Own project (for archiving fanfiction):
http://transformativeworks.org/node/96
http://transformativeworks.org/projects

ETA: Also a note from the OTW about Fanlore, a great place to put your contact information so that people can find you if your LJ or IJ or JF or whatever goes away unexpectedly: http://transformativeworks.org/news/our-friends-lj

And a note from squeaky about the stability of IJ right now:
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/announcements/61339.html

Additional perspective:
http://zarq.livejournal.com/846503.html?style=mine

And now I am headed to work, where I have similar organizey catchy-uppitty things to do, but for workstuff I am more like a month behind, rather than like... a year behind or more, which is the status of my fannish, extended-family and extended-RL-social obligations.

Over January and February, I'm also hoping to finish the work I began two years ago on my fannish and RL websites, as well. Being halfway between things feels rather like being uncomfortably splinched.

I will be traveling to my parents in Indiana again in February. March will be professional development class and PMI's PMP certification exam (my class will be in Los Angeles in March rather than San Jose in January because of my employer's travel expenses freeze) and a fannish weekend at the beach (yay Escapade!). If I haven't started going on Sierra Club dayhikes, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity or some other local Burbank community cause, and/or signed up for eHarmony by the end of February, I will be doing so in April.

Re: my interconnectedness with people: 2009 Will Be Better, Dammit.

In other news: I adore my wee baby dragons! :-D I am brainstorming names for these three:

My Mom likes the little tiny dragons that don't grow very big even when they're mature, so I'm coming up with names with meaning for her that I'll use any time I am able to name one of that breed.

And I have named this one Thunbergia Sedge, after a flowering vine that is a favorite of my father's garden and a family of plants that look vaguely grasslike which Dad likes to photograph in prairie and marshland preserves. I wonder if when it begins to grow its wings, I will be able to tell if it's male or female, or if I will have to wait until it's fully matured... Either way, this is the first egg I stole, and my first dragon to hatch, and I... I guess I'm just infatuated with the wee little virtual dragons. :-)

	User:	elke_tanzer
	Date:	2009-01-05 22:19
	Subject:	Passing the info along...
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	indescribable

A fellow fan is having trouble making her rent this month, and may be kicked out of her home. She is selling a number of books, CDs (including lots of Celtic stuff!), DVDs and tarot decks etc from her personal collection, and she also makes beautiful jewelry and altar dolls. If your finances are stable enough for you to be in shopping mode right now, please check out her posts of items she is selling, and browse her Etsy and Artfire storefronts.

Info is here: http://sixtail.livejournal.com/929401.html?style=mine and here: http://lori.insanejournal.com/3059.html?style=mine updated info is here: http://sixtail.livejournal.com/931535.html?style=mine


I know that there are at least another couple fans in similar situations, but I can't seem to find the links right at the moment... if you know of others, please feel free to link to their sale posts or storefronts in the comments here.

ETA: Cloudwatcher on LJ fell in December, and thanks to this sucky economy, needs serious help with her medical bills since her job benefits vanished. She's selling some musical instruments on eBay, and looking for job leads. Info is in her LJ:
http://cloudwatcher.livejournal.com/
http://cloudwatcher.livejournal.com/260067.html (plea for help of any kind)
http://cloudwatcher.livejournal.com/260119.html (list of instruments)

Also, Cloudwatcher has linked to http://community.livejournal.com/saveours00j/ which is a community of the friends of LJ user s00j, who are trying to raise money to help pay for incredibly daunting medical bills....

"SJ Tucker, s00j, a touring musician with no health insurance, recently ended up in the hospital for nearly a week, and was released on Christmas Eve to await test results and more tests."

"We've established this community because many of [info]s00j's friends can't afford to donate a lot of money, but can make things, or write things, or build things, and very much want to help. This part is very much a work in progress - as we sort out whether we're posting auctions or raffles or printing chapbooks or juggling geese, we'll update here."

Please check out the community for updates.


Which reminds me... I can't remember if I linked to this one before the holidays or not; it's another fellow fan having financial strain and selling items to pay the bills. Again, if your finances allow you to be in shopping mode right now, please check out her posts: http://digitalwave.livejournal.com/tag/sales+stuff

	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-01-06 00:14
	Subject:	Snape/Harry from Rana!
	Security:	Public

Oh, you guys...look at the fantastic Snape/Harry watercolor I commissioned from littleblackbow...

...I adore her Snape and Harry!

( Yay! )

	User:	elke_tanzer
	Date:	2009-01-05 20:11
	Subject:	Back to bright lights, big city...
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	exhausted

And now I am going to have sushi for dinner, and then crawl into my very own bed so I can hibernate for a little while.

Yay for being back in SoCal! :-D

	User:	elke_tanzer
	Date:	2009-01-05 07:05
	Subject:	Thank you, US Airways...
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	sleepy
	Music:	overlapping gate announcements

The Hilton Hotel near the Phoenix airport was OK to stay in last night. I am thankful that US Airways put us up overnight when many of us on the running-late flight from Indianapolis were stranded since our connecting flights had already left... it was much nicer to have a bed rather than an airport bench.

And now I am hoping to board a morning flight to Burbank. *yawn*

So much for getting to work early to catch up on things before the new year's chaos begins with a vengeance, though. Ah, well. I'm just rollin' with it...

Have a bearable Monday, everyone!

	User:	rivkat
	Date:	2009-01-04 21:49
	Subject:	Fannish love and reviews
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	anxious
	Music:	Beans - Mutescreamer (El-P Mix)

My Yuletide story was a character piece, Michaela Dupont from Anna to the Infinite Power.

Fannish things I have recently loved:

Sarah Walker vid, Creator, by talitha78.

linabean’s poem taken from snippets from sgastoryfinders.

…
the one where
McKay
is turned into a puppy!!!
It ends up
with John and Rodney together

I'm almost sure
I didn't imagine it.
I know it's out there

I'm looking for a story
Please?

John is very politely (with guns) asking
I am looking for a fic

See also trinity_clare’s riff on William Carlos Williams in the comments:
I have read
the stories
that were in
the comm

and which
you were probably
saving
as bookmarks

Forgive me
they were del.icio.us
so slashy
and so hot

And then there’s the additional material, not McShep, which is funny but also seems to me to serve as a critique of the pairing-centeredness of so much fandom, especially when it’s two white guys at the center.

Jayne Leitch, Dearly Divided: SPN/Dexter, Dean & Deb. I don’t know Dexter, but the SPN plot—oh, Dean. (Also, oh, Sam.)

( short reviews: Pratchett, King, After School Nightmare, Eternal Sabbath )

User:	ngaio
Date:	2009-01-04 13:34
Subject:	Lists
Security:	Public
Mood:	good

Books read so far this year:

Conrad's Fate and The Dark Lord of Derkholm, both by Diana Wynne Jones

Things done today:

Tidied and organised my belly dancing clothing/costumes
... including putting aside what I'll need tomorrow when classes restart
Put together a simple make-up bag for my New Year's Resolution to get more comfortable with wearing make-up
Made leftovers from yesterday into a casserole/pie (currently cooking so this is a mixed result, it could taste disgusting)
Tidied some papers from the side
Hung my new necklaces (bought Friday) on the light switch ready to wear

Still to do:

Put all my clean clothes away (yeah, this one is pretty much a permanent To Do)
Refill the bird feeders (again!)
Answer a few LJ comments (seriously, only a few, I'm impressed with me so far at keeping up with these)
*In theory* I have one or two cook and freeze dishes to make, but I'm not sure I'll get them done today
Have a bath, shave relevant bits, and really deep condition my hair
Burn some CDs for Sprog
Update iTunes and Fox-the-iPod

	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-01-03 13:34
	Subject:	Doctor Who - casting Spoilers
	Security:	Public

My thoughts on the New Doctor, let me show you them...

( spoilersspoilersspoilers )

ETA: Extended interview with Eleven from the Confidential (link goes to youtube) --> ( about which I say... )

In other news, I'm mainlining Kyou Kara Maou (!) and have fallen for Gwendal, Yozak, and Conrad...so far. :)

User:	ngaio
Date:	2009-01-03 17:35
Subject:	Grabbed from Klo and Yin
Security:	Public
Mood:	anxious

Please comment with something you think I should do or try to do in 2009. Big or small, silly or earth-changing.

	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-01-03 09:36
	Subject:	FIC (HP): Protective Custody (Snape/Harry) - also...translations!
	Security:	Public

Okay, I'm an idiot. I had a file of translations (and a podfic) which I meant to post ages ago, and I totally failed to do so, for which I'm incredibly sorry. I'm hugely appreciative of the people who took the time to translate my work into other languages and other media.

snarry_holidays

bethbethbeth

odogoddess

odogoddess

	User:	elke_tanzer
	Date:	2009-01-02 21:31
	Subject:	OK, which of you knows about MySpace?
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	exhausted

Some of my younger cousins in another geographic region are on MySpace, and my Mom would like to be able to interact with these nieces of hers, but apparently the only way they "email" is through their MySpace but it's not exactly email. The last I heard, MySpace tended to grab personal information about you and your preferences from your Amazon identity and goodness knows what else, so security-conscious and privacy-valuing folks were staying away from it...

Should I be overly concerned about privacy and security if I sign my Mom up for a MySpace account (and therefore also I will probably have to sign myself up for an account as well, so I can do tech support when she runs into questions)?

Or is there some easy way for us to tell the nieces to add us to their MySpace contacts as plain old ol'fashioned email addresses rather than whatever flavor of contact MySpace uses?

Halp, oh all- knowing flist?

In other news, one of my wee virtual dragon eggs has hatched into a baby dragon!! Please click on it to help the wee little one grow... It's hopefully going to grow up happy and healthy into one of the dark green dragons that disguises itself as a tangle of plants. At first I had my doubts about the breed, but in thinking and brainstorming a bit, they remind me a bit of the Earth Dragon on the walking trail on Sentosa Island in Singapore, and in the garden landscape of my imagination, I would dearly love a set of such dragons guarding the entrance to my fantasy cottage garden of vegetables and berry brambles and fruit trees.



All three of the other eggs are starting to develop cracks, which hopefully means that they will hatch soon, too... a click or two would help them along, if you're so inclined.

ETA the next morning: Eeeeeeeeeee! Look! Two of the others have hatched! Aren't they cute?

ETA the following night: Awww! The fourth one hatched! Adorable!

And now, a New Years Meme snitched from thebratqueen...

Please comment with something you think I should do or try to do in 2009. Big or small, silly or earth-changing.

	User:	thete1
	Date:	2009-01-02 18:06
	Subject:	Jack is a genius, or NOM NOM SALAD NOM.
	Security:	Public
	Mood:	satisfied
	Music:	The Awkward Stage: "The Morons Are Winning"

This dressing is designed for a salad of kale, tomato, and cubanelle pepper, but you could easily substitute other greens and/or other accompanying vegetables. (You might also have to make other substitutions if you don't have these ingredients... but we highly recommend all of them.)

( *homerdrool* )

	User:	bethbethbeth
	Date:	2009-01-01 16:59
	Subject:	Yuletide and Miscellany!
	Security:	Public

I've just added the author names to all my yuletide rec posts (here and here and here and here and here), - and added the recs to my permanent recs page (Recs Recs Recs: a work-in-progress).

I'd also like to add extra thanks to the two authors who gifted me with such cool Galaxy Quest stories: csnshelley who wrote "Thespians, Aliens and a Damn, Stupid Hammer" and joandarck who wrote "The Show Must Go On".

***

As for my stories, I wrote two. First, my main story: