( Vague spoilers for the CiN Doctor Who snippet )

Bill and I spent Friday at Mount Vernon - I regret to say that I completely forgot to bring Darth Dalek along, which I'd intended to do. (See! Dark Dalek in George Washington's bedroom! Which, actually, I couldn't have done, because the inside of Mount Vernon is copyrighted, as it turns out, and you can't take pictures inside the house. You can take plenty outside, which I did, and those will be up a little bit later. Sans Darth Dalek, though.)

Title: Water Music
Author: azriona
Characters: The Doctor, River Song
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Big ones for Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead. Takes place prior to Water of Mars; if you haven’t seen it, you won’t be spoiled.
Betas: runriggers and jlrpuck

Summary: The Doctor never expects to meet anyone in a linear fashion. How he meets River Song is slightly more non-lineal than most.

Chapters One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven ~ Eight

( The Story So Far (a quick recap of Chapters 1-8) )

A/N: If you are here from Gaston Leroux - please note that the next three chapters occur before the events in that story. If you have no idea what I’m talking about – I’ll link you when this particular adventure of theirs is over.

Thank you!

( Chapter Nine )

Another post Dad won't be happy about...

So some friends of friends are attempting to start an eco-friendly underwear company, and they've created a survey to get themselves started. It takes five minutes and asks you about underwear preferences. (Nothing too kinky, I promise.)

The survey is here, if you'd like to take it yourselves. The closest to personal information they ask is where you live, and you only need to provide other information if you want to be contacted about product samples and such. (I will add that it seems to be mostly US-focused, but those of you in other parts of the world, if you want to play along and modify your answers, probably wouldn't hurt.)

( Thoughts on Water Music and Water of Mars. Not overly spoilery for either, except in tone of the show / fanfic )

Water Music continues tomorrow! It's rather exciting. For me. And maybe the three of you who were reading Water Music last year. :)

There are no spoilers for Water of Mars in the following conversation.

Dad: So I saw your last LJ entry and I thought you were writing about the water on the moon. So I read the entire thing and didn't understand a word, and then realized you were talking about a Doctor Who episode.
Me: Yeah. Sorry, next time I'll put a disclaimer on my entries, "This is an entry about Doctor Who. If you are my father, disregard."
Dad: Also, I would like to point out that it's Doctor Whom. If you're going to be grammatically correct.
Me: I'll make sure everyone online knows that, Dad.
Dad: English teachers are rolling in their crypts, you know.
Me: Oh, I'm sure they are.

( Spoilers for Water of Mars, and the snippy little preview of the Christmas specials )

Back to my fannish roots.....

Christmas came early this year, in the form of Harry Potter - in Dutch and French!

And the best part? I've never seen these covers before! The French cover's a bit juvenile, but the Dutch cover is gorgeous - and I scanned in the back as well, because it's just lovely.

( Harry a l'ecole des sorciers, and Harry en de steen der wijzen )

My sister-in-law knows me entirely too well, and sent me this:



I about died laughing. I haven't looked at the flist yet, it's possible you've all seen it. But just in case.

I have the feeling it will be entirely too easy to turn my sister-in-law into a Doctor Who fan. :)

*

I'm in love with the store where I got my glasses. I stopped in after work today, because while I like my new glasses, they've been slipping a lot, particularly when I lean forward. The guy tightened them a bit, but this is the kicker - he remembered me when I came in. And even though he only had the glasses for a few minutes behind the counter - it was obviously enough time to LOOK ME UP because when he handed back the glasses, he called me by name.

Dude. He recognized me, and my glasses, and used my name without any sort of prompting on my part. I haven't seen customer service like that in a really long time, and that's just sad.

If you are in the DC area, go here. That is all.

From xebgoc, by way of jlrpuck:

Very good NPR essay about the theory of spoilers. I'll note that it doesn't actually contain spoilers, exactly, at least not for anything aired since 2005. Which is exactly the point of the article.

( On Spoilers. Not Spoilery. Listen, folks, if I know it, you probably do, too. )

But that's all new spoilers. Old spoilers...well, it's a different story.

Which makes me wonder. There's two parts to that last DW episode, right? I wonder if a Mundane Spoiler Challenge would be appropriate? :)

OMG, Spoiler alert! William Hartnell regenerates into Patrick Troughton!

Final wordcount for the day: 10,970. Which meets my goal for the day, so yay me. I'll admit that I'm disappointed, though - I was sort of hoping to hit 15K so I could post the OT3 fic.

Total wordcount for the month: 12,199. Which is still about 6K less than where I'm supposed to be. But more worrying is that....I'm actually not that far from the end of the story. I knew this might happen - after all, I'm actually writing a children's book, which is something of a first for me. I think I might very well wrap the thing up in another 10K or so, depending on what happens in the next couple of chapters.

( Which leaves me with several options: )

Anyway, I do feel bad about the OT3 fic...but I've posted two ficcy things today, which is more than I normally do, so I don't feel too badly about it. But neither do I want to make you all wait until Water Music is done being posted, so I'm thinking I'll post the first bit when I'm actually done with the children's book, regardless of the word count. There are three parts to it now; I'm working on a fourth, and brainstorming a fifth, so it's working to be a good little series. I think you'll all like it. Well, all of you who read OT3, anyway.

It's not smutty in the least. Come on, flisters, I can barely write smut for two people, I really don't have a clue what to do with three. Hi, Dad.


Edited to add: I sent a note to the original author of the remix fic I wrote which was nominated. She seemed okay with me accepting the nomination - so I will. Thanks for those who offered their opinions. Those who said I shouldn't accept, I hope you aren't terribly disappointed in my decision.

Title: Timey-Whimey, Smurfy-Wurfy (6/8)
Characters: The Doctor, Rose Tyler, various Smurfs
Rating: PG

Summary: Smurf Village has some new visitors.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Nor do I own the Smurfs. As unbelievable as it may seem, I don't have my own personal stash of crack, either. You'd never think it, I know.

A/N: I said to amberfocus, "You didn't win me in the Support Stacie auction, but you can have a prompt anyway." Amber said, "Smurfs."

Beyond that, I have no excuse. None.

A/N #2: Today's NaNo goal is to write 10K. I said when I hit 5K, I'd post the next chapter of Smurfy-Wurfy. If I manage to hit 15K, I'll post the first part of the OT3 fic I wrote. I have 5,760 words written today so far....so here you go!


Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five


( Timey-Whimey, Smurfy-Wurfy - Chapter Six )

Today's Plan:

1. Write 10,000 words of the previously largely-ignored Nano story.

2. .....


Yeah, that's pretty much it. Once I've written 5,000, I'll post the next chapter of Smurfy-Wurfy, so if you see it posted, you know I'm doing pretty good.

Also, another reason to have you all rooting for me - if I manage to get 15K written, I'll post the first part of that OT3 fic wendymr made me write.

Title: The Imagination of Gaston Leroux (10/10)
Rating: PG
Characters: Nine, Rose, Jack, Ten, Jack (yes, twice), assorted others

Summary: Actresses disappear from the stage, the manager is strangely tight-lipped, and there’s an oddly knowledgeable woman in an apricot dress running here and there. Not to mention the overly enthusiastic journalist lurking in the shadows. Will the Doctor and his companions solve the mystery at the Opera Garnier – or will the story be forever changed?


A/N: A short one at the end of the epilogue.

The Extremely Strange Tale of the True Story of the Man Commonly Known as
the Phantom of the Opera,
Or
(if you would rather a shorter title, and goodness knows I would not blame you):

The Imagination of Gaston Leroux

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine

( Epilogue: What Happened After )

So, I think most folks on the flist are aware that there's another Fanfic Award thing going around - Words on the Wind. I know zilch about it, I have little to no intention of becoming half as involved as I am/was in the CoT awards, and for me, it's mostly been under the radar.

Today, I got a notification that one of my stories was nominated. So first, thank you to whoever nominated it. I'm very flattered that you remembered the story and took the time to enter it! I don't get many nominations, so I treasure every one of them.

Moving on....I'm not sure I should accept the nomination. The nominated story? Is the remix I wrote a few months ago. Specifically, Finding Rose (The Forty-three Days Remix) from the chips_remixed challenge over the summer. The story is mine - but it's based off something someone else originally wrote.

One could argue that I'm simply describing fanfic in general. Hush, you.

So I'm not exactly sure this is something I should accept, and I remember this seemed to be a discussion a while back. (Or maybe this was strictly among the mods at CoT, I can't remember.) Should an author be nominated for a remixed fic? Is it fair to the author of the original fic on which it was based?

Hence...poll. What thinketh you, flist? Do I accept the nomination or not? Mind, I don't have a CLUE what category it's in, although I suppose I should find out.

I sent a note to the original author to see what she says. If I don't accept the nomination...eh. I don't accept the nomination. It's not like I would have won, anyway, I don't write that sort of fic.

I am pleased to have been nominated, though - so whoever did that, thank you very much, and please don't take my dithering personally. I feel as though I'm always complaining about these types of awards, regardless of the outcome, and I really don't mean to be.

Poll #1483634
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

Should I accept the nomination?

The first person to find me a picture of Gargamel of the Smurfs smiling gets....um....something. Fic, bookmark, their own personal picture of the Doctor Smurfified, whatever, you name it. Thank you!

Got one, thank you! MWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA.

(Hey, the epilogue to Gaston Leroux is short. And I'm overdue for another Smurfy-Wurfy chapter.)

If I post it, then I'm accountable.

Things to do today:

Clean the bathrooms
Vacuum
Edit the rest of Water Music
Work on the project4editrx cookbook (TESTERS, if you are reading this, go turn in your tested recipe forms, please!)
Clean out the fridge
Grocery shopping (How the hell did I go through 2 dozen eggs in two weeks?)
Make some pie crusts (Bill will want pie)


No, Nano is not on that list. How very observant of you.

Monday:

Me: Cleo, on Saturday we're going to the vet.
Cleo: That's nice. When's dinner?


Wednesday:

Me: Cleo, on Saturday we're going to the vet.
Cleo: Sure. Listen, my mouse is stuck under the oven, can you get it for me?


Friday:

Me: Cleo, tomorrow morning we're going to the vet.
Cleo: Okay. I know I had dinner already, but could I please have a little more? I'm really hungry.


Saturday morning
Approximately 7.30am

Me: Okay, Cleo, I'm going to go out and warm up the car and get all the ice scraped off so we can go to the vet!
Cleo: Do I have to do anything? Because I'm in the middle of a power nap.
Me: You just lay there and look cute and contemplate getting into your carrier peacefully.
Cleo: ....carrier?

7.36am

Me: Cleo! Time to get in your carrier!
Cleo: ....Why?
Me: Because we're going to the vet.
Cleo: WHAT? NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A VET. YOU DID NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS VET. SINCE WHEN DO I HAVE TO GO TO THE VET?
Me: Since you aren't able to give yourself a rabies shot. Okay, time to get in the carrier!
Cleo: HELL NO.
Me: Okay, back legs in first...
Cleo: GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, BITCH.

7.37am - 7.48am

17 Attempts to put Cleo into the Carrier of Doom
10 Cat Scratches on various human appendages (including one that drew blood)
2 Treats used as (unsuccessful) bait
1 Really, really, really, really, really mad cat
1 Exasperated Human

7.49am

Me: Okay. We're going to try this again.
Cleo: I'M WILLING REPEAT MY YOWLING AND TWISTING PERFORMANCE, SURE. BITCH.
Me: No, we're doing something different. I'm getting your harness and leash.
Cleo: ....Harness?
Me: You like your harness.
Cleo: ....Yeah.....
Me: So you put on the harness, and your leash, and I'll carry you.
Cleo: ....What's the catch?
Me: No catch.
Cleo: ....I'm not sure I trust you. Bitch.
Me: Well, I'm not sure this will work, so we're even.

7.52am

Me: Cleo, it's very sweet that you want to ride all the way to the vet on my lap, but really, I sort of need to DRIVE.
Cleo: YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL.

7.53am - 7.59am

Cleo: YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL.
Me: Um, are you going to do this the entire way to the vet?
Cleo: Yes. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL.

8.00am - 8.17am

Cleo: YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL. YOWL.

8.18am

Enter the Slapstick:
So we get to the vet, and I even scored good parking, right around the corner. Nuthin' to it. With a firm grip on Cleo (and her leash wrapped around my wrist just in case), and the carrier over my shoulder, we stared walking to the vet.

We were GREAT until we reached the corner.

And then we turned the corner. Couple of construction workers saw me, and got huge grins on their faces. "She wouldn't get in her carrier," I explained, and they laughed.

We make it past them, and the vet's office is in sight - it's right there - it's so close - I can practically SMELL it.

Which is when.

Jackhammers: RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT.
Cleo: YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

All of a sudden, the somewhat calm cat in my arms became BLURRING TWIRLING CAT O' FURY. I couldn't hold her, she spun right out of my arms, and straight for the nearest door. She actually CLIMBED the brick wall in an attempt to get away.

Luckily, we were in something of an alcove. It wasn't quieter, exactly, but Cleo couldn't see the &*^#$ jackhammer going, which was helpful. I was able to gather her back up, whisper in her ear (which she likes, it's calming), and try to calm her down. I peeked around the corner --

Jackhammers: RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT.

Now, here's the thing. The jackhammers? Were doing their thing RIGHT ACROSS from the vet's door - TEN FEET AWAY. There was no dodging them. And try as I might, I couldn't get their attention. All I needed was for them to stop for TWO MINUTES. Not even! And I could carry Cleo easily into the vet's office, and they could rat-a-tat-a-tat all they wanted all the live-long day.

But no. There was no attention. There was no stopping.

So....I got a good hold of Cleo...

My fingers around her harness...

Held my arms in tight....

AND RAN.

I think I just about exploded into the vet's office, with a chorus of Angry Cat Yowls and RAT-A-TAT-A-TATs. The carrier went one way. Cleo went the other. I stared at the receptionist, who stared back at me.

Me: Hi. Appointment for Cleo, 8.30. Can we please go straight into an exam room? Please?
Receptionist: Oh, sure.
Me: I love you.

End result:

1 Rabies shot in the back right leg
1 Distemper shot in the front right leg
1 Extremely Amused but Sympathetic Veterinarian, who thinks Cleo is the cutest thing on four legs (she is, but that's beside the point)
$126 paid for services
(Putting the 9 pound 3 ounce Cleo in her carrier for the ride home was free, but would have been worth twice that)

9.18am

Me: Well, Cleo, home again, home again. You can get out of the carrier now.
Cleo: Why? Kind of nice in here.
Me: OMG, Cat.
Cleo: Wait - I get a treat now, don't I?
Me: YES.
Cleo: Well, jeez, no reason to YELL about it.
Me:
Cleo: Bitch.

On a cold and windy day (April 13, 2005, to be exact), I started a massive cross-stitch project. (Okay, it might not have been cold and windy, I don't remember. I'm trying to set some ambiance here, be quiet.)

I figured it would take me about three years to finish, by which point I would need trifocals, assuming I wasn't blind.

Four and a half years later...I have finished Page Five. (Out of sixteen. Again, be quiet.)

( The Mirror of Erised, Page Five )

While killing time before Cleo's vet appointment this morning, I found this via ihasatardis:

A Jack and Ianto dress-up game, with lots of clothing and facial expression options. It is strangely entertaining.

( My creation under the cut )

In other news, I realized this morning that despite my lack of appetite, I'm going to dinner with friends tonight. I mean, I knew I was, but for some reason, dinner with friends did not equal having to actually eat something. I'm hoping my appetite comes back in the next 12 hours.

Hmm.

Tuesday night, approximately 9.30pm - horrific gastrointestinal issues in which I lost every bite I'd eaten since noon.

Wednesday - Two pieces of toast. Half a can of chicken soup. A bit of bread pudding. Half a pita with peanut butter.

Thursday - Two pieces of toast. Small take-away container of beef noodle soup. Two pieces of toast with peanut butter (the pita had started a biological warfare).

Friday - Bagel with peanut butter. Berry smoothie (basically, frozen berries and ice - no dairy or dairy substitutes).

I'm not hungry. I haven't eaten anything in about 8 hours. Should I be worried? This is not exactly like me, usually I'd be ravenous by now.