ahestele

Today's challenge: In your own space, talk about a talent (or talents) you have. Everyone's got something they're good at. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I have realized, as I've gotten older, that the stuff I'm good at isn't necessarily marketable in many ways. *LOL*

But I have always been really good at bulletin board displays. You know, like in classrooms and libraries? The big walls of displays that people see when they walk in a place? I started doing them when I was a wee ahestele helping my mom out in her classroom because my mom couldn't draw a passable circle if it meant the firing squad, bless her heart.

My bachelors degree is in art and painting and that kind of stuff just comes easily to me. I was doing art before I was ever writing and, many times, it comes easier to me.

( Some of my work bulletin boards: )

It's kind of a narrow thing, but it's really helped me as a teacher and as a kid's librarian. I know people who work with kids who are not at least a LITTLE crafty or arty have a hard times sometimes.

It also gives me a chance to create and use my degree and that is happy making. :-)

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Drop a link to your post in the comments. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom and maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.

1. Prelude to a Kiss, Lance/ John Rzeznik, Popslash xover

While I never wrote popslash I LOVED LOVED reading it, especially xovers. ghettogreta wrote this gem and it's become one of my long-standing comfort fics.

I love the Johh Rzeznik POV and how truly flawed and asinine, and, well, so much of an dysfunctioning asshole, yet she manages to make him very real and searching. Lance isn't usually one of my favorite in synclash but this is so amazingly done. It also goes on for awhile, a rich, meaty fic without being too long, and I love that.

2.


I began writing Embers, my Eminem/Taylor Hanson opus...wow, SO many years ago! When I did, torreadora made this graphic for my fic and it is still one of the most amazing, awesome things anyone has ever done for me. She doesn't seem to draw as much as she used to but her artwork continues to slay me every time she does.

Here DeviantArt account is here and her etsy store is here. Lily draws, paints, her knit creations are amazing. She is what the universe meant when it breathed imagination into our free will.

3. I know everyone has seen this but I don't care because it remains THE BEST MOST AWESOME THING IN BANDOM EVER. The official name is The Adventures of Gerard, Boy Princess of the Ocean and Frank, the Italian Gentleman's Son Who Loves Him, but everyone pretty much knows it as The Gay Starfish. blondiousmaximus has left LJ for points unknown (DW? I do wish I knew because I would follow her work anywhere) but the journal, maintained by theopteryx, is still there.

This is why I love fandom. :-)

+ Apologies for bad form, but for reasons that I don't understand, I can no longer access LJ from my work computers. This IS TO CRY. It is considered a 'malicious' site, or whatever, which, okay, yes, if you're referring to the clueless Russion overlords or whatever. But it is still damned inconvenient.

Maybe this total migration is a good idea. :-/

+ Also, and in closing, we watched the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I have THE WORST GIRLCRUSH on Lisbeth Salander. She is so BROKEN AND HOT AND BROKEN AND FIERCELY INTELLLIGENT I am all *hearteyes*. The story of my life is in there somewhere. *LOL*

I want fic and I don't even know what kind. I just want to read about her being badass and awesome and having those brilliant faint, faint whispers of humanity that make me all verklempt.

I guess I need to give the book another try because it bored me shitless at the first go and I couldn't get past the first chapter.

Sadly, I must go now.

The lover is fighting the second go-round of a stubborn cold and she gets what my sister calls 'mansick.' She is totally and completely useless when she is this sick and is very pitiful and weak and frowny.

Ergo, I must take the bus tomorrow.

I'll shout at ya'll later.

Cuidense!

In closing, the high today was 66 and tomorrow it is 71. Sometimes the South is a good place to be. :-)

Day 2- Favorite song off of Three Cheers

Helena, hands down. It's special to me because it's the first video of theirs I saw, late one night on one of the few video shows that was still on (I think the show has since ceased to exist). I had started hearing and reading about this whole BANDOM thing and was pretty much skeptical despite the face that so many awesome writers had started to do bandfic. Hey, that didn't work for SGA. Then, I saw the video. And then, I saw Frankie. And I was all O.O, because Three Cheers Frankie is MY FAVORITEST EVAR, with the hair and the guyliner SO DARLING. And then I read some waxjism and arsenicjade, and then I was lost. :-)

Day 3- Favorite song off of The Black Parade

There's always this point with New Shiny, usually at the start of a latest album, when I need to decide if this latest effort speaks to me as strongly as all the efforts before, or whether I'll become an I LIKED THEM UNTIL HERE. Because, for me, it's sometimes like that (see: Indigo Girls. I love all their stuff until about the fourth album, and then it all started to sound the same. Sad but true). I heard Famous Last Words and I KNEW this was my band. I knew the same way I knew Marshall would be my forever sekrit bf when I heard My Name Is.

KITTEHS

+ D rescued four kittens from a negligent owner In a nutshell: my twelve-step friend Rene has a rental property where the tenant was collecting feral cats. D was visiting Rene and saw four undernourished kittens with their eyes slimed closed meowing and wandering in circles, only a handful of dry food and no water in sight, and D lost. Her. Entire. Mind. Yadda yadda yadda I came home to four kittens in a plastic bin and the apartment reeking of cat food and baby formula. *sigh.

She says she has a PLAN (she always does) but we have already named the greedy kitten Piglet and the fiesty little girl that keeps clawing her way out of the bin Courtney, because she is, um, a fierce pussy. There is one that is shy and must be coaxed into eating and one little girl that we are worried about. She is uninterested in food and she does this strange Stevie Wonder SWAYING thing when she sits.

D says she is taking them to a cat rescue, or something. She'd better. Our huge cat Talullah hissed and fled to the bedroom in abject horror. Talullah was here first.

WORK HANGOVER

+ The work layoffs are over. I am still employed. I feel like I have a severe emotional hangover,some kind of fugue state, and can't bring myself to be all WOO HOO STILL GOT A JOB because 39 people do not. This is not the bloodbath we were led to believe would happen. Hence, it looks like furloughs will continue for at least another year. Sux. After being at this pitch of dread for A MONTH AND A HALF YOU INEPT SADISTIC FUCKERS I feel vaguely drugged and disgruntled. I have finally begun to read again, but am having a hard time writing still. Bubble shooter games have eated my brain because they are mindless and soothing.

My boss kept saying that there was no good way to do this, and that is true. But I do believe there was a BAD way to do it AND THIS WAS IT.

I work five days in a row and then have three days off, so I am focusing on that.

BOO

+ According to Tennesssee, discussing gay things before the ninth grade will make your kid gay, so teachers can't do it. You know, there are some things I love about The South. Shit like this is not it.

+ Texas is in a drought. Parts of my state are burning uncontrollably. The city is on the brink of a water ban; most of the rest of the state has already done one. Other parts of the country are drowning in water and one place had snow in April. Tell us again how global warming is a myth YOU IGNORANT FUCKWADS.

+ My two youngest sisters in Laredo have been going to the gym and dieting and lost much weight. My mom now asks me every phone call if I have begun exercising and dieting. *sigh*

THINGS I LIKE RIGHT NOW

+ Starbucks Greek Yogurt and Honey Parfait- I have moved on from confections to their parfait products. The sugar is high but ZOMG SO YUMMY. It has calcium, right? Right??

+ Hold On by Neko Case-Heard it on The Killing and have had it on repeat ever since. Wonderful voice.

+ The Morningstar Strain by Z.A. Recht- This is the zombie series recced to me by a CHILD A CHILD, MIND YOU, and it is pretty damn good. It is kind of like World War Z lite, for that is the zombie fiction from which all other zombie fictions are measured for me, but the writing has a good flow, the characters are strong and drawn with a wide enough brush to give them depth, and it has some strong female protagonists. Solid rec.

+ Hawaii 5-O, Big Bang Theory, and Vampire Diaries continue to be my favorite happy places on TeeVee. Stumbled across Justified and got HOOKED in fifteen minutes. I have been a Timothy Olyphant fan since GO. The finale was FANTASTIC.

+ This article discussing, rationally and unironically, how the Fast and the Furious franchise breaks racial barriers." Every single word is TRUE. D and I just watched Fast Five and ( and it was AMAZING.**********SPOILERS******** )

Eh, Christ, I had more but I can't remember.

It is just the other side of midnite so HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mommies on my FL!!!! Have a great day, ladies.

Ima go back to bubble shooting and surfing the Interwebz. Talk you all later.

MOI

+ Apparently, according to yestserday's dr. visit, the generic dr. in Florida a)didn't give me a strong enough antibiotic, b) prescribed useless OTC meds and c) generally failed at life. Hence, my ears refuse to pop becuase they are still in pretty bad shape from the infection and if I remain this way when I fly to Spain I will pretty much be beggging to die at lift-off.

Round two of meds: Stronger antibiotic Lavinquin, or something like that, every day. An OMG NASTY nasal spray at bedtime, a Zyrtec a day (those fuckers are EXPENSIVE), and a 25 mil OTC Benadryl allergy at bedtime. Dr. said our goal was to get rid of as much 'snot' in ten days as possible, and I'd have to continue the course of meds while in Spain.

Alrighty, then. *takes pile of pills*

MCR

+ You guys!!!! YOU GUYS!!!!!!! I know everyone has seen it by now but YOU GUYS NEW MUSIC OMG!!!!! How awesome is this going to BE??? I really was worried about my ability to listen to them without Bob. I love me some Bob. He just seemed like the best foil to the band; the solid, grounded base upon which everything could settle. It was devastating when he left. It's also hard because he's so BOB; it's not like there's lots of news on how he is, or what's he's doing. I mean, we at least know Brian is going to stuntman school (oh, Brian.) I just think the true MCR will always have Bob in it, for me.

But I CAN'T not care about this! It sounds amazing, the guys LOOK amazing (FRANK YOUR STUPID FACE ILU), and they look like they're having so much FUN.



I cannot wait I am EXCITE!!!! *claps hands*

DRAGONCON

+ Dudes, I have tried to write my post for days, and there is just no way to summarize 'Not what I expected from a trip' for THAT trip in 25 words or less. OR paragraphs. Or PAGES.

So, let's do this:

HIGH POINTS

* MEETING i_amthecosmos and her husband, Evan!!! She was just everything I imagined, ever! Funny and kind and striking! Amusingly, she is exactly the type that D would chase after before she landed with a short Latina woman. Needless to say, D found her a gorgeous and lovely person, as did I. I hope to see you again soon, Zillah!

* Cast of TrueBlood Panel! - Pam, Lafayette, and Sam could not have been more open, funny, and amazing! I will say I was a bit taken aback by how- SHY- Nelsan Elllis was. Of the three he seemed to be the most befuddled by the whole Con thing, and all the cheers when he spoke of how he made out with his 'dude.'*lol* He did the whole panel behind a pair of dark glasses and low cap, but Kristin Bauer and Sam Rockwell reallly seemed to enjoy picking at him for his reserve.

Favorite question and answer from Ms. Bauer, who looked so approachable and pretty out of character; she had a full, soft mouth and shimmering, kind of frizzy brown hair:

Q: What's been your favorite part of working on the series so far?
A: Seeing Eric naked. *exploding laughter from all sides. She looked around innocently* Did I say that out loud?

* The Parade! - FAntastic seats were had and it was just an amazing spectacle. Everyone should see it at least once in their lives.

Low Points

* Decision to take our temporary house-mate with us to help with driving. *sigh* Because really, she is not a bad person. She is just at some mid-life crisis crossroads of her life so it feels like living with/travellign with a teen ager. She spent the whole trip talking about sex, smoking, and snarking with D since they are the two more butch personalities, and my god, I was ready to stab myself around one hour in. Not to mention between D's propensity for losing important things on a regular basis, like her KEYS, and her MEDS, S lost her ID at one point. Scratch four hours locating it. Then she lost her badge. Scratch four hours and another panel I wanted to go to locating IT. I also found out she refused to go anywhere on her own giving D and I NO alone time at all. I mean, some stuff I researched for her to attend weren't things D and I would go to anyway. But, no. She wouldn't read the schedule to find other things. She moped in the room, instead.

It was just that kind of trip, man.

* I forgot the camera. It seems like a small thing, but it wasn't.

* I got a raging sinus infecton RIGHT after D*C so I was incredibly sick the whole Florida leg of the trip. D's childhood friend was wonderful, though. I felt so bad for laying in bed holding my ears in pain while everyone else tried to have a good time. *sigh*

So, yeah. That was an adventure! I've decided we are going to D*C every other year. EVery year taps out our resources. All we'd DO every year was save for that trip only, and I'd like to take my lover other places, too. Preferably ALONE.

Okay, gente.

I have more, but D and I are going to the library because Houston Public Central is having a graphic novelday and TERRY MOORE is going to be there! Terry Moore omg!!! I am excite.

In closing, I realize what i want to do is get a degree in graphic novels. Not making them; studying them. Discussing them. Writing dissertations on them. It does not exist. Someone get on that right away.

Cuidense! I'll talk at you later.

+ We were watching CHALLENGE on the Food Network, as one does, and got an enormous chocolage jones since the theme was chocolate Spongebob Squarepants cakes. So, D went to the store and bought brownie mix, which I made. She takes out the trash and I do the baking; it's how we roll.

At any rate, I have been mostly baking my own stuff since looking at the ingredients on a box of cookies and wondering why there should be 230 milligrams of sodium in a wafer, but I wasn't sure I had all the indredients, so I used the mix.

Wow, that is an OVERWHELMINGLY sweet mix. I think all box mixes seem to be too sweet. Bleah. I mean, I'll still EAT them; I'm not WASTEFUL, but I'll definitely be looking for a home made brownie recipe. Anyone with suggestions feel free to link. :-)

+ We went to see ( Predators yesterday and it kicked ASS. ***Possible Spoilers*** )

Trailers I was the most excited about were Resident Alien: Afterlife, which looks to have some serious femmeslash going on and Machete, the Robert Rodriguez film with Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert DeNiro, and Jessica Alba. I CANNOT WAIT for that!

+ I've been reading this book called The Fallen for the Staff Summer Reading Club at work and also because the cover *I* saw in the Teen Room had a brooding pretty boy with enormous black wings. I mean, what more is there to say. However, *this* cover has Stefan Fucking Salvatore on it! Which reminded me of this little series I stumbled opon on the Disney Channel called Fallen and THAT is where I had seen that actor before. Sadly the series lasted about five minutes, but it was really good, and the writer is Sneigoski, who has also done comic book work AND written for Buffy, the series. That might only be, like, three or four degrees, but still. Such a small world, that of supernatual fiction!

I'm actually pretty surprised no one has jumped on this series for more than a half-assed Disney fill-in. It has the battle of Good And Evil, a talking dog, a perpetual road trip (hello, Supernatural), and hot guys with wings. I mean, it's like UP! with angels.

I think maybe Mr. Sneigoski was about seven years before his time with his idea. It would be devoured into production if it came out today instead of 2003.

+ Still working on next part of Embers. And working and working. I'm truly worried I will be, like, this seventy year old woman still writing Marshall and Taylor in high school. O.O
But at least it is moving along?

+ My sincere, sincere sympathies to my friends in the North for the heatwave they expereinced there. I forget that you all don't really see anything above about 85 or so degrees and, to us in Houston, that is a cool and balmy day. I'm astounded at the number of people without AC! Dios mio we would PERISH here without it; each summer the Health Dept. keeps a close eye on the indigent and elderly and has handed out electric fans to help prevent heat stroke. This might not be the last of it so, for the next one: hydrate hydrate hydrate and don't do any strenuous activities in the heat of the day. And for christ's sake get your ACs fixed. 95 degrees with an even higher heat index is no joke!

In closing....

+ ( My mother and sisters will be in Houston for a conference this week, but they haven't mentioned getting together. )

Idek.

Okay, gente. I have sub-standard brownies to consume and a World Cup Soccer match to maybe see.

You all keep cool and I'll talk at you later.

Observations this week at work:

+ A four year old picking his nose, touching one of our DSis and HANDING IT BACK TO ME

+ Two kids chowing down on enormous bags of potato chips, which they then dropped on the floor

+ A mom sending her four year old to the desk for a wipe because 'momma drop some soda.' 'Momma' was not supposed to be drinking soda at the computers. When I informed momma of this she wasn't even mad. She just gave me this blank stare and went back to the hypnotizing Youtube on the screen. There was blue soda all over the place.

+ Today, before 1 pm, we suspended a patron for being ugly to Coworker L, which included telling her 'You can stop talking now' in front of her daughter, who giggled beside mom in amusement. Classy, ma'am, really. That was an ugly showdown that included her demanding her rights, saying this wasn't 'justice', and flat out calling Coworker L a liar. She finally got up and left, shouting the whole time, but for a minute I thought they were gonna have to physically escort her.

+ (  Me wanting to slap Problem Child Co-worker several times over for sheer arguementative snark. )

It is not even JULY GENTE OMG. Six more weeks of this. A WORLD OF DO NOT WANT.

FANDOM

+ So everyone heard about the J2 Big Bang slash story that takes place in Haiti after the earthquake, right? Yeah. Probably not the wisest choice of setting. I've been keeping the hell away from THAT giant unfortunate mess.

I really miss lucylooo right now. Her tag 'unpopular opinions' has some of the most honest discussions around and I'd really like to know her take on this. Sometimes her opinions are eons away from mine and sometimes she is the only person with the balls to say exactly what I'm feeling.

I miss you, lucy. I'm thinking of you.

HEALTH SHIT

+ D scared the everloving CRAP out of me day before yesterday when she felt nauseas, severely dizzy, and had a blinding headache. The nurse on the phone said she might be having a STROKE and we needed to go to the ER. D refused because she didn't want to spend the money and because last time they took blood from her hand to get a blood oxygen level and it hurt like a motherfucker. So we argued and bitched and argued yadda yadda yadda, we never got IN to see a dr. becuase we left after four hours and she saw her dr. yesterday.

Diagnosis: Vertigo.

D says no. She took her pain meds when she got home and the symptoms returned a bit, so she thinks it is a meds allergy. I dunno.

I am happy with 'not a stroke.'

+ ( I have an ache... )

In Happier News:

+ This Marshall Interview

He has THREE DAUGHTERS! Three! He does not think he is book smart! He saves his money because it might the last time he is going to make it!!! Every time I don't think I can love him more I DO. Seriously, the HEARTEYES I CAN'T EVEN.

+ This song

Even if you don't watch Trueblood you will, as ethrosdemon says, die. DIIIIIEEEEEE LOL OMG. I love you Snoop Dogg!

+ The news that Stephane Lambiel will be choreographing Daisuke Takahashi's Short program and it will go something like ( this )

Oh, Stephane. We love you. How is this man REAL? :-D

Wow. This week kicked my ass, people. Work today and then Sunday off thank God

Everyone have a great rest of your weekend and I'll talk at you later!

He was one of the best local Houston boys who'd done good.

I'd only been out of high school two years when Dirty Dancing came out and I played that tape until it wore out. I love that movie to this day because the frizzy haired girl gets the guy and they dance into the evening. I don't think I saw one role, no matter how large or small, where he hadn't totally committed with all of himself.

Dance all you want now, darlin'. And rest in peace.