Flotsam

[gwyn]

Something that has piggybacked onto my inability to write has been my inability to read. I am ashamed to admit that last year, when I lost my job, I stopped reading books. Considering that I sucked up books like a Hoover for most of my life, that was a pretty big change. I just couldn't focus. Then, when I started working again, the commute took so much time that I had only space to write fanfic (with two WIPS at the same time, I couldn't exactly dawdle) or vid, so I didn't get to catch up on books then, either. And now I can't read fanfic. I have stories sitting here waiting to be read, by people I adore, but have I? Mais non.

So I am also seriously behind in my pimpage. But there are a couple of things I do want to mention. Number one is my beloved ladies of Tea at the Ford: they are in the process of doing an alternative continuing season of Buffy and Angel that takes up at the exact end of Angel the series, called Three Deep. Visit the subsite, or find it at the Tea at the Ford link on my LJ page -- whichever way you choose, visit! Because these are some damn, damn fine writers (go take a look at who was involved in that first episode), and artists (Cyn and Vrya and... good stuff!), and vidders (Diane has made credit and teaser vids!). I think it's going to be magnifico. I hope that at some point I get a grip on myelf enough that I will be able to participate with such a fantastic group of people.

I miss Angel and Buffy terribly, even still. Angel ended a year ago and like others, I'm not at a place of acceptance yet. Maybe never. So this project is a wonderful place to vist. It's like Buffy and Angel merged and went to HBO.

I was really excited to read that keiko_kirin has put up three of Marie Blackpool's wonderful stories at her site. Her Star Wars story is one of my all-time favorite slash stories. I can only hope that maybe keiko can talk her into putting the SW story from X's POV zine a few years ago up there, too.

Hopefully I can offer more pimpage soon. I've finished the first edits on my next part of Ciudad, and hope to have that to beta soon, after another quick polish. And I put a few paragraphs down on the Buffy WIP. I hope I can do something useful, like fic, since I see how many people are defriending me lately. I know I'm boring in my grief and inability to produce anything, and it's always been apparent that if I don't produce, people aren't interested. So maybe there will be something worth having this on the friends list for, soonish. I know that when I do talk about fannish things, it's always about vidding, which I think few people care for. But the vids are where I feel most at ease now; the ironic part is that now I can't share the vids I'm making since they're for shows at Vividcon.

At least one of my dearest friends in the world is coming to visit this weekend, briefly. And they found me the car that I wanted, so my cute little platinum gray Beetle will be here next week from Texas. So some things to look forward to.

Oh, and for those who care, sister's kitties update: They apparently are doing incredibly well in their new home in N. Carolina. I don't know if it's really true, but I heard they had stopped vomiting. Bear is still attacking the poor dog, but the dog seems to be fine with this, and his owner says, "He thinks we have been given a great gift." Baxter has become fast friends with the dog. So things have worked out well, despite the trauma. I think my sister would have been worried, but so happy that in the end, they went to a better home than they would have gotten with the bitch friend. And we have a solid offer on her house from a nice guy, so soon we will be able to distribute the bequest money to the person who took the cats.

Comments

[cy-girl.livejournal.com]

The dog is probably happy for the company and attention. I'm glad that they've settled in well.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Apparently the dog is ecstatic. I guess he's a German Shepherd/something else mix so I'm imaginging him as this totally cowed big dog intimidated by this scrawny, pathetic little bag of bones kitty. But it probably makes Bear happy to be able to scare him.

[cy-girl.livejournal.com]

Some neighbors of ours had a St. Bernard who lived in fear of their Siamese (who in truth was a bit of a hellbeast).

Oh, and congrats on the car. The new bugs are so very cute!

[klia.livejournal.com]

That's great news about the kitties! Makes me wonder if the vomiting was partly because he was freaked about your sis. Animals know these things. They sense when things aren't right with their human friends.

Congrats about the car, too! I'm imagining you zipping around Seattle in a peppy little Beetle.

Sorry if this is riddled with typos. Your color choices have made me temporarily blind. *g*

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

For the life of me I can't figure out how to get the comments field to show as white, like it does when it posts. And to change the color of the font for writing comments. I want to have the olive green color, and if I tone it down, it's not olive but this dirty sagey color. So I'm kind of stuck -- I wish they'd let you change the writing font to black, but it won't. Stupid LJ.

The cats have always vomited. The food we got them before they moved helped somewhat, but I think the vet said something about their allergies improving in N carolina. Whatever the reason, I'm glad. It got really tiresome cleaning it up all the time.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to see an update on the kitties (and you). The new Beetles are adorable and if I was a car-person (and not a truck person), I would have bought one. I rented a lime green one once as my rental car on a business trip and they had to force me not to drive everywhere. It was so much fun and it made me smile just looking at it.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I'm really quite smitten with it. I don't know what it'll turn out like, and what the pickup will be on the steep west Seattle freeway, but it does make me smile, and right now that's everything.

[thevetia.livejournal.com]

I loved driving my sister's yellow beetle. While they were on vacation a couple years ago I took my neice to her summer job in Sacramento -- 60 miles roundtrip -- and it was a pleasure to zoom along the freeway. Good sound system too! More importantly if you're worried about power, the road up from Sacramento to Placerville has some serious steep grades, but the beetle just purred right up them. I wanted to dump my old slug of a Toyota right then!

Have you seen the dashboard lights? Everything lights up in red instead of sickly green and looks supercool and futuristic. That car makes me happy just thinking about it! I hope you like it.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

BLUE and red! I'm thrilled, because i love blue light -- on the airport runway, on my alarm clock, on my christmas tree...

I've never had: A/C, a sunroof, leather, and a superior sound system (with an MP3 jack!), so I'm kind of agog about the whole thing. But best of all... head room. It's the most comfortable car I've ever sat in , bar none -- even luxury cars. And I can almost extend my arm to the roof. My friends will be scrunched in the backseat, but hey, I will be happy. ;-)

The test drive I took seemed pretty good, so I'm keeping fingers crossed that the little four-banger will do me okay.

[thevetia.livejournal.com]

No kidding about the room! It's amazingly spacious inside. One last testimonial from my sister's experience: I helped her pack the beetle with her suitcases, cooler, various food and sundries, 2 very large plastic dogfood bins, 2 dog beds, and 2 golden retrievers!

The dogs like the car too. :-)

[superplin.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear about the kitties! That must be a huge relief for you, knowing that they're well and happy and in a good home.

And oh, I do hope you join in the project, doing whatever feels right: copyediting is probably too much like work, but writing a scene or two, or doing the vids, or anything else you want. It could only get better with your input.

[ruddigore.livejournal.com]

I hope I can do something useful, like fic, since I see how many people are defriending me lately. I know I'm boring in my grief and inability to produce anything, and it's always been apparent that if I don't produce, people aren't interested.

You're never the least bit boring, although it wouldn't matter if you were; people who love us still do so even when we're boring, annoying, grouchy, and productive of absolutely nothing. I wouldn't like you one whit less if you never wrote fanfic again (though you're a wonderful writer, and I hope you'll always write something).

I've never been entirely comfortable with the terminology lj uses - friending and defriending. It's emotionally loaded and misleading. The people who are defriending you now were never friends in the usual sense of the word. They were people with whom you briefly had a common interest. Most of the people we meet in our real offline lives don't become close personal friends, and I don't think live journal is all that different. But there are people who care about you and like you a great deal (as I do, even though I don't speak up often) and don't need you to produce anything. Just be you.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I probably should be clearer, in that I know that most people only have the list "dear reader"ed (someone I know proposed that as a better phrase than Friend)for stuff like fic updates, fannish discussion/reviews, usage posts. And so it's not something they want to keep on their list -- this person who isn't producing anything but vids (and right now, vids they can't see!), isn't talking about anything except miserable stuff and vids, and so it's not worth keeping around. Some people I have really gotten to know well and am friends with now because of LJ, and that's always a tough one, when they drop you off their list... just because you like to think they'll put up with your crappiness. But I guess it just proves that you really can't depend on thinking that. It is how it is!

[umbo.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the kitties are doing so well. And please don't feel like you need to be any specific thing so that people will read you--you're interesting no matter what you post about, as far as I'm concerned.

*hugs*

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

I'm so glad to hear about the kitties. So glad! And that you're getting a visit from a good friend. :-)

Thank you so much for the link to the Three Deep site. I realize that I am totally clueless about Buffy fandom, and pretty terrified to really look for anything because omg, don't need to become more obsessed right now. No, I so do not. And yet. Looking at that first episode, I feel much relief that someone is writing this story so I don't have to think about it so much. It looks incredibly good.

Can one run away from one's own brain?

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I wish I could run away from my own brain!

Yours is of course one of the stories that is sitting here waiting to be read. I am disgusted with myself for not reading. I feel like Kirk, crawling across the floor, bloodied but unbowed: "Must... reach... the fanfic!" I know I am going to love it once I read it.

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

I wish I could run away from my own brain!

I had a feeling you'd say that. It would be nice, sometimes, wouldn't it?

Please take that story right off your list of things to worry about. First, I so totally get being in that place where you just can't read or watch or think about something. And second, you are truly not missing anything, I swear as a friend. *g* I'm choosing to think of it as a warm-up sketch, or something, in the probably futile hope that eventually I'll be able to write something better and more substantial. I'm choosing to be optimistic.

[kirbyfest.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the kitties are doing so well, and I'm glad to hear from you.

[destina.livejournal.com]

I know I'm boring in my grief and inability to produce anything, and it's always been apparent that if I don't produce, people aren't interested.

I don't care if you produce. I just like you. :) I still owe you a reply to an email, too, but things have been just so busy here lately. (Work, ugh.) But I will answer it eventually.

[dine.livejournal.com]

it does sound like some good stuff has/will happen!

your new car sounds fabulous - I can't wait to hear you rhapsodize about zooming around Seattle once it arrives.

the news about the kitties is really wonderful; I'm glad they're settling in well, and showing the dog his rightful place in the house *g* - that's one worry off your list! and relatedly, it's also cool that there's a house sale pending, so your list will be even shorter.

I hope you know that some folks are here for the long haul - so produce or post whatever strikes your fancy or crosses your mind (or not); that's not as important as keeping up on how *you* are doing, imo.

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Beetle from TEXAS?
Sheeeeeit. They better be flying it for you.

I have a theory that vidding is easier because it's not forcing you to put your mind and emotions into the characters and story. Call it quackery, but I've been thinking of that for a while.

Anyway, I'm around for the long haul. :)