Black and Blue

The Master List is up at hp_beholder, so I can now reveal that my contribution was the Eileen Prince/Tobias Snape story, Wholly to Be a Fool (PG-13), written for femmequixotic. Although I had to finish the story when things were getting really terrible for me, health-wise, I was thrilled at the opportunity to write for Femme, whose work is never less than gorgeous, articulate and moving. Her Snarry, "Gladly Beyond Any Experience," remains one of my personal favorites, so it was an honor to be able to write something for her.

( More nattering about the story )

My own gift was Cotyledon, fabulous little jewel of an illustrated story by trickofthedark, AKA Didodikali. It features Hooch/Slughorn, Snape/Pomfrey and Trelawney/Firenze, and it surpassed any expectations I ever could have had for the fest. It's a lovely, adorable piece, and it makes me grin each time I read it. Go and check it out, if you haven't! The illustrations alone are worth your attention.

I have to thank bethbethbeth profusely for holding the fest and being so understanding with my difficulties. She's a fabulous mod! I also need to thank drachenmina for the lightening-quick beta/Brit-pick and duniazade, not only for the beta but for once again gracefully serving as my muse. She's improved the story immeasurably just by inspiring me in many ways, and I can't thank her enough!

Please go check out the Master List here, and have a good time browsing and reviewing! There were some wonderful things produced, and they deserve to be recognized. You won't be sorry!

Graphics for Happy Birthday Comments

Happy Birthday, melusin_79! I might have an itty-bitty something to post for you later, too. In any case, I hope today's a lovely day for you.

I'm in the midst of sorting through all the things that I've missed, and what totally wonderful thing have I found? My gift for hp_beholder: Cotyledon! And yes, it is very squee-worthy. :D

I have had the stupendous luck to be gifted with fic AND art; both are superb. The story is illustrated throughout with charm and wit and skill, and I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say that the author/artist's style is pretty immediately recognizable for its wonderfulness when you see it. The story itself is sly and hilarious and downright adorable, with just the sort of sweet-tart banter and inspired details that I adore in a story (Duelling as foreplay! Armchair Slughorn! Hooch asleep on her broom! Secret Slytherins!). It's set directly after the Battle of Hogwarts, and the main pairing is Slughorn/Hooch; if that sounds odd to you, well... seriously, just read it. It's fantastic, and the author not only makes it work, she makes it so cute that you wonder how you never thought of this fab pairing before. Better yet, there are hinted-at side pairings of Trelawney/Firenze and Poppy Pomfrey/Snape, with perfect characterizations of all involved.

Perhaps best of all, the piece lets a cast of unexpected Slytherins have their moment to shine, and it also makes you feel very happy when you read it. It put a huge smile on my face, and I defy anybody to read it and not be thoroughly charmed. Now go, read! It's great!

I've also had a chance to see a few other wonderful offerings at the Beholder fest, and I can quickly rec two really wonderful offerings. ( More recs for art and fic )

Sorry for the spammage, but after commenting on bambu345's plans to make a delicious-sounding Tzatziki Potato Salad, I got a few requests for my own standby potato salad recipe. You asked, so here it is! It's insanely simple to make, and, I must admit, quite delicious. It's not healthy, but then, that's not really the point of potato salad, is it? I adapted it from an issue of Bon Appetit that I bought at an airport some years back, while my flight to Denver was delayed. The minute I saw this recipe, I knew it would be yummy. Frankly, you can't go wrong with Gorgonzola, bacon and mayonnaise. *g*

Enjoy!

( Gorgonzola-Bacon Potato Salad )

But I'm doing it anyway. I've been so busy with my behind-ness that I haven't properly pimped my two wonderful fests; I plan to rectify that now.

First of all, HP Beholder is already posting on IJ, and if you aren't watching this fest, you should be. It's devoted to giving some love and affection to the HP characters who tend to be left out because they're considered to be too old/evil/ugly/not nice, and the participants have done amazing things with lesser-known or liked characters! There are already some fabulous stories and art pieces posted, with more to come, and there's something for everybody: het, slash, femslash. (I don't have time for recs just now, but rest assured, they will come.) I'm absolutely thrilled to have participated in this one, and I hope you find as much enjoyment in it as I do. Special bonus: many of the stories involve Snape, even though he wasn't on the 'undesirable' list. Hmm, funny how that happened... *g*

Go here to check it out and give the participants some love for their unique and thoughtful contributions! bethbethbeth is even posting regular round-up posts of everything that's been posted each week, so it's easy to catch up if you've missed something.

As for my other fest... well, I think this tasteful banner says it all:



The Snarry Games officially open tomorrow, and they are going to be fantastic. Team Phoenix will naturally be more fantastic (heh), but with all the talent involved here, I feel fairly confident that both teams are going to provide some amazing new stories. Come check it out, and don't forget to vote for Team Phoenix! (Special thanks to alisanne and unbroken_halo for the fabulous banner.)

In non-pimping news, I have actually met one of my deadlines! Squeeee! ~bounces and wheezes~ Now I just have one more to go...

Meh News: the antibiotics make me feel like there's a little beastie inside my stomach, trying to claw its way out.

Good News: the fever is almost gone. Only 99 degrees today!

Great News: my wonderful Dad brought me two of the books from among the awesome selection of recs you all kindly contributed. I can now look forward to reading Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair (recced by camillo1978) and Matt Ridley's Genome (recced by blpaintchart). He also bought me a book of NYT Sunday crosswords, which should be great fun. I can't wait to dig in!

Awesome News: I felt well enough to actually write today, so while I was working out the tangles on one of my horribly behind-schedule pieces, I wrote out a little gennish, Snape-centric drabble: Learn to Fly. I also jumped off the fence and officially joined the Order at grangersnape100, since keladry_lupin made the very generous offer of doing a drawing of my choosing, in exchange for my allegiance. I'm not made of stone; I can't pass that up.

Stupendous News: Hockey playoffs have officially started, and the Red Wings play tonight. I can now look forward to at least six solid weeks of intense, bare-knuckled, blood-and-guts hockey, where tensions run high, fighting is likely and bitter rivalries are born. Oh, sweet hockey playoffs, how I love you. :D (Note to self: need Red Wings icon...)

Plus, there is every hope that my beloved Red Wings will take the cup this year. It's been five years since they racked up their last one; they're due. ~hopes~

Also, the Last Word Drabble Challenge is still ongoing here, for anybody who's interested in writing a little drabble or two. This week's word is fever, or a close variation like 'fevered' or 'feverish.' There have already been some very clever contributions, so please check them out and consider participating yourself!

Wow, you guys are fantastic. :-)

Seriously, it might just be from all 1,001 medications I'm on right now, but I'm really touched by all the get well wishes and offers of support and virtual chicken soup. I'm physically feeling like hell, but I feel very well-hugged and appreciative of my wonderful flist. ~hugs everybody who likes hugging, and offers a friendly handshake to those who don't~ I will be answering everybody; it just might take me some time as I try to catch up with the volume of stuff I've missed. Plus, I have very little energy. But I will catch up.

My dad took me to the ER yesterday, and I was very glad for the ride and the company, because I would have had to have been insane to think I could drive in that state. The ER was pretty full, but I hardly had time to sit down in the waiting room before they called me in. While on the one hand this was awesome, because hey, quick service, but on the other hand... you don't get to skip to the head of the line unless you're in even worse shape than the whimpering guy in the corner who sliced his hand open with his power tools.

Long story short: it's pneumonia. The chest X-ray confirms it. ( Cut for medical babbling and possibly TMI )

On the plus side, I am now officially on break, and I've had a chance to watch hours and hours of Food Network (at this very moment, I am learning how to brew caipirinhas). Once I start to get some more energy, I'll absolutely have a chance to catch up on all my reading, and I have no excuse for not reading the things I never think I have time to read. And I figure that once I start to get over the exhaustion, I'll be writing like nobody's business, because seriously? I'm not going anywhere, and I have to do something with my mind. I don't want to start staring out the windows, imagining that my neighbors have committed homicide. ;-)

So: I am okay, if physically uncomfortable. Goddaughter can't come and see me, but she sent her mom over with a picture that she painted for me (awwww!), so between the picture and the thoughtful messages you've all sent, I'm in pretty good spirits.

Now, the real question is this: any suggestions for some cracking good reads to keep me occupied? I have I Am Legend right now, but I'm open to suggestions. Movie recs are also welcome. I'll send my minions out to obtain them.

Now I am going to take a nap.

I've missed some deadlines, for which I apologize, and this post may be riddled with typos, and I apologize for that, too.

I've been feeling lethargic and generally blah for the last several days--couldn't get any work, schoolish or fannish or otherwise, done--but it wasn't until Thursday night that I realized I was actually coming down with something. Woke up with severe chills and shakes, joint pain, horrid headache, etc. Spent Friday and most of yesterday rotting on the couch, because it hurts to move, sit or stand, or basically do anything except lay down. Junk in my chest and a fever. I thought fever might have broken, because I felt marginally better last night, but I woke up this morning feeling much worse. Temp is 104; I feeel exhausted and arthritic, and my head feels curiously like ti could roll off my shoulders. Nasty cough, and I'm winded just from getting dressed.

Called my parents, and my dad's on his way over, to take me to the emergency room. I'll let you all know when I know anything. My money's on pneumonia. If 'm not around much, this is why.

In retrospect, this explains the weight loss.

So, as I am trying to get my fest fics squared away and my other commitments covered, it seemed to be a good time for some bits of spring cleaning, including posting another batch of Pet Shop of Horrors drabbles here, for reference. It's been a while since the last time I posted some of these, I think; a set of HP drabbles will probably be coming soon.

Ratings vary from G to R, though there's nothing particularly nasty/explicit/disturbing here. You can take it as read that all the drabbles feature Count D/Leon and are slash-friendly. The drabbles themselves are individually labeled as to specific content.

Enjoy!

( PSOH Drabbles, This Way )

Dear Coca-Cola,

Allow me to begin by expressing my appreciation of the soda can. I am very much in favor of the soda can. It is shiny and pretty, covered in eye-catching graphics and enticing words like 'vanilla' and 'zero' and 'caramel coloring.' It draws the eye and the envy of those poor souls who lack cans. It is satisfyingly cool in my hand when it has been well-chilled, and can even serve as a makeshift cold pack in emergency injury situations. I understand that some resourceful souls are so enamored of the beauty of this ingenious metal cylinder that they use it to create art and jewelry that is as razor-edged as it is beautiful. I am a fan of the can; it is a perfected soda containment device.

This phrase, however, brings me to my complaint, which is chiefly this: a soda containment device ought, by definition, to contain soda.

Thus it was that I purchased a fridge pack of Coke Vanilla Zero with the expectation that each of its little soda containment units would, in fact, contain the soda their labels advertised. However, when I opened the case this afternoon, fully anticipating the joy of that first fizzy sip of vanilla-tinged soda, I was bitterly disappointed to find that the fully sealed soda can contained nothing but air. I cannot express my sadness at being deprived of the delight of calorie-free vanilla soda. I had not realized that the 'zero' of Coke Zero referred to the fact that the can would contain zero Coke.

May I humbly suggest that in future, you might consider making the soda cans both beautiful and functional by actually using them to hold soda? Remember: the soda can is not only an aesthetic object; it can be a useful one, as well.

Soda-lessly Yours,

Bluestocking

I've been really busy this week with school/work, and it's also getting down to crunch time on my fest stories, so if you're not hearing much from me lately, that's why. I'm churning out a bunch of drabbles (they're a helpful exercise when I get stuck on some point in a story), but at the moment my other projects are on the back burner, because there are deadlines to be met.

Easter was lovely, though! My solo work for the Easter Vigil went off without a hitch, and afterward, I had plenty of fun unwinding with family and friends. ( Eastery nattering, now with Pic Spam and Food Porn )

The rest of the holiday weekend was spent relaxing, digesting and watching a ton of movies on DVD. I wound up seeing Atonement, I Am Legend, Beowulf, Gone Baby Gone and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. I enjoyed all of them in one way or another, but I particularly liked The Assassination..., which was both gorgeous and thought-provoking. I found myself thinking about the movie long after it was over: the directorial choices, the way the story was told, the function of the narration, the psychology, the way real life translates to legend, and so on. It's long and violent, but I strongly recommend the film. I also watched and loved Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which was so good that it deserves another entry all its own, when I have time.

In the meantime, I am feverishly writing and listening to my French pop mix, because dunizade's drabble set has put me in the mood for Trenet and Piaf and Aznavour. Perfect music to write by!

I couldn't get on the internet at all this morning, except for a brief twenty-minute span, and even though I've been too busy to do much of anything, it made me grumpy. I'm glad it's back.

I have been very, very busy with holiday business. I sang for Holy Thursday mass, and then I woke up at 6 AM yesterday to swing by the bakery and pick up the egg bread, rolls, etc. for dinner. I finished up the rest of the holiday shopping and then spent the afternoon singing for the Good Friday prayer service, which ran its usual three hour course. I then swooned and nearly fainted, because I had somehow forgotten to eat. Whoops! I knew I forgot something...

It also snowed yesterday. There is snow on the ground, and all Easter bonnets for this year will probably need to have ear flaps. Yay, spring! /sarcasm This is why we can't have an early Easter in Northern climes.

I did some baking this morning and am just putting the finishing touches on tomorrow's dessert, which is a Lemon Coconut Torte with Marshmallow Icing. I pressed the sides with coconut, but I won't decorate the top with little candy Easter Eggs until tomorrow, because I don't want the color to bleed into the white icing. Most everything else will be made tomorrow, with my mother as sous-chef. ;-)

Now I'm just getting ready for tonight's Easter Vigil, trying to rest my voice, stay hydrated and keep the nerves under control. I've done solo work for Easter Vigil before, but it's always more nerve-wracking than usual, because the entire first part of the ceremony takes place in pitch darkness. I have my sheet music on a music stand with one low-wattage lamp, and one of those tiny flashlights to help me navigate the stairs without falling on my arse, but everything else is in darkness and silence--amplified and completely a cappella, so there's no chance of anybody not hearing a screw-up. :-P Still, the string quartet and the brass choir will be there for tonight's vigil and tomorrow's Easter mass, and that will be a treat. They do wonderful work, and they're delightful people.

I don't know that I'll have much chance to be online over the next day or so, so I'd just like to wish a Happy Easter to those who are celebrating, and also send (belated) best wishes to those who observed Purim or Ostara yesterday. Have a good weekend!

For those of you who requested that I post the recipe behind yesterday's cake pic spam, here it is! If you missed yesterday's post, you can view pictures of the cake in question here.

Please enjoy!

( Guinness Stout Chocolate Cake )

I met with my family to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and had a very nice time. Beer was consumed, corned beef was eaten, toasts were made.

My contributions to the dinner were my potato-pea champ (mashed potatoes with scallions and garlic) and a chocolate cake that I made with Guinness Extra Stout. Both of them were successful, but the cake surpassed even my wildest expectations. It was a huge hit.

My father, who generally dislikes cake, proclaimed that it was the best chocolate cake he'd ever had in his life, including the one that his mother used to make for birthdays. My father has never said that about another cake in my hearing, as my grandmother's cake was the gold standard by which all other attempts were weighed and found wanting.

Therefore, hearing this compliment? Made my year.

It really is insanely good. The recipe is simple, the texture is divine and the flavor is a wonderful combination of richness, sweetness and earthiness. The stout blends so well with the chocolate that I may never make a chocolate cake again without it.

Here are a few pictures, beneath the cut. ( Mmm, cake... )

If anybody's interested, I'd be happy to post the recipe. It's incredibly non-fussy, so I recommend it even for people who rarely bake.

My interview is up at the Snarry Games, if any of you are interested in having a look. It still feels completely surreal to see my name in connection with the Games. ~marvels~

I still have work to do on my story, but it's coming along. Still, the next couple of weeks are going to be tense. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have my thesis (basically) done and out of my hair, because otherwise I'd be going insane.

I spent the weekend getting things ready for Easter: assembling Easter baskets for the kids, some food shopping, choir rehearsal, etc. Yesterday, I played Easter Bunny for Grosse Pointe's Easter Egg Hunt, so I spent the morning wearing a bunny suit and having my picture taken with little children. I learned several things from this:

1) I hate hate hate bunny suits. Also, I am apparently claustrophobic, because at first, the closeness of the bunny mask gave me a freaking panic attack--pounding heart, shortness of breath, the whole deal. I had to rip the mask off and try to get control of myself. Thankfully this happened in my "dressing room," so I didn't traumatize any children. ("OMG, the Easter Bunny's head came off!!!") I made it through the hunt, but next year, I think I'll take pictures instead. Besides, I am finicky enough to be squicked at the thought of how many other sweaty people had probably worn the bunny suit before me.

2) No matter how cold it is outside, the person inside sweats buckets. Ew. Ew. Ew. Also, all the crouching and sweating and setting up of the Easter egg hunt wiped me out so much that I spent the rest of the weekend recovering.

3) Easter egg hunts are over in approximately five minutes. I was shocked at how quickly the kids sucked up every single egg, even the well-hidden ones. They're like little Hoovers!

4) Kids are incredibly adorable, which makes up for a lot of the ickiness of wearing the suit. Even some of the older children were genuinely happy to see the Easter Bunny, and there was one boy who delightedly shrieked, "The Easter Bunny's REAL!" I got lots of hugs and I-love-yous, and there were even a few sweet souls who offered me the eggs they'd just picked up. One little girl gave me a bag of carrots and lettuce, in case I got hungry later. XD Even though I know they're not really smiling at me, it made me feel all warm and uncharacteristically squishy.

When I got home, there was a very real bunny hopping through the bushes out front, with a cotton-tail and everything.

I also watched some movies this weekend, all of which I enjoyed. Good batch this time! I'll do a review post tomorrow.

Dear Inspiration,

Why do you insist on bringing me new ideas when I already have stories due on a deadline? Why do they have to come in clumps? Couldn't they come one at a time, queued in an admirably organized fashion?

One more question: why do you insist on finding serious story concepts in the most cracktastic of ideas? I'm sick of having to start my Author's Notes section by saying, "I know this sounds insane, but trust me, it really works..."

Also, I'd be thrilled, really thrilled, if you would let me sleep at night sometimes, instead of waking me up with thoughts about how to write these not-really-crack stories that I have no time to be writing in the first place. I'm not trying to sound ungrateful or anything, but seriously, a little bit of sleep wouldn't go amiss.

Yawningly Yours,
Bluestocking

Those of you who have been reading my journal from the start (all three of you *g*) might know that my iTunes player is weirdly prescient when it comes to these iTunes memes. I had good results when I composed the soundtrack to my arty, cutting-edge biopic, and the results that I got on the "How Do You Really Feel About DH" meme were frankly creepy in their accuracy.

With that in mind, I gave a try to the "Something About You" iTunes memo that's going around and... yes, my player is still pretty psychic. I'm thinking of asking it for lottery numbers the next time the jackpot gets huge. ;-) In the instances where it isn't psychic, it's pretty amusing.

Don't believe me? Have a look! I used some lyrics from the songs, too, just because.



First off, the directions, if you want to give it a try:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.


( Now, this is what my freaky iTunes player says about me... )

A sequel to Backwards and in High Heels is up: What to Expect When Your Husband's Expecting. Again, this involves a bit of a twist on mpreg... but that would be obvious from the title, wouldn't it?

I also want to draw the attention of all my PSoH flist to the debut of a new author in the ship: drachenmina! Some of you who are also HP fans know that she writes wonderful Snape-centric drabbles and stories, but I have corrupted her into the PSoH fandom and she's doing swimmingly with it. (Hooray! We're a small fandom; we need all the quality writers we can get!)

She's just posted her first full-length PSoH story: To Explain by Example. It's Leon/D, set post-Volume 10, and it's lovely! I may be biased because I beta'd it (*g*), but it's honestly a lovely piece of writing: clever, hot and sweet, featuring plenty of stubborn, embarrassingly blunt Leon and disciplined, cautious D. She gets that Leon is all Heart and D is all Head, and the interplay between the two of them is perfect. Go read it and leave her some feedback!

In other news, I have been wheedled into dressing up as the Easter Bunny at a charity event. ~sighs~ At least nobody will be able to see that it's me...

Reluctantly, I had to set aside one of my Trading Places stories, because it's still clogged up in a frustrating way and I think the story and I need to take a break from one another. It was preventing me from working on my other things on a deadline, so even though I feel horribly guilty about it, it had to be done. I will get back to it; I just want to finish it well.

In any case, it seems to have worked, because I've been writing tons over the weekend and into this week. This is good news for my Snarry Games and hp_beholder stories, and my PSoH story for the Ides of March is nearly finished, too. Isn't it amazing how one troublesome story can sap all your creative energy? All that guilt and frustration was like a millstone around my neck. Now that I've given myself permission to step back, I feel rejuvenated creatively.

This creativity has also expressed itself in the form of a little drabble series that I wrote for grangersnape100. I originally imagined one or two drabbles, but it ran away with me and before I knew it, it was a story. I must warn for gender-bending and mpreg, but honestly, it's not as bizarre as it sounds. Really. You can read it here, if you haven't already seen it: Backwards and in High Heels. A sequel might be up by tomorrow; it's already partially written.

So, this is what I have been doing, aside from cursing about a) snow and b) having to be back in class and at work. Hopefully, I'll have something more interesting to post later this week. In the meantime, have a meme from mundungus42:

Please post a comment with an entirely fictional and made-up memory of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - as long as it is fake. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised about what people don't actually remember about you.

Oh, don't worry. I haven't gone crazy and self-indulgent and started scripting Severus and Hermione's adventures in Paris for the next 19 years. Actually, I didn't write this piece at all; it's a beautiful, Hemingway-inspired gift from bohemianspirit entitled The Redemption of Jake Barnes. I sent her "The French Connection" near Christmas for her perusal, and although she responded with a thoughtful and frankly amazing analysis of the story, she also sent me this more creative response to "The French Connection," illuminating one possible epilogue for the two of them.

I was completely and utterly thrilled. Still am, in fact. As I told her then, I deliberately chose not to tie down the story because I liked the idea of all the different futures that could be imagined for Hermione and Severus in their new home. It's incredibly tempting to follow the characters as far as they can go, but I wanted to leave the multiplicity of futures up to readers. As far as I'm concerned, the conclusion of the story isn't really an end; it's a beginning.

Do I have my own ideas about what they did afterward? Yes, of course. However, I like seeing what other people have imagined for them even more. This companion piece is very different from what I imagined in some ways, but in others it's perfectly in tune. It's very much in the spirit of it, and I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did.

So, courtesy of bohemianspirit: ( The Redemption of Jake Barnes )

Thank you once again, bohemianspirit! I'm delighted and flattered and deeply pleased that you shared this with me, and then offered me the opportunity to share it with others. You're wonderful!