Imaginary Gardens

My brain's gone and died somewhere, taking my mid-term memory with it, but I figure I might as well write down some bullet points on recent Sickledom while I can.

So the day after my "Grr, argh, mother!" post, I had a great whooping shout-out with - or at - mom, which ( is described in a rambley fashion )

In other, more coherent, news, last week's Lost episode was for the win, Human Target is made of squee, this week's Supernatural will apparently break my heart and I managed to write one line for The Ballonist's Wife because I fail at finishing that story.

Meme - 30 Days - Day 21 → A recipe Chocolate-in-Betweens ( You know you want this. )


Links of the Day:

Supernatural: ( Read more... )
Lost: ( Read more... )
Firefly: ( Read more... )
Human Target: ( Read more... )
Multifandom: ( Read more... )
Random Fandom: ( Read more... )
Random: ( Read more... )


* Meme

Today's Win: Talked to mom. Went outside for an approximately two hour walk (during the day, due to mom's prompting). Had a healthy lunch of vegetarian falafel with stuff-it-into-the-pita salad bar. Decided to call doctor tomorrow for appointment due to a) skin going back to its fucked-up status and b) fear for my kidneys (both reasons which, y'know, suck).

Today's Fail: Broke down completely after speaking with mom. (Ah, wrenching sobs of indeterminate fail, brought about by massive hormonal fuckedness, social withdrawal and panic over the future, how I loathe thee.) Didn't look for a job. (Major, major fail.) Instead, knit and watched Nevermind the Buzzcocks for fear of the Dodo of Doom dragging me down again. Also, number of tabs with fics pending to read: eight. Likewise, Human Target scribbles to be written as a review still pending, as are three dreams - to say nothing of fic - and has been pending for about a week now.

Squee of the Day: Anon.'s Watchmen Fic, Sweet Child of Mine is Updated \o/ And now goes up to eleven twenty-six!

Meme - 30 Days - Day 13 → A fictional book: ( Read more... )


Links of the Day:

Supernatural: ( Read more... )
Watchmen: ( Read more... )
Doctor Who: ( Read more... )
Lost: ( Read more... )
Random: ( Read more... )


* marika_kailaya, Striking Matches on Lungs (To Burn the Blood in Your Heart)

It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.*


So my graduation has come and gone. I got there half an hour early and waited outside while Important People fiddled with papers. As one of these people walked passed me and into the room, she asked if I was alone. Yeah, it's just me. I could hear them a bit later, saying how I was helemaal alleen** and I felt just awful about it, not having a single soul present with me. Any friend I might have had at the graduation was out of the country - including Willy - as were my parents and brother, and my supervisors were also out of the country and my program supervisor had gotten fired last year during the department's Epic Shrinkage.

There were three people seated at a long table and I sat across from them in a chair, a bit like this (but in a nicer room, with less space away from the table and with no drugs anywhere). The guy in the middle read out a little speech about the program I'd done and my average grade and how he was "delighted" (yes, with air quotes*** and all) to give me the diploma.

But first, Maarten (the prof' who'd helped me with the ArcGIS program) had a few words prepared, which he read out, mainly detailing what I'd done, just listing it out and the like. There were brief references to anecdotes or somesuch and a few comments on myself as a student and as a person. Then he read out a bit that my supervisor had sent, which was totally unexpected and really sweet of him. Then I got my papers, signed the giant Guest Graduate Book.

Then Maarten accompanied me to the Sweating Room (where students used to wait before their exams) to add my signature onto the wall amongst the thousands of others (including, protected behind clear plastic, those of the Queen, a few Princes, Mandela and Churchill). The walls were packed. Maarten took a couple pics, which was very sweet of him - I'll post 'em when I get 'em.

He then invited me for a coffee, seeing as I had absolutely no one. Pity coffee, I can has. But it was, again, very sweet of him and I actually had a good time talking with him for an hour and a half. He even gave me a graduation gift! A frame photograph of Amboseli with Kilimanjaro in the background, taken from the Observation Hill and overlooking the swamp and incoming elephants. (Yes, I know exactly where it was taken.) I am just blown over by his kindness. I have no idea what I would've done instead - wandered around like a sad wet wraith, I guess.

( Photographs! )


Video of the Day: David Usher, "Kill the Lights" - Words! Everywhere, pretty words! ( Embedded )


Quote of the Day: The Zoo Gang (1985) - Part 1 here

If this is legal, the law sucks!

Links of the Day:

Supernatural: ( Read more... )
John Simm: ( Read more... )
Watchmen: ( Read more... )
Random Fandom: ( Read more... )
Random: ( Read more... )


* Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
** Completely alone.
*** Not actual word air-quoted, but one similar. My memory fails me.

Current Life in Sickledom: Sucktastic. Still not finding anything in my field, or anything I'd be qualified for. No panic today, but then also less work done. Trying to put shoulder to the wheel, but am lacking in carrot-onna-stick to help me do so. In sum: argh.

Video of the Day: Opening for the (fake) Watchmen Saturday morning cartoon series. - Oh my gods, it's hilariously aweful. Although Eddie/Laurie DO NOT WANT. See? I do have an incest squick. It just..has low walls. ( Embedded )


Links of the Day:

Life on Mars / Ashes to Ashes: ( Read more... )
Watchmen: ( Read more... )
Doctor Who: ( Read more... )
Firefly ( Read more... )
Supernatural: ( Read more... )
Random Fandom: ( Lost, Hercules, House, La Femme Nikita, Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney )
Random: ( Read more... )


* Mort, TPratchett

A horrible day was had by Sickle.

Firstly, there was the Waking Up At UnGodly Hours, followed by the Interminable Waiting of the Doctor's Waiting Room. Seriously, why give me an appointment if I'm going to be taken in half an hour later? And this appointment was just half an hour after they opened. Just how behind can you get in that little time?

Anyway, Doctor's appointment was had and we've confirmed that my face isn't going to fall off in a horrible mess any time soon, and that a little creme will clear the eczema right up. Yays.

Cue the Trial of the Pharmacy. My doctor sent the prescription directly to the pharmacy "for convenience". (Sear those words into your brains, readers, because you'll have to recognize their bloody corpses in the morgue a few sentences from now.) So I go to the pharmacy after my doctor's appointment, and they don't have the prescription. The girl working there says that prescriptions sometimes take up to two days to make it there, which is either utter bullshit (because some people really need their medicine right the fuck now) or she said days instead of hours, which doesn't make linguistic sense, especially since the word for hour in Dutch is uur (and the words for day are similarly alike). So I go again later that afternoon. Again, they don't have my prescription. I go home, call the doctor's office and get them to re-fax the prescription. I go to the pharmacy a third time and get my meds. If I'd been given the prescription from the get-go, this could all have been avoided.

In the afternoon I also tried to sell my look-brand-spankin'-new books at the second hand store I went to earlier this week, armed with the knowledge that the owner would be there today. I lay the books on the table, he glances at their covers and restacks them, then says, "I'm not interested." I doubt he even read the titles. I even had a Hugo and Nebula winning SF book - The Left Hand of Darkness which is a Good Book and he was probably all, "If it ain't yella I ain't buyin'." To which I say, curse you, Bookman!

I was really upset over this dismissal, though. But that's just because my hormones are in full drive and I'm all wibbley and angry at the same mother-lovin' time and this makes for strange and sad and frustrated times.

Anyway, my CV's all done now, looking awesome and professional only because poisoned_sleep is a wonder and helped me out tons with hands-on innitiative. So that's good. (Except in regards to poisoned_sleep, where adjectives like awesome and amazing and astounding are more apt. Alliteration ftw \o/)

To make up for the suckitude that was the day, I've been listening to my old Rayne fanmixes (Firefly's River/Jayne, that is). I made pancakes for dinner (which were on-nom-niscious but not near as filling as they ought to've been). I have a load of Doctor Who related stuff to watch - deleted scenes, commentaries, Sarah Jane Adventures with Ten cameos.

I've also been reading through watchfic_dir and having an utter blast. I love the fic I'm finding! (See epic fanfic list of loooove.) I think I have a new OT3 (if I ever had one - I think I only ever OT3ed Peter/Gabrielle/Sylar of Heroes, which may or may not actually count as a threesome at some points in Lana @ capn_mactastic's fics). Anyway, Dan/Laurie/Rorschach is the threesome to end all threesomes, especially in post-plot when they're all shacked up together. I mean, Dan/Laurie is canon and Dan/Rorschach was very slashtastic in the movie (both restrain the other from rash fighting moves, they were crime-bustin' partners, Dan's NoooOOOOoooo!, Rorschach's bean-thievery, it just goes on and on). Also, the dynamics are fascinating, because of course one partner is all "No! Sex bad! Impure!" but caves, and another is all "I'm taking the reins and flying with it" and the third is all pudgy and squishy and adorable.


( Dreams! With giant shoes, giant spiders, patty-cake otters, evil angels, Freddy fucking Kreuger, pianos and missing keys! )


Links of the Day:

Watchmen: ( Read more... )
Doctor Who: ( Read more... )
Supernatural: ( Read more... )
Lost: ( Read more... )
Heroes: ( Read more... )
Random: ( Read more... )


* Sandman, Neil Gaiman

heroes_meta for Heroes 4x05 "Hysterical Blindness": ( Read more... )


Links of the Day: ( Read more... )


* ironychan, Re: Kung Fu Zombie

Hermits United. We meet up every 10 years, swap stories about caves. It's good fun. For a Hermit.*

It's taken me almost two hours to identify three lions. My eyes! Oh gods, my eyes. But, on the other hand, I've just discovered that a female from one pride was massively flirting with a male from another pride, and got kicked out of the game by one of his females. The drama!

I've got about 15 more minutes of work, then I'm heading off to the pool. Tomorrow is squee-day because it's my birthday. I'm going to be such a hedonist. (Although in the end I did cave and texted Gabrielle and Melissa for some hanging out. Melissa's going to be out of town, and I think Gabrielle's back, but I've yet to hear from her.)

And because it needs to be said: lienne and blizzardcake are awesome and very much loved. ♥ Y'all know why.


Links of the Day: ( Read more... )


* Utopia, Doctor Who

There's a godsdamned lot of things of the creative type that I want to do but I, unfortunately, cannot spin time out of thin air. I suppose I could squeeze more things into my daily activities, or actually wake up early for once, but ye gods...

( True Blood and Supernatural comments )

Anyway, have some links. These are not last week's LotD; those are scary-long. (Yes, this post was largely pointless. Bask! Bask in the pointlessness!)

Quote of the Day: Francis Maude

It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It's like disapproving of rain.

Links of the Day:

( True Blood Comms )
( Random Comms )
( Icons )
( Random Fandom )


* Good Omens, TPratchett, NGaiman

The Good:

- Work went spiffily today and nothing was lost! I has a system!
- I went running and managed to keep a good pace, do the circuit in 20 minutes rather than over-30, and didn't really feel like dying!
- I'm watching Kung Fu Dunk!
- I emailed Willy and we have a date!
- I've been listening to Angela's Ashes!
- I listened to made_of_fail_pc's Episode 20! \o/


The Bad:

- I worked mostly on a report for the International Office, which is why it went so well. (I'll share with y'all, 'cause I think it's a good sum-up of what I did in Kenya. Until, y'know, I get amboseli up again. But! I think my past few photo-posts of my stint in Toronto are a good sign of that happening.)
- My right knee hurt before and after running, as it did on Monday, and my left ankle's been funky for a few weeks too.
- The date I've made with Willy is for next, not this, weekend.
- Half-listening to Angela's Ashes whilst identifying lions left me with a sense of "He said she said! Starving children! Dead babies!" and the realization that I prefer the Scottish accent to the Irish one. Ah, me... Also, now seriously jonesing for a re-watch of the film and anything with RCarlyle. Damnit, I'd gotten over that celebrity fixation!


The Ugly:

- I haven't written that email I've been meaning to write and have in fact been editing in my head as I sleep or do the dishes or run or, well, you get the picture. It's gotten so's I get a sinking pit in my stomach when I think about it, which is not better than the self-righteous "Grr! Argh!" Now I've just avoiding the bastard.
- I'm a lazy ass and am overwhelmed by links, so I'm only giving out one because y'all have to see it.


Links of the Day:
Candied Bacon Ice Cream Recipe


* Dan Antopolski, London stand-up comedian, won award for funniest joke at Edinburgh this year.

So I went to the doctor to see about the chronic and limiting knee pain. ( Read more... )


Links of the Day:
zauberer_sirin's Epic (Or Hilarious) Star Trek Picspam (Why The Next Generation beats all.) and I AM DAMON BRADLEY! A celebration of romantic comedy. picspam.
The Titanic Conspiracy - *shakes head*
metaquotes's Serious mommy points. - If only my mother were a teeny tiny bit like this.
Chocolate Cake in 5 Minutes


* Common expression