Exploding Poohsticks

I'd planned to have my snapshots properly organized and captioned before posting about my awesome afternoon with etrangere last Friday, but that's not going to happen before I'm back stateside (reasons include being behind on work, getting ridiculously lost in Reims, and the fact that I'll be looking for a hotel room at the last minute tomorrow because there's a train strike planned and I'm waiting to see if it affects my schlep to Strasbourg). Likewise with catching up on comments - they are very much appreciated, and I'll do my best to get back on track and in touch after I'm home.

In the meantime, here's some interim indecent gloating: I got to meet etrangere! And in addition to being brilliant and friendly and patient, she very good-humoredly led me to an assortment of bookstores offering secondhand manga -- none of which had v. 4-7 of the French edition of FAKE, as it happened, but some other goodies separated me from my Euros nonetheless (including a French edition of X/1999, tome 13 that later set off two sets of metal detectors at Centre Georges Pompidou.

One of the stores (Little Tokyo, I think) had a corner heaped with Totoro swag, which instantly reminded me of geri-chan...as did the characters on the storefront of another shop down the block:

From Europe 2009 - set 10

From Europe 2009 - set 10

(Click images to view the Catbus and Totoros up close!)

Other fannish notes:( thumbnails under the cut )

...and, here we are. This is what arrived in the mail from the one and only amazingness that is busaikko-san:

( photos beneath the cut )

(And oh, there is indeed much mayhem planned. *manic grin* But first I need to reheat my tea and do some of the dances-with-PowerPoint that will help underwrite said mayhem, and to deter the dog from sticking her snout into a certain bag of mini-Reese's-cups I've set aside (smiles at aunty_marion), and to figure out how I'm actually going to end part 2 of the fic I've just meta-rambled about to y'all over the past three-odd posts. Onwards!)

Busaikko-san, you are a NUT. And I freaking adore you. Domo arigato gozaimasu!!!

(A surprise package showed up today. From Japan. Its treasures include a squid-mobile. Photo TK!)

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Writing log
LJ-springkink fic: finally broke past the paragraph I'd been pummelling into existence the past two days. 935 words today + some new insights on canon + several hours of research ...and an unexpected OMC, who ended up being a major reason the additional research became necessary. (And most of it won't even appear in the story -- it's just me wanting my timelines and schedules to correspond at least glancingly with canon and reality.) Seriously - 652 words in, I tried to put some words into a canon character's mouth, but they didn't ring true, and I couldn't think of anyone else who would say them -- and then the OMC suddenly sauntered into the scene with both a name and a personality, and the dialogue's got the right snap to it again, and his presence sorts out some other plot issues I hadn't dealt with yet, but ACK, this started out as a short fluffy PWP and so far there's been one belt unbuckled. Why have I not learned to run like hell whenever a prompt crooks its finger at me and asks, "Got a minute?"?

Yuletide fic: wrote the first half of the first line last night. The assignment is very well-suited to me, and yet it's something I wouldn't prompt myself into writing on my own, so yay algorithm!

(1) drachenmina's An Unpleasant Man at the Bellona Club (drabble with LP, Bunter, and Snape...)

(2) drachenmina's An Inconvenient Affliction. Author's summary: "Harry’s been kicked out by Severus and is having to share Ron and Hermione’s spare bed with Crookshanks. Who gets Kneazle Flu. Can things get any worse? Oh yes." Ribbons's reaction: It's NC-17 Snarry, which I know some of you would normally avoid like the plague, but I feel compelled to point out that Harry's of age, there's non-sickening Hermione/Ron, there's mention of Bagpuss, and that the author knows cats. Oh, does she know cats. Put beverages out of range of keyboard before reading.

(3) It has been a hell of a week - one of these years, I hope to get my shit together enough to stop feeling like I haven't managed to get my shit together since, well, ever...

...but it is also absolutely impossible to feeling sorry for myself for more than a few moments at a time, considering the myriad blessings in my life -- including a surprise package in Monday's mail that contained...



...a necklace featuring the Whomping Willow. With a Snape quotation, no less. Made by the utterly, unbelievably fabulous westernredcedar. (I almost titled this post "From tree to shining tree..." *eg*) I feel like I've somehow won some sort of cosmic bingo for OTP-indulgence I didn't even know I was playing - I can snuggle the pendant up to my squid when I'm not wearing it, and when I feel like celebrating my other OTP, there's a Remus-keytag marginaliana made it can nestle with.

And I can also go revisit the other treasures written and drawn and translated for me, or inhale a scent, or brew some tea, or reread cards and letters, or fondle feathers, beads, and ribbons -- I have such clever, crafty, comforting, generous friends. I am so utterly grateful that you are in my life. It's not the things in themselves, fun and hilarious and charming as they are - they wouldn't matter one bit if they weren't infused with how you are fun and feisty and thought-provoking and thoughtful. And because they are and because you are, my life is rich beyond measure.

It came to pass that, amidst a fearsome deluge of work and chores, a shriek of unbridled joy was heard in the land. For a package suddenly arrived contained swathes of shininess, from which emerged early birthday greetings and a wondrous creature fashioned by none other than the marvelous Marion:


(click on image to view larger version of photograph)

After emitting aforementioned shriek, Ribbons reluctantly returned to careening around in circles and hopping through hoops, but not before introducing her newest housemate to one of its more sedate companions-to-be:



:-D :-D :-D Thank you, aunty_marion! :-D :-D :-D

Lookit! Download it! The intrepid and insanely talented westernredcedar has finished recording "The Hounding of the Baskervilles"!

[I have listened to part 1 and part of part 2 already and am tearing myself away to go to bed since I have to sing at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow. But it is all saved to CD, and tomorrow evening... *bounces in anticipation* Proper rec later, but I didn't want to wait any longer to squee about this.]

[P.S. Snupiners have the sexiest voices. Go hear the other fics at jinjurly.com. Go hear lore's annual Halloween poetry readings. (I also have a deliriously delightful recording of her laughing that I occasionally play for myself when I feel ridiculously blue...)]

*shamelessly fangirls everyone referenced above*

My sinuses currently feel like they're the size of pumpkins. Intelligent design my foot.

Also have another hour of work I have to log in before I can go to bed. *grumble*

That said, on the eight night of Christmas, my true love stopped by my sofa, handed me three Lego keychains -- one of Dumbledore, one of Hagrid, and one of Hermione -- and said, "I looked for your favorites, but they weren't in stock."

*still grinning from ear to ear*