August.

[snitchnipped]

And everything after. (No, not a Counting Crows Fan, but it seems appropriate.)

It's been awhile since I've posted... best make a list of what's happened.

1. NFE is in as of a week ago! This year was oodles easier than last year's, which was rather overly ambitious. But, I had a goal of being more open minded with what I would be willing to write and, most importantly, KEEP IT SIMPLE. It still ended up being twice as long as originally intended... ah well.

The prompt I was given nearly panicked me, but there were two or three bits listed that I was able to run with. I do hope my recipient enjoys it! That's the most important thing.

2. Olympics! I am an Olympics junkie. You cannot peel me away from the TV. Thing is... I don't have cable. The live streams officially provided by NBC are very unsatisfactory (no commentary, no graphics/standings). So.... BBC to the rescue! The link rthstewart gave me for the opening ceremonies has been wonderful, and it's been fascinating to watch things from the British perspective (especially since it's their Olympics). Added bonus: no commercials!

I must say, my favorite thing is the late night gold metal count when they move an arrow up a replica Big Ben for each gold metal, set to Spandau Ballet's "Gold." Hysterical.

3. You'd think it's over and one with, but my Narnia Big Bang is anything but. snacky has been ever so gracious and has gone above and beyond for a second-beta pass on the Beast. Big, big changes are ahead for the piece, and though motivation is usually problematic, I am bound and determined to finesse the shit out of that thing. It is not going to be easy by any means... indeed, some of the "fixes" are actually going to be in the form of supplemental/satellite fics! Oy.

For the time being, though, I'm taking a step back from it. There are some changes that still need some thorough planning, but I'm going to sit on it before I dive back in. Perhaps after the NFE is over and done with!

4. Real Life. Well... it could be worse. Which is funny, because I'm in a trickier place than I was, say, two years ago when I was riddled with anxiety... socially, financially, professionally. I've made a big decision to step away from my profession about a month or two ago (quitting my union and everything), but that has led to unemployment.

BUT, it has also opened the door to big changes. The plan is to do a major upheaval at the start of the new year, and it would be ideal if I could find something in the meantime to financially plan for it. But that's the problem... I can't find anything to fill my time or my bank account. It's been a struggle, I can't lie.

That being said, this past month has been a blast. I have some fantastic friends, the most I have ever recall having, and they all seem to slowly be moving into my neighborhood. Great evenings, great conversations, fantastic homemade food... zero complaints there.

5. On that note... literally. Everyone, please check out my friend's band, Milo Greene. That's the name of the band, not my friend... and really, he's a close friend of several of my close friends. I got to see him on the 4th of July for the first time since grad school, when he provided musical accompaniment to my thesis show. (Indeed, one of the tracks on the album is named "Orpheus" and is a theme he used in our Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending" production). I do take full responsibility for putting a mandolin in this kid's hand.

If you like indie-folk with a touch of bluegrass, with a pinch of Fleetwood Mac harmonies, this is for you. All in all, we're so, so proud of them—their album was released last month, they had a performance on Letterman last week, and they are out on tour now (with a stop at Lollapalooza this weekend... I don't think they're one of the ones that got rained out, thankfully).

But this... this is my favorite song. Enjoy:

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If you liked what you hear, please check out their self-titled album available on iTunes! :D

6. And what else have I done to fill up my time, besides applying for work and being glued to the Olympics? Reading. I read about 25-30 books in the past month, the vast majority of those being Richelle Mead. Yeah, so, the Vampire Academy books are actually good... whatcha going to do about it?

But yeah, I'm going through the entire list of crap YA fiction. Except for Twilight. I refuse to touch those books... and indeed, stay away from all Vampire fiction, save for the aforementioned series. But I liked her other series, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Turns out I liked them better than her adult fic...

My questions for you!

1. Olympics? How're y'all liking them?
2. NFE? How'd it go for you? You excited to read the entries?
3. Reading? What books have you read recently, and more importantly, what can you recommend? And is anyone else on goodreads.com?

Comments

[autumnia]

Welcome back to posting!

The live streams officially provided by NBC are very unsatisfactory -- I can't stand NBC's coverage but like everyone else, have suffered through it because it's pretty much the only way to watch anything. Have you seen #nbcfail on Twitter? It's hilarious reading, though it does point out so much of what's wrong with American coverage of the Games. I finally managed to access the BBC live streams but it's not going to be of much use to me after this weekend since I'm mainly watching for the swimming and that's over now.

I've opted out of the NFE this year, been way too busy with real life work to be able to commit to something with a deadline. I did a little bit of beta for edenfalling for her submission though, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else have come up with.

Is your Big Bang story going to be radically different from the original version? I really enjoyed what you had written for it.

And as for reading, I'm currently in the middle of "South Riding" by Winifred Holtby. It's Yorkshire in the 1930s, and mainly tells the story of a woman who comes back to her roots and becomes headmistress of the local all girls' school. (There was a BBC miniseries last year based on the novel.)

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

Well, the thing is, I love me some Bob Costas. Problem is that he outclasses all of his colleagues, and it's not worth watching a live stream of the events that are are shown on delay here!

BBC has been great, and has roped me into sports that I normally would have passed over. Especially the rowing!

In regards to my NBB, the key word is "streamlining." There's a lot of info-dumping here and there for my 'verse, but not necessarily the story at hand. So, I'm going to pull a scene here and there, rework them into standalones, and patch up the rest. It's going to be 85% the same story, just... better.

Ooh, I'll have to check that book out! My "to-read" list can never be too long...

[pencildragon11.livejournal.com]

Link for the opening series? Where? I've not seen a second of these Olympics, being entirely TV-less at the moment, and I am bummed.

Listening to the song right now!--and liking it.

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

I'm happily TV-less. And all of my friends who have moved recently never bothered to transfer their cable, either...and we all have been very happy with our decisions. Everything I watch is available for streaming a day or two later, anyway! Or, in the case of hbogo.com (I use a family member's account), I can watch things before they're even shown here in PST.

www.tvpc.com

I don't have much luck with a couple of the east coast NBC streams, though, but it changes daily. The BBC ones are much more reliable!

[pencildragon11.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! I am now happily staring, zombieish, at my screen. Thanks!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Can't listen to the music now as the house is quiet and the dog is sleeping. NFE. Crack. Seriously, utterly cracktastic. it's in with the beta now and I want to add another piece. I'm not really sure how long it is errr. ooh just looked and it's over 13,000.

Good luck with the edits on the Big Bang and I do hope BIG cool changes come your way. I've watched almost no olympics and you'll have to PM me with the link I gave you because I don't have it! The Queen_UK just updated a blog post on GB's medals today. It sounds like a wonderful day in the UK!

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

Yay! A nice, long, juicy NFE!

It's been fun getting roped up into GB's winnings... the commentary is top-notch, and not exclusively British either. They've had Ian Thorpe (AU) for swimming and Michael Johnson (US) for track & field.

That being said, they all practice blatant favoritism. NBC may have blinders primarily in place for US champions, but they're not all out saying "GO USA!! GO USA, c'mon you CAN DO IT!!! like GB does for their own. It's more humorous than anything, though!

[harmony-lover.livejournal.com]

I'll be thinking good thoughts for you! I recently just ended an almost two-year stint of being unemployed/underemployed, so I know how hard it can be, financially and emotionally. Be persistent, be confident, and surround yourself with people who love you and can honestly remind you how fantastic you are every once in a while.

The Olympics have been wonderful, NBC's coverage notwithstanding. I haven't seen as much of them as I'd like, since I'm moving on Monday and have been drowning in last minute errands, packing, and preparation, but what I have seen has been lovely to watch and enjoy.

I'm SO excited to read the NFE fics. I'm just still sad that I couldn't be a part of it. RL has been killing me. One of these summers I will not have a major move, a book manuscript, and two journal articles all to finish. Then I might actually have a prayer of participating. Still, I've been so delighted with the snippets I've read about what you all are doing and writing. I can't WAIT to read.

Speaking of reading, I haven't been reading much. Life has been crazy, and when I do read, I'm trying desperately to catch up on fic, rather than reading any of the novels that are sitting on my shelf waiting for me. I did manage to read the latest in the Holmes/Russell series, Pirate King - and of course Laurie R. is going to have another one out in a couple of months. The latest Outlander installment, The Scottish Prisoner, has also been sitting on my bookcase for ages, and I have yet to pick it up.

Nope, mostly reading fic, and I never do get entirely caught up. Right now is particularly bad; I have something like 31 chapters of fic in my inbox, and haven't gotten to any of them.

I /do/ hope that things get better for you on the job front. Do let me know if I can help in any way. I'm good at editing job letters and resumes and things like that. :)

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the words of encouragement! Yeah, it's trying times, but goodness, it could all be ten times worse. There have been a few family issues, too, popping up here and there, but all in all, I've just been going with the flow pretty darn well.

The Outlander series may be best on my list. A close friend of mine recommended them to me years ago. And then a couple of years ago, my mother was in town, and she stopped by the bookstore for some vacation reading material. I checked out her purchase and here she went and bought the third book.

"Mom! You can't read this!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's book 3 of a series!"

"It's OK, I can catch up..."

"Mom, no, you just can't do that! Besides, it's time travel and that is not your thing. At all."

"Well, it sounded good."

I confiscated it and lent her a couple of other books instead. And then this past spring, she saw it on my bookshelf again, and I nearly had to slap her hand away from reaching for it again. And promptly took her to the library. If she wants to read a time travel series (she does NOT do anything remotely fantasy), then that's perfectly fine by me... but at least start with book 1!

Thanks for your offer re: resume. I may take you up on that offer. After several years of tweaking it, I'm actually pretty happy with what I've got... but it's just not working. Granted, the job market is horrible where I live, but still. Not even an interview? Sigh. Doesn't help that I'm in an unconventional industry, either.

[harmony-lover.livejournal.com]

:) I have recommended the Outlander books to so many people, including my own mother, and gotten them all hooked, regardless of whether they typically read time travel/fantasy or not. They're just such good reads, so well-researched and historically accurate, and the characters are so human and engaging. I agree, though; you have to start with book 1 or you're just going to be lost. There are so many little details that she comes back to in later books, and if you don't know their original context, you're going to be lost.

You're welcome! I'm happy to be a cheering section when you need one; as I said, I know how bad it can be. I'm happy to have a look at the resume if you like. If it helps, I had three interviews during those two and a half years (which is really three academic job cycles) and I must have put out about 150 applications. Literally. It will happen; it just requires a LOT of persistence. :)

[snitchnipped.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, I know this is way late to reply to a thread, but I did start the Outlander series last week. And I've been reading them NON-STOP. Just started the 4th one.

Why didn't you warn me that they're cracktastic?!

[harmony-lover.livejournal.com]

*lol* I should have, really. When I first started reading them, my mother and I had to take turns with the books - it was over the summer. I was allowed to read them while she was working, but once she was done working I had to hand over the book. I think we got through the firs three that way, and we just /blew/ through them. Neither of us could put them down! They are terribly, terribly addicting once you get started. :) "Cracktastic" seems like the perfect word!

[ominsaa7.livejournal.com]

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