daylyn

I don't know if anyone would be interested, but I posted an offer in help_haiti. I'm offering to write fic(s) of at least 1,000 words in exchange for Haitan relief donations.

See Here.

Offering fics in Sherlock Holmes, Criminal Minds, and Harry Potter fandoms.

And y'all know I'm a slasher at heart, so pairings offered are Holmes/Watson (or Lestrade with them, I'm easy), Hotch/Reid (but I'll consider other Crim Minds pairings), Snape/Harry, and Snape/Lupin (it's been a while since I did any real HP writing, so I might be a wee bit rusty in that fandom).

While it seems (really) strange to ask for money, the minimum bid is $10. But it is for a good and necessary cause. And this is a good way to kick start myself into writing again.

It seems that there is an annual Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles:

http://www.gallifreyone.com/gallifrey.php

Does anyone know anything about this? Is it cool? Interesting? A waste of time?

It's about a 15 minute drive from my home.

Okay, here's the thing. You see, I'm a huge Torchwood fan, but I haven't actually really watched Doctor Who. *hangs head in shame* Oh, it's on my Netflix list (and I should probably move it to the top if I decide to go this convention). But I'm not well versed in the show.

However... Gareth David-Lloyd (yum) and Kai Owen (awwww) from Torchwood are supposedly confirmed guests at this thing. Hmmm... it seems intriguing...

Any thoughts?

I know it's a bit late, but my new dog, Rio, (a German shepherd rescue) just celebrated his first Halloween with us.

While carousing the neighborhood, he found what he wanted:




I'm not really sure if this was a trick or a treat.

Yeah, he's a bad doggy.

*sigh*

I just found out that it's very likely that my beloved 10 year old German shepherd dog, Gus, has Degenerative Spinal Myelopathy. Essentially, the nerves in his spine are degenerating, eventually leading to paralysis.

I know he's getting older. I know that his passing on is inevitable.

That doesn't make it any easier.

I guess the only thing to do is to make sure he's as happy as he can be while he's here.

Oh, my darling Gus...




( Read more... )

Oh. My. God.

Look at what's being offered this February through the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension Program:

Sherlock Holmes and His World: A One-Day Seminar

It's taught by Leslie Klinger, author of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes books.

This is basically in my own backyard. *squeals in glee* You know, sometimes I despair of living in Los Angeles and then something like this happens.

Why yes, I am enrolling. Why do you ask?

I wonder if he'll discuss Holmes/Watson slash.

I never do these meme things. But since it’s arrmaitee who tagged me… (oh, the things he can convince me to do)

RULES: Each player of this game starts off with 10 weird things/habits/little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 10 weird habits/things/little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tagbacks.


1. Like arrmaitee, I too have two graduate degrees, but both of mine are from the same country (unlike his).

2. I grew up in New York City, but now live in Los Angeles (better weather, although this winter has been a bit annoying – the whole purpose of being in L.A. is to be able to gloat about our weather, and it’s been near FREEZING at night. What the hell is up with that?!)

3. arrmaitee and I both bungy jumped when in New Zealand. I went first.

4. The very first slash story I ever read was actually in the Law & Order fandom. I no longer read anything in that fandom.

5. I have a huge dog (a German shepherd/Malamute mix) and two slightly mentally defective kitties.

6. I started reading the Harry Potter books in 2000 after I broke up with my boyfriend. I definitely preferred the books to the ex.

7. I prefer to drive cars that have a manual transmission. I even made my mother buy a car with a stick shift. Poor Mom.

8. As arrmaitee noted, we have been RL friends for many years. I’m still trying to convince him that Snarry is superior to H/D. I’m wearing him down.

9. Pink Floyd is my favorite band.

10. I once fell between two New York City subway cars while the train was stopped in a station. Fortunately, I was pulled up before the train started moving again. I even got a seat during rush hour out of the experience.


I just don’t have it in my heart to actually tag anyone. So you’re all in luck. But feel free to answer if you want.

I hate August 31st. I never, ever, ever have a good day on this date.

The curse of this date all began when I was a teenager and my boyfriend and best friend were both born on this date (albeit two years apart). They… er… didn’t quite get along (trying to use tact here), and they would make my life miserable. However, even though I haven’t spoken to either of them in over 15 years, the horror of this date has followed me through the decades. Whatever can go wrong, does go wrong. Whatever can’t possibly go wrong, still goes wrong. Every single fucking year.

My current joyous August 31st began today with my 120 pound German shepherd/malamute mix deciding to attack a 10 pound shitzu. This is, of course, completely out of character for my dog, who is always sweet and nice (especially to small dogs). But not today. Oh no, today my dog decides to turn into a snarling, hideous beast hell bent on eating the other dog. Don’t worry, the other dog is fine, but his owner is obviously quite pissed off at me (and rightfully so).

*sigh*

I’m going back to bed and hiding for the rest of the day. Let me know when September begins.

Talk about a surreal moment…

I was out all day, and came home to find my mother on the Internet. Not at all unusual. But then she called me over.

“Who wrote this story?” she asked.

“What story?” I said.

“This great story about Harry Potter.”

I looked over her shoulder and saw she was reading Gladly Beyond Any Experience by femmequixotic from the snarry_olympics. She must have found the story in the browser’s memory or something.

“Er…” I said.

“It’s really well written,” Mom gushed.

“Er…” I continued helplessly.

“This person should be a professional writer,” she enthused. “This is better than what J.K. does.”

Panic began to set in. I realized that I had really better warn her about what she was reading. “Just to let you know, Snape and Harry kind of get together.” I said, very, very quietly.

“Oh, I already figured that out,” she replied. “Now go away so I can read this.”

I left.

The last I heard she was at the point where Severus and Harry go to eat at the gay bar.

Yes, my almost 60 year old mother has discovered NC-17 Snarry. I don’t know whether to laugh or crawl up in a hole and die. Not that I have a problem with her reading Snarry (because everyone should read Snarry). But I don’t want to know she’s doing it. And I really don’t want her to know I’m reading it. My god, what if she asks me for recs?!

ETA: My mother just finished the story and said, "Oh, that was so cute!" Then she wanted to talk about it. I'm feigning exhaustion and hiding in my bedroom.

This can only happen in L.A. My neighbor's dog attacked my dog and I got to rant to Snoop Dogg (yes, the rapper) about it.

This afternoon, I was taking my large, German Shepherd dog out to do his business. By way of background, my dog recently had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his knee, which is a pretty major operation and includes cutting the dog’s leg bone, repositioning it, and melding it back together with a metal plate. Needless to say, he is still in a fair bit of pain during the recovery phase.

I took the elevator down to the lobby of my building, the door opened and, as my dog tried to limp out, my neighbor’s horrible little Bichon Frise ran in and viciously attacked my big dog. Go ahead and laugh if you want about ankle biting little dogs, but this dog is a menace. It has already bitten several people in the building, and is always in attack mode.

My poor dog collapsed on his bad leg, and the little dog kept on biting. Then my dog, struggling to get up, tried to bite down and break the little dog’s back. I was desperately pulling him up, trying to prevent that, and the little bastard Bichon was still biting. Finally, the other dog’s owner got his terror under control. I yelled out something rather nasty, and the elevator door closed.

I pressed the button for the lobby level to open the door again, but the elevator began to rise. Obviously someone had already pressed the button on the upper floor.

My dog and I rode the elevator to the top level, the door opened, and Snoop Dogg was standing there. Yes really. Snoop Dogg. The rapper. In a mink jacket. And a Santa hat. He must have been visiting my neighbor. Needless to say, a vision of Snoop Dogg was most unexpected, especially at that moment in time.

Snoop Dogg saw my big dog, and decided not to get into the elevator with us. I can't say that I blame him, epecially since he had just heard the dog fight.

By this point, I was so pissed off because of my neighbor’s dog that I started ranting to Snoop Dogg about how my dog was injured and how the little dog viciously attacked my dog. I apologized for ranting and said that I was really upset, but then continued to rant some more.

Snoop Dogg wished me a Happy Holidays.

I returned the holiday greetings.

The elevator door closed. I rode the elevator back down to the lobby. Fortunately, the vicious dog and its owner had taken the stairs and were no longer there.

I took my poor dog, who really had to go, outside.

A few moments later, I saw Snoop Dogg leave my building. We had a brief discussion about how it’s always the little dogs attacking the big dogs before he got into his truck and drove away.

And I have to admit that, as furious as I am with my neighbor and his vicious ball of furry terror, the fact that I ranted to Snoop Dogg about it is pretty damn surreal.

Only in L.A.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I don’t think words can adequately express my feelings about the utter devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I am saddened, shocked, and horrified, to say the very least.

I love New Orleans. I’ve visited there several times, including this past April to attend the Jazz Festival. It is, quite honestly, one of my favorite cities in the world. The music, the food, the atmosphere… there really is no place else quite like it. As someone there once pointed out to me, it’s a city that was founded by prisoners and prostitutes… Party Central!

Listening to jazz in Jackson square, taking vampire tours in the French Quarter, walking down Bourbon Street, eating beignets at Café DuMonde on the banks of the Mississippi River, riding the cable car to the Garden District, going to the racetrack where Jazz Fest is held… these are just some many wonderful experiences I’ve had in the city.

( Ramblings about New Orleans and my horror toward the current situation )