The Dangerous Existence of Madame Lee

So at least I've had one good year, even if it all goes pear-shaped in 2012. (I don't know why we use "pear-shaped" to refer to things getting fucked up, anyway. I love pears.)

( Notable events of 2011 )

Now, on to Xtremely Srs Bsns that should be taken Vry Srsly: forgottensanity, your package came today! Thank you ♥ I hope we can hang out more on e-mail and LJ and the like too. It's been a long time since we've talked properly! Also did you make the chocolates yourself?

Life proceeds apace. Lolmom took some wing chairs of my grandmother's up to my aunt Paula in Lafayette (these wing chairs had been sitting around the house for a couple of weeks). There is some familial drama but I don't want to talk about that in a public post.

Those of you who have me friended at Dreamwidth will be seeing a lot of things twice from now on, I'm afraid.

And that's all, folks!

It rained today, thus ensuring that I did not have to water the plants again. VICTOLY. Also, the first green pepper of the season was ready to pick. Also also, we have eggplants and more tomatoes on the way, but I'm not sure if the eggplants are ready to pick yet and the tomatoes definitely are not. Speaking of tomatoes, I have been vigorously campaigning for GAZPACHO TIME but am undecided about which recipe to use; we made a green gazpacho last year (or the year before) which was very good, but Julia Child also has a recipe for a black bean gazpacho that I'd like to try, and the newest Cooking Light has a more traditional tomato-based gazpacho. HEY I SHOULD HAVE A POLL Y/N?

I finally got everything off the floor of my room, with the exception of stuff that needs to be there (like the fan, and also the shoe rack I've been meaning to put together for, oh, like, years). Hurrah! I now just need to clean under the bed and nightstand, and THEN I get to start in on drawers and closets and other shit. Yes, this is a very thorough cleaning. I am a poor housekeeper, I might add, partially because I view cleaning as "not of general interest" and partially because I was too depressed to give a shit about very much until fairly recently.

Got a very ebullient note from J, who is apparently happy to hear from me (which I did nothing to deserve). I'd certainly rather that than the alternative. Actually, speaking of exes, I have been kind of turning over relationship shit in my head, but have yet to formulate any coherent thoughts about that, so you may or may not be safe from those cerebellum-eroding thoughts in the future.

I have started working on Hittite Week, you'll be delighted to know. HITTITE WEEK: SMASH HIT OF 2011. Also, I would be honored if any of you would name your potential or actual rock bands "Hittite Week Has Been Indefinitely Delayed" or "Hittite Week Is Coming Soon" or something like that.

In theory, INDOT is going to close IN-62 next week. In practice, they had better not because I cannot get to work any other way and will drive through their blockades (lol j/k).

Also, I kind of want to write some shitty Trojan War fic now. THANK YOU arisha.

This is, basically, a giant brain dump, because I can't be arsed to post on a regular basis. For that, I apologize. Perhaps I will manage to get my shit together by January.

l33: L33 HAS HAND-EYE COORDINATION SUPERIOR TO THAT OF A BRAIN-DEAD ZOMBIE AND CAN HOLD ON TO THINGS
The Universe: ERROR

( BREAKING SHIT is my power! )

( OVERANALYSIS is my power! )

( MISCELLANEOUS BABBLE is my power! )

( BLATANT GREED is my power! )

uigenna: RAIEN. RAIEN. RAIEN. I have hopped on but not seen j00. Also, I have most of Friday and most of Saturday free (though I do have to work for a few hours in the evening). Just FYI. I do want to play with j00!

Dear Cough Syrup Manufacturers,

For your information, I consider it REALLY FUCKING RUDE to overcharge me for some nasty-ass-tasting cough syrup and then not even suppress my coughing, as you claim to do. You proudly state "cough suppressant" right on the label for Chrissakes. WHY AM I STILL COUGHING. I expect a whole lot more from 20 proof.

At least it was "cherry" and not "grape". Grape-flavored cough syrup is the vile whiz of Asmodeus himself.

No love whatsoever UNTIL YOU FIX MY FUCKING COUGH,
l33

As you will have gathered from the above, I am sick. AGAIN. I swear to God, it's been going for almost a month now--I got the bacterial thing possibly from Ainsley almost a month ago when the lolmom left for Florida, and then once the amoxicillin regime was over with (which did, in fairness, make me feel better), I had some sort of residual sore throat/scratchiness, and now I've got allergies. Thank God for DayQuil and the incorrigible stubbornness which has enabled me to drag my ass to work despite Really Not Feeling Like It. (Work in general, actually, can be summarized adequately as "Madame Lee Is Not Interested In Your Insignificant Bullshit".) When the goddamn hell is this going to fucking end?

In unrelated news, I seem to have gotten it into my head that I would just love to write some craptacular Dream of the Red Chamber fanfic, a threat I made last year but did not actually carry out. Also, I remembered how much I used to love Star Wars when I was a kid. And how much I still do, apparently, even if there's now so much canon I can't keep it straight anymore.

At least today is my day off and I can read and be a lazy sod and engage in whatever tomfoolery I want, at least provided I'm in bed at a decent hour as for whatever reason I'm on at 6 tomorrow. (I have got to get a better job as soon as I'm better.) And I need to write to, like, everybody.

momo, my 1character claim just got approved. We have until 30 September. I'm hoping to finish it by 18 August.

UR SPESHAL HALP PLZ. :D

I don't really know if I'm entitled to a 3:16, but we all know no kerfuffle is complete without me pontificating it to death.

Warning for anyone offended by swear words, my obvious disgust with the entire topic, and me being less than supportive of various roiling seas of batshit: Contains swear words, my obvious disgust with the entire topic, and me being less than supportive of various roiling seas of batshit.

( Since everybody else is doing it, thoughts on the recent kerfuffle. Or fagsplosion, if you'd rather, and I would rather. )

Because I feel exhausted and weak thanks to horrid bl33ding stuffs, and because I don't feel like bitching about the myriad evils of Santa Claus, I present you with a fic. I haven't been doing fic recs lately because a.) I suck, and b.) Thousand Ships shut down, which effectively cut off part of my supply.

She Walks in Beauty by one mourning dove. Not Trojan War fic proper, but worth your time. I'm not sure if this is a work in progress or not, but it is enjoyable, even if there are a few anachronisms and the prose is a little purple. (Also: I for one could do without "REVIEW PLEASE" at the bottom of every chapter, but I find it less egregious because this is well-written.) It follows the relationship between Persephone and Hades, and all in all it's a worthy effort.
What else has this author done? Nothing else, as far as I'm aware.

In unrelated news: 3054 words of t3h n0v3l are written. Which is not much, but I'm forcing myself to churn out a thousand words a day. I figure this is manageable.

Okay, so I have errands to run, so here goes.

Heavenly Deluge by Thyme In Her Eyes. There isn't enough Clytemnestra fic in this world. While I don't altogether agree with her Clytemnestra, this is a damn fine fic--the prose is lush, but never over the top, and Clytemnestra's hatred and loss come through beautifully. The last line will give you chills.
What else has this author done? An awful lot of stuff! She's done some other Greek mythology work and written in a variety of fandoms, including an awful lot of FF7 work.

Two Drachmae by Gloria Mundi. I don't like Achilles/Hector, but I like this. It's sad and powerful, and the sorrow and longing come through so clearly. It's difficult to explain--go read it yourself.
What else has this author done? Awww, c'mon, guys, you know the drill. Visit her site, Imagin'd Glories.

Demand by Anaimos. Diomedes convinces Odysseus to come to Troy at the beginning of the war. Short, sweet, and slashy.
What else has this author done? A bit of other Trojan War stuff; I don't know about anything in any other fandom.

If you loved me, you'd write me some Communist slash.

PLLLLLLLLZZZZZZZZ?

PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ?

(And nobody point me to the Marx/Engels fic; I already know about it.)

I went into work yesterday, which once I conquered my natural aversion to working six days a week wasn't that bad. Also I've earned a reprieve, as I'll be in the office tomorrow instead of out of town. Huzzah! Mom's been slaving away at her own workplace, so last night we went to the Pasta Grill, which is near civilization but is in a business-and-restaurant plaza that I only visit about once a year, so I forgot where to turn and had to go back and get myself unlost. However, dinner was good. Mmmm, noodles and seafood with tomatoes and basil and olive oil. ♥♥♥

Also, I may have accidentally gone nuts in the bookstore and purchased some new stuff that, with a certain amount of finagling, I can convince myself that I really need. After all, I'd been drooling over Warriors of Medieval Japan for some time, and since I've been back on this Russian history kick it's only natural that I would need Gulag, and we're reading Crime and Punishment over to 0bsessed_reader this month, and I already have a couple of Alison Weir's books on Tudor history so it would be horrid and wrong for me to not buy The Six Wives of Henry VIII, since it is the second in the sequence. And I totally was not going to buy the other two samurai books at all, but they were cheap and I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't grabbed them RIGHT THAT INSTANT.

No. No, I don't have any samurai issues. None at all.

( Also: fic recs for today! This is the post that keeps on giving. )