topaz119: (cartoon!me)
Too much stuff has been going on; every time I try to sit down and sum it all up, I don't even know where to start.

So, instead, a meme, as seen randomly on ye olde DW circle --

What is the first TV show you remember watching?

Dark Shadows, the original, creepy, gothic cheese-fest. I was 5? I hid behind the couch b/c I wasn't allowed to watch but I was just sucked into the melodrama.

What is the first “grown up” TV show you watched?

See above, lol

Have you ever been in a wedding bridal party? What was your role? What did your outfit look like that you wore for the day?

Soooooo many, hah. (At least a half-dozen, not counting my own. At various moves, I've handed off a burgundy off-the-shoulder long dress (maid of honor), a turquoise tea-length with an iridescent chiffon overlay (bridesmaid and general errand runner), a pastel flowered tea length with a portrait collar (bridesmaid and keeper of the good champagne), and a black, fitted strapless sheath with sheer illusion long sleeves (from when Oldest was a ring-bearer and I was there to keep the peace.) But my first was THE BEST EVER. When I was 11 or 12, one of my younger aunts got married in the most giant, OTT wedding ever and I was a junior bridesmaid (along with a sister of the groom. My brother and the groom's younger brother were altar boys, though there were 3 priests also involved in the ceremony, so the kids just sat around in their robes.) It was the 1970s; the girls (bridesmaids, jr bridesmaids, flower girls and maids of honor (yes, 2) wore aqua (polyester) long gowns with ruffles criss-crossing our bosoms. The groomsmen wore cut-velvet dinner jackets, with swirly patterns cut into them and aqua ruffled shirts. The mothers wore gowns that were a sort of orange-y melon satin and a fuschia chiffon, while the fathers (two 50ish Polish and Italian immigrant steelworkers) rocked the fuck out of the same godawful dinner jackets with peach and pink ruffled shirts, to match their wives. There were 28 people in the bridal party (not counting the bride and groom), we made it through a High Mass with a full choir and at least 4 soloists singing every response and the aforementioned 3 priests (the parish priest, the priest who ran the volunteer group my aunt worked with and the groom's family priest) all having to speak. The reception was held at the Polish Falcon Hall where the cake was 5 layers with a (working) water fountain in the middle and 5 or 6 heart-shaped little sub-cakes connected by arched bridges to the main cake with the fountain and tiers AND at some point during a very vigorous polka, someone went careening into the cake table, knocking it down, and there was a small explosion as the water from the fountain shorted out the motor that was running the pump.

It was at this point that I swore there would not be an open bar at my own wedding, that I was not paying for my genial alcoholic family to go out and get smashed, and though it was nearly 20 years later, reader, there was not.

What is your ethnic background that you’re aware of?

Italian (Calabria) on my mother's side; Polish-Russian (from the part of Poland that always got the Russian invasions so who knows exactly who was what) on my father's. (I will tell you, though, that I looked up at one point during the second season of The Witcher as Vesomir started talking and said (to BabyBoy) words to the effect of holy shit, that's your grandfather. He even had the same mustache for a while, oy.

What was the last hotel you stayed in and where? Did you like it?

Well, we stayed at Old Key West and the Beach Club the last few times we went to Disney World, but those are technically condos, so I dunno if they count? We spent a couple of nights at the Swan at WDW before we moved over to the Beach Club in October. I mean, we do this almost every year, so yes, I do like them but that's kind of a given. The last hotel that *wasn't* attached to WDW was the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island, because I needed to use some free-night certificates before they expired and that was the nicest hotel within driving distance. It was beautiful and very upscale (I mean, it was a Ritz, so, yeah) and our room had a great ocean view, but if I go there again, I might be tempted to go with one of the rooms that don't have a balcony but have a patio with a fire table on it. I don't know, though--it really was a fabulous view.
topaz119: (off to see the wizard)
Yoy, I didn't mean for it to be such a gap between posts. I mean, I read my circle and try to comment, but then it's another level of umph to think of something to say. Even if I see a Friday Five or a daily question meme, it takes me a ridiculous amount of time to compose an answer, which is the segue to the travel-related, semi-recent Friday Five under the cut )

Have a good weekend, y'all!
topaz119: (it was a dark and stormy night)
I almost never get this done before the middle of January, but hey, not going anywhere/doing anything for the holidays, but this is what I posted in 2020:

loving you whether whether === MCU, Darcy/Sam (~3700 words / 1 chapter)

all your perfect imperfections === Star Trek: Discovery, Chris Pike/Sylvia Tilly (~60,800 words written/posted in 2020)

never spend all your love === The Old Guard, gen, Joe/Nicky (~5475 words)

kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight === The Old Guard, gen, Joe/Nicky (~12,000 words)

taste salt on the humid wind === The Old Guard, Joe/Nicky (~7000 words)

baby, won't you swing it with me === MCU, Darcy/Steve (~14,200 words / 5 chapters posted in 2020)

and the various questions about them all )

Previous years: 2019 |2018 |2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004
topaz119: (it was a dark and stormy night)
Backdating from later in 2020 because the beginning of the year was a zoo...

Previous years: 2018 |2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004

this is what I wrote/posted in 2019 )
topaz119: (life)
I haven't done this for a few years, but the internet is forever, right? Also, welcome, new friends!


2019 summary )
topaz119: (Default)
Um, I totally forgot I did this 2016 fandom round-up meme, so it's a little outdated, but it's not like I'm not always running a month behind anyway, right?

2016 fandom natterings )
topaz119: (somanybooks)
I was tagged by [tumblr.com profile] vaguepositivity for a book meme, which I'm crossposting here, too.

Rules: In a text post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard - they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag 10 friends, including me, so I’ll see your list.

1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum – The first book I remember reading by myself (I was 6/7) and THEN, I found out there were MORE. I ended up getting an Inter-library Loan from the main Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh before I turned 8. My mom had to sign for it and my grandmother paid the fee, but I got my hands on Ozma of Oz.

2. The Secret of the Old Clock, Carolyn Keene – Nancy Drew #1. I read my way through these for a solid year or two. I had the yellow hardback versions, but my grandmother still had my mom's original series, so I read all those, too. I know they're formulaic and trite, but 40 years ago, there really weren't many books with a competent female protagonist, let alone one who saved the day. See also: Trixie Belden.

3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain – I read it too young, but it's a rollicking good adventure, and then I read it as an adult and really understood what he was writing about and it works on both levels.

4. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott – I read, I write, I am Jo. (And I'm in the minority of being okay with the Professor v. Laurie.)

5. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Dee Brown – I was way too young for this, but it was on my parents' bookshelves and I had free reign. I still can't watch a Hollywood Western.

6. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte – My love of gothic romances, let me show you it.

7. Bride of the MacHugh, Jan Cox Speas – I was into Highland clans and politics and romance waaaaaaay before Outlander.

8. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston – This is not the first book you think of for a suburban, Southern county library book club, but bless the director, she not only got this on the list, but also booked a discussion leader who didn't at all back down from the genteel, polite, racist reactions to the book.

9. The Mists of Avalon -- Professional fan fic ftw.

10. Beloved, Toni Morrison – I was in such a book hangover from this that I could barely function for a week, and nobody I knew had read it. Oh, for the agonies that the internet actually solved.

I'm supposed to tag people but I have no idea if you've already done this or not, so if you haven't feel free to play along!
topaz119: (it was a dark and stormy night)
Wow, so asking for prompts/questions to keep myself entertained during our deployment call turned into the kiss of death, as instead of the normal 'excitement' of listening to the server/database engineers ticking off the stats as the new services start, something in the new code did not play well with more than one of the big production servers and all hell broke loose as people scrambled to roll back the deploy and minimize down time (we have very tight downtime allowances that start to impact people's bonuses v. v. quickly.) My team's architect and lead developer are not native English speakers and while their English is really good, in times like this we've worked out a process where I act like a real-time validator to make sure they're writing what they mean to say. It was a little crazy for a couple of hours and then we had the audit forms to write up and submit and then we had the post-mortem and then we had the re-deploy (where everything went fine, because it turns out it *wasn't* our code that was the problem, it was an out-of-date patch on one of the IIS servers) and yay, we are now live with the new stuff (and everything else is now super-behind, so we're all triaging that.)

So, yes, this week did not go as planned. But it is the weekend! And I am not going anywhere! (I've been out of town for the last 4 weekends in a row, mostly all for fun/good reasons, but still. I may not get out of bed at all today.)

and now for the ask-me-questions meme... )
topaz119: (it was a dark and stormy night)
I've got a deployment call coming up, help keep me from falling asleep at my desk!

Pick a question to ask me:
1. Describe yourself how you would describe a character you’re introducing.
2. Is there any specific ritual you go through while/before/after your writing?
3. What is your absolute favorite kind of fic to write?
4. Are there any other fic writers you admire? If so, who and why?
5. How many words can you write if you sit down and concentrate intensely for an hour?
6. First fic/pairing you wrote for? (If no pairing, describe the plot)
7. Inspiration, time, or motivation. Choose two.
8. Why do you choose to write?
9. Do you ever have plans to write anything other than fic?
10. What inspires you the most?
11. Weirdest thing you’ve ever written/thought about writing/etc.?
12. A fic you wish you had written better, and why?
13. Favorite fic from another author?
14. Your favorite side pairings to put in?
15. Your guilty writing pleasure?
16. Do you have structured ideas of how your story is supposed to go, or do you make it up as you write?
17. Would you describe yourself as a fast writer?
18. How old were you when you started writing?
19. Why did you start writing?
20. Four sentences from your work that you’re proud of.
topaz119: Clint Barton and Kate Bishop in formal attire from the Fraction/Aja 2012 Hawkeye comic (hawkeye&hawkeye)
So, these are always fun...

 photo 93d6de2a-3dc0-4f51-8fe2-117f98d4b96b.jpg


And I've written a few: 

Star Trek AOS, Jim Kirk/Chris Pike, touch-starved Jim

Hawkeye (Fraction run), Kate Bishop/Clint Barton, So she said what's the problem baby



Also, I am still open for questions/topics on the December Posting Meme, come give me something to talk about: DW or LJ.
topaz119: (it's a bookworm thing)
Sorry for the disappearing act -- between my mom's health going off the rails and DragonCon, I have not been home on the weekend for a month, which pitches the rest of my life into a tailspin...

The meme going around seemed to be just the ticket for catching back up (and introducing myself to everyone who's been so kind as to add me in the most recent friending memes, hello!)

What have you been up to? Major life changes? Same old same old?
Mostly the usual--kids, work, school, etc, but with some variations on the basic flavor. #2Son has finished high school (he was the home/online school kid with serious anxiety/depression issues) which is a huge relief, though now he's thinking about community college, so that's new things to figure out. Oldest ended up withdrawing from classes last semester, which was no fun. BabyBoy is teetering on complete disengagement with school, also no fun. We're about to move physical office locations (swank new building (\o/), on the other side of the city (/o\) so all is madness on the work front. Mom's health is always such a house of cards and once it starts teetering, it's a mad rush, which, now that my dad is gone means my brother and I are doing a lot of talking to utterly bewildered doctors (well, mostly we're saying things like, NO. DO NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL YOU TALK TO THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL. SHE'S ONLY IN *YOUR* HOSPITAL BECAUSE THEY'RE SLAMMED AND HAVE NO BEDS. DO NOT STOP ANYTHING. DO NOT START ANYTHING NEW. WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR OPINION OF [INSERT TREATMENT PLAN] IS. YOU ARE FIVE YEARS BEHIND THE CURVE HERE.) 
So, yeah, it's been fun.

What fandom are you in/do you spend most of your time in?
Still MCU. From the size of my WiP folder and the speed at which I'm writing (and the way the 616 Hawkeyes keep butting their heads in), it's going to be a while before I clear all that.

Where do you hang out online?
LJ/DW, tumblr, pinboard (same fandom name.) Tumblr is where I work out that Renner thing--looooots of reblogs of him/his various roles (well, I mean, there's other stuff, too, but you can expect at least one JR reblog every day.) Pinboard has all my history of fic recs (800+), which I am about to start updating again. Twitter and Pinterest are my real name. I'm super-boring on twitter and pretty domestic on pinterest. Goodreads is partly my real name and I don't really keep it to review books, per se--more to keep track of what I've read and what I have stashed on my kindle, b/c I never can remember that sort of stuff. I'm happy to add you wherever you'd like to engage. 

What are you reading?
The same jumbled mix of romance, fantasy, cozy mysteries and business/science/history nonfiction that I've read most of my life. I should get back in the habit of the Wednesday book meme--I finish books just slowly enough that weekly posts seem like overkill, but just quickly enough that if I miss more than a few weeks, there's enough of a backlog that it feels like a chore to write it all up. 

tl;dr -- my favorite books of the last six months have been Uprooted, Naomi Novik (loved the Eastern European folk tale overlay, so much of what my great-grandparents used to tell me); The Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev (it had the perfect amount of Bollywood feels for me, plus, the fooooood); As You Wish, Carey Elwes (the PB feels were strong with this one.) 

What are you watching?
Working my way through Daredevil -- the boys watched it all in one go, but I can only take the dark/violence one ep at at time. Poldark -- I watched/loved the original back in the 70s (yes, I'm old) and I am rationing this most recent version. (Team Demelza, all the way, btw.) 

What are you making?
In the office move, we're losing our super-subsidized breakfast/lunch cafe, sadface, so I am gearing up to make my own lunch for the first time in a decade, which is actually kind of fun in this new post-Pinterest world. I think we've just come to the conclusion that the 3 Hobbit movies are not worth doing a marathon complete with food, like we did for LOTR. I am toying with the idea of a weekend of Harry Potter + food. Also, I am tryyyyying to write, but that's been very slow going this year, for everything, be it personal, professional, or fannish. 

What are you squeeing about today?
I am honestly still in that post-DragonCon headspace of fannish love and haven't really come down off the high of answering Edward James Olmos's So say we all with several thousand of my bestest buddies. That, and there are nice new pictures of JR from that education telethon last weekend!

If you could rope old fandom friends into a new fandom, it would be...
Oh, you're all still here and putting up with my comics thing, that's really what counts!

I should really watch/read/dive into _______ and then come talk to you about it!
The big giant event-thing (Secret Wars?) that Marvel just did, so I can sort out wtf is going on now. (Or, y'know, not, and just wait until the next reboot.) 

What else is on your mind?
  • Disney World (1 quick trip for the Food & Wine Festival in October. A long weekend over New Year's Eve. Contemplating a proper trip with just D & kids, either in April or June. )
  • Star Wars (I keep telling myself to remember the horror of the prequels, but every little thing is making me squee internally. This was not helped by meeting Peter Mayhew at DC.)
  • My house is a wreck and I'm tired of it being that way. The boys all need to get drivers licenses. There are outstanding invoices in both my freelance writing and D's coaching/consulting concerns, and I am getting a little aggravated with these people.  The car decision looms. 
  • topaz119: (needfulthings)
    I'm not sure which has been more aggravating this week--the weather, the kids' schools, or the office. It's going to get above freezing today, though, and BabyBoy is about to start studying Romeo and Juliet, which is an excuse for me to pull out Shakespeare In Love and Romeo + Juliet this weekend. We will not discuss work.

    Moving along!

    Hello to the very nice people who've friended me recently! My most recent intro post is here on DW and here on LJ. Feel free to interact as much or as little as you like!

    In new, non-bitching content, I present a meme from [personal profile] theladyscribe, who gave me the letter J...

    Something I hate: Jellyfish washed up on the beach. ::shudders::

    Something I love: Jambalaya -- preferably sitting in the French Quarter, but really, I'll take it anywhere.

    Somewhere I've been: Jackson Hole, WY, which is how I prefer to get my winter weather: fly in, look at the pretty, have somebody professional deal with the driving, ski all day, eat all night, lather, rinse, repeat, GO HOME WHERE IT'S WARM.

    Somewhere I'd like to go: Jastrzębie Zdrój, in Poland, which is a historic spa town, and where my father's family is from.

    Someone I know: My dearest friend Jet, who is (according to our husbands) my heterosexual life partner. We worked together off and on for years, and then during one of the software industry spasms, she ended up moving away to get a job and we have maintained our friendship via IM, DragonCon, and bad movies watched together over the phone.

    A film I like: Jaws! Totally one of those movies where the book *wasn't* better.

    I will be happy to give you a letter if you so desire.

    me too!

    Nov. 17th, 2014 07:12 pm
    topaz119: (glass candles)
    Okay, December is a wild month, but my sister-in-law has decided we should drop the adult gift-giving, so my shopping has been reduced by 2/3 and I'm diving in and doing the daily December posting meme, as seen far and wide across DW/LJ. You know the drill--pick a day and tell me what you want me to talk about. Feel free to suggest topics across the board -- fannish/personal/professional/reading/cooking/Disney World/whatever...

    Dec 1 - What makes a couple an OTP for me? In terms of chemistry, how they treat each other, what makes a couple stand out from a regular relationship? (for [personal profile] endeni)
    Dec 2 - My favorite comics? (for [livejournal.com profile] ladymercury_10)
    Dec 3 - What was my favourite book as a child? (for [livejournal.com profile] verdande_mi)
    Dec 4 - Life with boys: lessons, hacks, unexpected pleasures, or whatever I want to write about (for [livejournal.com profile] ariadnes_string)
    Dec 5
    Dec 6 - What is my favorite ride at Disney World and why? (for [personal profile] theladyscribe)
    Dec 7 - What's my favorite Jeremy Renner role, and why? (Alternately, why [personal profile] eleanor_lavish is a terrible person for asking me to choose, *g*)
    Dec 8 - If we had all the time in the world, what would we write together? (for [personal profile] without_me)
    Dec 9 - What are my favorite desserts to make? (for [personal profile] schneefink)
    Dec 10 - Would I rather spend a day at Pemberley with Mrs. Reynolds, a weekend at Rosings in the company of Lady Catherine and Mr. Collins, or a week at Longbourn in the company of Mrs. Bennett and Lydia Bennett? (for [livejournal.com profile] kaelie, who is eeeeeevil.)
    Dec 11
    Dec 12 – A Darcy Lewis' life hack on visiting relatives, and their intersect with one's everyday life (for [livejournal.com profile] alphaflyer)
    Dec 13 – A fictional character I find attractive (for [livejournal.com profile] igrockspock)
    Dec 14
    Dec 15 – My favorite part about growing up in Pittsburgh (for [livejournal.com profile] withdiamonds, who is missing the 'Burgh)
    Dec 16 - What is it that allows a fandom to get its hooks into me? Why *this* fandom and not *that* fandom? What grabs me? (for [livejournal.com profile] pensnest)
    Dec 17 - My favorite popslash memories? (for [personal profile] turps)
    Dec 18 - What is my best and most effective secret for affordable, staying-on-site trips to WDW? (for [livejournal.com profile] kaelie)
    Dec 19
    Dec 20 - Why does writing/reading slash appeal to me? How do I get past the OOC potential in slashing canonically straight characters? (for [livejournal.com profile] alphaflyer)
    Dec 21
    Dec 22
    Dec 23 - How did I first happen upon fandom life and do I remember my first impression of it? (for [livejournal.com profile] verdande_mi)
    Dec 24
    Dec 25 - If you and I could go to Disneyland (note correct Disney park! hee!) for one day and hang out, tell me about what we should do there. Besides, you know, talk. A lot. :) (for [livejournal.com profile] destina)
    Dec 26
    Dec 27 - Why is Darcy awesome? (for [personal profile] musesfool)
    Dec 28 - Talk about a plot bunny I love but will probably never write. (Any fandom) (for [livejournal.com profile] brandywine28)
    Dec 29
    Dec 30
    Dec 31 - What's up? (If I'm hosting, what's for dinner?) (for [livejournal.com profile] alphaflyer)
    topaz119: (books!)
    Crazy weekend--D's uncle, a retired professor of Old Testament theology, who can best be described as Faulknerian, passed away, so we spent multiple days dealing with that.

    Also, I am about to kick off a doc sprint with a team located primarily in India, so we're looking at meetings all week at 10 pm my time. Good thoughts appreciated!

    I saw this float by & thought it looked like fun--because books are always fun, right?

    1. Favourite childhood book?
    The Wizard of Oz -- I can still remember the morning when I realized I'd read hundreds of pages (I think I was in 2nd grade) and then being overjoyed that there were more books about Oz. (L. Frank Baum wrote 14 books and a wonderful, wonderful children's librarian got me almost all of them that year. Last year, someone put them all together in one omnibus Kindle edition with TOC that goes across them all--I almost sprained my wrist getting it, I was moving so fast.)

    The books that I have hunted down for my kids (and re-read along with them) include The Twenty-One Balloons (William Pene duBois) and The Mad Scientists Club (Brinley/Greer). (They sort of explain the engineering and steampunk, don't they?) Looking back now, Gone-Away Lake and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler were both giant influences. And I can't not mention Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden, because a geek's got to have her intrepid girl-detective role models, right?

    more, more, more under the cut )
    topaz119: (cartoon!me)
    ::waves::

    It's been a couple of weeks but then last night I fell into a Felicity/Oliver-shaped hole and came to share with y'all and, lo! There were comments! and it was fun!

    So. Posting would be good. And hey, I have SO.MANY. things bookmarked to share. Clearly, trying to do them all in one big swoop (or even monthly) isn't happening so my brain finally woke up and ingested enough Diet Coke to produce the thought that I should just throw a couple of them out each day. (You probably don't want to know how much Diet Coke that took, but those who have shared a hotel room with me over the years can attest to my ability to down oceans of the stuff and let's just say it has been a long, long month of paper-cut type aggravations.)

    Thus: Happy-making Thing(s) of the Day (mostly fic, natch, but there are Lots Of Things starred and tagged and bookmarked across my internet-ready devices.)

    Also, starting off today with the A-Z meme behind the cut )

    Daily Happy-Maker
    One from the oldest part of my list & one from the most recent:

    The Adventure of the Tattoed Fighter by [archiveofourown.org profile] ariadnes_string, Sherlock Holmes / Hawaii Five-0, Holmes/Watson, ~10,800 words, PG-13 === Super-fun fusion where Holmes and Watson come to the aid of a mysterious stranger and end up with his loud, fast-talking partner, too. Danny Williams translates to Victorian London much more smoothly than you'd expect. :D

    Con Limon Y Sal by [archiveofourown.org profile] Lacinia, Avengers, Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanoff, ~12,000, Mature === Really excellent Bruce and Natasha (and Clint) in the year after the movie, doing what it takes to keep going and finding unexpected relationships along the way. Tiny bit AU for the movie at the beginning, but nothing major.

    meme time

    Apr. 15th, 2013 08:17 am
    topaz119: (ready to write)
    As seen across my circle/flist:

    21 last first lines )


    I think I'm supposed to do some nice analysis, or have something of my process revealed, but it is Monday and the Monday after spring break to boot, so... dunno?

    Thoughts? Opinions?

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