KJ

I keep promising to update my journal more often and then not doing it. Well, no time like the present. Five things make a post?

1. The Winter quarter concert is over, and it went well. Now we're on a brief break until April, when we start rehearsals for Beethoven's Ninth. That's such an awe-inspiring piece, and I'm really looking forward to it.

2. DOINK! sign-ups are open through Friday!



It's no exaggeration to say that DOINK is my favorite event on the fandom calendar, except maybe the Kiss Battles. I've been participating in DOINK since the very beginning, and I've gotten and produced some of my very favorite stories in the process. If you are at all interested, check it out. Even if you can't make the official schedule work, the mods are always in need of betas and pinch-hitters (I find writing pinch-hits to be especially satisfying).

3. I just realized that I never posted anything about my latest cat drama. ( Cut for pet health issues. )

4. Is anyone surprised that I started playing FFX-2 right after finishing FFX? No? I didn't think so. In other fandomy things, I am still doing the 30 Day Grey Warden Challenge, but I've decided to post my answers only on Tumblr. If you're interested, you can follow along on this tag, and I'll probably also do a master post when I'm finished. Speaking of master posts, I really need to make one for the DA Kiss Battle, and I'll plan on doing that this week. Hold me to that, Internets.

5. Although it might be a challenge with cat care, I'm planning an overnight trip to Napa with some friends next month, as part of my extended birthday celebration. Hey, I turned 40. That rates a birthday month, doesn't it? Despite living in the SF Bay Area since 1986, I've almost never been to Napa, so I'm looking forward to that, too.

It is my pleasure to report that Punxsutawney Phil, groundhog extraordinare, did not see his shadow today, thereby predicting an early spring. And we can always use an early spring (provided we get at least a little more rain first).

Things I have done this weekend:

-- Slumber party in the living room.
-- Made memes over coffee.
-- Ate burgers at Five Guys. Then brought home the leftover fries and melted cheese over them, with bacon and sour cream. Oh yum.
-- Went to the library, admired the signage, and forced myself not to line up book spines with the edge of the shelf.
-- Took a walk through a nearby woods. I got to crunch through leaves for the first time in years.
-- Trawled the depths of YouTube for everyone’s greatest hits.
-- Read comics, specifically the first two volumes of "Avatar: The Promise", about which more at another time.
-- Got my ass kicked at Mario Party.
-- Watched RuPaul's Drag Race, Game of Boobs Thrones, Eddie Izzard, and Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire.
-- Got a room to ourselves in a pizza joint to watch the Bills play the Jaguars. Featuring wings, calzones, and a ranch dressing explosion.
-- Went to the bookstore, because how could I spend the weekend with renay and not go to the bookstore? My purchase was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the third volume of "Avatar: The Promise".
-- Drank. A lot. I think I had more Jello shots this weekend than in the entire rest of my life combined. Lime and orange made with raspberry vodka, highly recommended.
-- Pulled every muscle in my body laughing. I think I’ve found myself in tears or doubled over, unable to breathe, approximately every five minutes.

It's official, I love this weekend.

Too much food, too much sangria, too much fun. Dinner was awesome but I think I need to crash -- time to curl up in bed with more water and my iPad.

But first, the friands, which were delicious and received with much acclaim. ( Have some food porn. )

Good night Internets, I will see you on the morrow.

Sorry to have been so absent lately. The daily life spam has, I fear, well and truly moved to Tumblr these days, so if you are for some reason interested in my more mundane doings, that is the place to be. lifeofkj But I want to update more here, too, with things besides fic crossposting. I need a better plan.

I had a very fun birthday dinner yesterday, complete with excellent friends, tasty food, and a fake birthday cake with sparklers. Very dramatic! Today, my actual birthday, was much quieter: a fairly ordinary day at work, and then I came home and played Dragon Age for most of the evening, with a brief pause for grocery shopping and dinner. I consider my celebration to have been yesterday, so I'm not too fussed about not doing anything on the day itself. I'm going up to see my parents on Saturday, which should be nice. We did have a bit of a family health scare, but it looks like everyone is going to be all right, so I'll take that as a birthday gift of sorts, too.

Also, Nay found me a Hanklerfished copy of "The Fault in Our Stars", which was pretty darned exciting to get! :D

So, 39. I keep telling myself I'm not so freaked out by this, to see "the big four-oh" coming down the pike. I stressed out when 30 was impending, but by the time it arrived, it was no big deal. Let's hope that this next milestone is the same.

Welcome to 2012, everybody.

I like the look of this date. It's visually very well balanced to me. Much more so than 2011, which might explain why it was such an off-kilter year for almost everyone I know. Not that I really believe in things like that. But it's still an interesting thought.

The New Year is one of my favorite holidays -- fresh starts are always appealing to me, as are the small rituals around the change: buying a calendar, gathering with friends, counting down the seconds to midnight, toasts and cheers and butchering the words to "Auld Lang Syne".

I don't like putting too much pressure around a new year being a change from the last, but I do enjoy looking at it as an opportunity to take a breath, take stock, let go of whatever things are dogging you from the last twelve months. 2011 was a transition year for me, with changes everywhere: at work, especially, but also a little in my personal life, my online life, my fandom life. So I'm looking at 2012 as a time to settle things back down, get used to all these new things and figure out how to move forward from here.

Cheers to all for a better 2012!

I need to keep this quick because my houseguest will be here any minute, but I didn't want today to pass by without taking a moment to share my gratitude for the Internet and the people on it -- everyone who reads and everyone who lurks, friends and acquaintances old and new, the people who give of their time and energy to make fandom and Internet community happen and the folks who cheer them on from the sidelines. My life would be the poorer without every single one of you in it, and I hope you all know that. Group hugs for everyone!

Much love, always, me.

Because I worked the Saturday before last, and my school was closed for Good Friday, I was blessed with a four-day weekend, and it was glorious!

Thursday: I started the day with a writing morning, for the first time in ages, during which I nearly finished a draft of my ff_exchange story. Then I came home and worked on my Dragon Age replay all afternoon, followed by a lovely dinner with lovely friends and lovely wine in Alameda.

Oh, Dragon Age. I am so into this game, it's kind of ridiculous. To the point where, after a bit of agonizing, I broke down and bought the Ultimate Edition. To be fair, that cost about as much as buying Awakenings (the primary expansion pack) and one of the smaller downloads, so it'll probably be more cost effective in the end. Still, I have to face the fact that I have now purchased another copy of a game I already own. Does this make me a bigger geek than I already am?

Friday: Culinary adventures on the Peninsula with SE! We started with lunch and cupcakes at Vanilla Moon, then wandered down the street to an olive oil shop, where I was unable to resist walking out with a bottle of balsamic vinegar flavored with tangerine. It was really neat to taste dozens of oils and vinegars, play with blending the flavors, seeking out the perfect vinaigrette or dipping sauce combinations. The shopkeeper was really knowledgable and helpful, too.

Other stops included a taiyaki shop in San Mateo (little fish-shaped pastries filled with custard, bean paste, and other delectables including Nutella -- yum!); three attempts at finding a bakery in Redwood City that culminated in tea and pastries at Pamplemousse, which is our go-to place for such things; a spice store with a huge and fascinating stock; and a wander through Kepler's. Then we met up with T and SF for a tasty Japanese dinner of yakitori and other small plates, followed by a trip to Beard Papa for a cream puff dessert. Great food, great fun. I consider it rather a miracle that I didn't end up bringing home anything more than the vinegar, three jars of spices, one book, and half a dozen macarons from Pamplemousse.

Then we came home and played some Portal 2. This is a theme that will recur.

Saturday: The day of errands and lounging. Washed the car, got groceries, played Portal, made dinner, played more Portal, got some writing done, probably would have played more Portal but my wrists said "No." Fortunately, the writing went okay, on that front. I wrote the last little bit of my FFEX draft -- it needs a lot of work still, but at least that first runthrough is finished -- and then I started the Dragon Age fic that has been nagging at me ever since we finished the game. Well, one of them, anyway. Where all this will end up... we'll see.

Sunday: Easter Brunch! R and S hosted, we made hash browns, more yummy food was eaten, more good company was had, and then we dyed eggs. I don't think I've dyed eggs since the SKERG* Easter Brunch of 1997. There were some real beauties, too. Then we came home and played some Portal 2.

Oh, Portal. We started with multi-player cooperative, which is interesting and challenging. I would say, so far, that it's every bit as good as the first one. But I'll hold more complete thoughts for another day.

And so that was my four-day weekend. Which I really, really needed. And now, with luck, I'll be ready to go back and face the daily grind, rejuvenated and ready for more.

*SKERG, for the uninitiated, was the nickname for the apartment where I lived with four other people for a couple of years after college, so named because it was the most pronounceable combination of our first initials. I forget who coined it, but it stuck, to the point where we still refer to it by name, even though the household broke up almost 13 years ago.

I'm about to go offline for the day, so this is my opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year! Here's to new beginnings and fresh starts, which I think we can all use right now.

My plans for the evening are modest: beading, dinner, and a small party with good friends. Excellent. A toast to you all, and to an excellent 2011.

1. Costume contest: we dressed zombie librarians, and we looked awesome/gruesome. Pictures to come later. But once again, we were runners-up in the contest. Fourth year in a row! I asked the judges if we could have some kind of special prize for that, but no go. Someday, world. Someday, that prize will be ours.

2. Ask me anything! Still over half a month of slots open on my 30 days meme. You folks have left some awesome stuff so far, and I really want to see what else you can come up with. Post your questions here (DW) or here (LJ). Thanks. :)