KJ

Heading off for the annual holiday visit to San Diego and T's mom in a few minutes. We'll be back on Wednesday. I'm taking both phone and iPad with me, so I'll likely be around some, although probably more on Tumblr and Twitter than here (easier to navigate using the mobile devices).

Safe travels! Enjoy/survive your family visits, as applicable! A happy holiday to anybody celebrating one, and an excellent weekend to one and all! I probably don't say this often enough, but I love you all: old friends, new friends, friends I've just met, and I'm so, so lucky to be a part of this awesome online community.

All my best, happiest thoughts to you and yours.

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.

Time to go revel in dozens of fabulous fanworks. I've spent the last couple of days browsing, and there's some really great stuff in there. I'll probably try to do a rec list later, but for now I just suggest going over there to wander around, dip into anything that catches your fancy. Something for everyone!

For the second year in a row, I got a Paine/Nooj piece as my gift, which is awesome. :D Small Steps by Lesca Fenix. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of P/N and/or CS4 stories.

As for me, I wrote two stories: one prompt from my initial assignment and one pinch-hit. Both FF12, one Balthier-centric and one about Al-Cid.

Secret Identities: Balthier/Reddas (and filled with spoilers).

Human Resources: a bit of Al-Cid character study, chosen not only because I found the prompt intriguing but because it gave me the chance to work closely with the character, who I expect to figure prominently in my megaflare_ff story.

Didn't manage any Moogle Fluff this time, mostly because of timing, although I did draft most of a story that will likely appear as Chocobo Down.

Also, I mentioned a few times in this space that I was hoping to write one of my other prompts from my original assignment. I actually started that one first, but then it ballooned into a many-thousand-word monster, and it became clear that I was never going to finish it on time. I actually just put the final touches on the draft today. 18,391 words. Can I have a yikes? I don't think I've ever written a story that long in one shot. Anyway, I'll let it sit for a little while, then clean it up and post it. Maybe not for Chocobo Down, because it's drifted pretty far from the original request, but I will definitely get it out there.

Yay for FFEX! Yay for more prompts on the way for Chocobo Down! Yay for the mods omg. If you see Sev, Ira, and Nay around, be extra-nice to them, okay? They put in a hell of a lot of work to make this exchange happen, and they just pulled off two in less than a year. Mods: you rule.

There are cats on my bed. I approve of this development.

Today was "wander around Boston" day. I got a look at many of the historic sights I'd never seen before, plus a look at the locks on the Charles River and a swarm of fish waiting their turn to get through them. Then some tea, and a couple of chocolate shops, and then a really awesome bookstore that focuses on travel books, but in a really broad sense, including not just guidebooks but travel writing, cartography, books on history and culture and even regional fiction. And then everything is organized geographically rather than by genre, which I found to make for some really awesome browsing. I contented myself with only one book, but it was difficult.

Then it was trivia with amybang's friends, which we didn't win (but I came up with a pretty awesome baseball answer, if I do say so myself), but I had fun, and plus I got to see a friend from college whom I hadn't seen for years and years. And now settling in with the aforementioned cats, who are currently sleeping on the couch that is about to become my bed. A distinct advantage over the hotel room where I was staying before this. I wish you could stay at a hotel and check out some cats, like you used to be able to check out a VCR before hotels had movies on demand. I would totally pay extra for that service.

Tomorrow, if the weather holds, we're going to go be tourists in Salem, where I've also never been. Wish us luck.

Just back from a really nice family Thanksgiving dinner, up at my Grandma's house. Food, yum. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, beans, rolls... it was all there, except for the sad omission of pumpkin pie. No pumpkin pie! I am scandalized! T did make tasty brownies and some excellent soft gingerbread cookies, though, so I am pleasantly stuffed with dessert. But I think we may have to rectify this situation and make some pie for ourselves this weekend.

Even more important, of course, was the company, with the special addition this year of oswulf, who was in town with his wife for the holiday. Most of the local family were there, too, and it was good to see them all, but D isn't just my cousin -- he was my best friend for many, many years. So the opportunity to hang out with him for even a few hours is precious. I am lucky to have a family I enjoy spending time with.

I'm lucky in so many ways, really, and it's good to have a day to reflect on that. It's been a tough year for me and mine, but that doesn't negate the many things I have to be thankful for: solid marriage, financial stability, steady job that I mostly like, good relationships with co-workers and family, and so many good friends, including those of you reading this entry right now. You've probably all noticed by now that I don't tend to get emotional on people, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you all. And so here's a round of Happy Thanksgiving, all around. I'm grateful to be a part of this community.

I worked a six-day week back in April, so I took today off and am now basking in the glory of a four-day weekend with almost nothing planned. T is going to a beach-clean/photo shoot on Sunday, and I might come along, but otherwise I envision a lot of kicking back. I already spent a nice morning with three of my favorite things: leftover pizza for breakfast, my kitties, and Deep Space Nine on DVD. The rest of the day will likely feature a pedicure (it's summer, time to give my toes more regular help) and some writing time in Panera, but it's nice not to have to decide yet.

Sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, a napping kitty on each side, my West Wing DVDs running, and short ribs braising in the oven. As a way to spend my last day of Christmas vacation, it ain't half bad.

This is how hearts and minds are won.

Thanks to Jed for the link, and for the continual encouragement to not just vote against Proposition 8, but to speak out against it and fight for what matters.

By the morning, we should know.

It's a perfect summer day, I'm playing hooky from work (with advance notice and permission, so maybe it's not real hooky, but I still feel like I'm getting away with something), and there's going to be a baseball game played just down the street from me in a couple of hours.

Yeah, I think I know what I'm doing this afternoon.

I don't remember the last time I took a long weekend just for the hell of it, with no agenda or travel or out-of-town guests or any other reason besides the fact that I've just been piled under work for weeks and I just needed a break. So far so good.

Every so often, something happens to remind me that I haven't listened to enough They Might Be Giants lately, and I gorge myself for a little while. This time, it was not having a book to read on my train ride home last Tuesday. So I dug through my iPod and discovered a TMBG podcast I hadn't listened to, from last June. It was a collection of demos from "John Henry", which was pretty awesome in and of itself, but more to the point, I discovered that I had missed a new album.

I rectified that pretty quickly.

So I've been listening to it at almost every opportunity, including right now. It's called "The Else" and is quite good, along the lines of "Mink Car". It came with a bonus disc of stuff from the podcast called "Cast Your Pod to the Wind". Just the right touch of the old TMBG anarchy, but with Their slightly more polished new sound, which makes for a great combination. And then when I'm not listening to it, I'm listening to my TMBG playlist on my iPod, on random, and getting a great selection of old favorites and new stuff.

Always good to be reminded of why, in the depths of my heart, TMBG will always be my most beloved band. I really need to see Them again. Even if I have to stand for three hours. It would be worth it.