email: autumnriver@yahoo.com

For some reason, I'm feeling nostalgic! From a few years back: a picture I drew of A'ric and T'iya (and her dragon Ainanith), the main characters of most of my Pern fanfiction from High Reaches Weyr (Ha! Looks like they're still using some of my characters! Lord Jifren was particularly interesting...).  I wrote about a novel's worth about them, but I can't put it on the internet, due to copyright rules.  Too bad, it was  some of my best writing!  The Dragonriders of Pern is a series of books written by Anne McCaffrey.

My Passions
Manga: X, Berserk, CCS, Basara, KKJ, Rurouni Kenshin, Sensei!, Naruto, Juline, Suki Dakara Suki, Wish!

TV:  Home & Garden Network, Iron Chef, International Channel

Sewing:  black linen tunic for Aelfgeirr, purple Calontir tabards

Armoring: gorgets, pauldrons, elbow cops and vanbraces for Aelfgeirr and myself.

Writing: "Sins of the Fathers" (HP), "Here Be Dragons" (HP), "The Client" (X).

Biseinen: Kusanagi (X), Fuuma (X), Touya (CCS), Gatts (Berserk), Itou (Sensei!), Kakashi (Naruto), The Red King (Basara), Cho (RK), All the CCD cuties (Clamp Campus Detectives, X) and most especially Bob (Husband)

Hobbies: Learning Japanese, Calligraphy, drawing, writing, hiking, touring old houses, making medieval stuff, collecting foxes.

Cat of the moment: Nabiki

Subterfuge: For Old Times Sake

Springtime and...

a young girl's thoughts turn to ...Allergies!

I am prepared, however, and the Allegra is in use. Hopefully, it has no ill effects with the other stuff I'm taking. The doctor didn't think it would, but that is no great assurance. I don't trust doctors very much, due to past experience.

I've been trying to take it easy the past few days. Bob got back from Kansas City. I have gotten a little more sleep. I actually crashed on Saturday and slept most of the day. I think I was relieved that Bob was home and felt I could rest. I got the living room, dining room and kitchen cleaned up, which makes me feel better. I'm not a particularly neat person, but after a while, clutter really gets to me, so I clean up. When I'm not feeling well, the house gets really messy, and it always takes me a while to get it back to my comfort level.

Speaking of housecleaning! I ran across this book in the library...dang! I was reading through it last week (bits and pieces, the thing's too big to read in one sitting). I was never taught any of this stuff. We always had a maid who came in twice a week to do the bulk of the housework, so all I ever did was pick up my room. I don't mind housework so long as I'm not working outside the home, but I really resented it when I was pulling in 50-60 hours a week, bringing home work to finish, and having to do the housework as well. It caused some arguments between me and Bob. Now, actually, the house is neater and we don't argue about it. But it's been an education, I must say.

I sound spoiled, don't I? Well, I probably was, to an extent. (Trust me, my childhood wasn't all sweet and happy!) But it's true, I didn't learn how to do housework of any kind until I was in college and on my own. My room mates used to laugh at me about it, but they forgave me, because I did try.

I've been reading some essays about creativity in Ordinary Magic, Everyday Life as Spiritual Path. It's interesting reading. The whole book is good, actually. But the essays on creativity especially interested me, because I do get blocked in my writing, in my art and other endeavors. I'm not a Buddhist, but I have to say I do admire some of the practices and philosophy that I've seen from them.

You've gone and got me interested in Summers at Autumn Castle, which fortunately, our library has in stock. Sounds like the kind of relaxing sugar-candy reading that I need right now!

Tax return money! Yay! I got to order a helmet and a pair of gauntlets from Wyndsyngyr's War Gear. We had ordered a helmet for Bob from this guy and it turned out quite nicely. His prices are very fair and the work is good. I like to make my own armour, but helmets and gauntlets are very difficult to do. I've made one helmet, but had Lothair standing by me the whole time showing me what to do (and making me re-do things if they weren't up to his standards). Same thing with the brigandine! I think he made me pull out stitches and re-do them four times IIRC! But I'll admit, I learned a very important lesson about workmanship and quality by doing that, and for that, I thank him. (BTW, check out his jewelry at that site. Brilliant stuff, reasonable prices considering the work he put into them!)

X vol. 4 turned out to be pretty good. I like how they've re-worked the English dialogue to where it sounds more natural (the subtitles still show the closer translation). Subaru still sounds wrong, but since he doesn't say a whole lot, I suppose it can be put up with! Kusanagi and Yuzuriha's little scene in the park went very well, although he's coming off as a bit more distant in the English version. They're probably squicked by the older guy thing. I like the voice, however!

Well, that's enough for now. Off to reorganize the bedroom, yay, fun.

Monday, March 31, 2003 07:28 a.m.

Heh

This gave me a laugh:


You want to shag them all! Can't make up your mind,
can you? OK, you have two options, jot down a
date for everyone, so you can have them by turn
or just have one nice long big orgie. Sounds
good?

Which Helm's Deep soldier do you wanna shag?
brought to you by Quizilla

Nah, I just want their ARMOUR!!!!!

Still feeling icky. I haven't gotten anything accomplished in the last two days besides some housework. Oh, and the taxes. Hey! That's probably why I'm feeling icky! Nah, if that were the case, I'd be feeling better now and I'm not.

Didn't do too badly on the taxes, I guess. Got enough back to pay for the drapes and a little left over which will probably go towards Bob's Yurt-of-His-Dreams that he's building. Hopefully, we can get it done before Horse and Falcon, which will also be Calontir's Crown Tournament, as well as having a Pas d'Armes and an Archery Contest. I'm hoping my armour will be finished by then as well, although it will be simple, and mostly hidden under tunic and pants, because if it ain't pretty, why bother! Besides, the Anglo-Saxons didn't wear a lot of visible armour, unless it was chain-maille, which takes for-freaking-ever to make and is a pain-in-the-ass to maintain!

So, no progress on my stories of late, although I've got some great scenes plotted out for Sins of the Fathers. I just have to figure out the best way of working them into the story. I'm focusing too much on Edwina, although I really like Evan's character, I'm just trying to figure out how he'll fit into the story in an effective way. That's part of the fun of writing, though.

I owe a bunch of people, including Ammie-chan and Satsuki-chan some letters. They're in the works.

That's it for now, breakfast calls.

Friday, March 28, 2003 07:53 a.m.

The Best Medicine

The Best Medicine is the things that make you smile. My Mom called (they've been out and about somewhere for the past few weeks). I'm used to talking with her on the phone a couple of times a week and I've felt that loss keenly. They're fine, they're enjoying their trip, they're worried sick that I might be in the hospital with exhaustion by now. I'm glad they're okay. They can be kind of strange, but they are my family and I love them just the same.

Bob's been in Kansas City this week, and I really miss having him around. We talk for a while on the phone every day. I'm still surprised that we talk as much as we do, considering how many years we've been together. I guess that's one of those signs of a good marriage partner: someone you can talk to for years on end.

The past couple of days haven't gone so well health-wise. After a few days of good sleep, I'm getting less sleep again, and boy, does it show. Bleh. I actually did fall asleep earlier this evening, but some idiot called and hung up and got me all awake again. It's weird, almost every night this week about that time I've gotten one of those calls. It's starting to freak me out. I'm wondering if its some telemarketing computer or something that doesn't pick up when I answer?

I'm slogging through our taxes now. That's probably enough stress to keep anyone awake. Bleh!

Dang, I had all these neat and witty things I wanted to talk about and I can't remember any of them now. Dang it! Gentle Readers, I do assure you that my blog entries will be much more readable once I'm feeling better. I'm just not my usual charming self right now!

Wednesday, March 26, 2003 10:47 p.m.

Finally

...the drapes are up! And they look grand! But man, was that hard work! My expletive vocabulary got quite a workout over the last few days as I've taken down the old window hardware and put in new rods and valence holders. I'm not keen about working on ladders, and having to spend several hours on one is nerve-wracking! Bob was a sweetheart and did the last few, in a little side-room we have right off the dining room. It's amazing how dark it is downstairs now, with the drapes in place. You can actually see the television screen during the day! And even better, people can't see in now at night! That was getting kind of creepy.

Been spending a lot of time lately reading the Sugar Quill, which is quite my favorite Harry Potter fanfic archive, probably because of the Ron/Hermione bias, and the general Weasleyness of the place. Very relaxing.

Just when you thought you've seen it all, you run across a Latin translation of the film Gladiator. I love the internet.

Just when I think I've been totally ignored (as in my recent Sins of the Fathers, which evidently no one has read), I get an email with gushing praise about one of my stories. Okay, it's about one of my older stories, but still! What a nice gesture! Yes, I will eventually get around to finishing the Mating Dragons Trilogy. Having lost most of the story last summer in a hard-drive crash, I've had a hard time getting motivated to re-build the silly thing. And I'm waiting for Kusanagi to show his manly ass back up in Asuka! Besides a one-page picture, I mean. I don't know, XTV vol 4 in English is destined for our local shop shelves very soon, so maybe that may inspire me to action...if I don't get completely wrapped up in my latest Harry Potter offering, starring the wonderful Charlie Weasley.

I'm feeling a little better, having gotten two full nights' sleep in a row! My emotions are still all over the place, though, so I'm not wanting to be very social, since I don't know when I'll suddenly get very angry or burst into tears or laughter. I almost get dizzy with the amount of thoughts in my head, or despondent from the overwhelming feeling of gloom and paranoia. All in one day, sometimes all at one time, which is why the illness has been so bad recently. But just getting some sleep has helped.


Friday, March 21, 2003 11:08 p.m.

Riiiiight

You know you're in trouble when your doctor advises you to take a vacation from your hobby. So, two weeks without the SCA. I have to say, it does sound restful.

There was a blow-up here recently over something I did (going to my regional officer for advice). The regional marshal and the Earl Marshal have both told me I Did The Right Thing, but somehow the stress I have to go through for doing what's right isn't worth it.

Bob has often said he wishes that there had been an SCA group here in Dubuque already, because starting one up is too much damn work. I kind of wish that, too, although I would have still ended up serving as a local officer because that's what always happens to me when I join a group. My helium hand just keeps getting me in trouble! But my hobby has seemed like a job of late. And at this point, my illness makes it hard for me to tolerate stress, hence my doctor's recommendation that I take a few weeks off.

So what will I do with all this sudden free time? Put up drapes, for one. Clean house. Dabble with my latest fanfics. Draw pictures. Finally reply to letters. Hopefully sleep. A lot.

There's so much I want to say about the War, but there are personal reasons why I can't be very vocal about the subject, except maybe to say that I highly disapprove.

Wednesday, March 19, 2003 11:36 p.m.

Nostalgia

Well, I wanted to change the layout, so I found this oldie from my days in Pern fandom. Enjoy it while you can, I probably won't have it up very long. It's not my best drawing!

The characters are A'ric and T'iya. A'ric was the weyrlingmaster, a sort of drill sergeant for young dragonriders, while T'iya was the highborn, highstrung greenrider with a disobedient dragon. Of course they fall in love. It was fun writing about them--I could never tell what would happen next. A'ric was actually created by Bob's brother, Rich. (Rich *coughsetusupcough* introduced us, for which I am eternally grateful). So I have a soft spot in my heart for these two.

People sometimes ask me how I can manage to write about so many characters in one story. I learned how to do that writing Pern fanfic. Everyone would make characters, and I would borrow them (with permission, of course!) and include them in my stories. I liked doing it because I thought it added more texture to the story and added a vibrance that might not have happened if I had only used characters I'd created on my own. I'm better at creating characters now, but Pern was an excellent training ground.

I left Pern fanfiction when my father became very ill and I had to drop everything to help take care of him for about a year. By the time I went back, everything had changed and it just wasn't the same. So I moved on to seek new horizons.

But enough of memory lane! Some social blogness:

It's so good to hear from Lika again! I've really missed you and especially your rants!

Since Ammie-chan has been quiet, I'll take the opportunity to say how much I like her use of color in that pic of Aoki and Dai-kun! I wish I had that kind of verve!

Ditto for Satsuki-chan. Her art, a playful mixture of gothic and manga styles, is completely original and fresh. And I'm so jealous!

You know, Alison, if the LOTR movie had come out (oooh, bad choice of words!) 10 years ago, I doubt we'd be seeing the large-scale slashing that is taking place in LOTR fanfic! Just another way the internet has transformed culture, I guess. I'm not complaining, mind you!

Waves to Kerianne. Still reading you, chica. Keep your chin up. I hated my first year of college, too. I made straight A's, got on the Dean's List, then had a nervous breakdown right after finals. I really don't know how the hell I managed to graduate. But looking back, I'm glad I stuck it out. The History/Middle-Eastern Studies degree I received isn't very useful per se, but it sure got me in the door for interviews. Please don't get too discouraged!

Oh, yeah, dial-up sucks once you're used to the fast lane! Hope the problem gets fixed quickly!

Hmm, speaking of Pennsic, it looks like Bob and I won't make it this year. Too much going on with his work around that time. Maybe next year. This year will be Lillies and Armorgeddon, the nice, laid-back types of SCA war!

Hey, thanks for your nice comments about Choice. Yeah, it's the same story from before. I won a fanfic contest and it was published in NewType USA. I had to take it down from the web until more than a month after the publication date, but they were okay with me having the story back on my webpage afterwards. You always write the nicest commments! :-D Oh, and don't worry about angsting about your dad's comments. Hell, I'm in my mid-30's and I still get upset when my Daddy is being a jerk!

A couple of folks wrote to ask me how I was doing, which was real sweet. I'm still not getting much sleep, and am going to have to watch for nervous exaustion. The doc put me on a medicine, but it's only been a couple of days, so no effect as yet. I'm still unhappy about having to take the stuff, but life sucks and then you cope. Hopefully things will even out before I alienate all my friends, acquaintances and even my poor husband, who's getting tired of going to sleep by himself while I roam around the house most of the night and fall asleep in some chair for three hours.

Added some more links to the Where I Go section. Be very sure to check out The Art Dungeon. Really nice HP fanart, especially if you're into redheads! Also, her link page will give you hours of viewing entertainment!

Thursday, March 13, 2003 10:45 p.m.