Dicta

2002-04-14T15:27:00.000-04:00

So, I've decided to keep my pseudonyms seperate. However, I really, really like livejournal, so I'm making the move.

From now on, you can find the ramblings, rants, and various other dicta of C.L. Finn over here.

2002-04-10T17:31:00.000-04:00

Oh look, another month gone by!

First things first, should anyone be wondering what I’ve been up to for the last few months (except for those lovely people who were at Connexions this weekend and already know of my shame), you can go here and check out my alter-ego. Yes, I’ve succumbed to the boyband slash crack. It’s all Ins’ fault. Okay, not really, but I like to blame her. I was just going to check it out, purely for curiosity’s sake, read a couple of stories and move along. Well, ahem, four hundred stories read, one new pseudonym, one completed story, several WIPs later, I’m ready to stand up and say…

My name is Christine (and sometimes Trixie) and I’m addicted to *NSYNC slash.

I might even be, hypothetically speaking, going to see them in concert on Saturday.

So, there ya have it. I’m out and I’m proud.

Now about Connexions…

Every once in a while something happens that makes me realize just how much I love fandom, and how glad I am that I ever got online in the first place. I have made some of the most wonderful friends since I’ve been online. The best part about cons is always the chance to meet the people you’ve been talking to over email and lists and blogs/ljs. Connexions was pretty much all about that for me. I’m not even going to talk about the panels and the vids (except to say… more Hobbits than I ever need to see for the rest of my life) at this point, frankly because the whole weekend is such a happy sleep-deprived blur right now, I can barely remember most of it, and partially because the most interesting panels were the informal ones held at various tables we chose to congregate around.

Connexions was all about people. Very, very cool people. I got to see and spend time with people I’ve met before like Rowan and Miriam and Janette (and yeah, Beth and Becky, but do they count? *g*). Met people who I’ve talked to on lists and over email who I really liked, but who I like even more after this weekend, like Kat and LaT and Kit and Carla and Shrift and Deb(who I actually hadn’t talked to much before). And Aral, of course, who I did some serious bonding with. (finish that thesis girl, we’re gonna have some fun this summer!) And oh god, I know I’m probably leaving someone out and I’m going to feel really bad about it. Everyone I met were some of the most interesting, funniest, most intelligent women I’ve ever met.

I’m just filled with all kinds of love for fandom right now. One of the coolest things about cons is being able to look around and realize you are nowhere near the freakiest person in the room, even at your own freakiest. And even the freakiest people in the room are somehow cool. I loved being able to sit around and talk, and talk, and talk, about pretty boys and about writing and about sex. As I said at one point in the weekend, where else can you find a group of women who are completely comfortable talking about rimming. There’s something so incredibly freeing and empowering about being among your own kind, communing with women, and a few men, who totally get it. Who get you.

I love it. I love you all. I throw virtual kisses and sparkles your way.

Thus ends the mushy, sappy part of my con report. More details to follow as I remember them.

(man that was a lot of links)

2002-03-13T16:23:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been nearly two months since I posted anything. Spent the winter hibernating, studying for the Bar, and immersing myself in a new fandom.

Came across this article and pictures today and thought it was time to get back to blogging. That amazingly beautiful Afgan girl who was on the cover of National Geographic years ago and has become one of their most famous pictures... she's been found. She's 30 years old now and still beautiful, but you can definately see the life she's lived in the last twenty years.

2002-01-30T10:05:00.000-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Bar studying to say a few words about the State of the Union.

First word: nuclear. George, dude, the word is nu-cle-ar. Not Nu-cu-lar. I know you're from Texas, but you did go to college, didn't you?

Second word: hypocrit. See, you can't really spend billions on your little war-that's-not-a-war and other pet projects, cut taxes, run up a new deficit, and then demand that Congress be fiscally responsible.

And uh... "Let's Roll"? Yeah, Winston Churchill you ain't, buddy.

That is all.

2002-01-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

Wow... weeks since I've been here.

So, I promised a review of 2001... the good the bad and the ugly. It's cool that when I sat down and thought about 2001I could pretty much only come up with good stuff. I'm sure there was more bad than is coming to mind at the moment, but why dig for it, right? And oddly, all the non-good stuff I came up with is external. S'a good thing.

The Bad: Well, duh. September 11 and subsequent nastiness would have to qualify. I moved to New York a *week* before the attack. Way to make an arrival, huh? The rest of the bad is really just details. The Ugly, then, would be our governments response to Sept. 11... power grabbing, grandstanding, McCarthy-ism in action.

The Good: So much more of this. Big changes in 2001-- moved to Brooklyn, started a new job. The job isn't perfect, but in many ways it's such an improvement over my old one. I may bitch and moan about the facilities and the funding and the administrative bullshit, but the truth is, I went to law school because I wanted to help people. And my clients need the most help. On a good day, I get to actually make a difference in someone's life.

Probably the best part of 2001 has been my friends... when I ventured onto the internet back in '95ish, I had no idea what I would find. What I've found is a group of friends who have become family to me in the past several years. They were a large part of the reason that I made the move to New York, and why I've been so glad I made that move. Becky, the roomie, is one of those people. Even when we're both too lazy to do dishes or we're ah.. respectfully disagreeing on our current fandoms... she's a pretty damn good roomie. Aside from the Family, the friends I've made in due South fandom are some of the coolest, smartest, most interesting women I've ever met. And I've read about and talked to some really fascinating people in the Blog collective, even though my own Blog updating habits have become so appalling. And, and... new friends are being made all the time. (Ins! My favorite unintentional pimp!) So, I guess what I have to say here is... thank you Al Gore for inventing the Internet.

2002? Who knows? I can only hope it will be as good or better than 2001. The only real Resolutions I have this year are: pass the New York Bar next month, and get my finances finally straightened out.

2002-01-04T16:56:00.000-05:00

Well, this makes me sad.

And you know, I should actually post something here besides internet quizzes, but I've been busy. Holiday madness, and I start studying for the New York bar exam next week. So, um, not sure how much scintillating content will be found on this blog till after February 28. (this is not to imply that previous content has been scintillating) But you never know. Heck, my most productive fanfic years were while I was in law school.

Perhaps tonight I'll sit down and reflect on 2001 and make some resolutions for 2002.

Or um... I'll just continue embracing my inner twelve-year old girl.

2001-12-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

In lieu of any actual content... I give you another silly internet quiz...

Take the Which Beatle Are You? Quiz.

2001-12-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

Back from the family Christmas, catching up on mail and blogs. And... doing the quiz thing...

Which Rocky character are you?

The Eighties Pop Act Test deems me:

50% Eighties Pop Act

You are The Smiths: You were a peripheral player in the eighties, people thought it was cool to be your friend, but they never really wanted to spend time with you. Go watch Twin Peaks reruns.

The Castaway Quiz deems me:
	The Skipper You are a natural leader, others respect your opinion. You have an anger management problem, and that little buddy thing is kinda weird.

2001-12-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

And you know, Denise... thanks for posting the DM:CT now, when I have too much to do. Really must find time to read it in the next few days. Hey, I have my priorities.

2001-12-19T15:18:00.000-05:00

Still slash-binging. Thus the lack of blog updates. And I'm still so far from being done with holiday shopping it's not even funny. Bad me, bad.

Oh a happier note, my baby sister (yeah, baby in the sense that she's seven years younger than me, but 26 years old ) is in my time zone. Yay! And she will be in New York City around 5:30 tonight. Much happiness ensues.

I miss her. Moving from New Mexico to New York was a very good thing for me. I'm happy here and I'm happy with the new job. But... l really miss my sister. See.. she's my best friend. I'm closer to her than anyone else on earth. It wasn't always that way... she was my babydoll when she was born, but as I got older and she became more of a person and less of a "doll", we grew apart. There were a few years in there, when I was in college and she was in Jr. High/High School, when she hated me. Oddly enough it was my parent's divorce that brought us together. We sort of redefined ourselves as a family of two... not because we'd disowned our parents, but because they were such a mess that we figured out we could only really count on each other.

We haven't always lived near each other... in fact, it was only the last three years that we lived in the same state since we became friends, and most of that time she lived in Albuquerque, while I lived in Taos. But it was nice. Really nice being only a hundred miles apart. My mom moved to Maryland a few months before I moved to NY this year. My father, who lived in Austin, died two years ago. Sis is on her own in New Mexico now, and she's not very happy about it. Mom and I have been trying really hard to convince her to move east. But she's attached to Albuquerque... more so than I ever was. I still think of it as my home town, but I don't have that many fond memories of it. To her, it's home. She' not ready to give that up. And I guess I don't blame her for that, but still... I miss her. And I worry about her.

And aside from all that... my dog really misses her dog.

Anyway, she'll be here in a few hours, and I'm only getting about two days with her before we head down to Maryland to spend x-mas with mom, then only a few days with all of us together. I'm looking forward to it. But really, it's not enough time.

Ooh... and the roomie and I are having a Solstice Party and I'm cooking Posole, which is a traditional X-mas eve food in New Mexico. It will be my first attempt at making it, so I'll be trying hard not to kill the partygoers. And... mmmm... I've missed red chile. Sis is bringing Chimayo red chile powder with her so I can make proper Posole. Yum.

Now, off to convince my boss to let me go a few hours early.

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful holiday, whether it be Christmas, Solstice, Chanukah, or Ramadan (and yes, I'm late on both of those, but hey...), and Kwanzaa.

2001-12-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

More internet quizzes...

If I was a work of art, I would be Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

I am extremely popular and widely known. Although unassuming and unpretentious, my enigmatic smile has charmed millions. I am a mystery, able to be appreciated from afar, but ultimately unknowable and thus intriguing.

Which work of art would you be? The Art Test

2001-12-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

Monday morning and I'm cruising around blog land instead of doing my actual work. But ya know, the elevator's broken again and we have no heat in the office, so I'm just feeling motivated. Meanwhile, my wheelchair is limping along waiting for the ridiculously overpriced ($2000) part to come in, and I'm saving my rant about that particular issue for another time. So, on to other business.

Rowan! It was fabulous meeting you this weekend. And I know, I know, it's a tasteless binge. I will get over it. Thankfully, I had other good stuff to read this weekend. Like, Shrift's new Wes/Gunn story. I adore them when they're snarking and fighting demons and having lots 'o dirty sex, all while being oddly domestic. Just... good stuff. And Res wrote a new DS story... really, really lovely. And I started reading Smallville, Maygra's stories this weekend. They too are of the good.

Ooh, and after lots of good DS talk, my own stories are percolating again I think. Here's hoping.

Okay, going to try to do some work now.

2001-12-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

Cause I'm such a follower, I had to take these quizzes...

Which Evil Criminal are You?

Eek, and I didn't even know who she was. (Rather than killing girls outright by stabbing them or slitting their throats, you enjoy torturing them for weeks on end by pricking them with needles or prodding with sharp spikes - all to bathe in their blood. You've killed over six hundred women, all without raising a peep from the authorities.) Just... eeew.

If I was a James Bond villain, I would be Hugo Drax.

I enjoy rare orchids, hunting people with dogs, and passing judgment on humanity as unworthy of life.

I am played by Michael Lonsdale in Moonraker.

Who would you be? James Bond Villain Personality Test

2001-12-03T11:12:00.000-05:00

Joining in with my list of Four Things...

Four things you would eat on the last day of your life:

1. Mom's fried chicken
2. Stuffed chicken sopapilla from Michael's Kitchen in Taos.
3. Dojo's homefries
4. steak, baked potato, and a good salad

Four CDs from your collection that you will never get tired of:

1. Indigo Girls (Indigo Girls and Swamp Ophelia)
2. Live- Throwing Copper
3. Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits
4. Kirsty Macoll- Tropical Brainstorm

Four celebrities you would have sex with:

1. Paul Gross
2. Callum Keith Rennie
3. Allison Janney
4. Ewan McGregor
(and yes, Rowan, Ty is one of my runners-up )

Four vacations you have taken:

1. Bahamas 1984 and 1996
2. Russia 1988
3. Anaheim in 1998 for the HL con
4. Provincetown, Cape Cod, 1994

Four songs you get stuck in your head frequently:

This is truly random, but some recent ones…
1. The new Gap commercial song
2. Memory from Cats... and I really, really detest that song.
3. Bye Bye Bye... Friggin' Nsync
4. Ride Forever… thank you Paul.

Four things you'd like to learn:

1. chess
2. Spanish
3. html (like more than just enough to make this blog work)
4. How to write more and more often.

Four beverages you drink frequently:

1. Diet Coke
2. Earl Grey tea
3. Iced Chai
4. water

Four tv shows that were on when you were a kid:

1. Starsky & Hutch
2. Charlie's Angels
3. Happy Days
4. MASH

Four places to go in your city:

1. The boat pond in Central Park
2. Brooklyn Heights Promenade
3. Mia’s favorite dog park in Brooklyn Heights
4. Union Square Barnes & Noble

Four things to do when you're bored:

1. Eat (bad, me)
2. Channel surf
3. Glut myself on fanfic
4. sleep

Four things that never fail to cheer you up:

1. Mia, of course
2. Indigo Girls cds
3. rainstorm in the middle of the night
4. friends

2001-11-29T10:20:00.000-05:00

Been MIA lately... busy with holidays and hearings and so forth. In my spare time, I've been indulging in Fanfic Binging. Yeah, it's my own term, but I wonder if other people do this. Generally bored and not feeling creative enough to write, nothing new or interesting being posted in my promary fandom, so I go out and find a new fandom and binge myself on the fic, good bad and ugly. Lots of stories, all blending together into a big amorphous slashy mass.

When I binge like this, I do it obsessively, sitting at my computer for hours on end, reading fic from a fandom that I really could care less about. Sometimes I find some good stuff, sometimes not. I'm not entirely sure why I do it, but I think it partially has to do with wanting to read slash, but not being able to tolerate *bad* fic in the fandoms that I love. I don't want to read bad stories about Fraser and Ray... I want only good fic by my favorite writers. But I will happily go wade through the crap in other fandoms where I don't particularly care about the guys or the universe. It's like fanfic crack... you know it's bad for you, but you're hopelessly addicted. My roommate is currently threatening to do an intervention. It might be necessary very soon.

Or it might not, some great stuff has been posted lately. New, wonderful, story from Kellie. Always a reason to celebrate, and this one is no less worthy. New installment of Strange Loops from AuK. How much do I adore geeky-Ray?! Breathlessly awaiting Denise's DM2, and my tie-in cup. But Denise, I also really want to see more of Ray and his father. I'm very intrigued by what you posted on your blog, and I think that Ray and Damian's relationship is largely unexplored. More please.

In other, much happier news, may I just say how much I love and adore CJ Cregg? I do. She has completely overtaken Scully as my TV Girlfriend (course, that could also be the fact that Scully's just not as sexy sitting around in a bathrobe as she was weilding a gun and a cell phone). And thankfully, Sorkin is really giving Allison some fabulous stuff to work with this season. If anyone is wondering what to get me this year for Chanukah, look no further. All I want is CJ wrapped up in a big bow.

Tangentially related to last night's West Wing, a fabulous column by Jon Carroll is here.

2001-11-13T10:01:00.000-05:00

I swear, Jon Carroll has a talent for saying exactly what I want to say... only better. Of course, that's why he's a newspaper columist and I'm a legal aid lawyer.

National Democratic Party, are you listening? George W. Bush and the Republican Congress are handing you amunition for the next election. (of course, so is the Democratic Senate... but I'm trying real hard to ignore that fact) Try stacking those $300 tax refunds up against the billions of dollars that corporations are getting back. Poor George (as Ann Richards would say), he's gonna win the war in Afganistan too soon, what with three years left on his term.

2001-11-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

Because putting together new web pages is a good excuse not to write, and because I can use all the incentive I can get, I give you... C.L.Finn's Notepad. This blog will have bits and pieces of works in progress, discarded scenes, and fic silliness. First up today is a bit of a Wes/Gunn story I've been playing around with.

2001-11-12T10:28:00.000-05:00

We've already lost the War on Terrorism.

If, as GW Bush would tell us, the goal of the terrorists is to destroy the American way of life, then we have already lost that war. And the terrorists only fired the first shot, the rest of the war was picked up and waged by our President, our Justice Department, and our Congress. Think I'm wrong? Have you actually looked at the PATRIOT Act that was passed almost unanimously Congress? It whittles away at our most basic Constitutional rights.

The latest offense in this unopposed battle is your Right to legal counsel and the attorney-client privilege. The Bureau of Prisons has recently released new regulations that would allow prison officials or other law enforcement to monitor phone conversations and meetings between prisoners and their attorneys.

2001-11-11T18:57:00.000-05:00

Crawling up out of my exhausted stupor. Spent yesterday at Eclecticon in Newark, remembering just exactly why I love fandom so much. It's so incredibly cool to be around people who are, in so many different ways, just like me. And yet, so different in many very cool ways.

I got to meet a lot of incredibly cool women who I knew, and some I didn't know, over the internet. Miriam, who is smart and funny and interesting. Francesca, who is a force of nature all her own, and is oddly much like I imagined her. Her energy makes me tired, but in a good way. Ins and Owlet, who are adorable, even if they do make me feel incredibly old. And Lanning and Cassandra and everyone else that I met yesterday... all very cool people. Oh, and Te! The incomparable Te. Get your computer working again woman, then write us some more Smallville smut, and make me happy with some more Wes/Gunn smut. (Mia sends a happy tail wag in your direction.) I'm glad all over again that that I made the decision to move back to New York. I love the internet, but it it so great getting the opportunity to sit around in a room with these incredible people and talk about beautiful men and sex and writing.

Becky and I got home at 4 this morning. I feel hung over, sort of like I got drunk on good talk, and exhausted. But very, very happy. And inspired to write.

In sadder news, Dorothy Dunnett passed away day before yesterday. She lived a long life and left behind an incredible legacy in her novels. I admit, I've been cursing her lately as I devour the Lymond Chronicles, but I can't even begin to say how lucky I am that she created this amazing world for me to get lost in. She may be gone, but Francis Crawford will live on in her name. It's the most we can all hope for... to leave behind something that touches people.

2001-11-06T18:50:00.000-05:00

Hey, I figured out how to put in that groovy comment thing. Comment me, baby.

2001-11-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

I just wrote a dS story... four pages in about 2 1/2 hours. I've never done that before. It's all Beth's fault... she fed me the silly plot bunny. She's my own personal PTB, sending me visions. Anyway, it's not up anywhere at the moment, so I'm just putting it here...

Friendly Skies
by C.L. Finn

"You know I love ya, Fraser, but one of these days I want to take a trip where we travel the old fashioned way. I want cramped seats and canned air and really stale peanuts served to me by women with shellacked hair and too much make-up."

"Time was of the essence, Ray. You know that."

Of course I know that. We're crammed into his cargo plane because of me. Mounties in Whitehorse need my testimony on a case I helped out with a couple months ago. Unfortunately, Fraser and me were out on the ice and by the time word got to us it was 24 hours till the trial. Fraser managed to scam a ride on a cargo plane, except we have to be cargo. Dief got the damn co-pilot's seat.

Shifting around on the pile of blankets and parachutes we're sitting on, I check my pocket again, wishing I hadn't left my book behind at the airstrip. We've got three more hours to kill on this tin can.

"And an in-flight movie. I want an in-flight movie."

"I'll see what I can do next time." Fraser shifts around and searches through the pockets of his coat. "However," he says finally, pulling out a small package, "I can supply the stale peanuts."

Old trail mix. Leave it to Fraser to actually have that in his pocket. It's even the kind I like, with the dried cranberries.

"I'm afraid I can't do anything about the seats or air, and I don't have a make-up kit on me at present."

That makes me laugh. The freak. A sudden image of Fraser in make-up and a shellacked wig has me laughing even harder. I've seen pictures of him when he went undercover as a woman once. Tell you the truth, it's not something I want to see in living color. Too creepy.

He grins over at me and I swear he just read my mind. I love that. I love that he can do that. Grabbing the front of his coat, I pull him over for a kiss, which turns into something more serious that I intended. And dammit, I'm hard already. I swear to God, it's been three months and I still get hard at the drop of a hat with him. Not that I'm complaining, 'cause really, who would bitch about great sex in great quantities. But sometimes it can be inconvenient. Like when we're stuck in the cargo hold of a plane, flying over the arctic somewhere.

"So what about that in-flight movie?" I ask, pushing him away and trying to shift around to get the pressure off my cock. It's like being a damn teenager again.

"Hmmm… I suppose I could entertain you with a story." At my groan, he grins. "Shadow puppets?"

"Charades?" I get into the spirit of the game… 101 ways to kill time while trapped in a tent in the middle of a snowstorm.

"I Spy?"

"Oh yeah, I spy… a bunch of crates. Thumbwrestling?"

"I always win."

"You cheat."

"I do not!"

"Uh huh. Don't worry, I won't tell the Mounties. They won't take your Fair Play badge away."

"I appreciate your discretion," he says with that beautiful deadpan face of his. Have I mentioned how much I love his sense of humor? Well I do. A lot. "Hangman?"

"That requires pencil and paper." Fraser reaches into one of his pockets with a smug grin. Well, duh. Of course he has pencil and paper on him. "Freak." He just grins bigger.

Then an idea hits me and I look around the empty hold with the closed door between us and the cockpit. "Hey, we could always join the Mile High club."

"What?"

"Mile High club. It's…"

"Yes, Ray. I'm familiar with the term." I grin at him, daring him to take me up on it. He just stares at me for a few seconds, then looks around the hold, then back at me. "Okay," he says and leans over to kiss me.

What the…? No way. "I was kidding," I say, shoving him back over to his side of the pile.

"Nevertheless, we have," he looks at his watch, "two hours and 23 minutes left on this flight. We are quite alone… I believe the noise of the engines and that door will serve to soundproof us from the cockpit. And you're bored," he flicks a look down at my lap, where my cock has just taken a renewed interest in things, "and horny."

"I am not horny!" I sputter indignantly, knowing that I just gave myself away. "You're the one that's horny."

"Shut up, Ray," he says, following the command up with action, covering my mouth with his, a warm hand cupping my fly.

"Yeah, alright," I muttered through his kisses. What, like I'm going to turn him down? Crazy Mountie… can't ever pass up a dare.

I love kissing him. I could do this all day and all night without any complaint whatsoever. He kisses in typical Benton Fraser style… full out, no holds barred, bonsai! He just bowls me over and turns me into mush when he kisses me like this.

Meanwhile, his hands are busy on my fly, getting it open, burrowing past the flannel lined jeans, past the longjohns. Yeah, I gave in and got over my objections to these one piece things when I figured out how warm they are. Mine are not red though. I stood my ground on the bright red.

And Fraser's hand is so warm. Oh god. I don’t get how he can always have such warm hands. My hands haven't been warm since I took a nose-dive out of a plane over an ice-field four months ago. But his are *always* warm. And thank god for that.

He jerks me a few times just the way I like it, hard and slow, and doesn't let up on his assault on my mouth. I love when he's in this kind of mood so I just grab onto his hair, kiss him back and give it all up to him. He is a force of nature. But in a good way.

When my dick is as hard as it will ever be, Fraser leaves my mouth and moves down. Pulling me out of the layers, he doesn't let the cold air even register before he's got his mouth over me. Takes me in all the way and just hums around me. He is so fucking good at this. You'd never know looking at Fraser, dressed up, buttoned up in his Mountie suit that he's a natural born cocksucker. But he is. The man will put his tongue anywhere, and how lucky am I that his favorite spot is my cock?

"God, Ben," I gasp when he pulls back, swirling his tongue around the head of my cock.

He chuckles around me, making me shiver at the sensation, and I just know that if I could pry my eyes open and look down at him, he'd be smug as hell. Cause the bastard *knows* how good he is.

And then he moves down again, taking me all the way in, wrapping a warm hand around my balls, and he gets a rhythm going, with his throat and his tongue and his lips, and oh Fuck! All I can do it hold onto him, one hand buried in his hair, one fist full of the shoulder of his parka, and let him pull me out of myself and into him.

When I come back down to earth… metaphorically, of course, we're still on this damn plane… Fraser's lounging next to me, watching me with a grin. He's got me tucked back into my pants but my fly is still laying open. He licks his bottom lip.

"Thank you, Ray." Oh man. I am so fucking in love with this guy. Jesus.

Pull him to me, devour his mouth, try to tell him how I feel. I don't do very good with the words. Luckily he totally gets this language.

Eventually, he pulls away and I flop back with a sigh. "Now what, Mountie?" I know he's got to be as hard as I was ten minutes ago, but why should I let on when I can have some fun yanking his chain. Or, not yanking his chain just yet.

He makes a big show of looking at his watch. "Well, we have another hour and 50 minutes to kill."

"We do, huh?"

"Yes. I might have a few suggestions." He reaches into yet another pocket on his parka and comes up with a bottle of lube. Oh God, being in love with a boy scout has its definite perks.

2001-11-04T21:01:00.000-05:00

Check this out. My roomie, Becky, has a blog now, and it's very beautiful. I wanna do this kinda stuff with Photoshop when I grow up.

Cruising around other blogs...

Brigid always has some great stuff to say... but oooh... your parallels between Ray K. and the fox in The Little Prince. One of my favorite characters in one of my favorite books, and yes, he is so like Ray.

Denise! Where do I line up for my DM2:CT cup?

Now off to watch Uprising in the hopes that NBC does this historical event some justice... while flipping to Game 7 of the World Series during commercial breaks. Go Yankees.

2001-10-30T11:20:00.000-05:00

I live in Brooklyn and I've spent a couple days a week for the last few weeks in downtown Manhattan, only a few blocks from the WTC site. I'm not afraid of terrorist attacks. I'm not afraid of coming down with Anthrax when I open my mailbox. Maybe that's all naive, but there ya go. What terrifies me is this stuff.

Here's a good site with info on the Anti-Terrorism bill and its implications. Safe and Free

Our President says we should try and get back to normal. Meantime, the rights that we've lived with in this country for over two hundred years are being erroded in the name of a War Against Terrorism. And no one really notices it happening because dissent is being so ruthlessly squashed. This is terror.

2001-10-29T23:14:00.000-05:00

So, I got Photoshop and it's like crack. My first attempt at graphical brilliance falls a bit short of the goal. However, you can see it on my story, which is now posted on my page. Go here. Let me know what you think. I know that's Billy, not Ray, but ya know, it was the only decent pic of the tattoo I had.

Good day on this Monday... the new computers are finally hooked up at my office, which means I am no longer cut off from email and web during the day... came home and the landlord finally has the heat working, as well as the hot water in the shower (best we could get was luke-warm up till now). And an... um... interesting Angel tonight. I need to think about it a bit before I say anything.

Now, I'm off to read Rowan's new story. Yay.

2001-10-28T01:07:00.000-04:00

New story done and posted. It will eventually go on my webpage and probably be uploaded to Squidge, but for now it can only be found here...

Indelible

2001-10-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

Finished the third Lymond book today and immediately wanted to crack open the next, so I went by Barnes & Noble on the way home from work. They have every one but the one I want. Grrr. So, I just went and spent money on Amazon.com. Such a dangerous place for me.

Also finished a story this week, which is an even happier event. It's off with betas and will hopefully be done and posted this weekend. As soon as that's done I can turn my serious attention back to Young Ben Fraser. He's talking to me again and, well... yum.

I haven't talked any about TV lately, but I've been reading everyone's thoughts on Buffy, Angel, Smallville, et al. I've been enjoying both Angel and Buffy this season, and when I read people's comments I find myself saying, "yeah, I agree with that." (or not) But I seem to be in a very uncritical space right now. I've just really been kicking back and letting myself be entertained. I really liked TOGOM, and I see people's points about the problems with the ep, but I think I was so glad to have an ep centered around Gunn, that I didn't notice the problems.

As for Smallville, I've put it on the last two weeks, and I knew immediately that it was going to hit the slash community with a bang. But so far, it just hasn't caught my fancy. I'm gonna keep giving it a try and see if it grows on me. Not a single other new show has made it past the first episode. I think I'm just bored this year. Or maybe there's too much going on in real life.

My other must-see show, West Wing, is making me very happy this season. I love CJ... I absolutely adore her. And wow... her journey from frazzled, angry and frustrated to serious butt-kicking manipulator.... you go girl. Allison Janney continues to blow me away.

2001-10-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

Geez, I've been offline so long, I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I planned on writing about September 11 and surrounding issues, but I don't know. Like many people I just want to move on. So, just a few observations.

On flags and shows of patriotism... Personally, I've swung back and forth over the last month between being awed at the way Americans have managed to find some common ground (I mean, when farmers in the midwest are showing their support for New York City, things are pretty bizarre), and wanting to scream at the next flag I see. I love this country, and can't imagine living anywhere else (Canada's just too damn cold), but I don't have a flag flying in my apartment window or stuck on my car. And I don't want to for several reasons. First of all, the flag is a symbol that doesn't mean much to me. It doesn't stir a sense of patriotism or sentimentalism in me. On the other hand, I can walk into the Capitol building or the National Archives where they keep the Constitution and Dec. of Independence, and be moved. To me, the flag feels militaristic, imperialistic. It feels way too much like a symbol of us vs. them. (it especially feels that way when it seems to be required of any good American citizen) It also feels way too much like a bandwagon right now, and I'm always leery of bandwagons. I don't have a problem with people flying the flag proudly... I'm very happy that they've found some meaning in that. But man, if another person asks me if I have a flag I just might scream.

On hate... In the first week after the attack, I was completely driven away from the radio. I couldn't turn it on unless it was to listen to NPR. (and thank God for NPR) Intellectually I know about hate... I've studied history and I know that there's so much of it still out there in this country. But I've never really experienced it in the way I did on the radio here in NY the first week. And I'm not talking about AM talk radio, I know to avoid that crap. I'm talking about mainstream FM rock stations. There is one station that I will never listen to again. I listened to it for about 15 minutes a few days after the attack (it was one my roommate and I had been listening to in the mornings prior to the 11th) and really couldn't believe what I was hearing. People were calling in and railing against all Arabs and Muslims and saying things like "All towelheads should be rounded up and shot" and "we should do the Afgan people a favor and just bomb them all". And that's some of the least horrific things that I heard. The DJ agreed, egged people on, and laughed at these statements. It was so... I don't know, I still can't quite put into words how I feel about it. It was just painful. And it sure didn't engender flag-waving in me.

On a related note, this country really needs a good dose of irony right now. I've been finding amusement in the fact that radio stations are playing all these dedication songs... songs that have some kind of *meaning*. What's bizarre is the fact that so many of the songs being played, by these same stations and DJs that are hot to bomb Afganistan, are songs that were written as Anti-war songs in the 60's.

And now for the humor portion of our program... (anyone who isn't ready to laugh about recent events, might want to skip the following). The roommate and I got a little silly during GW Bush's prime time press conference the other night and we bring you...

-----
The George W. Bush Talking Points Drinking Game.

Here's how it works...

Each time GW refers to a "different kind of war" or a "new kind of war", take one drink.

Each time he mispronounces a word like Islam (in the same vein of his father's pronunciation of Sadam), take two drinks.

Each time he refers to the "evil doers" or "evil" take three drinks.

Each time he urges the nation to get back to normal and go out and shop, do your patriotic duty and buy yourself another beer.

If you get real lucky and he says something along the lines of, "The only way the evil doers can be beaten in this different kind of war is if Americans get out and shop," you win, drink a whole bottle.-----

As some wise person once said, laughter is the best medicine.

2001-10-07T11:19:00.000-04:00

So, I'm finally back... not quite all the way, no access at work till the 15th and I'm currently paying AOL a surcharge 'cause we still have no DSL... but I'm back online in some fashion anyway. Man... I didn't know moving was going to mean I'd be offline for a month. Feel like I've been through Detox.

Anyway, all settled in here in Brooklyn. The new job is good, for the most part. Things have been a bit crazy here lately. (ooh, nice understatement, Christine) I have plenty to say about recent events, and about Buffy and Angel premieres and various and sundy other things, but not at the moment. People are due over for brunch soon and there will be lots of fannish fun had by all, I'm sure.

I must say though... blogs were the only thing I could get to online this past month so they were my lifeline to fandom. It was frustrating not being able to join the discussion, but it was good getting to read what everyone was saying. Kit, welcome and thanks for some fascinating reading. LaT, happy belated birthday.

Okay, off to find shoes.

2001-09-13T17:53:00.000-04:00

Trying to check in this way. I still have no net access since the move... just got a phone line put in yesterday and the computer is still in a box, and will lkely stay that way until more boxes get unpacked so I have a place to put it. Also, no TV till this weekend. Man, it's like living in the dark ages.

But ya know... I really have nothing to complain about all things considered.

Yep, I'm okay. Everyone I know is okay. But man... what insanity, huh? We've had a lot of smoke here in Brooklyn and transportation is a complete mess. Paychecks aren't coming till next week sometime becaue our head office is located below 14th street in Manhattan. We went down yesterday to Brooklyn Heights and looked across the river at the skyline. It's like a different place. I don't even know what to say about all of this except to say, thank goodness that everyone's okay. Rowan, I'm glad your sis is okay. My heart is breaking for all of the people who are not okay... the people on those planes, the people in the buildings and on the ground who didn't survive the day, and the firefighters and policemen who put their lives on the line and didn't come out.

God, I haven't processed the sheer enormity of it all.

More later on this and on my move when I can get net access that doesn't require me to pay Mail Boxes Etc. for it. And I can't seem to send email over AOL from here... grrr... so this is my only check in till the 'puter's back up and running.

2001-08-25T00:41:00.000-04:00

So... my last entry for a while. The computer's going to be packed up tommorow sometime, along with the rest of stuff. Movers are coming Sunday. Mia, my sister, and I will head out of New Mexico on Monday. The amount of stuff I have to do between now and then is staggering. (and all I *really* want to do is read Kellie's new 600k story )

Finally got done at the office today at 2:00, packed up all my toys and books and sundries and said goodbye. As much as this job has been making me unhappy lately, I'm going to miss the place. It was my first job out of law school and I learned an incredible amount, most of it in trial by fire. I had no idea what the hell I was doing when I got plopped down into the job, the only lawyer in the office, serving the poor people of three counties in areas of law I'd never even thought about before, much less learned. I still don't know what I'm doing on some days, but I know a lot more than I two years ago. I work with good people who have been doing the best they can under the worst of circumstances (we've lost 10 lawyers since the beginning of the year), all of them committed to doing hard work for next to no pay.

But the hardest part was leaving Dina. She's my paralegal/office manager, and it's just been me and her in the office. And not only has she kept me sane in the job, she has been a good friend. She's an amazing soul, a true one of a kind. I'd pack her up in a box and take her with me if I could, and if her husband would let me get away with her.

Anyway, feeling melancholy tonight. Saying goodbye. Monday, I'll be looking forward, excited about New York. I can't wait to be out there with old friends and getting a chance to meet new ones. So... next entry will hopefully be from Brooklyn. See y'all there.

2001-08-23T01:50:00.000-04:00

In the mood to reminisce tonight. That's the problem with packing... you start opening up boxes that have been sitting around for ages and suddenly find yourself lost in pictures and old cards and letters. Or... at least I do. Add to that the fact that I've been watching My Fair Lady on AMC while looking through old pics of my little sister when she was actually little, and my dad back in the 70s with sideburns, actual hair on his head, and wide ties. Ooh, and white patent leather shoes.

Anyway... My Fair Lady. This was my favorite movie when I was a kid. I still adore it, but I think I've become too cynical to enjoy it as much. I just want to tell her at the end... "Don't put up with that shit, girl. Make him get his own damn slippers!" Now I know what my mom means when she tells me, "Just enjoy it. Why do you have to analyse everything?" It's a sickness, I know. But the movie still makes me very happy. I know every word of every song in the movie, and I truly believe Audrey Hepburn was one of the most beautiful women ever put on this earth. Inside and out.

And now... rumors that Paul Gross in talks with Stratford to do My Fair Lady next year. Does it even need to be said that I will *so* be there if he does.

Denise and AuK mentioned the Lymond Chronicles. Yes, they are not easy reads. B gave me the first one for my birthday two years ago, and it took me about five months of picking it up and putting it down before I managed to get past the difficult language and the sheer denseness of it, and got caught up in the story and the characters. By the time I reached the end, I was in love. With Lymond, with Will Scot, with Christian Stewart. Now I'm on the third book, The Disorderly Knights, and I haven't had much chance to get into it with the insanity that is my life right now... but I'm taking it on the road with me next week. The work you have to put in to read these books is well worth the pay off.

Now... off to bed so I can get up and pack some more.

2001-08-14T23:28:00.000-04:00

Got a job. Now I have an apartment! A two bedroom with a terrace in Cobble Hill. Whew. Have the movers scheduled and getting a bunch of work done on my van. Now... if I could just get all this crap packed and all my stuff at work done, I'd be a happy little soon-to-be-Brooklynite.

And I started this little PWP dS story for fun to finish up and post before going offline for a week or so while moving. But... it's all done but the sex, and I can't seem to write the sex. I'm completely uninspired. How frustrating.

2001-08-13T23:56:00.000-04:00

Denise! Glad to see you're blogging. And for the record, I really want to drive through Taco Bell and get my free DM 2:CT tie-in cup.

2001-08-13T21:23:00.000-04:00

You know AuKestrel, I'm not one to knock the appeal of "sweaty sexy guys on skates". For all my high-minded ideas of why I love baseball, baby there is nothing I love more than boys in baseball uniforms. (and yes, I adore Dr. Longball, why do you ask? ) And the thighs on catchers... mmm.

2001-08-11T15:21:00.000-04:00

Added many more links to the side here. Lots of people who I read regularly. Now... going to buy boxes.

2001-08-11T14:35:00.000-04:00

Heh... blogging as a form of procrastination. There are so many things I should be doing right now, just haven't worked up the energy yet.

Surfing around other blogs leaves me feeling guilty about the weather we've been having in New Mexico. Everyone back East and in the Mid-west have been sweltering, and it's been absolutely beautiful here. Rainstorms every afternoon or evening have kept things cool. I had to put slippers and a sweater on this morning because the house was very cold. It's looking like it's going to be a sunny hot one today though.

AuKestrel was talking about how boring she finds baseball. I'm not going to try and defend baseball, because I really believe that sports are a matter of personal taste. Some people are baseball fans, some people are hockey or basketball fans, some people are football fans. (and man do I wish I had the text of George Carlin's great baseball vs. football routine!) Baseball may not be the one true sport in the grand scheme of things, but it is for me.

For me, baseball is all about summer. I have so many memories of summer evenings, sitting in the stands at Dukes Stadium in Alubuquerque, cheering on the Dodger's AAA farm club. My dad and mom both loved baseball and the three of us (sometimes 4 when my sister could be convinced to go) would sit in the stands and eat hotdogs and popcorn and drink beer and watch the game unfold. Yeah, AuK, it's a slow game much of the time, and it may appear on the surface that there is an awful lot of standing around. But if you're into the game, if you care about the nuances, then you can see a lot more going on. I like baseball because it's a game of multiple skills... you have hitters and pitchers and fielders, and all of those things come into play at any given time. It is a multi-layered game of statistics. And once upon a time, I think baseball *did* reflect America. It doesn't any more... football is closer to the national psyche in my opinion.

I'll admit it.. I'm a baseball purist and I believe that designated hitters, astroturf, extra divisions, and million-dollar contracts have diluted the game. But I grew up on farm club baseball, and there's nothing like it. My mom was always the most vocal baseball fan in my family (a true blue Yanks fan from way back), but my dad was the one who truly loved the game. He died in January of last year, and the Dukes had their last season in Albuquerque last summer since the Dodgers have moved them to Portland. Somehow that seemed fitting, because my memories of baseball will always be tangled up in memories of my father. Not that I intend to give up baseball... no way. I'm moving to NY and I intend to worship at the alter of the house that Ruth built.

On a related note, I knew that my slash obsession had gone way too far when I watched *61 on HBO and all I could see was slash. Whitey/Mickey and Mickey/Roger. I'm sick, I know. Luckily, that would be going too far down that RPS road for me.

Miriam, congrats on the new mortgage! Now, if I could just find an apartment.

My dog is busily chewing on a plastic hangar, wanting some attention, and I have to decide what to do today. I need to update my recs page (already have a theme and a bunch of stories chosen). Need to work on this silly PWP that B got me started on. But really, I should get dressed and go buy some boxes and try to get all my books packed today. I suppose I'll do the responsible thing. Have I mentioned how much I hate packing? Moving, I like. But all the work that leads up to the actual moving just sucks.

2001-08-06T23:40:00.000-04:00

Whoa, been a while since I posted. I've been busy cleaning, packing, trying to close cases, find a place to live, and many other hundreds of things that have to be done in the next three weeks. Argh, moving is a pain. I spent this weekend cleaning out and trying to get rid of all my junk. Not an easy task. I try to be zen and simplify, I really do. But I seem to be constitutionally unable to really do it. I filled three big garbage bags of clothes this weekend to donate to a local shelter, and I still have two dressers full and another box full of sweaters. I think it's genetic. When my dad died and we cleaned out his house, I couldn't believe the crap he'd kept. He'd managed to squirrell away the most bizarre useless stuff, even through two major moves. He had all kinds of obsolete electronics, wheelchair and car parts that didn't go to anything, and about four of every possible tool in the universe. Now, to me, it was all junk. To him it was important. Me... my important junk tends to run the paper gamut... books, pictures, magazines, etc. And let's not forget the video tapes. But I don't seem to be any better than him at letting it go. Seems I'm just a chip off the old block.

Leos, Leos everywhere. Brighid and Kat, happy birthday! And B, my partner in obsession, happy birthday, hon... May you find Paul Gross on your doorstep in a big red bow.

Changing and adding new links to the side. Grrr on the slashcity.net takeover. Isn't it nice that we've taught the Russians to be good little capitalists?!

Now that I'm through with one story, I'm trying to move on and work on something else. I'm just having a hard time figuring out which one is going to get my immediate attention. Here's what I have...

dS post-COTW first time story... the beginning of the story, so to speak, in my Easiest Choice universe. Flirting, sex, a little angst, big decisions, and plot. I need detailed plot and it's daunting.

Young Ben... Benton Fraser at 19, on the road with Innusiq, working on an Alberta cattle ranch, sex with a cowboy named Tom. Hmmm... I'm having fun with this story, but so far I've only been able to write the sex parts.

Gus Knickle meets Ray Kowalski... a weird crossover that I started a while back. Have a handful of scenes written and a plot scetched out, but I've tried to put it on a backburner for the above stories.

Wes/Gunn... yes, my first foray into these guys. I really don't want to be writing them, but Wesley just started talking one day and made me start writing.

And then there's the handful of Highlander stories I want to finish one of these days, and a Sports Night thing, but these things are growing spiderwebs these days. Man, I wish I could write faster, be more prolific. Oh well... I'll plug along at my snails pace and see what works itself out first. Heh... probably something unrelated to the above.

Think I'll go open those folders and stare at the stories now, see if anything breaks loose.

2001-07-29T17:46:00.000-04:00

After quite a long dry-spell, I've posted a new due South story. Anything. Whew. Now to stand on the cliff and wait to hear the pebble hit the bottom. That's what waiting for feedback always feels like to me.

And if that's not enough for ya, Speranza posted a new due South story which I really, really enjoyed. Check it out.

Gotta find some lunch.

2001-07-27T00:45:00.000-04:00

Oh my god, I'm starting to get a hang of this html thing. Added lots o' stuff to the sidebar, including pics of my current TV boyfriends. You know, I may never write again... I'll just keeping futzing with my template.

Stopping now.

2001-07-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

Someone very cool did something incredibly nice for me today. It makes me happy and it makes me appreciate once again this cool group of people who have come together all over the web for the love of slash. Thanks xen!

And hey, LaT, I can totally understand your frustration with the IRS. I got my own letter in the mail and was pissed off about it for completely different reasons. I am getting some money back, albeit a small amount and I won't actually see it because I *owe* the IRS money right now due to a mistake made on my withholding last year. grrr. But what seriously annoyed me about the notice was how much it was written like a god-damned campaign letter for George Bush. George W. Bush and and the US Congress passed the tax relief bill so you could get some money back... Rah Rah.

Meanwhile, there have been about five people laid off in my organization because George Bush couldn't be bothered to appoint someone to head the VAWA office at DOJ, so decisions couldn't be made on grant renewals until sometime this summer, and now they're cutting our grant in half. So for the thousand women we've been able to help get out of domestic violence in the past year and a half, we'll have to tell the next half, so sorry. Thanks George, you could have just kept my damn $300 for all of that. Not even getting into the issue of Legal Services Corporation funding.

Deep breath . Going back to my happy place. Slashers are cool. Oh yes, they are.

2001-07-25T23:21:00.000-04:00

There are a lot of things I'm going to miss about New Mexico. Today I got a good taste of a few of them.

I cover three counties in Northern New Mexico in my job, and have to travel around those counties on occasion. Today I had to drive to Raton for a hearing and it was an incredibly beautiful day to be driving through Northern New Mexico. I left Taos at just before 7 this morning, drove through Taos Canyon which is part of the Kit Carson National Forest, and it's filled with tall pines and wild-flower dotted clearings, and where it's not national forest there are expensive vacation houses and hippie encampments complete with passive solar shacks and old school buses. Taos Canyon opens up into the Moreno Valley, which is this idyllic valley nestled in the tops of the mountains, on one side is Wheeler Peak, the highest point in NM, and on the other you can see the now-green ski slopes of Angel Fire, and farther down the mirror-like Eagle Nest Lake.

From Moreno Valley, it's back into the mountains and down through Cimarron Canyon. This canyon is probably my favorite place to drive through. The canyon rises up on either side of the road, which follows the river down its crazily winding path down and out of the Sangre de Cristos. It's vacation season, so all the campsites are packed with RVs and the river is filled with old men in rubber pants, casting their lines and discussing flys. Mid-way through the canyon, the Palisades Sills rise up on the left side... huge cliffs of etched limestone looking something like the gods left their stacks of blocks laying around. The north end of Cimarron canyon belongs to the Boy Scout's Philmont Ranch, hundreds of acres of woodlands where boys from all over the country spend their summers. What I find really amusing is the road signs in the area saying "Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers in this Area". Heh... beware escaped boy scouts.

The bottom of Cimarron Canyon is the village of Cimarron, an old west town that was a stop over on the Santa Fe Trail. There's still something old and quaint about it. From there the landscape changes dramatically, because this is the high prairie. Flat, very flat. Puncuated by tall mesas rising up out of nowhere. And this is the best place to enjoy the sky. The sky in New Mexico is unlike anyting I've seen anywhere else. Bright, bright blue from horizon to horizon, and out here the horizon stretches forever. It's dotted with puffy white clouds here and there. The distant mesas appear dark bluish-purple, and I always get the feeling that I'm driving underwater, like it's a vast ocean landscape, which it was at one point in the earth's history. There's a lot of cattle out on the prairie, and buffalo, and here and there I can see deer and elk. Last time I drove through here, this spring, it seemed all the deer were mothers and fawns. Now, the sunflowers are in bloom and they line the road. The one dark spot on the drive is about 10 miles south of Raton, where the NRA has their national retreat and conference center. Just... argh, ya know? And then Raton, which is a mining town, and unlike Taos, which is all adobe, Raton is full of bungalows and victorian houses, all nestled at the base of a hill which has Raton spelled out on its side, ala Hollywood.

It was a nice day. The hearing was a wash, we won some and lost some. I met with some clients and then headed back home this afternoon. My favorite thing in the world is summer rain. In July and August, we have our monsoon season. It gets unbearably hot and then around 3 or 4 every day, huge thick clouds move in and rain falls in fat drops for an hour or less and then they move away and the sun shines again, but everything's cooler because the humidity doesn't linger here. And it *smells* incredible. We drove through some rain and then I opened the windows and inhaled it. And Mia (my dog) did her surfing act, trying to stay balanced on the seat while sticking her head out the window as I drive around curves in the canyon.

So that was my day. And this is the stuff I'll miss when I move. There are many things I dislike about New Mexico. It's at the bottom of all sorts of lists, like education and quality of life, and at the top of many others like violence and poverty. It's a place of extremes, incredible wealth and appalling poverty, pueblos and mining towns. But there are also mountains and desert prairies. And the sky... everywhere there's the sky. And how happy I am to be walking in it on days like this.

But yeah, I'll miss it.

2001-07-25T01:14:00.000-04:00

Whew! I just finished a story. It's been so long since that happened that I'd forgotten how nice it feels. For twelve pages, I've been beating my head up against this story for far too long. Now it has to go to beta, and probably be revised some. But, wow, I finished a story. A Due South story.

Now, off to bed. I have to drive out of town for a hearing tomorrow and really should be in bed before now.

2001-07-23T23:29:00.000-04:00

I'm moving to New York at the end of August. I'm very excited about moving, about being back in the city and being able to get any kind of food I could want (except New Mexican, which is *really* hard to find outside of this state), having a choice of more than four movies, *and* theatre, and more importantly being near my friends. But ya know, moving sucks. Big time. I have accumulated way too much crap that I must seriously go through and get rid of before packing up what I'm actually taking with me. And I have all these cases that I have to close at work before I can wrap up my current job.

And then there's finding a place to live in New York.

Finding an affordable apartment in New York is a bitch in the best of circumstances... but you should try finding an *accessible* affordable apartment. The large majority of apartment buildings and brownstones have steps... lots of steps. But then there's the bathroom door problem. Here's a bit of trivia. Back when indoor plumbing came into use, the only place people had to put the water closet was in the space under the stairs. That small space necessitated a smaller door. And it stuck. Now for the last 100 years, builders have built bathroom doors which are several inches narrower than all other doors in a house or apartment. Boy, talk about not being able to think outside of the box.

Just another reason to be suspicous of "convention".

Meanwhile, if anyone knows of a 2 bedroom under $1800, with no steps and wide doors, in Brooklyn... let me know. I might give you my first born.

And hey, this blogging thing works really well at avoiding writing. But I think I'm gonna go try and do that now. I just can't decide if I want to bang my head against this DS story, or go play with Wesley and Gunn. Hmmm... the choices we have to make.

And... thanks for all the nice welcomes to the land of Blog.

2001-07-23T02:09:00.000-04:00

Went to see America's Sweethearts today. As much as I love John Cusack and Billy Crystal, (and they actually were great in the movie, as was Julia and Catherine Zeta Jones, et al.) I can not recommend the movie. It was incredibly funny in places, and everyone was charming, and CZJ is actually pretty good at comedy. But boy, the messages in this movie. Let's see... first there's 'loose a bunch of weight and you'll get the famous, cute guy that you've always had a crush on'. 'Having a man is more important than having a sister.' Okay, those were the two things that really bugged the hell out of me. Argh! Save your money and go see Shrek... inner beauty wins out in that one. (though, I was a bit disturbed that all those fairy tales characters were left homeless... but hey, you can't have everything )

"I am now, and will always be... the Duckman." Hee. Pretty in Pink is on in the background. One of the movies that shaped my high school years. I always loved the movie, but always found myself yelling at Molly at the end of the movie... "You're picking the wrong guy, you moron!" Andrew McCarthy treated her so crappy through the whole movie, and Duckie was so good to her. What was she thinking? Yeah, I know, she was thinking she wanted the good looking rich guy instead of the dorky guy. But you know, Duckie was my dream man for many years. And that probably says all kinds of things about me.

And I still think Newbie would be a great boyfriend... cause ya know, he'd understand when you said you coudn't possibly go outside and do something cause Due South is about to come on.

2001-07-21T18:31:00.000-04:00

So, I've been reading other people's 'blogs for months now and resisting the urge to blog myself. Apparently it's true, resistance is futile. So, here I am. I'm still figuring out this whole html thing, so links and other fun stuff will come as I get a better handle on how to make this work.

First, a few words that describe me... woman, feminist, legal aid attorney, Gemini, liberal Democrat, slash writer, New Mexican, bisexual, dog lover, baseball fan, disabled. By no means the whole list of labels that can be applied to me, but all things that will likely shape what I have to say here.

I find the whole blogging phenomenon really fascinating, and I hope to find plenty of things to say. Unfortunately, I have never been good at keeping a diary or a journal, so I can't make any guarantees about how often I will be posting. I also make no promises at erudition or cleverness. I simply promise to talk about what I feel like, when I feel like it.

2001-07-21T17:47:00.000-04:00

Testing, testing, testing. Tap, tap, tap.