harryron's Friends

auntbijou

Subject:	PIES!! PIES!! PIES!!
Time:	9:14 am.
Mood:	busy.
Music:	"Who Says" John Mayer.

I just had to say that, because I will be baking myself into oblivion today. Mom has taken over the reins for Thanksgiving this year, because the Salt-Encrusted Ham of Doom convinced her that the Flaky Sister just... should not cook for Thanksgiving. I mean, it wasn't just the ham, it was many, many other things, mostly... it's because after cooking since she was old enough to stand at the stove and stir a pot for our mom... the Flaky Sister just... can't cook. Mom and I were chatting about it a few weeks ago, and reliving last Thanksgiving, and then went on to talking about other meals we've had at the Flaky Sister's, and... *shakes head*
( Cut because of length and pictures, omg! )

Comments: 1 rememberance - remember.

abigail89

Subject:	Blu-ray follow-up
Time:	10:22 am.
Mood:	cranky.

Thanks for all your tea and sympathy about our boosted Blu-Ray player from Amazon. I'm going to go to the shipping office today to lodge a formal complaint and order a search and rescue. I'm really pissed about this.

Because people just don't wander past my house and think, 'Hey, I'm gonna take that package by the door.' Because they can't. Our house is perched up on a hill and has a long drive way. Even though there weren't any cars there, we come and go at odd hours, so someone watching the house wouldn't even begin to guess when we're there.

Then there's the Fred factor. Fred watches the neighborhood from the front deck. He's a barky dog, but only when someone invades his territory. And he goes nuts when anyone enters the yard.

Unless he was deeply asleep on our bed. In which case I need to have another employee meeting with him. He's falling down on the job.

After dealing with the lovely and very helpful customer service rep from Amazon who issued a refund, Boy1 and I went off to Best Buy, where, lo and behold!, the player I wanted was even less than the amazon price. So I bought it. Set up was incredibly easy OMG! so easy! and I settled in with Boy2 to finally FINALLY watch 'Star Trek'. And on our new HD tv--oh, such yummy goodness. So many details I missed watching it even in the theater *cough4timescough* HeadBoy commented on how much better it would've been on a 55" screen. *headsmack* In our small living room, 42" is a little overwhelming for me.

*sighs* Well, all's well that ends well. But I'm gonna get Amazon their money back.

Now you know what our Christmas gift is. That's it. The boys will have a few things in their stockings, and the chance to buy BR films for the library, but that was a HUGE chunk o'change. Add on top of that a trip to New Orleans, and we're tapped out for the holiday already.

Comments: remember.

abigail89

Subject:	Monday calling
Time:	11:53 am.
Mood:	relaxed.

The weekend was one of those that I like to avoid: busy and cluttered with too many busy-like things. We had a fairly lazy Friday night, which I enjoyed (both boys out of the house until late; a nice dinner alone with HeadBoy, a little pre-Christmas shopping), but then Saturday hit, and we careened from one activity to the next. Then came Sunday, and with HeadBoy down for the count all day, and me at work, it actually kind of worked out.

Two, well, 1.5 days, of work and then Thanksgiving starts. We're having dinner on Thursday with Rev Ann and her hubby, Mike, and their 2 kids, who are adored by my boys, but are a little whiny and at times downright rude so I merely tolerate them (I have plenty of other things to rag on about my boys, but they are never, ever rude to others, except on rare occasions) My MIL called to try to get out of it, to which I smacked her down, even though I couldn't really give a shit if she came or not, but her son wants her there, so...there it is. So she's confirmed. We just have to work out the details of food, and what Rev. Ann is going to eat because she is a veggie.

*~*

So,

shocolate has been out wedding dress shopping with

suzanne_taylor, and urged us to post photos of our wedding dresses.

( See abigail89 & HeadBoy in all their 1984 glory )

*~*

Decided to participate once again in

bridge2sickbay. I actually like a couple I wrote yesterday. Theme was song lyrics.

( McCoy/Chekov: I wanna hear laugh like you mean it. Collapse into me, tired with joy (Snow Patrol - 'Hands Open') )

( McCoy/Author's Choice (Jocelyn): Georgia, Georgia / No peace, no peace I find / Just this old, sweet song / Keeps Georgia on my mind (Ray Charles) )

( Author's Choice (McCoy/Kirk) - The broken lights on the freeway left me here alone. I may have lost my way now, haven't forgotten my way home (Broken - Lifehouse) )

( Kirk/Chekov - Throw your window wide and taste the April night with me again (David Gray) )

Oh, that's enough torture for now. Huh. I think I ended up writing 7 ficlets, which is astonishing. There's a series of 3 that I want to clean up and make into a proper story.

Lunchtime! YAY.

Comments: remember.

abigail89

Subject:	Monday calling
Time:	11:53 am.
Mood:	relaxed.

shocolate has been out wedding dress shopping with

suzanne_taylor, and urged us to post photos of our wedding dresses.

( See abigail89 & HeadBoy in all their 1984 glory )

*~*

Decided to participate once again in

Comments: remember.

abigail89

Subject:	wrisomifu
Time:	11:31 am.
Mood:	hopeful.

Even though I haven't been documenting it, I have been writing every day. Mostly in big spurts, like Saturday and Sunday. Not only did I write that

stxi_sinfest thing (thanks, y'all, for reading), but wandered into

bridge2sickbay that evening to write three ficlets.

Odd how those fics I write the fastest seem to get the best response, whereas fics I take time to think about and write carefully get little to no attention. Lesson: Write fast and don't worry about it? Go with the gut instinct? I dunno.

Here are the ones that worked out for this week. I promise they're short:

Title: Not Just a Russian Thing
Pairing: McCoy/Chekov
Prompt: ring
Rating: Not naughty

( Not Just a Russian Thing )

Title: Body Heat
Pairing: Spock/McCoy
Prompt: warmth
Rating: Oh, not so naughty

( Body Heat )

*~*

In other news I'm really happy to get the extension on the

bestmates_xmas entry. I have it all worked out in my head, just trying to find the time to write. and it ain't gonna happen to today. It's the 13-hour work day.

I have the 'Star Trek' blu-ray set from Best Buy in my hot little hands. The pins that come in the 'gift' set are really nice! I thought they were going to be these cheapie things, but they're not. Everyone's getting one in their Christmas stocking. Now all I need is for my Blu-ray player to arrive from amazon and we'll be ready to punch it.

OMG! I realized this morning that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK. Holy cow! When did that happen? I am SO unprepared for the holidays. And I am NOT going to do Black Friday. Nope. Not me. I am going to sleep in. We're buying our TV this week; it's on sale, and that's that.

Oh, yeah, and if you want a holiday card, go HERE to fill in the address poll, especially if you're new. If you've been round these parts, I probably have your addy.

I gotta go.

Comments: remember.

abigail89

Subject:	wrisomifu
Time:	11:31 am.
Mood:	hopeful.

Even though I haven't been documenting it, I have been writing every day. Mostly in big spurts, like Saturday and Sunday. Not only did I write that

stxi_sinfest thing (thanks, y'all, for reading), but wandered into

Comments: remember.

auntbijou

Subject:	Because it was lovely...
Time:	10:55 am.
Mood:	sore.
Music:	"Revelations" Audioslave.

You ever have one of those moments when you're wholly absorbed in something, and then something happens that reminds you of why you have come to this particular place in your life?

We were at the library. The Husbandly One and the Impossible Son had gone off into the children's section to look for books, and the Impertinent Daughter and I had gone to look for manga. The manga and graphic novel section is right across from the yarn crafts section, so when I didn't find what I wanted in manga, I walked over to look at books on knitting, since I'm trying to learn. And I found what looked like a fascinating book, No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting by Anne L. Macdonald (no, that's not a typo, that's the way it's spelled on the cover of the book), so I slipped it off the shelf, opened it, and started reading. You'd think a book about knitting, especially the history of knitting, would be boring, but I was wholly and completely absorbed within seconds. How could I not be, reading about how Boy Scout troops during World War I spent hours knitting squares to be sewn together to make blankets for soldiers heading to France? Or when the township of Andover, Massachusetts, decreed in 1642: </i>"The court doe hereupon order and decree that in every towne then chosen men are to take care of such as are sent to keep cattle that they are sett to some other employment withall as spinning upon the rock, knitting & weaving tape &c that boyes and girls will be not suffered to converse together..."</i>

Oh, I was lost! I was standing there, head bent, book open, completely and totally absorbed and then, I don't know how to describe it adequately. There I was, one moment lost in the book, the next, suddenly aware of a presence, breath against the back of my neck, and then lips on my skin. I gasped and turned... to see bright blue eyes looking into mine, and the Husbandly One smiling at me with mischief.

Normally, any one sneaking up behind me and taking the liberty of kissing me on the neck like that would end up with a bloody nose, because Auntie is a little tightly wired, if you know what I mean! But... somehow, even though I never heard him coming up, even though I wasn't even aware of him until half a second before he did it... I just knew. Somehow, I just knew. And that was just... mind-blowing. After nearly 19 years, you'd think I'd be used to this kind of thing, to just having this... awareness of my husband... but it's constantly a surprise, and it makes me ridiculously happy. Totally ridiculously happy.

*contented sigh*

Miss Priss had a soccer game both on Saturday and on Sunday. And her team lost both of them. *sigh* After yesterday's game, we had a party for the kids, they got their trophies, and had a "Parents VS Kids" game afterwards, which was a HUGE amount of fun. And yes, the Husbandly One played, and so did I! And even more important, I did NOT end up, splayed on the ground, doing a face-plant. Y'all should be immensely proud of me! It was exhausting, and I coughed my lungs up last night, but it was entirely worth seeing the look of delight on the Impertinent One's face when she spotted me playing defense across the field from her. Totally!

Mom, in cleats, running down a forward and keeping him from scoring. Mom, blocking the ball and passing it to midfield. Mom, not dying and not falling. Mom is awesome!

I've won enough awesome points to last me through Christmas!!

Comments: 1 rememberance - remember.

abigail89

Subject:	PSA
Time:	10:07 am.
Mood:	amused.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-11-2009/want-ads---grateful-dead-archivist

As they say in the biz, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

The Grateful Dead archivist position popped up on 'The Daily Show' the other day, and it was discussed heavily on the American Archivists' listserve. Some are outraged (Stewart disses our profession for needing a MASTER'S degree in WHAT??), more outraged that he pronounced it ar-CHI-vist [long i] instead of ar-chi-vist [short i], and everything in between. Some want 'sternly worded letters' about what we do, some want to do a parody vid about a comedian who can't find clips to show because the film library isn't organized, and some just want us all to laugh, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

I do want to take this brief, shining moment to remind folks that while archival administration isn't rocket science, there is a lot more to being an archivist than organizing things alphabetically. [ In fact, records are NOT organized alphabetically, though they may be indexed that way intellectually in a finding aid.] I also know how to identify types of paper, bookbindings, photographic prints and negative types, sound recordings and moving image, how each type deteriorates, why they deteriorate, how to preserve them, and make them accessible for years and years to come. I know how to organize them, describe them, put collections into context so that when a researcher comes, I can assist them in making the most of a collection.

Archivists, in short, keep the evidence of the past so that we can understand the future. Or, laugh at it in Stewart's case.

I guess I'm just used to the blank stares or the "Whu?" questions whenever I tell people what I do. Only when I tell them I take care of historical records (that's the short answer) do I then get the bright reply, 'Oh, that's really cool!' Yes, it is really cool. I like what I do.

So, as the tagline from a colleague reads: "Be nice to the archivist or she will erase you from history." {Not that we'd do that, but we could.}

Y'all go back to your lives. I have records to save.

Comments: remember.

abigail89

Subject:	Drowning over here, boss!
Time:	11:04 pm.
Mood:	discontent.

Once again, I find myself on the back-end of the day without having written for 10 minutes, other than catching up with LJ comments and such, which needed to be done, but still...*sigh*.

*You know that job posting I linked to the other day? It made NPR's 'Morning Edition' this morning. I'll bet UC-Santa Cruz is gonna be inundated with resumes from every Deadhead around the globe.

*I've received a couple of very nice reviews for long-ago posted fics today. That sorta perked up my flagging spirits.

*I'm proctoring an exam on Saturday for some extra cash. Whew. That'll help out for the holiday season.

*This comparison of Rob Pattinson and Dan Radcliffe made me laugh. Both are very young men at the start of their careers. Give them some breathing room.

*I would buy this in a heartbeat except I really don't have anywhere to put it in my house. And, it costs way too much.

*I've read a bunch of the Star Trek Big Bang stories, all the ones with McCoy in them. The majority of them have been absolutely brilliant and worth the time it took to read them. Boy2 and I have been watching "Trauma" together every Monday night. I seem to be on a medical kick at the moment.

*I'm currently reading "The Persian Boy" by Mary Renault. Many of y'all recommended it, and it is a wonderful story.

*I had to walk down to the farm today to pick up the sausage/ground meat order I put in. It's been raining like a big dog here for that last few days, but it did nothing to neutralize the smell from the pig sty. Hoo-BOY! WWC has some humongous, smelly pigs.

*I'm really enjoying this semester's crop of history seminar students. They're working hard and seem to be very appreciative of the support and assistance I'm giving them. I've added 2 Sunday afternoon openings for them. The professor has suggested they bring me chocolate or hard liquor. Yes, please. :D

HeadBoy has gone off to bed, and I reckon I will too. I'll have to fight Fred for my side of the bed, though.

Comments: remember.