Room Eleven

Well, I cannot believe it's practically Christmas - it seems to come earlier every year.

First I wanted to update because some have asked - a short while ago I mentioned half-jokingly (or half-seriously, depending on where you're sitting, I guess) that living in my car was a very real possibility sometime soon. We have, thankfully, managed to keep the wolf from the door, so to speak. Luckily the management company doesn't seem to want us to be roofless either and were willing to wait. So, yay! A roof over our heads for Christmas and hopefully the foreseeable future. We're somewhat back on track now, still a bit over hour heads but having a roof makes it easier to take, ya know?

Secondly, being the holiday season, it's time for fests and right now, hd_holidays is churning out a truly astonishing number of really good reads. So far, I think there have been only 1 or 2 that I just won't open (I'm very picky about summaries) and all of the ones I have read have been delightful. I have to say, too, as a Snarry-er, I am blown away by the sheer number of comments that H/D fics inspire. Just... wow.

There are a couple standouts, so I thought I'd rec them:

( Two Recs )

Reveals are up, so I can share my offering for the snape_potter Cliche Fest:

Title: Medium Rare
Author: jadzialove
Other pairings/threesome: None
Rating: Very barely R
Word count: 17,285 give or take
Warning(s): None
Cliche: (highlight for spoilers) * Someone plays matchmaker for Snape and Harry. | Post-DH, Harry thinks Snape is dead, mourns him, only to find out he's hiding out in the Muggle world. | Post-DH, Harry still has Snape's memories and decides he must return them and/or Harry worries Snape could never be interested in him/he's just a substitute for his mother. I feel confident that there are many other clichés frolicking within, but these are the ones I set out with, and so get the billing they deserve. The others are just a bonus. *
Summary: Seeing the dead is nothing new to Harry - it's when the dead are actually alive that the problems begin.
A/N: Thank you is not enough to express my gratitude to joanwilder, without whom this would not have been completed (probably not even started, if I'm honest), and who kept this finished product from being riddled with typos and wonky punctuation. Warmest thanks to blamebrampton, who kept me from embarrassing myself with all things British (and many other deranged things I missed) both in planning and execution, then sacrificed sleep to do it. Eternal thankfulness goes to the mods for being so patient with me and my incredible tardiness, and for the great encouragement to see this through to the end.

( Medium Rare )

Part 2

( Medium Rare - Part 2 )

Pinched from joanwilder, though I was tagged by veridari (#1 even, so how could I resist?).


FOUR NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Jen
2. Aunt Jenni (nieces and nephews)
3. Jenni Pop (mostly high school nickname - also it's my seldom-used Facebook moniker)
4. Jadzialove (fandom)

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Dumbledore's Army t-shirt
2. comfy stretchy velour leggings
3. glasses

THREE THINGS YOU WANT VERY BADLY AT THE MOMENT
1. enough money to pay my bills, to avoid living in my car, which is looking a strong possibility at the moment...
2. for joanwilder to have less pain
3. something gooey and chocolate (strictly medicinal - see number 1)

THREE PEOPLE WHOM YOU HOPE WILL DO THE MEME
1. torino10154 (though I think she might have already not too long ago...)
2. anybody who wants to
3. some people who don't want to but succumb easily to peer pressure...

THREE THINGS YOU DID LAST NIGHT
1. watched TV
2. checked email
3. worry (see section 3, number 1)

THREE PEOPLE YOU LAST TALKED TO ON THE PHONE:
1. Paige
2. my mother
3. numerous random customers at work, the bulk of whom apparently cannot read which is sad but how'd they get the phone number then? *shakes a fist at sneaky literate illiterates*

THREE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO DO TOMORROW:
1. probably dishes (I make no promises)
2. post my Cliche Fest fic everywhere
3. read

FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE DRINKS:
1. coffee flavored coffee
2. diet dr. pepper cherry
3. water
4. coffee flavored with other stuff (see next section, number 3)

THREE THINGS THAT MADE YOU SMILE TODAY:
1. Reading and answering my reviews for my Cliche Fest fic
2. Watching the cat yell at squirrels through the window.
3. Drinking Dunkin Donut's Mocha Mint coffee

First of all, I want to say thanks for all the love and sympathy sent our way; the good thoughts were much appreciated. Sparky is taking some time to spend with her dad (memorial this Sunday, her mom's birthday is next Sunday) and I guess time will do the rest.

On to the good stuff.

Wankfest reveals are up so I can post my fic, which won an award (best use of prompt). Thank you wank voters!

Title: His Own Worst Enemy
Author: jadzialove
Character: Draco Malfoy
Location: Myrtle's Bathroom
Prop: A Foe Glass
Other Characters: Moaning Myrtle
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Voyeurism
Word Count: 1030
Author's Notes: Thanks to torino10154 for the pre-read and encouraging words, and to joanwilder for the beta and general superb-ness. Inspired by blamebrampton and our mutual belief that Myrtle and the Grey Lady, having a lot of time on their hands, find interesting ways to fill it.

( His Own Worst Enemy )

I just returned home this evening. We left here on Tuesday, shell-shocked by the news that Sparky's mother had unexpectedly died that morning. The past four days have been a whirl of sorrow, mixed with moments of laughter while crowds of people reminisced with Sparky's family about the life and times of this wholly unique woman. They are devastated and Sparky and her sisters are worried about their Daddy, who was enjoying a very nice life with his wife - they'd nearly made it to 50 years. Times like these make you want to rail against the universe and demand to know why. Because even though we know how she was taken from us, the why remains painfully and stubbornly elusive.

We're heading back there next weekend, as she wanted to be cremated and did not want a funeral and the family has decided instead to have a celebration of her life. People are coming to North Carolina from such foreign locales as Minnesota and Iowa, and from all over NC & SC. They're expecting hundreds of people to stop by and celebrate with them, but of course, the guest of honor will be there only in spirit.

She will be missed.

My mother used to drive us crazy at the close of every weekend... mournful groan "It's always Sunday night." deep lamenting sighs

Funny how it comes around, eh? My weekends are Sunday and Monday and they're gone so quickly! Seriously, how do the weekends get away from me every week? *sighs* Luckily, I never had any children to inflict with this clearly genetic condition.

I did manage to read a book in that time: I went to the library on Saturday morning before work and picked up the first of the Percy Jackson books, and loved it. I'm not hugely knowledgeable about Greek Mythology or most mythology - we read the Odyssey in eighth grade and it was as a class rather than each on our own, so it didn't all get into my head the way it would've if I'd read it myself and that's as close as I got to actively studying the subject, I think - but it seemed to be well done. I can't resist that mix of modern/reality and the fantastical. Unfortunately, for the 6 local branches of the library, there are only 3 copies of Book 2 and of those, 1 copy is lost and the other 2 are overdue. So, I went online and found all 5 books in the series at a used book site - not one of them was more than $3.00, in fact three of them were $1.00 each and all of them are, purportedly, Good to Very Good condition.

Yay used books!

In the meantime, I decided to read the HP books again. It's been years, literally years, since I've read them -- I only crack them open for referencing while ficcing and I don't do a whole lot of that anymore either. It's been so long, with fandom dominating my reading for most of that time, I'm wondering if it'll change the way I read them: first go round I LOATHED Snape and Malfoy, and Remus Lupin was a favorite character. Obviously fandom has changed my thinking on both Snape and Malfoy, and the movies have made me HATE Lupin (or David Thewlis at any rate). I'll always be a Harry girl, and I love Ron and Hermione, so that will never change, but I'm thinking it might be like reading them the first time. We'll see!

Happy Mother's day to all of you who are creatures of that persuasion!

I had trouble finding a card this year for my mom. There weren't any good funny cards and I rely on those. I had to settle for something that wasn't great, but safe enough, but it led me to create, in my head, a whole line of greeting cards for people who aren't... comfortable with the mushy stuff. It's called: My Sentiments Exactly.

First one is a mother's day card. On the front it says, "To Mom" and ( inside )

Or, on the front "Thanks, Mom" and ( inside )

A condolence card: "Sorry to hear of the loss of your father..." ( inside )

Speaking of dad - father's day: on the front "Dear Dad" ( inside )

Heh. Hmmm. I think I'm in a mood.

Have a happy mother's day anyway, even if your baby is a kitty cat or puppy!

That means it's time for WANKFEST !!!

Go! Run to the good sort of wank. =)

I gave up my second job a couple of months ago and the novelty of having my evenings free has not yet worn off. My intentions were to post more often with that time or at least be more present in fandom, but I've been in the sort of FUNK that has nothing to do with George Clinton. The usual stuff on top of my regular, daily battle with depression: money woes, extreme student loans, late rent, bills, jalopy with expired inspection/registration, nerve-wracking traffic stop and subsequent court date, owing taxes, blah blah blah. Poor me. Literally. On my better days, I remember I don't have it so bad. I still have a roof over my head anyway, and though I could've killed her for it, Sparky used her small tax refund to buy me a laptop. Nothing fancy, but it's sooo much faster than the Flintstone model we've been sharing. And while I'm using it, I try not to think too much about what that money could've been used for more sensibly, so I can have this one shiny thing. I'm even successful at it about 1/2 the time.

Wankfest is coming! (pun intended) and I managed to write and submit my fic, on time even. I haven't written anything since the last Snarry games, August 2009, so I'm a tad nervous about it. I'm so glad they decided to do it again this year - it's what I needed to jump in again. And it's truly a fun fest for everyone.

Random: This morning I found a Turbo button on my hair dryer and it really works! This is significant because I've used it nearly daily since it was handed to me as a Christmas gift. Clearly, I'm very observant.

I've been reading a lot of old fic lately, or not so old but stuff I missed, and quite a bit of it is Harry/Draco. Which is kind of odd because I really sort of hate canon Draco (though not as much now, which probably has more to do with the delightful Tom Felton than anything else), but I have to say I really, really enjoy fanon Draco. faithwood, mahaliem, dysonrules, annafugazzi, Oldenuf2nobetter, Brammers and so many more. You people have made me love Draco! I can't help myself... Anyway, it's been a great escape from the Funk. I recommend it highly.

That's all for now, and probably way more than I should've shared. Hope all is well in your world.

I am a self-identified escapist. It's sort of like being an ostrich, but more fun. It doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on in the world, or that I don't care... it doesn't even mean that I'm not thinking about things or living in a happy little vacuum. Just sometimes, I need to check out for a while, I need to go somewhere else. And yes, that somewhere else generally needs to be a happy place. It's a coping mechanism, I'm well aware and unapologetic at this point in my life.

Today, one of my favorite escapes has outdone itself.

I am a Gleek. (which has nothing to do with blue space monkeys)

And the name of the show is exactly what I felt after watching tonight's episode. I wanted to insert a pic but there aren't any up yet. If you don't watch Glee, what's wrong with you? find tonight's episode (surely to god there's somewhere to watch recent episodes, yes?) and feel the joy. My heart is bursting! And the original songs were AWESOME and I will be watching it again very soon.

I've had cats on and off nearly the length of my life, but somehow, I've managed to avoid having a refrigerator cat.

Until now.

The other evening, Tonks, who's still wee, was not only merrily on top of the refrigerator, but on top of the enormous pasta pot (this one, actually) that's up there, surveying her empire, I imagine. After taking in the view, she then turned and stretched up to her full length to bat her claws at some (imaginary or simply unseen by me) intruder on the ceiling, defending the keep. Or just being a daredevil - she's fearless. She's also obsessed with water, and so, impervious to any water-based correction. One day, she will rule the world.

In other news, Happy Valentine's Day, if you celebrate such things. Sparky and I got each other the very same card and so she has announced that we've reached the pinnacle and we no longer have to do Valentine's Day cards.

I have no tattoos. I want one and have for a while, but I haven't been able to settle on an image, which is rather important for such a commitment. (I am rather fond of the Snape in my icon, but I'm fairly certain my partner would have something to say about permanent Snape art on my body. I don't know who the artist is anyway...) Then I'd have to decide where I want it. I'm thinking if I paid that much for art, I want to be able to see it without resorting to contortion-ism. I suppose I could put it on the top of my foot -- I hate my feet though (I'm missing the same small bone in each foot and it makes my second to last toe [ring toe?] shorter than it should be and baring them always garners a double-take and questions), and I'm not sure I could stand anyone messing with them that long.

Anyway, knuckle tattoos always seemed sort of badass to me, but I saw one today (which is what started this tattoo contemplation) that had me giggling.

Right hand: B O O K
Left hand: W O R M

*giggles* Isn't that awesome?

I effing OWE taxes - State and Federal. *shakes a fist at 2nd job*

*sighs*

I probably wouldn't have a roof over my head right now without it, but dammit! I just fucking can't seem catch a break. Not only did they not take enough taxes out to begin with, the extra income put me in a higher tax bracket. I could cry... well I already did, so I guess I could cry again. I wasn't expecting a huge refund, but I was hoping for something, ya know?

Owing taxes is like adding insult to injury... or getting kicked in the head.

It's happening again!



And just in the nick of time. I've made a promise to myself to be ... well I was going to say more active in fandom but I think I mean less absent (I am still working the 2nd job after all, just not as many hours, so we'll see). This fest was SO much fun the first time around and I'm really happy they've decided to do it again. Maybe it'll get the rusty parts going again.

It's joanwilder's birthday today!

Joan, I wanted very much to write something for you, even a drabble, but it seems my idea maker is still on the fritz. And if I were even a little bit organized I'd've actually sent the small collection of items, which I'd intended for Christmas, at least in time for your birthday...

So, all that I have for you is my wish that this year brings you the answer that will leave you finally feeling well and able to enjoy your life.

And a prodigious money tree.

Love you bunches and I am so very glad you were born!

On Tuesday, Sparky rescued a kitten from under our neighbors car -- it was not the neighbor's kitten. It's surprisingly clean and seemingly healthy (we'll know for sure after next Tuesday's vet visit). There were actually several kitten rescues that day, and one of our neighbors saw two girls doing some suspicious azalea bush lurking, so the general consensus is that they dumped them there. Can you believe some people?

Anyway, she's adorable and so so teeny tiny, though I swear she's grown in the short time she's been here. We're assuming she's a she, anyway. And she's adorably uncoordinated, so we've named her Tonks.

( Coupla Pics )

My partner saw this:




And said very seriously: "So that's what Clay Aiken has been up to!"

I don't know if that's mean or not, and if it is, to whom exactly, but I nearly wet myself laughing, and I had to share it. And I do enjoy 'Bullet Proof'... can't say the same for anything Clay's ever put out.


In other news, the Eminem obsession lives on and if anything, I love him even more now. I. Can't. Help. Myself.

Pinched from shocolate:

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Cutting Edge

(67% dark, 42% spontaneous, 26% vulgar)

Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at OkCupid

Fairly accurate though I'd be more likely to cringe at the things he says would make me laugh... I do appreciate good dry humor and bit of darkness.

Also--( Have the new Eminem CD... )

My god I'm tired. That's all for now. Hope everyone else is all right.

Pinched from shocolate:

Tweet from Warwick Davis...

The end of an Era - today is officially the last day of principal photography on 'Harry Potter' - ever. I feel honoured to be here as... the director shouts cut for the very last time. Farewell Harry & Hogwarts, it's been magic! x

Oh! Got a little teary-eyed.


In other news...

Actually, there's no news, I just needed a segue. Real life still sucks eggs. Same shit different day. *shakes a fist at the universe* Srsly. Look, universe, it's been 42 years of fairly consistent suck -- low-level suck, comparatively, but unfailing, persistent and sucky just the same. How bout you cut the crap and send me something good? Let's start with the winning Powerball numbers. /whining

( Tiny bit of fic wankage, please forgive. )

So, how've you all been? What've I missed fandom-wise and your Real Life? Anybody have any good news? Big fun? Good animagus story recs?