the back alley

What to write?

gritkitty@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:06:33 GMT

Staring down months of writer's block, preparing for both NaNoWriMo and Yuletide, I'm not sure this idea generator result is helping:

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Quantum Leap and Bill Nye the Science Guy.
The story should use drug abuse as a plot device!

Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

I hit refresh several times (crackfic, all of it); however I will admit that this is strangely compelling ...

Edited to add:

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Fight Club and Office Space.
The story should use time travel as a plot device!

Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

Your challenge is to write crossover fanfiction combining Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Space Ghost.
The story should use love triangles as a plot device!

Generated by the Terrible Crossover Fanfiction Idea Generator

Wow. Cracky-crack! Though the third one isn't far-fetched at all.

Once again brain fails

gritkitty@gmail.com — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:38:09 GMT

You'd think it would be simple to remember to use Semagic to post to multiple journals, but noooo.

Anyhow, from LJ, and only linked because embedding all those Youtube vids would be really tedious.

http://gritkitty.livejournal.com/86926.html

Superhero Videos! All found by deborak , who rocks mightily for digging them up.

No, really -- Where are my pants?

gritkitty@gmail.com — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:53:52 GMT

To You People Who Know You Are: I have two bars of chocolate (Ghirardelli Dark & Caramel and Vintage Plantations 75% Dark with Peanuts). Whose are they? So far no other orphan items have shown up, but you never know. Also, look for a local crock pot delivery in the next day or so. And too bad there's no Euro Dragon*Con. Or is there? Subversion complete, shanola22. They could have used you during the Cold War. The wall might have come down sooner.

Am tired. Am also frightened by laundry. Need more coffee. Blearg.

Icon meme

gritkitty@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:04:03 GMT

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick four of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee!

kassrachel asked about

	well_adjusted. I made this because I wanted a Wilson icon. I forget the episode, but he said he was "well adjusted," which I though was hilarious, because -- NOT!
	sheppard. Made by beeej. It's a Firefly/SGA crossover! How could I resist! Fruity Oaty Bar -- NOT MANDATORY!
	my_city. I made this icon after watching "Quarantine," because I didn't much care for how Zelenka was portrayed. I think he knows how Atlantis works just fine. (And I wasn't fond of his role as comedic relief.) It's his city, too.
	Elizabeth. Made by serenehorizon. Looking for an Elizabeth icon, I picked this one from some sga icon comm. 1) it's got beautiful, saturated color, Elizabeth looks stunning, and she also looks inwardly-focused.

this time of year

gritkitty@gmail.com — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:37:16 GMT

As usual I enjoyed my cheesy Stargate Atlantis goodness last night, but I was a little dismayed at some bits and felt compelled to make this icon. I guess it's my editorial comment about the episode.

In other news -- there is no other news, except life likes to kick my ass. Probably because I let it. /wry

Stats

gritkitty@gmail.com — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:59:49 GMT

People on my friends list have been counting up how many stories they've written over last year. I wasn't going to do that, but I'm glad I did: digging up this information was illuminating. I finished a few stories this year, but not as many as I used to produce in the past. I posted about a story a month, once upon a time, as grit kitty, and then I produced about the same, as Lullenny, when I wrote Lord of the Rings fanfic.

The list:

In mid-December I wrote When the Wing is a Sail, a Temeraire story featuring Catherine Harcourt, Tom Riley, and Lily. My god, but Yuletide is fun, what with the panic and the flailing and the more panic and the more flailing. I'm glad my friends are still talking to me, after that last night, screaming on IM -- "Beta this, please!!" and "OMG I need a title!!!" and "I CAN'T FIND MY RECIPIENT'S NAME ON THE LIST," which of course it was there -- panic will do that. This story was much improved by their sharp eyes and wisdom, and I thank them for that. Also -- I'm thrilled with every comment people left on the Yuletide archive for my story. Thank you!!

December 12 - "Native Melody" - Heroes , Matt/Mohinder and Molly
November 19 - "The Life She Landed In" - Heroes, Matt/Mohinder and Molly
November - NaNoWriMo - won! ~52,000 words of sci-fi fun.
June - Script Frenzy - lost! - only wrote something less than 2K words.
May 30 - "Blue Willow" - Firefly, Mal/Simon-ish.

Tiny fics only nestra and/or semielliptical saw:
December - Torchwood - Ianto on his knees
September - "All that Remains" - SGA, John/Rodney - a short angst-fest
I forget when - "Stupid" - SGA, John/Rodney

And then there's this SGA story I've been working on for a long while -- jeez, since early spring, maybe even longer. It's SGA, a *lot* of words, and I've inflicted drafts on several unfortunate souls. I'd like to finish it, but who knows. My computer's littered with lots of other WiPs, but this one interests me most -- and drives me the craziest.

I'm tempted to make a resolution to try to resume that pace, posting complete stories, one per month. Deadlines like NaNoWriMo and Yuletide apparently give me enough of a boot in the pants to finish stuff.

TATER TOTS TATER TOTS TATER TOTS

gritkitty@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:28:36 GMT

So the boy came into the kitchen this morning and started talking about boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, his specifically, high school romances in general, and I said something about how there's casual dating and more intimate relationships -- sometimes sex -- that create stronger bonding (~~WHEN YOU ARE THIRTY~~, and he said, "Wait. Don't talk a bonding and sex in the same sentence. I know what that means."

"So," I said brightly, "let's go to Sonic for lunch, because right now? I really want to take this conversation down to the level of tater-tots."

He agreed. It's one reason I haven't sold him to gypsies. Yet.

In other news, NaNoWriMo and other things have eaten up all my free time. I got behind on NaNo, so I'm playing catch-up this week (oddly enough, I wasn't scheduled to work; just don't ask about this weekend, though - oy). Yesterday I started with 23K, and before I went to bed I broke 30K! It took a gratuitous sex scene to get there, though. It's tragic that I have to string chase scenes, time travel, space ships and porn to keep the word count climbing. And people wonder why I like NaNo so much. Heh heh heh.

Lastly, I was sick and lazy on Monday, so when nestra asked me to tell her something good about Matt and Mohinder (from Heroes), I gave her a page of slashy domesticity, and I posted it here. Goofing off like this explains why my word count is sad, but then again, NaNo is limbering my writing muscles, so it's all good.

Now it's time for Sonic, where I will thinking very hard about TATER TOTS, TATER TOTS, TATER TOTS so I won't have to think about Those Kinds of Talks with my kids.

And then back to the gratuitous porn and chase scenes. Yay!

The Bullet Points of Now

gritkitty@gmail.com — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:27:02 GMT

What's up with me?

NaNoWriMo. OMG what am I going to write? What am I going to write?? ....No, really -- what am I going to write?
My house is a disaster area. Really. C'mon, give me examples out of any fandom of sloppy, messy, cluttery characters, and I bet my desk alone is worse than any disaster they got. Usually I'm fairly okay with my own slobbitude, because it does get shoveled out once in a while (that's why I entertain -- I clear the decks for guests; Merry Maids ain't in it). But oh man, it's worse than usual this time round. Though the upside is that the housework will probably burn a zillion calories.
Other real life stuff that's far less interesting.
HEROES! Someone kept cramming it down my throat until I finally got caught up -- and hooked. (Toaster's in the mail, nestra, though you've probably got warehouses full of toasters; how about a bread machine?)
Stargate Atlantis! Cheez wiz for my brain. So bad ... so good. I spend equal time squeeing and yelling at the screen. Also, I think SGA has the prettiest set I've ever seen. Atlantis is so beautiful, and has presence strong as the characters. Of the bad? No Zelenka last night. Grr.
Saw David Bromberg (with Angel Band) and Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet last night. The venue was a cathedral to music, perfect; and so was the show.
My little girl isn't so little anymore. Two weeks ago? Her first homecoming dance with a boy. Last night? Her first date (the same boy). They had sushi, for crying out loud; they hung out in the manga section of Barnes & Noble. My first date was riding in the back of my date's older brother's open pick-up truck up the side of a hill (small mountain) (no road) (in the dark). Kids these days; don't know how good they got it.
Also -- she writes and posts fanfic. I am a million years old.
Marching band. Lots and lots of marching band. And high school football games. And marching band competitions. And you know what? Marching bands are loud. Happily, that's all nearly wrapped up, which opens my schedule for NaNoWriMo. And Yuletide. Oh, all all that cleaning ...

The dust bunnies (dust T-rexes) are planning a coup, I know it. Time to break out the heavy artillery -- the electric Swifter!

The countdown: writing days until Yuletide

gritkitty@gmail.com — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:58:56 GMT

I signed up for yuletide this morning. Feeling less adventerous than some people, I offered a conservative number of fandoms to write. Choosing something to request was hard, like standing in front of a three-acre buffet with an empty plate. Where the hell do you start? I did manage to ask for three stories I'd love to read, in fandoms I'd be delighted to read if my requests are filled specifically or not. I've liked everything I've ever gotten from under the yuletide tree, so I'm confident it's going to be another great Christmas morning.

Something's cooking

gritkitty@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:05:18 GMT

Check it out. A whole lot of pictures of Canadian (and other) actors. Tons of actors from tons of shows: SG-1, SGA, Angel, Buffy, Firefly, Alias, Battlestar Galactica, Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, more, more more!

Now I go do stuff. The hot weather finally broke, and I'm opening all the windows and running a bunch of errands and cleaning and painting and all sorts of things. I love autumn!

Friday! Except -- not!

gritkitty@gmail.com — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:32:21 GMT

Today isn't much of a Friday -- it's all work, work, work, and then more work. And I won't be home in time for Stargate Atlantis. Woe! I'll watch it way late, or maybe even tomorrow, which means I'll have to avoid LJ and all its squee until I *have* seen it -- which doesn't mean a whole lot because I haven't had five minutes to do much more than check my inboxes online for ages anyhow. Grr, argh.

BUT! Next week? Almost empty of anything resembling things grown ups have to do, so I'm gonna PLAY! Catch up on Heroes! Watch House! Try to kick a story or two out the door! Knit more scarves! Draw! Upload pictures! Chat with friends!

(oh god I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying anything ... )

Quack

gritkitty@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:01:36 GMT

Seems to me that people I know have been, as nestra says, nibbled to death by ducks. Today, it's me, too. Stupid ducks.

Since music often improves my day, here's some to share. Feels like a cover song kinda day.

Life on Mars - The Bad Plus

Love My Way - Grant Lee Phillips

Ripple - Jane's Addiction

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Cat Power

Temptation - Moby

Baby's On Fire - Venus in Furs

Que Sera, Sera - Pink Martini

Hounds of Love - The Futureheads

I Hate Mondays - Ron Sexsmith

Muuuuch better. Hope I got the links right. It's that kinda day.

But! The day's not a total disaster -- I'm getting a lot of cleaning-type stuff done, and I have a nifty new robot friend to help me. It's a spot-cleaner for carpets. You fill it up, set it on the spot, hit a button and walk away. I love it! (Thanks for planting the idea, deborak. I should have got one years ago.)

Random stuff and restaurant reviews

gritkitty@gmail.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:03:17 GMT

Dragon*Con!

Random:

Apparently ~8 AM was Jamie Bamber's usual Dragon*Con workout time. On Sunday it was weights. Serious, serious weights. No wonder actors are tiny people.

The Marriott is still under construction. The blocked-off areas and different layout caused problems with traffic flow, and I was a little sad; it's not the same place I've been visiting for the past several years. On the upside -- renovations! We had a beautiful suite. Hopefully all renovations will be complete next year and the feng-shui restored. Also -- the parking guys didn't screw up our car this year (which they had last year, long story, yadda), although when the one guy brought it out of valet parking, he didn't put it into park before getting out and almost ran over tomcat, who jumped in and hit the park button. Oy.

Getting into the Hyatt at night was a bitch.

I reconnected with an old friend, yay!

Some of my friends are among the best cosplayers at the entire convention. They are great mentors for my kids, who like to cosplay but I don't, and I love them for that.

Drum circle = psychedelic slide show + much fun + tired feet

When I got home, this John/Rodney story was at the top of my friends list.

Life is so freaking good.

I ate at two sit-down restaurants during my stay in Atlanta. It's a tradition with my friends that on Thursday night we go out to some sit-down joint away from the hotels. This year we walked to Thrive. Described by the concierge as "walking distance" from the Marriott, it was kind of a hike to get there and uphill to boot, but it was worth every step and some. First off, we called ahead to see if they could seat a party of ten (they could), and when it took us a while to walk there, they called us back to see where we were. I'm sure they wanted the trade, but it made me feel taken care of. And the gentleman who had called, and then greeted us at the door, was gracious and fun.

I loved it all. One reason is that it is the prettiest restaurant I've ever eaten in. Look at the gallery. It was cool from top to bottom, with teals and browns and Frank Lloyd Wright lines. Even the ceiling was stunning, and that's saying something. Even the nicest places often hide their dropped ceilings by painting them blandly in the hopes no one will notice it up there. Here the light fixtures were art.

The service was understated and complete, and our server playful and professional all at once. He talked up the lychee and ginger martini. It was different, just what I wanted.

The menu could have been written just for our party: everything from sashimi to macaroni and cheese. Among our orders: mac and cheese, lamb sandwich, cobb salad, tuna sashimi with seaweed salad and some sweet sauce, topped with julienne apples (yes, apples!). I had the pork chop with jicama and orange salad, all excellent. The chocolate mousse could have been called "happy death by chocolate." The only complaint I heard was that the tiramisu was dry.

I also ate at the new in-hotel restaurant at the Marriott called Sear. Again with the beautiful -- it was newly renovated, after all, though the ceiling is a suspended ceiling with a coat of "gee, don't notice anything above you" paint. But the warm glass accents, the intimate lighting, the booths and table wear and everything is very nice. I've seen glass-walled wine storage in restaurants before, and they can be kind of, hm, pretentious? cheesy? Something that I don't care for. But this one was done well, all clear and shine, sharp-looking.

The service? Not so pretty. One -- hostess says she has a table. I fetch my (different) party of nine from the lobby, and get a "just fifteen minutes -- have a seat in the bar." Again with the pretty. I like the style of the joint, I really do. But after twenty minutes and no table, no drinks, no nothing, I am less impressed. My brother (his first dragon*con!) argues his way to a table for us, and why they made us wait is a mystery. nestra estimates the place is at sixty percent capacity at best.

So we get drinks, and bread, and then we wait. Our orders are taken, and we wait some more. I notice that Lou Ferrigno is sitting by himself the next table, just behind the tomcat. He's not getting very good service, either. He was there before us, and his table is really empty. There's speculation at our table that this bodes ill for us. By the third round of bread, Tom and Lou commiserate. Lou had asked for a booth, but got this table because, he said, "They told me all the booths are reserved." We glance around. Not one booth is occupied, nor do they fill up in the entire time we're there (which turned out to be three hours). When Lou goes to the bathroom, Tom turns back around and notices our looks and says, "What? Is he someone?" And we mock him at length. And the food still doesn't arrive. The eight-year-old with us crawls off to a nearby booth and falls asleep, still clutching hard a stormtrooper figure. We all get tired of bread. Then Lou finally gets his steak. And then we finally get our appetizers and eventually, our entrées.

Long story short? The food was delicious. Mine was, at any rate. The service was appalling. They earned back some points by knocking off twenty percent of the bill. I appreciate meaningful efforts to correct a mistake, and I'd eat there again. But if I do, I'll plan on spending a *very* leisurely meal.

BTW, Lou Ferrigno looks amazing. How old is this guy, anyhow?

Finally, I found the cutest boys at the convention.