Lauren 7, Grade 3, gets books given to her at school that she brings home to read with me and when she's done 50 nights of reading she gets to read a book to the principal. All well and good, but tonight she brought a graphic novel home that she'd been given and Mum (my parents are over from England for 3 weeks; David is IN England for a week, go figure) brought it to me and said maybe I could check it first.

It's a book in a series, and I quote.

True-life tragedies jump off the page in the graphic library set disasters in history.

Check out these other Disasters in history titles:

The Apollo 13 Mission
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Challenger Explosion
The Donner Party
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
The Hindenburg Disaster
Shackleton and the Lost Antarctic Expedition

and (the one Lauren was given) The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire


I'm surprised 9/11 and the Titanic aren't on the list.

The factory fire was a landmark for workers' rights and highlighted the plight of factory workers; Lauren needs to know about it and the women and children who died in that fire.

But she doesn't need it in comic form with a young woman begging to be allowed onto the last elevator to safety and being turned away as it was full, leaving her to die, women jumping to avoid being burned into nets that gave way, killing them and she doesn't need it now, this young.

I wrote a terse note explaining that she'd read a Sparkle Fairy book instead and please to find another series for her to read in this program.

The Donner Party. Sheesh.

Happy Birthday to someone very special! I hope that the day's off to the best of starts zortified and that you're already getting spoiled and pampered.

May the cake be yummy, the presents perfect and the balloons full of sparkle if they pop.

::much love::

Wow, I could have blinked and missed him but he still owned the scene.

I'm assuming he has a contract that says they have to include him in at least one episode a season but this is getting ridiculous. You have RB on the set for the day and you only use him for a thirty-second scene?

What a waste.

Still looking good though...

ETA Now minor spoilers for SPN 4.03 in comments.

RB is back as Karl in tonight's episode of Desperate Housewives. No idea how long his scene is but it'll be good to see him, no matter how fleetingly.

I'll clip his scene tomorrow for anyone who just wants Karl :-)

Happy Birthday kallysten!

I hope that where you are the sun is shining from a blue, blue sky and the day is just as a birthday should be.

::much love::

carodee has a great post over on IJ here about how nice it would be to see fics in the TS fandom that weren't so totally focused on Jim and Blair.

It's something I've bemoaned myself from time to time, used to fandoms where the number of commonly written pairings is considerably greater than one (heck, add two zeros for Buffy and Angel), and feel guilty that I haven't done more to redress the balance.

I love Jim and Blair to bits. Totally.

But it'd be nice to have more fics bringing in less-used characters, more fics about main characters like Simon that don't still revolve around the boys...more fics set within canonical time periods like the five years skipped in episode 1 or Jim's time in Peru.

She mentions a ficathon next year along those lines; I'm definitely in.

ETA Link to Caro's IJ fixed; sorry!

ETA 2. I feel guilty because I want those fics and when you want fics that aren't out there, the solution is to write them yourself. Which I haven't done often, hence guilt -- of the very mild variety; it doesn't keep me awake at nights :;g:;

But I never meant to imply that people who have zero interest in fics about people who aren't Jim and Blair should feel guilty that they haven't written any, God, no, not at all.

Three lovely people celebrating today so make that cake a BIG one!

Happy Birthday aprilvalentine, missmurchison and speakr2customrs!

Have a wonderful day celebrating.

:;much love::

Happy Birthday superplin and angstpuppy!

I hope the day is already rocking like a chair. Or a horse! And I hope that cake is a recurring motif throughout the day, too :-)

:;much love::

Episode thoughts, going behind the cut.

( episode thoughts )

Happy Birthday wishes go out to two very special people, laurie_ky and sparrowhawk17.

I'm wishing you the very best and brightest of days and I hope that the day has started well and keeps getting better, because you both deserve a tip-top birthday.

Bring on the cake! :-)

::much love::

I hope those are the right episode numbers, this time :-)

Going behind the cut, episode spoilers, natch.

( episode thoughts )

Two dear friends celebrate today; moonlettuce and raynedanser. It's grey and gloomy, damp and dull here and I hope it's because the sun and blue skies are fighting to be overhead you, shining down and brightening your day.

Have a wonderful time celebrating!

::much love::

Going behind the cut.

( episode thoughts )

There's something so sparkly and shiny about the first episode of a new season. Sometimes (yes, Bones, I am glaring at you) the glitter wears off before the opening credits but House, NCIS, Supernatural, and last night, Desperate Housewives, have all pretty much rocked.

Looking forward to Chuck very much indeed ::beams::

Happy Birthday pfodge and zats_clear!


I hope that despite the Mondayness all around, you're partying like it's Friday night (or Saturday!) and having fun in abundance.

And cake. In slices :-)

::hugs::

Happy Birthday angelvette767!

I hope that you're enjoying yourself very much indeed on your special day.

::hugs:;

Going behind the cut.

( episode thoughts )

Happy Birthday brandinsbabe!

I hope that the day is a very happy one for you and that you're already full of cake :-))

:;much love::

Happy Birthday teand!

I hope that the sun is shining for you and the day is very happy from start to finish.

::hugs you::

Going behind the cut.

( episode thoughts )

Title Pulp Fiction
Pairing Jim/Blair
Rating very mild R
Length 800 words
Spoilers None

Written for the sentinel_thurs challenge of 'weather'.

( Pulp Fiction )

My parents have just spent three weeks on Coll, an island in the Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. wesleysgirl and I set our Ghost trilogy there, on the imaginary island of Traighshee.

So if you want to see the sort of scenery John and Nick wake up to, there are three photos of beach, ruined house and castle under the cut that Mum took.

( Coll )

Happy Birthday to one of my oldest LJ friends, wolfling!

I do so hope that today is perfect in every way for you and that you're already celebrating.

Bring on the balloons, cake and presents!

:;much love::

I'm an idiot; there's a VCR in the basement. So I taped House down there (sound iffy but watchable) and watched/taped NCIS upstairs.

So I've seen them both, no waiting :-)

( episode thoughts for NCIS and House, but not promos )

I have my brand new video tape all set up to record NCIS tonight; season six begins today.

Sadly, it clashes with House and House isn't repeated as far as I can see, so that's going to have to swap to downloading and watching online; I like House, but I love NCIS.

It feels like forever since I posted fic but I'm writing away in the background; I have a novella due in a month and my parents arrive from the UK in a week or so, for a few weeks visit, so I'm working on that, and the prison AU is at around 21,000 words and showing no signs of ending.

I always start the week with a burst of efficiency so the house is tidy and I have nothing to stop me writing, which is fatal, as I lapse into idle noodling or episode watching.

Is it me--usually, I say that knowing it isn't, but this time I'm not so sure--or can it get to the point when watching d/led episodes or box sets can start to feel like a chore; an item on a to-do list, not a pleasure? It kind of preys on my mind that they're piling up, unwatched, and I tick them off with a sense of something accomplished, like doing the ironing.

Sometimes, even I think I'm weird.

More coffee, more writing.

Happy Birthday lil_coyote!

I'm sending a million birthday wishes your way and I hope they all come true.

Enjoy celebrating your special day!

::hugs::

I just found a nice picture of Richard Burgi (not spoilery) in his upcoming episode of Desperate Housewives 5.02.

It's here

I hope this isn't his one and only appearance in S5...

David just forwarded me details of his company's Halloween party for the kids at a local pumpkin farm. It's on October 18th and says 'children can wear their Halloween costumes'.

There are people who have their kids' costumes ready by the 18th? ::boggles:; It's usually a mad flurry and rush and they end up being witches, in costumes that are getting smaller every year.

Must try and be more ahead of the game... and discourage Lauren from being a spider as anything that requires me and a needle or imagination is totally out.

Eight legs? I don't THINK so.

Witches. Witches are good.

Sorry, Willow.

Happy Birthday thebookman!

I hope that the day is bringing you every happiness and that the celebrations are well under way.

::hugs::

Happy Birthday on this sunny Saturday, to cybelesundays and dragovianknight.

I hope that the cake is chocolate (unless you prefer another sort), the balloons bouncy, and the gifts all off your wish list and just what you always wanted.

::hugs you::

Well, that was a tricky game for a marriage to survive. David: devout, devoted Liverpool supporter; me, a Stoke fan from birth.

Head to head. Stoke the underdogs, 23 years since they've been in the Premiership, Liverpool at the top of the table.

0-0 draw.

I'll settle for that.

David, on the other hand, is deeply gloomy. :-)

On an impulse, I made four icons from last night's episode.

Spoilery, so I'll put them behind a cut. Free to a good home, as ever.

( icons! )

stir_of_echoes just started my day off nicely with a link to a three minute Buddy TV interview with the SPN boys where they have fun and I had fun and wasn't there a time when people writing RPS had to make stuff up? Because these two are dictating it.

With their tongues in their cheeks. Or in each other's -- Ahem. Sorry.

Gosh, even the title's a spoiler...so I'll stick to 4.1.

( episode thoughts )

(That was a slogan for a swimming pool back in Portsmouth that David and I adopted as a catchphrase as we couldn't quite believe they got away with it)

First, moosesal, look away now and I SWEAR this is coincidence :;g:;

Sally on Sentinalia linked to a gallery of new pictures of RB at the surfing, brilliant quality, funny captions, and they let you embed the code for the whole thing but I couldn't figure out how to save individual pictures as it's one of those flash thingummies. RB is in 5, 8, 19, 23 and the background of others, walking, talking, in the water, waxing his stick, holding his swag, making me revert to twelve...

( gallery under cut )

My friend sent me an email with some stunning chalk drawings on sidewalks by a man called Julian Beever. The 3-D effect ones are really incredible; if you peer closely you can see the lines of the paving stones but you'd swear he's dug holes in the ground.

They're here:

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Love this one:

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/dungeon.html

Happy Birthday to harmonyfb, one of my very first LJ friends who made me feel very welcome here all those years ago.

I hope that the day is off to a wonderful start, that the cake is delicious, and the presents just what you always wanted.

Have fun celebrating!

::much love::

I have a difficult time being all stern and unforgiving, so I watched tonight's Bones.

( episode thoughts )

This is the second of my fics for carodee's Moonridge Anthology. It's almost 3,000 words and it's on the dark and angsty side. There's reference to rape of Blair as a teenager in the past, not graphic or dwelled upon, but it's there, so if that's a trigger, maybe skip this one.

It was again beta read by wesleysgirl who did her usual wonderful job for which much thanks ::hugs:;.




( Snake in the Grass )

Sgt Bates (Dean Marshall) on last night's Eureka; how many ex-SG1/SGA characters does that make now? One day, I'm doing that spreadsheet and charting them all...

( episode thoughts )

Happy Birthday beamer242!

It's a gorgeous early fall day here and if you need sun and blue skies, I have them in abundance. I hope that you're celebrating your special day in style!

::hugs you:;

This is the first of two fics written for the Moonridge Orgasm for Blair anthology, edited by the wonderful carodee which timed out at midnight.

This one is pretty lighthearted and around 6,000 words. It was beta read by wesleysgirl who did what she always does and made it better :;smooches her::

It's set fairly early on in S2 and has no major spoilers or warnings attached.

Many thanks to Caro for organizing the anthology, and all the people who bid on it. And, as a reader of it myself, wow, some great fics and artwork! That's a lot of hot in one place.

( Solo Flight )

Going behind the cut.

( episode thoughts )

I've been writing constantly the last few days and my hands are limp noodles (it was fun though :-)) and I'm increasingly aware, like an itch on my back, that the house is a tip and as I'm home all day, I have no valid excuse for that being so. And although it doesn't seem to bother anyone else in the family, it bugs me. Left to my own devices, I would spend the day on the compute reading fic and LJ, watching episodes of Burn Notice and accomplishing little.

So I'm turning the computer off (or I'll keep wandering over to see if anyone's emailed me, iron filing to a magnet) and going to tidy.

I'll only be gone four hours (I'll turn it back on at 2.30, I think to catch up before I go and get E from school) but it felt momentous and I thought I would share my not being hereiness.

:-)

It contains spoilers for the episode, but an ABC release mentions Karl, played by RB, as a guest star in the Oct 5 episode, 'We're So Happy, You're So Happy'

http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=091508_13

I hope so!