Okay, okay, so it's that lovely time of the month, and things are mostly under control, but my desire to eat food substances of dubious nutritional value is in no way diminished by reading SGA fic. In fact, just the opposite, because Rodney is always enjoying food and eating good food, and even if it's crappy food he's still so happy that it makes me happy, but more to the point, hungry. Plus then I imagine that happy food face that David Hewlett makes, and I'm full of deep, seething envy (while also finding it adorable, which is really kind of screwing with my head).

Exhibit 1 of approximately ten billion:
If I Knew You Were Coming by kassrachel - I want that chocolate cake, and I want it RIGHT NOW.

I can't believe I'm saying this. I can't believe I'm saying this.

After holding out against SGA for four years, after wanting nothing to do with it even though my favorite authors migrated that direction, after shaking my head at people who said they loved the show except for approximately 1940939 caveats, after staring blankly at photos of Rodney and wondering what the big deal was...

I read one line in cesperanza's latest recap and I was just like, "Okay. Fine. Just maybe I'll try it, okay?"

So, wise flist: Are there episodes and/or seasons I should go after first, or do you have links to a good pimping post?

ETA: rageprufrock knows what I like.

I don't think there's enough coffee in the world this morning.

Mostly because I stayed up far too late reading Truth and Measure by Telanu, and I'm still only halfway through. I haven't really dug into a new novella-length fic in a while, and there's something about this one that makes me want to simultaneously take my time and devour it whole without stopping for air, food, or sleep.

Now I kind of want to watch The Devil Wears Prada again.

I've decided that I'm going to take 2-kyuu of the JLPT this December, and thought that I really should make an effort to find a conversation partner so that all my Japanese verbal skills don't atrophy (even though the test doesn't give a damn how well I can speak, but it's still good practice). So I made an advertisement on our university's board, and got one response. I was mentally picturing a woman dragged to this country by her spouse for graduate school, but instead I got a male CS graduate student. We met up today to talk over lunch, and worked in half-English, half-Japanese, so we could both get some conversation practice in.

...And now I'm driving him and his fellow Japanese compatriot to the Japanese mall here in Chicago on Saturday. WHAT. (For ultimate hilarity - K reinacting his response to R begging to go to Mitsuwa: "All right, all right, shut up already." <--in Japanese) I mean, I'd been wanting to go, but obviously my bookstore activities are going to be (ahem) curtailed with the two of them with me.

This weekend, a little bird by the name of rageprufrock came into town! After some traffic mishaps, I picked her up from the airport late Thursday night. On Friday, we went out for breakfast (at a place bookshop and everysecondtues will recall), which possibly almost killed us with food joy. From there we were off to the Field Museum, where Pru got us free admission with her business card (wheee, corporate discount!), and then we wandered through the Mythic Creatures exhibit before running upstairs to see the dinosaurs (actual quote: "Prokaryotes suck. Let's skip this crap and see the dinosaurs."). Then we met up with svmadelyn for the Taste of Chicago (which definitely did almost kill us, but what a way to go), and played in a cool fountain and wandered around downtown, looking for Pru's Chicago office (a lost cause). A day of near death by food culminated in a trip to Giordano's, after which Pru and I were forced to go home and digest and possibly repent.

Except not really, because we went back to the same breakfast joint the next morning for crepes, and then sat around at my apartment while Pru devoured my bookshelves of manga and doujinshi. I spent this time finishing a BL novel that I am stupider for having read (but at least I could amuse Pru with my totally accurate summary of said novel). And then we met up with big contingent of fangirls, including celli, shrift, slodwick, taraljc, svmadelyn, kellyfaboo, rhiko, everysecondtues, and a few more people whose LJ names temporarily escape me. There was beer, and then ice cream, and then descriptions of the worst fic we'd ever read, and hopefully a good time was had by all. Pru made me watch the Ghostfacers episode of Supernatural, which was the first SPN episode I've ever seen. I liked it, although it kind of toed the horror genre line a little too closely for me. We also watched the first episode of the Antique Bakery anime - I don't know if I'm totally sold on Miki Shinichirou as Ono, but at least they clearly had a good budget for the show. I also introduced Pru to Phoenix Wright, which I think may have caused mild brain breakage, but it was all for a good cause!

Pru's flight back was eaaaarly Sunday morning, so after I got back from dropping her off, I went back to bed and pretty much spent the whole day in beautiful sloth.

For the Day in History meme that's going about:

July 3, 2007 - I didn't post this day, but I did post A Simple Man on July 5. Crack pairing love! And also the first time I participated in Springkink challenge.

July 3, 2006 - I apparently like to post on July 5th, not the 3rd. This was the day my family had the police called on them for an out of control croquet game.

July 3, 2005 - Also on the 5th - I went on a roadtrip with my mother to see my Scottish pseudo-godmother. Also I was apparently working on translating Hiratsuka Raicho's autobiography, which I remember being a totally painful experience. I wonder if it would be easier now? Also, that was my first summer of graduate school - that was a lean, hard summer that I would just as soon never repeat.

July 3, 2004 - Actually posted on July 1st. Awww, this was when I first worked with lynnmonster - how nostalgic! I spent that summer writing Academic Punk. It was also the first time I went to Japan, so I have many memories of coming early to school and staying late to tap out that fic on my school's antiquated computers (and also escaping the stifling heat of the Japanese summer at the same time - my host family had no AC and I distinctly remember sweltering in my bed at night, wondering if I would ever be cool enough to sleep).

July 3, 2003- I was in the throes of Due South love, having left Smallville behind - and this was also apparently the time that my brief but intense fling with Highlander was beginning. I have no recollection of actually taping Highlander for harukami - what was that all about, I wonder?

Chacun à son goût
Fandom: The Dresden Files (books)
Pairing: John Marcone/Harry Dresden
Rating: NC-17
Notes: Probably post book 3, but not really spoilery. Thank you to everysecondtues for the beta and bookshop for the opera research!
Summary: "Perhaps we'll make an aficionado of you yet."

( Chacun à son goût )

People keep asking me how the job is going, and the answer is: job is going well! I like my coworkers, I have my job mostly figured out (except for the things that change every three weeks, but everyone else is in the same boat). Now that I've been at the job for 2+ weeks, I no longer feel like I've been hit by a truck on the way home - possibly because I'm now acclimated to walking the 2 miles roundrip to work. I have to say, though - after staring at a computer screen for 7.5 hours a day, it's become painfully clear to me that my contacts prescription has changed. I really didn't want to admit that my eyes had gotten worse, but I suppose some change in four years isn't entirely unreasonable. Good thing I now have a flex spending account?

My new apartment has windows that face east - windows entirely unimpeded by any nearby buildings, which is nice to look at, but the dawn light at 5:30 am kept waking me up (and the cats, I suspect). I am now in possession of blackout curtains, which I hung from very inexpertly installed new curtain rods. For the record, I thought the power drill would be easy and fun to use, and yet it stubbornly is not. Oh well, at least they're up - and they do block a fair amount of light, so maybe I'll get some quality sleep.

Thanks to the kind reppu, I am now in possession of Junjou Romantica v. 10. The package was forwarded from my old address, and I had to go pick it up from the post office, and I was like, "Who the hell is sending me porn from Singapore?" But it was Reppu after all, so mystery solved.

Title:Please Hang Up And Try Again
Authors:bookshop and thehoyden
Series: The Dresden Files (books)
Pairing: Marcone/Dresden
Rating: NC-17
Notes: The best division of labor ever: I tell her to write things, and she writes them! But seriously, it was a great deal of madcap fun to work on this together. (Actual notes on actual fic page.)
Summary: "I'm going to need at least a dozen more roses before the chastity belt comes off."

Please Hang Up And Try Again

I went to my first Cubs game tonight! I couldn't see home plate for crap, but I could see Fukudome in front of me in right field. While his pants are not as tight as Tightpants, they were still quite acceptable. And he hit a home run! It was so great to hear everyone around me go absolutely freaking nuts when he came up to bat. I got myself a Fukudome shirt (which, being a men's shirt, really doesn't fit all that well - sad), and ate a hot dog and pondered how the beer experience would be improved if the sellers had mini-kegs on their back like the beergirls in Japan.

And then, on the train on the way home, I ended up talking to two Japanese men. We happily chatted about (what else) Fukudome in Japanese, and I was pleased to learn that my brain still operates in the language. I hope I'll get to go to another game soon!

How in god's name has only a week passed? It seems like three billion years since bookshop and everysecondtues were here -- and that was only last weekend? After many travel shenanigans, they finally made it here, and we made our way downtown to Gino's for pizza, and drove along Lake Shore and burbled happily about the Dresden Files to each other. We really meant to do more things, but we ended up spending Saturday with laptops in hand, and both bookshop and I finished fics we were working on. It was a great last weekend before my first day of work.

My first week of work went well -- there was the usual filling out of forms and orientation meetings, but everyone in my office seems like good people, and the learning curve doesn't feel enormously steep. My coworkers are bad influences -- they were all like, if you've never been to the Taste of the Chicago, you should go at least once -- and DON'T FORGET TO EAT CHEESECAKE ON A STICK. And then during a meeting, we somehow had a ten minute conversation about whether or not D&D could qualify as a nerd sport (there's context for this, I promise, although the fact that there is even context for this is frightening).

And then I met up last night with the fabulous shrift and celli for dinner, and discussed many entertaining things. Also, in a weird coincidence, shrift and I grew up 5 miles away from each other. These aren't large, densely populated areas, either -- odds are, we crossed paths somewhere along the line. Anyway, it was a lovely night out with the both of them, and I successfully got myself from work to downtown to apartment.

Today I went to the Art Insitute, walked around downtown (which was sweltering, but not as bad as it can or will be), had a late lunch, and am back in my apartment with cats. The charm of having clearly delineating working hours hasn't worn off yet -- I'm still like, wow, I have tonight and tomorrow to do whatever I want, and none of it is work-related! Amazing. I've also been actually reading books I want to read during my lunch break, and reading the Tribune online at work -- I really probably shouldn't be so tickled by articles about Chicago government corruption, but they are actually strangely hilarious.

I am officially exhausted, but my apartment is completely unpacked, cleaned, and organized. There are pictures on the wall! Furniture! A new huge bookcase that is already full (clearly, I can't accurately judge how much room the porn will take up)!

kellyfaboo came to town and took me to Ikea, which I previously did not understand the attraction of, but I am now a little in love (despite our myriad adventures in actually putting said furniture together). My sister spent the night on Thursday, and helped me screw my drop-leaf kitchen table into the wall. This was actually more involved than it sounds, due to a stud finder that apparently lied at every opportunity, my inability to make sure that the screwgun was in forward instead of reverse, and then the whole thing ended up a little uneven. I fixed it today, although if I ever do this again, I'm investing in a leveling-type device. My mother was very cutely dubious about my plan to borrow one of my grandfather's least favorite drills to screw something into the wall, gasp! -- but it all worked out in the end.

My internet and wireless are finally set up, but I'm kind of hopelessly behind on everything. And after a crazy-long visit to the DMV this morning, I'm now in possession of a new driver's license and plates. I, er, missed four questions on the written test, but apparently still passed. bookshop and everysecondtues are coming up tomorrow,and hopefully, at some point in the near future, I can meet up with celli and shrift. And oh yeah -- I start work on Monday? Crazy.

I'm in Chicago! Granted, I'm here without most of my stuff, so I'm having a sort of weird flashback to when I first moved to Tokyo - only, instead of an empty room with a futon, I have an empty room with an airbed. I knew I was only going to be a few blocks from Lake Michigan, but I was still so startled to realize that those were indeed seagulls outside my window.

So far today:
1. Dorian escaped out of my apartment and down the hallway before I caught him.
2. Yukino crawled behind the microwave - bizarre, but whatever.
3. Yukino hopped down behind the stove, and then went under the stove, forcing me to move said stove, coax her out, and then try to make sure that NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.
4. Yukino then relocated to the top of my kitchen cabinets. Which I'm pretty sure are completely filthy.
5. The three of us jumped out of our respective skins when the radiator clattered to life.
6. I don't want to jinx myself here or anything, but some nice person didn't secure their wireless, thus allowing me to not be completely bored.

The rest of my stuff is coming on Sunday, so I have a few days to settle in, find a grocery store, and make endless lists of crap I need to acquire.

Things I am going to miss about this town: running into Tibetan monks at Kroger. I was checking out this morning, and I was like, lightbulbs, can of tuna, hey, that guy sure is matchy-matchy in red!

New apartment has been acquired! Current apartment is packed up (except for closet, which is tomorrow's project)! I'm moving on Thursday!

And dear god, am I exhausted. A Catholic charity organization came today to get the furniture I can't take with me, which forced me to really get things packed and out of the way. bookshop came over tonight to help me get some remaining items out of my stupidly inconvenient attic (it's one of those pull-down stairs ones, and of course actually getting into the attic requires strategic levering and no small amount of terror). We went to dinner, where I managed to get rehydrated and not fall asleep, but I really feel like I might zonk out at any second.

Naturally, my internet at the new apartment won't be hooked up until Tuesday, and it's possible that I might be able to use someone else's wireless, but I won't know until I get there. Hopefully this weekend will be a good chance for me to get some writing in, regardless.

This weekend, I went to see Leatherheads on Saturday evening - out of sheer, glorious boredom. I don't think I've had time to be bored since I started graduate school. But now I'm done, so I was like, people are out of town/unavailable - I'll go see a cheap movie.

It was really unreasonably charming, and I came away with all these lovely mental images of Dresden Files set in the 20's, because period clothing is hot. Really hot. Mr. Clooney obviously doesn't hurt the hotness factor, either. And by not hurt, I mean I probably made some embarassing noises.

On Sunday, everysecondtues drove down and met up with bookshop and I - the last time I'd seen Tuesday was in Japan, so it was really great that we were able to get together again! We went off to see Iron Man (GUH), and then tortured a poor waiter while spending about three hours at Steak and Shake (we gave him really fabulous tips). Although I had specifically picked the place in the hopes that we could have inappropriate conversations in public, I think the cat was out of the bag when the word "genderfuck" was said during one of those strange lulls in restaurant ambient noise. Also, the part where bookshop clarified to another party that incest was, in fact, a noun. But we emerged from this adventure with many pages of notes for Tuesday, and another covered placemat for me. Our waiter asked us if we wanted crayons, which I honestly think was a bid to be helpful, but we of course came prepared with many writing utensils.

And then, after marveling more upon John Marcone, complete with bookshop's dramatic reading of key passages from the Dresden books, I convinced them to go see Leatherheads - which we did, and I think we laughed so much that we drove away three of the five other people in the theater. Oops? Then we rented Ocean's 11, encouraged Tuesday to write more/make more notes. bookshop's assignment was to screencap very important things for research purposes, which she has begun here. I may have used the words "moll" and "mistress" in entirely unironic contexts. Repeatedly.

I am off tomorrow to look at hopefully several apartments. Hopefully one of them will be the one I want. Thank you to everyone who sent me vibes about the job and well-wishes afterward - I really appreciate it!

I GOT THE JOB!

I'm going to Chicago!

I...need to find a place to live, pronto?

Do Not Think It Means
Fandom: The Dresden Files
Pairing: John Marcone/Harry Dresden
Rating: NC-17
Notes: AU from the middle of the last chapter of Book 5, so some spoilers ahead (but none from book 6 and beyond). Thank you to lynnmonster for the beta, and bookshop for a placemat with scribbled notes, as well as the read-through.
Summary: "Look, I'm with you on this one -- he's dumber than he looks. But we were on a mission of mercy, I swear!"

( Do Not Think It Means )

Today, I:

• Taught my last class. WEIRD.
  
• Wondered if it was totally wrong to skip to White Night and Small Favors in the Dresden Files, on account of wanting more Marcone and having little impulse-control. I mean, I already skipped book 4 to get to 5 -- and I will go back and read book 4, but I'm not sorry I did it, you know?
  
• Realized I really do have to grade those essays. I graded five last night while watching Top Chef, which was obviously not productive enough.
  
• Contemplated only doing half of the essays today in order to write more on the Book 5 AU.
  
• Experienced a strange desire for a root beer float.
  
• Listened to Utada Hikaru's "Can You Keep A Secret" on the way to teach and had some horrifying/awesome mental images of Marcone and Dresden getting down at one of his clubs (you know, one of the ones Dresden didn't blow up to get Marcone's attention). I kind of hate myself. And then I think about George Clooney, and it's all better.
  

I really feel I can adequately sum up today by relating that bookshop and I spent three hours at a cafe, eating lunch and reading our favorite Marcone bits of the first five Dresden books to each other, followed by brainstorming a large post-book 5 AU fic. I have four pages of notes to prove it, and she has a picture of me holding said notes, so we have photographic evidence, too. In any event, I'm glad we had the back corner booth, because I think we made a lot of undignified noises and repeated the phrase, "HOT MAFIA BOYFRIEND" a lot. You know, like you do.

And then we rounded that off with the first twelve episodes of xxxHolic, after I made the tv and the laptop be friends again. This, of course, was accompanied by even more undignified noises, and general acknowledgment that Watanuki's denial is no match for Yuuko's scheming in regard to Doumeki. There was pizza, and cats who meandered around and even deigned to sit with us on occasion.

And we get to do it all over again tomorrow, too!