The Thiotimoline Time Machine

Snape,etc.

2008-03-28T03:56:39Z

Hey! Glad you're enjoying BP and liked "Midnight by the Weasley Watch". I'm stuck taking an accounting class on top of my full time job, and ok, well, I did start that big latch hook rug for Nana that I hope to have done by her birthday (or Christmas, depending on how it goes).

But thanks!

Sigh. Another day, another resolution...

2008-02-11T00:05:07Z

I keep making resolutions to update more often, but here I am again after six weeks. And they've been busy ones. To summarize:

1) in November, "Esprit de Corpse" was published in GETTING EVEN:REVENGE STORIES, edited by Mitzi Szereto, and published by Serpent Tail Productions (yay Slytherin!) in the UK. It'll be out this summer in the US. I wanted to buy some extra copies, but the author's discount was eaten and then some by the shipping costs, so I am definitely looking forward to this.

2) Got an A in the fall term accounting class the company is paying me to go to, and signed up for the winter term. Can I say now how much I hate stockholder options and what they do to earnings per share calculations? Don't they have computers for this? <G>

3) Ended up with a couple of feet of snow on the ground (and on the roof) which was at last beginning to melt, though not today). But at least we can actual asphalt on the roads again, which is a nice change. Fortunately, Mike went up on the roof to push snow off, and not me. However, the next time we shall wave green pictures of dead presidents and/or the check book and hope passing bands of teenagers notice this.

4) My dad had to go to a nursing home to recover from another episode of congestive heart failure, and finally had to admit that he can't manage all his meds and his diet by himself. He's going home Monday, and it's really exciting to arrange for in-home care long distance. I am sending him another box of books, though, mostly Golden Oldie paperbacks I picked up on Ebay. (I kept the Charles Beaumont collection and the hardback of CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY for myself, though).

5) Got a promotion! Survived year end, or as we know it, Hell, and am now a regular accountant and not just a junior one. Just when I think I know what I'm doing, though, I discover that I really wasn't supposed to calculate intercompany interest for 2007 _that way_. Oops.

6) Started a newsletter on worldbuilding, and have been updating once a month. And yes, I know I'm late for February. It's at www.freewebs.com/excessivelyperky in case anybody wants to go look at it, though.

Back to work tomorrow, waaah!

Life, the universe and everything

2007-12-24T17:21:02Z

Ok. First of all, "The Birthday Present" is done (last chapter posted at the end of August). Second, I am facing my first year end as a financial statement accountant, and I'm already stressing over that. And then there's Christmas--but I have all the cards sent out except for a couple because people I didn't know were going to sent some. You know, the usual stragglers. All the presents are wrapped, and I only have to acquire the stocking stuffers and final last minute food items. On top of that, my 81 year old father, whose health is now quite sucky (he has a drug regimen as long as my arm) and who is not managing his meds very well, ended up in the hospital with an episode of aggravated congested heart failure. We went up to The Dalles (six to seven hour car trip because of the snow on the roads) to arrange for him to go to a nursing home (omit long angst with the local veterans' home because of the outstanding balance from the last time he was there). I think we finally have him persuaded that he can't stay at home by himself any more, and that he must make arrangements with Medicaid for either some kind of nursing home/VA home or inhome care. The inhome care option looks to be the best for him (especially if we can beat him over the head with a stick and make him move to the downstairs bedroom--his bed could be moved there, so he'll sleep just as well). Fortunately, someone from the office there in The Dalles is talking to him today before he starts feeling good enough to think he can still manage by himself. I'll probably call her late this afternoon and find out if she was able to get him to sign any papers. I really hope the inhome care can be arranged with the available finances (omit lengthy rant against the Evil We Call Railroad Retirement), as I think that would be the best option for him (not to mention access to his enormous SF library--the library at the VA home is mostly romances and Westerns, and that just isn't going to fly with him).

Anyway, I'm not sleeping well, am waking up earlier than I want to, etc., but I figure I'll be fine sometime in the middle of February (see, year end is supposedly done on January 24th, which gives us about a week before we start on the statement for January 08 itself. Once that is posted on Feb 10th, more or less, I can slump into a nice, mid-winter coma for at least a week before looking at any real work).

Oh, and did I mention I'm in the middle of capitalizing a golf club, which has 42 major pieces of furniture to be done separately and the kitchen which has about 30 pieces of separate equipment? No? <G> Or the second nine holes of the golf course? All of this has to be done for year end, too...

Anyway, I haven't gotten any writing done, and am barely coping with email. But here I am, on Christmas Eve (Cathy is out with friends and Mike is still asleep, and the cat is guarding the hall).

Oh, yes, and four loads of laundry to fold and put away, though that won't take long.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Is Snape still alive? (DH spoilers ahoy)

2007-08-05T04:01:10Z

Why it is possible for Snape to still be alive:

1) Harry is not medically trained, and did not take a pulse. He merely observed Snape’s eyes growing blanker, which could have been evidence of a deeper comatose state, not death. Also, Harry didn’t notice any different sort of smell (though this is rather ugly for a children’s book, the release of bowel and bladder is fairly distinct even in a chilly place) or notice the breathing stop. In fact, it was mentioned at the beginning of the book that he didn’t know common healing spells, though one would think a Quidditch team captain really ought to, and he apparently did know some in earlier books. I am surprised Hermione didn’t ram any down Harry’s throat during their long campout, on the very reasonable grounds that she might need help herself at some time. Hermione was also rather lax in not spreading out the dittany, as she did in massive quantities throughout the book, which apparently aids healing of cuts and whatnot. Granted, it may not have worked because of the venom, but I do think it was tacky not to have tried. Someone who has just been almost killed by Voldemort is probably not as villainous as he may seem, and even if he is, might well decide to change sides for revenge.

2) Chill conditions may induce a sort of hypothermia, which we currently know lessens the risk of brain death from infarcts, strokes, and other sorts of problems. Snape may have had a better chance to survive in the colder temperature of the Shrieking Shack than in the castle from his poisoned wound.

3) Did the Malfoys stay where they were put? If you were the Malfoys, would you stay put, if it was possible to escape? Lucius Malfoy undoubtedly knew the whole tale of the Shrieking Shack, and knew how to enter the tunnel successfully. If he and his family wanted to leave Hogwarts unobserved by either side, the tunnel to the Shack puts you in Hogsmeade, outside of school grounds, and leaves you able to Apparate (this clearly doesn’t require a wand, or Montague would never have made it out of the Vanishing Cabinet). Perhaps the reason the Malfoys were able to negotiate a deal with the Ministry is because they were able to reach resources outside of Britain. However, if they reached the Shack, they would have certainly tried to help Snape, or at least remove his body from it.

4) Speaking of which, do notice that everyone who died had their body sorted out in the Great Hall, including Voldemort—except for Snape. Given that many in the Ministry would not be happy until they were certain where Dumbledore’s killer was, I find this odd. Even with Harry vouching for Snape, and swearing the Potions Master was dead, I am surprised nobody made it their duty to fetch the body out and put it where someone in authority thought it belonged.

5) The Headmaster’s portrait. Snape was a duly chosen Headmaster of Hogwarts. I suspect the school has had some extremely interesting Headmasters in its time, and I wouldn’t vouch myself for how much Phineas Nigellus Black knew about the Dark Arts himself. Even Harry would have noticed Snape’s portrait in the Headmaster’s Office in the Triumph Scene, if only to note any sneers or if Snape were simply asleep, the way Dumbledore was soon after he died. As for Rowling’s remarks about desertion, I can only say that Snape was a) avoiding hexing McGonagall and b) fulfilling Dumbledore’s last wishes by trying to help Harry Potter fulfill the plan to destroy Voldemort. Given that his departure allowed the others to overcome the Carrow twins, I find it difficult to believe that the school—which allowed Snape to use the office, unlike Umbridge—would call that ‘desertion’, especially when it became apparent the school itself was allied against Voldemort. Rowling did say a portrait appeared later, theoretically after Harry Potter made some representations, but we are not given a time frame here. The portrait could have showed up 50 years later for all we currently know. Or longer. Harry could have petitioned for Snape’s portrait, been denied, still believed Snape was dead, only to have the portrait show up much later after Snape’s actual passing.

6) Snape himself. He was a Potions Master who had directly observed the effect of Nagini’s bit on Arthur Weasley. Are we to believe someone as rightfully paranoid as him took no precautions against the serpent’s bite and possible injury? Go pull the other one, it’s got bells on it, as Terry Pratchett would say. This is a man who kept Dumbledore alive under far worse circumstances. I can see Snape allowing himself to appear dead. Harry probably wouldn’t have believed the memories otherwise, having already run into some altered ones from Slughorn. Whether he miscalculated or not, we have no way of knowing—but I’m betting that Snape really could stopper death. Remember, the Draught of Living Death was mentioned in the very first book. But if I had been Snape, I would have had my Muggle papers up to date under a different name and a healthy Muggle bank account squirreled away somewhere. To quote from Coneheads, “your name is Donald Sicario, and your Social Security number is…” Now try to tell me there is no market for identity theft in Britain. I dare you. In fact, I suspect a Mr. Fletcher did a thriving business in them for other wizards as well, though Snape probably didn’t trust Dung that much. Hey, would you? Snape was the sort who believed in thorough preparation—one can only imagine what he would have said to the know-it-all for forgetting food in her Purse of Holding, never mind telling all to a portrait known to be under the power of the current Headmaster, Severus Snape. The fact that Harry and Hermione remained safe even after they’d talked rather a lot of Black really should have told them about Snape’s loyalties. It was clear that Snape left the castle as Headmaster at one point for certain, as he left the Sword of Gryffindor in the stream and cast his doe Patronus. If once, why not a few other times, as long as the Carrows were too drunk or asleep to bother the students?

7) No one so far has asked Rowling outright if Snape is dead or not. All of her answers about Snape, as far as I can tell from reading the interviews, would hold even if he survived. If other information comes in, please let me know.

let's try this again...

2007-07-23T02:48:08Z

Thoughts on HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

1. Albus isn’t such a great guy, though I suspect he’ll have his defenders anyway. At last Harry is looking at what is really happening around him, though, instead of trying to blame everything and obsessing over Snape, unlike the way he did Draco in the sixth book. Now it’s apparent why Dumbledore wasn’t worried about some things that Harry did that most normal guardians would be, or should be; he never expected Harry to live past the war, and he did serve the kid up like a pig to be slaughtered. Now his leaving Harry with the Dursleys makes more sense, though it was still cruel—Snape wasn’t the only person who was worried about Harry turning out like James.

2. I am impressed with Harry’s development throughout the book. He learns from his experiences, instead of throwing fits and falling into them. He becomes aware that there’s more to being a leader than plotting in corners and going on midnight raids with his friends (though he does a lot of that, too). He realizes that as much fun as it would be to play Dodge-the-Bad-Guys with the Order, that he has to focus on what his real priorities are. Once he learns what Hallows are all about, he is tempted—he wouldn’t be human if he wasn’t—but when push comes to shove, he goes after the Horcruxes instead.

3. He takes the time to view the Snape memories instead of just dumping them and going ‘hurrah, the greasy git is dead!’—I personally thought that was a real possibility with the Harry of book 6. I am glad to see that didn’t happen. Since Harry received very little love, save from the Weasleys and from Ron and Hermione throughout his life, he didn’t notice how little Snape actually got either—though from the tone he took in the epilogue, he has almost certainly realized that the Slytherin was treated even more badly than he was, and could still love someone, even though in both cases it was never really returned.

4. Snape turned out to be a hero. It’s a miracle how he continued to love both Lily and the Headmaster, even thought it’s clear neither one gave two Knuts about him personally. Lily refused to see what James was really like (One wonders if she ever did) and the Headmaster played the guilt card whenever Snape decided he actually wanted a life. One hopes the Powers That Be took all that into consideration when the afterlife kicked in for the Potions Master. Since Harry basically told the entire battlefield during his last fight with Voldemort that Snape was Dumbledore’s man, one hopes his memory is better respected than he was in person by the Wizarding World and at Hogwarts. If there was ever a Headmaster who deserved a portrait, it was Snape (Umbridge was never allowed in the office, and Snape was. Also, Hogwarts did nothing as far as Harry knows to stop Snape from exercising his role at Headmaster, and given how the school itself fought against the Death Eaters, it was certainly capable of making its opinion known).

5. Scarily enough, Rita Skeeter turned out to be mostly right. If that’s not a Sign of the End Times, I’d like to know what was.

6. Alas, Slytherin is still the root of all evil during the whole book and 19 years later. Poor Albus Severus had better hide his middle name—anyone with the initials ASP is going to be considered prime Snake Bait if there aren’t any real Slytherins around. But Rowling does have a blind spot that she feels free to inflict upon the rest of us. I could easily write a reincarnation fanfic where Albus is actually the reincarnation of Severus (who is given a life where he isn’t hated and neglected, and only lightly bullied by older brother James) and Rose Weasley. the incarnation of Lily, who offers this penance for being so blind in her previous life, and in consideration of Snape basically sacrificing over half his life in her service for absolutely no return while he’s living whatsoever. However, we speak of Slytherin house. By 19 years later, it is quite likely much diminished. Anyone who does sort there will probably tell their younger brothers and sisters not to, since no one cares spend seven years being ostracized and/or beaten up. Politically aware pureblood families won’t want their little Johnny running for Minister of Magic with an I’m Evil sticker on the kid’s forehead either. Eventually, some headmistress or headmaster will wonder why the last ten kids are using one-fourth of the available dormitory space, and want to shrink the area, further diminishing any motivation for any kid to sort Slytherin. One suspects the Sorting Hat will be dimly aware of what’s going on, and stop putting kids there at all.

7. Any book that lets Lucius Malfoy walk and Snape die sucks vacuum, in my opinion. But as we all know, the rich make their own rules and apparently Rowling is comfortable with that. Besides, he’s pretty, and Rowling seems to favor those characters anyway. Ugly Equals Bad in her physical descriptions. However, Draco would be wise to urge his son Scorpius (why he named the kid something that says “I’m Evil” I have no idea; clearly, he was not thinking straight here) to Sort Ravenclaw, or something besides Slytherin. Why should a Malfoy back a losing horse? You’d think that Draco would have had enough of that already in his life.

8. Say, whatever became of Marietta Edgecombe? Or Cho Chang?

9. I cried over Dobby. Snape’s death had that “ok, it’s time for Snape to die and give Harry his memories, how do I rig it?” air to it. It wasn’t as bad as say, Jadzia Dax’s death in DS9, or Tasha Yar’s in Next Gen, but it was real close. However, for us eager fanfic writers, Harry did see the Potions Master’s eyes go blank—but he’s not a trained medical specialist, either, did not take a pulse, and there’s never any mention of what happened to the body. Besides, it’s just unreasonable to believe that Snape never took precautions against being bitten by Nagini. His specialty is poisons, hello! So any resurrection specialists still have an out, should they wish to take it. I already have enough plot bunnies, so anyone who likes can have this one.

10. I still loved the maturity Harry showed in the epilogue, even though it was far too short. My guess is that Victoire is Bill and Fleur’s child, even though her parentage was not specifically mentioned.

11. Lupin acted very oddly during nearly all the book, and I suspect the ease in which the Trio were traced can be laid at his doorstep. It wasn’t till Harry made Remus go home to his wife and child that the surveillance slowed down by quite a bit. The werewolf died bravely in battle, and nothing became Wormtail’s life like his departure from it. One hopes that Harry has not given the Invisibility Cloak or the Map to his oldest son, though. From the little we saw of him, James the Younger could be the next Marauder, and one group of those bullies was enough. Draco and the Goons didn’t pull half the crap that the Marauders did from all report, and I’m glad Harry didn’t like it when his dad did it, either—he could easily have justified it to himself as only what the greasy git deserved for killing Dumbledore after the end of book 6, but he didn’t.

12. What’s up with all these Unforgivables, anyway? Yes, yes, it’s war, yada yada, but becoming like one’s enemy only ensures that the bad guys win even if they don’t. And who was the person who was going to do magic late in life that nobody expected? I did like Dudley looking like Grawp in expression, though. I have a story in mind called “Big Boned” about Vernon Dursley’s actual ancestry that now sounds more possible than ever. Hmm….<G>

13. Summary: DH was a far better book than I was expecting, but not nearly as good as I was hoping for. Everything felt rushed, various deaths appeared perfunctory when they shouldn’t have been, and some of the deaths felt like Rowling had to fill in the boxes to make sure everything ran on schedule. I liked Percy coming back to his family, but it was handled in the same “fiddlededee Boom!” manner that many other important events were also treated in (Phrase stolen from Mad Magazine’s Condensed Version of Gone With the Wind). The book was both too long and not long enough, if that makes any sense. The number of events could have been pared down, and each event treated in a more comprehensive, emotional manner. And isn’t it handy that there’s a Kewl Flying Beast hanging around whenever Harry needs one?

14. I need to write some of my stuff, at least once I’m finished with “The Birthday Present”. One reason some universes get a lot of fanfiction is because the author has really interesting characters, but has so many plot and worldbuilding holes that other writers feel confident they can fill them in. I think this is the case with the Potterverse as well.

15. Anyway, it’s done. No more Harry Potter, except from fanfic writers. Now I can get my life back!

HP: Deathly Hallows. SEVERE SPOILERS!

2007-07-22T19:24:22Z

I don't know how to use a cut yet. I do apologize for leaving it out like this, I had no idea someone random would come across it. I shall repost my essay once I find out how to do a cut.

Thank you for your patience.

The Continuing Saga

2007-05-14T02:54:10Z

Well, the Continuing Saga to get me sucked into Final Fantasy XI er...continues. Now I find out that not only to do I have to deal with a Playstation 2 and get the modem installed, now I need a network controller or I will have to pay double the cable modem fee (not gonna happen). At least I have a character there now--his name is Danvan, he's an elven monk (with an eye towards becoming a paladin), but he's going to be a different sort of monk. He will, in fact, be the eventual abbot of the Monks of Cool doing missionary work from Discworld, and the Deity therein will be Edna (purveyor of style, color, and comfort from THE INCREDIBLES). I thought it rather delightful that she was allowed through the magic of blue-screen technology to help present the Best Costuming Oscars that year (March 2006, I believe). You can be a Seriously Good Guy and still Look Good. I wonder if FFXI will allow me to purchase a pair of really nifty shades? Gotta have that eye protection against mean monsters, you know.

See, what happened was this. A _Simpsons_ episode saw Marge Simpson get hooked onto the Enchanted Realm (never to be confused with Evercrack or Warcrack), and discovered her son was the Evil Shadow Knight (like this should have been a surprise), and did Mom stuff for him, like redecorate his castle in Hello Kitty. He threw a tantrum on screen, had to revive her, and had to face a crowd of vengeful denizens (he deserved it, I mean we _are_ talking Bart here) who destroyed him. In the last scene, Bart et al were playing in the back yard--except for Marge, who was calmly using Moe's head (he was a player too) as a soccer ball (he was also part of the crowd of vengeful denizens, etc.) while Marge vowed to hunt down each member of the aforementioned denizens and do the same to them.

_See_ Grendel. Apparently my son thought this was cool, and bought me a PS2 and FFXI so we could go around and whup monster ass as required. I still want to establish that Temple, though.

Oh, yes, "The Birthday Present" on www.fanfiction.net is at 1669 reviews now...

Job! Yay!

2007-05-05T03:57:02Z

You are now looking at (metaphorically speaking) the newest Junior Financial Statement Accountant at Jeld-Wen! At first, when one person's promotion was listed on the intranet, I whined, I moped, I muttered Evil Things. And lo, I was called back (thank goodness I did all the whining at home) and...there were two positions open, and I got one. I was told, "You'll be starting out with simple statements" to which I said, "Thank you." Soon I, too, will be wandering the halls with a printout in my hand whining, "Where is my 32 cents? I'm not going to balance without my 32 cents..." But for now, they need to hire a replacement for me. I've already been told by several "No, you can't be promoted. We will never let you leave." but in a _nice_ way.

And on a fairly happy note as well, I and my husband Mike will be in San Francisco over Memorial Day Weekend. We plan to get a party pass to Baycon and say hi to people. Will any of you be there to say hi to us? (hope so!). Saturday night is when I plan to get the pass. Mike will be wearing his Dumbledore robe and I will be wearing the Corset and possibly the Elvis Jacket on top of it. Plan to wear sunglasses. I _will_ be sparkly. (even so, the two of them together still don't cost what I paid to Weight Watchers so they fit better--but God, it was worth every penny! And the 15 bad curlups I do every morning. If being a vain slut is what keeps me eating healthy and getting some exercise, then I'll use it!

Let me know if you plan to be there, eh?

excessiveperky @ 2007-03-01T20:40:00

2007-03-02T04:45:46Z

After a certain amount of wailing, gnashing of teeth, and dark chocolate consumption, I am facing work with a little more serenity (although actually seeing someone else's promotion on the company intranet was probably not good for me, sigh). I could have done without the rejection slip.

However, I am about to bore you with links to all my stories on www.fanfiction.net. Please bear with me...(they're all Harry Potter stories)

"Folk of the Wood"
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3057687/1/

"Grave Matters"
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2495366/1/

"Midnight by the Weasley Watch"
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1216035/1/

"My Husband's Scars"
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3240747/1/

"Persephone" (Beauty and the Beast, kinda crossover with Phantom)
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1234374/1/

"Setzer's Christmas" (Final Fantasy III in US, VI in Japan)
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1139587/1/

"The Birthday Present" (Snape angst fic, really long)
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2470334/1/

"Thunder Road"
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1149524/1/

Oh, and if you read, please do review. Thanks!

Thus ends the Blatant Pimpage entry...

I'm baaaack...

2007-02-23T05:26:40Z

So far we've had almost two feet of snow (ok, the rest of you can stop laughing now...it's new to us, ok?). Fortunately, the road is wet rather than icy beneath, and a new set of four studded tires truly makes my life complete.

Job is about the same as it was, crunching away on chapter 68, which is sluggy, but I shall hit it with my ballpeen hammer till it behaves. I know what needs to happen, I just have to get there. Once I know all the logistics, then it will be easier for me to summarize in a later draft. How the heck _does_ Madam Pomfrey run an infirmary without assistants, or even a couple of house elves? Yes, it's quiet there some of the time, but one major Quidditch mass accident, and it's triage time on the lawn, folks. Or nursing someone through the night with something ugly, with a boatload of 'I hate Monday' students with stomachaches lined up for their weekly sympathy jolt, and someone has to keep fights from breaking out. There are time when I don't think Ms. Rowling has thought through a few things. Yes, yes, I know you're aghast at that coming from _me_, after all.

Of course, if Madam Pomfrey was willing to use magic the way I would be, it'd be a very peaceful infirmary indeed. And I could go to the bathroom in peace.

I'm depressed, and so I whine

2007-02-22T04:45:56Z

I was up for a promotion at work. Everyone thought I had a wonderful chance at it. It fell through--the two positions open (why I thought I had a wonderful chance) went to two different people, one of which had been here far less time than I, and had less education.

So for the past couple of days I've been pouting. Tuesday I devoured every scrap of chocolate in the house, some pizza, and some home-made party mix (ok, it was also the Night After Weigh-In, which in dieting terms is a sacred pig-out party once a week). Tonight I chewed lots of no-sugar gum and Thought Evil Thoughts.

And then, though I'm sure it's sour grapes, I realized how badly one of the positions would have been for me. One of the managers is one I worked for before, and was delighted to have moved away from. We are on much better terms now, but her basic desire to micromanage and inspect everything I'm doing at any given time give me the pip. And I'm sure I have characteristics which do not precisely endear her to me either. Perhaps I dodged a bullet.

Ok, and maybe Ed MacMahon will knock on my door and hand me a check in five minutes.

But hey, where I work is a really big company, and I live in its corporate headquarters. I have two cards on my computer from last summer signed with a rather large number of people who think I'm pretty cool there.

(eek! Just remembered! Someone's birthday there tomorrow, must find something quick! Fortunately I often buy spare birthday cards and whatnot, should be one or two still around somewhere...).

Bye now, must run--

Why, yes, it is me again...

2007-02-19T06:21:52Z

I have over 1400 reviews for "The Birthday Present" on www.fanfiction.net. Haven't read it yet? Why, go over there and do so. It might take a little while. It's kind of a huge telenovela, Hogwarts style, one or two seasons worth. Some of the action is repetitive, or so I've been told--but in each spiral, Snape makes a little more progress towards humanity, while Harry makes a little more towards good sense.

I'm working off of a first draft, of which I still have over 200 singlespaced pages. I am currently getting a chapter not on that first draft beta'd, because there seemed to be a gap in the action that I _could_ have just briefly glossed over, but I decided to use it to make more sense of the action that's going to happen not too far down the line.

Besides, Flitwick--well, you just can't shut up a Ravenclaw. It's been tried and it simply doesn't work.

Quiet day today. Everything picked up and the floor vaccumed, laundry folded, and the latest episode of ROME watched. Home-made tacos were made and consumed (mmm, salsa!), and I really should be headed to bed now, but I'm not.

Am reading a book about Second Life, and how it really is for a lot of people. I probably won't set up shop there myself, as I am spread thin enough already, but it sounded like a lot of fun.

Shock! Two times in two days!

2007-02-18T06:35:57Z

Yes, yes, it is a sign of the end times to post this often. Woke up at 8:36 with a call from some idiot wanting to conduct a survey. I was not polite. Cat decided Mommy needed to get up and feed her. Mike did it instead, I went back to sleep, and didn't wake up till after 10. Much better. Did four loads of laundry today, took a walk for nearly two miles with Mike (slowly, and with a soda stop at Mia and Pia's at the midpoint, paid a number of mid-month bills online, went to the library to drop off some books, and then pretty much collapsed on the couch. I did finish Vikram Chandra's SACRED GAMES--I strongly recommend it. It's not quite a long as Vikram Seth's A SUITABLE BOY, but it's quite as complex and gives a detailed look at more-or-less modern day Bombay/Mumbai. It is very good, even if half the narrative is given by someone who dies in more or less the first chapter. Some ghosts are just more stubborn than others. I also finished A BRIDGE OF BIRDS by Barry Hughart, a novel of China that never was. If you have not read this yet, I _very_ strongly recommend you do. Say, does anybody know Ang Lee's address? I can't help watching the movie of it in my head whenever I re-read it, and he's the only director I know who could do it justice.

I have also eaten much too much teriyaki chicken and fried rice (the Safeway supermarket deli does an excellent Shanghai Dinner for Two, especially on weekends). I shall soon retire back to the couch and drink a glass of wine and start a new, somewhat fluffier book.

Start of the new regime

2007-02-17T05:13:29Z

I am going to attempt to post more often (it really has been since December, hasn't it?).

Job: Applied for a financial statement accountant position. Don't know if I will get it or not, but I did make 89% on the company test with five days of fairly intense study and/or pulling accounting stuff out of my rear from 2003.

Writing: "The Birthday Present": Still...posting. And more posting. I should hit over 1400 reviews before the end of the weekend, though. Ok, I'm a review slut. Have three or four stories out, have yet to hear from them (or the rejections are buried in close to 5,000 messages in by in box. Tragically, I am not joking. I like getting free newsletters.)

Health: Fighting off the Office Cold. Used many legal herbal products and lots of Vitamin C in the process, but it seems to be working (so far, I'm winning and _not_ deathly ill like a couple of people at work who got this thing were).

Weight: Still hanging in the 131-132 lbs range. Salt is still the Great Satan. So of course I miss it (shoestring potatoes in the can are not my friends, and I should remember this).

Anyway, am keeping it short, but am attempting to post on a _far_ more regular basis.

First, a Brag!

2006-12-21T04:24:12Z

Sold a story for the first time in ten years. "Esprit de Corpse" is 900 words about an undertaker, a corpse and a freezer. The corpse wins. The buyer: Mitzi Szereto for the anthology GETTING EVEN: WOMEN'S REVENGE ON MEN, to be published in the UK by Serpent Tail Productions (see, old Salazar likes me for my support of one of his favorite Slytherins!).

Other writing: Just joined an apa which believes in at least three pages of original content each issue and _firmly_ encourages mailing comments on such work. I should learn, really. Still posting "The Birthday Present" at a chapter in slightly more than a week. Children are home for Christmas, but I'm still up long before they are, so still keep on writing. More cards to send out and presents to wrap, but that shall get done. I will have five days off work, yay! Sleep is good.

Plan to print up and send off "Wild Horses" to _Asimov's_. I don't expect anything more than a preprinted drop dead slip, but I sure won't win the lottery if I don't buy a ticket.

Wish me luck--and Merry Christmas!

Look! Another post!

2006-11-03T04:24:52Z

Look! I'm updating and it hasn't even been a month yet. Updated "The Birthday Present" on fanfiction.net (and thanks to all of you who have reviewed already). Hate the colder, wetter weather--muscles and joints are whining despite the turmeric I'm taking. Anybody know the grape juice and pectin cure? I don't care if it's a placebo if it works.

Will keep it short tonight--just want to say hi.

New Co-Worker Rocks and/or Rules

2006-10-30T05:08:21Z

I have a new co-worker, or why I've been going home from work ON TIME! for the past couple of weeks (first couple of weeks I was training her).

She is absolutely wonderful, smart, hard working, easily bored, thinks I'm funny (as in ha ha, not Weird, though I very much suspect I qualify for both), and appears to enjoy herself immensely, even after the Expense Report From Hell she was stuck with last Thursday (fortunately our boss thought of it likewise, and went up to the Admin building with a copy of it requesting its perpetrator be executed).

But I digress.

On the writing front, I took a query letter for Phoenix in Shadow to the local writing group and had it sliced and diced. Unfortunately, they were right, and I will have to redo the bugger. Goal: get the letter, synopsis, and first four chapter inflicted on somebody before the end of the year. Unless I hear from a prospective collaborator, at the end of this year I will have to gin up a decent outline for Heretic: the Many Lives of Weyoun and kick it out the door to Pocket Books.

And then I will have only two more Huge Ass novels to redo the query letter on, inflict on others, etc. Meanwhile, I just set chapter 57 of The Birthday Party off to my Beloved Betas, and will post it on FFN when it comes back. I will have to put up a Soppiness Warning for bits of it, I suppose. Anyway, I shall try to post MUCH more often.

STILL no replacement for my co-worker!

2006-09-03T03:18:30Z

My co-worker (a fine person) left for a different job on August 11th. She has still not been replaced. I have been doing ninetenths of her jobs (still don't know all the steps for posting wires yet, or remember them, actually). They knew about her leaving three weeks before she did. It has been three rather hellish weeks of Lots of Overtime since then, and next week looks to be worse with the Monday holiday (though I'm going in for a couple of hours on Monday, or I will never get all those voided checks in).

I've been told: two weeks ago "I'm working on it" by my current boss, and "it'll be taken care of this week" (last week and it wasn't). and am not really expecting anything next week (and since I will have to train this new person, am actually rather hoping she or he doesn't show up, because I will be at work till 7:30 pm both Tuesday and Wednesday, and probably till 6 on Thursday). I have been coping with this reasonably well, except when I run into a person 'why don't I have my check?" I have to explain about if they are a vendor that needs to be added to the computer system that it _won't_ be on time, because I don't have a lot of time to stop and add new vendors with hundreds of other invoices to get checks run on anyway, some of them with severe deadlines. And then there's the 'emergency' Must Run Right Now checks (oh, they're a new vendor? But it has to be today! Oh, what's a W-9 and why can't you call the vendor and get one for yourself instead of making me, the requester, do it?). And the payroll by deposit upload expense reports. And the freight checks. And the UPS/FedEx upload, many items of which have to be changed because some idiot won't put in the right accounting code even if you tell them what it's supposed to be.

But of course I have to ignore all this and handfeed somebody's single check with several hundred other vouchers waiting. _They_ are more important, after all!

And the research projects. Did we ever pay any of these twenty or so invoices to So and So? What check? Did that check clear? Can I have an image of front and back? But I need to have it NOW! Could you run a report on all the accounts for my department? It can't be right what it says on the general ledger here, some of these line items have to belong to someone else, not me! Or e-mail me an image out of DocLink of the following invoices, I want to see who really signed for all this.

Sigh. And they think I'm not qualified to be a financial statement accountant because I couldn't possibly handle such a complicated task (my four year degree in econ and two year degree on accounting were far too long ago, surely I forgot all that stuff...). Hint: I'm too old. After all, I should be lucky to have a job!

And the sad fact is, I'm getting good money for a woman in Klamath Falls who isn't a teacher or in real estate.

Ticked? You bet. Leaving? Can't afford to. Transfering? They probably won't let me, not being the _only_ accounts payable clerk for my section (and nobody else would take this position the way it is right now!). So I'm temporarily stuck and Really Miffed Off about it.

Oh, yeah, "Wild Horses" was rejected at Analog. Bleah. And I need to send a reminder letter to someone I wrote about collaborating on a novel. Double bleah.

Fortunately, this is my husband's birthday and there's a chocolate cake sitting on the kitchen table just waiting to die under my knife.

Been a while--again

2006-08-28T02:47:40Z

Well, "Wild Horses" was rejected at Analog but with a Nice Note from Dr. Schmidt. I would have sent it to Baen's Universe today, but I didn't have the right file format. I will take care of that tomorrow. I also plan to send "What Makes Joey Run?" to strangehorizons.org, but alas, same problem. I do want to send out the best versions. Still posting "Birthday Present" up at www.fanfiction.net --go there and search for excessivelyperky (the 'ly' was lost here, alas, due to lack of proper length for my handle).

I am also working Tons of Overtime, since my boss (new boss since Sindy left) feels no big rush to hire a replacement for a coworker and I am now working two people's jobs. Paycheck looks good, though, but I miss having more energy in the evenings, sigh. Still writing every morning, though.

My Monday Lunch project is coming along nicely. I've put in all the links for my Regency Choose Your Own Epic (note the un-trademarked term), and now need to do the basic rewriting. After that I need to find the proper web stationery, suck all the text in, rework the links so you don't have to do control plus link routing, just click and go, and find some friendly betas to suck--er, to encourage to try to find links that don't work and all that.

My coffee break partner is leaving town, alas, and I will miss discussing Cool Ways to Kill Characters during that time. I have always felt a quick stab to the heart is much quieter and faster than a throat slice, and fortunately we have a doctor in our local Writer's Group to ask these little questions.

I will try to update more often. Drowning in invoices, drowning!

Been a while!

2006-07-15T04:26:53Z

Have been on vacation, caught up on work, well, sort of, dealt with the horrible lack of air conditioning in the car (not funny when driving in Palm Springs!), and endured a new crown on a lower right molar. Still hurts (they were breaking in a new assistant, and I swear they used the Jaws of Life in my mouth somewhere and scraped the gum).

On the other hand, I've updated "The Birthday Present" on www.fanfiction.net, sent a book collaboration proposal to one of the actors on DS9 through his agency, and finally, FINALLY finished revising "Wild Horses" (all 28,000 words of it) to Analog. Poor Dr. Schmidt, he'll never know what hit him. It's a story in a Rome that never fell on a space station shared with the aliens we're currently trying to fix up our treaty with. Our Poor Hero gets stuck babysitting a high ranking alien ambassador. Closely. Very closely.

Tired tonight, will close down and head for the tub soon. Ibuprofen! Alcohol! (and yes, I know better than to directly mix them. Honest).

And then to bed.

excessiveperky @ 2006-04-22T17:30:00

2006-04-23T00:36:39Z

Ah, Saturdays! Laundry, writing, some e-mail, and a free acupressure appointment with my friend Shirley who needs to build up her hours. This kind of guinea pig I don't mind being. My neck and shoulders feel great! I currently have one load of hang-up laundry in the dryer, the whites in the washer, and two others loads (done) waiting to be folded. I've finished up chapter 40 of "The Birthday Present". I need to read it through for glitches, dropped words, suck-o antecedents and that kind of thing, then send it to my Glorious Britpicker. She'll beat me out of some of those tacky Americanisms yet. The potroast is defrosting the microwave, and will soon end up in the stove along with suitably prepared potatoes for baking. Then my husband and I will have supper and lie around gently burping, being happy our pellet stove is working and wondering if we'll ever have spring (Northern Hemisphere, and it's almost May. I think it's a reasonable question, don't you?

And I will write that first draft of a query letter to collaborate with someone to write a Star Trek novel about the Vorta. Mmmm, Weyoun...'send in the clones', she hums...'there must be clones...'

I mean, it's that or fold the laundry. Which one would you rather do?

Bumbling around and posting

2006-04-21T03:47:29Z

I wrote a song! I've been listening to Guards! Guards! in the car, and was Viciously Attacked by a Complete Song (I am attacking by lines and first verses at regular intervals, but hardly ever finish them. I suppose this song was serious).

"Dragon Went a' Courtin'" (ttto "Froggy Went a' Courtin'")
by Jean Lamb

From the Ankh-Morpork section of the Discworld:

"Errol went a courtin', he did fly, uh huh. Uh huh.
Errol went a courtin', he did fly, uh huh. Uh huh.
On wings of flame the dragons rise,
She's one thousand times his size,
Errol went a courtin', he did fly, uh huh. Uh huh.

Nobby went a courtin', he did creep, uh huh. Uh huh.
Nobby went a courtin', he did creep, uh huh. Uh huh.
Offers affection in a burst,
But should try his own species first,(1)
Nobby went a courtin', he did creep, uh huh. Uh huh.

Vimes went a courtin, he did roam uh huh. Uh huh.
Vimes went a courtin, he did roam uh huh. Uh huh.
Ramkin's noble to the bone,
And outweighs him by a stone,
Vimes went a courtin, he did roam uh huh. Uh huh.

Carrot went a courtin', he did walk uh huh. Uh huh.
Carrot went a courtin', he did walk uh huh. Uh huh.
The one he finds lopes past his fear.
The werewolf Angua loves him dear,
Carrot went a courtin', he did walk uh huh. Uh huh.

Librarian went a courtin' he did swing, ook ook. Ook ook.
Librarian went a courtin' he did swing, ook ook. Ook ook
At bushy hair he takes a look,
But Granger's nose is in her book (2)
Librarian went a courtin' he did swing, ook ook. Ook ook

(1) Whatever that might be, of course.

(2) Through the Modern Miracle of L-space, he can check out more than one
library, you know.

(3) It's not Officially Pratchett without the footnotes, you know.

Ok, that's my post for today.