mllelaurel

Well, here goes. I've officially signed up for Blogathon 2007. I'll be blogging for Planned Parenthood, so if you've got the ability and inclination, please sponsor me.

..Yes, there will actually be a sponsor link up there, eventually. Since this is my first Blogathon, my journal apparently has to go through some sort of background check before it's added to the queue.

Sponsor me here:

http://www.blogathon.org/pledge.php?blogid=155

What to expect from me:
I won't lie, my blogging style best resembles that of a rampant squirrel. One that has recently consumed some cracky, cracky nuts. That said, here are some of my ideas for blogathon entries:

- Overdue meme responses. This includes the personal canon meme and the pairing drabble meme.
- BPAL reviews, provided I have some BPAL on hand.
- Social observations, as it's likely I'll be doing this with a group of people.
- More and more entries about how tired I am, as the deadline nears.

Want to minimize the number of entries from that last category? Give me topics! Name a show, a character, a real life issue - anything you can think of that I might have an opinion on - and you'll get a rant, rave or ramble on this subject of choice.

I'll also be sponsoring some people, myself. It won't be much - about $5 a person, no matter how much I wish I could do more - but it'll be something.

Much belated this week, as I was still mostly dead on Monday, and had a pointless doctor's appointment of pointlessness on Tuesday. Rar.

Physical: Had appointment. It was pointless.

In other news, Mary, my physical therapist, is going on a medical leave of her own, which means I'll have to finish out the summer with someone else. Bugger.

In other other news, my lower back has been killing me in the last few days. I don't know why, as I haven't done anything that might fuck with it. I really wish health insurance covered massages.

Spiritual: I now know I'm on friendly terms with the air element; I wouldn't have made it all the way through Blogathon, if not for a much-welcomed air-energy infusion from

wired_lizard. That was nice~

Emotional: Going through a bit of...not introvert shock so much, but overwhelmedness? avoidance of things requiring coherent thought and/or commitment? Whichever. I'll give it a couple of days and it'll pass. It always does.

Blogathon: I win! I did it! Thanks to you all (including newest donor,

shadesong!), I've managed to raise $210.

Meanwhile, I have yet to receive my Blogathon e-mail, which would direct me through the actual donation process. Is this true for everyone?

Currently reading: Back to Paladin of Souls, which I wound up putting aside, once I got my grubby paws on Deathly Hallows.

Currently watching: Re-watched Nightmare Before Christmas just yesterday. Not quite as good as I remembered, but entertaining.

Currently listening to: Soundtrack to Chess.

Currently wondering: Why a part of me wants to be drawn into the Harry Potter fandom. I'm getting fic bunnies. Hell, I'm even re-reading old RP logs. I'm a sad, sad person. This is also the part of my brain that wonders what would happen if you took the Corpus Delicti game concept and made it Deathly Hallows compatible (well, most of Deathly Hallows). My fanbrain is just not allowed to talk anymore.

KoL: Started the Level 12 Quest. Haven't had the chance to play much yet.

BPAL: My lab order has arrived. With it, I also got Tetzcatlipoca, Somnus and Blood Amber frimps. Real reviews will come later. ( First mini-impressions under cut )

And thus, we wrap up Blogathon 2007! Many thanks to all of you who sponsored me and my friends. You've contributed to some wonderful causes, backed by amazing people.

If you haven't had the chance to sponsor someone, you can still do so over the next couple of days, or so I believe.

If you want to sponsor me, here's a shiny SPONSOR ME link, just for this purpose.

And now, I go crash. G'night!

It's eight-thirty in the morning. Frank the rubber chicken would like to say hello to you all. He's been Team Venture's faithful mascot all through the last twenty-four hours.

Waitasecond...have I ever introduced you to the other Team Venture members? I'm too braindead to check at this point, so if I'm repeating myself, please bear with me.

Team Venture is the group of lovely people in whose company I've been blogging and without whose presence I would have crashed by this point. We consist of myself (no! really?) our lovely hostess

shadesong,

wired_lizard,

rafaela and

slipjig. Add to that several shiny individuals looking after us and this Blogathon really was a social and special occasion. One I'll likely be repeating next year.

Almost there; we're in the home stretch, ladies and gentlemen. So isn't it about time for me to say why it is I'm blogging for Planned Parenthood?

I'm blogging for them because they're willing to provide sex education and resources to young adults, some of whom would never be able to procure the information otherwise. I, personally, went to a high quality, progressive high school, and our sex ed was still shit. Problem was, they started us on Health classes in middle school, when the teachers couldn't actually talk about sex, and once we got to high school, the teachers assumed we already knew everything we needed to know. So where did most of us get the information? Parents, if we were extremely lucky. The internet, with its Russian roulette of valid info and utter bs. Personal experience, more often than not. If one looked really hard, they could find brochures and such at the nurse's office. And where did those brochures come from? Planned Parenthood.

I'm blogging for the nonjudgmental care they've (at least the Boston branch) offered people I knew. Medical examinations. Psychological counseling. Contraceptives. The option to have an abortion - or not have one.

What seals it for me, though, is their reaction when their patient is an adolescent who would not be able to pay in cash for the needed medical services. They'd be covered by their family's insurance, but the bills would be sent straight to their parents, thus violating their privacy and (depending on the parents) safety. For this, I found PP had a contingency plan. In the situation where the patient was dependent on an outside party, PP would cover the necessary services for free. Where does the money for this come from, in a non-profit organization? Why, from viewers like you!

And that, my friends, is why I'm blogging for Planned Parenthood

I'm...hallucinating cats. Which is to say I keep seeing cats moving where there are none. Sleep dep, thou art fun.

Merf. Off to find real, non-hallucinatory cats.

The Hesperides

The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera's sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.

In imp: Honeyed apple.

On me (wet): Baked apple, to be specific. Yum!

On me (dry): Ditto.

Verdict: Guh! This is delicious.

~~Ten~~ Five fic bunnies currently percolating in my head.

1. Heroes - Claire and Charlie - gen
2. Harry Potter - Lupin and Tonks - gen, with sides of slash and het
3. Harry Potter - Lupin and Augusta Longbottom (OotP) - gen
[Yes, Remus Lupin seems to have moved into my head. Or more like moved back in. This is me minding not in the least.]
4. Doctor Who - Jack/Eight (amnesia years) - slash
5. Babylon 5 - Susan/Talia (Day of the Dead) - femslash
[Do I even have ten fic bunnies? Live, kicking, nose-wiggling ones? No, I do not.]

TV Shows I'm watching or want to watch

[Yes, we're getting sadder and sadder, people. I know I have good prompts, and it's possible I'll get to them, but right now, my brain is Swiss cheese.]

1. Doctor Who / Torchwood / Sarah Jane Adventures (grouped together to make a little bit more of a challenge
2. Heroes
3. Lost (Season 1 was brilliant. I still haven't seen seasons 2 and 3, but it'll happen, I swear)
4. Supernatural
5. Alias
6. CSI
7. Blake's 7
8. Time Trumpet
9. Life on Mars
10. Peep Show

(Wow, soooo much Brit TV!)

List: 10 Movies I haven't seen yet. Yes, I know it's sad.

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I've seen the rest of the movies)
2. The Departed
3. Finding Nemo
4. Pan's Labyrinth
5. The Queen
6. Children of Men
7. Little Children (to stick to a theme *g*)
8. The Illusionist
9. The Prestige
10. For Your Consideration

My brain's no longer in any state to write paragraphs, so lists are my happy shiny friend. The list of this half-hour is: Ten books I own and therefore haven't read yet (and probably should).

1. Dune, by Frank Herbert
2. So You Want to be a Wizard, by Diane Duane
3. Fragile Things, by Neil Gaiman
4. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (in Russian; Mom keeps telling me to read it)
5. Obedience to Authority, by Stanley Milgram (read it for a class; keep meaning to re-read it for real.)
6. Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen
7. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
8. The Silmarillon, by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. Smoke and Ashes, by Tanya Huff
10. Traitor's Moon, by Lynn Flewelling (which I put down, being disappointed by the beginning, but I really should finish at some point, if only for completion's sake.)

Prompt by

mirrored_echo: What are you wearing right now?

Right now, I'm wearing a blue silk skirt with a leafy pattern on it. It swirls and swishes round my legs and generally makes me happy. Once upon a time, I also wore a blue tanktop. It's crumpled on the table in front of me now. Makes an excellent wrist-rest, actually. Instead of a shirt, all I've got a white bra. It fits perfectly, thankfully. So many don't. On the down side, I managed to spill something on it early on, so now it's no longer shiny white. I braided my hair early this morning, and most of the braid's remained intact, though some tendrils have escaped, curling down the right side of my face. The curls are mostly due to humidity. I'm not normally that blessed. Atop my head rests a tan fedora. Its original owner claims that this is the hat which looks good on everyone and I concur. This hat loves me and I love it! Note to self: track down a similar chapeau. I've been walking around on bare feet all day, despite having brought my ratty old slippers with me. I just never bothered to unpack them is all.

For the sake of completion, I should probably also mention the double piercings in my earlobes. I just got them re-done recently and really should give them a rubbing alcohol bath when I get home.

And this concludes tonight's episode of Dress to Impress.

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For

wired_lizard: Suzie Costello

1. She got sent away to a Catholic boarding school at age ten for 'acting out'. Her years there honed her already high IQ, sharpened her disdain of most people around her and taught her Atheism.

2. After her death, the other Torchwood members would compile all the personal things they knew about her. It wasn't much - and what they did have didn't match up. Not that Suzie was a compulsive liar, though she certainly lied a lot, but she used the others' inability to get to know her as a preliminary defense.

3. She actually hated most of Dickinson's work. It would have felt almost sacreligious to use a literary work she liked for codes and triggers, so she improvised.

Witch Queen

On a rocky mountain pass, on the southernmost slopes of Mount Belly, the witch-queen reined in her goat-drawn chariot and stopped and sniffed the chilly air.

The myriad stars hung cold in the sky above her.

Her red, red lips curved up into a smile of such beauty, such brilliance, such pure and perfect happiness that it would have frozen your blood in your veins to have seen it. "There," she said. "She is coming to me."

And the wind of the mountain pass howled about her triumphantly, as if in answer.

Wild plum, red musk, tuberose, calla lily, heliotrope, pimento, ylang ylang and beeswax beneath a dark haze of sinister purple-hued incense smoke.

In imp: I'm getting lots of incense. Plum is where?

On me (wet): Yes! A bit of plum! I like this scent.

On me (dry): I've had to resort to using the palm of my hand as testing ground. It is thus unreliable.

Verdict: I'll have to take another, closer look at this one.

Alice

Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot.

In imp: Mmm, nice! This is a sweet rose, but not too sweet.

On me (wet): Interesting. The honey's actually coming through in this one. In fact, most of what I'm getting is honey.

On me (dry): Very light. Come on, Alice. You can do better than that.

Verdict: Quandary! I love the smell, but it doesn't have much throw on me.

The titles of four of the five upcoming SJA serials have been announced.

The first serial, written by Gareth Roberts, is still untitled.

The second, written by Phil Ford is titled Eye of the Gorgon.

The third, written by Phil Gladwin, is titled Warriors of the Kudlak. (I had to make sure of the spelling on that one twice.)

The fourth, once again written by Gareth Roberts, is titled Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane, and the last, written by Phil Ford, is titled The Lost Boy.

Personally, I'm the most excited about WHtSJ. Not only is the title intriguing, but I've really liked Roberts' previous episodes in the Who-verse - The Shakespeare Code (DW) and Invasion of the Bane (SJA).

Now, if they would just give us the bloody air dates, I'd be a very happy Lily.

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For

wired_lizard: Gwen Cooper

[This is going to be interesting. For the most part, my opinion of Gwen runs the gamut from extreme indifference, to mild dislike, to full-out dislike. In fact, the only version of Gwen I consistently like is Tory's own. All the more reason to do a meme like this.]

1. When she was a child, she always asked her parents for a puppy, and every time they said no. They didn't think she was mature enough to take care of a pet. She swore that she'd adopt a dog as soon as she moved out. High school ended, then college ended. And it just never happened. First it was school, then she told herself she didn't have the time, with her job, then Rhys turned out to be allergic. ...Sometimes, she begins to wonder if she's started to agree with her parents somewhere along the line, and she really just doesn't have the maturity. Before Torchwood, this was one of the things that kept her from telling Rhys she wanted kids.

2. There are days when she wakes up thinking it's all been a dream and she's never actually joined Torchwood. It would be easy, if she just felt relieved in those moments, but instead, her relief is mixed with profound regret.

Then, she remembers, and once again, feels both regret and relief.

Somewhat tied into this, she never drinks anything offered to her when she goes out anymore, unless she's having dinner with Rhys's parents or something like that. One experience with Retcon was quite enough for her. The very thought of the memory drug still makes her sick to her stomach.

3. When she died, she swears she could see galaxies rushing by her at blinding speeds. It was cold - doesn't matter that she was incorporeal, it was still cold - and she thought she could hear a man laughing.

It's a good thing Billis Manger never laughed in her presence. She would have found it eerily familiar.

Thanks to

ineffablewombat, we're now up to $200! Huzzah!

Eight hours to go.

Another something I'd thought to start up a while back is posting the various poems I've written (just the recent-ish stuff; I don't hate you guys). I never got around to doing this, and now's as good a time as any.

( First Draft: Two Weeks in Tokyo, Give or Take a Day )

This was written in my Freshman year of college. I remember being utterly blocked the night before it was due, then sitting down and having some really cool imagery practically pour out of my keyboard. It wasn't perfect, but I was damn proud of it.

Now, let me see if I can find the revision, written as part of my final project for the same class.

ETA: That would be a no. Instead, I'll take another look at it and see how I'd revise it now.

( Draft X: Gaijin )

( Gaijin - clean draft of same )

Fairy Market

"Eyes, eyes! New eyes for old!" shouted a tiny woman in front of a table covered with bottles and jars filled with eyes of every kind and color.

"Instruments of music from a hundred lands!"

"Penny whistles! Tuppenny hums! Threepenny choral anthems!"

"Try your luck! Step right up! Answer a simple riddle and win a wind-flower!"

"Everlasting lavender! Bluebell cloth!"

"Bottled dreams, a shilling a bottle!"

"Coats of night! Coats of twilight! Coats of dusk!"

"Swords of fortune! Wands of power! Rings of eternity! Cards of grace! Roll-up, roll-up, step this way!"

"Salves and ointments, philtres and nostrums!"

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass.

In imp: Sweet, green floral. Pretty much what it says on the tin.

On me (wet): Precisely as in bottle.

On me (dry): Unchanged

Verdict: Nice, but not particularly memorable.

---

In other news, I'm running out of body parts and I have run out of prompts. Help a girl out here.

Donations of body parts are appreciated, but unfeasible, so I suggest sticking to the prompts.

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mllelaurel

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Entries tagged with blogathon 2007

Blogathon 2007

State of the Lily

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Blogathon 2007 - Lazy-ass List Bonanza, contd.

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Blogathon 2007 - Personal Canon Meme

Blogathon 2007 - BPAL Review: Witch Queen

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