elrhiarhodan

It's Tuesday and I am stuck on a conference call that has nothing to do with my job. So, what better time to ramble?

1 – My Birfday… For the past few years, maybe for the past dozen even, I’ve had no love of my birthday and often do my best to ignore it. This year, for some reason, I thought maybe I should give myself a break and at least take the day off. After all, you turn almost-fifty once, right?

It was truly a splendid day. The weather was delicious and I won’t be a nosher for the coming year (something to do with not raining – it’s a Jewish thing, I think). I met V for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, came home and wrote fic to my heart’s content. Also ordered multiple copies of The Hollywood Reporter (which arrived and are safely stored away).

I also received much love from my flist – so much so that it’s taken me almost three weeks to wrap my head around it.

sinfulslasher indulged my need for Peter/Neal, naked and sexy (with bonus shaving kink) in Five Times Peter Found An Interesting Scar (And One Time Neal Did)

theatregirl7299 wrote It Was a Very Good Year, which made me cry all the happy, happy tears.

kanarek13 created incredible art for “It Was a Very Good Year”.

coffeethyme4me wrote Kodachrome, a story that she’d started for me more than two years ago, and I’d always longed for her to finish.

pooh_collector indulged my love of all things Reese Hughes in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

aragarna gave me a sweet friendship ficlet about the loveliest bit of Peter-Neal headcanon I’ve ever heard, in Keeping You Close To My Heart.

slytheringurrl created some beautiful White Collar Icons

I also got loads and loads and loads of birthday wishes, plus

kerrylang and

joy2190 sent me virtual LJ gifts (and my apologies for not acknowledging these sooner – for some reason, my email treated the messages from LJ as spam and I didn’t see them until a few days ago).

How did I get to be so lucky?

2 - The White Collar Reverse Big Bang … Can I say, as a mod, that I am seriously chuffed at how well this is going? There have been a few stumbles and missteps along the way, but overall, everyone – writers and artists (or should that be artists and writers) – have been awesome. Of course, there are still a few posting days left for things to completely fall apart, but I sure I’m worrying for nothing, right?

Right?

3 – Writing … Depending on the project, it’s been going great or not great.

Finished and posted my Remix story and I’m exceedingly delighted with it. I hope my Remix target enjoys what I did with their story.

Still working on my other Reverse Big Bang story. This was one piece that has fought me since the beginning. It’s been the world building, I think. I was so focused on creating an internally consistent universe that I sort of failed to focus on a compelling story. This is the problem with pantsing.

But the good news is that I found my ending, which is (hopefully) compelling and satisfying.

My dear friend and writing guru,

miri_thompson recently asked me “where does your muse live?” I couldn’t answer right away (I may have been distracted by tiny, shiny penises. Long story, will save for another day). But last night, it occurred to me that my muse lives and thrives in my car. My best ideas come when I’m driving. I figured out the plot cakes in Fortune’s Just a One Night Stand when I was stuck in traffic on the way to a friend’s birthday party in Brighton Beach, I sorted out Neal-El relationship problems I was having with A Life More Ordinary. Time and again, my fic problems resolve themselves when I’m behind the wheel. It’s a good thing I’ve got a good memory…

Anyway, driving home last night, I think I found the missing emotional piece from this RBB story and just need to add it to the mix. It also means I’ve got some major rewrites to work on. Sigh, so many words, so little time.

mmom, oh

mmom… I just can’t quit you.

No, no – I am not doing 31 days of strokefic again. Two years in a row is enough to solidify my masturbatory credentials. But that’s not to say I’m not going to try to write a few naughtly ficlets in celebration of the most onastic month of all. I don’t think I’m taking prompts this year, though – that feels too much like making promises I might not keep.

I’ve decided that 2015 is the year I abstain from signing up for writing challenges. Seriously. I feel like I haven’t written a thing for myself in a long, long time. Maybe since before the Fic-Can-Ukah ficlets? I will, of course, run the challenges in all the communities I moderate, but I am considering abstaining from participation so I can focus on pleasing my own muse under my own timeframe.

That being said, don’t hold me to it.

4 – Fannishness … It’s about 21 more sleeps until my dear, dear

sinfulslasher arrives from Tchermahnnie. We’re going to cling to each other and sob mightily during The Normal Heart. We may drown in each other’s tears.

After that, the month of June heralds the start of the final season’s filming of White Collar, and I intend to set stalk as much as I can.

July will bring a visit from other fannish friends from Europe. It looks like I will have company for not one, but two delightful weekends.

August will be more set stalking – will try to get to see the boys together ONE LAST TIME sobs.

The September meetup in the DC is a go and a lot more about that in a completely separate post in the coming weeks. If there are enough people committing, I’ll contact the hotel about a group room rate.

Can I just say, for the record, AGAIN, how much I love my fandom. Seriously. You guys are the best and I don’t know what I’d do without you.

5 – Humor, of the legal sort ... Check this out: Verbatim. It’s the dramatization of a realio, trulio deposition taken in a lawsuit challenging the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Recorder’s Office plans to charge $2 per photocopy. This is, of course, a dramatic reenactment, but it’s word-for-word what’s in the actual deposition transcript (starting on page 280).

6 – From The Bad Ideas Department… Having a triple espresso at 3 pm. Yes, I just downed a triple espresso. Excuse me while I go climb the walls.

And in celebration of the winter-like weather on this next to last day in April…