Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Miscellany

First - Happy New Year to our Muslim readers.

Next. Grr. Live Journal header just now "Find communities and friends who share your unique interests." Unique = having no like or equal; existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics. What part of that definition suggests that you can have more than one?? Unique does not mean similar. It does not mean a minority interest. If I can share it with others then it bloody well isn't unique is it!! Got that sorted?? Good. - **takes grammar-dictator armband off**

Footy. Blimey they know how to drag it out, don't they?? Kept me on tenterhooks for a good half-hour there. (Arsenal that is.) But we did it. Through to the next round. Won't know until next Friday who we'll be meeting. (Please, not Barca - pretty please!!)

My brother sent a text message - The RSPCA are sending a dog-handler round to the Emirates Stadium.

He going to teach the team how to hold on to a lead.

And on that note I'll say thank you and goodnight. May your God/s go with you.

Ze

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Ah Bitter Chill It Was

Very bitter chill in fact. Although that line is from a poem I'm quite fond of called Eve of St. Agnes and St. Agnes Day isn't until 21st January, it still applies!!

Hasn't climbed above 0c for a couple of weeks. We had snow last week (nothing like the blizzards they've had up north mind) and several nights have seen temperatures fall to minus 7 or 8.

Not conducive to painting metal-framed windows!! Fortunately there's lots I can still do. They all need rubbing down and prepped. And several need the putty replaced. I just hope things are a bit warmer after Christmas when we need to start the gloss.

It might be bitter but blimey it's beautiful. The canal has frozen solid (the river's tidal and it won't freeze unless things get considerably colder) and the ice has a layer of snow on it which is magic. Though I don't think the swans are too impressed.

And this morning - oh boy - this morning.

Minus 8 last night and a clear sky. This meant we had a really hard hoar frost. So thick that at a distance the trees looked as if they were covered in a fresh layer of snow. Everything was white and crisp. But the real magic was the cobwebs.

Long-since abandoned by their eight-legged builders they still hang from shrubs, trees, fences, gates, and lamp-posts. This morning every single one stood out clear and gleaming. They hung glistening in the cold dawn light. Covered in a coat of white crystal they looked more like fluffy strands of thick wool than thin-spun spider-silk.

And they were so beautiful it took away what little breath the cold air left you. So beautiful it almost hurt.

This morning I was very glad to be alive and out in the crisp, clean air and seeing such things

Ze

Monday, December 06, 2010

For a good cause....

Y'all should check out the auction to help Nene Adams: Nene's Auction. There's a lot of keen stuff and you'll be helping out a writer in need.

Plenty to read tonight. Have at it.

Tamara

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Another Weekend Ends

That only means we are closer to major holidays! So put your jolly caps on and let's bust through another week! I know Ze is with me, anyone else? We got the lights on the roof safely and this week I'll get the yard done up and even get some of those splendid cookies started.

On another note, Passion and Perfection updated, so you have a bit to read, enjoy!

Peace, Health and Happiness with a little holiday cheer thrown in for good luck!

Elisa

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Ramble from Rev

Yippee! Another ramble for y'all.
I want to share some info about a new project I'm involved with that you all may be interested in. A while ago, I started up a couple of review sites - one for fan fiction and one for lesbian published fiction - because I wanted to help get the word out to others who may not be aware of some of the great reading material out there. They've been pretty successful and we get comments regularly from readers who thank us for helping them to find stories they wouldn't have otherwise found. (I'm looking for more fan fic reviewers, if you're interested...)

Along those same lines, I've partnered with my friend, Andy, to do a podcast that focuses on lesbian fiction. We select a book and a femslash story, or focus on an author or theme - we recently did a show dedicated to conqueror fics - and chat about them. We sometimes get off on other topics but, primarily, we're sort of doing an audio review. Andy and I don't always see eye to eye and we give our honest opinions of the books. We've had positive responses from authors like Ali Vali and Susan Meagher who appreciate that and acknowledge that every book won't be a hit.

We're just about ready to record our 7th show and it will focus on Justine Saracen's Mephisto Aria and Roselle Graskey's Life's Little Edge (which you can get on pdafiction.com among some other places.) You can listen to our previous shows and join in on some conversations at our website and forum. (www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net and www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net/forum) We also have a Facebook page if you're there and want to see what we're up to. We really do want to provide a service to our listeners and are very open to suggestions so, please, check us out. You can also hear us on iTunes.

Oh! I nearly forgot. To live up to our name, we feature a new cocktail each show. This episode's drink is the Bleached Blonde.

Take care everyone and happy reading!

Rev


Now that project sounds darn cool. I must find time to check out their show. I'll bug E about adding Cocktail Hour to our list o' links.

Tamara

Friday, December 03, 2010

Announcement/Ramble from phair

Hello My Friends,
I've been waiting to tell you my big news for a really long time. L Book will be publishing Coward in 2011. Check out their webpage (http://l-book.com/) or, even better, subscribe to their newsletter

It has taken a long time to get another book out there and accepted. I couldn't be more happy than to be working with the folks at L Book. Roxanne and her team have been tremendously supportive over these last few months. I hope this is only the first of many projects to come with such a great crew.

I'm also humbled and privileged to have my book promoted in the same newsletter with AC Henley. She was an amazing talent lost to us far too soon. Thanks to the dedication of her wife and the L Book team we can all enjoy something new from AC next year. I can not think of a better way to remember and honor her talent and her legacy.

Moving into this festive season of inter-ethnic/faith celebrations, I am counting my blessings. It has been a wonderful year and it is ending on a promising note of much more to come. Each of you has been instrumental in the steps I've taken this year toward living my dream. None of it would have been possible for me without your support. Please don't ever forget, it is your encouragement through emails, subscriptions, and book purchases that keep the creative process flowing. A writer isn't really a writer until she has a reader to read the words. Thank you for making me a writer who is read. Thank you for being with me on this fantastic ride.

All my best for the very best of the last of 2010 and our fresh beginnings in 2011!

love and hugs and gushing like a school girl,

phair
aka mullaney


Excellent news, congratulations, phair, do let us know when it's released. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming, enjoy.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Wordless

I'm so lame. I don't know what to type tonight. I guess that means you get to go right to reading. Enjoy!

Tamara

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

December Already

Where did the year go.

First - it's World AIDS Day - spare a thought for those we've lost and those we're losing worldwide to this awful disease.

Second - Hanukkah's early this year. It starts today. So Happy Hanukkah to all of our readers who celebrate this festival.

Third - It's December. This means Christmas is coming!! I love Christmas. Yes I'm a complete kid about it. (Don't tell anybody but I even watch the Track Santa website on Christmas Eve. Though we wait for Father Christmas not Santa Claus - slightly different character - dresses differently too.)

We (as in we in this house not we in this country) don't do the whole decorating-the-outside-of-the-house-to-excess thing. Apart from anything else I wouldn't want to pay the electric bill for that lot!! It's not really a British tradition, although (like trick-or-treat) it's become a lot more common these past fifteen years. It's still considered mildly tacky and more likely to be seen in working-class districts. But I do like to wander round and see what others in the area have done. I would guess that about a fifth of the estate goes wild with the things.

Everything else though - oh yeah - I'm a big kid. I put the tree up this evening. I'll put the decorations (trimmings/streamers/whatever you like to call the stuff you hang from the ceiling) up tomorrow. The advent calendar went up today as well (we take turns opening the little doors).

Are we there yet?? Huh?? Huh?? Are we?? **bounces**

See you next week, goodnight and may your God/s go with you.

Ze

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Shiver

Shiver, shiver.

Blimey it's cold.

Typical, isn't it?? I get a contract to paint the outside of the windows of a nice, big, building just as we hit the lowest November temperatures for about 50 years!! I was wearing 6 layers today. Six!! And I was still cold. It would be nice if it would at least look as if it might creep above freezing point sometime soon. Pretty please??

Oh yeah, before I forget - Happy St Andrew's Day to any Scots readers.

Ze

Monday, November 29, 2010

Ramble from UK

Hooray! UK sent a ramble!
Ahhh she is slick with a well toned body and delicate features. She sits effortlessly in my lap ready to perform any task I might wish - ooh do I wish - wish that she could read my mind or would just listen when I speak of what I want.

Yesterday all the world was within easy reach and now... now she is here .... gone are the well known weight of my old partner who knew of all my needs, gone is the gentle humming, gone is the world I knew

A feeling of anger and frustration of loss and inadequacy overtakes me - I want what I used to have, I want my partner back!

I treat her with gentleness and respect, I do things her way .... or at least I try. I drag my fingers slowly from top to bottom, right to left. I use one finger, two ... uuuh even three fingers at a time. She sends me mixed signals, she moves around, jumps or remain absolutely still. What ever I do - she remains calm and with an effortless tranquillity that I so wish I could share.

She holds the keys to the world at large, to the universe of on-line fiction, to my tools of communication and I'm relentless in my effort to get her to share. I'll tickle her pad, I'll stroke her keys, I'll travel the net and I'll even read a manual if I have to - I will get her to share her magic!

Share ... I will share my thoughts and my reading time at Fan Fiction Reviews and F/F Fan Fiction Reader's Corner, I'll even share a ramble with you, but I won't share her. She is hot and she is mine and mine alone! If I could only persuade her to dance at my keystrokes - I would truly love her.

I don't think that I'll get lucky tonight so I might just sit back and entertain myself with a little light reading and wonder if I really did the right thing by leaving my partner of 5 years and walk away with some flossy chick with sleek features.

(If you want to know how I ended up in this mess, I'll leave you a clue - Fletcher DeLancey Mac vs. PC - in the future I'll think twice about taking the advice of a fan fiction writer;-)

UK


UK...thank you as my words are getting old! If you want to ramble, holler. Now back to it, enjoy the updates.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Routine

Back to it I go. The holiday is over and I now have 3 full weeks until the next one. Perhaps within that time I can actually catch up...there is always hope.

With Hope in mind may you all have a grand week and I will ramble at you later on in it. If you are feeling like rambling for us, please step up and send us those words.

Until then, enjoy your updates.

Peace, Health and Happiness!

Elisa

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Back to Normal

This has been the strangest Thanksgiving break. We ended up with a lot more of it due to the snow. The snow is now gone and we're back to a typical Seattle winter...40s and rain. The kids, of course, are hoping for more snow. E says we'll get it. I'm hoping we don't.

I must now start thinking about Christmas in earnest. I've been picking up a present here and there but it's time to get organized and buckle down. I also have to mail presents to Mom. She's not coming out this year and instead will visit us during Winter break in February. She's very bummed about it but I must admit I'm kind of relieved. We tend to spend more when she's here and it'll be nice not to stretch ourselves so thin during the holidays.

Another light night. Enjoy 'em.

Tamara

Friday, November 26, 2010

Full

Well today we did the Thanksgiving feast as we were able to have all the kids and a set of grandparents join us as well, hence I am full. We have eftovers galore. I think we'll be eating turkey for a while...those 26 lbs birds are big.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming and I hope you are busy as tonight's set is rather small. This gives you an opportunity to go back and catch those you missed.

Peace, Health, and Happiness.

Elisa

Legend of the Seeker
  • Part 8 of Pieces Form a Whole by sos10 (LotS Femslash).

    Original
  • Part 8 of A Guardian's Love by Stein Willard (Academy of Bards).
  • Thursday, November 25, 2010

    Thanksgiving

    Hope everyone had a relaxing day. Small update tonight. Have at it.

    Tamara