Looking out the window I see the red dust clear
I'm saving the report on the family visit until they're gone. Suffice it to say I've mooched entirely too much food off of them and learned some surprising, scandalous things about relatives I didn't know I had. I suppose they were too scandalous to mention.

I think I just blew a hole in the space-time continuum. How did I do that, I hear you cry. Well, I just admitted to writing and reading fanfiction to a meat-world friend. I felt like I was coming out of the closet, really. It's difficult to explain these things to someone who graduated with a degree in creative writing, and who is intellectual in a practical sense, and who has never read Harry Potter or seen anime beyond what came on during Satruday morning cartoon runs twenty years ago. He took it rather well, actually, considering I told him the nature of the stuff I read and write...like smut of both persuasions...I flat refused to let him read any of it. I haven't even told my one meat-world friend who reads fanfic that I write slash and yaoi. She's reads Hermione/Snape almost exclusively, and while I admit to going through that phase myself...you have to wade through a lot less shit to find good Draco/Harry or Tom/Harry fic. That, and I don't want to have to explain the characters, plot, or how I know so much about gay sex. What do you say? All I need to know about gay sex I learned from fan fiction?

(I'm fairly sure it was Samurai Troopers fanfic, too. Mmm, Seiji. I miss drawing him because you could only see one of his eyes, and that made it quite easy to doodle him.)

Anyway, that was my surreal moment for the evening. I then came home and watched The Birdcage and had a go at the latest bottle of wine. All in all a pleasant if bizarre evening, really.

As for you, I don't hate the bit of fic I churned out last night. I'm just sitting here staring at it, wondering if perhaps I can break it up into more than one fic. Make a little series out of them, including the Draco/Ginny bit I posted earlier.

Morgan produced another hit Saturday, February 28, 2004   02:04 a.m.

I can taste your lipstick on the filter
Because all the cool kids are doing it:

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

I believe that's the same result I got as that last time I took a Myers-Briggs in Education. I waffle a bit, I think, depending on how squeaky a wheel I'm being.

Parents and grandparents arrive tomorrow. The kitchen is spotless. The bathroom has been censored, but I have come across at least four appearances of the F-bomb around the rest of the apartment. My, aren't we vulgar.

And speaking of the F-bomb, my sleep schedule is thoroughly fucked. So I'm hoping I'm not TOO entirely grouchy when they arrive tomorrow.

Morgan produced another hit Friday, February 27, 2004   12:42 a.m.

September '77, Port Elizabeth weather fine
Why have I been bitten by the writing bug the ONE WEEK I can't afford to do anything but work on REAL assignments?! Why does my muse keep knocking Plautus off my desk in favor of OotP?! Why do I keep defaulting to drabbles involving post-Hogwarts Harry, Draco and Ginny instead of working on either papers or, if I'm going to procrastinate, stories I've already started, at least?!

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.

Morgan produced another hit Tuesday, February 24, 2004   08:38 p.m.

"Your testicles are little witnesses."
The statement above comes from my Roman Lit class, where we were discussing how ironic it is that "testicles" and "testimony" come from the same Latin root. Oh, come on, it was an 8:00 class and my mind was hardly functioning on any level above grunting in the gutter.

Little Page is chastising me for eating a bowl of broccoli rice for lunch. She says Atkins is rolling in his grave. I say piss off and let me eat my rice in peace.

So the parents and grandparents are coming up this weekend...this amuses and terrifies me because of the reasoning behind it. Mom wants them to see Memphis (and me, and the school) while I'm not involved in a show. This is because a) they probably wouldn't enjoy any show we do here, aside from Our Town, but that was done last season, and b) not being involved in a show means I can actually spend time with them. There's also the thing where Mom wants them to make the trip now before any of their health problems get worse...that's the scary part. So Paige and I are already censoring the apartment, which means taking down the "Jeff Goldblum is Watching You Poop" sign. I am not complaining. She's inordinately excited because these are the grandparents who are, in fact, named Fred and Wilma. I shit you not. She claims it's like preparing to meet a celebrity.

But before they arrive, I must write two papers, revise another, put some hours in on my big-ass portraiture project, and meet with Michael for scene work. Gah.

Morgan produced another hit Tuesday, February 24, 2004   12:20 p.m.

Grammar nazi rant
Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun.

And no, discussing theories that account for criminal behavior does not mean that myth that says all serial killers have a copy of Catcher in the Rye. It means that every time you open your mouth to spout your idiocies, I come one step closer to killing you with a spoon. And if you question the seriousness of that threat, keep in mind that yes, I do own a copy of Catcher in the Rye.

*sigh*

End of grammar nazi rant.

Morgan produced another hit Monday, February 23, 2004   04:22 p.m.

Buckle up for safety
Damn it all to hell, Nader's running again.

Morgan produced another hit Sunday, February 22, 2004   10:24 a.m.

Big map
Excerpt from the argument Paige and Hannah are having about their spring break plans:

Paige: Ooh, you should see this stuff on Hotels.com! There's a big numbered map of hotels!
Hannah, in the other room: So if we do Pensacola, we could try this hotel here...
Paige: Big map! Big map! Ooooooh!
Hannah: Why can't you just make a decision?!
Paige: I did, I picked Pensacola!
Hannah: And I said that was fine, let's book something, but you started masturbating to the big map!
Me: *uncontrollable snickering*
Hannah: I heard that!
Paige: Alright, alright, we'll do the Days Inn.
Hannah: Any preferences about the room?
Paige: Only that I get quality time with the big map!
Me: *more uncontrollable snickering*
Hannah: YOU ARE NOT MASTURBATING IN OUR ROOM! AND STOP LAUGHING AT HER, YOU'RE ONLY ENCOURAGING HER!

Best argument EVER.

Morgan produced another hit Sunday, February 22, 2004   12:25 a.m.

Smells like teen spirit
Little Page borrowed someone's DVD boxset of My So-Called Life and we've been piled up in the living room watching them like mad for the past two days. I remember watching the show with my mom when it first came out ten years ago (!). We both loved that show...for some reason it struck a chord in each of us, mostly because it was the first teen angst show I watched that I appreciated on any level (even if it was out of wanting to be a teenager myself...middle school sucked, so high school had to be great, right?). Mom loved the fact that the parents were human characters, too.

And watching them now, well...it's kind of spooky. First, it's strange to think of the show as being ten years old. It's weird to watch them deal with a gun in school before Columbine, to watch them idolize dying young as Kurt Cobain ODed, to listen to Angela talk about almost envying the adults because they all knew to the second where they were when Kennedy died, how she and her classmates didn't have some huge event around which to remember their lives. It's strange because we have that now, in 9/11.

Besides that, it's funny because I'm also laughing a lot more at it than I did then. Not because I get jokes I didn't get before, but because I'm more removed from it now. I understand why Mom laughed at Jordan Catalono, because he wasn't brooding and misunderstood the way Angela perceived him. He was a stoner, for crying out loud. And good Lord, I've never seen so much flannel in my LIFE. I don't remember the flannel phenomenon being as widespread as it is on that show, but I guess it was.

In any case, it made me a little...not homesick, I guess, more like parent-sick. I want to pile up on the couch with my mom and watch our favorite episodes, and I want to give my dad a hug just because. And I definitely feel like wearing flannel all of a sudden.

Morgan produced another hit Saturday, February 21, 2004   09:08 p.m.

Stepped of the steam train
More quizzes because I'm making a mad attempt to procrastinate as much as possible today due to the insane amount of work I have this weekend.

Country quiz courtesy of Danielle...this is oddly accurate in that I am indeed small, and somewhat scary.

I also scored a 61% Dixie on the Yankee/Dixie quiz, which seems odd to me that though nearly every answer I gave it claimed to be a word used universally or in the Great Lakes (I blame Mom for that one). Not that I'm complaining. I say "roly-poly" with pride.

Anyway, it's gorgeous here, so I'm going to go wallow around outside.

Morgan produced another hit Friday, February 20, 2004   11:39 a.m.

Shuffle off, buffalo
Stolen from nearly every person I know on lj.

1. Unchained Melody - Righteous Bros.
2. Headful of Ghosts - Bush
3. When Doves Cry - Romeo & Juliet
4. Hey Bulldog - Beatles
5. Beware the Darkness - George Harrison
6. Mary Moon - Dumb & Dumber soundtrack
7. The Voyage - Moody Blues
8. Closer - NIN
9. Come Together - Beatles
10. Night Vision - Daft Punk
11. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
12. Running to Stand Still - U2
13. Blue on Black - Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
14. Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
15. Peaceful, Easy Feeling - Eagles
16. Opposites Attract - Paula Abdul
17. Hamster Dance Techno Remix...good Lord, I forgot I had this one ^_^;;
18. Matilda - Harry Belafonte
19. Pinball Wizard - Who
20. Faith - George Michael

Jesus. I'm not sure I'd be friends with me if all I had to judge by was that list. I need to put this thing on shuffle more often so I can clear out the junk I forgot I'd downloaded...like the Hamster Dance techno. You know, sort of an enema for the media-clogged.

Eew.

Morgan produced another hit Wednesday, February 18, 2004   07:34 p.m.

I want to be a real heartbreaker
Today was an excellent day. Not only did we not have a reading assignment for Roman Lit, but I got tapped for Mortar Board in class. This rules. Now the overachieving scholar in me can rest easy despite the fact that I've chosen a department that doesn't have an honors program.

I also met with David. I went in expecting to have to defend my summer plan B, but it never came up amidst the discussion of the Future, next year, and my grievances with the department in general. I thought it went well, seeing as I feel more optimistic today than I have in quite a while. Maybe I need to make myself a squeaky wheel more often. Pay attention to me, dammit, I'm squeaky!

And, while we were discussing potential senior projects, I mentioned an interest in Classical theatre, and maybe doing an adaptation of something Greek or equally ancient. David mentioned possibly doing an adaptation of Gilgamesh, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

Tom: How did we get onstage?
Harry: Um...

So. Aside from that, I don't want to write my sociology journal, so here's some quiz results...neither of which is particularly surprising. I have a tragic muse? Good Lord, this is news to me.

~Melpomene~ Your muse is Melpomene, the Songstress, the muse of
Tragedy. Her symbol is the tragic mask. There
could be several reasons she is your muse. You
could be simply fascinated by the dark and the
plethora of emotions that accompany any good
tragedy. You could also be depressed yourself,
in which case you might try working on making
Thalia your muse...

Which of the Nine Muses is your muse?
brought to you by Quizilla

~Athena~ You are most like Athena, the goddess of
wisdom. Though you do not seem to possess the
warlike aspect of her personality, there is no
doubt that you possess her intelligence. You
don't have much of a care for companionship,
only for knowledge. Go lose yourself in the
New York Public Library--it's going to take
even you quite a while to get through
everything in THERE...

What Goddess Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Morgan produced another hit Wednesday, February 18, 2004   12:29 a.m.

Slipped from the tip of your tongue
Uneventful day, other than feeling vaguely like a Beatle in my sweater vest and velour bellbottoms. Makes you feel rather Beat all day.

Working like mad on the H/D drabble-bloated-to-ficlet-size. It's slowly driving me nuts, I think, because I am so very close to having it finished, but it's being incredibly stubborn. Draco's just having too many epiphanies. In the meantime, though, may I recommend Something Impossible by Cassandra Claire. The thought of everyone but Draco knowing Harry has a crush on him his just too, too adorable.

Time for Pint Nite. Perhaps I'll get inspired there.

Morgan produced another hit Monday, February 16, 2004   08:31 p.m.

It's only a paper moon
Apparently Photoshop Phriday last week featured terror through the ages. I think my particular favorite was the "suspicious package" left outside Troy.

Morgan produced another hit Monday, February 16, 2004   08:37 a.m.

It's a conspiracy, I know it.
Okay, I now have a livejournal. This is something I swore I'd never do, because in all honesty it creeps me out a bit. I've been a part of Paige's manhunts where we play six degrees of separation on LJ and discover the journals of people we either don't or shouldn't know.

In fact, the only reason I joined is because I tried to post a comment on a friend's LJ the other day, but for some reason the server thinks my IP address heralds a spammer. Go figure. So I thought I might make myself known, even if I don't post there much. Or ever.

Though the more I'm finding out about how bizarre my life is going to be over the summer, the more I think I might devote the LJ to posts appropriate to my friends here at school. Most don't know about the pita, and if they do, they've yet to find it and the treasure trove of nerdliness that it is.

So. That's that. I'm there now,too, and I have naughty Tom Riddle userpics to prove it.

Morgan produced another hit Monday, February 16, 2004   01:16 a.m.

Happy Valentine's Day, folks.
Love is tasty. Make yours a double.

Morgan produced another hit Saturday, February 14, 2004   09:48 a.m.

Tonight I will stay underneath a cherry tree
Sphincters? o_0;;

In other news, I cranked out a decently half-ass Chaucer paper fairly quickly last night/early this morning, so I rewarded myself by reading vol. 2 of Basara, which I ordered along with my gimp sociology book. I can see now this is going to have to be added to the list of expected expenses per paycheck. Thank you for getting me hooked on this. And every time I see Shinbashi, I think Pigwidgeon.

Mrrr. Class.

Morgan produced another hit Thursday, February 12, 2004   10:44 a.m.

I've got your picture, she's got you
Props to Catt for the persistent poking of my muse. While I am swamped with meat-academia work at the moment, I have kept the Harry/Draco file I'm toying with open for over a week now. In it I've started a tally of "Pokes from Catt for Ficcage" as a reminder that after I write my Chaucer paper, read my sociology, and write a review of it, I need to write ficcage.

Speaking of my sociology class, I ordered a book for it from Amazon. It arrived today...and it begins on page 7. No copyright information, no introduction and statement of thesis and purpose, nada. All I know is that, "The theme of moral decay was not confined to New Right religious activists." Great. I have no clue how you arrived at that. So I checked the library catalogue for their copy...and it says it's published "circa 1991." Circa? I'm guessing this means their copy is missing those pages, too. Blast.

Tonight Judy Shepard (yes, as in the mother of Matthew Shepard) came to campus to give a talk. The cast of Laramie was invited to dinner with her, which was cool. She's a suprisingly funny speaker, too, considering what happened in her life to spur her to take up lecturing. I'm glad she came, and even gladder still that she kept reiterating, "Words are weapons, but words are also tools." That, and if we don't vote, we shouldn't bitch. And for those who have the inkling, to come out and stay out so what is currently a social abnormality might become more familiar and thus more accepted.

It's funny that while she was saying all this, I kept thinking, "Jesus, I hope Matt Reed is paying attention to her." I really do think he'd be a happier person if he came out...but then, he's Matt, so who the hell knows how his mind works.

Anyway, time to write Chaucer. Anything but the Knight's tale...anything but the Knight's tale... -_-;;

Morgan produced another hit Wednesday, February 11, 2004   10:10 p.m.

We left things unsaid that should be now a long time dead
Me: *type, type, type*
Draco: *peers at computer screen* That's an impressive chunk of story there, darling Muggle-o-mine.
Harry: Hey, look! Draco, you and I have pages and pages of witty repartee!
Draco: Okay, now you have to write in a steamy sex scene.
Me: What?!
Draco: What do you mean, what? That's your guilty pleasure when it comes to this fandom, isn't it? I decide to reform out of the blue and end up shagging the Boy Who Lived senseless? You read them all the time, why can't you write one in there?
Me: But...but...that's not where I wanted this to go.
Harry: *pouts* You mean I don't get laid in this one?
Me: NO! You and Draco have a nice, meaningful chat and decide that you can perhaps be friends if you'd quit asking each other for things the other just can't give.
Draco: Booooooring. I want sex.
Me: Well, you're not going to get it. Especially not since I've got ending-block now.
Draco: Bet you wouldn't have ending-block if we were both naked during the ending...
Me: *beats head against keyboard*

Morgan produced another hit Monday, February 9, 2004   12:15 p.m.

I'm out of my head when you're not around
This weekend has been completely unproductive in every sense of the word. Therefore I will leave you with the observation that Bells for Her continues to be delicious, and anyone interested in some post-OotP ficcage with damn good characterizations and perhaps my favorite Moody ever should find their way to Lise's page. Tasty.

Morgan produced another hit Sunday, February 8, 2004   06:10 p.m.

I wish I could kill you and savor the sight
Wow. Sheep's head? I have had a bad room mate, but she was far from a germophobe. That opens up an entire realm of possible tortures that weren't available to me when I lived with Melissa.

I figure it's safe to name her now, since it's been nearly eight years since I lived with her and the hellmouth she called her side of the room.

She was a complete slob, and though I may be messy, I don't really go for rancid dishes in the closet. If she didn't get up for class in the morning she would blame me (not like I ever agreed to wake her up), and she would wait until I went to breakfast before using all my stuff. I found fluorescent orange foundation caked on my hairdryer handle, so that's how I knew she was using my things despite the fact that she denied it fiercely. She listened to Dave Matthews and that Celine Dion song from Titanic incessantly. I believe that's when I went through my hardest, grungiest rock phase, just to counteract the saccharine shit coming out of her stereo. MY stereo, rather. She didn't have one.

The thing was, though, I never really had to do anything to her because she was an idiot. She would do things to embarass herself all on her own. For instance, she once used athletic tape to put a line down our room (not even bothering to center it, so I had the bigger side), then promptly tripped over it first thing in the morning.

The kicker that has gone down in legend is Shay-Shay. He's the reason I stopped doing evil things to her, because it became clear that God and the Natural Universe had it in for her without my help. Shay-Shay was a goldfish, the kind with the puffy cheeks, that Melissa bought and named for her Soccer Captain Crush, Shaylor. Melissa coddled it for a week or so, then forgot to feed it or change its water for a couple weeks. She then had the brilliant idea to try to pop one of its cheeks to see what would happen. Shay-Shay was floating in filthy water (at an angle because his cheek-ballast was off) for a couple days before my friend Bess took it upon herself to perform a mercy killing.

Melissa was heartbroken because the death of Shay-Shay meant she and Shaylor would never be together (WTF?!), so she insisted we have a real funeral for it down by the lake instead of flushing it. So Bess, Melissa and I gather at the edge of the water, Shay-Shay in repose in a paper Dixie cup. Melissa says a few words and pours Shay-Shay into the lake...

...

...where a turtle swims to the surface and devours him in one fell swoop.

Melissa is bawling, and Bess and I are doing our best not to laugh, so instead we sing Amazing Grace at the top of our lungs.

So, moral of the story? I dunno. All this plotting against tyrannical roommates has me thinking back on all the horrible things Melissa did to herself. It's too bad your roommate isn't self-destructive through idiocy, Thorne, it's fun to sit back with some popcorn and watch.

Morgan produced another hit Thursday, February 5, 2004   08:43 a.m.

The Attic presents...
...the REAL behind-the-scenes look at the plot for Advent Children. Courtesy of one very funny AIM session with Catt.

menquet: I am currently harboring secret suspicions that it's really going to be a musical.
ThornesRose1: A musical? XD
menquet: There's this theory that you can turn anything into a musical by adding an exclamation point after the title.
menquet: I can see it now...
menquet: Advent Children! The FFVII musical!
ThornesRose1: That is absolutely terrifying. XD I think I'll go crawl into a corner and weep in fear.
menquet: Oh, it gets better. Sandy Duncan of Peter Pan fame has taken the starring role of Cloud Strife.
ThornesRose1: >0_o<
ThornesRose1: >o_0<
ThornesRose1: *keels over*
ThornesRose1: *twitches*
ThornesRose1: *dies*
ThornesRose1: Cloud: *nudges with toe* ...I think you broke her.
ThornesRose1: Zack: ...phoenix down?
ThornesRose1: Seph: ...they honestly want me to *sing*?
ThornesRose1: All: 0_o
menquet: Oh, I'm sure Seph would have a lovely singing voice. Zack, on the other hand...
ThornesRose1: You think so? XD
menquet: Sephiroth is good at everything else, I can't imagine him NOT singing. I'll bet he sings in the SOLDIERS' officers bath.
ThornesRose1: Hee.
ThornesRose1: It is true, he'd have it entirely to himself, probably.
ThornesRose1: Well, most of the time.
ThornesRose1: XD
menquet: Oh, oh!
menquet: Seph, in reference to some mako-angst scene in the musical: It's not easy being greeeeen...

Morgan produced another hit Tuesday, February 3, 2004   09:16 p.m.

We can't afford to be innocent
Attempt #2 to post this entry, because I was an idiot who closed the window.

Anyway, there's a fairly large update at the Gallery. We're talking illustration, an HP drabble and random-ass goodies I've created for use in my AIM profile over the last few months that will leave the politically incorrect and/or nerdly part of you all tingly. And yes, Catt, that sketch of Jack Sparrow you've been poking me to finish is posted. ^_^

Also, a couple recs because my writing hasn't been cooperating lately, so I've been surfing for inspiration. If I haven't mentioned it yet, Bhanesidhe's artwork is delicious in that Harry-gone-postal sort of way. And I love the scribblyness of GlockGal's artwork. It makes me happy to know she's using some natural media, which is growing rarer and rarer in the days of Photoshop and Painter. Nef has some nice pieces up, namely the Harry/Draco one listed second in the gallery. And lastly, the artwork here makes me want to crawl under my bed and have a good cry with the dustbunnies. It's so damn GOOD...if Harry Potter required standard fantasy novel artwork on the covers, this would be your man. Woman. Whatever.

Morgan produced another hit Tuesday, February 3, 2004   01:19 a.m.

Chicken truck, chicken truck on highway 65
Catt has updated Angel's Gate. Hooray. ^_^

Thorne, your mention of your mother writing Jane Austen fanfic makes me laugh. I discovered a few years ago that my mom had written some Miami Vice fic way back in the day when we had our first computer and I was chewing on Barbie feet. That's why she was pretty receptive to the fact that I write fanfiction...she was pleased to know that she was doing something cool long before it ever really caught on.

As for those of you who questioned my away message last night that claimed, "Tonight has been the most surreal experience since ants poured out of my iron. Fucking hell," it's long and complicated and it involves Stout's es-room mate Dre wandering into our apartment very, very drunk and nearly falling out our window. I also managed to step in two unsavory bodily fluids (I wonder, does the anonymous fluorescent pink vomit that was outside the laundry room constitute a fluid?). All in all, a night I'd rather forget, if not for the fact that I made brownies from scratch for the first time and they are damn good.

Morgan produced another hit Sunday, February 1, 2004   08:39 a.m.

The funk of forty thousand years
Done with class for the day, so now it's time to screw around until I have to go into work. So, fun with search hits.

I blame you for the fact that I had four people find my site by searching for Beatle slash. I ought to write something atrocious that involves the lads discovering that Ringo's not called Ringo because of the rings on his fingers...but I just squicked myself, so I shall refrain.

Sorry, folks, I don't know how to get the possums out of your attic.

No! None of that!

And it appears someone was looking for an HP fic I recced (?) back in June...that had a pairing (singular) a mile long. Just say no, people.

In other news, I've been accepted to the British Studies program at Oxford for this summer. I won't find out about the scholarship for another week, but it's good to know that I can start scraping cash together for a reason now.

Morgan produced another hit Friday, January 30, 2004   11:44 a.m.

And your mother didn't mind like I thought she would
It appears to be Twig's birthday today. So here's a little present for you, Twig. It's not another Gilgamesh snippet, but it IS dashing in its own Slytherin way. ^_^

Off to Chaucer. Dear God, why did the knight have to be so damn long-winded?!

Morgan produced another hit Thursday, January 29, 2004   11:30 a.m.

Got a freaky old lady name o' Cocaine Katie
I am covered in charcoal, and it is glorious. Damn, I've missed having an art class.

Morgan produced another hit Thursday, January 29, 2004   12:07 a.m.

Did you meet your fortune teller?
I have entirely too much shit to do for it to only be the first full week of classes. MLK Day has always been a nice little gift that helps us build up to five-day class weeks, but damn. Screw this class five days a week thing.

And speaking of MLK, I forgot to mention the window display we saw in St. Louis. It was in front of this eclectic restaurant and it featured a birthday party with--get this--cabbage patch dolls. They were wearing little hats, sitting around a tiny table with a cake on it. There were three black dolls, and across the back was a banner that said, "Happy Birthday Martin."

Yes, we figured any number of people might find that both bizarre and potentially offensive. Yes, I got a picture of it.

Anyway, Danielle was in town last night with her friend Ellie, so I met them at Newby's. It was Ellie's 21st birthday, and Danielle's present had been to drive them all the way here from Nashville so they could see Cross Canadian Ragweed play. I'd never heard of the band, but they were pretty good, sort of a mix between Bad Co. and Skynrd. And it turns out Ellie lives where my uncle lives, and has taken guitar lessons from him for years. She's even been to Honky Hawg. Small world.

I am about to starve. Good thing there's hundreds of tasty drabbles going around. ^_^

Morgan produced another hit Wednesday, January 28, 2004   08:26 a.m.

Hey ya, hey ya
That was one weird, weird trip. The four of us went to St. Louis because we felt like we needed some room mate bonding (Little Page felt kind of left out because we have all these jokes that were spawned by last semester, so we figured we needed to get out and do something as a group to have stories that include her, too). The weather was supposed to be nice, as of Friday.

They lied. The drive up was fine, and we stopped at a place called Lambert's (home of the "throwed rolls") where they serve you out of a bucket. Saturday was fine, if a little windy. We did the whole arch thing, and did some shopping and general sightseeing. This included seeing a crazy homeless man screaming while pissing on the sidewalk. And I thought Memphis was colorful.

So we saw on the weather report that there was supposed to be freezing rain and such overnight, but it was supposed to warm up by noon. So we figure we can check out at eleven and be fine. We buy a cheesecake and some cheap wine and have a girly night in the hotel room.

We wake up to weather reports saying it's not going to get above freezing until Wednesday, and that the freezing rain is turning into sleet and snow. "Fuck," we say. Hannah drove, and Hannah's from Texas. She's never driven in winter weather before, and she was freaking out. We can't stay there until Wednesday, but she doesn't want to drive in the sleet. So we convince her to take it as slow as she needs to, we scrape the 3/4 inch of ice off the car with credit cards, and get the hell out of Dodge. We pull over before we get out of the city to clean the ice off her wiper blades, and that's when this city truck pulls up and an angel in coveralls appears to us.

"Need some help?" he says. We shake our heads dumbly. "Well, if y'all are trying to de-ice your wipers, it works best if you pull them a little and then just let them go." We stare at him, so he shows us what he means and we feel like idiots. He laughs at us ("Silly Texas girls," he must have thought), wishes us a safe trip back home, and disappears down the on-ramp.

We stood there for a minute, sleet coming down like hell, and thought, "Why didn't we all claim HIM as our souvenir?"

Anyway, the drive back wasn't nearly as bad as we'd anticipated after we got out of the city proper, and we actually made very good time. So now we're back, and we're all doing homework we didn't do in the hotel last night.

I promise, promise, promise an update in the gallery this week. This includes artwork and HP snippets. Not Gilgamesh, but something's better than nothing.

Morgan produced another hit Sunday, January 25, 2004   07:19 p.m.

O Captain, my Captain
Captain Kangaroo died. Aww.

Done with classes and such for the day, and we'll be leaving shortly for St. Louis. I'll be back Sunday night to blog about all the bizarre things I'm sure we'll do, but in case we DON'T do anything spectacular, I have plenty of time to make something up before then. ^_~

Morgan produced another hit Friday, January 23, 2004   01:32 p.m.

Lovely Rita meter maid
Alright, time for a mini-rant.

I believe I am one of the few HP fans I know who actually had few reservations about book 5. It was absolutely not what I was expecting, but that was awesome. And when did JKR ever GIVE us what we were expecting?! With every book there came fan conjecture: who's going to teach DADA, who's going to die, what creature is Hagrid going to introduce this time, what's Snape's blood type and social security number...and 95% of all those guesses have always been wrong, and we loved it.

My only problem with OotP has surfaced more recently, and that is the fact that several authors and artists whose fan work I've followed religiously have had a big fat concrete wall dropped in the middle of their HP inspiration due to OotP. You watch...epic stories that were updated regularly until June were suddenly put on hiatus and haven't been updated since.

Dude. It's YOUR story. I don't care if it doesn't coincide with canon now, slap an AU label on that bitch and keep writing.

The only wonderful exception to this has been the discovery of Marta's fantastic artwork related to the fifth book. You rock, Marta.

So. That's my rant for the week. I'm glad Catt made it back to school safely, and I'm sure Rufus will come through his cavity searches and techie-gropes just fine, Thorne.

I'm headed to St. Louis with the roomies this weekend for some bonding, so I'll be out of pocket from Friday until Sunday. I have no idea what we're doing, but I guess we'll figure that out when we get there. I'm sure the arch will figure into it somehow, and I'll probably laugh at the memory of my poor dad miserable up there because he hates heights. It wasn't as bad as the time we went to Hatteras and the lighthouse, where he plastered himself against the outer wall and slid around it until he met another woman doing the same thing but in the opposite direction, and there was a minor standoff as far as who was going to let go of the wall and move out of whose way. Dad won.

Morgan produced another hit Thursday, January 22, 2004   08:01 a.m.

I always feel like somebody's watching me
It disturbs me to no end that Paige posted this in our bathroom.

It's cold and for once my teeth don't hurt because of it. This means I can smile outside now instead of looking like a grouch. This isn't good for my image.

Morgan produced another hit Tuesday, January 20, 2004   12:11 p.m.

I walk the line
I have spent the last two days participating in our second ever 24 Hours Ago, which is an activity that is both ambitious and stupid in that it involves getting a group together to write, rehearse and perform a collection of short plays within the span of 24 hours. I acted in the last one we did, so I directed this time around. I ended up directing the short play that Matt Reed wrote.

None of you know Matt Reed, but suffice it to say that he and I get along the way we do because we find the most bizarre, disturbing things funny. I won't post the script here since it's his and all, but here's an exerpt to wet your whistles.

Z: Guys! Guys! Guess how many tampons I've got in right now. Go on, guess. [she pauses and observes X as he continues to draw the squiggly chalk line on the floor] Hey, John, nice line.
Y: Did you just ask us to guess what I think you asked us to guess?
Z: Yep, go on. Guess.
X: I give.
Y: So do I. How many?
Z: Thirty five! I'm pretty sure that's a new world record...do either of you have a digital cameral I can use to document this and send it to Guinness?

The rest of the play involves more drawing of lines, toxic-shock-induced hallucinations and a shoebox of weapons-grade plutonium. It's been a surreal 24 hours.

So anyway, the updates I wanted to get done did not get that way. And I have two tons of Plautus to read, so I'll catch youse guys later after I've had a nap and something to eat other than Cheetos.

Morgan produced another hit Monday, January 19, 2004   05:12 p.m.

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
To Catt I say, "Arr." And it's good to know you're in one piece and able to make the baby-minion do things. It's always good to able to do that.

Thorne, I feel vaguely sorry for Ringo, but he got a touching relationship with the Jeremy critter in Yellow Submarine. Though reading about the sordid details of that might be too much for me. And I admit that yes, I do want to hear about the story that involves soap. Can't be THAT bad.

I'm going to regret that, aren't I?

Anyway, I've been totally useless because I've been working on a gallery update and/or ploughing through the second part of Cassandra Claire's Draco Trilogy. This is amazingly well written, and it's probably the only Harry/Hermione-ish story I've read in a while that didn't make me feel queasy. It's that good.

Anyway, Paige and I are off to the thrift store in search of classy pictures to hang on our newly-naked living room walls. Wish us luck with the classy part. I refuse to have a cheesy picture of Jesus on my wall.

Morgan produced another hit Saturday, January 17, 2004   09:41 a.m.

Birds in the sky, you know how I feel
I remember saying something a few months ago about wanting to do a layout that would squick myself, but I couldn't think of anything. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I honestly couldn't think of anything that might do the trick. Not even Gundam Wing scientist slash would do it.

I think Thorne has stumbled upon what would definitely leave a bad taste in my mouth...inappropriate Beatle-slashing. I have no problem with real person slash...in fact, I remember getting distinct slash vibes from the made for TV movie about John and Paul after the group broke up. I can honestly say, however, that any slash pairing involving Ringo Starr would give me the heebie-jeebies.

Right. On to recs I've been hoarding since Christmas.

I'm recommending Al's entire collection of fic bits because they're unlike any HP fic I've found. Particularly good in a bizarre train-wreck sort of way was Snitch!. If you think you can stomach an extreme AU featuring Muggle crime lord Harry and manwhore Draco, this is your fic. I like the way he writes Ginny in the other works there, as well. Ginny with backbone and heart. And Colin Creevy as her token gay friend.

And Draco Dormiens, the first bit of a trilogy by Cassandra Claire, is fun, as well. If you idea of fun involves Draco, Harry, polyjuice accidents, and a good deal of snogging, that is.

Morgan produced another hit Friday, January 16, 2004   11:31 a.m.

Ticket to ride
New layout featuring the Lads. I haven't had a Beatles layout quite a while, and the white one last month was looking awfully...white. So here's a nice black one, based on an early 33 1/3 LP record sleeve. That, and I love that picture of John leaning on Paul's shoulders. I was going to do a charcoal of it once and never got around to it.

Things are so different with Helen gone and little Page moved it. Things are CLEAN. And we rearranged the living room so it looks like a house now. Wow.

The first two days of classes have gone well. I've got people I know in every class, and lots of people I sort of know but would like to know better. Chaucer is actually going to be fun, I think. And portraiture should be a blast. I think I have really good professors this time around, and my workload isn't going to eat me alive.

Anyway, I've got a couple applications and such to get turned in soon, and homework is starting up again, so I want to try to get the gallery updated this weekend since it's three days long. So look for that, too.

Morgan produced another hit Thursday, January 15, 2004   06:46 p.m.