Pining for the Fjords

New fic - BtVS/DW crossover - "Dawn of the Doctor"

2013-09-15T21:11:11Z

Edited to add: I appear to have double posted, so I've taken other entry private. Sorry for the confusion.

I have fic. I can't quite believe it. I've mostly been working on original fictions, but recently revdorothyl asked me why some of my Doctor Who stories weren't on Twisting the Hellmouth. (Answer: laziness) When I went looking for the html files, I found this and realized it needed only minimal work to be ready for publication.

Title: Dawn of the Doctor
Author: Miss Murchison
Word count: About 2400
Pairing: None, completely gen fic and probably rated G. Weird, huh?
Thanks: to keswindhover revdorothyl and for beta

Summary: This is a sequel to my previous BtVS/Doctor Who crossovers:
Who's the Doctor? with the tenth You-Know-Who,
Where's the Doctor? which in the BtVS world is second, but involves the fourth Doctor, and
Buffy and the Dalek Slayers, in which the seventh Doctor and Ace appear.

This story falls in between "Who's the Doctor?" and "Where's the Doctor?" in the BtVS timeline, but involves a meeting between the ninth Doctor and…well, you've read the title, right?

At least the next bit would be easy.

All he had to do was lie where he was. And finish dying. The process was painful, true. But not difficult. He'd settle for that.

To distract himself from the pain, he wondered where he was. He managed to open his eyes long enough to recognize moonlight filtering through trees and glinting off odd shapes scattered across the immediate area. Against his will, his lungs took in a gasping breath and he smelled grass and flowers.

The flowers were roses. So he was on Earth. Good. He liked Earth. He wondered if he was in Britain and the odd shapes poking up here and there were part of one of the stone circles that he'd seen built. He'd returned again and again to watch them age until the humans had forgotten their original purpose and made up new ones. Wonderfully imaginative people, humans.

There was a familiar unfamiliarity to the way his body was reacting as he shivered from the cold. And beneath the pain was an odd craving. So he had regenerated. His body was trying to pull him back to life.

Too bad. He wasn't going to respond to that tug toward vitality. He had already made plans. Not the worst plans he'd ever made, either. Not by a long shot.

His eyelids fluttered again as a spasm gripped his gut, and this time he saw the stones for what they were. He was in a graveyard.

Good. You see? he told his rebellious new body. We've landed where we belong, so stop fighting. The TARDIS is giving up too. I know you can feel her dying next to us.

He closed his eyes and reached for the TARDIS with his mind. Good night, old girl.

But he couldn't feel her anymore.

Soon, he wouldn't feel anything.

***

He woke to the disappointing realization that he wasn't quite dead yet, followed by the even more unwelcome awareness that he had company.

Someone had dragged him just inside the TARDIS, but left his feet sticking out, as if that had been as much as his unwanted rescuer could manage.

"What do I do next?" asked a voice above him. He didn't answer, but after a moment the voice said, "Okay." Footsteps moved away, and he began to fade back into unconsciousness. The footsteps returned. Bother.

Then hands were tugging at him, pulling his head up and dripping water on his face. No, the hands were trying to make him drink, but they were singularly inept and the water was trickling over his cheeks instead, like tears. He opened his mouth to object, and choked on the liquid. The burning in his throat eased a little.

"Is he better?" asked the voice.

An unwelcome emotion ran though him, making him shudder. Curiosity. This was bad, very bad. Curiosity would make him want to live a little longer. But he couldn't help himself. He sat up, using a reserve of energy he hadn't known he still possessed, and his eyes focused on the girl kneeling next to him. "I know you."

"Do you? I haven't met you yet."

She wasn't arguing. She was just stating a fact. He'd met her, but she hadn't met him. Yet. Of course, that made perfect sense if you were used to time travel. But not very many humans were. This one…wasn't actually a human.

"You're Dawn. The…"

"The Key, yeah. Well, one of them. I know there's another out there somewhere, but it's not able to help right now. Whatever you just did is keeping the Key to Time from pulling itself together, so you're stuck with me." She stopped dripping water all over him and stood up.

Staring at her gave him vertigo. She was slender, with long brown hair and a glow of power that suggested the heart of the TARDIS would pale in comparison if she hadn't been masked in human flesh. "I don't want to make do with anything. I just want to…rest."

The look she gave him made it clear that wasn't going to happen. That was a Key for you. Not inclined to listen to authority. That might have something to do with the fact that they could demolish entire universes with a yawn, but it was frustrating.

***

"He needs a banana split. With chocolate ice cream." Dawn shoved him into the booth at the small restaurant and sat down across from him. "You do, you know. Potassium, cocoa, dairy, and sugar. That should stabilize you after your regeneration." She leaned over and called to the waitress, "And one for me, but with vanilla ice cream."

Annoying of her. Even he didn't always know what he needed after a regeneration. But now that she'd said it, the idea of a banana was pleasant. He liked bananas. Bananas were good. "How do you know?" he growled.

"The TARDIS told me. I made her promise not to worry about you and concentrate on getting better, so you have to listen to me."

He grunted.

"You do. If I don't bring you back in better shape, she'll be pissed." Dawn kicked his foot under the table. "This is costing what's left of my allowance, so you'dbetter thank me."

"Ta."

"And if anyone I know talks to us, you're tutoring me in something. English or history maybe. Not physics, because they might ask you something and who knows what you'd say."

He might be suicidal, but he wasn't going to put up with that. "Whatever I say would be more accurate than anything you'll learn in school!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. But what's the point of being accurate if I flunk? Anyway, I know more about physics than you."

"Do not!"

"Do too! You just know stuff. I am physics."

She had him there.

"And you’re gay."

He wondered if this was a comment on the preferences of this new body. He glanced at the table next to theirs, where a shapely waitress was taking an order. No, apparently not. He raised an eyebrow. "I can't be bisexual?"

"Nah, that would be worse than being straight. Look, my sister dated a guy who was a couple of hundred years old, and it didn't end well, so of course she'll completely wig out if I do the same thing. No older guys. Not that she wants me dating any my own age, either. And not that I want to date you, because I don't." She pointed a finger at him accusingly, as if he'd been the one to make the suggestion. "I just don't want her thinking I am, because then everything will get really complicated and there will be shouting and ass-kicking. So if anyone asks, you're gay."

Apparently, resuscitating a Time Lord and chatting with a TARDIS was not complicated. Explaining her social life to her sister was.

Part of him wanted to argue with her, and that worried him. He was getting interested in things again. That led to getting involved, and he'd just experienced the horror that could lead to. No involvement. Never again. "If the alternative is being attacked by a Slayer, I'll be gay."

She relaxed and patted his hand. It was as if she were the one who was older. Which was, in fact, the case. He kept forgetting that, because she was just a kid. He held on to his head. He should be better at following this kind of thing. It was embarrassing to be out-logicked by someone who smelled like bubble gum.

Some of the bossiness in Dawn's voice was replaced by reassurance. "The TARDIS should be okay by the time we get back. Not really great shape, but she's pulling herself together."

He shook his head. He hadn't been able to feel the old girl when Dawn had dragged him away. "How could even a TARDIS recover from that blast?"

Dawn grimaced. "It's going to be tough for her, too, so go easy. She shouldn't have too much trouble restoring time functions, because she was made by Time Lords, but the dimensional part of her abilities was never all that great."

He was scandalized. "What?"

Another eye roll. "Well, all that spinning around and groaning should have been a clue. And getting stuck in that stupid shape. I was able to help her a lot, but she's going to have to stay in this dimension for a while. I'm not sure how long." She apparently read his expression as dismay, because she added in a reassuring tone, "Just a century or two. Three, max."

The waitress set down two enormous bowlfuls of ice cream and other calorie-stuffed foods. It looked much better than it should have, and probably miles better than it would after he'd eaten half and given himself a stomach ache.

"Now eat." She dove into her own sundae.

"Not hungry." He knew he sounded like a sulky child, but he couldn't help himself.

Her mouth was full, but she just shook her head with the absolute certainty of someone who knows she'll win a fight. "I went through this with Buffy, after she got pulled out of heaven. If Spike and I hadn't managed to annoy her and keep her busy until she got over it and. . .well, she got over it. And you will, too. Eat."

He was about to retort that the vortex he'd been pulled out of had resembled hell a lot more than heaven, but he stopped himself in time. That would make her point, of course. You'd want to be pulled out of hell.

And that banana split did look enticing. There couldn't be any harm in eating it first and then dying, could there?

***

A half-hour later, he stood in the graveyard, dumbfounded.

Dawn had done it. She'd fixed the TARDIS, at least enough so that the old girl could finish fixing herself. He leaned against the blue door and sighed. The disappointment was crushing. He couldn't die now, not if the TARDIS was going to be all right. The weight of dozens of worlds settled on his shoulders again.

He tugged absently at the sleeves of the leather jacket Dawn had made him put on before she'd dragged him out for ice cream. He quite liked it. He ran a hand over his chin and before he could remind himself that there was no reason to care, he wondered what he looked like.

Dawn was inside, uttering stray words that he couldn't put together to make a conversation. Those phrases were clearly just the emotional overflow of a communication that was taking place via senses he did not possess. She was chatting with the TARDIS, and it sounded like a more intimate conversation than even he'd ever been able to have.

Jealousy. Wonderful. Yet another emotion anchoring him to life. He stumbled through the door and sat down, staring at the console. It was still battered, but he could tell it was already at least somewhat functional.

He waited until Dawn wandered outside to touch it.

***

Five minutes, a nasty time loop, and a century's worth of aggravation later, he yanked open the door.

Dawn was sitting on a tombstone, arms folded across her chest, glaring at him. "I told you. One dimension for the time being. And trying to cross your own time line? Really stupid."

He balled his hands into fists. "Not as stupid as doing nothing about it."

"It?" She peered up at him. "Where were you trying to go?"

"Before the Time War. You know about that?"

She raised her hands palm up, showing she had nothing up her sleeves. Hah. As if she needed a magic trick to thwart him. "Not…like hearing it on the news. But I could feel an echo through the TARDIS. I know how it ended, what you had to do. I think that's all I want to know." She considered. "I don't even want to know that."

He could sympathize. "I need to go back before the Time Lords made so many bad decisions. Before I had to destroy them."

Dawn shook her head. "Making bad decisions is something people do and you can't change them. Look at Xander. He's even marrying Anya."

He was pacing now. The detachment he'd cherished after regenerating had disappeared so completely that he no longer missed it. "This was a little more serious than marrying the wrong girl."

"Wrong vengeance demon." She watched him with the annoying calm she'd displayed from the start. "But, yeah, I guess you have a point, because it's just him, not all kinds of planets and species. But it's still bad, because it's Xander, and I don't want him turned inside out or eaten by some nasty pet demons because he makes Anya mad."

He smiled crookedly, because she was right. The destruction of his whole planet didn't make the fate of her friend any less important. It was denying the importance of one person that would trivialize his own loss. "You're just a font of wisdom, aren't you?"

She ignored the sarcasm. "Only as the Key. As Dawn, I'm pretty much a screwed up teenager. But when the TARDIS is nearby…." She looked at the old girl longingly. "I wish you could stay. I feel so…whole when she's around."

"I'll be back." He was resigned to it now. Resigned to life.

She laughed. "Oh, I know that!"

He tilted his head to one side, wondering at her. Of all the strange and wonderful things in the universe, she had to rank among the most amazing. "How?"

Her expression was full of mischief, but all she said was, "Spoilers."

How do you have a "missed connection" at home?

2013-02-22T23:56:35Z

I haven't been single in decades, so someone needs to explain this to me. Specifically, the top Indiana result. I understand how you can see someone in a store, on a train or at the gym and miss your chance to hook up. Hawaii wins for having many of those fleeting encounters that leave the romantic or just plain horny wanting more on the beach.

But how do you have a missed connection at home? I'm imagining lots of Indianans scoping out their brothers and sisters-in-law over Thanksgiving but never quite doing the deed because that annoying sibling kept walking by. Or maybe they regret not propositioning the plumber?

Gay people are too responsible to be allowed to marry

2013-01-27T21:11:38Z

That's the stand of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the legal brief they provided to the Supreme Court.

Marriage should be limited to unions of a man and a woman because they alone can "produce unplanned and unintended offspring," opponents of gay marriage have told the Supreme Court...

Conservative attorneys did not argue that gays or lesbians engaged in "immoral" behavior or lifestyles. Instead they emphasized what they called the "very real threat" to society posed by opposite-sex couples when they are not bound by the strictures of marriage.

So opposite-sex couples are such a danger to society they need to be bribed or coerced into marriage, whereas same-sex couples don't? This is the most bizarre twist on the "But think of the children!" theme yet. (As opposed to the "Biological families are the only real families!" argument, which is merely disgusting.)

I get that they're looking at this from the point of view of public policy and encouraging the kind of behavior that benefits society. But setting aside that they're ignoring all the benefits of marriage that don't have anything to do with raising children, I'm having a hard time understanding why a same-sex couple who adopts one of those unplanned kids isn't entitled to the same rights as the feckless opposite-sex couple who made the baby in the first place.

If they mean that unplanned children need more of society's protection, shouldn't they be arguing that only people who forget a trip to the drugstore be allowed to marry? Or mandating shotgun weddings?

Valerie Z Lewis Memorial Award

2013-01-27T19:44:40Z

valerie_z's sister has posted information about a memorial fund:

As a tribute, we have set up The Valerie Lewis Memorial Award for
Excellence in Creative Writing. In this way, her life's work and her
influence on her students can continue. Checks can be made out to Mercy
College, memo: Valerie Lewis Memorial Award and mailed to Mercy College,
English Program, English Program, c/o Frances Biscoglio, 555 Broadway,
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522.

She also posted a link to the obituary.

A page has been created at Fanlore.

Sad news about valerie_z

2013-01-25T00:43:33Z

keswindhover told me some terrible news this afternoon. valerie_z's sister talula728 has posted that Valerie was hospitalized due to a drug interaction. In the comments she states Valerie was declared dead today.

Valerie was a delightful spirit and a wonderful writer. She also provided a playground for the BtVS fandom with her Band of Buggered forum. She had only two rules: 1. Don't do anything illegal and 2. No Creed. I met many people on that board who are my friends to this day. My heart goes out to her family.

Artist brings together past and present, war and peace.

2012-12-22T21:23:55Z

Some of these are truly haunting.

So I wrote a book

2012-12-10T00:54:55Z

This is my first post in ages, although I've been reading and commenting a bit. I was also gifted with a Kindle a while back and found myself reading actual books rather than fanfic, leaving me less to chatter about in my journal. I discovered some M/M romance authors whose work I really enjoyed, and, as is my habit, I started writing in the genre I was reading. The result pulled itself together into a book, and one day I emailed it off to a publisher. I expected it to come back with some comments about why it wasn't acceptable, and then I'd either rework it or move on to the next thing.

They published it.

The Boys and the Bees is available on Amazon or direct from the publisher, in paperback and ebook formats. It's a simple story (the reviews at Goodreads agree about that) about two guys from Iowa who meet by chance years after they were in high school together.

I'm still a bit in shock over the whole thing, to tell you the truth.

Help Us Support Planned Parenthood

2012-05-14T13:20:32Z

Originally posted by appomattoxco at Help Us Support Planned Parenthood

Originally posted by coffeeem at Help Us Support Planned Parenthood

Note from me: I was initially suspicious about this, since the notice below doesn't say how much of one's V-gift donation actually goes to Planned Parenthood. But I found the answer in the original post's comments: 100%. All the money you spend to shower your friends with Planned Parenthood v-gifts will go to Planned Parenthood.

For those of you who don't approve of Planned Parenthood, your response is easy: Don't buy one of these. None of your LJ subscription money goes to PP. If you'd rather donate an equivalent amount to an adoption charity, or another organization providing inexpensive or free medical assistance, please do; all charity organizations are hurting for funds in this economy.

Originally posted by theljstaff at Help Us Support Planned Parenthood

Join us in standing up for reproductive health and education. Planned Parenthood, the organization that delivers reproductive health care, sex education and information to millions of people worldwide, has come under fire in the U.S. lately, with many politicians on both state and federal level seeking to end funding (and in a few cases succeeding).

During the month of May, you can send a specially designed Planned Parenthood vgift to your friends to help support this cause. (And if you need someone to send it to, frank is always happy to receive gifts!) There are three variations ($1, $5 and $10) for you to choose from, but they'd all look good on your profile when your friends know that you stand by something so important.

Thank you all for your help in our support for Planned Parenthood. This promotion ends June 1, 2012; LiveJournal is not affiliated with Parent Parenthood. For more information about Planned Parenthood, please visit: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

-The LiveJournal Team

(If you'd like to help spread the word that we're raising funds for Planned Parenthood, you can crosspost this entry in your own journal or community by using the repost button below!)

What should I do with my uterus?

2012-04-19T04:39:06Z

I knitted a uterus while watching TV tonight. I was going to send it to one of my Senators, but I know he won't pay attention and he's not the worst of the lot when it comes to legislating against reproductive rights and women's health. Besides, he already knows I hate him. (I have his office on speed dial. And I'm always polite. Just politely negative.) My other senator and my rep are pretty decent guys. Anyone have a really awful rep or senator they'd like me to gift with his very own uterus so he can stop paying so much attention to ours?

Prop 8 is unconstitutional

2012-02-07T18:29:05Z

Good news

It's seemed clear it was unconstitutional, with even conservative Constitutional scholars arguing against it, but now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has spoken.

Cue "activist judges" rhetoric in 5, 4, 3...

I love this wording:

"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort."

Komen Foundation retreats

2012-02-03T19:09:34Z

SGK changes its stance on supporting Planned Parenthood.

They succeeded only in increasing awareness. Now many people will examine them more critically before donating. More importantly, Planned Parenthood's work in providing general healthcare and cancer screening has been well publicized.

ETA: SGK is now going to feel the rage of the religious right because they've back-pedaled. Somewhat incoherent anger being expressed here.

the thing is, when you come against spirits like Judas & Jezebel, you have to be willing to die. most of these corporations aren't willing to do that...

Um, what?

Pro-life: this word does not mean what you think it means

2012-02-03T01:46:05Z

The Susan G. Komen Foundation has decided that its principles force it to deny cancer screenings to poor women. Of course, their CEO makes over $450,000 a year, so maybe they don't realize how vital Planned Parenthood service are to women who not only can't afford basic healthcare, but live in areas where there may be no other option available.

I already make a monthly donations to Planned Parenthood, and I've just increased the amount.

Okay, ALL our headlines aren't boring

2012-01-14T02:51:00Z

Armed Robber Escapes with Sex Doll

I love the way that headline makes it sound like the doll was his partner..., um, I mean moll. I have this image of the doll driving the getaway car.

I also enjoy the subtext of surprise that those things are so expensive.

Things are back to normal in Iowa

2012-01-10T04:31:04Z

You know the politicians have fled when this qualifies as a headline.

I ponder the significance of specifying that it was an Iowan who was accused of an attack with a toy monkey. Does this mean we are back to observing only our own (even if they come from a faraway place like Des Moines)? Or is it shock that an Iowan would do such a thing, implying that all those strange people running around the state because of the caucuses have lowered our moral standards?

Santorum is Number 2

2012-01-04T16:13:53Z

I was a bit disappointed Santorum didn't actually win, until I realized the subject line is now a viable headline in family papers.

Also, Attack Newt!

Okay, as a way to run a government, this is shameful. As theater, it's more fun than a really good production of Noises Off.

Caucus post

2012-01-04T03:17:45Z

Well, our caucus was boring. There were more people than I expected, and I wound up working to sign people in and register a handful of new voters. I have been drafted to attend the county convention, but may pass that job off to an alternate. Obama called in live, but I was busy sorting the sign in forms and just listened from outside the door with half an ear.

Mostly M:TNG-2 and I were disappointed no OWS people showed up.

Then I got home to find out that Santorum is in the lead on the Republican side. I can't stop laughing.

I still find it hard to believe he'll win Iowa, but I've been looking at the maps, and many of the uncounted votes are in rural counties, which are going for Santorum. He's getting more competition from Bachmann and Perry in those areas, so if he loses them it won't be because Romney beat him.

Romney is getting the urban counties, except for the university towns, which are going for Ron Paul. Gingrich has gotten two counties so far, which isn't great considering there are 99 counties in Iowa.

1-855-ASK-NEWT

2011-12-31T17:20:18Z

Earlier in the cycle, I'd chat with someone who wanted to know if I preferred Santorum (ick) or argue with a caller who refused to tell me who commissioned their blatantly biased push poll. It gets old fast, and I don't pick up the phone much right before a caucus unless the caller ID tells me it's someone I know. But the robocalls go to the answering machine. I just listened to a swill-load of smarm from Gingrich, who invited me to call him.

Usually I roll my eyes, but this one made me laugh. 1-855-ASK-NEWT sounds too much like a pet store hot line, or maybe a pitch from an insurance company whose mascot is going eyeball to eyeball with the gekko.

Just four more days, and they'll all go away.

Mr. M vs Perry

2011-12-29T20:23:40Z

No surprise at the result. If any more evidence was needed that Perry is a fool, it was provided by this response to a question in Iowa today. The question was asked by my very own spouse:

Lawrence v Texas was an important case, and Perry had no clue what it was about, even though it was decided when he was governor.

Mr. M has been spending some of his school break visiting with various Republican candidates, and after Perry's response, he announced that, based on his observations, social conservatives who want to go with the smartest option should pick Santorum. 'Nuff said.

Mr. M himself will not have to decide among the Republicans, as he's agreed to be a precinct leader at the Democratic caucus. (Yes, the Dems are also caucusing, but the lack of competition is keeping us out of the news. Some OWS voters may plump for "none of the above," but that's likely the most excitement we'll have.)

A video to hate

2011-12-09T14:44:20Z

Rick Perry must have spent a fortune to get this ad on the air in Iowa, because I can't flip a channel without seeing it. It's well on its way to becoming the most disliked video on YouTube, and I encourage you to listen for as long as you can and record your own reaction there. Right now, all anyone is hearing about Iowa is how well hateful, right-wing politics is playing here. That's because only the Republican nomination is up for grabs. The nature of the caucus system means that only people willing to drag themselves out in freezing weather and spend a few hours in an elementary school gym arguing and shuffling around participate. Which means that the system is skewed to the more extreme end of the Republican base, the kind of people who still haven't figured out that gay marriage is no threat even though it's been legal here for years and the only documented effect is a slight bump to the economy because of the people coming in from out-of-state to get married. The kids in this video are more representative of the Iowans I meet every day:

The real bedtime story

2011-12-05T16:00:59Z

One of my now-adult sprogs sent this to us. Never did a children's book express so much NSFW truth.

an actual picture post

2011-12-05T02:23:31Z

I mentioned in my last post that we were in New Orleans for Halloween this year. I don't take many pictures, and all I have is a cell camera, but here are a few.

What to do on Halloween day is a no-brainer when your hotel is within walking distance of the St. Louis Cemetery #1. Upkeep of these above-ground burials is up to the family. Some do better than others.

Instead of taking a tour, we wandered around with the aid of a map on my cell phone, so I don't know how long most of the statues have been missing heads and various limbs. It may be a result of the flooding.

I'm pretty sure this is vandalism or some other kind of random damage, not an escape attempt.

I was raised Catholic and am used to ghoulish religious imagery. I found it amusing that the small Protestant section of the otherwise chaotic cemetery is scrupulously neat and organized.

As we wandered around looking for Marie Leveau, we spotted a few other monuments that were also marked as if they were linked to some NOLA legend.

Offerings at Marie Leveau's supposed resting place. I leave it up to you to decide if it's the site that's questionable or the idea that she stayed put after burial.

A cat woman pays homage to the voodoo queen.

If you've never been to New Orleans, this is a typical street scene from the French Quarter, one of the bits that isn't Bourbon Street and doesn't have a fine establishment owned by Larry Flynt on each corner. Not that we avoided Bourbon Street. We spent the evening of Halloween eating in a restaurant with a view of the festivities. This suited me, as I enjoy watching people parade around in costumes much more than dressing up myself.

Mr. M admired this baby alligator during a swamp tour, during which I managed not to snap any pictures of the very impressive great blue herons lounging about.

One day, we took the St. Charles streetcar to the Garden District. We waited out a bit of rain in the bookstore where Anne Rice has the first signings for her books. I'm not a Rice fan, but as a one-time bookseller, I thought the store did a great job of merchandising their stock. After the rain stopped, we wandered around looking at the pretty houses

Another pic of the house and its amazing fence.

And here is a pic of the fence and its gate of morning glories and corn stalks.

We aren't doing a full kitchen remodel. For one thing, we're hanging on to all of the old appliances. But the cabinet and counter tops have been replaced. The new ones are not exotic, but neither do they have shelves of thin, disintegrating particleboard. Oak, which we like, is apparently not fashionable and therefore cheap(ish). The biggest deal besides having sturdy shelves is that we got rid of the horrible cabinet that hung from the soffit you can see at the top of the pic. It was constantly in the way and didn't actually add much storage space. Even if you avoided banging your head on it, the island below it was too low to work on comfortably. We now have a bigger and taller island, which more than makes up for losing the shelves that used to hang above.

Obviously, we need to paint, but before that, I'm going to have an electrician hang a light fixture from the soffit so that it illuminates the workspace. In general, the lighting in my house sucks, and that should improve the situation a bit.

Note to self: No matter how long it has been since you last messed with html do not, under any circumstances, click on the "rich text" link at any point when writing a post.

What on earth happened to November?

2011-12-04T02:25:46Z

Okay, If I think about it, I do know what happened. In bullet form, like the tech writer I used to be

Went to New Orleans at the very end of October and met with M-TNG-1, who is working in Louisiana
Visited Marie Leveau's tomb and some spooky graveyards on Halloween day
Sat in a nice restaurant on Bourbon street that night, watching Halloween in NOLA pass us by (yes, I know most of that was still October, but by bedtime it was November)
Stayed for a week at a turn-of-the-last-century hotel, sightseeing
Petted a baby alligator in a swamp
Discovered work had gotten even more backed up than usual, leading to more overtime than usual
Got surprising call from contractor saying he could probably get my new kitchen cabinets installed by Thanksgiving if I could empty every blessed thing out of the room right away
Spent 5 nervous days with no kitchen sink, wondering if he really could
Had all my helpers at work pulled for another project (hardly a novel occurrence)
Almost fainted with shock when new cabinets and counter tops were installed just before Thanksgiving
Managed to get the kitchen into a useable condition
Spent a wonderful long weekend with Jwaneeta, M:TNG-2, and two of TNG-2's college friends
Worked yet more overtime and somehow managed to make project goals by the end of the month

And now I've dumped all Mr. M's clothes on our bed because the shelves in his closet decided to fall apart. I'm putting in new organizers, which will be very nice when they're done, but right now I'm very tired and we will be sleeping in one of the kid's rooms tonight.

ETA: I know I should post pictures of at least some of this, or it didn't happen, but all my pictures are on my cell, which I have forgotten to recharge.

Are they really this clueless?

2011-10-21T17:12:12Z

I just received an email from a Christian organization with the statement below. I find it hard to believe such an uptight group would make this pun intentionally, but almost as hard to believe that they could miss it.

'A coalition of military chaplain endorsers is concerned about a radical homosexual organization's imminent attack against traditional marriage, but a Christian political activist believes "gay" activists are beginning to realize that most Americans will not support "full-blown homosexual marriage."'

All that is setting aside the inaccuracy of the statement, since polls are showing that at least a plurality does approve equal marriage.

Amish Mullet Goons Forcibly Cut Neighbors' Hair!

2011-10-13T22:18:18Z

Talk about stories you could not possibly make up.

Operation Smile

2011-09-24T00:12:09Z

Such a very well-named organization.