Website updates and other projects

I finally managed to update the AIFFOA when I was in Lowell: I was actually able to get onto one of the library computers with the one-hour timer, since the kids are back in school and are no longer hogging the computers. I *tried* to update it last week, but I was stuck using the "E-Mail Only" computer, which gives you only 15 minutes of time, and then it's sooo daaaarrrnnn sssslllloooowww that you wind up spending most of that 15 minutes waiting for the bloody pages to load. I'd loaded Patric Lepage and Danielle Swinton's new fic onto the site, but I didn't get enough time to add the link to it, so I took care of that and linked the "A.I." fics I'd written for 31_days.

I also nicked into Larry's Comics to get the next issue of "Neverwhere": said Larry, as I entered: "Neverwhere's here! The Gaimanite is here!", which made me laugh.

I managed to find a minute to nick into the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, in the hopes of finding the Red Shirt I'm looking for... I found a couple, but one was the wrong material (canvas, when I'm looking for cotton-poly broadcloth -- shuttit, Merv! I ain't buying silk, no matter how much you grumble) and the other would have fit the Merv, but not me (I'm eight inches shorter and about forty pounds lighter than him).

I also had to buy Alavert, since I was dangerously low on that, so I nipped into Wal-Mart when my folks were grocery-shopping tonight. I also found the soundtrack to "Collateral", which I'd been looking for. What a great mix of tunes...

Once I got home, I started feverishly typing (and writing one of) today's fics... I'm a little annoyed that they're getting tough about posting late, since it puts more pressure on me, but I'll find a way to manage.

Gearing up for the weekend

The other day, I had to contend with people bracing for the (very tattered remnants of) Katrina the Hurricane; today I had to deal with people gearing up for Labor Day Weekend, the end of summer here in Massachusetts. By the time I punched out, I felt as if someone had been beating on me with a hammer; I swear, I must have burned every calorie and carbohydrate I ate today and I feel like I pulled every muscle in my shoulders and hips. That pain pales by comparison with the major sh** the people in New Orleans are going through. I was watching NBC's reports on the devastation down there, and it just ripped my heart out. ...I have to admit, though, there's this one clip they kept showing, of a "STOP" sign twisting back and forth in the hurricane winds, causing the face of it to flash in and out of sight, which made me chuckle: it's as if something were trying to tell the wind and the rain to "STOP...STOP...STOP...STOP"

I also watched the Concert for Hurricane Relief, which was really good until Kanye West had to start soapboxing... Thank God the camera crew cut him off: I was ready to lob something at the TV, wishing I could lob it at him. Word to Kanye, not that he's reading this: Get the chip of your shoulder, shut your mouth and get in alongside the other relief workers. But, the good thing was, two of my family's favorite Catholic musicians performed: Aaron Neville (my mom's favorite), he of the religious symbol tattoos and the St. Jude medal for an earring, sang "Amazing Grace" and Harry Connick jr. did his signature song, the eeriely appropriate "When You Miss New Orleans".

( The Houseparty on Natural Disasters )