Writing between the lines (of grocery orders)

The day started with my boss calling to tell me things were quiet at the store and I didn't have to come in until eleven o'clock. No big deal, as I had to shovel the driveway anyway.

Then, as I'm leaving, the lights blink and go out. So now we have no phone and the circulator had gone out on the boiler, so we have no heat. I headed out to find that the whole street was out, including the traffic light, and since I have to cross the street to get to work, I did so with precautions: I held out both hands in the "Stop" position, and called out "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" ala Dustin Hoffman in that famous ad-libbed bit involving the cab in "Midnight Cowboy". I got to work and it was dead quiet: I even got a pad and a pen and, in between orders, jotted one of the fandom_stocking drabbles I'd decided to write, finished that one and started two others. As of now, I have one already posted, one written out and ready to type up and a third one in the works.

That's me all over...

( Nicked from crowdog66 )

Writer's Block: Go it alone

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Short answer: a resounding "YES!" since I've been badgered with this question myself.

Long answer: It depends. I've experienced pressure and ostracism in some groups and on some forums (one of the many reasons I quit the Catholic Answers Forum), and yet I also have friends and acquaintances who accept the fact that I'm not interested in having kids for a number of very personal reasons. And then there's the Nosy Co-Worker who's always going on about little Connor and little Madison and who seems to expect me to have a Mommy Story to share in turn. At the same time, while I'm technically ChildFree, I avoid actually using the term since there seems to be a noisy contingent who all but froth at the mouth if anyone has kids at all, which unfortunately reflects badly on those who, like myself, have opted not to have kids for whatever serious, personal reasons. It's people like that who make me think, "Bzuh? How the yell are we supposed to continue as a species if *nobody* has kids?"

In my case, there are a lot of reasons I have opted out of the breeding pool. First of all, having Asperger's Syndrome: I have days when I can just take care of myself and my cockatiel, let alone take care of a kid as well. It would not be fair to my kid to have a mother who's emotionally dragging herself around. Second of all: finding someone to have a child with; I'll admit I have a very clear view of the kind of man I would like to be in a relationship, but unfortunately, he's not the kind of guy who generally falls for a grocery CSR. I'm not the sort of person to just settle for the first reasonable guy who comes along, which I see as a form of selling oneself short. Thirdly: I value my independence and my interests; I may not have a lot of money, but I make do with what I have. Kids require a lot of time and attention and since I am a professional fandom geek, I'd have to cut down drastically on fandom in order to take care of kids and that wouldn't really make me happy. Maybe that sounds selfish to some people, but this is how I balance the crosses that I carry in life so I don't fall under them so hard. Fourthly: I've worked grocery retail for so long and seen so many bratty kids come through my lane that I decided that I just didn't want to deal with the aggravation. Sure, kids are funny and they come out with bits of innocent wisdom that leave me in awe, but at the same time, they can be whiny little snot-monsters who throw tantrums that draw the stares of everyone in the check-out as they flail on the floor because you didn't buy them a box of Xtra-Frostid ChocoRox.

Therapy session and abortive Christmas shopping

I had planned to go Christmas shopping after my appointment with my therapist today, but I discovered I had forgotten to bring my cellphone (which I use like a watch), thus I ended up coming home sooner than I anticipated. I'm slowly working through my recent irritations (re: The Event of The Season, as someone called it), but the process is a slow one. I've gotten past the point of wanting to call said person and have it out with them.

I did manage to do a little more of the "writing while taking buses" thing I've gotten into the habit of doing as a result of NaNoWriMo. One fic which I contemplated putting in someone's fandom_stocking I may end up posting to ff.n, as I feel a little odd posting *three* fics to this one person's stocking... Plus it's an idea that wants to be a full-length fic instead of a drabble.

Also need to get back to typing the next chapter of the infamous Twhinelite crossover: I have several parts of it written out, I just need to type the draft. And I'm trying to keep the rating down to T+, which is not easy to do since it involves a certain Evil Albino/White Haired Pretty Boy energy vampire staking and vamping out on a certain whiny sparkle-pire...

From the "Comparing fresh apples to lousy oranges" files

While making a random search for Yami no Matsuei fanarts, I ran across a bizarre thread on the infamous twilightsucks.com forum (the one I had to leave five minutes after I signed up, because the antis on it were as rabid as the fanggurls), I ran across a thread in which someone pretty much compared Muraki to Edward.

:: Brain goes splodey as she emits a wail of disgust and protestation ::

That isn't even comparing apples to oranges, that's comparing bright, shiny Enza apples (the kind that draw all the shinigami for miles around) that just ooze with juice when you bite into them to under-developed oranges with deep grooves on them where a twig was rubbing on the skin.

( Cut for fan-rantage and potential spoilers for the manga )