More Dating, Mentalist & Bones Thoughts, BW Fanfic Book Club
Okay, first off - I'm wicked excited (that's my New England roots showing through, friends) because I made my first ever icon today. I mean... I've made other icons, but they were lame and I didn't really know what I was doing. But this one is Simon Baker with a dog on his back, and... Seriously, has there ever been anything quite so sexy? Okay, yeah, there probably has been to other people, but not for me. Grinning Simon Baker with Mussed Hair & Cute Dog? Best. Thing. Ever. So... Voila. My first icon. I'm so hooked on Photoshop right now it's not even funny. I'm gonna need an intervention before long. And you guys should mosey over to bw_fanfic_ezine to check out the new header I did for it... I was nearly apoplectic by the end, but I'm pretty damned pleased with it now.
People have been very sweetly supportive of my new foray into the Dating Realm, so I figured I'd give another update on progress with The Carpenter. Who has refused to speak to me if I continue publicly calling him D-Man, so I'm compromising. The Carpenter it is. Anyway... So, yeah, third date was on the 4th of July, which is a big deal 'round the old hometown. So, we walked into town and watched the locals at the BBQ pit and went to the craft tent and then - completely against my better judgment - went back to my brother's place because he had the house open all day for the festivities. So, D met the family... Or as many of them as had assembled that afternoon, anyway. My older niece ( 5yo Maggie) seems to have developed a crush on my man, because we were only there five minutes before she'd grabbed him by the hand and hauled him into the backyard, where, she announced, she had written a ballet especially for him.
Yes indeed.
So, Mags and little sis Maya proceeded to gather every flashlight they could find, and placed them on the picnic table to use as spotlights. That's right - spotlights. Then, Maggie insisted my sister-in-law bring out the stereo and Q up The Climb - which is her favorite inspirational ballad to dance to. D and I hung out on the lawn while we waited for all of this to come together, and eventually it was time for Mags to put on her performance. The child has an incredible sense of drama, so D and I were doing our best not to laugh while she pirouetted and plied her little behind off. It was quite the afternoon, all things considered. Afterward, D leaned in and whispered, "I hope you know that from now on I'm expecting live entertainment for all our dates." Hilarious, that boy is.
We stayed up way too late Monday night, just... Well, let's say talking, shall we? Then I got a call from him last night during which we rambled for like an hour before I announced that I had to go, to walk the dogs. Here's a snipped of how that went:
D: You really walk your dogs every night?
Me: Every night.
D: What if it's raining?
Me: Then I walk them in the rain.
D: What if there's a blizzard?
Me: Then I walk them in a blizzard.
D: What if you're sick?
Me: Then I walk them when I'm sick. Are you noticing a pattern here?
D: So, no matter what we're talking about, I should plan on hanging up at 11 o'clock every night so you can walk your dogs.
Me: I don't walk them at exactly 11 o'clock every night - I'm not the Rain Man.
D: So if I kept you on the phone for another ten minutes, you wouldn't start hitting yourself in the head and mumbling about Wapner?
Me: I might, but only because you won't stop bugging me about walking my dogs.
From there, the conversation devolved into a debate over whether or not he should come over to help walk my dogs, which meant that by the time we finally hung up it was almost eleven-thirty. And while I wasn't freaking out and hitting myself in the head at that point, Killian was pretty darn close. Not that I was actually upset... Even when he's maddening, Dan's pretty damned adorable.
This afternoon, he stopped in after a job (he's doing some landscaping this summer in addition to that whole carpentry thing - he's very handy) because I'd mentioned the other day that I needed to get a new copy of The Great Gatsby, because I loaned mine to my brother and I'm pretty sure he's never giving it back. So, D stopped in at the used bookstore and picked up a copy during his lunch break. Then, when he was dropping it off he asked if I wanted to go steady. Yes, that's right. All with the little wiseass grin, of course, but he's decided I may just be using him as a stepping stone to getting back into dating again - which is absurd, but very sweetly absurd. Anyway, I told him that before I agreed to go steady I'd need his letter sweater and a promise ring, and then I might consider it.
And that, in a nutshell, is the Dating Life for Jen.
In OTHER news... I'm way behind on blogging, because I'm pulling everything together for BW, including the website - which, fingers crossed, should be up by the end of the weekend. I've also been reading way too much Mentalist fic, and completely against my better judgment have begun writing an epic Jane/Lisbon/Red John fic. If you guys aren't watching the Mentalist, you really should. If only so I'll have someone who'll read the damned thing. I will, however, still be back on track this Sunday with Apprentice on the Island, and will have a new installment of the Summer of Us next week.
OH. And, I came up with another idea I want to incorporate into BW, and I wanted to get people's opinions on the whole thing. Since there are book clubs where everyone reads the same thing and then they have a group discussion on it, I thought... Why not do that with some of the epic fics that are out there? Just choose one each month, and then have an open forum where we can talk about why we think it works as well as it does, look at the writing a bit, and maybe even have a Q&A with the author at the end of it all? Any interest in something like this?
And that, my friends, is the end of this particular ramble. Hope everybody is keeping as cool as possible and enjoying the summer sun. Take care, f-list!
People have been very sweetly supportive of my new foray into the Dating Realm, so I figured I'd give another update on progress with The Carpenter. Who has refused to speak to me if I continue publicly calling him D-Man, so I'm compromising. The Carpenter it is. Anyway... So, yeah, third date was on the 4th of July, which is a big deal 'round the old hometown. So, we walked into town and watched the locals at the BBQ pit and went to the craft tent and then - completely against my better judgment - went back to my brother's place because he had the house open all day for the festivities. So, D met the family... Or as many of them as had assembled that afternoon, anyway. My older niece ( 5yo Maggie) seems to have developed a crush on my man, because we were only there five minutes before she'd grabbed him by the hand and hauled him into the backyard, where, she announced, she had written a ballet especially for him.
Yes indeed.
So, Mags and little sis Maya proceeded to gather every flashlight they could find, and placed them on the picnic table to use as spotlights. That's right - spotlights. Then, Maggie insisted my sister-in-law bring out the stereo and Q up The Climb - which is her favorite inspirational ballad to dance to. D and I hung out on the lawn while we waited for all of this to come together, and eventually it was time for Mags to put on her performance. The child has an incredible sense of drama, so D and I were doing our best not to laugh while she pirouetted and plied her little behind off. It was quite the afternoon, all things considered. Afterward, D leaned in and whispered, "I hope you know that from now on I'm expecting live entertainment for all our dates." Hilarious, that boy is.
We stayed up way too late Monday night, just... Well, let's say talking, shall we? Then I got a call from him last night during which we rambled for like an hour before I announced that I had to go, to walk the dogs. Here's a snipped of how that went:
D: You really walk your dogs every night?
Me: Every night.
D: What if it's raining?
Me: Then I walk them in the rain.
D: What if there's a blizzard?
Me: Then I walk them in a blizzard.
D: What if you're sick?
Me: Then I walk them when I'm sick. Are you noticing a pattern here?
D: So, no matter what we're talking about, I should plan on hanging up at 11 o'clock every night so you can walk your dogs.
Me: I don't walk them at exactly 11 o'clock every night - I'm not the Rain Man.
D: So if I kept you on the phone for another ten minutes, you wouldn't start hitting yourself in the head and mumbling about Wapner?
Me: I might, but only because you won't stop bugging me about walking my dogs.
From there, the conversation devolved into a debate over whether or not he should come over to help walk my dogs, which meant that by the time we finally hung up it was almost eleven-thirty. And while I wasn't freaking out and hitting myself in the head at that point, Killian was pretty darn close. Not that I was actually upset... Even when he's maddening, Dan's pretty damned adorable.
This afternoon, he stopped in after a job (he's doing some landscaping this summer in addition to that whole carpentry thing - he's very handy) because I'd mentioned the other day that I needed to get a new copy of The Great Gatsby, because I loaned mine to my brother and I'm pretty sure he's never giving it back. So, D stopped in at the used bookstore and picked up a copy during his lunch break. Then, when he was dropping it off he asked if I wanted to go steady. Yes, that's right. All with the little wiseass grin, of course, but he's decided I may just be using him as a stepping stone to getting back into dating again - which is absurd, but very sweetly absurd. Anyway, I told him that before I agreed to go steady I'd need his letter sweater and a promise ring, and then I might consider it.
And that, in a nutshell, is the Dating Life for Jen.
In OTHER news... I'm way behind on blogging, because I'm pulling everything together for BW, including the website - which, fingers crossed, should be up by the end of the weekend. I've also been reading way too much Mentalist fic, and completely against my better judgment have begun writing an epic Jane/Lisbon/Red John fic. If you guys aren't watching the Mentalist, you really should. If only so I'll have someone who'll read the damned thing. I will, however, still be back on track this Sunday with Apprentice on the Island, and will have a new installment of the Summer of Us next week.
OH. And, I came up with another idea I want to incorporate into BW, and I wanted to get people's opinions on the whole thing. Since there are book clubs where everyone reads the same thing and then they have a group discussion on it, I thought... Why not do that with some of the epic fics that are out there? Just choose one each month, and then have an open forum where we can talk about why we think it works as well as it does, look at the writing a bit, and maybe even have a Q&A with the author at the end of it all? Any interest in something like this?
And that, my friends, is the end of this particular ramble. Hope everybody is keeping as cool as possible and enjoying the summer sun. Take care, f-list!