OWL Awards, Good Things and a Rec
I'll start with the PSA: Voting for the OWL Awards ends tonight, 3/11, so please be sure to make your choices and get your votes in before then. If you'd like to vote, now is the time to do so.
Go here to vote. You can see a list of my nominations, if you'd like, but please don't feel obligated. :-) Just go and vote!
Okay, and now on to the good things. I started out the day as a stompy, surly troll with an attitude, because I got a grand total of four hours of sleep last night, but somehow, in spite of that, I am extremely cheerful now. There is a conspiracy afoot to disarm my foul mood, and it seems to be working. This is due in no small part to the following things:
1. The sun is shining now, as it has been for the past two weeks, and it is 63 degrees today. 63 degrees. In March. In Michigan. The part of me that is a lifelong Northerner is still braced for a freakish snowstorm, but the rest of me is dancing for joy. The ground is mostly thawed, and when I take a deep breath, I smell mud and fresh air and green things growing once again. The birds are chirping. Squirrels are frolicking. I think it may be safe to say that Spring is here.
2. Related to the above, but a joy in its own right: a visual inspection of the garden this morning confirmed that there are new, green leaf shoots on the clematis, and the tulips are poking up their heads from the raised bed. Again: Spring. New life. Color. If that's not a tangible symbol of hope, I don't know what is.
3. The Corned Beef Fairy visited me this morning, and when I say Corned Beef Fairy, I mean my Aunt Ginny, who is 84 years old and yet still makes a pilgrimage downtown to Eastern Market every March to pick up the Best Corned Beef Briskets In The World from Wigley's and deliver them to the people she loves. (Their superiority is not just my opinion; it is a fact. So there!) Through this annual errand, she supplies us all with supple, superbly seasoned corned beef, delicious enough to make angels weep. And this morning she rang the doorbell, held out a bag filled with my brisket and a fat block of Dubliner cheese, gave me a hug and a kiss, declined my offer of coffee or tea and sped off to her next delivery.
God, I love that woman. I want to be like her when I grow up. :D
4. I remembered to set up the crock pot before work, and so I will be greeted by the scent of pork country ribs that have slow-cooked in a sauce of freshly squeezed and zested oranges and limes and sweet onions and other yummy things. My kitchen already smelled like a citrus grove when I left, so the thought of what it will be like... mmm, yes. To be served over black beans and rice and slowly savored. ~eyes glaze over~
5. Made reservations for DSO concert tomorrow. It was supposed to be a gala celebrating Sir James Galway, but now that he's broken something in both arms (!!), Marina Piccinini has graciously stepped in, and it's still going to be a hell of a concert. She's performing John Corigliano's Pied Piper Fantasy along with 50 flute students from the area, and they will also be performing Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (MAMBO!) and Barber's Symphony No. 1. After the hectic rush of the last two weeks, I cannot emphasize how much I am looking forward to this.
6. Last but not least, I give you a thing of beauty in more ways than one. I did some poking about on Youtube for a few different reasons (not relevant or interesting here, but anyway) and happened upon some video footing of a young Turkish tenor named Bulent Bezduz, and all I can say is... wow. Really, wow. What an amazing voice, what interpretive instincts and vocal control! He's one to watch, I think. And it doesn't hurt that he's, um... well, quite easy to look at. Ahem. It's not surprising that he seems to attract fangirling. (In fact, it occurs to me that he has a number of physical features in common with a certain crabbypants Potions master. Look and see for yourself.)
Singing "Una furtiva lagrima"--not the best sound quality, but worth a listen for the ending alone.
And here, singing "Ah! Verrano a te sull'aure" in what appears to be a rehearsal for Lucia di Lammermoor, to judge from the bride's t-shirt and the groom's jeans. ;-)
Last but not least, I want to pass on a rec to you today. One of the most enjoyable things about OWL is that fact that it brings me into contact with some really wonderful stories outside the usual ship and from up-and-coming authors; that's the case here. This is a new, young!Snape-centric WIP that's started posting recently, and OH, is it deserving of attention. It's Snivellus and the Head Girl (PG), by Apothecary, and not only is it extremely well-written, but there's an uncommon depth and complexity to the characterizations. (I think she captures adolescent Snape, in all his frustrating, contrary, oddly endearing glory, about as well as anybody I've seen write him.) Its premise explores the idea of how things might have developed for Severus, had he been able to re-examine the path he was on before the consequences were irrevocable, and it's a remarkably even-handed, thoughtful account. Apothecary doesn't gloss over Severus's darker impulses, but neither does she ignore the frustrations and injustices in Severus's life that have made those darker subjects so appealing to him, and the mission of self-improvement that he undertakes is realistically portrayed. He struggles, and things don't happen overnight. He finds himself relapsing, tempted, frustrated, and that makes his progress all the more meaningful. She deftly avoids the common trap of making Lily Evans either a faithless traitor or a faultless plaster saint, and she provides some keen insight into Eileen and Tobias and their marriage, sans the cliches. And just now, she's introduced a really fascinating and well-drawn OC.
So if you have even the slightest interest in teen!Snape or good, character-driven storytelling, then I urge you to give this one a read and leave the author some love. There are only three chapters up thus far, but there are more to come, and this is worth your time. Enjoy!
Go here to vote. You can see a list of my nominations, if you'd like, but please don't feel obligated. :-) Just go and vote!
Okay, and now on to the good things. I started out the day as a stompy, surly troll with an attitude, because I got a grand total of four hours of sleep last night, but somehow, in spite of that, I am extremely cheerful now. There is a conspiracy afoot to disarm my foul mood, and it seems to be working. This is due in no small part to the following things:
1. The sun is shining now, as it has been for the past two weeks, and it is 63 degrees today. 63 degrees. In March. In Michigan. The part of me that is a lifelong Northerner is still braced for a freakish snowstorm, but the rest of me is dancing for joy. The ground is mostly thawed, and when I take a deep breath, I smell mud and fresh air and green things growing once again. The birds are chirping. Squirrels are frolicking. I think it may be safe to say that Spring is here.
2. Related to the above, but a joy in its own right: a visual inspection of the garden this morning confirmed that there are new, green leaf shoots on the clematis, and the tulips are poking up their heads from the raised bed. Again: Spring. New life. Color. If that's not a tangible symbol of hope, I don't know what is.
3. The Corned Beef Fairy visited me this morning, and when I say Corned Beef Fairy, I mean my Aunt Ginny, who is 84 years old and yet still makes a pilgrimage downtown to Eastern Market every March to pick up the Best Corned Beef Briskets In The World from Wigley's and deliver them to the people she loves. (Their superiority is not just my opinion; it is a fact. So there!) Through this annual errand, she supplies us all with supple, superbly seasoned corned beef, delicious enough to make angels weep. And this morning she rang the doorbell, held out a bag filled with my brisket and a fat block of Dubliner cheese, gave me a hug and a kiss, declined my offer of coffee or tea and sped off to her next delivery.
God, I love that woman. I want to be like her when I grow up. :D
4. I remembered to set up the crock pot before work, and so I will be greeted by the scent of pork country ribs that have slow-cooked in a sauce of freshly squeezed and zested oranges and limes and sweet onions and other yummy things. My kitchen already smelled like a citrus grove when I left, so the thought of what it will be like... mmm, yes. To be served over black beans and rice and slowly savored. ~eyes glaze over~
5. Made reservations for DSO concert tomorrow. It was supposed to be a gala celebrating Sir James Galway, but now that he's broken something in both arms (!!), Marina Piccinini has graciously stepped in, and it's still going to be a hell of a concert. She's performing John Corigliano's Pied Piper Fantasy along with 50 flute students from the area, and they will also be performing Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (MAMBO!) and Barber's Symphony No. 1. After the hectic rush of the last two weeks, I cannot emphasize how much I am looking forward to this.
6. Last but not least, I give you a thing of beauty in more ways than one. I did some poking about on Youtube for a few different reasons (not relevant or interesting here, but anyway) and happened upon some video footing of a young Turkish tenor named Bulent Bezduz, and all I can say is... wow. Really, wow. What an amazing voice, what interpretive instincts and vocal control! He's one to watch, I think. And it doesn't hurt that he's, um... well, quite easy to look at. Ahem. It's not surprising that he seems to attract fangirling. (In fact, it occurs to me that he has a number of physical features in common with a certain crabbypants Potions master. Look and see for yourself.)
Singing "Una furtiva lagrima"--not the best sound quality, but worth a listen for the ending alone.
Click to viewAnd here, singing "Ah! Verrano a te sull'aure" in what appears to be a rehearsal for Lucia di Lammermoor, to judge from the bride's t-shirt and the groom's jeans. ;-)
Last but not least, I want to pass on a rec to you today. One of the most enjoyable things about OWL is that fact that it brings me into contact with some really wonderful stories outside the usual ship and from up-and-coming authors; that's the case here. This is a new, young!Snape-centric WIP that's started posting recently, and OH, is it deserving of attention. It's Snivellus and the Head Girl (PG), by Apothecary, and not only is it extremely well-written, but there's an uncommon depth and complexity to the characterizations. (I think she captures adolescent Snape, in all his frustrating, contrary, oddly endearing glory, about as well as anybody I've seen write him.) Its premise explores the idea of how things might have developed for Severus, had he been able to re-examine the path he was on before the consequences were irrevocable, and it's a remarkably even-handed, thoughtful account. Apothecary doesn't gloss over Severus's darker impulses, but neither does she ignore the frustrations and injustices in Severus's life that have made those darker subjects so appealing to him, and the mission of self-improvement that he undertakes is realistically portrayed. He struggles, and things don't happen overnight. He finds himself relapsing, tempted, frustrated, and that makes his progress all the more meaningful. She deftly avoids the common trap of making Lily Evans either a faithless traitor or a faultless plaster saint, and she provides some keen insight into Eileen and Tobias and their marriage, sans the cliches. And just now, she's introduced a really fascinating and well-drawn OC.
So if you have even the slightest interest in teen!Snape or good, character-driven storytelling, then I urge you to give this one a read and leave the author some love. There are only three chapters up thus far, but there are more to come, and this is worth your time. Enjoy!