Skype me
Anyone have Skype who'd be willing to be called/call me so I can test out this new headset microphone I need to use for a webinar in a couple weeks? I asked a friend but he didn't have it and wasn't willing to DL it, the rat bastard. I figure someone here should have it. You can e me privately at gwyneth at drizzle dot com.
In other news, Bodie the adorable dog has gone to a new foster home, which makes me really sad. He needed someone who could deal with his bad behavior, and there was a person who specializes in bad Boston behavior, and they figured it was the best thing for him, which of course I agree with. But damn, I liked having him here, and it was cool to have a dog named Bodie, you know? He was such an adorably goofy little guy. Hopefully the biting will get controlled and he'll find a fantastic home that appreciates him and doesn't dump him.
The rescue group was on a local morning show last week, and Vlad, the darling dog I posted about a couple weeks, was on, walking his new three-legged walk. Poor little dude, but apparently he's so much happier and bouncier having the dodgy leg gone. I wish we could have brought Bodie but there was no way with the biting. (And if you might have a buck or two to spare, Vlad's ChipIn page doesn't expire for two more days, and they've only raised less than a quarter of the money needed for the leg surgery, the kidney stones, and the trachea problem -- we would love you for your donation if you could make one!)
Today I went downtown to the Pike Place Market for a few hours; I realized it's been way too long since I just went and putzed around. I stopped at my favorite informal restaurant there, the Crepe de France, and had a lovely ham and cheese crepe and read a book on my Nook Color, then picked up some marrons glace (glazed chestnuts) at DeLaurenti's for the marrons glace ice cream I'm going to make. Also picked up some tea and tea supplies at Market Spice. Fortunately I did not have much cash, so I avoided buying baby donuts and unusual pastas and the lard-based cakes and pastries at the Mexican sisters' shop, but I did not avoid buying a ginormous bouquet of purple and pink dahlias. Anyone who's been to the Market knows you can get these amazing bouquets there for like $5 or $10, which are the size of a small child (seriously, my arm ached by the time I got back to the car from carrying it).
While I was eating, I remembered that a couple years ago, I was sitting in Crepe de France and looking out at the tourists bumbling around outside it when I saw someone who looked familiar. He was standing there for a while, looking around, trying to decide if he would go in or not, I think, and then I realized it was minotaurs. I was about to get up and go talk to him, even though I kept thinking, no way, he lives in San Diego, it can't be him, but then my crepe was ready and by the time I looked back, he was gone. It was only a few weeks later he died so unexpectedly, and I found out he'd been looking for work before he moved up here. I was just so shocked by his death that I forgot seeing him for a long time, and now I regret not having gone after him that day.
I seem to be thinking a lot of melancholy thoughts right now. Thinking a lot about Sandy, and missing her so very badly, and as the weather gets crappy, I'm feeling my sister's loss so much more. This is the time of year when we usually planned for her visit home for Thanksgiving and our birthday. It's just so depressing.
I got a request today from someone to translate my Fast and Furious fic into Chinese, which is kind of a kick. Who knew it was a huge fandom over there? I've kind of lost track of the languages some of my stuff has been translated into -- it's not a lot, but I just can't remember which ones except for Japanese. I have to admit, it's really exciting when someone asks to do that.
I signed up for Festivids. This may be a huge mistake, but I'm going to give it the old college try. I requested all 8 allowed fandoms, but I'm sure I won't be matched on MDs, Catch and Release, or Buckaroo Banzai, but probably more like Justified, Middleman, or Contact, Charlie Jade's kinda iffy too. But I signed up to do a shit-ton of fandoms, a mix of safety and series fandoms. I'm taking the cumulative advice of others that the more you sign up for, the easier it will be. Who knows? It's weird how intense the '80s nostalgia is in the fandoms listed. I don't have that, since I was all growed up by then and it seems a lot of people who are younger than me have a strong attachment to the things they saw then, when they were younger.
And now I feel really stupid that I didn't nominate Case Histories, the detective series Jason Isaacs did this past year on BBC. OMG so good! I finally caught up on the discs I ordered a couple months ago, and I need to write up a long Men Who Make Me Happy post about him, and about the series. I pray that he will do more Jackson Brodie things, but with his new series on American TV, Awake, coming up, I'm not sure he'll have time if it's successful. (Flail! Jason Isaacs on my TV every week.) But that's a subject for another post.
In other news, Bodie the adorable dog has gone to a new foster home, which makes me really sad. He needed someone who could deal with his bad behavior, and there was a person who specializes in bad Boston behavior, and they figured it was the best thing for him, which of course I agree with. But damn, I liked having him here, and it was cool to have a dog named Bodie, you know? He was such an adorably goofy little guy. Hopefully the biting will get controlled and he'll find a fantastic home that appreciates him and doesn't dump him.
The rescue group was on a local morning show last week, and Vlad, the darling dog I posted about a couple weeks, was on, walking his new three-legged walk. Poor little dude, but apparently he's so much happier and bouncier having the dodgy leg gone. I wish we could have brought Bodie but there was no way with the biting. (And if you might have a buck or two to spare, Vlad's ChipIn page doesn't expire for two more days, and they've only raised less than a quarter of the money needed for the leg surgery, the kidney stones, and the trachea problem -- we would love you for your donation if you could make one!)
Today I went downtown to the Pike Place Market for a few hours; I realized it's been way too long since I just went and putzed around. I stopped at my favorite informal restaurant there, the Crepe de France, and had a lovely ham and cheese crepe and read a book on my Nook Color, then picked up some marrons glace (glazed chestnuts) at DeLaurenti's for the marrons glace ice cream I'm going to make. Also picked up some tea and tea supplies at Market Spice. Fortunately I did not have much cash, so I avoided buying baby donuts and unusual pastas and the lard-based cakes and pastries at the Mexican sisters' shop, but I did not avoid buying a ginormous bouquet of purple and pink dahlias. Anyone who's been to the Market knows you can get these amazing bouquets there for like $5 or $10, which are the size of a small child (seriously, my arm ached by the time I got back to the car from carrying it).
While I was eating, I remembered that a couple years ago, I was sitting in Crepe de France and looking out at the tourists bumbling around outside it when I saw someone who looked familiar. He was standing there for a while, looking around, trying to decide if he would go in or not, I think, and then I realized it was minotaurs. I was about to get up and go talk to him, even though I kept thinking, no way, he lives in San Diego, it can't be him, but then my crepe was ready and by the time I looked back, he was gone. It was only a few weeks later he died so unexpectedly, and I found out he'd been looking for work before he moved up here. I was just so shocked by his death that I forgot seeing him for a long time, and now I regret not having gone after him that day.
I seem to be thinking a lot of melancholy thoughts right now. Thinking a lot about Sandy, and missing her so very badly, and as the weather gets crappy, I'm feeling my sister's loss so much more. This is the time of year when we usually planned for her visit home for Thanksgiving and our birthday. It's just so depressing.
I got a request today from someone to translate my Fast and Furious fic into Chinese, which is kind of a kick. Who knew it was a huge fandom over there? I've kind of lost track of the languages some of my stuff has been translated into -- it's not a lot, but I just can't remember which ones except for Japanese. I have to admit, it's really exciting when someone asks to do that.
I signed up for Festivids. This may be a huge mistake, but I'm going to give it the old college try. I requested all 8 allowed fandoms, but I'm sure I won't be matched on MDs, Catch and Release, or Buckaroo Banzai, but probably more like Justified, Middleman, or Contact, Charlie Jade's kinda iffy too. But I signed up to do a shit-ton of fandoms, a mix of safety and series fandoms. I'm taking the cumulative advice of others that the more you sign up for, the easier it will be. Who knows? It's weird how intense the '80s nostalgia is in the fandoms listed. I don't have that, since I was all growed up by then and it seems a lot of people who are younger than me have a strong attachment to the things they saw then, when they were younger.
And now I feel really stupid that I didn't nominate Case Histories, the detective series Jason Isaacs did this past year on BBC. OMG so good! I finally caught up on the discs I ordered a couple months ago, and I need to write up a long Men Who Make Me Happy post about him, and about the series. I pray that he will do more Jackson Brodie things, but with his new series on American TV, Awake, coming up, I'm not sure he'll have time if it's successful. (Flail! Jason Isaacs on my TV every week.) But that's a subject for another post.