This having a life thing...
...doesn't half wreak havoc with the amount of time you can spend doing fabulous Pros-y type things. Or catching up with emails and comments, which I was bad enough about before. On the other hand it's kinda fun, and I've the massive urge to lj about it - probably because I should be working, of course. I really need to master short but more frequent lj posts, but I haven't yet, so the usual caveat for rambling length...
So - what have I been doing then, since early June? (No-no, I know that's what you're asking yourselves... *g*) Well, firstly I went to London again, for a weekend this time. There's something very nice about living barely an hour away, you know, who'd have thought it? And I did fabulous things, like the River Thames cruise, which is just ace, and finally gave me a sense of how London is laid out, because I'd never really had a clear idea before, maps aside. You can't tell from the tube really, and walking is just fun but confusing (for occasional visitors, I mean) but I could really see not just where everything was, but how the city had grown up, and out as well. Totally recommend it. Plus it was hot and sunny, but breezy on the river - gorgeous stuff. (I'd say I wanted to live by a river, but having watched the recent floods from the dry safety of the living room couch, maybe not too close...)
Took the cruise down to Greenwich, but didn't have time for much more than a mad dash through the National Maritime Museum, which I thought was disappointingly fragmented. Maybe I need to try again, but honestly, for all that space you'd think they could manage to display a bit more stuff. I got all excited about the Arctic Exploration exhibition, only to discover it was a beautifully done out "cave", with about six artifacts in it - all from the Franklin expedition, and they didn't even tell that story in its entirety... way to kill history, guys... It's all big and shiny, but no substance, you know, no stories. Very 2007 AD, come to think of it...
Stayed over with a fannish friend that night, which made me very happy, cos not only Pros, but excellent home-cooked food, good drink, and dangerously good baklava - not home made, but which I discover is also available at my local Waitrose... (much Danger, Will Robinson!) And I finally saw the Starsky and Hutch movie (heee!) and finally again the pilot of Due South, which reminded me that I did really like it the first time. I felt quite nostalgic for snow too, but that might have been because London was steaming that weekend...
Anyway, the next day we went to the Museum of the Docklands, which to be honest I hadn't been expecting much from - I mean the name doesn't really conjure magical experiences, does it? Turned out to be a brilliant museum, packed full of stories and artefacts that had stories, and I could have stayed for even longer than we did - great stuff. Go visit next time you're in London! Plus it was fab to walk about with someone who knew London, and had stories about the city - and knew a great Italian for lunch on Sunday (not that it's all about the food and the stories, not at all).
Back to Cambs., and back to work, which is going okay but slowly, cos I'm so easily distractable. Didn't help that I was seriously struggling with that stoopid Jubilee June fic... *kicks comm mods who thought of that challenge*... (ouch) The whole time I was supposed to be recording from the journals I was trying to figure it out - turned out I couldn't do both at once... *sighs*... No more m/m in the journals yet either... *sighs more*...
More interestingly, my adviser's just had a job interview in Stockholm! I'm on tenterhooks, cos she and her husband make up half my advisory committee... Cross fingers for her, okay? (Yes, I do want her to get it!) (Sorry, lied about the interestingly bit *g*)
I watched Doctor Who! Squeeeee! I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but John Barrowman just makes it... And I'm not going to spoiler anything, but even I saw the slash straight away in that ep... *g* So then I had to buy the first dvd of Season Two, so that I can finally start to catch up, and that was pretty good as well (despite no Cap'n Jack...) I'm trying to be good and not place myself in a situation where the next dvd is within grasp, but I've got to go into town this afternoon, so... Also Here come the drums, here come the drums is completely stuck in my head. (I've never heard the rest of the track, it's just that bit).
What else? Just because I'm not busy enough I finally got around to phoning about volunteering at Duxford Imperial War Museum and I've got an interview tomorrow! Wheeeee! If they don't think I look totally useless, I should be able to work in the civilian aircraft conservation section (they don't need volunteers for the military section, which would be my first choice). So cross fingers for me there too! Working at Duxford! On planes! Whoohooo! Plus it's all part of a clever plan you see - remember I took those flying lessons, way back years ago, and I was supposed to go back and do a proper course the next summer, but I broke my leg instead? (And the guy I'd have been working for was basically caught out defrauding an oil company, so it wouldn't have worked anyway...) Well, there's no way I can afford to take lessons over here, but I can at least start out learning about the engines and stuff, right? So that by the time I am massively rich and able to afford to get my ppl, I'll have a head start. Right? Look, it's just a plan, and I'm going with it...
Plus, I went to an airshow last weekend! More wheeee! Cos I'm in the east of England now, and there's dozens of airfields around here! And I saw this Sukhoi S-26 actually doing this! It was incredible - it took off, rose to maybe the height of a house, flipped upside down and flew upside down for ages, before turning and ascending straight up at about 90 degrees and then just tumbling and flipping and... it was seriously good. *g* And a Hurricane, and a Dakota and loads of other cool stuff. Plus there were glowering clouds, and wind-swept skies... *g* See - look:
Cos now I have my pink phone with a camera on it *g*
And in amongst all that lot, I've started That Other Job too - the one that involves lots and lots of marking and general craziness for an intense amount of time... Yeah, that's why I thought it'd be a good idea to add some voluntary work into the mix... (But see, it's physical stuff, I hope... I need something to get me away from this computer - much as I love it *strokes computer*)
And in the time that I've sat here, I should have finished my day's allocation, but what's actually happened is that a couple of Men have come around to do repairs on the cottage, like fixing the floor board in my room that gave way so that my desk was sitting on a big old hole... And the electricity was off, and my housemate popped back in, and have I started marking? Have I bollocks... *sighs more* I need to go into proper-work this afternoon too... Still, if this darned cottage can be made to work to some extent... I mean, it's not that hard. Took five minutes experimenting to figure out that what I'd been told about the immersion heater wasn't true and needed sorting... Still not looking forward to winter here, with no heating upstairs... and no shower... I shouldn't sign the contract and commit really, but... *sighs more*
And finally a Pros bit, with zines and with pictures, just cos if you read this far (or were clever enough just to click this cut) then you deserve it.
Erm... Did lots and lots of reading of new fic, and old fic and so on. "Redemption" by Kate McLean (available via Yahoo group ProsLit) is a good, interesting read - and yeay for new Pros novels. I adored pretty much every story in the new Roses and Lavender 6 zine - heart-wrenching and wonderful the lot of them... Go and order it right now! *g* And then of course there's Never Far Apart, which also has some fab stories in it. There's also a new Angelfish story, which I have to admit to being somewhat baffled by - where are my lads? How could they survive so long in CI5 if they're... like that? Some beautiful writing of course, because that's what Angelfish does, but I'm not at all sure about her characterisation and plot in this one... (or her last one, actually). And I'm not much of a fan of photo manips, which is what it turns out the illustrations are - I'd been hoping for gorgeous drawings, but I expect that's just me... *g* What else? I'm quite into some of the Other Times and Places zines right now - zines full of AU stories... The Peerless Pair, by HG - fun Regency romp stuff (and Doyle suffering beautifully, as ever...) Many and various others which for the life of me (and dreadfully) I can't remember right this minute... But those are the highlights...
What else... speaking of highlights, this pic was in one of the annuals I picked up at Nattercon:
Awww - now there's a face... And I've discovered that this is one of the annuals that agentxpndlble has got up on her website in its entirety, so if you wanna read about LC's parachuting, it's very cool!
And just cos you can't have one without the other - this is from CI5 Addict as well:
And... I think that's about it. No more excuses for not getting on with That Other Job so that I can get myself into work-proper... Well, except that the Men are still here fixing the cottage... *g* Fun to listen to, mind - there's two of them... *g*
So - what have I been doing then, since early June? (No-no, I know that's what you're asking yourselves... *g*) Well, firstly I went to London again, for a weekend this time. There's something very nice about living barely an hour away, you know, who'd have thought it? And I did fabulous things, like the River Thames cruise, which is just ace, and finally gave me a sense of how London is laid out, because I'd never really had a clear idea before, maps aside. You can't tell from the tube really, and walking is just fun but confusing (for occasional visitors, I mean) but I could really see not just where everything was, but how the city had grown up, and out as well. Totally recommend it. Plus it was hot and sunny, but breezy on the river - gorgeous stuff. (I'd say I wanted to live by a river, but having watched the recent floods from the dry safety of the living room couch, maybe not too close...)
Took the cruise down to Greenwich, but didn't have time for much more than a mad dash through the National Maritime Museum, which I thought was disappointingly fragmented. Maybe I need to try again, but honestly, for all that space you'd think they could manage to display a bit more stuff. I got all excited about the Arctic Exploration exhibition, only to discover it was a beautifully done out "cave", with about six artifacts in it - all from the Franklin expedition, and they didn't even tell that story in its entirety... way to kill history, guys... It's all big and shiny, but no substance, you know, no stories. Very 2007 AD, come to think of it...
Stayed over with a fannish friend that night, which made me very happy, cos not only Pros, but excellent home-cooked food, good drink, and dangerously good baklava - not home made, but which I discover is also available at my local Waitrose... (much Danger, Will Robinson!) And I finally saw the Starsky and Hutch movie (heee!) and finally again the pilot of Due South, which reminded me that I did really like it the first time. I felt quite nostalgic for snow too, but that might have been because London was steaming that weekend...
Anyway, the next day we went to the Museum of the Docklands, which to be honest I hadn't been expecting much from - I mean the name doesn't really conjure magical experiences, does it? Turned out to be a brilliant museum, packed full of stories and artefacts that had stories, and I could have stayed for even longer than we did - great stuff. Go visit next time you're in London! Plus it was fab to walk about with someone who knew London, and had stories about the city - and knew a great Italian for lunch on Sunday (not that it's all about the food and the stories, not at all).
Back to Cambs., and back to work, which is going okay but slowly, cos I'm so easily distractable. Didn't help that I was seriously struggling with that stoopid Jubilee June fic... *kicks comm mods who thought of that challenge*... (ouch) The whole time I was supposed to be recording from the journals I was trying to figure it out - turned out I couldn't do both at once... *sighs*... No more m/m in the journals yet either... *sighs more*...
More interestingly, my adviser's just had a job interview in Stockholm! I'm on tenterhooks, cos she and her husband make up half my advisory committee... Cross fingers for her, okay? (Yes, I do want her to get it!) (Sorry, lied about the interestingly bit *g*)
I watched Doctor Who! Squeeeee! I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but John Barrowman just makes it... And I'm not going to spoiler anything, but even I saw the slash straight away in that ep... *g* So then I had to buy the first dvd of Season Two, so that I can finally start to catch up, and that was pretty good as well (despite no Cap'n Jack...) I'm trying to be good and not place myself in a situation where the next dvd is within grasp, but I've got to go into town this afternoon, so... Also Here come the drums, here come the drums is completely stuck in my head. (I've never heard the rest of the track, it's just that bit).
What else? Just because I'm not busy enough I finally got around to phoning about volunteering at Duxford Imperial War Museum and I've got an interview tomorrow! Wheeeee! If they don't think I look totally useless, I should be able to work in the civilian aircraft conservation section (they don't need volunteers for the military section, which would be my first choice). So cross fingers for me there too! Working at Duxford! On planes! Whoohooo! Plus it's all part of a clever plan you see - remember I took those flying lessons, way back years ago, and I was supposed to go back and do a proper course the next summer, but I broke my leg instead? (And the guy I'd have been working for was basically caught out defrauding an oil company, so it wouldn't have worked anyway...) Well, there's no way I can afford to take lessons over here, but I can at least start out learning about the engines and stuff, right? So that by the time I am massively rich and able to afford to get my ppl, I'll have a head start. Right? Look, it's just a plan, and I'm going with it...
Plus, I went to an airshow last weekend! More wheeee! Cos I'm in the east of England now, and there's dozens of airfields around here! And I saw this Sukhoi S-26 actually doing this! It was incredible - it took off, rose to maybe the height of a house, flipped upside down and flew upside down for ages, before turning and ascending straight up at about 90 degrees and then just tumbling and flipping and... it was seriously good. *g* And a Hurricane, and a Dakota and loads of other cool stuff. Plus there were glowering clouds, and wind-swept skies... *g* See - look:
Cos now I have my pink phone with a camera on it *g*
And in amongst all that lot, I've started That Other Job too - the one that involves lots and lots of marking and general craziness for an intense amount of time... Yeah, that's why I thought it'd be a good idea to add some voluntary work into the mix... (But see, it's physical stuff, I hope... I need something to get me away from this computer - much as I love it *strokes computer*)
And in the time that I've sat here, I should have finished my day's allocation, but what's actually happened is that a couple of Men have come around to do repairs on the cottage, like fixing the floor board in my room that gave way so that my desk was sitting on a big old hole... And the electricity was off, and my housemate popped back in, and have I started marking? Have I bollocks... *sighs more* I need to go into proper-work this afternoon too... Still, if this darned cottage can be made to work to some extent... I mean, it's not that hard. Took five minutes experimenting to figure out that what I'd been told about the immersion heater wasn't true and needed sorting... Still not looking forward to winter here, with no heating upstairs... and no shower... I shouldn't sign the contract and commit really, but... *sighs more*
And finally a Pros bit, with zines and with pictures, just cos if you read this far (or were clever enough just to click this cut) then you deserve it.
Erm... Did lots and lots of reading of new fic, and old fic and so on. "Redemption" by Kate McLean (available via Yahoo group ProsLit) is a good, interesting read - and yeay for new Pros novels. I adored pretty much every story in the new Roses and Lavender 6 zine - heart-wrenching and wonderful the lot of them... Go and order it right now! *g* And then of course there's Never Far Apart, which also has some fab stories in it. There's also a new Angelfish story, which I have to admit to being somewhat baffled by - where are my lads? How could they survive so long in CI5 if they're... like that? Some beautiful writing of course, because that's what Angelfish does, but I'm not at all sure about her characterisation and plot in this one... (or her last one, actually). And I'm not much of a fan of photo manips, which is what it turns out the illustrations are - I'd been hoping for gorgeous drawings, but I expect that's just me... *g* What else? I'm quite into some of the Other Times and Places zines right now - zines full of AU stories... The Peerless Pair, by HG - fun Regency romp stuff (and Doyle suffering beautifully, as ever...) Many and various others which for the life of me (and dreadfully) I can't remember right this minute... But those are the highlights...
What else... speaking of highlights, this pic was in one of the annuals I picked up at Nattercon:
Awww - now there's a face... And I've discovered that this is one of the annuals that agentxpndlble has got up on her website in its entirety, so if you wanna read about LC's parachuting, it's very cool!
And just cos you can't have one without the other - this is from CI5 Addict as well:
And... I think that's about it. No more excuses for not getting on with That Other Job so that I can get myself into work-proper... Well, except that the Men are still here fixing the cottage... *g* Fun to listen to, mind - there's two of them... *g*