General Update

[lls_mutant]

Well, happy day before Halloween. I'm alive, and pleasantly so. Although I wish people would stop sending me emails about Wash's first name. ::still can't believe I did that.::

Got the Sirius-the-altar-boy back from the betas. You know you have a good beta when you open the file and the vain part of you wants to cry :) You also know you're a good writer when you kick that part to the curb and buckle down and make the edits, cause certain betas are very, very smart. Of course, when it rains, it pours, and I also got my paper back from the reviewers the same day. A little more unnerving because one reviewer wanted more experimental data. Erm. Yeah. :P Anyway, hopefully the altar boy story will be up soon.

It's funny. My father's been gone for over fifteen years- just about half my life. I'm pretty used to it now, and life does go on. But sometimes it really surprises me to think about him as much as I do in a particular instance. Does that make sense? I mean, I expected to think about him a lot when I was in the process of getting married, or when I had Toby, or even around the big holidays. It was kind of funny that I was thinking of him so much as I carved the pumpkins today. Of course, 15 years mellows grief a lot, and it was just a warm, comfortable feeling remembering him (even if it was a little sad), but it was a bit of a surprise. It shouldn't be- Dad was always the one to really carve pumpkins with us, and he and I always had the same philosophy- we were willing to try little artistic "experiments" and I get my art talent from my dad. But still, I really felt like he was there as I was doing the pumpkins. I did the one ("mine") with our names- it almost looks like the font from Sin City. And I did Toby's in the classic jack-o-lantern style of triangles and a smile, and gave the pumpkin as many teeth as he has now :) They came out cute. (I still wish I'd taken a picture of the GoF pumpkin I did two years ago.)


Toby has a lion costume for Halloween, which is utterly adorable. We've put him in it a couple of times, and once he's in, he almost doesn't notice it. He's walking all over (thus the reason I haven't been writing much!), and he looks so cute stomping around with his tail! I'm taking him out early tomorrow night, not for candy, but just to show him off.

Life is quiet otherwise. The rents were here for the weekend, things are good, and I forgot to put a new pair of undies in the wash before I wore them and inadvertantly dyed my butt black. (Oops.) I think I did that when I went running. (Look, Kris! Running!) Still trying to lose weight and still getting nowhere, although my mother said I looked like I'd lost a lot, which means the working out is totally paying off. I'm gonna be an auntie, which is totally cool. Things are good... just busy.

So how are you all?

Comments

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Well, we're happy that you're well, first off. :p

Things are going good around here. I get to dress up for halloween at work. Wee!

I know how you feel about your dad, I used to do that about my grandmother, but now it's just nice to think about her sometimes and smile.

I have to say though, I don't think I've ever dyed my butt a color. You're talented. :p

[aome.livejournal.com]

inadvertantly dyed my butt black. (Oops.) I think I did that when I went running. (Look, Kris! Running!) Still trying to lose weight and still getting nowhere, although my mother said I looked like I'd lost a lot

First of all, HAHAHAHAHAHA at the dyed butt. I hope it, uh, came out in the wash. ;)

As for not-losing-weight despite your mother's comment - if you're gaining muscle from exercise, you could be losing fat and thus looking better, even if the actual poundage remains the same (since muscle weighs more than fat). Are your clothes fitting any better, at least? Go you, for running!

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

*smile* I love that beta dearly, but I think she would make me cry.

Completely understand about remembering your father at unexpected moments. Glad you enjoyed! Maggie

[robo-kai.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're doing well! I haven't commented on any of your posts in a while because, real life got in the way of my internet time (and my computer was out of commission for half a month).

Er, this is neptunus by the way. I changed lj usernames because "Neptunus" was something I came up with eight years ago, and I figured a silly Latin class moniker I came up with in middle school wasn't exactly how I wanted to present myself to the internet. /ramble

Sirius-the-alter-boy, eh? Sounds like an interesting AU. Can't wait to read it! :D But yeah, getting a good critique is a wonderful thing. Sure, they make you stuff your ego in the trash can, but you can be sure that the finished product will benefit all the more.

aome is right. If people notice the difference, but your scale isn't changing, you're probably gaining muscle since it weighs more. So good for you!

Oh, and um, a bit of an odd request. Could you rec me any really good Sirius-running-away fics? I'm doing a comic of it for my thesis project, but I'm not really into the HP fic scene, so the only good one I've ever come across was your Deny Thy Father, and I don't want that looming over my head as my only source of inspiration (I'd probably butcher it anyways :P) while I'm drawing this. Also, more points of view on the subject couldn't hurt!

[wickedevra.livejournal.com]

It's nice to hear from you! *HUGS* All the best with the revisions - I'm looking forward to altar-boy!Sirius and photos of Toby in his lion costume *g*

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

There were two betas! And no cause for crying at all: quite the reverse. The words 'you should sse the other guys' come to mind here. :D :D

^_^xx

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Hey, sweetie! You can't hide with these things. If I had to pick one person on my flist whose edit would be devastatingly, soul-searchingly thorough, it would be you. I don't think my skin is thick enough to stand it! Good for you, Lissa, for bouncing back. I'm excited about the story, actually. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out. M.

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

It's going to be amazing. :) Well, it already IS amazing.

Pity I can't edit my own work enough to notice that I put 'sse' in that comment instead of 'see'. :D Sorry about that.

^_^xx

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Aren't I though? Fortunately, it came off.

What did you dress up as for work?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

It did come off. :) And yeah, my clothes are fitting better, which is nice. But I really need to start being better about eating :P I used to be so good... Ah well.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Heh- you both got me pretty good! I made it through minnow_53's comments, now I'm working through yours. Believe it or not, I'm having a harder time with yours, because they're hard questions. (Some of them may not get answered!) :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

::blush:: Thanks. BTW- hoping to have the copy for you in a bit. For all that Maggie is saying she isn't as harsh, she is. Her questions are hard! :)

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I'm Death today. I was going to be Delirium like at the last party, but it's a bit more high maintenance than Death. :p

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! Glad to see you around again :)

Actually, the Sirius-the-altar-boy isn't really AU. It came out different than I think what was intended, but I'm pretty happy with it. And yeah, those heavy with the red pen people are good betas.

Hmmm. Good Sirius-running-away fics. I know ignipes wrote one I'm very fond of, but I forget the title. (I'm sure it's there if you check her memories.) And I'm STILL meaning to read Shades of Grey by lovable_pads. Um, I'd check thistlerose's stuff as well. Oh! And "A Feast in Azkaban" by nyxfyxx is just excellent Sirius all around. I'm sure there are more, but I'm not coming up with too many. We ought to make a list! :)

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I really believe in this story--the premise is already making me think about the characters differently. M.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

::hugs back atcha:: I'm definitely gonna have to post Toby pics in a flocked post :) And thanks!

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Lol! :D Yes, I get the impression that she did some pretty deep thinking there, so at least half the blame goes to her. :P

^_^xx

[robo-kai.livejournal.com]

Ah, my mistake. Now that it's up, I'll go read it, along with all authors you rec'd. (Though I'm having a hard time finding lovable_pads's work, as her LJ appears to be in German, ehehe. I'll try searching for her name on fictionalley, I guess?) :) Thanks!

(And yeah, there really ought to be a list!)