The hubby was home for three weeks. It was great. He did all kinds of stuff and really took the pressure off me. We had Robert's BFF who now lives in WA. come for two weeks or so, too. And now school is back in session.

I am hopeful that I'll be able to get my final revisions done on the novel a little more easily since the kiddos will be in school during the day.

***

Politics. Oh God.

My husband's middle brother visited from Florida last week. It was GREAT because I got to see my wee nieces who always greet me like a rock star. They are so cute and funny! They got me laughing so hard I almost wet myself. :)

But it was also bad because I always wonder what crap my in-laws are going to start spewing from Fox News. This time it was the Muslim Brotherhood Menace. It came up because they were talking about how Canada is doing better with jobs than we are, and wondering how hard it would be to go to Canada for a job. (My husband's youngest brother just got his degree, so, you know, it was relevant.) I said I knew it had been hard for my doctor friend to sort out her employment up there, but mostly because of special rules about certain positions which are funded by the government, and all countries are careful about giving certain types of government jobs to foreigners. But evidently our government is now overrun with Muslim Brotherhood infiltrators. Because Michelle Bachman said so. I don't think they knew that John McCain had basically told her off about some portion of her unsupported fear-mongering. I found somewhere else to be for a bit, with "Exhuming McCarthy" playing in my head. :P

***

I think the next few months may kill me. I was relatively indifferent to Romney (he's changed his policies often enough that it's hard to say what he'll do for sure if he wins), but I think Paul Ryan may have been grown in tank by a right wing extremest/mad scientist, his soulless flesh nourished to adulthood on a slurry of Ayn Rand novels and impoverished children's tears. Good GOD.

***

Someone on Tumblr made this and it found its way to Facebook, where I fell in love with it:



I may just have to leave FB and stare at this image until mid-November. :P

***

My sweet Stefano had some sort of recurrence of that infected tail bite from June. I took him to the vet and he had a fever. He's on antibiotics now and his fever is down. Poor woobie. It happened right after his neutering, so I though the swelling had to do with that. The bite had healed over and the hair had grown back, even. Now his tail is shaved and I have to push medicine down his throat, but at least he seems to feel better. He stays with me all the time, so I don't get lonesome and can pet him frequently.

***

While my Beloved was home, he bought me some new Nike Frees and upgraded my phone. It's all shiny now. We took the gang to see the Batman movie.I also got a haircut:
( picture below cut )

It was about time for something drastic, and I'm happy with it. Also, probably lighter. It looks good with my glasses, too.

***

In general I'm grumptastic. I guess that's normal with the hubby having gone and all. A cool friend from work and I are having lunch Thursday, so that is something to look forward to. I've just got to push through this ennui. I bought groceries in the rain. It was fun.

***

Watched a bit of True Love, which I think would have been more appropriately called Variations on Romantic Misery. Not the best diversion for me at the mo. :P

***

I'm up for any Sherlock fanfiction recs you guys want to throw my way, if you think of some. It would be diverting. :)

I rec'ed Wild Target to cafenowhere, and now my brain is being haunted by Martin Freeman (as the assassin Dixon) and his utterly Sociopathic Teeth.

"Silly Asato," you say indulgently, "Teeth can't be sociopathic. They're just teeth!"

Yeah? Well then don't look below the cut.

( Really, you shouldn't look. )


I DID warn you.

We were lucky -- it was overcast and not too hot when we first got there. The sun didn't come out until after about an hour and a half, and even the most stalwart of us could only stand that for about half an hour. (87*F with 100% humidity was totally do-able, with ice water and frozen fruit pops to go with the fruit and snacks everyone brought. But 95*F and 100% humidity... was tough.)

It was absolutely great to see everyone again, one last time. A few people couldn't make it, but it was fun for the boys, and I got to talk to my homeschool moms (and dads!) again. I brought my camera, but I was too busy chatting to *think* about taking pictures. :(

The HS dad who is a book seller gave us books! Comics for the boys (one DC and one Marvel, since he wasn't sure which way the family swung, heh) and a collection of Andrei Codrescu stories about New Orleans. It was the most thoughtful gift he could have possibly given us. He and Ron always got on, so I bet he knew that Ron really likes Codrescu.

Then another mom who is a folk artist gave me a couple of things. She had been heading out to buy a gift, but remembered how much I love her artwork and stopped. She gave me two pieces. The first is a funky wall plaque with names of different notable NOLA places scattered around. It was just lovely, and I was glad to have it as a reminder of my time here:

( Picture under the cut )

It's the sort of thing she'll be selling to tourists during festival season, I'm sure. :) But that wasn't all. She gave me one of her shadow boxes. She hasn't parted with any of them yet, though she has been offered a LOT of money for some of them. They tend to be evocative and creepy. The one she gave me is slightly less creepy, because it has no dolls or people figures in it. I almost cried when I saw it:

( Somewhat over-exposed picture under the cut. )

You can't see the awesomeness of it well in this picture. It is full of detail and little fiddly bits. It, like most of her best boxes, seems to tell a story. It's full of mystery, history and decayed beauty. As soon as I have a writer's nook, it's going up in it.

She's grateful to me for 'talking up' her work on Facebook, but I genuinely love it. I wouldn't say I did if I didn't, really. Maybe I'm just weird and her art speaks to me in ways it doesn't to others, but I genuinely believe she could make a real name for herself.

I've often pondered whether my true gift in life is the ability to see greatness in others and in their work. I hope I have the opportunity to photograph her other work when I come back to town for the wedding. I want to use it in a project I'm working on. She has agreed to let me. :)

First up, the few stills I've managed to collect of David Tennant in the upcoming (and unnecessary) Fright Night remake. (I say unnecessary because, well... Fright Night was a horror/comedy, and the promos for this appear to be playing it totally straight horror. Hmm. On the one hand, vampires are hot right now. On the other, scary vampires are NOT hot right now. Now is the time of the sparkly, boy band, My-Little-Ponies-with-fangs vampires. *sigh* ) The original was saved from the ick by humor (and by Roddy McDowell and Chris Sarandon being funny/campy and serious by turns).

This one might be saved by-



Wait, what was I saying again? Oh, yeah. ( More stills under the cut. )

I wish they had more DT in the trailers. He is one of the few actors I would brave the wilds of Colin Farrell's eyebrows for. (I kid. After In Bruges I've more or less managed to watch him without nightmares ensuing. He's a good actor, and totally NOT miscast as Creepy Vampire Man.)

Rumor has it that the PTB took notice of Mr. Tennant during filming, so this may be the start of him actually getting some broader US recognition and something like the level of filthy stinking rich he deserves. I hope so.

Yesterday, I fed a week-old kitten. Abandoned by its mother and eventually coming into the care of my friend Meredith, this kitten was incredibly tiny. Meredith is the lady who gave us the caterpillars, so as soon as she was settled in with the kitty, she suggested I bring the fellas over for a look at her "newest science experiment."

( Large pictures of a tiny cat under the cut. )

So cute!

Today, I finally posted my interview with "James S.A. Corey" (the writing team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck), which I had been attempting to transcribe for-freaking-ever. (I really suck at transcription, and I kept having to stop because it gave me migraines. :P )

In any case, the interview itself was tremendous fun. You can read it yourself at GeekaChicas - Leviathan Wakes: A Chat with the Authors.

It was fun to see how they work together, and how easily they could razz each other. Daniel Abraham's entire body of work has landed right in my To Be Read list. He was very charming, and his list of favorite authors made me very happy. His rants about Urban Fantasy and "weaponized" female characters also had me thinking. His take on the phenomenon I used to call The Buffy Effect helped me clarify my thinking about it.

It also put my protagonist in perspective, too. Lethe is a reaction to the whole "female power through violence" thing, but in a different way. I'm anxious to get back to her.

Now that that's out of the way...

I had a plan for my Thing today, and I wussed out at the last second. Instead, I did something I'd been putting off forever.

Almost a year ago, my Beloved got me a Groupon deal for this famous little T-shirt shop on Oak street.



I went there a few weeks ago, and got overwhelmed by the choices. See, it's a custom t-shirt shop, you pick the shirt and whatever designs you want. There were so many choices! I had choice overload and had decided to use the Groupon to buy something for the boys. But the hubby wouldn't let me.

So, he took me back there today, and put together this shirt: ( More Pictures )

I love my new shirts, and teh hubby likes the way they look on. I tend to not wear form-fitting things, much. Turns out, he likes my form. ;P Go figger.

Today, I made turtle brownies:



I have been threatening to do this for weeks, but I finally managed it. Also, so as not to feel a completely horrible mother, I cooked a great dinner, too. The Turtle brownies were served with ice cream for afters. ;)
( More pictures of food below the cut. )

We had talked about going to the Fake Jazzfest as extras for Treme, but didn't in the end because it was chilly (63*F in New Orleans in MAY? What the HECK?) and I had gastric distress of a kind best not mentioned.

***

Instead we stayed in and my hubby tried to school me in music, which is kind of funny. See, I've had more music classes than he has, but he can pick out any tune, by ear, on mismatched spoons or a rusted garden gate. His ear is supernatural. And there he was, basically trying to teach me to play a simple jug band sort of tune by feel. I really sucked at it, but it's going to make a great Thing for later in the week.

Then he curled up with me and we watched "Game of Thrones" (what there is of it so far) and he said he would be interested in watching the rest with me. It is a big deal when he likes something from television enough to watch it. Period. I mean, he won't watch Doctor Who or any of my crime shows, and he was underwhelmed by Sherlock. (!) We have been re-watching Farscape with the boys, though. It's been long enough that the re-watch is particularly fun, and it's a nice follow-up to the Firefly re-watch last fall.

***

Oh, and if you're enjoying my Things, you should check out narniadear's and new participant *waves* goody_scrivener's Things, too.

Today, I color-coordinated my nail polish and my outfit. As, let's face it, not the girliest of women, this is A Big Deal. Pictures under the cut.

( The Pinkness, It burns! (Beware the lack of make-up - I'd worn off what little I'd put on by the time the pics were taken.) )

I'm actually kind of pleased with myself for the effort here. Pink is not ordinarily my thing, but the dress is comfy like pajamas and easy to accessorize (though I didn't wear my usual fleur de lis neck ring today). The hubby appreciated it, and I enjoyed looking put-together for once.

It was a Thing. *shrug*

I will probably make Turtle Brownies, too, but this was what I chose for today. It was different.

So, for narniadear's birthday, we decided to have a Girls' Night. We even rented a party room:


With karaoke and plenty of floor space for dancing and such. It was going to be spectacular. Then, someone realized he wasn't invited.



He seemed a little cross, but we didn't worry overmuch. Until he showed up.



That was suspicious, but we partied on.


"Benedict? Who's Benedict? I'm Beatrice, darling."

It was a nice try. I'll give him that. Afterward his disguises became kind of lame, like he wasn't even trying.



So I hired a big, scary bouncer.


I felt really bad about that, so I was kind of glad when he came back.



"Group Fun?"





Well. Okay, then.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CECILY!!!