I worked a bit on Archon of Gloucester this evening after thinking a lot about it all weekend. I also wrote some stuff for it this past week that completely sucked. I am very disappointed and annoyed at how bad that section of writing is. I did get some useful character development from it, but overall, it wasn't an effective piece of dialogue, the more of it I wrote.

I am thinking about doing away with the move to Gloucester and just keeping the story set in London. I realized I really like the characters I've created for Southwark Cathedral in London, and I'd hate having to mostly not use them again, once Paul left for Gloucester. Also, I'm not convinced that the story needs to move to Glouceter; I think I can tell it perfectly well in London.

If I do that, though, it will mean that Paul won't be replacing the Sorter in Gloucester; he'll instead have to replace the Inquisitor in London--which he will absolutely hate. Gah! *glares at story*

Aside from this, I have to write some stuff for StarRise, do some priestly research for Nova Roma, and contribute to the Obsidian Fleet RP's. *sigh*

Current Mood: tired

I'm back from Segun! We had a wonderful Whittington family reunion and celebrated my father-in-law's 75th birthday. :) I'm so glad to be home, though!

I am presently wading through 150 emails, so it will be a while before I post further. Back to work tomorrow. *sigh!*

Current Mood: tired

This is a nice, concise description of the whole controversy. I like it.

* * *

Equestria Iunia Laeca M. Valerio Potito sal.

1. The Consuls had the authority to interpret the law.
2. Per their interpretation, the law did not disallow Modianus from
running.
3. The Tribunes had the authority to interpret the law differently
and veto the Consuls' interpretation.
4. This veto had to be done prior to the start of the election.
5. It was not done prior to the start of the election.
6. Modianus was elected by a large margin by Nova Roma citizens.

End of story. Where is your confusion?

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Screen Cleaner

Mark and I didn't see a movie, this evening. Instead, we spent way too much time in Borders and then went out to dinner at Beck's Prime, a sort of burger joint that also does steak.

I decided I wanted to explore some of the shops near the bookstore, so I wandered inside a couple.

Roula's Nails is a nail-painting place and costume jewelry boutique. I swear, they really ought to rename the place Her Majesty's Jewelry Box, because that's the sort of costume jewelry they have in it--a mix of the modern and stuff that I could imagine Elizabeth Tudor wearing. They sell some very gaudy rings, but their earrings and necklaces are gorgeous. Shiny!

There was one necklace and earring set that I really wanted. It was sort of teal and green with a faceted, oval-shaped transparent teal pendant danging from the necklace part. Just gorgeous, but where would I wear it? We don't go anyplace where I'd be able to show it off. It sure was pretty, though.

I did come out of there with a butterfly clasp for my hair. It's gold in color, with iridescent tiger-eye-looking bits attached--very pretty, but too small to contain all of my ponytail. I have to wear some of my hair loose with that clasp in.

Next, I went into a shop called The Antiquarium. They sell antique prints, such as Cooper's anatomical prints, which show illustrations of the skull, skeletons in various poses, hands, feet, and arms, as well as the nervous system (minus the brain but with the eyes!) and the circulatory system (with kidneys). Very neat. vdansk has written a Pern story called "Hands of the Healer," and when I saw the drawing of the excarnated hands, I thought of that story title.

In the Borders, I had a soda water with coconut-flavored syrup, which was quite tasty. I bought three books there--one by the Dalai Lama, one about a Middle Eastern mystic poet named Rumi, and one called The Guernsey Liteary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which caersidi recommended.

Now I'm home and contemplating writing.

I'm cntemplating... I'm conteplating... Hm. It's a quarter of ten. Maybe I shouldn't start something this later. Hm.

Nabbed from seshen:

The problem with Livejournal is that we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. Hence, I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me--something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don’t know about you.

(Aerden's note: I don't answer personal sexual questions, so don't ask.)

My co-worker Dory passed on information to me about the Galveston-Houston Archdiocesan Choir, which will be holding auditions on July 19 and 26. I've decided to audition for it. This choir performs at ordinations of bishops, priests, and deacons, and it also perform at Confirmations and other liturgies. I believe it also performed in Rome when our Archbishop, Joseph Fiorenza, was ordained in his new position.

I hope to join it because I suspect it performs better music than is usually sung in church every Sunday (snooze!). I have not really liked church music since they stopped playing the hymns written in the 70's--the more rock-style hymns. At my old church down in Clear Lake, they went from singing a really cool version of the 'Our Father' (from my childhood) to one that has put me to sleep since my teens. Church music does not have to sound like it was written by a bunch of old ladies.

Mainly, I want really good classical, really good modern arranged pieces, or something lively--no tambourines; just lively. I'd love to sing "Our God is an Awesome God," though I don't think Catholic choirs sing it. I'd also like to learn some Gregorian chants, and some Hildegard would be wonderful!

Anyway...I've been looking over the sheet music I have, and I've decided on "Simple Gifts" as being the song that a church accompanist would probably find easiest to play. My classical voice pieces generally try to emulate an entire orchestra on the piano, and they can be difficult to play. We have to bring four copies of our piece as well as four copies of a liturgical refrain. Where the heck am I to find one of those? I'll go look; the Web is a wonderful place.

"Simple Gifts" is not too flashy, but the arrangement I have does show off my voice and my range. I think someone auditioning for a choir shouldn't sing something too flashy, because the whole point of a choir is being able to blend in, but being capable of performing solo if needed. So I think bringing "Deh, vieni, non tardar" or "Voi, che sapete" would be a bit much.

I've passed on the information to my voice teacher. Maybe some of her older students will want to audition.

The A/C worked well last night after we got the breaker replaced--because the air conditioner repairmen had refilled it with freon for a leak they couldn't find. The freon has now all volatilized away, and the house is hot once more. *sigh* Thank God for fans! And we at least had one good, cool night. It was blissful.

We're told the leak is somewhere in the external unit, which is (Thank you, Jesus!) still under warranty.

Now...time to buy tickets for the Glen Beck movie theatre appearance. Bye!

Current Mood: hot

Me: "Hm...Dr. Hank Lawson could be my new TV-doctor love." (g)

Aerden: "I'm glad you qualified that statement."

Dr. Luka Kovacs: "But I thought I was your TV-doctor love!"

Paul Graves: "I thought I was your character love, period." *looks sternly at his author*

Dr. Benjamin 'Hawkeye' Pierce: "And what am I, chopped liver?"

Dr. Kelly Brackett: "I was your love before all these other quacks. Forget them. They're not important."

Dr. Phlox: "I really don't see what the problem is; there's enough of her to go round."

Me, looking at my waistline: "Unfortunately, that is true."

Current Mood: amused

Wow.

Duuuuuuude!

This is the most exquisite flower garden I have ever seen!

I found the link via pegkerr.

Current Mood: enthralled

Actor David Carradine has died in Bangkok, Thailand of an apparent suicide attempt.

Very sad to lose him.

Current Mood: shocked

Sent to me in email:

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith, and drop the fear.

Current Mood: content

Supper: Tonight's supper is a couple of pita sandwiches made with whole-wheat pita bread, fake (*sigh*) Kraft Swiss cheese slices, sliced honey ham, and basil pesto, heated in the microwave and washed down wth a bottle of Budweiser Light Lime. Yeah, I know, the beer is sacrilege, but I do like lime and lager, and I don't have any Tequiza.

Coven: We celebrated Cary's birthday at the Hollywood Vietnamese/Chinese Restaurant on Montrose. The food was excellen, and so was their dessert list--two full pages of desserts, the chocolate page and the non-chocolate page. I indulged in a yummy, creamy thing called a Beethoven--and yes, I would have happily sung "Ode to Joy" over it, it was so delicious.

There were ten of us there, and we had a lovely time eating Vietnamese food and chatting. Cary got a calligraphy pen set and inks, which should be very useful to her in the SCA. I presume they'll start asking her to do up awards and so forth.

She received a couple of necklaces, and I gave her a lavender reed diffuser. I love those things, and they work surprisingly well. I might bring one to my office.

Nova Roma: The Comitia Centuriata election is over. Yea! I've turned in my final tally, and it's now up to the custodes to break the ties in each century and announce a final result.

Writing: I can now go back to working on "Resistance" and other projets. Hurray! I hear The Archon of Gloucester calling my name.

I need to wash my hair, tonight.

Current Mood: bouncy

I'm ineligible to donate platelets or white blood cells because I take a maintenance antibiotic. This might disqualify me from donating blood, period. :(

*sigh*

Current Mood: disappointed

Writing: Not a whole lot to talk about. I just plugged away at "Resistance" some more last night. I finally got Frank and Alice to agree to show Paul and Bellatrix the magical traces from Voldemort's--ehem--visit to Godric's Hollow.

I've decided to not make them sweet. You can see where the sweetness might be hidden, but they're two law enforcement officers who have a couple of DE inside their minds. They are NOT pleased.

Nova Roma: The election for censor suffectus has begun, but the discussion of the candidates continues. Joy!

I have decided to learn Latin.

Partly, this is because I belong to a couple of historical groups devoted to the study of ancient Rome, and having the members become familiar with Latin is a goal of at least one of those groups.

The other, and maybe bigger, reason is because of the little Paul Graves in my head.

It is frightening how happy I feel about having made this decision--because I know that part of my joy is caused by this fictional character who is ecstatic that, at last, he will be able to ensure that his Latin is correct when he casts spells, no matter how J. K. Rowling writes them in canon.

Gawd.

I'm going to need Paul's tenacity, too, because I don't have it. There will come a time when I'll whine to myself that "This is too much work. I don't really need to know all of this Latin. There are other things I need to be doing. I'd rather write. Or watch TV. Or sleep. I don't wanna!"

So this is fair warning, Mr. Graves: You'd better be there when I start slacking off, as I inevitably will. I can't do this without you. This is a big, big commitment of time and effort, and I tend to work in little spurts. This will take years. So don't you dare disappear from me for a week, the way you did after you killed Cicuta--you hear me?

Your commitment to perfection had better be really, really strong, if you're so determined to drag me into it.

I'm afraid to even ask how the DSM-IV would classify my mental state. I probably sound like I'm in deep denial of the strength of my own desires and trying to avoid all responsibility for my choice. Oh, yes--and scared of failure, too.

Or maybe I just have multiple personality disorder without dissociation. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Current Mood: whinging

So I wonder--What would I need to do, to start up a successful home business proofreading and correcting English errors in people's websites?

I see so many spelling and grammatical errors on the Web, and I itch to correct them--especially when they're on sites I care about.

Current Mood: cranky

Writing: I spent most of this past weekend working on "Resistance," a Potterverse short story dealing with issues surrounding what the DE did to Frank and Alice Longbottom. It is longer than I expected--an astonishing 21 pages in 12-pt. type, at last count, and I am not yet finished. The last word count I did yielded 5,129 words. I am flabbergasted.

It bothers me a little, to be writing such a long fan fiction piece. I know fans commonly write novels these days, not mere stories. They post them by the chapter in the various fan fiction archives. But my goal has always been professional publication, so spending so much time and energy on a piece that can never see the professional light of day is irksome. I never expected it to be longer than about 2000 words. It being more than twice that is just mind-boggling and strikes some corner of my brain as a supreme waste of time.

But I really, really want to write this, so... I will write just about anything if it has Paul Graves in it. *rolls eyes* Oh, great. Now Aerden's jealous.

I will be posting it at Harry Potter Fan Fiction.com when I am done. I'll request beta-readers before posting it to the site. I jumped the gun a little, last week; I thought I'd complete the story over this past weekend.

Paul is mildly irritated that Frank Longbottom saved the story, not he. And Frank keeps wanting to ask Paul and Bellatrix, "So, how long have you two been divorced?"

Current Mood: accomplished

I've been working on "Resistance" for the past couple of days. It's an AU Potterverse story about what happened to Frank and Alice Longbottom at the hands of Bellatrix LeStrange, but I've thrown Paul Graves in there.

It's just about ready for beta-reading, and I really will need readers for it, since it contains a long legilimency scene that I hope works, but I'm not sure how well it will mesh with what's going on outside of the legilimency. It starts from Snape's POV, then moves to Paul's POV for the legilimency scene, and then returns to Snape's POV for the end.

I'll need some feedback on whether I've got Bellatrix done right. I have specific reasons for why she's acting the way she's acting. Hopefully, I can adequately justify all of that.

Current Mood: working

A member of the Nova Roma mailing list posted this beautiful prayer to Bast for the protection of one's cat:

Bast of beauty and of grace,
Protectress of the feline race,
Shield {name of pet} from all hurt and harm,
And keep him/her always safe and warm.
Watch over {name of pet} from day to day,
And guide him/her home if he/she should stray.
And grant him/her much happiness,
And a good life free of strife and stress.

by Dorothy Morrison

Gah! Where are all of the Pern filksongs I wrote ages ago? They must be here, someplace!

Current Mood: cranky

Back in the 90's, I was part of a large collaborative writing project with some other Pern writers, mainly people from Fort 9 and Sable Weyr--classic Sable Weyr. We decided we were tired of writing Pern and wanted to create our own shared world.

We wanted to write stories which were somewhat like Pern in the dramatic set-up (heroes who were looked askance at by the 'normal' society), but we also wanted villains who had more personality than Thread. And we wanted them to be really villainous. Our vortecien mages would have wiped the floor up with the Death-Eaters. They were what the DE could not be because the DE were written for a series of children's books. You might not want to meet Bellatrix LeStrange. You don't ever want to meet a vortecien.

We had developed a really neat, intricate, complex, and full-bodied world, with the Cadre of cavaliers (read 'dragonriders') and their enemies, the vorteciens, and all sorts of internecine politicking going on among the characters.

And now, some death-metal rock band has taken the name of our anthology and used it as the title for one of their songs. I read the lyrics. I can't even begin to convey my revulsion. Ick, ick, ick.

I hate having the name of something I loved be turned into something nauseating.

T-Shirt: I should design a t-shirt:

Current Mood: indescribable

Friday: Last Friday, Mark and I and our friend Donna went to listen to a local Chinese trio group of clsssical musicians. The pianist among them has been my accompanist at the NATS spring student auditions for the past two years, and she's very good! They are called Trio Formosan, and they play music by Chinese composers as well as by other classical composers. Friday evening, we heard "The Formosan Trio" by Tyzen Hsiao, a trio by Leonard Bernstein that he wrote in 1933, a piece called "Butterfly Lovers" by another Chinese composer, and "Four Seasons" by Piazzola, a South American composer.

The Formosan Trio (the piece) is to die for!

Domestic Mundania: I found bluebonnet glasses at HEB on the way to gaming, Saturday afternoon! They're beautiful--clear, plastic tumblers and highball glasses with natural-colored bluebonnet stems engraved into them. I orignally meant to just buy a couple for my Mom, who loves bluebonnets, but I decded I wanted some, too. If they still have them at HEB the next time I go back there, I will buy more. I really want to replace our motley collection of mismatched drinking glasses.

Is it wrong that I am this excited over pretty plastic glassware? (g)

Writing Work: I spent most of the weekend writing various things, including Archon of Gloucester. I also further developed the world for a story I began in 2004 called "Falkmere" for want of a better title. It's about a wizard who is made the guardian of a 14 year-old boy suffering from PTSD and conversion disorder. I wanted to use Gareth Adams from SPH and the child version of a character of mine from Children of the Vortex to see how the two of them would work in a story together. It reminds me of Piotr, Sergei, and Gareth in SPH.

I wonder what those three are doing now? Anyway...

Nova Roma: I also discovered, while reading my email this morning, that I am one of four people who were elected to the position of diribitor (vote-counter) in Nova Roma. Yea! We'll be running a small election soon and then the major one in the autumn.

It's weird. The organization itself (at least, the main list) drives me nuts, but I think its election system is fascinating.

Writing: I was reminded today of why I love writing. I love the process of figuring out how the imaginary world works and fits together.

In the world of Falkmere, magic comes in two types, Ihl (good magic) and Ner (dark magic). Yeah, I know, horribly uncreative. Today, though, my brain decided to be a bit more creative about it. It seems that, in this world, the Ihlani (good wizards) and the Nerani (dark wizards) have differing ideas of how one acquires the type of magic that one winds up with. The Ihlani believe that the would-be wizard chooses the type of magic. The Nerani believe that the type of magic 'claims' the would-be wizard.

This is all well and good until my main character, Edward, rejects the Ner.

By rejecting the Ner, he proves that the wizard chooses the type of magic s/he will use, not the other way around. This means that all wizards are responsible for their use of magic. It means that the king can come down hard on the Nerani because they are now demonstrably accountable for the evil things they do. The Nerani are Not Happy with Edward.

In fact, I'm surprised he has survived to this point. I must figure out how he's evaded all of the death-threats and assassination attempts. Hm.

*wanders off*

Current Mood: pleased

Today, I completed Chapter Two of The Archon of Gloucster. My total word count so far is 6502 words, and I'm at 18 pages.

Current Mood: accomplished

Drew Peterson has just been arrested at his home for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

All I can say is, Amen. So mote it be. Been a long time coming. I'm glad that at least his third wife and her family will finally have justice. Maybe the same will happen for Staci, someday.

Current Mood: content

An acquaintance of mine posted this recipe in a mailing list:

6 whole trout, gutted and beheaded
2 cups of straw mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup of yellow onion, grated
6 large cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsp. of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
Olive oil

Mix mushrooms, onion, garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and 4 tbsp. olive
oil, and marinate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Evenly divide the mixture into the cavities of the fish, and wrap each in aluminum foil. Place into a baking pan brushed with olive oil. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the fish are white, and flakes fall away from the bones.

Current Mood: hungry

Under the Ancient Oaks - A blog that I want to read, written by a practicing Druid.

I received this in email today from my sister. :)

Childbirth at 65



With all the new technology regarding fertility recently, a 65-year-old
friend of mine was able to give birth. When she was discharged from
the hospital and went home, I went to visit.

"May I see the new baby?" I asked

"Not yet," she said. "I'll make coffee, and we can visit for a while
first."

Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, "May I see the new baby now?"

"No, not yet," She said...

After another few minutes had elapsed,

I asked again, "May I see the baby now?"

"No, not yet," replied my friend.

Growing very impatient, I asked, "Well, when can I see the baby?"

"WHEN HE CRIES!" she told me.

"When he cries?" I demanded. "Why do I have to wait until he cries?"

"BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM, O.K.?!!"

Current Mood: giggly