The only thing that makes me feel better about being up at five a.m. Chicago time is that it is six a.m. Indiana time. Let's not look at the fact that I went to bed at midnight. Having a drink last night was a mistake. I always wake up Really Damn Early whenever I have any alcohol. I suspect VVC will be experienced in a state of near-constant sleep deprivation. [eta: I was right.]

It may (will definitely) be worth it. [eta: And right again.]

My poor roommates may have been woken with my rummaging around in the dark. I really hope not. My first attempt to grab shoes, my purse, and quietly sneak out met with two failures. One, no matter how gently I eased the door, it makes a very, very loud click as the lock engages. Two, I stole someone else's sandals. [eta: I later discovered they were cherryice's.] I had to go back in, necessitating two more giant clicks, and resorted to using my phone as a very dim flashlight so there was no more accidental thievery.

And this, after my first impression to thirdblindmouse was likely of a frazzled babbling person, because man do I get like that when tired, and I woke up at three yesterday, but only wandered to the hotel room for sleeping at eleven-something.

For those of you who didn't go on the great fangirl Chicago outing yesterday, it was awesome. For those who did, you already know. Highlights included Millenium Park, Ghirardelli Chocolates (and the both best and most terrible cappucino--hot, amazing; cold, an abomination unto caffeine), and [Bad username: svmadelyn site=]'s favorite pizza place (the name of which, as ever, escapes me).

There are a number of people I need to add from the trip, and I still need to add back most of the people I trimmed from my f-list in preparation of visiting Japan, so I suspect the next several days is going to be some sort of adding frenzy for me.

Also! It's slowly come to my attention (very slowly; sometimes I just do not pay that much attention) that hey, some of you whose DW I follow are still only posting to LJ. I didn't take you off because I didn't want to read you! I just thought I wouldn't be reading you twice, not that I suddenly wouldn't be reading you at all. Working to correct that.

This entry was originally posted at http://everysecondtuesday.dreamwidth.org/11599.html. If you'd prefer, please comment there with OpenID. (DW comment count: )

I don't know if a computer store has ever filled me with more frothing rage than Fry's. I really don't. I held a great deal of rage for Best Buy, but at least I got it back eventually in working order and when they had it they could tell me where it was and what was being done to it.

I've finally delegated talking to them to my willing (but growing ever less so) mother, because my sympathy for people in any service industry is drowning in a frothy sea of rage. And even my mother, one of the sweetest, most upbeat people I know is beginning to sound like they are sucking out their soul and has become a force for the campaign to Never Buy From Fry's. A warranty is no good if it means that when it is broken, you give it to them and never see it again.

(For those who are only just joining the saga of The Pretty Monster and Its Capture by Fry's, the Pretty Monster first went in in mid or early May. It has been long enough I don't rightly remember.)

--

In more cheering things, I forgot to mention, but hng_deathmatch has finished! Lots of delicious fic to read. I managed to mix things up and defaulted in Round Two, but that life for you. It was fun while it lasted. I'm really hoping that at some point in the future, we can all play again.

At some point, I will clean up some of the mistakes made on my entry in round one while madly dashing it out, having realized the first deadline was only five hours away. It'll be re-posted on my fic journal, but I'll probably mention it here for anyone curious.

--

I know I already asked about people going to VVC, but more specifically, will there be anyone in Chicago tomorrow (Thursday) around eleven-ish nine/ten-ish interested in brunch breakfast? Also, if anyone is, do you have any recommendations? I'm thinking the West Egg or Original Pancake House, but I am always open to new things. My only restriction is vegetarian, and breakfast-y foods are very good to me that way.

eta: I have plans for noon/afternoon! \o/ Obviously I still want to grab breakfast-y type foods with anyone interested, but it will have to be actual breakfast.

This entry was originally posted at http://everysecondtuesday.dreamwidth.org/11469.html. If you'd prefer, please comment there with OpenID. (DW comment count: )

My desktop, though found, is still not all hooked up, but--

The computer people did lie to me again, this time being a good lie. Four days ago, they said my regular laptop would be done in ten days. For keeping the exploding rage behind my left eye and not hurling it at the poor tech guy on the phone still waiting for the parts to arrive from the company, the universe rewarded me with him calling again yesterday to say it was finally fixed.

Of course, on the way to pick it up, I discovered the wheel bearing has some Issues since the pothole waiting as a trap of malicious intent on the way back from Chicago. Yay for having a computer, because I won't be going anywhere until my car is returned. Fortunately, I know better than to send it to the place that kept it for two months. This time, it is going to the local, non-dealership guy who managed to fix the last problem and return it in a couple days. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the same can happen again.

Other than all of that, I have been very uninteresting while forcibly away from the internet. I've been writing, went to Taste of Chicago with good friends, and dealing with allergy concerns. More about Taste of Chicago (and some very tasty restaurants) to follow.

What have the rest of you been up to?

Chicago people:

Anyone want to join me and norabombay on June 6th (yes, the day after I get back) for trying to see Neil Gaiman at the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest? Tickets (which are free) will be available at the library an hour before the event, so I was planning on hanging out about an hour and a half before they start distributing them. The event's at twelve, which would put me there at 9:30 a.m. If we can't get tickets, I am sure we can figure something else out.

--

Has anyone ever used vet-prescribed anti-anxiety medicine on their pets? How well has it worked? We'll be applying ours to kitty once we're back (because it's a long-term thing that will need to be applied every day). He will likely need it even more then. He'll be returning from the boarding place, chock-full of being over-socialized with strangers and under-socialized with people who love him, plus the usual abandonment issues whenever we leave for more than a day.

I'm supposed to have dinner with my dad tonight, I still need to call lizfu, and I am kind of feeling run down. I just want to curl up with my kitty forever. On the plus side, I leave for the airport in roughly thirty-six hours.

--

A couple nifty links blatantly stolen from my lists:
Down for everyone or just me? Answering a question I often wonder.

Decoding the Subtext "Decoding the Subtext is a series of essays which exam each of the Sherlock Holmes stories for homoerotic subtext." Eventually, I am going to curl up with all my Sherlock Holmes and make my way through this.

--

Two vid recs for my enduring love of Toshiko:
Steady As She Goes
Torchwood, Tosh/Everyone.

Wild Hope
Tosh ;______; (Spoilers through the S2 finale of Torchwood and also the S5 finale of Doctor Who)

--

Two Star Trek fic recs:
Earth Kids Are Assholes
Summary: Spock and Kirk make friends while bleeding. So exactly what happened, except they're in grade school. AU. Gen.
I think in addition to my love of Kirk/Spock/Uhura, Spock/Uhura, and any sort of Sulu fic, I am developing a minor gleeful obsession with Kirk & Spock gen friendship fic.

Oh Two Hundred
Excerpt: "I'm working on it," she said, already thinking of how to explain transporter technology to someone who might not know what it was in a language she had thought dead not two hours ago.
I want to draw hearts around Uhura's face forever.

I'm still trying to catch up on comments, but this weekend in Chicago was excellent! The symphony was amazing, and the lecture beforehand was all kinds of dorky fun. Before that, thehoyden and I went to The Drake for tea, which was delicious and classy and definitely something I'm planning to do again. lizfu, the next time we go to Chicago together, I am dragging you there.

svmadelyn had an adventure trying to get my car unburied last night when leaving thehoyden's. That street did not want me to leave. We did, though, have these endearing teenage boys offer to help, and the guy whose house we were in front of came out with a shovel after a while (though we already had it by that point, having kicked and beaten the ice covered snow to fluffiness and cleared the wheel paths).

While crashing at svmadelyn's, she successfully convinced me that Chuck is amazing. Does anyone have any fandom resource posts? I hear tell that it is a small fandom, but once I watch more than the pilot (which she says is actually the weakest episode, though I am not sure how that is possible) I'm probably going to be in need of a fannish fix. I'm also planning to do a huge recs and resource post of the Jon/Stephen part of fakenews fandom to try to lure her into writing fic. This may not happen, but she's already reading in the fandom, and my hopes take a while to die.

There are several other posts I need to put together, so this is mostly a reminder for me: the Gus/Shawn fic recs and resources post, the year in review fic post, posting the three fic from exchanges now that all reveals are up, the 16 people post, and the next fic tease post. I also really need to get on finishing that fic comm.

On the way back from Chicago today, I ended up stopping on a whim at Fairoaks Farm. I haven't tried the milk I bought there (lowfat chocolate milk \o/), but the milkshake I tried was seriously tied for best chocolate shake I've ever had. It was pretty damn amazing. I didn't end up stopping at Gino's considering the weather, and instead made my way back to 94 and from there, home.

And in checking the mail that accrued for me this weekend, I received uminohikari's card. Thank you. ♥

This morning, I woke up and was immediately besieged by two cats with demands for affection. Then thehoyden and I went to the Original Pancake House for delicious pancakes and crepes (well, one pancake and one crepe, and half of the pancake is now sitting in my borrowed car, staying nicely frozen--anyone who could have eaten all of both would have my respect).

Today will be full of tea and pizza and an awesome attendance of the symphony.

Last night, thehoyden showed me two of the video diaries on the Merlin dvds. Suddenly I not only see why people in the fandom have embraced rpf, but also why people believe the cast is comprised entirely of awesome losers. "Je suis loser" should pretty much be their motto. ASH seems like the cool uncle left with the kids for a while.

( We also watched 1x11 (cut for very mild spoilers) )

Fic/vid of the day will be put off until tomorrow, at which point I'll do a double feature.

Okay, new plan considering how much snow is going to start falling tonight. thehoyden has graciously offered me her floor to crash on (and Merlin to watch \o/), so I'm going to head over there once I've gotten as much squared away with my car as I can. If I don't find out more by three, I'm leaving my keys and letting my parents sort it out.

Fic and vid of the day (yes, it's a new type of double feature)!

It's Not Over Yet is an excellent Morgana vid, an exploration of Morgana as someone whose story in the Merlin legend is set to go down a darker path, and how Morgana herself is pulled into a moral gray area. charmax says of her vid, "I imagined that Nimueh was connected to Morgana in the same way as the Dragon is to Merlin. So here we have Nimueh converting Morgana into Morgan le Fay and rather enjoying herself while she's doing it. The femslash vibe is entirely intentional so feel free to just look at the pretty." It is very, very pretty, but even outside of aesthetics, this is an excellent Morgana vid. (Morgana/Nimueh, Morgana/being awesome)

Big Damn Zombies, Sir is one of those fic I read far enough back that later I'll have to check to be sure I reviewed it, but let me tell you that it was fantastic enough I just spent ten minutes with google trying to find it again. This is one of the few fic I've sent my mother when trying to explain all the things I loved best about fandom (well, all the ones I could talk about with her). It's a Firefly fic in which Jayne is a zombie. Or at least thinks he's one. (gen)

I forgot to hit post on last night's intended entry, but am in an entirely different mood, so the only thing I feel like keeping is my reaction to TDS:

Haha, I loved Wyatt, Sam, and John this time around, especially Wyatt's "21 Jump Street style" deception and John's "pretending to be conflicted." And then we got Aasif, too \o/

--

It's so cold in this room I keep having trouble typing, but everything under the covers I've piled on me in this chair is fine. It's just my exposed hands that are having trouble. I think this may be an indication that I should look into thin but well insulated gloves at some point and figuring out where I put the wireless mouse in the last move.

Tomorrow I'm going to take my car to the shop, because today it decided it was another good day to die. Well, it's still alive, but it flashed one of the lights that warned me to shut off the car and not drive it or even turn it back on until I took it in. This happened before, but it went away when I turned it off and back on. Alas, this time, the light remained on even when I re-started my engine. I'm really, really hoping to borrow a car from my parents for my trip to Chicago this weekend. Fortunately, my great aunt is very understanding about me not going to see her today, either. We'll reschedule once I know where things stand with my car.

This weekend we finally have reveals for the secret santa exchange, which I am very much looking forward to. I will be able to stalk follow certain writers, as well as point you all to the fic I've liked best of what I've written in the past several months. I can also finally do my year in review at that point.

Now to decide what to write. I figure if I'm stuck in, I might as well make the best of it. Already I've ordered delicious warm pizza, because peanut butter and jelly is not going to cut it as comfort.

I felt awful enough yesterday I didn't end up going, and I also managed to somehow strain my neck so I can't tilt my head to the left. But yesterday wasn't entirely full of abject failure! For one thing, I managed to do enough things right that today I can look to the left, and the other thing is no longer causing me intense bouts of pain. Plus, I managed to call the relative I was supposed to visit, and instead I'll go see her on Thursday.

If I remember correctly, this weekend is Chicago and the symphony, so yay for that. During the week, I'm probably going to be traveling a few places to put in applications in person and maybe to look at some apartments in Bloomington for if I manage to find work there to weigh cost versus quality of living and with luck find something affordable.

Right now, I'm hanging out with a heating pad and my laptop to see if I can make my neck any better. With care, I'm hoping to have it back to near normal by the time of my drive on Thursday.

Fic of the day (double feature because I forgot to post any yesterday)!

Those Beautiful Falling Objects is one of those fic set in several fic universes that somehow manages to weld them all into one beautiful thing. I admit to some bias, but even if this weren't written for me, I have to tell you I would love it and be all over it anyway. It's politifandom, news, and Iron Man all rolled into one. It's femslash and sharp and cutting where it isn't soft and comforting. I love it so, so, so very much. (Pepper/Amy/Rachel)

Instrumental Bridge (Catch Your Breath) is another fic set in the rockband AU in Rahmdom, and is described as "Ten short moments from The Thumping's career." There are so many great things packed in here, I don't know where to start, from cowbells to ONTD to Amy Rule to "JON AND STEPHEN DO NOT APPROVE OF YOUR BAD TASTE." It is fantastic. (Various.)

blackheisei, I am about to head out soon. I'll be there by six. I need to dig out my car.

Dear self: Do not forget the tickets. Or the directions.

Everyone else: I'll post a couple vids Sunday to make up for missing today. I'll let you know how the Chicago trip goes (spoilers: the answer will likely be "totally awesome").

My "short nap" this afternoon went epic. I woke up at like four this morning. On the plus side, that is how early I am going to need to get up on Saturday for going to Chicago.

Speaking of, the tickets came in the mail for Wicked! I am very excited about seeing it. blackheisei is going with me and we are meeting at Gino's to collect svmadelyn for the show and eat delicious pizza (which will be my first time off of this crazy restricted diet \o/). Oh, Saturday, you promise to be awesome.

lizfu, I have lost the comment asking if I want to hang out Thursday, but the answer is yes, if you don't mind tagging along for me doing a post office run.

I also received a Christmas card from kajcarter and from martoufmarty, so despite sleeping through half of yesterday, it was awesome.

Vid of the day (for yesterday)!

Touched is one of those vids that actually has a narrative. It is like fic for vids and is awesome.

So like a total genius, I managed to run my toes over with the rolling chair in the hotel room. On the other hand, I totally managed to eat most of two more pieces of the pizza, leaving the fourth piece staring at me, taunting me with its delicious taste. Unfortunately, on the third, awkward hand, my stomach is not having with any plans for eating more.

Despite it being eleven Chicago time, I am not sleepy, but just out of it enough that working on fic is not going well. The solution to this, of course, is to watch vids online (though it's kind of creepy to know that Google has been ordered by the court to give Viacom all of its Youtube information, including the viewing habits of users and their IP addresses; boo, Viacom, boo). So for anyone else in the same situation, the fourth Psych Vid Rec post!

Shawn and Gus (gen and slash):

If you were gay by Shotaphile
If Gus were gay, Shawn would totally be accepting.

( Two more gen and four slash vids )

I arrived safely in Chicago! There were . . . a couple of detours and some googlemaps being made of fail, but I arrived! First, I went past Chicago to Mitsuwa and picked up Meiji chocolate (in those cute little boxes!) and a couple of surprises for lizfu and blackheisei, not to mention a bunch of manga (though they only had up to 36 and then 41 of Naruto, meaning I'm still missing 39 and 40; something to order online, maybe).

I then came back to the hotel, because I'd driven something like six, seven hours today. I used the internet and basked in the air conditioning so I could cool off some and stop railing at my inability to find gas stations in my immediate vicinity or to get onto the right road for turning onto LSD so I could actually get to the ones I knew where they were located (eventually I gave up and just went to the hotel, because at least I was close to that--tomorrow I will get directions from a desk clerk and buy a quarter tank so I don't run out near Gary).

I then walked to Taste of Chicago, which was both crowded and delicious. I bought mostly dessert-type items--a chocolate-covered strawberry with free walnut fudge (currently in my purse wrapped in plastic), vegan sweet potato pie from Soul Vegetarian (and if the rest of their food is as delicious, I would gladly dine there), a Taste-size of sweet potato hash browns (sadly wasted, as they were very much Not My Thing and I couldn't take more than a bite), and drinks. After lots of aimless wandering, I eventually headed to Gino's East. Partway there, I decided maybe taking a taxi would be a good idea considering I'd forgotten my walking shoes and my arches are definitely not thanking me.

At Gino's, I wrote out notes and some more scene snippets of the long Dresden Files fic! \o/ After a several week dry spell (up to Steak 'n Shake with lizfu), I'm finally back in the game for this fic. I'm glad to have finished the four closest-to-finished/highest prioritized fic in my wip folder, but . . . whoo, Dresden Files! I was only able to eat one piece of pizza, though, before I realized I was weak and my will was not strong. I brought it back with me, but the fridge is crowded with drinks. I could slide the pizza in above if not for the two Miller Lite beer bottles, but I'm not sure I want to pay for them just so I can preserve my pizza and take it home with me. This is something to think on.

Right now, there should be fireworks either going or starting soon, but . . . allow me to make a confession. I am uneasy around fireworks. My brother once set the roof on fire with them. Only a little bit, but still. And while I trust the city of Chicago to show a little more restraint and be a bit safer and more professional about it, they're also going to be bigger. This is very pretty, but I also get an odd sense of vertigo and extreme nausea. It's less fear than the worry that I will puke and not even have the excuse of being drunk.

And so I am hiding in my hotel room and taking mad advantage of the hotel's free internet.