Well, this year is ending as a bit of a damp squib--literally. It's been raining steadily since before I went to bed last night. I can hear fireworks going off everywhere and yet I'm sure nobody can actually see them. Fail.

I'm meant to be ironing something to wear to work tomorrow but instead I've been having chocolate cake and watching Fellowship of the Ring. That seemed like a more valid life choice. :D Now it's time to see how many of my pseudo-goals for the year I actually accomplished.

( 50 things I hoped to do in 2012Collapse )

I'm not going to make any resolutions this time because I have a thing about odd-numbered years. I'll just hope that 2013 will be a happy and healthy year for us all. Whatever happens at least we can look forward to The Desolation of Smaug. ;P

If any of you are out celebrating tonight, be safe and may you escape a sore head in the morning! ♥

Oooh, it's almost Yuletide! I didn't finish the treats I started writing, partly because I ran out of time and partly because I got too distracted by the hilarious Majestic Thorin meme to be capable of coherent thought. But that's okay, they'll just be New Year's Resolutions.

Meanwhile at least Chelsea have started the festive period off right for a change! Congratulations to Super Frank for breaking yet another record (and hopefully making it impossible for the board not to give him an extension). Poor Villa were pretty abject but that was a very enjoyable performance to watch and I'm so pleased for all the boys. Of course now JT is going to have quite a bit of catching up to do when he gets fit again, if he wants to be in the running for the annual defender scoring competition. ;P Anyway let's hope the lads keep the momentum going and make this a happy Christmas indeed!

I hope you are all well and enjoying the holiday season! *hugs*

Just got back from the midnight premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Short version? I LOVED it. (But you knew that already.)

Long version to follow when I've had sleep...and maybe when I've seen it the ~4549 more times I've been planning since the opening credits rolled.

*dance of triumph*

I may not be in the same league as a NaNoWriMo winner but I can still say that my personal challenge was a definite success. I wrote something every single day for 30 days without fail. I finally finished the epic gift fic of d00m. I added 1,000-odd words to various other WIPs. And I wrote several hundred words of a totally unplanned Yuletide treat.

I suppose it's a bit sad that I spent so much time and effort on one of the longest things I've ever written and only left_sider and maybe czeri will ever have the slightest interest in reading it. But I enjoyed writing it and it was an interesting challenge so it was still worthwhile. Now to keep the momentum going so I can finish that treat before the deadline...

Only one more day to go...

Head, meet desk.

Here I was, foolishly congratulating myself because my miniwrimo challenge has achieved the intended result. I met my word goal early and finally finished the WIP of D00m, and since then I've been cracking on with a few of the dozen or so projects I've had lying around for way too long. That's what I intended to do again today, but instead of finishing another WIP I sat down and randomly wrote several hundred words of what will become a Yuletide treat. /o\

Dear Brain,

Stop feeding the plot bunnies, you nitwit.

No love,
Me

W00t, I exceeded my word goal with days to spare! I rewarded myself by watching the kittens again. There were some seriously badwrong levels of cute happening, as usual. ♥

I intended to post this last October but it wasn't finished yet. Better shockingly late than never, right?

Anyway around two years ago left_sider and I stumbled across news about Cyril Raffaelli's latest film, Djinns, a.k.a. Stranded. There was a minor Flailing Incident when we discovered that Cyril would be sporting period military gear, and then a major Flailing Incident when we discovered that one of his co-stars would be Saïd Taghmaoui. Then left_sider decided that, because she is completely shallow they were filming in Morocco, the delectable Saïd's character would obviously have to be some kind of Berber (and to be fair, Saïd does actually have Berber ancestry) and therefore wear the full-on robes and indigo veil and that it would be hot like burning. And after that...well, I think you see where I'm going with this.

The point is, this is for left_sider because it is totally all her fault I owe her a birthday gift. I have no other excuse, but in my defense I was going spare at work when I started writing and this kind of thing tends to happen when I spend a morning listening to Signal Fire on continuous loop. Apparently I got a little loopy, too.

Title: The Gift of the Djinn
Fandom: Djinns, more or less
Characters: Louvier and Aroui and Michel
Word Count: 10,440+ (WHAT IS MY LIFE WHAT ARE MY CHOICES)
Rating: M
Summary: Dans le désert les ennemis ne sont pas ceux que l’on croit.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my shame.
AN: I have not been able to watch the film, but the original synopsis I saw was this: Algeria, 1960. A section of French paratroopers is sent in search of a missing aircraft in the desert. The wreckage of the plane is quickly located, but there are no survivors, just a suitcase stamped "Top Secret." Stormed by enemy soldiers, the troops find refuge in a strange abandoned citadel. Despite warnings to leave at once, they wake up the Djinns, the mysterious evil spirits of the desert. That is...not the story I wrote.

( in the confusion and the aftermath you are my signal fire/all this fear falls away to leave me naked/hold me close 'cause I need you to guide me to safetyCollapse )

OMG I found a KITTEN CAM!!! It is 100% guaranteed to improve your day, even if you are having the most Monday of Mondays. The kitties are just so fluffy and flaily and random and daft! ♥ When I started watching there was some epic fail involving the climbing post. Hilarity ensued! XD

I put the fairy lights up in the yard tonight. It's hard to get in the holiday spirit when it's still warm enough for short sleeves, plus I'm too broke because of the move to shop for presents. But at least I can cross getting the lights up off my to-do list.