Everybody's gotta learn sometime

Sat, 07 May 2005 18:30:26 GMT

Don't you hatehatehate it when you come home all irritated and rant-ready, and there's no one there to rant to. *grrr* I feel like I need to either punch something hard several times or chew on a hunk of wood. Chris may not be home until after I go to sleep tonight, so this is just going to sit in there congealing all frickin' day. I can't even rant about it here because it's work-related and without knowing the pages of back-story it wouldn't make any sense to you anyway, so it wouldn't give me any satisfaction.

And much teeth-grinding was had by all.

Things I've Done That Most People Haven't meme

Sun, 20 Feb 2005 21:39:47 GMT

-fallen off a saddle while horseback riding, without falling off the horse the saddle was on

-written five complete (if rough, and reallytrulyterrible) novels before the age of 20

-won a high school medal for synchronized swimming

-seen the Northern Lights

-held a ferret ever-so-carefully to stop its guts from spilling out any more than they already had from the place where his stitches had ripped, and almost fainting in the process

-climbed to the "hidden glen" in Glencoe on my own

-sat in the front row at a professional production of Into The Woods.

-gotten every date and boyfriend I've ever had through the internet (in one way or another).

-shared a rental beach house with my family and a large cochroach nicknamed Thor during a tropical storm.

-tamed squirrels so that they would come when I called them.

That's the best I can do.

Misery loves company?

Mon, 07 Feb 2005 23:03:49 GMT

Looking through my friends lists the last couple days, it appears this was the weekend of getting sick. My contribution: a nasty bout of the stomach flu which settled in sometime yesterday evening and was still going strong until a couple of hours ago. I have been able to eat a little soup, and my body no longer aches at every joint, but I don't think I'll be running any marathons in the next couple of days.

This is what I get for working with kids. :P

Hope the rest of you out there get some rest and recover in good time.

Random fact

Sat, 05 Feb 2005 03:49:41 GMT

Until junior high, I thought I was going to be a veterinarian. A writer, too, of course--just, that would be on the side, James Herriot style perhaps. Then, somewhere in my pre-teen-ness, I realized that I couldn't stand the thought of being responsible for the life or death of another living being, at least not that directly. To have to operate on someone's beloved pet, and know that if I made one slip, that could ruin everything... Too much pressure.

So now I'm responsible for the life or death of zillions of fictional characters. Still plenty of pressure, but at least I don't have to explain myself to anyone outside my head.

They grow up so fast

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 21:21:37 GMT

The five-year-old I work with has pretty mature music tastes--his all-time fave is Justin Timberlake, whose DVD he loves to watch, singing along and imitating the dance moves. Too cute. The other day while I was setting up his programs, I heard him humming/mumbling/singing to a hip-hop sort of beat, and figured he was just making up a tune as he sometimes does. Then I hear a little snippet like this:

"the music, you want it, you better never let it go"

Hmmm. Sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. A minute later:

"mumble mumble Rabbit mumble, he knows he's not mumble mumble"

And my brain twigged. The kid was singing Eminem ("Lose Yourself").

Oh my god.

For now it's frickin' hilarious. When he starts singing the swear words, then I'll get worried.

Think happy thoughts

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 15:29:22 GMT

The fishies are doing fine again, but it seems one of the fuzzies may be sick. :( I took the boy ferret down to the vet's to check out a bump on his neck, and on the way noticed the fur on his back is getting very thin. The vet commented on it right away. Hair loss is a major symptom of one of the most common ferret illnesses: adrenal disease. It could be just seasonal hair loss, but the fuzzy has stayed at the vet's to get his blood tested. Will hear more this afternoon.

So keep your fingers crossed for my boy!

Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:01:04 GMT

Worried about the fish. Well, mostly about Tony. He's been hanging around the bottom corner of the tank, looking depressed (geez, maybe I should have given him a more positive namesake, y'think?). I bought a small tank to use as a quarantene tank and I think I'm going to put him in it once it's set up so I can make sure he's at least eating.

Also lost a few of the cories. :( But everyone else seems happy. The tetras were nibbling on my arm the other day when I was adjusting the plants. Heh. Maybe I need to feed 'em more.

May try a short story or two tomorrow. Thinking I need to work on something that requires less emotional commitment than a novel, since I can't seem to give all that much emotion right now. No pressure = good.

Why not?

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 15:20:06 GMT

Not really senior year 'cause when I was in high school Ontario still had OAC (grade 13)... so I guess this would have been my senior-senior year. :)

What year was it?
1998-1999

What were your three favorite bands or musical artists?
Hard to narrow it down to three--I was definitely very into Smashing Pumpkins, Tori Amos, and Ani Difranco.

What were your favorite clothes?
Jeans and button-up shirts with unique patterns.

What was up with your hair?
Short, pixie-cut, natural colour (dark blond/light brown)

Who were your best friends?
K, who didn't go to school with me but had been The Best Friend since age three, and M, my 'school best friend'.

Where did you work?
At the recreation centre, teaching creative writing to kids and supervising the games room.

What did you do after school?
Work, homework, swim team, school newspaper, hang out with friends.

Did you take the bus?
Unless it was really cold or I had an early swim practice (in which case I took the streetcar), I walked.

Who did you have a crush on?
I was with my first boyfriend and didn't have a crush on anyone else.

Did you fight with your parents?
A little. My mom and I had a few spats about how serious I was getting with the boyfriend.

Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?
Never really had celebrity crushes.

Did you smoke cigarettes?
Nope.

Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack because you were too nervous to find your locker?
Nah. Our school wasn't very confusing--I was never afraid of being lost or not finding things.

Did you have a 'clique'?
There were four of us friends who hung together pretty tightly, but we weren't really a clique, and I knew all sorts of other people.

Did you have "The Max" like Zach Kelly and Slater?
It's obviously been too long since I watched Saved By The Bell, so I'll just say, huh?

Admit it, were you popular?
I was known (for my grades and my writing), and not disliked, but pretty peripheral.

Who did you want to be just like?
I never had one particular role model.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer, and a high school teacher.

Where did you think you'd be at the age you are now?
Finished university and either writing or teaching and writing on the side, or else in grad school. Living with the afore-mentioned boyfriend, possibly married, no kids (yet).

And this has nothing to do with the above, but I just scored a front row ticket to the Ani Difranco concert here in April. Woohoo!

Just getting some stuff out

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 01:58:26 GMT

I am so frustrated right now. I have this evening to myself and I want to write but other than that brief moment of clarity a couple of days ago, I've been dull as kindergarten scissors. I've tried. I sat down yesterday and spent a half an hour writing, only got a couple of short paragraphs, but I wrote. I wrote 11 words today. Yay me. I just... I'm feeling no connection with the work, with this story or that story, or even that snippet of an idea that occurred to me, nothing. I feel like I'm writing in a second language, teasing out words that don't mean quite what I want to say but I can't find the right ones so I'll have to make do with those. And it isn't making me happy. There's no joy in it. I feel guilty about not writing more but what's the point if it's dull, joyless.

And the problem with depression is that I do feel guilty. Because I can't help questioning it. Could I actually be controlling this? Is there something that would make it go away that I'm just not doing? Am I screwing myself over, is it all in my head? If it was a migraine, I'd be sad but not guilty--can't help that. If my head was stuffed up with a cold or burning with fever, if I'd gone blind or my wrists were broken, those are acceptable, excusable reasons for not writing. But this depression thing, it's too ephemeral, what the hell is it, anyway? I don't feel like it's all in my head. I feel like there's nothing left to try. I feel like this isn't how I'm supposed to feel, not this much, for this long.

The other day I stopped and asked myself, are you sure you ever felt different? That's scary. Not remembering for sure. Not being able to imagine what it's like, to think clearly, to have the words just come instead of clogging somewhere behind my eyebrows.

I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow. I want him to test for a thyroid condition. Not sure if he did initially but something about this feels very physical to me--I'm not sad or suicidal or self-critical (other than the guilt :P ), just numb and jumbled and dull. And constantly tired. And hopefully it won't take long for him to figure out 'cause if it's not that, then I either need to go to a higher dosage of the Efexor or try something else 'cause it's not working any more. Haven't been this bad since the beginning I don't think, it's hard to tell.

But god dammit I want to be writing now.

I think I'm going to make a private post and just ramble a bit, fiction-y stuff, so my creative muscles don't completely atrophy.

*deep breath*

Shoulda known better

Thu, 20 Jan 2005 00:46:15 GMT

So I've been struggling with the second scene of this MG book for the last two months, trying to make it spark, and finally yesterday I decided, heck, maybe it's just not time, I'll go back to the YA book I'm 1/3 done, which was flowing fine before, and see how that goes. And what do you know it, as soon as I decide this, my muse leaps into hyperdrive, keeping me up thinking about the YA book (I had to turn the light back on to write some notes last night), and throwing random other voices at me during the day (I wrote a page while waiting for the bus, of some guy with some story I know very little about, but so far it sounds interesting).

Gee, you think maybe I'm heading in the right direction? :P

Now if only I'd figured this out two months ago, I wouldn't have spent all that time feeling dull and frustrated. But hey, at least I've perked up now.

And now I am going to indulge in my one inane pleasure--American Idol. Granted, it will only continue to be a pleasure as long as there's someone on there who can sing, but hopefully they'll manage to find a few decent finalists.

Hurray for drama!

Meet the fishies

Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:27:18 GMT

Sorry for the long absence, but hey, I have fishy pics to make up for it! The aquarium is all set up, and all the tenants have moved in. :)

First, the tank (75 gallon, mixed live and fake plants):

And...

The biggest and most personable inhabitants of the tank (and the only ones I've been able to name), are a pair of pearl gouramis. This is Tony:

He was pretty shy at first, always hanging back behind the plants, but lately he's been cruising around the front of the tank a lot more. Ignores all the other fish, except his mate and his reflection, as evidenced by his favourite pose:

He'll spend a least an hour a day over by the left side of the tank, just staring. :D At least until Carmella comes over and gets him moving again.

Carmella's only half Tony's size (you can compare them in the full tank pic--she's at the top left, and he's at the top middle), but she's a lot more assertive. Hard to get a pic of her holding still:

She's queen of the tank, wandering the place, nipping at anyone who gets out of line.

Then we have the congo tetras, six of 'em, gender unknown. Usually they stick together pretty tightly, weaving around the tank in formation, but when I was taking pictures it seemed they were having some "me time" so I couldn't get more than two together:

The six gold barbs are also supposed to school, but mine seem pretty independent, occasionally going around in couples or trios, but rarely in a group:

The mickey platies (2 male, 4 female) enjoy each other's company, however:

I've had platies in every "tank" I've owned, from my childhood one to the aquatic ecosystems we set up in pickle jars in high school. They're the hardiest fish I know, plus very colourful, not to mention quick to reproduce! Far better for kids than goldfish and guppies, IMHO.

Speaking of guppies, I couldn't resist the pretty tails. Two males, who both look like this:

and five females, some fancier:

and some more plain:

Last but not least are my six catfish, the panda corydoras, or "cories" as they're called:

The cories hang out at the bottom of the tank, whiskering around for food, but they're a playful bunch. I often see them zipping up and down the glass, playing the the current.

And that's the new finned family.

Publishing paranoia

Wed, 12 Jan 2005 17:03:06 GMT

Every now and again (today, for example), I start reading a bunch of opinions on "the right way to get an agent" and "what you have to do to get published" and the like, and I start fretting that I can't keep track of all these little bits and pieces, which don't even fit together properly in the first place, and ack I must be doing it all wrong and I'll never get a book out there and guh guh guh (that being the point where my brain shuts down due to overloading).

But then, when I stop and think about it with a little more, well, thought and a little less gut-emotion, it seems so stupid.

I don't believe there is one way to get an agent, or one way to get published. There are no secrets that always work, and you must follow them or be doomed. It's like... like... becoming a pro swimmer.

Yes, in both cases, there are things you definitely must not do. You're not going to get to the Olympics if you spent all day sitting on the sofa eating Doritos, and you're going to get interest in your book if you send out the full manuscript unsolicited, printed on purple, lavender-scented paper in red ink, starting with the sentence, "It was a dark and stormy night."

Yes, there are things you definitely must do. If you want to be a swimmer, you've got to swim, lots, and pay attention to what mind-sets and exercises keep you most focused and limber. If you want to be a writer, you've got to write, lots, and pay attention to what methods bring out your creativity and up your productivity.

But beyond that, it's a free-for-all. There are no specific vitamins you must take to make it as a swimmer, or temperatures of water you must train in, any more than there's a specific number of paragraphs your query must have to be noticed, or an exact sort of contact you must have made to start climbing the publishing ladder. It's a business run by people, and people, as I hope all writers know, are very capricious, bizarre beings, who may differ in themselves from one minute to the next--so let's not get into how much one human being may differ from another. What works for one writer may not work for another; what one agent or publisher loves another may hate.

So this is what you do. You try.

You do your best at what feels best to you, and you write the best damn stuff you can, and you pitch it as well as you can. You listen to the dos and don'ts and consider any that sound reasonable, of course, and if you're not sure, you try one way, and you try another way, and you see which way works best. There's nothing else you really can do. So there's no point in wasting energy and pulled hairs over which little detail is going to guarantee your success.

No matter how many mistakes you make, there will always be more chances. And as long as you keep your ears and mind open, and pay attention to the big stuff, the only mistakes you make will be little ones, anyway.

And now that I'm done spouting off, I must go see to the aquarium, which arrived in mid-sentence a couple of paragraphs ago.

sighs

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 01:20:04 GMT

The aquarium is not here. Turns out they were supposed to arrange a delivery time for next Wednesday, not tell me it was coming this Wednesday. So I must wait another week. And here I'd already started putting the filters together and everything. *pouts*

Finally got some good writing done today. Not a ton--maybe 700 words total, adding some to one scene and then starting on the next--but I think I've figured out how to make the second scene work, so it shouldn't be much trouble continuing from here. (The first scene came out pretty nicely, but then everything after was like walking through deep, sticky mud.) More tomorrow. Feels so good, this heavy lump of guilt/anxiety (much like the mud) turned to dust and blown away, just like that. Writing is magic. Heck, it's creating something from nothing. I wiggle my fingers and worlds appear. Can't get much more magical than that.

Fishies!

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 15:45:45 GMT

Just got a call that the aquarium I bought is going to be delivered tomorrow (no car = no means of getting anything bigger than a toaster over from store to apartment). Now I must rearrange the living room! Or at least move all the stuff out of the space I intend for the tank.

I've had this inexplicable desire to have an aquarium for a couple of months now, decided that since it wasn't going away I might as well go with it. And, because I don't believe in doing things by halves, I've gotten a nice big one. 75 gallons. Got all the stuff for it except fish and live plants. Done tons of reading on the best ways to do everything. Can't wait to get it started.

Should be able to get the plants sometime this week, and then the fish shortly after that. And then I'll post pics for you all. :)

Year in Review

Sun, 02 Jan 2005 19:33:17 GMT

It hardly seems like this has all been in the last twelve months, but 2004 has been a big year for me:

-Moved out of my parents' house for the first time (and in with a boyfriend for the first time)
-Graduated from university, summa cum laude (and finally picked up the paper proving it last month)
-Decided not to continue school for the time being
-Made my first (and second) attempt at getting an agent
-Finished final drafts of two novels
-Got my first semi-pro fiction sale
-Got my first pro fiction sale (which hopefully will go through in the end)
-Started work with two new kids (as well as continuing with my three long-timers)

Things I wish I'd done, but didn't (all of which will hopefully be accomplished in 2005):

-Finished a first draft of a new novel (got pieces of several worked on, but nothing complete)
-Gotten out of the city for more than a couple of days
-Made at least one good friend with similar interests to mine (tried, but so far haven't really clicked with anyone)

Naturally, I'd also like to find an agent, get a novel published, etc., but that's not something I have complete control over. So, fingers crossed, here I go.

Books & Anime

Sun, 02 Jan 2005 18:34:37 GMT

Let me say, for the anime fans among you, that Excel Saga is the funniest thing ever. We watched the first two eps with friends New Year's Eve, and laughed so hard we cried.

And I've decided to be cliched and list the books I read last year (or at least, as many as I can remember as I look over the shelves). Some re-reads of books I hadn't read since I was a kid, but lots of others as well. * indicates a particularly good read. Only including ones I finished...

Childrens/YA
*The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (re-read)
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
*Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit (re-read)
*The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks (re-read)
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume (I think a re-read)
*The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (re-read)
The Boggart by Susan Cooper
*The BFG, Danny the Champion of the World, Matilda, and *The Witches by Roald Dahl (re-reads)
Can You Sue Your Parents For Malpractice? and The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger (re-reads)
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (re-read)
*Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
Dr. Franklin's Island by Ann Halam
*The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban
The Watcher by James Howe
*Island of the Aunts and The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones
*Tomorrow When The War Began by John Marsden
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Crazy Jack by Donna Jo Napoli
*Flying In Place by Susan Palwick
Scavenger Hunt by Christopher Pike (re-read)
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
*Holes by Louis Sachar
The first five books of The Time Warp Trio by John Scieszka
A Fabulous Creature by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (re-read)
The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
*Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde
Dragon's Blood by Jane Yolen
The Pigman by Paul Zindel

Adult Fiction
*The Last Unicorn and The Innkeeper's Song by Peter S. Beagle
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (re-read)
*Ham On Rye by Charles Bukowski
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
*A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
*The Deep by John Crowley
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
The Silent Gondoliers by William Goldman
*The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (re-read)
The World According To Garp by John Irving
*Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
*A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
*Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Set This House In Order by Matt Ruff
*A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

Non-Fiction
*The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
*The Illustrated A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
*Baghdad Without A Map by Tony Horwitz
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by Mark J. Plotkin
*The Island of the Colorblind by Oliver Sacks
The Last Great American Hobo by Michael Williamson and Dale Maharidge

If you're curious about any of the above, ask away--I'm always up for book talk.

I should be writing

Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:19:39 GMT

Been having trouble this past month, getting enthusiastic about any of my writing projects. I want to write, I feel bad about not getting more writing done, about not getting better writing done--hell, I don't know what I'm doing with my life if I don't have a writing project going. But for some reason there's a spark missing. I'm not getting the flow, the characters aren't talking to me... I feel dulled.

Could be all sorts of things. Could be the depression acting up--I did go through a low period in November after my parents freaked about me not applying for grad school--but I'm still able to get enthusiastic about other things (planning trip to Britain, Christmas festivities, even shopping). Could be stress--I haven't had more than two days off in a row this Christmas holiday, because one of my families is still around and I picked up a few extra shifts--but these days I do have off I squander. Could be this stupid cold that's been hanging around for the last few weeks--but the dullness started before that. Guh. I've wondered if it's that I'm worrying to much about it, but it's hard to get around that. Sometimes I can sit and the writing comes out fairly well and it's okay, but sometimes I sit and I hate everything I write and I just feel worse than before, and less enthusiastic about trying again.

Not that giving up has crossed my mind. One of the people in my writing group recently mentioned considering calling it quits, but I can't understand that at all. I have to be writing. As I said above, it's what I do with my life, it's the meaning, right there. A time like this, it's like having a pain when I breathe. Sure, it isn't pleasant, but I can't very well stop breathing because of it. It's just... annoying.

So I will keep making myself sit down when I can and trying, and eventually it'll get better, because it always does. And it felt kind of good to get that out. Excuse my moping. :)

Present Inventory

Tue, 28 Dec 2004 13:37:48 GMT

The Christmas book haul (both mine and Chris', since they go in the same library):

The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
The Man Who Was Thursday, G. K. Chesterton (currently reading this--much fun!)
Some Other Place. The Right Place., Donald Harington
River Town, Peter Hessler
The Twelve Chairs, two Russian authors I don't remember and Chris has it in his bag so I can't check.

Also got a couple of graphic novels, the first volumes of Fables and Powers--my attempt at getting into the comic phenomenon, which I've never been able to enjoy quite as much as straight prose. DVDs: Hero, Dr. Strangelove, Dark Crystal (much watch this soon. It's been forever), and Watership Down. And a little umbrella, which I've been wanting since my last mini one blew off our porch and into the great unknown back when I was still living with my parents. Very useful for Britain trips--nothing quite like an umbrella that fits in your jacket pocket. :D

Present-giving seemed to go well. Mom and Bro particularly happy with their gifts. Unfortunately, Grandma had already read the book I got her, but there was Yorkshire tea in there, too, so it wasn't all a flop. Really, grandparents are the hardest people to gift.

And today I am off to do some me-shopping. Thanks to two generous (and rather rich) employers, I have $300 in mall gift certificates. Guilt-free spending, here I come!

Christmas Eve, 10 pm

Sat, 25 Dec 2004 03:18:59 GMT

I always feel funny saying this, after watching everyone else bustling around stressing over the holidays, but I really enjoy Christmas. Not just the family get-togethers and the yummy dinner and the present-getting. I love *buying* the presents. Heck, I think it's my favourite part. Thinking up something that I know someone will like, and that they're not expecting--it's a thrill, and it's a philanthropic thrill, which makes it extra-exhilarating.

I don't take lists or suggestions--that takes the fun out of it. I just brainstorm, thinking of all the things a person likes, has mentioned being interested in recently, has been doing, job, hobbies, everything. And for each one I consider whether I could come up with a useful and original gift relating to that. Then I figure out which things would be within my price range and available, and which would be most enjoyed. And I shop good and early (a lot of it on-line) to avoid crowds and the possibility of not finding what I want.

For example, my brother. He's in his second year of university, has a bit of a trek on foot and bus from his apartment to campus, loves to read. So he's getting a university-themed box: part one is three novels with university students as main characters (two of which I've read, so I know they're good, and the other of which got excellent reviews) and part two is a thermos with carrying case and boxes of chai tea and hot chocolate mix so he can bring hot drinks with him to the campus. He's also into acting, so I considered looking into books or movies about young actors, but that idea got side-lined (and passed on to my mom) because I didn't know where to start.

I don't spend that much per person, but I think I got everyone something they'll like, and something specific to them. Have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure.

Hope you all get something you've been wishing for. Happy holidays!

B-day, Hurray!

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:47:49 GMT

24 is too old to be excited about one's birthday, right? Someone please tell my nervous system that. I feel like I need just a half an hour more sleep, but everything below my neck is far too awake for that. Soon I will be forced to kick Chris out of bed shouting "Give prezzies now!"

Not that I'm doing anything exciting today. Hanging out at home, doing some writing, having a couple friends over for munchies and talk. Just as long as I don't have to leave the apartment. This birthday will be a warm one, I have decided.

You see, pretty much all of my birthday memories from after the time I was old enough for my parents to expect me to provide my own transportation (i.e., the public sort) involve hustling down sidewalks with my coat and scarf pulled tight against the wind, which is always blowing right in the face, and more often than not a flurry of snow to go with it, yelling back to my friends that really, it's just one more block to the restaurant/movie theatre/whatever. I'm lucky they kept coming to my birthdays, all these years. This is what happens when your birthday is right around the shortest day of the year. One of my dad's favourite stories is how he had to drive through a blizzard to get to the hospital on the day I was born. So if I come off as kind of cold, ever, I have a literary justification.

The one cool thing about my birth timing: after they got me cleaned up at the hospital, the nurse brought me to my mom in a Christmas stocking, which of course she still has. And it had lots of room for stocking stuffing when I was little. :D

Added to the library thanks to the generosity of parents: Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima, The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, and one I didn't ask for called A Secret Word, which looks like hardcore chicklit from the cover, but I'm pretty sure my mom knows me well enough not to go that route, so it should be halfway decent.

A happy un-birthday to the lot of you!

Seafood salad and egg nog

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 19:53:50 GMT

Attempted to make seafood salad with canned crab, shrimps, and mayonaise today. It was edible with lettuce in a sandwich but not the best thing ever. I've been wanting to try it since I had a seafood sub at Subway, which was mouth-wateringly good, but apparently not replicable in the home. *pouts*

However, we did get plenty of egg nog at the grocery store today, which makes up for just about anything. That and the chocolate mousse cake for my b-day get-together tomorrow.

While we're on the topic of food, let me recommend this very yummy cookie recipe to you. I made 'em for Christmas gifts and everyone gobbled them up pretty quick. I was sad to give so many away.

Chocolate Chip Cookies -- which makes tons, so I usually halve the recipe; and my favourite pudding to use with it is caramel. Enjoy!

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 02:53:55 GMT

Consider this the backstory.

Me: Meg, 24, ten fingers and toes and all the other usual parts.

Living: In a two-bedroom apartment in a lovely old building, with boyfriend Chris and two ferrets. Funded to a small degree by my attempt at a writing career and to a much larger degree by my work with kids with autism.

Family: Mom & Dad together but tense; brother three years younger, living at home when not away at university.

Interests: See user info.

Health: Depression in 'remission', occasional migraines.

Spelling: Canadian.

Some entries will be friends-locked to protect others' privacy. If you want to be friended, chat me up.