Only one more to go! After months of writer's block and me running out of ideas over the past couple of days, I think I'm actually going to be sad when I post the last one tomorrow night! But it's been a fun ride, and I'm just pleased to be writing so easily -- nearly 7,000 words in ten days.

An angsty character study this time, but I promise the last one will be more cheerful. ;)

11 Pipers Piping
For wickedgillie and rayruz, who love Kara angst almost as much as I do.

( The first time she understood guilt was when she was five. )

Let's just pretend like I posted this one last night, okay? Thanks!

10 Lords A'Leaping
For queenofthorns, who loves the mythology and "Home".

( And then it began to snow. )

Well. I am officially halfway through the school year. Overall, it's been a fairly good one -- certainly better than last year. The past week was quite a challenge, though. The next time someone jokes/snarks about how many vacations teachers get, I'll challenge them to spend the week before winter break with a hundred and fifty 11-12 year olds. (And while I'm being kinda bitchy, I get bristly when people tell me, "You're a middle school teacher? They couldn't pay me enough to do that!" It makes teaching -- a career for which I have a Master's degree and tons of experience -- sound rather repulsive and beneath them. I know they mean well and are expressing admiration, but I wish they'd phrase it another way!)

My hands are sore because I've spent so much time knitting in the past few days. With a bit of luck, I should have all my projects finished by the time I fly to Texas on Wednesday. Knock on wood! While knitting, I've been listening to the "Holiday Pop" station on Comcast's music selection to get me into the Christmas mood. It isn't helping much. Most of the holiday-themed music out there is pretty awful. And for some reason they threw in "Hold on to the Night" by Richard Marx, which totally took me back to 8th grade and begging to go to his concert at Six Flags Music Mill Amphitheater. Ah, the (cringeworthy) memories!

Just read an article about how charity donations tend to double in the last week of the year vs. the previous fifty-one weeks. Gotta love folks going for the tax deduction, though at least they're giving something! I really like This American Life's new fundraiser: you send a text message to a certain number, and $5 is added to your cellphone bill. So easy! And tacking it onto a bill you're already paying is perfect for someone as profoundly lazy as me.

This afternoon I watched Galaxy Quest on the local NBC affiliate for the first time since it came out. Such a cute little movie. Why has nobody written crossover RPF in which Jamie Bamber, for instance, finds himself in spaaaaaaace?

I also watched last week's episode of Legend of the Seeker; for some reason, the local affiliate is showing them a week late. Huh. Must track down the new ep. That show is so bad that it must actually be really good and I'm just oblivious to its merits. Also, I want to applaud the show for having two strong female leads (Kahlan and Cara), yet it loses points by showing tits and ass whenever possible. It's hard to wave my feminism banner when most of the women on the show are dressed in such skimpy outfits. Alas.

Anyway. Off to knit some more. (And the 12 Days entry might be late this time, thanks to me having no ideas whatsoever. Eh, when I finish, I'll just backdate the post. ;)

I'm finally on winter break (yay!), and a day of tween-wrangling has left me exhausted. So I'm going to post this now, and after a very long nap I'll catch up with LJ stuff and try to do a non-fic post. ;) For this one, I decided to bring back Baby Jack from several drabbles I wrote months ago; I'll try to update this later tonight with links. If you haven't read them, they feature Lee as a single father after Kara's sudden death. And much love to Indi for her (typical) stroke of brilliance in helping me come up with an idea for this!

9 Ladies Dancing
For latteaddict, who requested another Jack ficlet way back when, and who loves Pilots as parents.

( Lee heard the familiar wails from two corridors over. )

A disclaimer: this one has almost nothing to do with maids, but hey. Trying to make them all fit is a nearly impossible task! And, as usual, all the stories thus far are here.

8 Maids A'Milking
For daybreak777, because this feels like the kind of story she would enjoy!

( When Kara Thrace was born, her mother stared at the newborn and said, 'Well.' )

Today I'm cheating a bit with another ficlet from the "Reality and Immortality" universe. Hey, coming up with twelve fic ideas is a challenge!

7 Swans A'Swimming
For caprican_dame, who posts such wonderful reviews of K/L fic. (I just saw your R&I one the other day - thank you so much!)

( For a while now, Lee knew that she’d been sneaking away before dawn. )

Time for a relatively angst-free trip back to season one! All of the previous 12 Days ficlets are here.

6 Geese A'Laying
For taragel, because she's an expert at fun, bantery Pilots!

( It'll be good for morale. )

I figure I should post something besides 12 Day ficlets for a change, but I don't have a whole lot to say! I've been rather moody for the past few days, though that's typical for me at this time of December. And can I just say that I dislike gift exchanges at work, especially when the person obviously put no consideration into your gift and just wraps up some inspirational book and a box of chocolates that you don't even like? I suppose it's the thought that counts, but then that doesn't even work when everyone had to get something for their person. I'd rather just skip the gift exchange altogether, but our group voted to do it. Ah, well. There's just something so depressing about it.

I'm also trying to put a dent in my Christmas knitting list. I can finish two of the gifts without much trouble, but my mother's sweater is driving me crazy. It's the February Lady, which is a very easy pattern, but I'm now in the most monotonous part of the bodice and am having a very hard time getting any enthusiasm to work on it. I'm sure I'll be able to push through and finish it a few hours before my TX flight departs, but right now I don't even want to look at the thing!

Anyway. I'll wrap things up with a linkspam.

-- MonkeySee is frustrated by all those year-end top ten lists.
-- Slate confesses how it's possible to commit unintentional crossword plagiarism.
-- The WSJ explains why "White Christmas" has stayed a classic.
-- And Go Fug Yourself embedded Wham!'s "Last Christmas", which took me way back to elementary school.
-- Today's adorable video: Brian Cox teaches Hamlet to a toddler.
-- Hooray for high schoolers knitting for charity! And we have knitted science.
-- FutureMediaChange explains those bizarre new pap smear PSAs on CBS.
-- And Gunaxin picspams the 25 worst album covers of the decade.

All of the previous ficlets are here.

5 Golden Rings
For indigo419, for so many reasons. As the kids say, LYLAS!

( Gods, she'd missed him. )

All of the previous ficlets are here.

4 Calling Birds
For everyone who hated the damn pigeon.

( He didn't see Kara Thrace again for nearly two months. )

All of the previous ficlets are here.

3 French Hens
For dualbunny and all her kickass Starbuck vids!

( Power, roll, pitch, and yaw. )

Since turtle doves are a symbol of romance....

Two Turtle Doves
For workerbee73, because she told me she craves some happy, romantic Pilots. Here's a bit of my own peculiar brand of mushiness!

( Back to the field. )

This is the first in a series of drabbles very loosely based on The Twelve Days of Christmas. Most (but not all) of them are Kara/Lee. With luck, I hope to post one per day until the 21st. And while several are dedicated to specific people, they're really for all my BSG fandom friends -- it's been wonderful knowing all of you. I hope you enjoy the ficlets, and a very happy holidays to those of you who celebrate!

1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree
For nicole_anell and asta77, who believe that Lee got a happy ending.

( Everything is perfect. )

1. Wow, thanks for all the snowflakes! Seeing them lined up on my profile page is a lot of fun. :)

2. ( Girly TMI. I mean it. )

3. Was quite pleased to discover that my school library has The Ask and the Answer, the second book in Patrick Ness's trilogy, which means I don't have to buy it -- I liked the first book, but not quite enough to splash out when money's so tight. The downside is that a student currently has it checked out until 12/17. I'm resisting the urge to track her down and wheedle ask nicely for her to return it!

4. Last week I ordered some sweaters from the Women's Plus section of Old Navy (because I am a Big Girl), only to discover that one of them had a hole in the arm seam. ( A huge stroke of luck with returning it, along with the unexpected news that I might have gone down a few sizes. )

5. Yesterday I discovered that season one of Legend of the Seeker was available via Netflix On Demand (another reason why I love having a TiVo.) So, I got sucked into marathonning the first 9 episodes. It's a fun little show, and beautifully shot. I have a mental block against fantasy -- sorry! -- and it's not pinging my meta jones. But so far it's been great background viewing while I do something else, and I plan to finish S1 and download the aired episodes of S2. Oh, and I wish they'd let the actors keep their Kiwi accents instead of forcing American ones!

6. I fear I may never finish all my Christmas knitting -- SO much of it! -- which is not a good thing given how many of my gifts involve yarn. And why do I keep starting fingering-weight scarves that take forever? They always seem like such a good idea at the time, but I'm quickly bored out of my mind.

7. One bit of fandom news: nicole_anell has been posting some fun and detailed writeups from the recent London con with BSG and Firefly actors. Start here then just go to her main LJ page for the other two. :)

Thanks, friends, for the good vibes the other day! Just one of those times when everything hits at once, though it turned out not to be a bad day at all. In fact, I got high ratings on my evaluation. A wee bit of holiday malaise, as usual, but overall things are much better now!

Tonight is my annual viewing of one of my all-time favorite movies, The Sound of Music. Whee! LOVE IT. Every single thing about it. Well, except for Liesl/Rolf, who are rather annoying. And I'll repeat what I say every time I post about it: The Baroness is not evil. She's just misunderstood. Hmph.

I recently finished reading The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness, which was highly recommended by taragel. I quite liked it, though not as much as I'd hoped, and it led me to some curious thoughts on American vs. British "styles" of writing. ( A few thoughts, with minimal spoilers. )

Another book rec: The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, by A.J. Jacobs. My sister loaned it to me over the summer, and I really loved it. ( So, you want to read the encyclopedia? )

Although I don't have much to say about it, this week's episode of Friday Night Lights was stunning, of course. [No real spoilers here.] But I'm a bit confused by all the consternation in various blogs about how Coach calls Landry "Lance". I could've sworn that in S1 we learn that Lance is his first name, but everyone calls him Landry. Am I mistaken?

And I'll wrap up with a short linkspam:
-- Indi pointed me toward a fun quiz: What is your decorating style? Mine was 50% Nantucket, 25% Zen, and 25% Vintage Modern.
-- Poniewozik posted an interesting take on the HIMYM "Dirty Frosty" video that has gone viral.
-- Hitfix put The Amazing Race on the top 30 of the decade, and his description is a good explanation of why I also love it.
-- The NYT has a blog post on the new (and annoying) trend of when party hosts expect guests to pay their share.
-- Mental Floss unveils the underground CAPTCHA industry.
-- Sign On San Diego has a great piece on attracting boys to ballet.
-- Jezebel hopes that Gabourey Sidibe can have a long career in Hollywood, but they're worried she might not get many good roles.
-- And they have a fun post (with several cute cat videos) discussing just what cats do all day.

Let's discuss just how much today sucks. It's been pouring rain, making my commute quite treacherous. This morning is my annual evaluation at work. Oh, and right now I have vicodin-level cramps, yet I have to be on my feet and perky and super-smart during the evaluation.

Yeah. Tonight I'll need a big ol' pity party.

Before I forget, I'll end on a lighter note. Someone mentioned yesterday that the Salahis (the White House crashers) are totally Ellen and Saul Tigh. Especially her. Hee!

I was very amused that the new This American Life had a story about Chick-Fil-A. Speaking... this morning I swung by my usual location to get breakfast on the way to work. (Yeah, I know, fast food breakfast, but chicken biscuits are so very good.) For some reason, the drive-thru took over ten minutes, twice as long as usual. I asked the manager at the window, and she just shrugged. Definitely not the usual CFA service! When I got to work I sent a complaint via their online form. Said that I didn't need coupons or a personal note from the store manager - I just wanted to let them know. Then, of course, I felt guilty for being one of those people who only gives negative feedback. Ah, well!

I also got annoyed with UPS today. On Friday, I ordered several sweaters from Old Navy, using the free shipping option. I was quite impressed to check the tracking this afternoon and learn that they were already on the truck for delivery. Quite fast for the "slow shipping"! Got home, but no package on my doorstep. When I checked the tracking number, it said that "Recipient declined delivery and requests reschedule." Huh? I wasn't even here to decline anything! I called their 800#, which just took me through an automated tree, so I called a local UPS Store to see if they had any suggestions. They told me to call again and say "Agent" at each prompt (a helpful tip for any of you who also have problems.) The woman I finally spoke with told me to put a note on my door to leave it at the leasing office tomorrow. Sigh. In the past, they've always just left packages on the doorstep and never required a signature.

In sillier news: I learned today that the hot items on my 6th grade girls' Christmas lists are Guess? jeans and neon-colored clothes. Yes, this neon, the kind that was popular... when I was in 6th grade. My god, it's 1985 again.

Anyway. Linkspam?

-- In sad news, The Onion informs us that The Office Ends As Documentary Crew Gets All the Footage It Needs.
-- Slashfilm asks, is it illegal to watch bootlegged movies online?
-- The AJC has a neat story about a local couple who adopted five siblings.
-- Salon asks us to respect celery, plus some recipes.
-- Techblog has a very cool video of what the Earth would look like if it had Saturn's rings.
-- Patrick Stewart has written an amazing essay about growing up with domestic violence.
-- Some interesting meta on the nature of film criticism and how Michelin stars are awarded.
-- When the world ends, you might want the ten best post-apocalyptic survival vehicles.
-- Even though the grammar is technically correct, I giggled at a CNN story unintentionally implying that Obama is a cannibal.
-- Making the rounds: a new blog listing every phrase written on Bart Simpson's blackboard.
-- Here's a new website with as many palindromes as you could ever want!
-- And as a cartography aficionato, I got a big kick out of this gallery of unusual maps.

P.S. I have now posted every day this month. Yay, NaBloPoMo!

Last week I took drabble requests, and here's what I came up with!

( The sparkly shoes. )

( A morning jog during S2.0. )

( The Presidential Sofa. )

( Two ficlets set in the 'Reality and Immortality' universe. )

Wow, two more days of November and NaBloPoMo. Posting every day has been easier than I remembered from last time. Not all of my entries have been great, but those still count! Last week, daybreak777 did a Delurking Day, which reminded me that I haven't posted one of those in a long time. So, I'd love for everyone to answer these questions, even if I've known you for a long time. :)

1. Hi! Tell me about yourself in ten words or less.
2. How did you find my LJ? :)
3. Most hated word in the English language?
4. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?
5. Who would play you in the movie of your life?
6. What's your most unusual/bizarre phobia?
7. What is one thing that's popular on your friendslist, but you just don't like it?
8. Tell me about the coolest website you've visited lately.
9. What's one thing that has made you happy in the past 24 hours?
10. What's one thing that has annoyed you in the past 24 hours?
11. What is one holiday gift that you really want but probably won't get?
12. Time for warm fuzzies! Pay a compliment to one or more of the following people:
-- someone else on LJ
-- someone you know in Real Life
-- someone famous

( My answers. )