It's snowing this morning in NYC and it's very pretty. A lovely way to end what was, for so many, a decidedly unlovely year.

Happy New Year to all whose eyes grace this page.

Gina

Sorry to be spammy, but this deserves its own post.

*DRUMROLL*

Ladies and Gentlemen

Please wish foldingstar

a very HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY today!

I'm changing how I'm dealing with fandom/real life. It's got to do with going back to school, and basically portioning my time correctly.

So a massive, massive friends cut is underway. Some of you I've known for years, some of you I've only known for a little while-- it's really not meant to offend that I'm cutting you. I don't dislike you. It's not even that I don't want to get to know you anymore. It's simply that I am no longer willing to put in the time commitment that would require.

So it's terrible/selfish whatever, but there it is. This is the smallest my friends list has been since the early days of this journal.

I've pretty much resigned myself as someone unable to take a permanent hiatus, so this is how it's going to be.

♥ to you all, still. :) Always.

My home in Loveland was pretty unique. ( Here, let me try and describe it to you... )

You can imagine that moving from *that* to a condominium in a new development (read: mostly treeless) right by the expressway (until they put the "sound walls" up on I-275, I regularly had truckers honk at me from the highway when I'd walk my dog along the hill). Add to that piles and piles of snow that turned ugly and grey and didn't melt until April (because that was the *first* of the bad winters here in the 70s...the next winter the Ohio River here froze and people were walking across it from Kentucky, and has been dubbed the "Blizzard of '78", but '77 started it all). Yeah, no wonder my favorite color - to this day - is green. :)
But more about that in my next post. :)

It's 2010... and I can't believe I've just entered my fourth decade. I feel so old! And the last ten years has truly zipped by... Where did it go? I guess I feel a lot of it got wasted... I haven't really done a lot with those ten years. I have grown a lot though. I am a very different person to that 14 year old girl (as well I should be) and I have to say... I like who I am now. So I don't really have regrets; I wouldn't change anything I did or didn't do along the way for fear of changing who I am right now.

This is the fourth New Years I've spent with Alan... and the best, I think. We went down to the lake, and they had this huge celebration - a band, and little food stalls and rides and stuff for kids. Everyone was decked out in glowsticks and toys and sparklers and it was absolutely packed. And the fireworks were really awesome and gorgeous and it was a lot of fun. And all of it just down the street! I definitely want to spend next new years down there as well, hopefully with some friends this time.



Reflections on 2009 -

It's been a weird year, but overall I think it's been an enjoyable one. For the first time in years I actually like where I live and don't want to move any time in the near future. I've accomplished goals I've had for years (like finally finishing my damn novel!) and been close enough to friends to actually get out and see them occasionally.

Sure it's not all roses and sunshine, and there are certain aspects that could use improving... but I've enjoyed living it, and when it comes down to it, that's never a waste.



Goals for 2010 -

- Publish my novel.

- Begin second novel.

- Lose 20kgs

- Improve my financial situation in some way shape or form.

- Live healthier

- Increase social activities.

- Enjoy life.

We get what we focus on. As the end of the year approaches, instead of blaming ourselves for what went wrong in 2009—the weight we put on, the dreams we didn't pursue, the debt we racked up and so on—let's take a very different look back at the past year.

Here are 10 questions to ask yourself that will radically change your view of 2009:

1) Whom did I meet this year who is now in my life? KAT SAVORY!  Okay so that's not entierly true.  I knew of Kat before but this year we just kinda seemed to 'find' one another and gel in that odd way two people can do sometimes.  I connected with her a lot like how I initially connected with my Pooka.  I just kinda walked in and said, "Hi, you're cool, let's hang" and she said "yeah okay" and that was what.  Due to my friendshipw ith Kat I've come to let many other people into my life who weren't there before.  Most notably her soon-to-be husband Mike. YAY friends!

2) What emotion really caused me to grow? Courage? Faith? -  Honestly?  Fear.  Suffering from anxiety I find myself constantly motivated to grow and change due to fear.  It isn't as negative as it sounds.  Truly.  Many good things come of this and I find that situations tend to work themselves out and into beautiful outcomes due to how I respond to my fear.  i.e. my wedding day.  :)

3) What emotion was I unafraid to feel? Fear? Sadness?  - Again?  Fear. 

4) What am I most proud of?  Buying out house.  I am proud to be married too but buying a house makes me feel like an adult.  I actually want to cook and clean and take care of things now.  It's REALLY odd and really affirming.

5) In what area of my life did I really make some progress? - Acting more like an adult while holding onto what makes me youthful and childlike.  I can have both but some things have to give.

6) What did I do that completely surprised me and was unexpected to me? - Buying the house!  Honestly we hadn't PLANNED on doing this until 2010 but lo and behold we started looking on a lark and it just happened.

7) Whom did I really help? - I don't know, really. I can say my husband John but we help each other all the time.  We certainly helped one another get through the move w/o justifiable homicide.  I'd like to say I'm doing what I can to help Mike and Kat through their tough time right now but that remains to be seen.

8) What is the biggest lesson I really faced? - Growing up.  I don't know what else to say to that, honestly.

9) What am I most grateful for? - My family.  Old, new and extended beyond the borders of blood ties. 

10) What were the most fun times I had? - My wedding reception and the events and planning leading up to that.  I've never seen my Mother so happy as when she was planning that day. I've never seen so many people have so much fun because of me as during that reception.  I felt truly loved and blessed.

Be gentle on yourself and light on life.

End of the year meme thing!
Go to your journal archives and post the first sentence of the first post of that month! See where 2009 has taken you!

January: i played a game of 80's Trivial Pursuit that lasted a year.

February: (there was nothing in februrary 2009 that was worth my time apparently)

March: lords i hope i don't start that meme addiction again (this was the 19th and this was the lj-cut for memes)

April: so, this is a little late, but i would like to state how FREAKIN HAPPY i am that the Sham Wow guy got arrested.

May: 6 years since the accident, and i don't even want to speak to him

June: (again, nothing. geez)

July: Lauren is squeeing in her pants (technically, the journal entry title.)

August: rented Race to Witch Mountain, and it wasn't too bad. i even watched it a second time.

September: (nothing. i was busy and sick)

October: so, it's been really hard to have time/energy to update, and a lot has happened.

November: so, i keep thinking of stuff that i want to re-read, or look at, or do (like print pictures), and then i remember that my harddrive is incapacitated and i have nothing from the past six years.

December: This time last year I was in Rhode Island and I had just finished watching Charlie marry Marissa.


so, in review, this year was a bad year. i am fucking glad 2009 is ending. i hope it burns in hell, except for the parts with my nephew + and Star Trek.
and i'm bleeding vaginally again. figures this year would end with my blood on it.

EDIT: i just counted, and this year i had a total of 25 posts. last year was 37.

I’m a trifle early perhaps, but nothing new is going up today; so while the post may be anticipatory, the data are not.

Here’s the fiction I’ve posted this year.

January
16: Story #3, Part Twelve; Harry/Ron, R, 469 words. An installment in the current story at hrroundrobin.

February
08: The Silver Stag; Harry/Ron, PG, 100 words. For the harryron100 prompt “stag”.
21: Bad Taste; Harry/Ron, G, 100 words. For the harryron100 prompt “water”.

March
30: Lick; Harry/Ron, G, 25 words. A “Slice of Life” minidrabble at hrroundrobin.

April
Deplorably, nothing.

May
05: Bananas and Bangers; Harry/Ron, PG, 100 words. A drabble written for mrsquizzical.
06: I Can’t Kiss You; Remus/Sirius, PG, 100 words. A drabble written for almond_joyz.
06: My Everything; Harry/Ron, PG-13, 100 words. A drabble written for knic26.
06: Hold Me, Harry; Harry/Ron, G, 100 words. A drabble written for mrsquizzical.
15: Story #3, Part Nineteen; Harry/Ron, G, 791 words. An installment in the current story at hrroundrobin.

June
09: Legilimens!; Harry/Severus, NC-17, 100 words. A present for madam_minnie.
09: Naming Your Witch; Fred/George, PG-13, 100 words. A present for dream_wia_dream.
12: Lines for Oliver Wood; Oliver/Remus, NC-17, 100 words.
18: 5 Muggle Things Severus Snape Secretly Tried; Severus, PG, 426 words.
19: K-I-S-S-I-N-G; Harry/Ron, PG, 100 words. From The Quidditch Pitch prompt to write a drabble for the first picture below.

July
04: Can We Kill Peeves?; Fred/George, Fred/George/Peeves, NC-17, 1,313 words.
07: Sirius Christmas; Remus/Sirius, PG-13, 100 words. From The Quidditch Pitch prompt to write a drabble for the second picture below.
15: Turn and Turn About; Harry/Ron, NC-17, 100 words. For the harryron100 prompt “acrostic”.
16: Homonym (7, 4 4); OC/OMC, NC-17, 203 words. Written for my puzzlers’ group; access is restricted.
31: Benediction; Remus/Sirius, R, 100 words. From The Quidditch Pitch prompt to write a drabble for the third picture below.

August
01: Don’t Worry; Harry/Neville, G, 100 words.
02: The Life Cycle of Insects; Draco, Minerva, G, 100 words.
11: Out to Depression; Harry/Ron, PG-13, 2,953 words. For hprwfqf.

September
08: Teach Me; OMC/OMC, NC-17, 9,638 words.
09: Sweet Dreams, Brother Dear; Hermione/Ron, G, 2,703 words. Written for risie_pallies.
28: Story #3, Part Twenty-Seven; Harry/Ron, Remus/Sirius, PG-13, 558 words. An installment in the current story at hrroundrobin.
30: Sidewalk Wanking; Bill/Harry, OMC(/OMC), NC-17, 1,395 words. Inspired by a true story.

October
02: HIC (Hermione In Charge); Harry/Ron, Hermione(/Hermione), NC-17, 2,615 words. Written for smut4flower, in memory of simons_flower.
08: YawannagoHogsmeade?; Hermione/Ron, G, 250 words. Written for rwhg_ldws’s Interim Competition 1, with the prompt “If at first you don’t succeed…”
20: Anyone Can Whistle; Hermione, Harry, Ron, G, 864 words. Some first-year canon, with a changed POV.
25: I Hate Ron; Hermione/Ron, G, 350 words. Written for rwhg_ldws’s Interim Competition 2, with the prompt “I love you”.
27: Slowly. Slowly. Slowly.; Harry/Ron, NC-17, 250 words. A present for capitu.

November
08: Gift Exchange; Harry/Ron, R, 100 words. For the weasly_100 prompt “trouble”.
10: Six Word Stories; Fred/George, Harry/Ron, James/Remus/Sirius, Neville/Remus, Remus/Ron, NC-17, 30 words (6 x 5). A group of six-word challenge stories.
13: You Will Never Write; Albus/Cornelius, Draco/Harry, Fenrir/Ron, Harry/Ron’s pants, Harry/Rubeus, Remus/Severus, NC-17, 1,129 words. Snippets of six stories challengers thought I would never write.
24: Cedric, in the Cloister, with a Scarf; Cedric/JC, NC-17, 553 words. Access is restricted.

December
02: But He’s My Brother; Bill/Charlie, NC-17, 5,524 words. Written for the hp_cestfest exchange as a gift for silent_cassia.
17: The Bill World Cup; Bill/JC, NC-17, 1,054 words. Access is restricted.
19: Son of You Will Never Write; Hermione/Ron, Harry/Ron, Ron/Severus, Harry, Bellatrix/Luna/Minerva/Pomona/Sybill, Rubeus, Harry/Rubeus/Ron, Minerva, NC-17, 1,274 words. Snippets of five stories challengers thought I would never write.
30: I Plight Thee My Troth; James/Remus, PG, 260 words.
30: Hung with Care; Hermione/Ron, PG-13, 322 words. Written for rwhg_ldws’s Interim Competition 3, with the prompt “Christmas Stockings”.

• 14:22 Best description ever! RT @cleolinda - Lip Venom - The product that makes you feel like you've been punched in the mouth. By a fist ON FIRE #
• 14:22 RE: My RT - edits mine. #
• 15:04 Afternoons have been dragging around here lately. I'm SO bored and SO listless. Work-fail. #
• 19:23 Wrapped in a blanket and playing WoW. Good times. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter cuz I'm too lazy to actually POST.

Miracle Train ended up being the only anime I've finished so far from Fall season. (I'm following Tegami Bachi, but that's still ongoing.) XD; It's fairly lighthearted but can be touching at times. It makes me smile when I watch it because there's nothing earth shattering going on. Okiayu Ryoutarou and KENN both voice train stations in it, and Ishida Akira voices the sarcastic dog above. The dog's really cute and is featured in the eyecatches of each episode. The series starts out episodic with the train stations helping a different female solve her problem each week. There's an attempt at a deeper plot near the end. The last two episodes were a nice surprise (and kind of...sci-fi-ish). ^___^ The ending pictures were especially touching! One of my favorite episodes was when a guy stumbled onto the train instead of a girl. XD; It's a fun series to squeal over because there are lots of eye candy and useless trivia involved.

This series makes me want to visit Japan again and go to those stations. XDD

( Roppongi pics because he's cute. not too spoilerish )

( other pics and spoilerish ending pics )

Well, that ends my weekly dose of KENN's voice...maybe I should watch Reborn to hear him as Dino now...

So I know it's a few days after Christmas, but I just got the prompt from my sister, who got it from an old college friend of hers (who I also knew back in the day, and turns out to be the uncle of my cousin's daughter's husband). Confused? Yeah, me too. ;) In fact, this old friend of ours had a crush on my sister, and they reconnected via Facebook. Small world...

Anyway, the prompt was just to write a short story about a ghost at Christmas.

( Finding Forgiveness )

1. The epic battles of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

In candy.

The Battle of Helm's Deep

The Battle of Pelennor Fields

The Mines of Moria

I am getting a major urge to re-read LotR now. Also, to eat gumdrops.

2. Doctor Who Bingo Cards Winner gets a new Doctor!

3. Patrick Stewart has been knighted!