I misunderstood the point of this ride

It is finally, finally properly winter out there, you guys, and so goddamn beautiful. I got back from The Hobbit with my mother last night and instantly swapped boots to shovel the driveway (in my kicky little skirt and tights, because why not, it was all just sparkly fluff). In honor of the season, I made a mix!

It's ... honestly super melancholy? Turns out that a lot of my favorite winter songs are also about heartbreak. But I think it captures a certain bittersweet calm, even peace, peppered with little touches of hope and forward momentum ... things I tend to feel about this season. It does have a little Christmas flavoring as well, though I wanted to have a light touch with that.

( mix: mind of winter )

I've been having a really nice vacation, doing the rounds visiting some of my local (and fellow visiting) friends, hanging with my family, watching Christmas specials and doodling things. chaiminda crocheted me a(n adorable) pentapus. I cannot capture Jonathon Young (Sanctuary's Tesla)'s face, much to my disgust. I have barely touched Yuletide, although I did really LOVE this Fame story: Being What We Can. Ralph, Doris and Montgomery! <333 Chosen family! The eighties (and attendant trauma)! Coming of age, self-destruction and building new paths! Eventual v-shaped poly! Seriously, it's fantastic, a story I've always wanted for that film.

Speaking of stories, have some relatively quick (and spoilery) reactions to the seasonal viewing I've done this week ...

( Doctor Who: The Snowmen )

( Downton Abbey Christmas special )

( The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey )

Say, would anyone be able to hook me up with an audio version of The Silmarillion, by any chance? It's always good to have nice, lengthy material to listen to while drawing ...

Also, speaking of audio (and recs), check out pennyplainknits's recording of "Spin the Wheel of the Year (Close Your Eyes and Point)", the most recent piece of jjtaylor's Detective Agency bandom AU-verse. The story and the reading are both wonderful.

Oh hey! I keep meaning to write a post and then not doing it, so this might be a little ridiculous.

IDK, real life has been ... not totally nutty, but work's been pretty tiring and busy (there was an accepted student open house, and my boss was out a whole lot). Also, there was even more rain (record amounts and lots of flooding, whee), and before that, there were beekeepers nosing around in my ceiling! Who did not actually find any bees (apparently the hive up and moved sometime in February/early March? there weren't even that many dead ones left), but we did find about 120 pounds of honey. (Eventually, this will make a good comic.) Also, I turned 26.

I've been trying to focus on my original comic work (as usual), with less than desired success, but I haven't been very consistently fannish either. A little while back there was this Gerard Way video, which provoked the usual WHAT IS HIS FACE reaction from me (it had been awhile, too!), and also Mikeyway was adorable. I miss them, but I'm trying not to dwell on MCR too much until we actually have a release date for that album. Whateverthefuck it's going to be, now.

Recently, I've found myself reading lots of DC comics; mostly Bat-books. (I find the current lack of Bruce Wayne weirdly approachable, or something?) While my comic reading habits are often pretty separate from my online fannish pursuits, I checked out Close To Home by iesika (which I really enjoyed), and now I find myself right back in a Tim/Kon sort of place. (Not that I wasn't already feeling it.) Does anyone happen to have some favorite recs to throw at me? They can totally be old; I was really haphazard about reading in the fandom when I was doing that actively, a few years back.

On the other hand, just as I was getting comfortable, there comes this news. Goddammit, Rucka. ;_; I was looking forward to more of your Batwoman SO MUCH. I really hope she gets picked up by someone who can write and who really gets her, but . . . well, it's DC. IDEK. :(((((

In happier news, I watched the new Doctor Who episode last night, and I pretty much enjoyed it! ( Spoilers here. )

I should wrap this ridiculous post up, but! On Friday oliviacirce posted Wordsworth's daffodil poem. While I've never really spent any time on the Romantics, that inevitably winds up reminding me of Philip "deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth" Larkin, so I promised I'd post something of his.

( A serious house on serious earth it is )

That was a lot more talking than I meant to do! I should try to post more often, so I don't post quite so much. Oh, and I did manage to miss it, but I hope everyone who observes had a lovely Passover or Easter, while I'm on the topic. ♥

Oh god, self. Please stop daydreaming about making it in the comic industry and someday getting to talk to/collaborate with (??!) Gerard Way. There are many reasons to want to make comics, that should not be one of them.

(I am sad that I currently don't have space for a GWay icon, but Pete gets to be on this post because crowd-surfing at the White House correspondents' dinner. Oh god.)

Yeah, um, so I kind of thought I was past the ability to obsess this much about a fandom, but apparently? Not so much. A few weeks ago, I was afraid that I'd get knee-deep and realize that it was all a mistake, because I was just not quite done with being stupid.

I feel really badly about all the stuff I've been ignoring/abandoning because of all this. (I will be pretty surprised if I actually do anything for paintedspires at this point, and I'm really sorry about that!) The thing is . . . I think I really need this fandom right now. I moved in January, and since then life was full of greyness and city and blah, trying to adjust to not seeing my family, trying to deal with the fact that my job is lame and that I felt boring and sucked-dry and completely without any kind of creative inspiration whatsoever.

This fandom is fun and exciting; it's full of very (often non-conventionally) attractive men and women and music to fall in love with, really excellent fic, and even some really great social aspects (I mean, when concert-going is a major fannish event--more central/important in some ways than con-going is with other fandoms--that's different). Flist, I feel so good now. I am drawing again, I am happy, I even feel more sexual than I have in longer than I really care to remember. (I'm sure you all needed to know that.) I feel motivated to do shit again, and not just things that are directly related to fandom. (And in conjunction with spring? Oh shit, bbs, I am on a fucking roll.)

I really can't even say how badly I feel about being an asshole last year, because I get it now. But I'm not sure I could have gotten it before now, because now is when I need it. I will try to make it up. (Did I mention that I'm drawing?)

Okay, I think I'm done with my love-ranting for right now. Apologies to the large percentage of my flist who are probably just blinking incredulously right now. <3

This is not to say that I am completely out of all other fandom at the moment! Because I am actually really loving this season of Doctor Who, and I kind of want Donna/Martha fic right now. Donna Noble is my hero!

So I finally caved and watched the first two episodes of Doctor Who (the new series). While the plot of the first one gave me pause, the characters are, well, fantastic. I think I'm in a fair way to being hooked.

I really like Rose . . . though her contemporary British mannerisms keep stabbing me with 'homesickness.' I haven't whined about missing London in a whole . . . couple of weeks. :p Well.

It's going to be an unusual fandom for me: for one thing, no dominating slash pairing (I've heard about the bisexual character who shows up later, but no idea whether there's subtext or not). It may be a show I'm not inclined to read fic for, I don't know. I'll have to see. Still, yay and huzzah for good TV (which I have so little time to actually watch).

(I kind of want to go find the episodes with the Fourth Doctor, which I watched as a kid but barely remember. For comparison. Hm.)