The Hysterical Hystorian

Less than 4 weeks to go

abigail89 — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 02:50:13 GMT

I hurt my foot 2 weeks into June. The first doc I saw said I fractured 2 metatarsels and put me in a walking boot cast, which I completely hated. And hurt my calf muscle, so I ditched it. The second doc I saw told me nope, no fractures, but I did pull the tendons on the side of my foot. Foot still hurts a little a month later.
My foot buggered up our camping trip in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. No hiking, but I did get to ride my bike around the loop road. I walked my bike up most of the hills.
I've made two quilts (for my husband's friend's baby and for my niece's wedding in November). I need to figure out if I continue making the one I've already cut for the quilt-along, or to abandon it so that I can start the quilt I need to make for the quilt show in September AND the quilt for my nephew's wedding which was a year ago AND the quilt for his baby which will be born in October. This is what I get for promising everyone quilts. Not to mention fabric is really fucking expensive. And did I mention that the fabric I really like I have to mail order because no stores in my area carry it? It's really fucking inconvenient and it's the story of my damn life. And my favorite mail order place to get said fabric is in Louisiana? I mean, how ironic is THAT?

We're having a big yard sale this Saturday, so if you're in Asheville or nearby, come by and buy our junk. I'm seling all my Star Trek stuff--the action figures and ships from The Next Generation era, my Harry Potter stuff--action figures and other detritus, pottery, pottery from my friend Anne who is actually a very fine potter, some clothes, assorted junk, etc. Boy1 has been playing a lot of gigs and has saved up a considerable amount of cash, enough to pay for a couple of months of dorm room rent in Ireland (damn, dorm rooms in Ireland are expensive!) Boy2 is on the verge of moving into his own place, though I have zero confidence that he can afford it. I may end up supporting both of my adult sons this year.

HeadBoy is still recovering his ability to control his urine flow; it's hard to do when your bladder and urethra have been reconstructed because your cancerous prostate has been yanked out. He's frustrated that he's not getting "better". Which translates into he wants to be back to normal now, even though he knows the recovery time can take up to 2 years.

All these factors mean we didn't take a vacation, other than camping, this summer and I'm a little bummed about it. We were going to take Boy1 to Boston and have a week of going to Irish pubs and do Boston things, but I just didn't have the energy to put the trip together. So I helped him buy a plane ticket instead, and I'll stay home and make quilts.

School starts on August 14. I'm not excited. Can I retire now?

It's really fucking hot.

At least there's Star Trek.

All's well that ends well

abigail89 — Mon, 08 May 2023 19:46:34 GMT

I've been proctoring AP exams at the school for the past week and there are more to come. OMG, this is the worst. Since I'm the accommodations coordinator, I usually test the students with extended time and extra breaks and other things for whatever reasons. Extended time is the worst. And it's the worst for them as well. With paper & pencil tests we just let them go at the end when they finish because rarely do they use every single minute. With the digital exam, it's controlled by the computer. So right now I have two students sitting here with me in the archives waiting for 50 minutes to go by until they can submit their tests.

The last entry was about HeadBoy's cancer diagnosis.

He had the surgery on February 27. It took about 4 hours. The surgeon used the DaVinci robotic surgical device which apparently cuts down on the invasiveness. He spent one night in the hospital, but then experienced excrutiating referred pain in his shoulder (which the surgeon warned the staff about, but they didn't get the message. For this surgery, the patient is strapped to a table and is leaned back about 30deg; fluid backs up into the upper body and then when it's over, something happens with one of the major nerves that I can't remember and it feels like a hot knife in the shoulder. He had this pain for about a week.) Finally got him home late in the afternoon.

All in all, the pain has been minimal, with moments of bad pain. He was home for 2 weeks; the first week he was limited in activity because he had a catheter. Once he started teaching again, he'd come home wrecked and exhausted. He still gets tired easily even now, 10 weeks out. He's still learning how to control his pee flow, and sometimes he overflows his pee pad and wets his pants. He's been really frustrated at how slowly the recovery is going. But there is progress. He just doesn't realize it until suddenly, he realizes it. He can be quite negative, but he's been good about not expressing it around me.

I guess the biggest thing we've learned from all of this is that prostrate issues and prostate cancer is frighteningly common. Every guy he's talked to knows at least 2 other guys who have had it and had this surgery, and mostly, themselves. He's had a lot of support and I'm grateful for that.

So he's doing well; I haven't killed him.

There is no happy in this new year

abigail89 — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 00:32:42 GMT

It’s 2023, and already I’m ready to tell this year to fuck off.

Actually it started on December 23 when HeadBoy got the results of the biopsy taken a few days before: stage 4 prostate cancer. Yeah. Hey, Merry Christmas.

It was caught very early by our internist who noticed his PSA score was elevated, not by much but enough to order a second test another later. It jumped 2 points. At that time the doctor flipped out and sent HB to an urologist, who ordered the biopsy the week of Christmas who called 2 days before. Getting through the holiday was a little hard. Despite his best efforts he was on edge. Stage 4 means the grade of the tumor, not how big it is or extensive the cancer. The tumor is very small. But the cancer is fairly aggressive. The urologist recommended skipping radiation and chemo and going straight to surgery to take the prostate out. They discussed options (there is a hospital in Florida that does nothing but prostate surgery) but they decided to stay here and allow one of the surgeons in the group who is experienced with this surgery. Finally met with a surgeon this past week. Good guy. He even admitted he had changed a few ways he was doing this surgery on the suggestion of another, and that the outcome was better. Huh, a surgeon who admits he learned something from someone else.

Now comes the waiting. His prostate needs to heal from the biopsy so the earliest the surgery can take place is the last of February. In the meantime he’ll get an MRI of his pelvis and a PET scan to see if the cancer has escaped the prostate.

I’m surprised at how calm I am at all of this. HB is the one with a doom & gloom outlook. I guess I’m letting him vent it and I’m just smiling and telling him it’s going to be all right. On top of all this HeadBoy’s first cousin has inoperable brain cancer. He’s got 6 months, maybe.

JFC, we’re off to a great start. To escape all this shit we’ve been watching a lot of tv and movies. I mean, what else do you do when you’ve got cancer hanging over your lives in the midst of a triple pandemic? I would do one of those life-memes but I’m m just so tired and uncreative these days. I go to work, move books around, come home, try to sleep. Suffice it to say the holiday wasn’t fab.

Some good things have happened. We adopted Boy1’s cats 6 months earlier than we planned. Isla and Alistair are a joy. They’ve quickly adapted to our life and a big dog. Celo has stopped barking at them and I think he’s just a little afraid of them. Neither has hurt him though Isla has whapped his snoot a few times. They now boop noses when they walk by each other. He’s not ready to take a nap with them on top of him but that’s coming.

So that’s the news from here. Hope y’all are doing okay.

The annual update

abigail89 — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 23:31:26 GMT

It's been a year.
Like, it's really been a year. I checked in today and saw that the last entry I wrote was this day last year.

*Went full time at the school when I became librarian. This year, I took on coordinating the pre-collegiate testing (SAT, ACT, etc.) Maybe not the best thing. My summer ended several weeks early when parents started emailing about why their little darling didn't receive their accommodations from the testing people. Egad. Sigh. I'm all for getting students what they need to succeed but standardized testing no longer holds the same weight it did back in the dark ages when I took them. Most universities are test-optional these days. Then there's the actual test days I have to supervise. Yay for working 7 hours on a Saturday!
*Then in a moment of absolute lunacy I volunteered for the general duty rotation. I have to be at the school until 10pm every 12 days. You know what days those sometimes are sometimes? Saturdays. Days during the short breaks when some students don't have anywhere to go. I mean, I know the faculty that live on campus have the students with them all the time, but I have to drive from home and spend 10 hours on campus, sitting in a dorm common room, being available to students who don't really give a shit that I've given up a precious day off to make sure they don't do something they're gonna regret. I'm always tired, I'm working 50 or so hours a week.
*Boy1 has finally found himself and is applying to university. In Ireland.
I should have seen that coming. He's applied to University of Limerick after spending three weeks on the west coast of Ireland playing in pubs, meeting people and attending a famous Irish music camp. We're thrilled for him, but....wish he'd done this 10 years ago when his dad wasn't semi-retired and me looking down at retirement in 5 years. Yeah, cause it's all about us. But. It's a little less expensive to go to uni in Ireland (12K euros, and he's got a great shot at a 5K scholarship). As a carpenter he can support himself there 'cause there is a skilled labor shortage. But until he gets admitted in 2023, he is boomeranging home to save money. So in November we'll be stuffing him, his stuff and three cats into our house. It's going to be interesting.
*Boy2 has been employed for a solid year, has a car and a loan payments, and lives with us. So some good, some not so much. He's become the adult child who lives in the basement playing on the computer. He doesn't go out; he doesn't drink; he has a few friends but rarely hangs out with them. There was a moment when we thought he was going to move out, but that fell through and then his car died and he had to get a new one. He makes a good wage, but not enough to rent a place around here. It's a real problem.
*HeadBoy is semi-retired though he'd like to be fully. But the gig at the community college requires minimal commitment and work, it's easy, he likes it, and he's making sure future health professionals in our region learn anatomy. He's joined the search and rescue team in a neighboring county because he can still hike. He even started a SAR team within the hiking club he belongs to because those folks also know the trails in the wilderness area in that county. At 65 he's probably one of the oldest in the county team, but certainly not in the hiking club. Some of the guys he does trail maintenance with are in their 90s. I guess that's a testiment to get out and hike.

We're still very much into Star Trek in this family, though we have yet to go to any cons since the pandemic ended. Well, not that the pandemic has ended totally. We were going to travel out west this past summer, but found some of the areas were wanted to visit had low rates of vaccination and surging COVID levels, so we cancelled. We visited imachar and then three women archivists I've known for over 35 years. Had marvelous times! The rest of the time I sewed: two quilt tops, started two others, quilted one quilt for my great-niece (Collins, who was born on my birthday this year!), and made a couple of dresses, something I haven't made in years. I read 12 books over the summer and challenged my students to read at least 10. Eight students did that, and I had a little celebration for them this past week.

That's about it. Except that lanai is coming to visit in less than 4 weeks! So looking forward to having her with us here, taking her around the region, and hoping she enjoys the downtime she needs and deserves in our mountain home.

It's been a hot minute

abigail89 — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 17:42:20 GMT

I promise this isn't going to be one of those "Oh, I miss the golden age of LJ, when everyone posted all day every day, and it was glorious" kind of posts. We have moved on, and not to anything like what it was during the golden days of LJ. But, here we are.

The last time I posted was to vent about our dog running off into the woods after HeadBoy dropped his leash. Again. First, Celo hasn't run off again, nor will he. I think he scared himself silly. But, neither has HeadBoy dropped his leash.

I don't know about you, but the pandemic-ordered stay at home was awesome. As an introvert I loved being at home, and meeting via Zoom (because God almighty, I hate sitting in meetings), and doing projects on my own schedule. The downside was that I worked too much. I knitted miles and miles of yarn, so much that I've probably destroyed the right thumb joint. (Well, no. But I did stress it a lot; I still need to go to the hand doctor for it) I actually did go onto campus a lot, which was nice because, again, no one was around and I could do my own thing. Both the college and the school were in-person and on-campus after the abrupt end to the spring 2020 semester. The college kids were dying to get away from home; the high school kids parents' probably wanted them out of the house more than the kids did. But there was a combo of online and in-person instruction. For the most part everyone played by the rules and were rewarded. Only a handful of cases, though there was some quarantining by students who were worried they'd been exposed. Turns out there were very few who actually had COVID.

Last summer the school cut my hours in half, I guess in an effort to save money (even though they received a boatload of PPP money). I mean, halving 16 hours isn't much in the grand scheme, though it was ENORMOUS to our budget. After getting over the initial anger and despair, I settled in to a 28-hour work week and besides feeling guilty about HeadBoy working more hours in his retirement, I really enjoyed that time. Plus, working 10 hours of my 20 at the college at home meant I didn't have to drive, which meant I saved some in gas and car expenses. And then we hit a point where all of that didn't make a difference anymore. Which was weird because we paid off our mortgage (YAY!) and had an extra $1200 in the budget. I still haven't done the analysis but man, had I not been offered a full time job at the school, I would've had to find a part-time job (which I had started doing informally).

So yeah, in June, the school came to me and asked if I'd take on running the library in addition to the archives. The salary is meh, but it's full time, I have my own health insurance for the first time since 2004, continuing contributions to my retirement, and a flexible health account.

Isn't it ludicrous these things are tied to employment rather than residency? I hate this. I was paying $500+ to be on HeadBoy's plan; now I'm paying $85 as an employee. Wouldn't it be more equitable if we all paid $20 to a national health plan?

Anyway, that's the big change in life for me, especially the getting up at 6am EVERY DAY and working 8+ hours. The first few weeks were awful. I'm sort of in the groove now.

Other changes:
Boy1 and his fiancee have broken up. They've been breaking up for a while, but he convinced her to attend couples therapy with him. It was going well, or so he thought, for the first several weeks, but then something happened last weekend. She moved out on a temporary basis but from his FB posts, it is now permanent. And he's really depressed. He stayed with us during the post-move out time (they were taking turns staying in their apartment with their cats for several weeks at a time) I'm not sure how many hours he's working per week, but his band is pretty busy (If you want to know what Life Like Water is go here: llwmusic.com

Boy2 is living with us still, but he's working full time and then some for AT&T in the mall store. After thinking he could never deal with the general public for a variety of reasons, he's actually doing very well and loving it. The manager of the store is someone he knows from high school, and they are peas in a pod. So very much alike, but she's older than him by about 5 years; nothing going on there. They're both ADD AF. But he knows his stuff, and he's very good about explaining all the phone things and plans and benefits and shit to customers. I'm amazed. But the pay is absolutely rock bottom so he'll be with us for a while. Which, fine. I'm okay with it. HeadBoy would love to see him out but it's all that male stuff.

HeadBoy is doing fine. They're back in-person at the community college so he's happier, even though teaching online was really easy for him. He's gotten involved with a county wilderness search and rescue team, and he's enjoying that. He's formed a volunteer response team in the hiking club for folks who were interested in that and is leading the training. All of this is to stave off encroaching old age and decrepitude.

And, that's about it. I do miss this, but I think it's more that I haven't found the 'next' thing. I'm not thrilled with FB or Instagram or tumblr. So writing here when the mood strikes will have to suffice.

abigail89 — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 13:32:11 GMT

It has been awhile.

I realized today that this might be the first year I haven't written a fic or any fiction at all. Oh, I started a couple, but then I just sort of wandered away. I'm not really on fire about any fandom, though we religiously watch all the Star Trek. I'm just doing other things. I have been writing in my journal more often. Maybe I can do weekly updates from that.

So the pandemic is entering the truly fucking frightening phase, though here it's not as bad. Boy1's fiancee is positive, and while I haven't seen her in person for awhile, I did see him last week and hugged him. We're being a little more cautious for the next week. I'll let my supervisors know that I probably shouldn't be in the offices this coming week for sure. Our college ended the semester on the 20th and was the only college in our region to not have any on-campus positive cases. So very grateful for our students and my colleagues for following the CDC guidelines. Yes, they do work.

We postponed Thanksgiving because our dog ran off into the woods. On Wednesday HeadBoy took Celo up to where he deer hunts, on property owned by friends. They walked around for a while, and got tired and hungry and were heading back when HB dropped Celo's leash for a moment and Celo caught a whiff of something and took off. HB searched all day for him to no avail. Called all the neighbors, animal control, etc.; rain and dark moved in so HB came home. He was beating himself up pretty severely (which, yes, he should have. Celo has run off from him twice before when he dropped the leash--such a dumbass move.)This is the first time we haven't found him before dark. So Celo spent the night in the woods. Then yesterday around 4:30 we got a call from folks who were vacationing in the area, a few miles from our friends' property, to tell us Celo had walked into their cabin, following the scent of cooking turkey and ham. They were very kind to him, giving him water and meat, while waiting for us to come get him. We were all exhausted last night. I finally told HB he was no longer allowed to take Celo into the woods on his own.

I've been writing postcards to Democratic voters in GA the past few days. I'm a little over halfway. I'm avoiding it because my handwriting started to deteriorate after a few hours. I guess I should get back to it.

Hey, a real entry.

Snowflake challenge #15

abigail89 — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:32:06 GMT

Challenge #15: Make your own challenge

I would LOVE to get back to writing on challenge, like bridge2sickbay. I had so much fun doing that, and I felt like writing in the moment on something very specific was a good brain exercise.

Anyone up for that?

Snowflake challenge #14

abigail89 — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:24:55 GMT

Challenge #14

In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (Or a few!) What makes it particularly appealing for you? What do you like in fanworks featuring that trope?

I love the friends-to-lovers trope that defined the Harry/Hermione, Harry/Ron & McCoy/Kirk ships. McCoy is a crabby bastard, but that's why Kirk loved him so: he kept it real. So that's probably a the most obvious theme that runs throughout most of my fanfic. Also, hurt/comfort in fairly mild forms.

I posted a couple of my favorite fics a while back. So here's a few more:

A Magical Life Harry/Ron--One of those post-canon, way-into-adulthood stories about Ron & Harry finally getting together. Everyone remains friends and life is pretty damn sweet. Because Harry deserves a sweet life after all the shit he went through as a child.

Another Day in Paradise Jim/Bones--Bones takes care of Jim all the time, but here, Jim takes care of Bones after a very long day.

Colouring Harry/Hermione--Another one that takes place in the future, ignores canon, and shows just a moment between Harry & Hermione.

abigail89 — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:58:57 GMT

Well. I kinda went AWOL there. Busy times.

So for challenge #13: Create a fanwork, I am posting photos of 2 things I've made that are fan-related.

For Dragon*Con one year, HeadBoy and I made dress uniforms from the TOS universe. I had to adapt mine just a little--I did not make a skant because, ugh, NO. So I used the male tunic top and wore a skirt to beat the Atlanta heat. I did wear black boots. That was enough.

HeadBoy made the little rank triangles. This is for a Commander, which is my rank in Starfleet.

This is my ST quilt top. I copied it from a quilt I saw on etsy. (I made it for us, and won't be selling it so I'm not violating some maker's ethical code). It was pretty easy but to get that zig-zag pattern I followed the photograph of the quilt closely.

I haven't quilted it yet, but it's next up on my to-do craft list.

Snowflake challenge #12

abigail89 — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 20:50:26 GMT

It's called 'being a decent human being.' I don't want to document what I do to be kind, but it's the little things--holding a door, asking someone if you may assist them, doing your job with a smile (unless you don't want to), being non-threatening to a student who asks for help (which I think I've finally accomplished), giving an old dude walking along the side of the road a lift. You know, small stuff.

Just be decent.

Snowflake challenge #11

abigail89 — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 14:16:23 GMT

Being a trained historian, I always do my research. Sometimes I do a shoddy job, but whatever. Sue me. It's also a good way to find inspiration if I get stuck. And of course, research is a black hole of time. Sometimes it's a good time suck; other times, it's just an excuse to not write.

For all things Harry Potter, I depend on the The Lexicon. This source has evolved over the years and by it's own admission, catalogs details from the books only. It does not reference the films, video games, etc. I respect that.

For Star Trek, my go-to is Memory Alpha. This gathers up everything that's considered ST canon--TV series, movies, video games, comics and some of the novels (for a period, some novels went beyond what was accepted as 'canon', though CBS has re-claimed the novels universe and is licensing tie-ins. Those novels beyond the scope of CBS can be found in Memory Beta.)

Sometimes I go back to the original sources, like the books or an episode or film to re-read or -watch a particular scene. It's good to think of a different perspective. Because why does the HP universe always have to be told from Harry's POV?

Research is good.

I'm-a gonna do this

abigail89 — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 19:58:03 GMT

Join us at wipbigbang for the WIP Big Bang Challenge
Do you have WIPs that are too short for WIP Big Bang? Do you need a push to finish them? This challenge is all about getting short WIPs finished. Post your finished works between now and February 15th, when they will be revealed for International Fanworks Day. Any kind of fanwork and any fandom is welcome!

Snowflake challenge #10

abigail89 — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 02:39:48 GMT

ALL OF YOU! I mean, seriously, a good many of you have been with me through the years and through thick and thin, and through raising teenage boys and a shitty job and the gut-wrenching job change and my melodramatic "I have a fic due and I can't wriiiiiite!"

Y'all are the best. And those who know I know, you know how much you mean to me.

Looking further out, I've gotten inspiration from J.K. Rowling and all the Star Trek writers.

Snowflake challenge #9

abigail89 — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 23:50:17 GMT

I had to think about this one. I mean, I don't disagree with canon in any of my fandoms. Harry Potter forever! But...some of the fic that promotes other takes on relationships really do work for me. Snape/Harry, anyone?

And Star Trek: I mean, of course Kirk and Spock have had a deep, meaningful friendship. But dude, Kirk and McCoy together just stirs my grits. But I don't disagree with the overarching narrative canon of any Star Trek. Star Trek forever!

Snowflake challenge #8

abigail89 — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 14:31:33 GMT

Wow. This is difficult because 1)there are so many!! and 2)I can't remember individual titles. Plus, some of my favorites have been taken off the web with the demise of websites and writers not wanting to have their stuff up.

So I'll just rec some of my favorite authors over time. This, of course, means I'm going to forget a LOT of writers because I can't remember your LJ/writer handle.

dementordelta
florahart
hitlikehammers
thetreacletart
simons_flowers
shocolate
magicofisis
blcwriter
weepingnaiad
syredronning
thalialunacy

There are SO MANY MORE. I mean, I had to scroll through my profiles just to remember these names because we're all on FB and I know them by their RL names now. Any of these writers will not disappoint.

Snowflake challenge #7

abigail89 — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 14:00:04 GMT

Today's challenge asks us to recommend things we have created in fandom.

I think of myself as a merely okay writer. And that is reflected in the percentages of readers, likes & comments. They're okay, not spectacular. And that's okay. Some of my pieces have touched others; a few have inspired art and nice comments. I'm grateful and it's given me a much needed boost.

There are some stories I've been really proud of, mostly because I finished them. But a couple truly stand out even in my own, very critical mind:

*I Sing the Body Miraculous: What started as a comment fic for someone who had requested the pairing of Gibbs/McCoy turned into a multi-chaptered story, with a few other fics around it. I will be returning to this pairing...some day soon.

*For His Sake...: Quite possibly the dirtiest thing I've ever written. I'm so proud.

*Bones McCoy and the Raiders of the Lost Temple: Written with my dear weepingnaiad, this was a real labor and labor of love. We're still thinking about a follow-up.

*But What About Hugo?: I've written a lot of Harry Potter fic. I wrote a bunch of Harry/Snape that still generates a lot of traffic. But this Harry/Ron still holds a dear place in my heart. Maybe it's because I write them older, yet unsettled as they navigate well beyond canon and into the land of 'missed opportunity'. While I still think Harry/Hermione was much more obvious, Harry/Ron is the pairing that stole my heart and a lot of creative attention.

As I scrolled through my AO3 account, I thought, "Dang, I wrote a lot of stuff." Yeah. Not bad for an old broad.

Snowflake challenge #6

abigail89 — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 00:14:43 GMT

In your own space, make a list — anything between one and ten things is a sweet spot, but don't feel constrained by that! - of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, or that you'd like someone to make for you. Are you dying for podfic of your writing? Do you need icons for a character that doesn't get much fanart? Is there a story you want to read? Are you looking for new canons to get into? Would you like a collaborator for a project?

Maybe you want more people to talk about a certain fandom with, or you'd love to trade ficlets with somebody over email. Maybe you're new to a fandom and would like some recs to start reading, or communities to join. This is the time to ask!

This is not something I dwell on at all. I just take fandom as it is, warts and all. But there are a few things I can think of:

1) Drama-free and no shipping wars.
2) More comments on fics--don't we all wish for that?
3) More art/artists--again, we all want more artists to draw us fic illustrations.
4) I have a great collaborator (*hugs weepingnaiad*). Just wish I had more time to write.
5) Wish I had that all-consuming passion for a fandom like I had for HP and ST 10/15 years ago.

Snowflake challenge #5

abigail89 — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 14:36:38 GMT

This challenge thing has brought several new folks to me: james, shipperslist, perspi, and spikedluv, who invited me to join their private health community. Thank you, all. It's lovely to meet you.

And it's wonderful to see my long-time friends, too.

Snowflake challenge #4

abigail89 — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 19:21:36 GMT

I have some general ideas about what I want to accomplish for the year.

Reading: I cleaned and cleaned out off my bedside bookcase and restocked it with books that I already own. There may be about 50 books there. I want to read them. All of them. Maybe in 2020. I also want to read the works of authors of color. I don't own those books, yet. But I have a list and I'm determined to add different voices and experiences to life.

Quilting: I have to finish Godson #2's quilt. We've just now started Godson #1's quilt. I need to sew together the blocks for Nephew/Godson #3's graduation quilt. I think he graduates soon. And, I really really want to start on the quilt I've been wanting to make since 1996. I think I finally have time. :D

Fandom: Headboy and I have discussed going to DragonCon this year. We really miss it! Maybe we will. I also want to finish a couple of stories. And I kinda want to write this Snape/Harry fic that I outlined and started years ago. Also, I'd like to get into ST:Picard and write some fic there.

Personal goal: I'd like to lose another 10 pounds. That will get my weight to a "normal" BMI and maybe send my T2D into remission. I'm continuing with training and really feel good about it. I just need to add more cardio.

Snowflake challenge #3

abigail89 — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 13:40:29 GMT

Like many of you, I just don't blog like I used to. Wow. The glory days of LJ before the Russians got involved, it was amazing and exciting and at times, exhausting.

As a Potterhead in the heady days of the release and revealing of the story by Jo Rowling were really exciting. Midnight release parties! Reading all night long! HeadBoy taking the boys away so I could read 'Deathly Hallows' all day! The conventions! It was unlike anything I'd ever done in my life. I was in on a couple of website (one celebrating the Trio; one celebrating all Potter fic) and the comms, some of which still exist=harry_and_ron, for one. So much inspiration. So much creativity.

Then, I shifted over to Star Trek, and there was the Ship Wars on Team Jones. Not sure if Team Jones still exists, but MY GOD! That was an astonishingly creative time. And exhausting. Out of that experience, I met some of my dearest friends. Team Jones morphed into jim_and_bones which continued to be active up until last year. The Bridge Crew of that comm attended DragonCon several years in a row. I mean, who knew something like this could happen???

One of the only comms that continues to be active is the Snape/Harry comm. They just completed another successful and exciting round of fic and art over the holidays. Talk about dedication! I'm in awe of those folks.

I've shifted over to FaceBook and Instagram for my main social media stuff. I'm still involved with many of my HP and ST people in their real lives there; many of you follow me there. I still have some HP and ST groups. I belong to an actual Starfleet International Fan group club locally and follow all the comms related to the tv series (LJ was tame compared to some of dicks that post in these comms). With today's depressing political climate and the deteriorating climate, I belong to a bunch of dog groups, because puppy posts are the only thing helping fight off the depression.

I'll go ahead and pimp my three Instagrams (why not??) TigerArchivist covers my life, my family, and my dog, Celo; thecraftytiger documents my crafting (quilting, sewing, jewelry- and book-making) and obsession with fountain pens; and then there's wwcarchives which highlights my work as archivist and historian for a small private college.

Snowflake challenge #2

abigail89 — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 00:26:45 GMT

I never thought of myself a joiner. I'm too much of an introvert; I don't circulate very well and I sure as hell suck at small talk. And then, the internet was born.

So it turns out I CAN join things from the comfort of my couch, hidden quite nicely behind a laptop with black tape over the camera lens. It started with...Law & Order fanfic. I was transfixed. "People write about other people's stuff?" And it turns out, I really, really liked it. L&O: The Mothership was one of those TV shows that didn't delve into the lives of its characters; it was all about the crime and prosecution. Except I really did want them to tell me more about these delicious characters: Jack McCoy, Lenny Briscoe, Ed Greene, Lt. Anita, Claire, Serena, and that curmudgeon for a D.A. (It's been over a decade; I can't remember all of them). There was that tantalizing fan-theory that Jack and Claire were sleeping together. I can count on one hand the number of episodes the producers allowed us to even form a thought about this under-story, but it was there. And I thought, "Huh. Cool."

Then I found the fanfiction. A writer named Karen wrote some delicious porny stories for Jack and Claire and I loved it. Her stories were well-written and so perfectly in canon. After Claire died, Karen created a whole new world for Jack McCoy (played by Sam Waterston, on whom I had a massive crush) and I ate it up. I printed it out (on a dot matrix printer), took her novel-length stories on a trip with me, and loved them. I lost them for a while, and found them again about 10 years later. Read them all over again. When I was clearing out the downstairs mom-cave I came across the printouts again; this time, I threw them out. Done read them. Time to move on.

Then in 1999, a kids' book called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" came to America via a new online bookstore called Amazon, and of course, I ordered it. My eldest son was right at the age for this book and him being a rather indifferent reader, I started reading it to him. The youngest was too young and he'd promptly fall asleep. Sometimes, so did I. But for the next 6 years, we read to our boys every night, and most nights it was Harry Potter. And in 2002 I found HP for Grownups on Yahoo Groups, where I was moderating a fan-group for Bill Pullman. My email provider at the time was a friend who ran a server out of his house. He called one day to complain about my not keeping up with the emails from HP4GU; they were big and numerous. I finally had to leave that group because it was so damn active. I just couldn't keep up.

Then one day at work on a boring, quiet Saturday in an empty museum I found Fiction Alley. And that, as they say, was that. I read a LOT of fanfic in those days; joined a writing group, mostly as an editor, and then in 2003 I wrote my first fic. According to AO3 I have 62 stories in the Harry Potter universe; I know there are more lurking on my computer, including the first Big Bang I ever finished, a Harry/Ron story in which I put Ron through hell. I still need to edit that.

And then my friend Simons-Flower posted the first Star Trek fic I ever read, based off of the what we now call the Kelvin timeline film, the one I had just seen the night before. I don't think I've ever joined a fandom faster, mostly because I was already a fan, having inhaled The Next Generation since the late 1980s. Amazingly, I never really went looking for fanfiction for TNG. I guess I was satisfied with the level of storytelling and character development there. I still haven't ever written in that sandbox.

I've played in a few more fandoms since: "Almost Human", a pretty good sci-fi TV series that lasted one season and starred the ever-so delightful Karl Urban. I wrote fic for that show based on the pre-broadcast trailers. And I even got a Big Bang out of it. Wrote a few fics for "Sleepy Hollow" before it fell apart. Some crossovers; some real-person fic. A lot of stories that are still stored on Drive. Maybe one day I'll post them.

But what I've really gotten out of fandom is the friends. When I first joined that fan group for Bill Pullman, my husband jokingly said, "Better not go meet any of them; they might be an axe murderer." Well, I met some of those women and they turned out to be wonderful and dear people. Went to NYC, shared a hotel room with 2 of them and saw Bill in a play. I still have a couple of good friends from those days, including...Bill Pullman.

But the HP & ST fandoms. Wow, you all continue to be my dearest friends. We have shared the birth of children, serious illnesses, unemployment & re-employment, marriage & divorce, tragedy & triumph. I will never be able to express how much your friendship has meant to me--it's been everything. I mean, look, I have a good life, a loving husband, and a small, tight circle of RL friends. But y'all GOT me, you understood me. And you encouraged me to be creative and to write and that hadn't happened EVER.

And so here I am. On the verge of turning 60, and still a wonder-filled fan girl. I still watch the Potter & ST films, and now recall all the great discussions we had about them, meeting up to watch them, going to London to see Dan take it all off on stage, meeting you to watch other films of Dan's, Karl's, Chris's; having dear friends converge on me to see Bruce perform here. If I died tomorrow, I would go having had a great time in this life, and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

Thank you all, for this wonderfulness.

abigail89 — Thu, 02 Jan 2020 19:30:24 GMT

Introductions. Wow. Ya know, I've been online doing the fandom thing since 2003 so I'm feeling like if you know me, you've known me forever.

*I'm old AF. No, really, I am. I'm like into grandparent territory now. Except my sons have not, THANK GOD, produced a sprog yet.
*I was/am part of the first generation of Harry Potter fans as a senior member.
*I remember watching the original series of Star Trek with my dad in the 60s.

*Enough about age. So I am cis female, use she/her pronouns, and am straight but not narrow. Married to the same guy, affectionately known as HeadBoy, for almost 36 years. We have two sons who are in their 20s; Boy1 is engaged to a wonderful woman, and Boy2 is still trying to find himself and his purpose in life (he was recently diagnosed with some mental health issues, so he's living with us to get those under control). I still work as an archivist and historian for two independent educational institutions, and I still enjoy working for both, even though I haven't had a raise for years and I get squat in benefits.

*I live in a little island of Democratic blue in a sea of Repug red in the American south.

*I read voraciously, knit, quilt and sew, make hand stitched books and jewelry, and have been known to write a little fic from time to time, though lately it's been scarce. I also enjoy cooking. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2018, and I've taken it as a challenge to remake the way I cook and live my life.

*Despite my friends' introducing me to contemporary music, I still love the classics.

* My college alma mater is playing for the football national championship in a few weeks.

I've run out of stuff. Pretty much how it is.

10 Years ago today....

abigail89 — Tue, 07 May 2019 16:46:12 GMT

a ship...a community...an explosion of creativity was born.

abigail89 — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 04:02:41 GMT

I am absolutely at the end of my wits at the moment.

* I'm one of the main organizers of a community meal on Thanksgiving Day for the college and church communities, and we're trying to get the food to add up. We have about 16 students and 4 faculty coming, and about 25 church people. Most of our church members are pretty old and they aren't up for bringing more than one plate of deviled eggs, so it's up to the rest of us, about 5-6 families, to bring the bulk of the food. I'm making a triple batch of mushroom dressing; 3 bags of frozen green beans, 2 pies--one vegan, one conventional, and the vegan main dish. Oh, and one of the turkeys. We got a 22-pounder and we've never cooked a bird that big.

*To complicate things, I agreed to make dinner for a family in the church who lost their dad/husband in October tomorrow. Granted, I signed up for it weeks ago, and selected this day because I'd have the week off. And there are three sweet children whom I've taught in Sunday school, so I need to get it done.

* AND I agreed to take our college student to Atlanta on Wednesday, so that wrecks the ENTIRE day. I'll have to everything done tomorrow. Yay. I still haven't bought everything for the vegan pumpkin cheesecake.

* The college choir concert was Sunday and went better than I expected. We sang the Ceremony of Carols, which isn't terribly hard but the rhythms are tricky in spots. We blew just a couple of short sections in 2 of the movements. I missed several rehearsals because of mandatory meetings, so there was one movement I didn't know. I went over that one for a while on Saturday; I dreamed the entrance pitch the night before. Holy crap. I never do that. The Gershwin medley was a disaster. Eh, I didn't like it anyway.

So it's thanksgiving week, and I'm exhausted. My shoulder injury is still bothering me quite a bit, especially when I try to sleep. I think I'm going to sleep in a chair tonight. I fell asleep for an hour sitting on the sofa with Fred beside me. But he always has a calming influence.

The good thing about this week is that imachar and her family came by to spend the night with us. Her partner is a hoot and a half, and kept us in stitches most of the night with stories about barfing and dog poo. It's ALWAYS good to have her with me.