Dagger of the Mind

Lestrade Icons

2013-07-10T15:15:56Z

Here's my icons for round 4 at sherlocked20n20

Preview:

10 THEMES

Appearance	Back	Bleak	Geometric	Heart


Negative Space	Plus One	Rotate	Ruby	Unusual Crop

5 CATEGORY – COMPOSITION

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE

Arist's Choice #1	Arist's Choice #2	Arist's Choice #3	Arist's Choice #4	Arist's Choice #5

Icons for Round 3 of Sherlocked20n20

2013-05-25T03:08:34Z

Here's my icons for round 3 at sherlocked20n20

Preview:

The rest are

10 THEMES

Black & White	Blue	Close Crop	Far Away	Laughter


Loyalty	Out of Character	Promotional	Surprise	Text Over Subject

5 CATEGORY – NO EYES

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE

Arist's Choice #1	Arist's Choice #2	Arist's Choice #3	Arist's Choice #4	Arist's Choice #5

Tutorial for the AC set effects can be found here:
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/portrait-to-sketch/

Well there goes $100 out the window!

2011-12-23T02:10:31Z

This is a real test in loyalty to my own principles. About a month ago a local grocery store (which has gas pumps out front) ran a special where you could buy $100 in gift cards for various chain stores and they would give you $1 per gallon off a tank of gas. I knew what I wanted to get hubby for Christmas so I got a $100 gift card for that store, collected my $1.85 per gallon tank of gas, then tucked the gift card away for when I'd do my Christmas shopping. The problem? The damn gift card is for Lowes!

A month ago shopping at Lowes was no problem. Now, I wouldn't be caught dead in a Lowes because of their assinine, weak-willed, lilly-livered, xenophobic actions in aligning themselves with a fringe Christian!Hate Group. I can tell myself that the money is already spent, the gift card just allows me to go to Lowes and pick up what I've already bought. The problem is I would be embarassed to be seen in a Lowes store now. Ordering online isn't an option 1 day before Christmas. Plus, I don't want to add to any aggregate statistics of how many people are still shopping at Lowes.

I was hoping to wait for them to back down from the uproar, but the latest statement today is that Lowes is sticking to their guns on their decision to withdraw advertising from an American-Islamic tv show because of the complaints of a fringe hate group. So I guess in the morning it is off to Home Depot I go (their main competitor, for my non-American friends) to go shopping. Or better yet, the local Ace Hardware.

deja vu

2011-10-31T16:13:43Z

Is Live Journal acting up for anyone else again? Three times today I've read fic on my friends list and thought it seemed familiar, and when I would go to comment I would notice that I have <i>already</i> commented! Then I'd realize the post was made 6 months ago. I just checked and my recent FL is full of posts from you guys from this past spring, mixed in with the current posts.

????

Telecommuting is Awesome!

2011-09-13T12:58:53Z

I'm propped up in bed with my iPad and a cup of coffee.

I have to be at work in 3 minutes. And I'll be on time.

My god I love this new arrangement of working from home!

Some thoughts on the last Harry Potter movie

2011-08-01T05:50:42Z

Wow! I can't believe how long its been since I posted to my own journal. I'm usually busy playing on everyone else's sandbox and forget about my own.

One very mild spoiler for the last Harry Potter movie ahead.

I finally got to see the last Harry Potter movie today. I held off waiting for my best friend to be in town. Also, I wanted to avoid the first couple of weekends of screaming kids. Even so, it's the 3rd weekend and the theater was completely packed.

I'm a fan of the books and have always grumbled because the movies tend to eliminate the plot and string a bunch of action scenes together to the extent that I don't understand how anyone who hasn't read the books can follow along. This last movie is truer to the book, but requires a knowledge of the books even more than the previous movies. Let me explain.

My best friend is 90% deaf and requires the headsets in theaters to hear a movie. The batteries in the theater's headset went dead before the previews were even finished. The theater had no more, so gave her her money back and she watched the movie in silence. Because of this I was hyper-aware of the dialogue and was amazed at how very little there was. Aside from the Harry-Dumbledore scene at King's Cross, the scenes were very lite on dialogue, and depends on the viewers' knowledge of the story to carry them along. I mentioned this to my friend after the movie and she agreed. Without being able to hear ahe had no trouble following the movie because the dialogue was so lite and she is familiar with the books.

It makes me wonder what the specific impressions of the plot movie-only fans have - particularly this last film.

Round 22: The TARDIS

2011-07-23T23:05:37Z

Here's my icons for round 22 at doctorwho20in20

Preview:

The rest are 10 THEMES

Blue	Black & White	Landscape	Close Crop	Frame


Textless	Text Only	Smile	Tears	Sadness

5 CATEGORY – 5 ICONS WITH THE SAME CAP

1	2	3	4	5

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE

Artist's Choice #1	Artist's Choice #2	Artist's Choice #3	Artist's Choice #4	Artist's Choice #5

5 EXTRAS

X1	X2	X3	X4	X5

We're Headed to Europe!

2011-02-25T01:44:26Z

We're headed to Europe! Yeah, yeah, I know that isn't exciting to a lot of you who live there. Also not exciting to my friends who regularly bounce all over the world. But keep in mind that I've never been outside of the U.S. Heck, I've barely been west of the Mississippi River.

I currently have good friends living in both Athens and London and we realized that there will never be a better time to take the vacation of our dreams: 6 days in Athens and 5 in London, with no hotel bill at all! The thought of traveling in a country that isn't English speaking is a little scary. The thought of public transportation in London is downright terrifying!

My friend in London will be at work when I arrive and I get to make my way from the airport to her home on my own. I live in a region of the U.S. where public transportation is almost non-existent. I've never been on a bus, train, or subway in my life. I have no idea what I'm doing!

I'm a history freak. Athens in going to be a dream. And my friend in London plans to point me in the direction of Bath first thing. I'll be in heaven! Of course anything in either of those areas is going to be history overload for me. The saying seems to be true that people in the U.S. think that 100 years is a long time, but Europe think that 100 miles is a long way." I look forward to the culture shock. Anyone who lives anywhere near Athens or London who would like to meet let me know. I'd love to!

Mortgage Burning Party Tonight!

2010-10-29T21:46:19Z

We PAID OFF THE MORTGAGE TODAY! I never thought this day would come! (dances around with joy at our new found freedom).

I Love the Ocean!

2010-10-10T02:24:44Z

I am absolutely exhausted! We drove down to Gulf Shores for a long weekend (8 hour drive) and did the normal ritual as soon as we arrived: check in, walk to the beach to inhale the ocean, walk to the restaurant on the dock, stuff ourselves with fresh seafood and beer. But there appears to be a shrimp festival going on on the beach outside of our window, so we've spent the last several hours roaming around that. (This is after driving 8 hours). I'm going to go die now and hopefully will have energy to read my flist in the morning.

A Little Mini-Rant (more of a whimper)

2010-09-25T05:09:19Z

Please, PLEASE! This is NOT a spoiler warning:
This story is set immediately after character X dies . . .

Facepalm! Well, if I didn't know that character X was going to die, (which I didn't), then this is certainly NOT the way I wanted to find out! I've been avoiding that particular fandom online until I could finish watching the season, and someone on Teaspoon went and wrote a Doctor Who crossover and there the "spoiler warning" was in plain sight!

Whimpers . . .

Call me a Klutz

2010-08-06T03:50:22Z

I cannot even begin to express how much I love my ankle brace right now. I dislocated a bone in my ankle and pulled a ligament back in the middle of May. I spent 3 weeks on crutches and have had a stiff canvas brace on it ever since. Tonight hubby and I were cleaning house together and he was vacuuming the living room and removed the 2 steps that step down from the kitchen to the lower living room. I had no idea and came through carrying a big box and stepped where I knew there were 2 steps . . . and down 24 inches I went - on the ankle. Fortunately that brace was absolutely rigid, but it absolutely scared the shit out of both of us.

Writer's Block: Supersize me

2010-07-24T20:17:16Z

Walgreen's Drug Store. I haven't been in one in close to 20 years. There was a furious fight in my town about 20 years ago when Walgreens wanted to tear down a beautiful old historic building to put up a store. The fight drug out for a couple of years and Walgreen's won. After the building was torn down and the store was built it came out that there was not enough room for them to have a parking lot legally large enough for the size of the space, but bribed their way into permission to build anyway.

Icons for DoctorWho 20in20: Round 10 - River Song

2010-07-20T04:05:33Z

Preview:

Here's my icons for round 10 at doctorwho20in20 Some are spoilers for The Big Bang
Preview:

The rest are

10 THEMES

negative space	old and new	black and white	up close	i'm your villain


story	text	make them laugh	so old and alone	borders

5 CATEGORY – COLOURS

Red	Green	Blue	Ginger	Pink

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE

Artist's Choice #1	Artist's Choice #2	Artist's Choice #3	Artist's Choice #4	Artist's Choice #5

Icons for Whoverse 20in20: Round 10

2010-07-20T03:11:24Z

Preview:

Major spoilers for The Big Bang are under the cut.
The rest are

10 THEMES

BLONDE	BOYS	LEGENDS	DO THE MATH	CUPPA?


BIGGER INSIDE	GIRLS	SATURATE	SEE YOU AROUND	CIRCLES

5 CATEGORY — "SPECIALS - The Next Doctor"

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

Huh?

2010-06-20T05:32:32Z

Just a non-spoilery remark about The Pandorica Opens. I have absolutely no idea what to expect next week and I'm loving it! RTD was so predictable that I could always speculate on the season finale and be pretty accurate. This time I'm relishing the idea of not having a clue what is going to happen.

I know I owe several people posts for icon memes, I've been avoiding LJ for the last few days to not be spoiled for tonight's Doctor Who. I'll get those meme answers up tomorrow.

Icons for DoctorWho 20in20: Round 8

2010-05-16T19:45:39Z

Here's my icons for round 8 at doctorwho20in20 A couple of them are from the new season, but there are no spoiler unless you don't know who the Doctor's 2 companions are.

Preview:

The rest are

10 THEMES

Classic Doctor	Classic Companion	New Doctor	New Companion	Torchwood


SJA	TARDIS	Alien	Planet	Historic

5 CATEGORY – ENEMIES

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE - It's Always the Mothers!

Arist's Choice #1	Arist's Choice #2	Arist's Choice #3	Arist's Choice #4	Arist's Choice #5

Whoverse 20 in 20: round 9

2010-05-15T00:19:24Z

Here's my icons for round 8 at whoverse20in20 A couple of them are from the new season, but there are no spoiler unless you don't know who the Doctor's 2 companions are.
Preview:

The rest are

10 THEMES

FACELESS	SCENERY	CHANGE	CROSSOVER	ALTER EGO


MASTERMIND	UP	SOMETHING NEW	CRACK	RETRO

5 CATEGORY — "ONE CAP"

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

The reference pic for the Category set can be found
(here)</div>

I saw a man fishing in his front yard yesterday

2010-05-09T14:07:23Z

I saw a man fishing in his front yard yesterday and he doesn't have a lake-front home (normally). Why yes, I do live in Nashville. It's been a really weird week here. I normally live 100 yards from the lake, but for the last week I've lived 15 feet from the waterfront. Driving is a mess because you never know when you are going to hit a closed road. Today we're going to open the garage and storage room and assess the damage. Fun, fun.

Icons for Whoverse 20in20

2010-04-17T21:27:19Z

Here are my entries for the April round at whoverse20in20
Please note that some of the icons are spoilers for the new season episode 1.

Preview:

10 THEMES

FIRST TIME	3'S COMPANY	RIGHT	GLASS HALF FULL	QUESTIONS


OUTRAGEOUS	COLD	DEATH BECOMES HER	CHILDHOOD	END OF TIME

5 CATEGORY — "SEQUENCE"

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

5 ARTIST'S CHOICE - "Non-People" Icons

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

DW Icons for the new series

2010-03-27T07:39:39Z

Here's a dozen icons I thought I'd share in anticipation of the new season.

TV Meme

2010-01-26T07:04:43Z

persiflage tagged me for the TV Meme, so here you go:

If you want to participate leave a comment and I'll pick three of your fandoms and you then post the answers to your journal.

Doctor Who
01. The first character I fell in love with:Romana 2. Warrior's Gate was my 1st ever episode and I loved the way she snarked the Doctor
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Donna. She was way too abrasive in <i>The Runaway Bride</i> and I just couldn't imagine her as a full-time companion.
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Rose. I just don't get why anyone would like her.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: Mel. Her voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard, but she's a great companion.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Tegan. I loved her back in the 80s, but when I watch her now she just gets on my nerves.
06. The character I would shag anytime: I think that would be a tie between Five and Mickey
07. The character I want to be like: Romana or Barbara
08. The character I'd slap: Rose (for being selfish) or Peri (for all the whinging)
09. A pairing that I love: Martha/Mickey
10. A pairing that I hate: Anyone/Rose
11. Favorite character: Wilf
12. My five favorite characters: Wilf, Romana, Martha, Five, Mickey, Two (yeah, I know, I can't count)
13. My five least favorite characters: Rose, Peri, Nine, Turlough, Davros (I think he's boring)
14. Which character I am most like: Harriet
15. My deep, dark fandom secret: well, if I had a deep dark secret why would I tell it?

Sarah Jane Adventures
01. The first character I fell in love with: obviously Sarah Jane since I knew her 30 years before the rest
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Clyde. He was the smart-ass cool kid at first and now he's the mini-Doctor!
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Maria. She whines almost as much as Peri!
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: I can't think of any
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Luke. It's not that I don't like him, I'm just indifferent to him now
06. The character I would shag anytime: Alan or Sarah Jane
07. The character I want to be like: the Brig: long-lived, well-off and with great old friends
08. The character I'd slap: Crissy!
09. A pairing that I love: Sarah Jane/Ten (Ok, OK, it's not canon and it's a cross-over. So sue me)
10. A pairing that I hate: Clyde/Luke
11. Favorite character: Clyde
12. My five favorite characters: Clyde, Sarah Jane, Mr. Smith, Alan, K9
13. My five least favorite characters:Crissy, Maria, Rani, Luke, Trickster
14. Which character I am most like: Haresh
15. My deep, dark fandom secret: none

Highlander
01. The first character I fell in love with: Ramirez
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Joe
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Tessa, she really got on my nerves and I don't know why
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: Connor. A lot of people don't like the character because the actor can't act. I still love the character anyway
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Anne, once she got pregnant and domestic she was boring
06. The character I would shag anytime: Mac, Methos
07. The character I want to be like: Cassandra
08. The character I'd slap: Michelle - she's such an irritating teenager!
09. A pairing that I love: Methos/Cassandra
10. A pairing that I hate: Richie/Mac
11. Favorite character: Methos
12. My five favorite characters: Methos, Cassandra, Joe, Richie, Fitz
13. My five least favorite characters: Amanda, Michelle, Caspin, Silas, Chronos
14. Which character I am most like: Charlie or Joe
15. My deep, dark fandom secret: not a deep dark secret, but I never saw the last season. When they killed Richie I cut off the TV before the scene was even over and never watched it again.

I'm not a caregiver - does that make me a bad person?

2010-01-17T00:41:24Z

Sigh . . . I'm going insane! Hubby had surgery Thursday and is still down and in a lot of pain (but home) and I'm looking for any excuse to get out of the house because I'm just not good a being a caregiver. But then again, he's not good at being a patient either.

I went on an icon snagging frenzy earlier today and now have lots of shiny new icons by very talented people! *Hugs new icons!*

Who are the redheads?

2010-01-09T07:35:17Z

So I decided I was going to make a new banner with all the Doctor's ginger companions, and promptly got into an argument with hubby about the color of Leela's hair. So I'm asking my f-list. Who do you consider to be the red-headed companions?

Happy New Year Everyone!

2010-01-01T05:56:56Z

A lot of people (including me) have commented that "next year has got to be better than this last one." Hopefully that is true, but at the same time it makes me smile to see so many people on my friend's list sharing the accomplishments that went RIGHT this past year. So what am I thankful for in this past year?

First and foremost - I still have my job! So many people do not. No only do I still have my job, but the university has doubled in size and my department has gone from 3 people to 18! When a graphic design company I worked for for 12 years folded and laid off a lot of quality employees, I was in a position to say "come work for us" and that makes me feel really good.

Second, I'm still married. 24 years down (yikes!) and ??? more to go - we have had rough times in the past, but I can honestly say I love him more now than I did this time last year. Now the in-laws are a completely different story!

Good friends. Check. And I spent more time with them this year than I have in a long time.

**************

So! Aspirations for 2010!
- To update this journal more often and make more friends.
- To lose the 28 pounds I picked up this year
- To play and travel more
- To develop some tact
- If I can't bring myself to mend broken bridges with my in-laws, at least I can try to stay away and not let them bother me. Baby steps.

I hope all your aspirations get fulfilled in 2010!