The craziness of May has begun! My cousin arrived this morning, and I managed to be late meeting her at Heathrow, due to a combination of ridiculousness and sleeping in. Once I got her home she went to sleep, and the rest of us spent the day prepping canapes and other food for lorelaisquared's birthday tomorrow. We're doing a proper high tea, and there really is going to be an awesome amount of delicious food. Unfortunately the party will mean my cousin won't see much of London tomorrow, but on the bright side she'll get to have a pretty decent homemade high tea, so that counts as a cultural experience, right?! :)

My brother and his girlfriend get here on Monday morning, which I'm kind of insanely excited about. I love my brother so much, you guys. He's just my favourite person ever. I know the trip will go super fast though - he was teasing me on skype because I was counting down to the time they would leave and they haven't even gotten here yet. Glass half empty, here I am! I only have to work three days this week though, so that's something. And then on the Thursday a friend of ours from school (in the UK) and her husband get here (they live in the US now) and we're all heading to my parents for a long weekend. I can't wait.

No idea in all this visitor time when I'll manage to work on my PBB, but it's got to happen sometime since I haven't even recorded yet. Thankfully I was smart enough to pick a short one (pennyplainknits' Graham fic, yay!) because I knew Rugby would take up a lot of my time.

Speaking of rugby, it's posted! I am so excited and happy about this!! I just love the fic SO MUCH, and now I have a version of myself reading it. I really enjoyed working on it, although the editing got a bit much towards the end since it's so long. But it was just incredibly fun to read. I do have serious paranoia about last minute mistakes that my millions of rounds of editing missed - it's almost 6 hours and that was a whole lot of listening over and over. I think it will be a while before I can listen to it for pleasure too, just because I need some space, but once I get there it will be an awesome comfort pod. (Um, if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's You Can Sit Beside Me (When The World Comes Down) by sunsetmog.) I'm at once feeling accomplished and relieved to have finished, and sad not to be working on it anymore. But now I have time for other things! And at some point, the sequel. 80k omg.

But anyways, it's done, it's posted, go listen! Please? It's faily silly adorable high school boys fumbling their way towards love. Spencer plays rugby, Brendon sings & dances, and Ryan stands by and mocks a lot. Plus bonus sarcastic Spencer's mom! I <3 her.

On LJ, DW and AO3.

Omgosh you guys. I fail at LJ SO HARD. I seriously wrote this up at least a week ago, after not writing anything FIVE MONTHS, so now I've had to go back and tweak even it. Ah well, still posting it anyways because who even cares at this point?!

( Cut because of LENGTH, omg I suck. )

[Um, things I forgot:
- Millions of years too late, I have discovered FOB! I've been in bandom for AGES now and I've read Pete/Patrick fic even but I've never listened to the music. I've been listening to them pretty much nonstop since Mog and I went on our (mini) roadtrip and she played them in the car. I am loving Folie SO MUCH.
- lorelaisquared and I are watching Idol and we love Elise! And Phil! This is actually my first time watching a season with another person, so that's pretty great. Also ladyfoxxx and I are doing our best to get her into bandom. Can anyone recommend any really good primers that are very basic? Trying to hard to point her to ones but she keeps feeling like they're dropping her in the deep end. In return, she is reccing me Sherlock fic and I have promised to watch it with her soon. Possibly even next Sunday if Fox doesn't have to work.
- I am keeping track of my sleep on an iphone app so I can maybe actually talk to a doctor about it. This is strange and new, but it's definitely interesting to see the graph. And realise how fucked up my (non) schedule is.
- Dan and Blair are together and it is awesome! I'm sure some of you on my flist are upset by this but to me it is rainbows and butterflies. I've been shipping them since the very first season. The only thing better would be Blair/Serena.]

So yeah, life is pretty good and fandom is quite full too. How are you people? Any special entries I need to see to catch up on you? :)

This is going around my flist and my twitter, and I love to record myself, so why not?!

Hopefully this embedding will work...
Bandom Voice Post Meme! by Jenepel

Questions!
1. What's your username and is there a story behind it?
2. Where are you from and where do you live now?
3. What are you wearing? Yes, I am hitting on you.
4. How long have you been in bandom? How did you get into it?
5. Which bands are your favorites?
6. Which band members are your favorites?
7. Have you seen any of them in concert? Any fun stories or memories to share?
8. Do you have an OTP? What is it, and why do you love it?
9. What story do you wish someone would write?
10. Are you working on something for bandom right now? Tell us a little bit about it.
11. You've got fic open somewhere on your computer right now, don't lie. So go to one of your open tabs or word documents or whatever, and read us a couple of lines.
12. Say these words: Iero, haberdashery, LOLcat, flist, dirigible, halcyon, nemesis, ephemeral, languorous

(originally from: http://sneaky-sena.livejournal.com/178880.html)

(Also, I will admit with kitten names I am leaning towards Cordelia or Katniss. And possibly possibly still Luna.)

As I write this there is a small ball of fur bouncing wildly around the room, occasionally coming by to fling herself off my person. She is so freaking adorable, you guys. SERIOUSLY. And okay, she and Nimbus haven’t quite bonded yet (mostly he’s terrified of her), but I figure it’s only a matter of time, so I’m trying not to worry about that. I think they're actually getting better though - there has been a bit of whirling around the kitchen together.

ANYWAY. I need a name! I suck at naming things. Or, at least I suck at *picking* names. So we’ve been working on a list, and I’ve knocked a bunch off, but it's still ridiculously long. I feel like I change my mind about which name I'm leaning towards every minute. And I know that in the end I have to be the one to pick it, so who knows if I'll even listen to people, but it's still interesting to get opinions. So, all the said, A POLL! With possible nicknames included, because I consider that very important.

I know that these are really fandomish, shocker! I like the idea of naming her after a cool female character though. I will also note that my parents seem to hate most of these names (their suggestion below are Smudge and Snitch), however they weren't a fan of Nimbus either, so I feel pretty good about that. :)

Poll #1797552 Kitten Names!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35

What should I name her?!

Suggestions welcome in the comments!

So this week has been pod_aware, which was a cross-fandom celebration and awareness raising movement about podfic. And I think podfic is awesome! I've been wanting to get more involved in it, but I'm also very easy distracted, so I start things and don't finish them. (I'm working on it!) And of course right now there is Nano, so sadly I didn't really manage to do much at all this week.

However, what I did manage to do is finally finish setting up my podfic journal! So that's a start. There's not a ton on it yet, but hopefully that will change soon, and at least now I have my master list etc exactly as I want it to be. (I'm picky, okay?!) Anyway, you can find it all here at jenepod which is the recording name I'm using. At the moment it's all linked back and forth from here to there and vise versa. You should all friend me there...

The one other thing I did do was to take part in one of the daily podcasts! It's about blanket permission, and if you want to hear it, you can stream it here. It was great fun to do. :)

Podfic: it's an audio recording of a fanfic, like an audiobook, how awesome is that? Fans from all over put their voices out there so you can enjoy fanfic on the go or just in a different way. To find out more about podfic, why we do it and how to get started, check out pod_aware on LJ or DW.

So we’re Nano-ing. It’s the second week of November and I’m already exhausted. :) To be fair, that’s not really Nano’s fault. Or it’s maybe the fault of the organising bit, not the writing! I had meant to spend the two weeks before Nano started resting up and getting things done, instead I spent them setting up write-in spaces and building a website and emailing ten million people. No matter, it was totally worth it as soon as I walked into Yumchaa last week for the first write-in.

( I just ruthlessly cut this because it's all pictures and stuff. But! Nano! Fangirl weekend! Doctors! NanoLondon Video! )

Last minute post before Nanowrimo begins, whoo-hoo! (ONE HOUR OMG.)

This is about all the new shows I tried out, and thus kind of insanely out of date, because I take forever to watch TV shows and I’m always behind. Anyway, I started it ages ago and have just been adding to it, so I’m going to post it for my own info it nothing else. :)

In alphabetical order, because that’s just how I roll.

( This isn’t really spoilery for anything, I just cut because it got a bit long. Shocker. )

My favourite of the dramas so far is definitely Pan Am (although Revenge is also pretty high up), and of the comedies I guess 2 Broke Girls. (Although most of that may be my insane crush on Kat Dennings.)

In catch-up show news, I am speeding my way through Parks and Recreation season two and LOVING it. Everyone should watch this show! I really love the opening sequence (actually I love that it has one at all – stupid new shows and their lack of proper openings). My favourite bit is when the title words come up one by one, all perfectly timed with the high flute tones. It’s the little things. I keep watching an episode and being like “oh wow, this is the best ever! I love this one” and then I get to another one and think the same thing. (The first library one! The one where there is the crazy dinner party! The sex scandal one where they all realise how insanely competent she is!) Also, I love April. <3

I have also somehow ridiculously gotten hooked on a reality show called Dance Moms. I think it was a summer show, but I just randomly DLed it and watched the entire series in like a week. It is terrible, and trashy, and fabulous! Little girls who dance (pretty much professionally, I swear, but technically they’re just going to competitions across the country) and their moms, and the scary dance teacher. Big fun.

For once I’m pretty up to date on most of the things I was watching before, probably because I was sick and had more time to kill. I think Community is still the front-runner. (How awesome was the episode with the alternate timelines?!) Gossip Girl gets better the more they have Dan and Blair hang out, and Downton Abbey never fails to be amazing and hilarious. That last one most of our house is watching together, generally with accompanying sighs, exclamations and tweeting. (Actually, I swear my entire twitter feed watches it. It’s crazy!)

So yeah, lots of TV. Too much, I know, but it’s fun to be watching things again. I’ll fall off the wagon mid-year, as I always do, but right now it’s all good. (Actually, I’ve already fallen off the wagon, and expect Nano to keep that up. Probably I’ll catch up in in the New Year?!)

So, I am currently considering getting another cat. Some of you may already know this from my twitter, and many people already replied, but I still need more advice about it! This is (obviously) a massive decision, and I don’t want to rush into it or be hasty just because I’ve found a cat that I want. On other hand, I am a firm believer in the idea of “found” animals – sometimes you just know! With Nimbus, I knew I wanted a cat and had been going to shelters, but the first time I met him I held him for like two hours and didn’t want to let go. We just fit like that.

So a few weeks ago, my mom told me that the same friend of hers who fostered Nimbus had another kitten (she fosters kittens all the time – I often go see them) and that she was lovely. So I figured we should go by when I was home, which we did, this past Sunday. And this kitten is so cute, and so sweet, and so affectionate. Immediately the little inkling of thought about getting another kitten, which had been there for ages, turned into an actual proper yearning with a specific kitten on the other end of it. So I started being all “This is a good time! Nimbus is still young enough to accept her! But old enough that it won’t be two kittens at once.” Etc. And then I mentioned it on twitter, and it was kind of all downhill (uphill?) from there. :)

So now I’ve got to try and ignore the kitten kitten kitten (!) voices in my head and think practically. The worst thing here is the timing. Nano makes November pretty much the busiest month of the year, so putting it off as far to the end of that month as possible is best, because otherwise I won’t be home evenings/weekends to take care of her and settle her in. On the other hand, for the first time in over 15 years my family has decided to spend Christmas in the States instead of England, so I’ll be away for about 10 days end of December/ beginning of January. Housemates should be home most of that time (a problem of maybe 2-3 days?!) so if she is settled in enough by then it isn’t a huge problem, just something to be considered. I definitely don’t want to be abandoning her before she feels comfortable. On the other hand she’ll be in the same house with just me missing, so it depends how much we’ll have even bonded by then. (And I need a cat sitter for Nimbus for Christmas Day/ Boxing Day too, so that’s a problem either way.) Once January hits we’re fine. So basically it’s all problems I can deal with, but I also want to do what’s best for her. I don’t want to force something forward and then actually end up deserting her too much because the time of year is so bad. Ugh idk.

That kind of stuff aside, I’m also just worried about the general logistics of two cats. I’ve actually never had two at a time. I’ve always had combos of pets instead – over my childhood we had fish, hamsters, a rabbit, cats and a dog, but those cats were one after another, not at the same time. So people who have two cats (bexless, petunia846, damelola, ladyvivien, crazybutsound, kopperblaze, podklb, did I forget anyone?!) lend me your wisdom! Random questions:

( Questions and Pictures! )

I do recognize that this entry reads like I’m definitely getting the kitten, but I’m not 100% yet. I’m just strongly considering. :) I am trying really really hard to think of the expense and the trouble and the complications. Also I want to be fair to her and to Nimbus, since they don’t have a choice in the matter!

I wrote this yesterday at work...thus take it as said on Wednesday. :)

When I walked through the park on my way to work this morning there were three people doing Tai-Bo. (At least I think it was Tai-bo? Whatever that one is where you make really slow movements and weird poses with like your legs up and your arms kind of punching air. Idk. It’s always in movies.) Anyway, two of them were together, in work out clothes, obviously following each other. And then there was this other guy, in a suit, a little bit away from them, kind of doing his own thing. I was baffled. It almost seemed like he was making fun of them, or just using them for his own workout? He was kind of doing the same movements, but they were totally ignoring him. It was just very strange.

So anyway, I’m back at work, having been off sick for a few days, and it’s been totally insane this week. We were doing that renovation stuff (added windows and a new door for “security”) and thus have been closed for two weeks. That plus the October 17th tax deadline meant everyone and their mother is coming in this week. It’s kind of fun, helping people in person and being able to answer questions. The only thing is that the fact that I already have a horrific cough and sore throat means that by the end of the day I can barely talk. But it makes the day go so much more quickly!

So I have this ridiculous cough that I can’t seem to shake, and I swear I’ve been sick for like a month now. It’s driving me crazy. I suck at canceling things and going to bed early and just generally being a good sick person. I’ve even had two days off work because my office made me go home last week. And I’m such a whiny sick person too! If you’ve ever read the Soup Series by sunsetmog, I’m totally the Brendon in that. All like “I’ve got the plague! I’m going to die!” and collapsing all over the place, refusing to do anything. I just really really hate being sick. On the bright side, I’m hoping I’m paying my dues now and thus will be healthy all of November for Nano. Last year I was sick about a third of the way in, and it totally sucked. This year we’re planning five write-ins a week, which I’m actually going to try and attend (omg) so I can really not afford to get sick. (Actually what I’m most afraid of is that work will decide Nov is the month to send me away for training. I’m excited about a free trip to the US, I just don’t want it to happen in November!)

As for Nano, we’re kind of knee deep in planning. I think Claire and I both freaked out a bit over the idea that we were actually getting to be in charge – I was kind of worried that we would screw up now, when we had finally won the battle. So we’ve both been scrambling around and it’s actually really coming together. Considering it’s only mid-Oct, I think it’s all going to be alright. We mapped out the route to Nanorilla on Sat night, which is this event we made up a few years ago. Basically the idea is to write in cool places in London, so we just move from place to place doing flash writes. We call it “guerilla” because there are usually not plugs, and you might have to sit on the floor and it’s probably cold! (Also, sometimes places kick us out…) Anyway, we’ve done the Southbank the last few years, so we’re moving North, and going to do places like The British Library, The British Museum and St Pancreas (on the top bit, the pretty part). I love Nanorilla so much, so I’m glad we have a nice concrete route set out – the last few years have included a bit too much wandering around and getting lost for my taste! Anyway, if you’re in London you should come! It’s such a fun day.

We’re doing two other events in addition to the write-ins, an all-nighter and the last ditch effort on the 30th. The all-nighter is something Claire and I had been hoping to do for ages, but it’s practically impossible to find a place. (Money! Stupid London.) But she had the genius idea of asking this local bookstore we go to a lot of events at, and they said yes. So they’re letting us use their space overnight (we’re doing 630pm-630am on Nov 26/27) for just £25! That’s ridiculously cheap. We’ll probably also buy some vouchers or something from them to give away (we’re doing a raffle! Woo-hoo!) so that we can support them more then that. But if you live in London, The Big Green Bookstore in Wood Green is awesome! Check it out. :)

Thursday ETA: Since I wrote this up I’ve actually gone to my GP and been told I have tonsillitis. Armed with antibiotics and a doctor’s note, I’m off work tomorrow. This had better clear up a lot over the weekend.

(Some day I will actually manage to do a post about all the new TV shows I've tried. That's one good thing about being sick.)

And...BED.

Ten things I could have blogged about in July, Aug and Sept but totally didn't:

(Shockingly, this got a little long-winded.)

( 1) I tented for Wimbledon in June (with my dad) and got centre court tickets. )
( 2) HP7b happened. )
3) I spent much of August in tent. To be specific, I spent four weekends in a row camping, which were:
( 4) A trip to France! )
( 5) Whiskey Camp! )
( 6) V Fest! )
( 7) Reading Festival! (Panic!/MCR/Pulp) )
( 8) I left my old job. )
( 9) I spent a week in Norfolk with my parents. )
( 10) I started a new job. )