Confessions of a One-Track Mind

The C's live on a canal, and there are ducks living in their backyard. (There's a bin of cracked corn out in the garage. These are well-fed, happy ducks.) There are a family of IDK ducks---the adults are irridescent black with white and have red faces, and at the moment, they have four (that I've counted) fluffy little yellow and black ducklins---so cute! There's also what AI refers to as "the glee club", a flock of 20 or so basic brown mallards who drop in to cadge corn. At least, she says they're mallards.

It rained like hell early this afternoon, and made the bucks quite frisky. For a little while, a pair of little tan morming doves was splashing about in the ducks' water font. Quite a little wildlife sanctuary they've got going here. According to AI, there's also a manatee living in the canal by their dock, but I've not seen it.

I had hot dogs for lunch and watched "My Bloody Valentine 3D", although *not* in 3D. Lately, I've been entertaining thoughts of a crossover I started a million years ago between MBV3D and "DeVour". Jake Gray has been released from prison after serving 10 years for the murder of his girlfriend They couldn't pin his parents' deaths on him, but there's still hard feelings in town, so he's out at his uncle's cabin, which he inherited. He's surviving off the land, and keeping to himself, when a visitor arrives.

Harry Warden has been drifting around the country, dominating Tom Hanniger's consciousness at his own whims. He ran across a true crime book about the Jake Gray case, and was delighted at the potential mayhem inherent in someone who looks like himself/Tom. What he *doesn't* know is Tom's psychic abilities, which have sharpened in prison out of self-defense. Jake always knows who's who, and he forges a relationship with both Tom and Harry, hoping to find a way to free Tom once and for all.

The working title is "Identity Crisis", although "Tom, Jake and Harry" is a possible. Oh, and did I mention it's slash? Because Jensen Ackles times THREE is as hot as it gets. Some of it is fairly evil, since Harry is NOT a nice guy.

Wicked heartburn from the 'dogs. I may have a root beer float to calm my stomach....


.

I put myself to bed early last night (for me, 2AM is early) and tossed and trned quite a lot, but was actually conscious before 11AM, which is encouraging.

Ran around with missybrat last night, first to Big Lots, then Aldi's (again!), capping it all off with WalMart. Shopping with 'Brat is always a soothing, companionable activity. We ooh and ahh and compare prices and share our likes and dislikes and giggle and reminisce. Hopefully once I get settled into a job with normal hours, we can do that more often.

Almost screamed in the middle of Big Lots out of sheer exasperation when I discovered that they had DeVour in their $3 movie bin. I paid three times that and had to have it mailed. Anybody been looking for it? I could snag it for you.

Price comparisons:
Small can of mushrooms: 55 cents at Aldi's, same price at Big Lots.
Salmon patties: 4 for $3.99 at Aldi's, 2 for $3.59 at WalMart
Celestial Seasons Plum Spice tea: $2 at Big Lots, $2.27 at WalMart

I got some tea---Twinings Herbal Unwind, which has a tasty blend of hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, peppermint, orange peel, rosehips and rose petals. No caffeine (she says virtuously). I brewed some a little while ago, and I'm waiting for it to cool down a little more.

GK arrives with the Things this afternoon. I called Kat this morning, and she freaked out, thinking we were supposed to pick them up at the airport. No, not this trip. We're going to get her and drive over to Tampa for the wedding in October. This time she'll be renting a vehicle because she has the kids with her. Oh. But that didn't stop Kat from calling GK to verify it.

Kat's memory issues...I despair. She used to be so sharp and witty, now...she's been to a neurologist, but she doesn't remember what he said. I'm leaning toward Korsakov's Syndrome, myself: Her short-term memory is shot---she doesn't retain much---and her long-term memory has gaps. Like, she remembers working at the college, but not specific incidents, like the surprise party we threw for her. (I was a student assistant in the same office for a while.) She doesn't remember what her husband of 40 years died of. She doesn't remember how old her children are. She also has aphasia; she can't remember common words, and she'll either try to explain what it is ("That cold metal box..." "The refrigerator?" "That's it.") or she'll use a word that has nothing to do with it. ("I've got some soda in the typewriter.") I've known her long enough that I can usually figure out what she's talking about, but it's hell to watch. With my parents, they both went through terminal illness, but neither of them deteriorated mentally (although my mom got very odd about religion). She's handling it with more grace than I would; that sort of thing is my deepest fear.

Aren't I a little ray of sunshine today? I'm going to go have some tea.

It's amazng the things you find when you're cleaning up. I've been experiencing episodes of "So THAT'S where that went!" for weeks, but today's was the best yet. Was merging aluminum cans from assorted bins in various rooms, and when I dumped the one in the dining room, I couldn't believe what landed atop the other cans---my copy of DeVour, which I've been looking for for months! (My god, that was a close call!)

This morning, I signed up for yuletide. I did it three years ago, but the last couple of years, I was just NOT up for it. Missed the sign-up deadline last year, and the year before I'd just started my job and was going in six different directions without taking on anything else.

I didn't volunteer for anything I didn't think I could nail. In the case of movies, they were things that I own on DVD or VHS and could watch to renew my memory, or books, ditto. More books than movies, actually.
_________________

What I requested, in case my Yuletide Santa drops by for hints:

Fandom 1: Devour I'd like to see Jake clear his name (or try to---at least get him out of jail!), with the help of Ivan Reisz. (Because William Sadler was woefully underused in that role.) And for all the SPN devotees who've signed up, I could totally see Reisz becoming a hunter after Anne's "death". Kudos if there's father-son bonding, NON-smut.

Fandom 2: Equilibrium There are so many pretty men in this fandom, and I've lusted after Sean Bean forfreakingever. Could we NOT kill off Errol in this version? Maybe have him working behind the scenes with the Underground/Jurgen? Slash or not, as you like (I think getting John laid without Prozium would help his disposition enormously).

Fandom 3: Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Catch Trap I love this book for a lot of things: the circus background, the big Italian family with a wealth of wonderfully realized, complex characters, the mid-century ambiance...plus a couple of hot guys sexing each other. Hurt-comfort, please, and some detailed slash. Maybe after the end of the book, a look at the new dynamic between Tom and Matt? Or, if you're not a slasher, something that looks at one or more of those other elements.

Fandom 4: Anne McCaffrey - Dragonriders of Pern There's such a big gap between "Dragonsinger" and "Dragondrums". I'd love to see more of Menolly gaining confidence as a journeyman, maybe visiting Half-Circle Sea Hold for a festival or wedding and surprising her parents with her new status. Or filling in temporarily for Elgion---how would she react if they tried to push her around and give her non-Harper duties? In the Harper Hall books, I like Robinton, Sebell, Piemur (and Mirrim, but they only let you pick four), but in supporting parts. I really want something Menolly-centric.
_______________

As you can see, it's half slash and half gen/could-be-het. And heaven only knows what I'll end up writing, but I'm having fun looking at my list of offerings and thinking about what I might do in the event I get a particular fandom or pairing.

Let the games begin!

Spent yesterday writing, rewatching DeVour (and taking NOTES, godhelpme!), a little mindless TLC, and grumbling about the heat. I left the a/c in the bedroom on all day, and every time I exited, it was an icky reminder that full-on Florida summer will be here for another four months.

Now I need a quick shower, then I'm off to training. In two hours early, out two hours early. (So I'll get to see at least half of tonight's SPN rerun in real time.)