Another semester in the bag

[cornerofmadness]

HOW? How is it December already? How is a semester is gone? It's shocking. Mostly of my students skinned past to the next semester. A few pole vaulted there shooting stars behind them and will go on to do big things.

Today I had the 6-8th graders in my lab for a field trip. We got to play forensic anthropology and dig up skeleton parts and determine sex. It went well except for one thing: it was 35C in my lab. That's only three degrees under BODY temperature. So it was 94 degrees in my damn lab. One kid nearly fainted. It's been this hot for weeks. This time I dragged in a room thermometer and took pictures and that was after I had the windows open in freezing weather for FIVE hours.

THis place will kill me.

Thanks to seta_suzume for the holiday postcard. Love it!

I managed to finish the rough draft of my remix story. Now to edit it so it's ready to go on the 23rd. I posted one yule story. I need to write the rest. I've been trawling the not yet posted fandom_stocking posts because my god it's taking a while and if I want to do something beyond a drabble I'll need a little time.

And believed it or not, I got decent news from the endocrinologist. That Jardiance seems to be working (hey it only causes genital necrotizing fascititis but dammit it's working) Well and I started dancing again. Mom said 'you're not jumping are you? You'll go thru the floor, which was more about the apartment than how fat I am. There's a lake under my place most days and I'm sure the floor is rotting. It's actually a serious concern. Anyhow my HGA1C was 7.8, the first time it's been under 8 in YEARS (so my average sugar is 178 which is better than the 200 it's been for the better part of a decade) and my bad cholesterol is down and the good is up (that IS the dancing. You can only get that up via exercise because life is unfair). Though last night was rough because I had to go to bed early but an hour into sleeping my sugar crashed out and I was still up to 2 AM stablizing it and had to get up at 6. Fun times.


Tonight I went to a talk about a local spiritualist from the mid 1800s Jonathan Koons. It was interesting. i bought the book, in part because I felt a little sorry for the author (I'm a sucker for this being one myself) Only FOUR people showed up for the talk and the other three scooted out the back door so they wouldn't have to walk past her and the book table.

I got this from trobadora Fanfiction asks - originally from Tumblr

What made you start writing fanfic?
Which of your own fanfics have you reread the most?
Describe the differences between your first fanfic and your most recent fanfic.
Do you think your style has changed over time? How so?
You've posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you'd written it?
Name three stories you found easy to write.
Name three stories you found difficult to write.
What's your ratio of hits to kudos?
What do your fic bookmarks say about you?
What's a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?
What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing?
For E-rated fic, what are some things your characters keep doing?
Name three favorite characters to write.
You're applying for the fanfic writer of the year award. What five fanfics do you put in your portfolio?
Question of your choice!

So let me answer #1 (and I'll answer the others over the next several days). I thought this would be fun since I have so many new friends who probably want to hear more than me whining.

1. What made you start writing fanfic?

I was 10. I was at the original showing of Star Wars and fell in love with Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia (yes, I'm old. Hush). I came home and promptly began writing stories, horrendously Mary Sue (hush, I'm 10) Self Inserts. I was Crystal Diamond (Apparently in my mind I'm a James Bond love interest but not the naughty kind because again, 10). I was Luke's cousin and Han loved me. So that's why I started writing. I wanted to see Han Solo hopelessly in love with me (and 41 years later, I still kinda do!)

ETA - What the hell does E-rated fic mean? I've googled it and can't find it other than some people saying they've written it. Is it Erotic? Everyone?

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I'm betting Explicit but I can't be sure without more context

[cornerofmadness]

me either. That's MY assumption as well, knowing fanficcers but still

[enemytosleep]

No idea on E-rated fic. I Googled and got "erotic" and "explicit" from two different forum asks. So I guess a mature rating is most likely?

Yay health improvements! My dad has been sober for the longest he's been in years and his blood sugar has been pretty stable this year (what a SURPRISE not like I'd said that for a decade+). What kind of dancing are you in?

I've got 4 treats for fandom_stocking ready to post. I also spent all of yesterday and today's writing time to plot more D&D torture and to type up my notes both from the game I DM and the game I play in. I'll try to get back to fanfic distractions tomorrow.

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah I'm assuming E is for explicit. Thanks.

Glad to hear about your dad. The dance is sort of like the hippos in Fantastia :) Basically I just jiggle around to the beat

Ooo that's great.

[tozka]

i bought the book, in part because I felt a little sorry for the author (I'm a sucker for this being one myself) Only FOUR people showed up for the talk and the other three scooted out the back door so they wouldn't have to walk past her and the book table.

Oh nooooo! Good on you for supporting her and her book. (Tbh, I'd probably be one of the ones scooting out the door avoiding eye contact. I have the same problem with vendor halls at cons when nobody's buying stuff; the "room aura" is so awkward I have to escape it.)

[cornerofmadness]

Oh god, I need to be better in vendor halls because if I make eye contact, I'm done for.

[spikedluv]

This year has gone by so fast!

Maybe they'll change their tune now that A CHILD HAS FAINTED from the heat!

Your author/book story reminds me of something that happened when we were in Gettysburg back in September. An author was set up in the visitor center bookstore, right in the front so you have to walk past him. So we stop to chat, and the second I realize that this guy wrote a novel rather than a non-fiction civil war book I know that Pip is going to have no interest. I escape early because I have no interest whether fiction or non-fiction, but Pip is there for quite a while. I didn't make eye contact with either of them, lol! And we did sneak out the side door.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure E means explicit. Why couldn't everyone stick with the same rating system?!! It drives me nuts.

[cornerofmadness]

This year has

They'll probably tell me they can't control it. I haven't looked yet today

Yep I've been there. I've been sucked in at many a vendor hall. my song is now 'Well, I'm on my first time through, just to see what's what. I buy on round two, see you later.'

And then try to avoid being seen.

Yep it's either Explicit or E for Everyone like on video games. I might answer that one both ways

[spindle_ella]

Ohh, I would totally have ended up buying the book too. When I go to NaNo meets in indie bookshops I end up buying a book, so if the author's there I'd have no chance.

Glad to hear your health's doing better.

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah I'm a pretty soft touch when it comes to books, too much so.

Thank you

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Well, E is the Explicit rating on AO3, so I'd bet that's the most common meaning for fic

Congrats on having good cholesterol and all that c:

[cornerofmadness]

That's what I'm assuming.

ANd thanks. I'm pretty happy with that given how fragile my health is

[rahirah]

Yay for good medical news! And you are a good person to take pity on the poor author. Is the book any good? Those 19th century spiritualists can be pretty interesting sometimes.

[cornerofmadness]

Big yay for the medical news

I've been the sad author and so I'm a sucker.

Don't know about the book. It's on the TBR pile but the author did a nice powerpoint so I have hopes