...wasn't quite what I expected, but was pretty awesome for the most part.

( Con Report, Part One )

I'll have lots more to say later, but right now, I'm exhausted from not having slept all weekend. Stay tuned!

...sitting at the airport for SIX HOURS and waiting to board my plane. I've got my laptop, a book and some homework to keep me busy, so hopefully it won't be too unbearable. But I wanna be there NOW. :(

Surprisingly, I managed to get a decent night of sleep, and I woke up in the happiest, bounciest mood I've ever woken up in. It faded a bit when I was walking to the bus depot, though. I crammed all my stuff into one bag. I wish I'd realized I could barely lift it before I left. I felt like Frodo carrying the One Ring up the slope of Mount Doom. But I made it. Thinking of the epic Xena-filled weekend ahead of me helped an awful lot. Now I'm on the bus to Pittsburgh. It was supposed to have wireless, but it doesn't, so I'm writing this on my phone. I should probably give my battery a break now, but there will definitely be updates later.

...especially since I know I won't be sleeping tomorrow night, or on the 2 1/2-hour bus ride to the airport, or during the 7 hours I have to wait at the airport, or during my 5-hour flight to LA, or any time during the con.

But I can't. I'm too damn EXCITED. Well, not about the 14 1/2 hours it's going to take me to get to LA. Thursday is going to be the worst day ever.

Things I can do to pass the time:

Homework (yeah, right)
Read a book
Surf the internet
Rewatch some Xena eps to get myself in the mood
Rewatch some Robin Hood eps
Write my entry for thefuturequeen's Last Author Standing competition
Browse the shops at the airport
Bitch about how long it's going to take me to get to LA

Anyone have any other ideas?

Two days till I leave for the Xena con!!!!! TWO DAYS!!!!!

And I get to meet taliatoennien, who I just talked to on the phone for the first time. I'm always nervous about calling someone for the first time, so I had to take a few deep breaths, but when we started talking, I instantly relaxed. Her voice is so cute and perky. I'd never describe myself as perky, but when I got off the phone with her, I felt like dancing around the room. When someone can make you feel like that just with the sound of their voice, you know you're destined to be great friends. :D

Everyone tells me to be wary of people I meet online, but do I listen? Nooooo. So what happens? Naturally, I get screwed over. That's the last time I allow myself to fall for someone's bullshit.

house_cuddy is gone. The maintainer and one of the mods had a spat that resulted in the mod's removal. There was an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the maintainer's decision, so he deleted the comm.

*sigh* Online drama is so pointless. Now I have no place to squee over Huddy. :( Oh well, they haven't had many squee-worthy moments this season anyway.

I seem to have more girl crushes than guy crushes these days:

1. Lucy Lawless
2. Lisa Edelstein
3. Bridget Regan
4. Tabrett Bethell
5. Angel Coulby
6. Tarja Turunen

And my latest addition (I take no responsibility for any injuries this picture causes, like, say, if you were to faint and smash your head on your keyboard):

( Cut to spare friends pages )

I'm still straight, though. Yup. According to Ashley, a straight girl can have 10 girl crushes and still consider herself straight. Also, with the exception of Tarja, a big part of my attraction to these women is the characters they play. Clearly, I have a thing for strong female characters. Well, and they're hot. But mostly it's the strong female characters thing. I have no desire to do anything naughty with them.

*goes back to staring at picture*

...nope, none at all.

http://www.testcolor.com/personalitytest/profil.php

Your Profile :

You are 37 % extrovert and 63 % introvert.

Independently of any order of importance :
You are able to have an in-depth thinking, you think before acting, and you know how to communicate your knowledge.
You are also imaginative and creative, you have always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.
Finely you are attentive and cautious, you take into account the needs of others before setting up the defined goals.


Your attitude towards the environment :

At first, at 37%, you are focused on the facts and on the reality, and your decisions are determined by your perception of facts.

Then, at a rate of 32%, you are centered on your thoughts and your actions are determined by your knowledge and your experience.

Finally, at 30%, you are attached to moral values and feelings, and you have an emotional relation with the environment.


Your highest qualities today :

At 21 %, you are thoughtful and deep, you think before getting into action and you know how to communicate your knowledge.

At 21 %, you are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people.

At 20 %, you are intellectual and intelligent, you keep wondering and inquiring before setting up your next step or defining your values.

At 20 %, you are a creative person, with always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.

At 17 %, you are creative, you know how to see beauty, you are intuitive and your inspiration comes from the inside.

Finely, you are thoughtful and capable of listening to others, you take into account the needs of others before setting up the defined objectives, you are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.

Sounds pretty accurate.

I must be crazy for doing this because I've never written a Merlin fanfic (or any fanfic, apart from one pitiful little Legend of the Seeker drabble), but I NEED to write, and this might help me recover my motivation.


Sign-ups on now for the thefuturequeen's LAS/LIMS competition!

Another meme snagged from rowan_d:

Ask me one fandom-related question in the comments. This can be fandom specific, general, or about fandom/lj stuff/fic writing/etc. in general. Favorite character, favorite moment, unpopular opinion, something about a fic of mine... whatever. Wackiness encouraged.

My parents got divorced when I was 6. My mom had an affair (actually several affairs, according to my dad) which resulted in her getting pregnant with my sister. Naturally, the only memories I have of them together are from when they were fighting. For some reason, it never occurred to me to wonder what they were like when they were happy and in love -- until my brother and I went to Texas to visit Dad this past summer. While we were driving to his house, Dad and I somehow got to talking about the divorce, and he broke down in tears. I realized that if he was still hurting that much 15 years after the fact, they must have loved each other at some point.

Imagine my surprise last night, when I was visiting my paternal grandparents and my grandmother gave me a bag of letters Mom wrote to Dad while she was in college and he was in the marines, saying Dad wanted me to have them so I'd know that they did, indeed, love each other at one point. I read a few of them, and...wow. I just can't get my head around the fact that my mother is the same person as the lovesick 19-year-old who wrote those letters. They're extremely mushy and full of cliched phrases like "I'll love you forever" and "I'll never leave you." Although that obviously turned out not to be true, I like to think she meant it at the time she wrote it. It's better than seeing her as a whore who broke my father's heart. I think that to a degree, my grandparents still see her that way. My grandmother told me that when they were in the process of getting divorced, Mom said she knew the day they got married that she was making a mistake. She started crying, and my grandfather added that he knew Dad was making a mistake in marrying her.

But I know there are two sides to every story, so it can't have been all Mom's fault, even though it would be so easy to believe it was. I doubt I'll ever know the whole story.

I've decided to write 10 Arthur/Gwen fanfics for 10iloveyou. I'm a little rusty at coming up with my own story ideas, so A/G shippers on my f-list, you're welcome to prompt me. Just tell me what you want and don't want and I'll do my best to complete your request.

1.	Trust	6.	Passion
2.	Truth	7.	Duty
3.	Rules	8.	Forgiveness
4.	Loss	9.	Betrayal
5.	Loyalty	10.	Your choice

Another meme snagged from rowan_d

- Repost this with the subject as: I'm (how old you are) but I act (what you got on the test)

[] You know how to make a pot of coffee
[] You keep track of dates using a calendar
[x] You own a credit card
[] You know how to change the oil in a car
[x] You've done your own laundry
[x] You can vote in an election
[/] You can cook for yourself (sort of...do ramen noodles count?)
[] You think politics are interesting

TOTAL SO FAR: 3 1/2

[x] You show up for school late a lot
[x] You always carry a pen/pencil in your bag/purse/pocket
[] You've never gotten a detention
[] You have forgotten your own birthday
[x] You like to take walks by yourself
[x] You know what credibility means, without looking it up
[] You drink caffeine at least once a week

TOTAL SO FAR: 7 1/2

[x] You know how to do the dishes
[x] You can count to 10 in another language
[] When you say you're going to do something you do it
[] You can mow the lawn
[] You study even when you don't have to
[] You have hand washed a car before

TOTAL SO FAR: 9 1/2

[x] You can spell experience, without looking it up
[] The people at Starbucks know your usual
[] Your favorite kind of food is take out
[x] You can go to the store without getting something you don't need
[] You understand political jokes the first time they are said
[x] You can type pretty quickly

TOTAL SO FAR: 12 1/2

[] Your only friends are from your place of employment
[] You have been to a Tupperware party
[] You have realized that practically no one will take you seriously unless you are over the age of 25 and have a job
[] You have more bills than you can pay
[x] You have been to the beach
[x] You use the internet every day
[x] You have been outside of (your home country) 3 or more times.
[x] You make your bed in the morning

TOTAL: 16 1/2

Eating a big family dinner, going to church, then coming back and eating dessert and exchanging gifts, and finally putting milk and cookies out for Santa and reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with my mom, stepdad and sister.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas (or, if you don't celebrate it, a great Friday)! Since taliatoennien posted one of her favorite Christmas songs, I thought I'd post one of mine. I no longer consider myself a Christian, but this simple yet powerful song never fails to move me.

( Do You Hear What I Hear? )

Easy: Mobile phone. I hate talking on the phone, so giving it up would be no problem for me. Chocolate, on the other hand, I could never give up. It's my reason for living (well, one of them).

Snagged from rowan_d

If you want to play, fill in your pairings of choice before you look at the questions.

6 I love:

#1. Xena/Ares (Xena: Warrior Princess)
#2. Arthur/Gwen (Merlin)
#3. House/Cuddy (House)
#4. Richard/Kahlan (Legend of the Seeker)
#5. Mick/Beth (Moonlight)
#6. Cox/Jordan (Scrubs)

3 I like:

#7. JD/Elliot (Scrubs)
#8. Puck/Quinn (Glee)
#9. Puck/Rachel (Glee)

3 I never liked:

#10. House/Cameron (House)
#11. Finn/Rachel (Glee)
#12. Arthur/Morgana (Merlin)

2 that piqued my interest:

#13. Xena/Callisto (Xena: Warrior Princess)
#14. Kahlan/Cara (Legend of the Seeker)

( Answers )

When a friend, whom I'll call Ethel, Natalie and I were driving to the mall today, we started talking about my brother's friend Mike, who used to have a big crush on Ethel and who's been a bad influence on my brother lately. The conversation went something like this:

Ethel: You know how everyone thought Mike and I were going to get married? I wonder what your Mom would think now, since she basically hates him.
Natalie: Why does Mom hate Mike?
Me: Because she thinks it's Mike's fault that --
Ethel: Don't tell her. Your mom doesn't want her to know.
Me: (annoyed) Why?
Ethel: Because she doesn't need to.
Me: I don't care. I'm going to tell her. Mom thinks it's Mike's fault that Nick's (my brother) doing drugs.
Ethel: Your mom didn't want her to know! Now it's on your ass when she finds out you told her.
Me: Don't tell me what to do! I'll tell her if I want to!
Natalie: I didn't even hear what you said.
Ethel: Your mom thinks it's Mike's fault that Nick's been drinking and partying so much.
Me: (sarcastically) Oh, that's so much better than what I said.
Ethel: Yeah, it is.
Me: No, it isn't.
Ethel: Whatever, Aimee. You need to be more mature about this.
Me: OMG YOU BIG MEANIE! *cries*

...well, I didn't say "OMG YOU BIG MEANIE!," but I did cry. A lot. And I made Ethel feel guilty for trying to stop me from telling my little sister something that would probably break her heart. *headdesk* I am 21 fucking years old. I am a GROWN WOMAN. I've worked so hard to become a stronger person these past few years, but the fact that I still can't seem to kick the habit of throwing extremely embarrassing temper tantrums when I don't get my way makes it all seem pointless. I hate myself for making everyone feel like they have to tiptoe around my fragile little feelings. That's not the kind of person I want to be. But unfortunately, it's the kind of person I am, and it seems there's nothing I can do to change that. *sigh*

1. Write only using Write or Die.
2. Keep the screen covered while writing so I'm not tempted to correct/rewrite anything.
3. No re-reading.

It's Day 8, and my current word count is a whopping 3,014. I'm over 10K behind. My motivation is at an all-time low. I'm not giving up, though. I did it once, and if I follow these rules (and avoid the NaNo website like the plague so everyone else's insanely high word counts don't make me want to kill myself), I can do it again.

And now for something FUN! Yay!

( Meme questions from elsieaustin )