( Blink. Blink. Yawn. )

State of my inbox: around 80 e-mails.

Today's reading:

• Not Allowed To Eat by PrincessPatrice. NCIS
• And I'd Buy A Big House Where We Both Could Live Ch25, by Shinkonokokoro. Avengers
• The Traveler's Heart by ?. Harry Potter
• Until She Shines, by Verity. SGA
• To Be A Man Ch4, by Cernicalo. The Sentinel

So, I wrote a couple of pieces of short fiction. One was a writing exercise for alasdair1076 (which has had several weeks of writing group critique and polishing); the other is a '30 minute drunken flashfic' (exactly what it says on the tin). Neither of these is fanfic. Hurrah! And they're both over at my the_proofreader account. If you're interested. Apart from that, I'm in Cornwall at WriteCamp '09 with friends, attempting to get my head back into my own fiction, and occasionally succeeding. It's nice to remember that I don't suck at this, that I have actually sold stories to paying markets, and of all the things I can do, I do this best.

Of course, it'd be nice to be able to sleep properly, too. But hey, can't have everything. If the worst comes to the very worst, I'm going to grab duvets and pillows and puppy pile with anyone too polite not to get out of my way.

On days like these, my 'not quite an entire person on my own' is showing (aka being a twin, aka having been in long-term relationships from the age of 16, aka being very close to Aspergic, aka having a brain that really, really doesn't need drugs in order to give me funky out-of-body experiences).

It occurs to me, after all these years, that I don't like beds. I've never liked beds. I like piles of cushions and blankets and duvets. I love hammocks. I hate beds with a passion, but they're easier to snuggle in.

I miss ravenlas. I'll sleep properly when I get home.

On Saturday, I got to see my godson, his shiny new sister and his parents on Saturday, which was ace, even if all the frogs and frogspawn seem mysteriously to have vanished from the pond. On Sunday, I met up with my older sister and her mum and step-dad over at Lotherton Hall and got to go round the bird garden and see an Andean condor, a hornbill and some rheas, among many other birds, then went home and played D&D. And yesterday I couldn't get my brain into gear at all, spent an out-of-focus day on the sofa with some SG-1 fanfic, and in the evening, ( cut for being a bit depressing )

I didn't sleep well over the long weekend, least of all last night. I'm tired and I'm shaky and I'm going to be out of touch for a while, in all probability. Hopefully I'll get my batteries charged this week and be back in the saddle again soon.

Five things make a post...

1. The guy who tried to attack ravenlas was found guilty, ordered to pay compensation and court costs. I can't help but hear Margie (Fargo) tutting and saying 'All for a little bit o' money!' - well, all for a little bit o' impatience. That garage visit has cost the guy a criminal record and £360 quid. *sigh* Not his finest Sunday afternoon, I'm betting...

2. The holiday was lovely; I got a lot of knitting done and not a lot of skiing, but enjoyed myself anyway. I managed not to be too frustrated at not having the oomph to get out skiing until the Thursday. It's a waste of good ski hire, but equally, I got out eventually. I highly recommend staying in a Le Ski chalet - we were looked after brilliantly by Ben, Elise and Poppy, even to the extent of baking gluten and dairy free shortbread and flapjacks so that I had something to have for afternoon tea. Awesome! I'm going to try baking some shortbread as that was so tasty.

3. The Xbox 360 Elite wot I got for my dearly beloved for our quarter anniversary should as of today be winging its way back to Play.com (intermittent graphics fault) and we should have the replacement by the end of the week. I hope.

4. I'm still tired, still lacking in stamina, so I'm cutting right down on 'doing things'. I'm attempting to stick to a 10pm bedtime (gah!) and take a 5 minute break in every hour to sit or lie down without distraction, etc, which is harder to manage than I'd have thought, especially since I don't particularly want to. I need to conserve more energy to my HPA-axis will fix itself, but I don't want to not do *anything* at all - I need to exercise! I don't want my weight to go up any further! I'm not entirely sure how to reconcile all this, but I'm working on it.

5. Hard Times isn't as difficult as people made out. The 1951 recording of Aida with Maria Callas, Del Monaco, Taddei, Dominguez, conducted by De Fabritis, is absolutely incredible. Recorded live in Mexico City. Wow! Watchmen is visually stunning, quite slow (thus allowing for appreciation of the stunning visuals), very well done and has animated giant blue wang. So what's not to like?

I meant to put up some links to fantastic things, I really did. Maybe I'll post a five links post later...

Some of my tired is explained. I have cramps. Meh. I also have tea and a hot water bottle.

Weird dreams: Sunday night - horror - someone tapping at a window trying to get in (to do with my Shed World story, probably). This morning - more horror. In a comic book format. Lots of blues and greens, pen and ink drawings. Ginger Rodgers as a detective, wearing capri pants and a headscarf. She tracks a murderer to a graveyard, watches as he gives eyes (stolen from a victim, rather ripe by now) to a ghost, who pops them into her eyesockets and becomes solid enough for them to do the nasty for a bit. Then the eyeballs (ripe, remember) squish - cue close-up frame of ick spurting out of them (yes it's probably a bad sexual metaphor) - and the ghost becomes insubstantial once more.

You know, I don't think I'll ever need drugs when my brain gives me this shit for free.

So it's gone 4pm, and I'm still in my pyjamas. This can only mean one thing - a hangover! Hurrah!

I'm not actually terribly hungover, thanks to staying in bed until past 12, but please, if anyone ever offers me raspberry vodka again, remind me to Just Say No, mkay? *grin*

Vicky's birthday party - lots of fun. Got to catch up with people, compare boobs, and talk utter bollocks (and glima). I love my friends! You guys are awesome.

The BFS pissup at the Hussar was okay. We didn't win the quiz this year, which was an alasdair1076 special, including a round called 'Obscureotron 5000', so I don't feel too bad about it. *grin* I got some answers in earlier rounds, and totally rocked on 3 of the 5 quotes. *heh* Should've known the others, too, but meh. *shrug* I bought a book by Allison Byrd called 'Bullrunning for Girls' which looks rather good, being a collection of horror stories.

And today the postman delivered a parcel with two copies of Lavie Tidhar's Hebrew Punk from Apex Books. Really. Which made me wonder whether in fact I'd drunk far more than I thought and had missed a day and it was actually Monday. But palmersperry assures me they've been introducing more flexible working because people are more likely to be in if they deliver parcels on a Sunday. :) Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading Hebrew Punk because Lavie Tidhar is a truly excellent writer. And I have a spare copy to give away.

I have watched Keeping The Faith, and it's still just as good a film as it was the first time I saw it. And I'm watching Serenity with Joss Whedon's commentary. What an amazing man he is. And not just him, it's everyone he works with. Incredible, hugely talented people. I am full of awe and respect. Very impressed. And yes, I'm still full of squee. :)

So yesterday was my annual barbeque. nearly_everyone attended, and people seemed to have a great time, which makes me very happy. People didn't seem to mind me running around in circles, being unable to finish sentences, and foisting huge quantities of food onto them. People also brought their small people, who raced around and generally had a fab time and didn't fall into the pond and drown. Which is definitely a bonus.

Thank you *so* much to you all for coming! It was an awesome day, spent in the company of lots of people who I know and love. You're amazing!

I have: a fox, a red sticklebrick, a yellow pencil crayon, and a black cherokee jumper. I know who the sticklebrick belongs to - any takers for the others?

ETA:Jumper claimed! And fox claimed!

And thank you guys for the awesome selection of wool, vouchers for wool, vast quantities of truly excellent chocolate, and lush bath stuff. Truly the perfect presents! *is so happy*

You are awesome. And to the few of you who couldn't make it, you have a standing invitation to come and visit, as you should know by now. So get in touch, come visit, and we'll barbeque anyway. *grin*

In other news: today I did lots of washing, a little tidying up, and some writing. It's been my first vegging 'day off' in a long time, it feels like! And tomorrow the very last part of Correspondence Course goes up over at the_proofreader. So if you were waiting to read it all? Head on over in the morning and it'll be waiting for you. *grin*

Several random things...

1. Lincoln was lovely. It was rather special to be able to camp in the grounds of the castle, and I really enjoyed bimbling around in my medieval outfit, making stuff and chatting and relaxing.

2. Must make a List for packing, and also acquire a TARDIS or a larger car. Packing is Not Fun^TM.

3. Nice to see folks at the Theatre Royal sale. I bought all their remaining fox furs and a couple of pieces of silk. And a blouse.

4. When running round like a loony, doing mad frantic last-minute sewing and having just written a clean, postable 32,000 word fanfic novella in 2 weeks, and being in the middle of hoiking stuff out to pack into a Fiesta to go away for my first ever reenactment event, that's the time my oomph will vanish out from under me, and I will fall into the Slough of Despond AND the Pit of Despair. I love writing, but the come-down's a bitch. Also, alasdair1076 is wonderful and I'm extremely glad he's my best friend.

5. ravenlas is a truly amazing man, and is very, very hot in a doublet and hose. *fans self* Truly I am a very lucky woman! No, I have no photos. This time. Next time, though... *grin* And he is wonderful with Aspergic kids.

6. Got a lot of work to get through this week. Posting this (and Correspondence Course over on the_proofreader) is not getting it done. So. I may be slow to reply to comments, emails etc.

7. RIP Audrey Chapman, a very brave and fierce woman. She had a hard life, and I hope now she has some peace. I'll miss her.

8. There is no number 8. Oh well. Tumty-tumty-something... nope. Gone. *shrug*

So I shall go too. Tea break's over. Back on my head.

( My brain is mush... )

Edit: Interestingly, I took an online Aspie test to see how my brain is doing (thanks to John Scalzi). And today, I'm Aspergic. I scored 158/200 on the Aspie score, and only 98/200 on the neurotypical (non-Aspie) score. I bet if I take the quiz again at the end of next week, I'll score completely differently. Hmmm... Oh, the joys of being a Gemini, and having a brain which runs in several different configurations, making me several different people at once. What shall I wear today? Who shall I be today? Yeah... today I am an aspie and my brain is mush. How're you doing?