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Thursday 29 November 1666 [Nov. 29th, 2009|11:00 pm]
pepys_diary

Up, and to the office, where busy all the morning. At noon home to dinner, where I find Balty come out to see us, but looks like death, and I do fear he is in a consumption; he has not been abroad many weeks before, and hath now a well day, and a fit day of the headake in extraordinary torture. After dinner left him and his wife, they having their mother hard by and my wife, and I a wet afternoon to White Hall to have seen my Lady Carteret and Jemimah, but as God would have it they were abroad, and I was well contented at it. So my wife and I to Westminster Hall, where I left her a little, and to the Exchequer, and then presently home again, calling at our man-cooke's for his help to- morrow, but he could not come. So I home to the office, my people all busy to get a good dinner to-morrow again. I late at the office, and all the newes I hear I put into a letter this night to my Lord Bruncker at Chatham, thus:--

"I doubt not of your lordship's hearing of Sir Thomas Clifford's succeeding Sir H. Pollard in the Comptrollership of the King's house; but perhaps our ill, but confirmed, tidings from the Barbadoes may not [have reached you] yet, it coming but yesterday; viz., that about eleven ships, whereof two of the King's, the Hope and Coventry, going thence with men to attack St. Christopher's, were seized by a violent hurricane, and all sunk -- two only of thirteen escaping, and those with loss of masts, &c. My Lord Willoughby himself is involved in the disaster, and I think two ships thrown upon an island of the French, and so all the men, to 500, become their prisoners. 'Tis said, too, that eighteen Dutch men-of-war are passed the Channell, in order to meet with our Smyrna ships; and some, I hear, do fright us with the King of Sweden's seizing our mast-ships at Gottenburgh. But we have too much ill newes true, to afflict ourselves with what is uncertain. That which I hear from Scotland is, the Duke of York's saying, yesterday, that he is confident the Lieutenant-Generall there hath driven them into a pound, somewhere towards the mountains."

Having writ my letter, I home to supper and to bed, the world being mightily troubled at the ill news from Barbadoes, and the consequence of the Scotch business, as little as we do make of it. And to shew how mad we are at home, here, and unfit for any troubles: my Lord St. John did, a day or two since, openly pull a gentleman in Westminster Hall by the nose, one Sir Andrew Henly, while the judges were upon their benches, and the other gentleman did give him a rap over the pate with his cane, of which fray the judges, they say, will make a great matter: men are only sorry the gentle man did proceed to return a blow; for, otherwise, my Lord would have been soundly fined for the affront, and may be yet for his affront to the judges.

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Alllllmost there... [Nov. 29th, 2009|11:43 am]

prairiecrow
[Tags|]

I just cracked 49k. Barring a sudden catastrophic case of H1N1, I'll finish tonight or tomorrow morning.

Help hatch this very stubborn little egg?

Adopt one today!
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Cinnamon vs. Hardwood Floors [Nov. 29th, 2009|03:04 pm]
disapproving
Another one from Thanksgiving.
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Comic for November 29, 2009 [Nov. 29th, 2009|12:00 am]
dilbert


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Wednesday 28 November 1666 [Nov. 28th, 2009|11:00 pm]
pepys_diary

Up, and with Sir W. Pen to White Hall (setting his lady and daughter down by the way at a mercer's in the Strand, where they are going to lay out some money), where, though it blows hard and rains hard, yet the Duke of York is gone a-hunting. We therefore lost our labour, and so back again, and by hackney coach to secure places to get things ready against dinner, and then home, and did the like there, and to my great satisfaction: and at noon comes my Lord Hinchingbroke, Sir Thomas Crew, Mr. John Crew, Mr. Carteret, and Brisband. I had six noble dishes for them, dressed by a man-cook, and commended, as indeed they deserved, for exceeding well done. We eat with great pleasure, and I enjoyed myself in it with reflections upon the pleasures which I at best can expect, yet not to exceed this; eating in silver plates, and all things mighty rich and handsome about me. A great deal of fine discourse, sitting almost till dark at dinner, and then broke up with great pleasure, especially to myself; and they away, only Mr. Carteret and I to Gresham College, where they meet now weekly again, and here they had good discourse how this late experiment of the dog, which is in perfect good health, may be improved for good uses to men, and other pretty things, and then broke up. Here was Mr. Henry Howard, that will hereafter be Duke of Norfolke, who is admitted this day into the Society, and being a very proud man, and one that values himself upon his family, writes his name, as he do every where, Henry Howard of Norfolke. Thence home and there comes my Lady Pen, Pegg, and Mrs. Turner, and played at cards and supped with us, and were pretty merry, and Pegg with me in my closet a good while, and did suffer me 'a la baiser mouche et toucher ses cosas' upon her breast, wherein I had great pleasure, and so spent the evening and then broke up, and I to bed, my mind mightily pleased with the day's entertainment.

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My life according to Star Trek:Deep Space 9 [Nov. 29th, 2009|12:34 am]

catness
[Current Mood | amused]

Stolen from [info]barush. How to do this meme: Using only EPISODE names from ONE TV SHOW, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat an episode title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "My life according to (show)".

Describe yourself: "Facets"
How do you feel: "Broken Link"
Describe where you currently live: "Far Beyond the Stars"
If you could go anywhere where would you go: "Past Tense"
Your favorite form of transportation: "Through the Looking Glass"
Your best friend is: "Distant Voices"
What's the weather like: "Statistical Probabilities"
Favorite time of day: "In the Pale Moonlight"
If your life was a TV show, it would be called: "Crossover"
What is life to you: "The Darkness and the Light"
Your fear: "Invasive Procedures"
What is the best advice you have to give: "Favor the Bold"
Thought for the Day: "Take Me Out to the Holosuite"
How I would like to die: "Blaze of Glory"
My soul's present condition: "Shadows and Symbols"
My motto: "It's Only a Paper Moon"
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basterds [Nov. 28th, 2009|11:21 pm]

catness
[Current Mood | bored]

Finally saw the infamous "Inglourious Basterds". I had the file for ages but in such a lousy quality that I had considered waiting for the DVD, until I get really bored or something.

So, after all the hype, it left me entirely unimpressed - and I don't think it's the quality of the video which had spoiled it. The plot is boring, the characters are boring, you don't care what happens with any of them either way (with one exception, see below), it's neither shocking nor depressing nor amusing nor atmospheric.

The alleged blood & gore (e.g. scalping) is shown very briefly and is too obviously fake. I had expected to see more of Basterds' action, as a proof why they are supposed to be so fearsome - but most of the movie is talking talking talking. Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) looks and acts like a clown with a funny moustache. Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger) is just hanging around looking bored (although I do appreciate the 4 seconds of the whipping scene :)

The only redeeming quality of this movie is the character of Col. Hans Landa - he is intelligent, devious, charming, subtle and dangerous - everything one wants to see in the movie character! The bargaining bit at the end spoils it a little, but I suppose it was a followup to the intro, when he mentions that he knows how to think like a Jew. And the scene when he uncovers the disguise of the pseudo-Italians in the movie theater had totally cracked me up!

A couple more scenes worth watching:

- The capture and murder of Sgt. Werner Rachtman (a German soldier who chose death over betrayal, that was at least touching)

- the torture scene of Bridget von Hammersmark (not much to see but heck, with 2.5 hours of trash, you gotta be grateful for every bit of amusement you've got)

Also, I've learned a new bar game :)
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Robbie [Nov. 28th, 2009|07:26 pm]
disapproving
Do not cross.
No matter what the symbol,
DO NOT CROSS.


Thanks, Chrissie!
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how not to overcome a phobia [Nov. 28th, 2009|11:09 am]

spacelogic
[Current Mood | aggravated]

I broke my glasses last night. In the morning, when I sheepishly reported to Mum what had happened, she told me I should find a backup pair (don't have one; it's been years and my prescription changed) and call the optometrist. Now, I am a logical person, but do not ask me to make a phone call if there is any alternative. I will panic, shut down, and become defensive. The only kind of phone calls I can handle are when someone calls me, when I call home, when I call somewhere I know a robot will answer, and when I have absolutely no choice. It's hard enough talking to strangers in person, or emailing them; not knowing who'll be at the other end of the phone is impossible. And it's not just that I need to make more calls, goddammit. I feel ill when I'm pushed. And nobody understands. *single tear*
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Barbara is at the hospital being readied for her surgery [Nov. 28th, 2009|12:49 pm]

wyldraven
[Tags|, ]
[Current Location |Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center]
[Current Mood | hopeful]

[info - livejournal.com] lasarina transferred over to Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center late Monday evening. She is here for pre-operative clearances. If all goes as expected, she will have surgery to close the abdominal fistulas and her surgical wound sometime within the next 10 days to 2 weeks. She's in her 16th week on TPN (while taking no food by mouth), and is really looking forward to eating again.

No matter how much you tell yourself (intellectually) that you are getting all the nutrition you need through that PICC line, the "lizard brain" still continues to insist that you are starving to death because you are not eating. Bowel rest cannot possibly be fun in any sense of the word. Since 7-Aug of this year, she has had nothing by mouth but water, ice chips, and crushed medications mixed with the bare minimum of pudding to make the pills palatable (sort of).

I will let you all know when we have a final date set for the surgery. I am not at all too proud to ask for your prayers, meditations, good wishes, or whatever you call them in your belief system. I am also not kidding myself. There's a very real chance she won't survive this intervention (about 10%, per the surgeon). So please, send her your best wishes, and light a candle if you are so inclined, on the day of her surgery.

Read more... )

Originally posted at http://wyldraven.dreamwidth.org/543856.html
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Comic for November 28, 2009 [Nov. 28th, 2009|12:00 am]
dilbert


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Sales Over [Nov. 28th, 2009|12:18 am]

announcements

[squeaky]
All of the IJ holiday sales have ended and prices are back to normal. We will be putting Permanently Insane accounts on sale for their regular price before Christmas.
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meta: squicks and siblings [Nov. 27th, 2009|04:37 pm]

spacelogic
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood | pensive]

Claudia Christian mentioned in a blog post the other day that a B5 director ("who had clearly never watched the show") had told her to play her scenes with Sheridan more "sexy and coquettish" and I had such a strong "EWNOGROSS" reaction that I had to step back and analyze why. I can handle all kinds of fic/pairings, even if I prefer to avoid them. But Sheridan/Ivanova disgusts me, and thinking about it I've come to the conclusion that it's because they're too much like siblings.

It's kind of funny, I suppose. I can handle all kinds of screwed-up pairings if I understand the kink, even if I don't share it. I can deal with non-con, power imbalance including parent/child incest, aliens... lots of stuff. And I'm on IJ substantially because I used to have a good friend who wrote and read Weasleycest, and while I wasn't into it I didn't like the idea of her ability to do so being restricted. But despite this, sibling incest remains one of my biggest squicks.

Maybe it's because I have siblings I'm close to, and the idea of people perverting that kind of relationship feels too close to home. But I have parents I'm close to, too, and I can handle parent/child type stuff. I suppose in the Sheridan/Ivanova case, there's the added factor that they're not related by blood or by legal definition, and I've got those siblings too and know how upsetting I'd find it if people ignored that and assumed that we were sexually involved. Ties in to the whole "a man and a woman can't be just friends ever" cultural assumption, which I hate because I used to be the girl who had all guy friends and wasn't into any of them, no, really, stop teasing me, Mum! *coughs* Tangent there. Anyway, I think there's another factor.

Actors are often treated as people whose job is to convey emotions, deliver lines, and embody personalities. They are, of course. But another job they do is play relationships, and they're often not as good at that. We've all seen a big romantic storyline completely fizzle because the main romance lacked chemistry. Then, too, parent-child dynamics on screen and stage often fall flat. But the most commonly disappointing relationships I'm used to seeing are sibling ones. Screen siblings, whether bickering or affectionate, tend to fail to convince. And so I guess when I see a sibling relationship I like, I really don't like seeing it taken through the "a man and a woman can't be just friends ever" cliché. So Sheridan and Ivanova, whose sibling vibe seems so clear to me, I can't bear to think of in a sexual situation.

(Claudia Christian, I may have mentioned, is brilliant at playing relationships. Yet another reason I love B5.)
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Tuesday 27 November 1666 [Nov. 27th, 2009|11:00 pm]
pepys_diary

Up, and to the office, where we sat all the morning, and here I had a letter from Mr. Brisband on another occasion, which, by the by, intimates my Lord Hinchingbroke's intention to come and dine with me to-morrow. This put me into a great surprise, and therefore endeavoured all I could to hasten over our business at the office, and so home at noon and to dinner, and then away by coach, it being a very foul day, to White Hall, and there at Sir G. Carteret's find my Lord Hinchingbroke, who promises to dine with me to-morrow, and bring Mr. Carteret along with him. Here I staid a little while talking with him and the ladies, and then away to my Lord Crew's, and then did by the by make a visit to my Lord Crew, and had some good discourse with him, he doubting that all will break in pieces in the kingdom; and that the taxes now coming out, which will tax the same man in three or four several capacities, as for lands, office, profession, and money at interest, will be the hardest that ever come out; and do think that we owe it, and the lateness of its being given, wholly to the unpreparedness of the King's own party, to make their demand and choice; for they have obstructed the giving it by land-tax, which had been done long since. Having ended my visit, I spoke to Sir Thomas Crew, to invite him and his brother John to dinner tomorrow, at my house, to meet Lord Hinchingbroke; and so homewards, calling at the cook's, who is to dress it, to bespeak him, and then home, and there set things in order for a very fine dinner, and then to the office, where late very busy and to good purpose as to dispatch of business, and then home. To bed, my people sitting up to get things in order against to-morrow. This evening was brought me what Griffin had, as he says, taken this evening off of the table in the office, a letter sealed and directed to the Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Navy. It is a serious and just libel against our disorder in paying of our money, making ten times more people wait than we have money for, and complaining by name of Sir W. Batten for paying away great sums to particular people, which is true. I was sorry to see this way of reproach taken against us, but more sorry that there is true ground for it.

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Daring Bakers Nov Challenge- Cannoli [Nov. 27th, 2009|12:36 pm]

wolfsilveroak
[Tags|]



The Daring Bakers November 2009 Challenge hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.




I almost didn't do this Challenge.

Why? Because I hated Cannoli. Well, turns out, Mark loves Cannoli, my neighbor Chris loves Cannoli, Mark's boss and her family loves Cannoli, so it wouldn't be hard to get rid of them when I did make them.

Continued )
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OD'd on tryptophan [Nov. 26th, 2009|10:34 pm]

elfwreck
The post I wrote last night and didn't send 'cos I'd just posted something else and I always feel ridiculous making two posts in an hour:

I like the dressing. Rob makes the best turkey dressing in the world. He makes croutons from sourdough bread & italian dressing, and it's got sausage and ground beef and celery and onions, and chantrelles & crimini mushrooms and cherries and water chestnuts.

And Blossom came down from Wolf Creek and made cranberry relish; yaaay! and I made mashed potatoes, and Gail made apples-and-sweet-potatoes with the recipe Rob got from the WitchesWithBrains yahoogroup, and we had brussels sprouts and candied carrots, and pumpkin pie that Rob made yesterday. And turkey. And gravy made from the turkey drippings.

Mygods I'm stuffed. It's all really, really yummy food. And we'll have leftovers for daaaaayz. Including enough cranberry relish to make piroshkis tomorrow and maybe to have to take to work next week.

And I'm, like, DRUGGED. From the tryptophan. I want to sleep now and wake up... Tuesday. Instead, we have four extra people in our room who are watching the movie "Crowley" while I try to find new fanfic.

This entry is crossposted at http://elf.dreamwidth.org/284746.html. You can comment there with OpenID from your LJ or IJ account. Comments so far: comment count unavailable
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Lacey [Nov. 27th, 2009|03:27 pm]
disapproving
Just... one... more... bite....

Thanks, Christina!



As a reminder: you only have until Sunday to place your pre-orders for Disapproving Rabbits Shirts and Hats!

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Black Friday Sale is here [Nov. 27th, 2009|08:05 am]

announcements

[squeaky]
I have turned on today's special Black Friday sale.

Until 4:00pm(EST) we will be holding a sale on Permanently Insane accounts, Permanent Extra Userpics, and Insane Userpics the prices are as follows.

Permanently Insane account - $30
Insane Userpics - $70
Permanent Extra Userpics - $5

At 4:00 today all prices on IJ will go back to their normal amounts.
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Comic for November 27, 2009 [Nov. 27th, 2009|12:00 am]
dilbert


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Pagan terminology meta [Nov. 26th, 2009|10:20 pm]

elfwreck
[Tags|]

I put together a list of Pagan terms for use by nonpagans, specifically writers, at [info - community] writing_religion: Pagan terminology for nonpagan writers.

It's about 2700 words long. I'd welcome any feedback or questions; part of me thinks it's okay, and part thinks it's about 1/3 done and needs at total rewrite--but if I waited until I thought it was "finished," I'd never get it posted. And there really isn't enough info available *about* Pagans that's not written for people who are joining/members of Pagan religions.

And incompleteness is not necessarily wrong, in this case. It's more important to me that nonpagans understand the complexity of the issues than that they learn the details involved.

This entry is crossposted at http://elf.dreamwidth.org/284671.html. You can comment there with OpenID from your LJ or IJ account. Comments so far: comment count unavailable
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