A Safe Space for Moogles

Can I just take a moment to mention what a huge writerly-girlcrush on Sharon Shinn I have right now?

The woman has penned an amazing fantasy series (Novels of the Twelve Houses, starting with Mystic and Rider, if you're interested, and you are) that encompasses politics, romance, war, and magic in ways that make me fall in love with all of them all over again. -Rather, for the first time in the case of romance. I found her Reader and Raelynx in paperback a few months ago and devoured it in the space of about a day, even though I tried to make it last because I thought it was the end of the series.

And then. And then. A few days ago I discovered Fortune and Fate. Do you know what Ms. Shinn has done, flist? I'll tell you: she took a very minor character, one that appeared only briefly in the previous novel, and spun an entire book off of her. And damn my eyes, I read it all in the space of a few hours.

Now that is talent.

...Also, I have finally made the Internet work on my Wii. Immediately downloaded LostWinds. It is criminally adorable.

That is all.

So, I misspoke yesterday. Turns out the TF kink meme isn't the first of its kind to break the comment limit - the Phoenix Wright one is on its third or fourth post, which knowing the source material actually doesn't surprise me at all. XD But! This in no way takes away from our own accomplishment. Pooooorn! :D (It continues in tfanonkink, by the way. In case you were looking for your sticky fix. Which I am most certainly not, what are you talking about.)

I picked up Transformers: The Veiled Threat at the supermarket yesterday and got about two-thirds through it. It's... well, I've read better fanfics, frankly (*loves on flist*), but it's got some cute moments. Not the least of which is Optimus listening to peppy Japanese girl pop. ^_^

It occurs to me that I've become kind of a hermit even online. I don't stay involved with my friends nearly as much as I want to. I'm just usually so tired and can't concentrate real well during the week, so I let comments slide - especially feedback on fic and such. I apologize to you all. I'll try to do better. *passes out hugs*

So I just finished Small Favor at work tonight. Without giving too much away, let me say that I really want Ivy and Mouse to have a playdate together. With lots of fussing and chasing butterflies. ...I may be a sap.

Also, I'm getting unholy images of a Dresden Files/Phoenix Wright crossover. Maya channels the wrong spirit, gets in over her head again, Phoenix looks in the phone book under 'W'... okay, somebody slap me before I get out of control.

In other news, 'Spider-Man' rescues autistic Thai boy. D'awwww. X3

...do you have any idea how frustrating it is to feel so deeply for a main character when you know that if you met him in person you'd hate his sorry rotten guts? Self-absorbed prick that he is, can't go a single day without hurting someone.

I'm pretty sure I have a crush on Sarah Monette. GAH. *clutches head*

So I picked up Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin a while back and I finally got around to reading it. I never expected to be converted to full-fledged magick-with-a-k Wiccanishness, but I do dabble in a few things, so I thought I ought to know about the wider range of beliefs in which they exist. I'd gotten a couple books from the library that impressed me (check out The Body Sacred by Dianne Sylvan, it's basically self-image through a Wicca-ish lens and it's absolutely amazing), but they were written for people who were already In The Fandom, so to speak. I figured I'd get further insight if I started at the beginning. Hence this book.

It wasn't exactly the kind of book I'd curl up with of an evening with a mug of hot chocolate, but it was fairly interesting and followable until I got to this passage:

Once you're comfy [sitting down], rub your hands together until you feel warmth between them. Then hold your hands together in front of you as if you were a child saying a bedtime prayer, and slowly move them apart a few inches. As you move them apart, see if you can feel the energy that you just raised zip between your palms ... or... fingers... wait... um, no, that's... um, that's friction...

[trailing off into incoherence mine]

Possibly I'm cynical. But I know when I'm lying to myself when it comes to the spiritual stuff, I'd been doing it for years, and this shit right here feels no different to me than believing that God created the Earth in six days and that homosexuals are going to hell. It's not a matter of whether it's true - you make yourself believe it because if you don't, you aren't really One Of Us.

...I never got much further on that book. It just... hit a nerve that jangled wrong.

So that's why I'll never be anything but a solitary practitioner in whatever faith I end up settling in. I'm going in with my eyes wide open, and I will not be told what my spiritual experiences should be.

First, re: newsletter thing from yesterday. It was part guilt and part stubbornness that got me writing in the end, but I managed to bang out a short thing for my part of the newsletter. It helped, of course, that I could get away with less than four hundred words (at least seventy percent of which was pure, unrestrained snark). Whether all this is a good sign regarding my mood as of late, I leave to you to decide, dear reader.

Speaking of my stressed-out mood, Potential Boss hasn't gotten back to me yet about Teh Job, and I'm... kinda relieved. To be honest, I don't think I'll get it - the lady seemed about as stressed-out as I feel, and generally didn't sound ready to babysit me while I learned the trade. And on my end, I've been so worn out and edgy about school lately, I just don't see how I could handle a job on top of that. I almost miss my frame shop job - sure, the pay was crap, but it was better than nothing, and there wasn't much to do besides sit in the back and crochet. God, I wish I'd never even heard of Kramer Graphics. So, I guess it comes down to a choice. Which do I value more right now: monies or sanity?

Bah, enough of that depressing talk! I have been reading Books, which makes everything better. Pithy reviews behind the cuts, general spoiler warning:

( White Night, by Jim Butcher )

( Dark Moon Defender, by Sharon Shinn )

( The Virtu, by Sarah Monette )

Last thing: FreeRice.com, a flash vocab game that donates ten grains of rice to starving communities through the UN for every word you get right. Perfect for bookish types who are a) socially conscious, and b) lazy. Though I have to wonder how much rice they'd get if they had used, say, Tetris. Ten grains per line? Good lord, the Internet would solve the world hunger problem in a heartbeat. XD