HSU IT Department

I hope everyone is having a safe, relaxing winter holiday, despite its being not at all what we would have expected a year ago. If you're looking for an excellent way to pass some time, hoggywartyxmas is now posting and once again the stories are a true delight -- original, creative, well-written, and jolly good fun. Madam Malkin has a starring role in several of the offerings posted thus far, including a lovely exchange of letters with Madam Pince in which both young witches are finding their professional feet, as it were. The description of the National Library of Magic is bewitching :) If you haven't yet visited, now is the time!

Prompt claiming is still open over at sshg_promptfest! It took me forever to narrow down my choices but I've finally picked one. I'm delighted to see that one of my own prompts has been claimed -- my favorite one, in fact -- so yay for that. Go browse, see if something sparks your fancy!

In other news...

Last week we went for a walk and three tiny ponies were roaming the neighbor's yard and munching his grass. We haven't seen them again since, so we don't know if they were (a) pets, (b) a new method of lawn-mowing, or (c) a marauding band of miniature wild mustangs, descended from the hills now that there's no traffic. I keep hearing that wildlife is encroaching into deserted cities, so you never know. I suppose it's also possible that they were (d) a hallucination. We haven't been getting out much.

Yesterday I made banana muffins for the first time! I make banana bread often, but this time Mr Psmith requested muffins. I had meant to put chocolate chips in half of them (because CHOCOLATE, amirite?) but I forgot. Fortunately, I remembered that one Seinfeld episode, so when they came out of the oven, all warm and smelling like pure heaven, I carefully took off the tops of two of them, inserted a few chips (ok, more than a few) (ok, a LOT), and put the top back on. They are DELISH.

Our chickens are out of the house and into their coop in the side yard. They seem deeply suspicious of the little ladder leading from the chickenhouse part down into the fenced run, but we are in hopes their natural curiosity will tempt them out eventually. I kind of miss their little "cheep cheep cheep" coming from the other room, but I can't wait to have our very own eggs. Mr Psmith wants to get goats so we can make our own feta, but I have drawn A Very Firm Line at that. At least for now...

Oh, and POTUS is still a brainless moron. By now that's not really news, though, is it?

snapecase is looking for authors! Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on. You know you want to.

..."Gosh, I hope snape_case runs again." And what do I see today? It's a go! ::does happy dance::

sshg_giftfest rides again! Broomsticks, of course ;) If you want to play, sharpen those quills and start thinking about prompts...

sshg_giftfest is winding down with its final post coming on Saturday, while snapecase has begun posting and continues until our favorite anti-hero's birthday on January 9th. Both fests are, as always, filled with meticulous crafting, lovely art, and extraordinary writing. Whether your catnip is angst or AU, humor or hawt, there is something here for everyone. Stop in and indulge your love of all things Snape :)

Also, of course, the best holiday party anywhere is going on over at hoggywartyxmas. Everyone is there, from Neville to Irma Pince (and more than a few are taking a dig or two at a certain twinkly Headmaster!). Do not miss this, whatever you do.

Come and play!

sshg_giftfest is open for signups. Go on, you know you want to...

Reveals are up for hoggywartyxmas and sshg_giftfest, so I can now cop to being the author of the following:

Ding Dong Merrily on High (LJ) (AO3) - written for pyttan for hoggywartyxmas. The Hogwarts ghosts want to spread a little holiday cheer. Things do not go as planned.

The Joy of Cooking (LJ) (AO3) - written for madeleone for sshg_giftfest. A git and a swot walk into a cookery class. Warning: Contains inaccurate cooking times and deeply random choices of recipes.

Both fests were simply amazing this year. I especially loved how many of the hoggywartytales centered on books and/or libraries (if you haven't read Bibliomancy you are missing a real treat), and the finale for sshg_giftfest (NSFW) by mywitch is truly outstanding (and I'm really not kidding about the NSFW lol).

Also - yay!! - snapecase has begun posting, already featuring some wonderful stories spanning Severus' entire life. Picketing for Peace, in which Severus and his father take tentative steps towards reconciliation, is a real standout both for the well-crafted interactions and the connection to real-world Muggle events (the miners' strikes in the UK in the mid-1980s). Posting continues through Jan 18 or so.

snapecase is still open for signups! Go on, you know you want to :)




snapecase: Celebrating Severus Snape throughout his ages!