HSU IT Department

The prompt review post is up over at sshg_promptfest, and there are some excellent ones. As a tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett, the fest particularly invited Discworld crossover prompts and I think we have outdone ourselves. Go ye and marvel!

Day 1 - Ten random facts about yourself
Day 2 - Nine things you do everyday
Day 3 - Eight things that annoy you
Day 4 - Seven fears/phobias
Day 5 - Six songs that you’re addicted to
Day 6 - Five things you can’t live without
Day 7 - Four memories you won’t forget
Day 8 - Three words you can’t go a day without
Day 9 - Two things you wish you could do
Day 10 - One person you can trust

First, last, and always: The night I met Mr Psmith. It was at an Irish pub; he knew all the words to the songs, he made me laugh (he was wearing this Renaissance-y shirt with big sleeves and greeted me with, "Ola! Mi llamo Fernando!"), he quoted both Monty Python and Amadeus at me, and that was pretty much all she wrote :) It was in February and our first date a week later for sushi came in the middle of a colossal blizzard, but he drove forty miles through it to meet me... I think everyone has vivid memories of the night they met their Significant Other, the person who changed your life for the better and became your best friend and companion. How could you not?

So I'll do four besides that one. These are the first four that come to mind, in chronological order:

1) When I was in first grade, a little boy in my class -- Todd -- lost his entire family in a house fire: mother, father, four brothers and sisters. Only he and his little brother survived, because the parents put them out the master bedroom window onto the garage roof just before the floor of the room gave way. I remember the headline in the paper the next day was, "I heard my toys falling." But of course it wasn't toys... They lived just down the block from my best friend Erica and the fire happened right around Halloween. A few days later we went to Erica's house -- I don't remember if we were picking her up or dropping me off -- and drove right past Todd's house. The house was a blackened ruin, the roof collapsed, the big bay window in the living room blown out, and sitting on the sill was a half-burned jack-o-lantern. Real horror movie stuff, eh? Todd never came back to school; he and his little brother went to live with relatives, I suppose. To this day I wonder about them, where they went and where they are today.

2) My first day of Catholic school, in third grade. We're not remotely Catholic, but my mom decided to send me to a Catholic school that year, I guess because it was a really good school. My first day, in Sister Marie Helen's homeroom, we started off with the pledge of allegiance which I knew very well. Then we did the Lord's Prayer, which I sort of knew from occasional forays to church on Christmas and Easter. Then they all launched into "Hail, Mary, full of grace" which for all I knew might have been the school fight song. Sister Marie Helen, a chubby little woman (and if she looked little to ME, who was three feet tall for about three years straight, you know she was tiny), came bustling over to me with this very worried look. "What's wrong, dear? Don't you want to say the hail Mary with us?" she said. I looked around at all the staring little faces, then down at my shoes and mumbled, "I don't know it." I looked up to see a look of appalled horror on her face, like "Oh, the poor little heathen thing!" and she told off one of the other students to take me into a corner and teach it to me. I spent two years at St. John's but I'll never forget that feeling of being an utter alien, where everyone else knew something I didn't. (Sister Benedicta's penmanship class was a whole 'nother kind of unforgettable...)

3) The night I suddenly realized that grown-ups weren't some alien species but just varying degrees further along the continuum than me. I was twelve and had been babysitting for a young couple -- they couldn't have been more than 22 or 23, but of course they were GROWN-UPS so they seemed old and serious -- and afterwards the husband drove me home. I was pretty shy and didn't say much, but about halfway home he said, "Oh hey, do you mind if I turn this up? I really like this song." Of course I said no, I didn't mind. I had just discovered popular music and the song was "My Sharona", which I LOVED, and as the radio thumped out the beat and he sang along with it and kept time on the steering wheel, it was like this window opened up and I realized that grown-ups were actual people that might like some of the same things I liked. It was a real paradigm shift.

4) The night I met my first boyfriend. I was fourteen and we met at a German Club party in high school (yes, German Club -- as John Bender would say, "Demented and sad, but social" lol). He was a year ahead of me in school, and since I skipped a year when I was young that made him two years older, which seemed so grown up to me at the time. I thought he was so handsome, big blue eyes and shaggy tousled brown hair. When he dared me to guess his last name, I got it on the first try (Alexander). He drove me home in his forest-green Plymouth Satellite, blasting AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" at ear-shattering decibels the entire way, and I think I was in love before we got to my house :) We ended up dating for two years. He was sweet and warm and funny and smart and loving and kind, and although we ended up going our separate ways, I will always be grateful to him that my first love was a good one.

Day 1 - Ten random facts about yourself
Day 2 - Nine things you do everyday
Day 3 - Eight things that annoy you
Day 4 - Seven fears/phobias
Day 5 - Six songs that you’re addicted to
Day 6 - Five things you can’t live without
Day 7 - Four memories you won’t forget
Day 8 - Three words you can’t go a day without
Day 9 - Two things you wish you could do
Day 10 - One person you can trust

"Can't live without" is pretty strong. I'm not sure there's anything I truly couldn't manage to live without, other than Maslow's basics: air, water, food, clothing and shelter. So assuming this actually means "Things without which my life would be unbearably dreary, featureless and grim," I shall go with these:

1) Family
2) Reading and writing (sorry, can't separate these two)
3) Music (if I haven't got any, I'll make some)
4) Cats (for companionship, they cannot be beat)
5) Wine or tea (I'm torn on this one, they're so mood-dependent)

Is book reviewing a public service or an art?

Well duh. It's BOTH. Who didn't know that??

This part made me laugh immoderately, because OH SO TRUE!!!

As inert as it might look on the page, the book review is a weirdly pressurized and verbally jeopardized space, crisscrossed with potential errors. There’s a huge pull toward pomposity, for one thing. Drop your guard, mid-review, and you’ll find yourself holding forth like a drunken bishop. “Insofar as our author blah blah blah. . . . ” Book review bombast comes in three flavors: highbrow (“Every page witnesses the overflow of his vast erudition”), middlebrow (“magisterial . . . that rare thing”) or lowbrow (“Wade through burning gasoline to get this book”). And everybody does it, automatically as it were. It’s why blurbs all sound like blurbs.

Day 1 - Ten random facts about yourself
Day 2 - Nine things you do everyday
Day 3 - Eight things that annoy you
Day 4 - Seven fears/phobias
Day 5 - Six songs that you’re addicted to
Day 6 - Five things you can’t live without
Day 7 - Four memories you won’t forget
Day 8 - Three words you can’t go a day without
Day 9 - Two things you wish you could do
Day 10 - One person you can trust


Only eight???

1) People who don't keep their word/do what they say they will do.
2) Printers. They seem to have some evil intelligence that springs to life whenever I interact with them: they print stuff landscape or backwards, create paper jams, and just generally become disobedient and contrary.
3) Tuvan throat singing. Mr Psmith has started practicing it and it's driving me maaaaaaaaad.
4) People who are unkind to animals. There is simply no excuse for that. You should be beaten with a rubber hose.
5) People who are anti-science. You have a brain for a REASON, people. It's not just filler to keep your head from imploding.
6) The rampant mindless idiocy that has allowed people like the Kardashians, the cast of Duck Dynasty, and every single person on Jersey Shore to become famous and rich.
7) Words like "irrespective" and "orientate." Also corporate buzzwords like "facilitate" and "synergy" and "leverage".
8) George W. Bush. I can't help it, his fact just makes me want to smack him. Plus he invaded a country that didn't bomb us.

And here's a bonus one: The bottomless gulf between library funding and football/basketball coach salaries.

Day 1 - Ten random facts about yourself
Day 2 - Nine things you do everyday
Day 3 - Eight things that annoy you
Day 4 - Seven fears/phobias
Day 5 - Six songs that you’re addicted to
Day 6 - Five things you can’t live without
Day 7 - Four memories you won’t forget
Day 8 - Three words you can’t go a day without
Day 9 - Two things you wish you could do
Day 10 - One person you can trust


1. I'm quite a good pool (billiards) player.
2. I used to hate brussels sprouts and now they are my favorite cruciferous vegetable :)
3. I hate pickled ginger. It's the only part of sushi that makes me unhappy.
4. My first job was at Long John Silver's when I was fourteen. I smelled like grease for two years BUT I HAD MONEY!!!
5. If I were single/unattached I would get a job with Amtrak. I love riding the train.
6. I once got a pony for Christmas. Really. (Best Christmas EVER.)
7. I found out the other day that someone I worked with briefly more than ten years ago still holds a grudge against me and I have no idea why. This is more than a little discomfiting, but there you go: you can't please all of the people all of the time.
8. The first movie I actually remember going to the theatre to see is Star Wars (1977). For years I thought the 20th Century-Fox fanfare was actually part of the Star Wars soundtrack (also, that scene where Luke puts one foot up on the rock under the binary-sunset? I thought for sure he was going to sing lol!)
9. I've kept a journal since I was eleven. Early entries consist of Deep Thoughts like "My brother is an annoying toad."
10. In first grade I got sent to the principal's office for chasing a little boy and trying to kiss him.

Reveals are up all over the place, so I can now admit to being the author of the following fics:

Title: True Lies (LJ) (AO3)
For: kerravonsen
Fest: sshg_giftfest
Summary: Snape's voice and his cutting words have always been his most flexible and potent weapon. What happens when that weapon turns against him?

I co-modded this fest with amorette and is was just a pure pleasure. I loved writing every word of this. My gift that I received from the talented toblass was also just fabulous (thank you, thank you! I have been remiss in not raving about it sooner, but out-of-town intervened) -- go and marvel at Sunday Afternoon"!!



Title: Chizpurfle in a Pine Tree (LJ) (AO3)
Fest: mini_fest, prompt by candamira
Summary: Getting the Yule tree turns out to be a bit trickier than either Hagrid or his students expect.

Chizpurfle has a bonus: A Hogwarts version of the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" :)



Title: Matches in the Snow (LJ) (AO3)
For: miss_morland
Fest: hoggywartyxmas
Summary: Sometimes it takes more than just a letter to get someone to Hogwarts

Matches in the Snow was so well received, I was just overwhelmed. It got mentioned on hp_diversity, was an Editor's Pick on quibbler_report, and was a Hot Rec on daily_snitch. I'm thrilled that the story touched so many people's hearts -- thank you!

Whew. That was a busy December, folks!

Just returned from a week visiting family back in the Great Flat Midwest. Lots of catching up to do tomorrow, but in the meanwhile:

Dare Wright's The Lonely Doll and Taylor Swift -- is it just me, or is there an eerie resemblance there?

It looks like a T. Rex bone, but the pet shop assures us it is in fact a bovine of some sort. Be sure to turn the sound up to get the full effect. Also, note warning which appears about 50 seconds in :)


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There are many family tales about this egg nog, from the time my grandmother's minister stopped by on Christmas Day and nobody noticed his nine-year-old son was slurping down mug after mug, to the story of my great-grandfather and his friends going caroling round the neighborhood with a massive jug of the stuff to fortify themselves, getting more and more festive as they went. For the last several years I've made it Christmas Eve after we get home from celebrating with one half of Mr Psmith's family, and we take it with us the next morning when we go celebrate with the other half.

This is the noggiest damn nog you will ever find, and it's AWESOME:



6 eggs, separated
2 c sugar
1-1/2 c. bourbon
3/4 c. rum
3/4 c. brandy
3 pints heavy cream
1 pint milk

Beat egg yolks until pale and lemony. Add sugar slowly, beating well. Add booze gradually, continuing to beat slowly. You will need to scrape the bottom of the bowl several times, since sugar doesn't melt well in cold stuff. Finally, add the cream and milk slowly, continuing to stir (I usually do this last bit by hand rather than with a mixer). Pour into a large pot with a lid and place in the freezer for at least 12 hrs.

Shortly before serving, beat the egg white until soft peaks form. Fold gently into the egg/cream/booze mixture. Ladle into mugs, sprinkle with cinnamon and/or nutmeg, and enjoy (but be wary!).