HSU IT Department

As of Friday I'm off work until Jan 2, and today I feel well-rested for the first time in about two weeks. And what am I doing with all this leisure, you ask? Good stuff, let me tell you!

For one thing, I'm reading stories about some of my favorite people, written by some of my favorite people, in the company of some of my favorite people. sshg_giftfest and hoggywartyxmas are both currently posting, and both are crammed with amazing creations, whether you like sexy or silly, funny or fantastical, heart-breaking or heart-warming. There is even a set of dress-your-own Albus, Minerva, and Severus paper dolls!

I've also given in to the forces of pop culture and am watching The Mandalorian (friends had warned me that resistance was useless, and so it proved...). With Baby Yoda we have indeed reached Peak Cuteness. Behold my favorite meme:



Even more than that, though, I love how the series so perfectly evokes the feel of the original 1977 movie, from the music to the alien races that get background cameos, from the color palette to the look and feel of the tech, right down to the goofy "wipes" used in scene changes. I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed that the encounter in the Mos Eisley cantina maps almost gesture for gesture with the original, where Luke and Ben meet Han for the first time.

And today I get to go out to lunch with Mr Psmith for the first time in ages, and I think we're going to shoot a little pool! I got him this cool thing for Christmas so he can play again.

Best of all, I'm paying no attention whatever to politics.

Ah, life is good :)

Read! Share! Post! Let's have a little book talk :)

1. Favorite childhood book, and why? - A tie between (1) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott), with its rich complex characters, warm and loving family life, and fully-realized range of affections and passion that it illustrates, both personal (art, talent, personal best) and interpersonal (sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives, new and old lovers), and (2) The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster), because it's so original, weird, sharp, and creative. I mean, who comes up with the idea of a symphony that plays the colors of the world, or Subtraction Stew, or literally eating one's words? And of course Azaz the Unabridged totally reminds me of Dumbledore ("Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!")

2. First book you clearly remember reading? - Bambi. My stepdad gave it to me for my seventh birthday and I adore it to this day.

3. Favorite reading snack? Cheese and crackers. Salty, crispy, yummy, and doesn't leave grease stains on the pages.

4. Favorite reading location as a child? As an adult? - As a child I would take a bag of apples and a book and climb a tree. Now I'm more about the sofa and a glass of wine.

5. Most intimidating book you've tackled and why (and what happened?!) - Gravity's Rainbow. Still haven't made it past about page 50.

6. The longest you've gone without reading? - Um...six hours?

7. Genre you rarely read but wish you did? - Biography. I'm sure there are a ton of amazing bios out there, but mostly I just get bored when I read someone's life story. Which is odd since I've kept a journal myself since I was eleven lol

8. If you were taking a ten-day trip, how many books would you pack? 12-15. I have to have options, since I don't know what I'll be in the mood for.

9. What books are on your nightstand right now? - Red Rising, This Census Taker, Gods of the Blood, and Talking God.

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::

Dear arcanetrivia, this is for you :)

"4.7 million fanfics are now Hugo winners, thanks to AO3 and the transformative culture that built it..."

You guys, THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!!! Best part: Every fanfic writer in the audience was asked to stand and jointly accept the award :)

More here and here, and there is also an NPR piece. I am as happy as a very happy thing, also I may have cried just a tiny bit :D

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

Go to about the 10:05 mark and LOOK, LOOK, LOOK AT THIS WOT THEY ARE DOING!!!



It's pasta with cheese... MADE IN THE CHEESE.

Could there be anything more utterly scrumptious???

Pardon me while I go watch this again. And again. And again....

Edit: There's another excellent cheesy bit at about 4:01, too. Sooooo hungry now!!

And I'm excited!!

I love making words on paper with a pen. I love the glide of the ink, the feel of the pen in my hand, the curves and lines, the way letters build words, words build sentences, sentences build messages. I love the way a letter in an envelope looks and feels when it's all addressed and stamped and waiting to be sent: the perfect size, the neat square corners, the heft and firmness of cardstock, the fun of choosing a stamp from among the many designs and images. I am agog at the fact that a bunch of total strangers will pass this small fragile thing along for me, hand to hand, all the way across the country or even around the world -- it's like magic!! I love thinking about my letter arriving in a mailbox, sitting there like a friendly little long-distance wave, and someone opening it, and having a nicer day because they got something in the mail that wasn't a bill. A letter touches another person in a way an email can't. As the Smithsonian Postal Museum says on their blog, letters are "physical manifestations of the senders. The loved ones’ hands wrote the words, folded the letter and sealed it into an envelope. Each letter still brings with it that gift, a physical connection that can’t be replicated through phones or tablets."

I have a huge stash of cards, notecards, stationery, etc. which I am always adding to, and I enjoy sorting through it looking for just the right one for a particular person or situation. I also have a stash of all kinds of different stamps; every time I go to the post office I ask the clerk to show me what new designs they have. At the moment I have stamps featuring Scooby Doo, Hot Wheels cars, the art of magic, ice cream sundaes, Disney villains, sharks, cactus flowers, and our National Parks. Alas, I missed out on the Mr. Rogers stamps -- they sold out in just a few days.

The challenge of National Letter-Writing Month is (duh) to see how many letters you can write. And I'd like to write to YOU. No, seriously, I really would :)

If you'd like to get a letter from me, just comment here and say so.* In order to make my letter of interest to you, and so I don't end up writing ten different versions of "what I did this week," please also tell me something you're interested in (horror movies, biodiversity, fantasy novels, politics, writing, cake decorating, collecting stuffed wombats) or ask me a question (what's the best bodice-ripper I ever read? do I think college should be free? what happens when we die? is Queen Elizabeth actually a shape-shifting reptile alien?). Anything goes!

Here's the catch, though: When you get my letter, you must write me back. Nothing fancy is required -- literally anything will suffice, even two lines on a postcard. Are you game? Of course you are!!

* No need to provide your address in the comment; if I don't already have it, I'll send you a PM asking for it. Also I am more than happy to write to people overseas, so if you're not in the U.S., don't let that stop you!

It's National Handwriting Day! Writing by hand exercises your fine motor skills (it's about more than just the thumb, people!), improves dexterity (swiping can only do so much!), helps you retain information, and can have a powerfully positive emotional impact on the folks you write to. So write that letter to a friend, scribble a note and slip it under someone's door, leave a message on somebody's windshield, send a card to a family member, whatever -- as long as you do it by hand :)

If you can't think of anyone to write to, Egg Press has a list of those in need who could use a friendly word. Write on!!!