Below are the most recent 21 friends' journal entries.

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
elke_tanzer	8:10a	Random links of happy-making Here are a few links that have come to me from various sources over the past couple weeks: InsaneJournal is having a holiday sale Bay Area Accordion Babes pin-up calendar and CD morgandawn is linking to charities to consider in your holiday giving; the first of her series of posts is here. Via Youtube: Austrian hexapod robotics competition highlights: Dancing Division Also via Youtube: Wiimote+Roomba=Wiimba ! Johnny Chung Lee is my new hero... Johnny Chung Lee > Projects > Wii Current Mood: awake Current Music: Don't Stop Believin' (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
rivkat	11:41a	Eight Crazy Nights It's getting towards that time of year again, so I'm now soliciting prompts for Eight Crazy Nights. You provide fandom/s, character/s, pairing/s if you like, and something else--words, lyrics, tropes. Starting on the first night of Hanukah, I will post drabbles or, if inspiration strikes, something longer, just like last year. I'll do crossovers, timestamps for past stories, or anything else I can make work. Along with the usual suspects (SV, SPN, Buffy, XF) I will try anything I think I can do. Contenders include Chuck, Gossip Girl with appropriate characters (hint: Blair Waldorf must pie; Jenny Humphrey must die), and My Own Worst Enemy. Multiple prompts are fine; I'll just see what I can get to. (Comment on this)
rivkat	11:35a	Reviews: fiction ( m/m erotica, alternate reality, Star Trek spinoff ) Current Mood: crappy Current Music: Hey Willpower - Chewing Gum (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
elke_tanzer	9:04p	Wherein Elke helps her RL self with her wardrobe So sometime between my first Escapade con and now, I figured out that dressing up can be really fun. This is something that I never understood much growing up, and being a girly girl just does not come naturally to me, and appearance-frivolity always strikes me as an inefficient way of living a life, and... well, frankly, feeling like I was looking attractive and/or dressing attractively (for many many values of those terms) usually got me unwanted attention that I was rather incapable of dealing with... or made no difference in how I was avoided completely, because brains in women must have been such an overriding turnoff as to overwhelm anything else I did or looked like (insert snarky glare at childhood hometown here). Put it this way: Nowadays I live in Burbank, a very fashion-conscious area of Los Angeles (town of plastic people!) and I can make my beautician-stylist-colorist-person actually recoil in horror by telling her that I routinely use my car's vents to dry my hair on my commute to work. I am regularly baffled by skin care products, and I don't wear makeup most days at all. And lately, it is not in my nature to buy dresses or skirts for myself unless they are part of a Renfaire or fannish costume. This is a step closer to girly girl than when I could have said that it was not in my nature to buy dresses or skirts at all. That said? I suspect that I'm kind of turning into a clotheshorse, and I can probably safely blame fandom. :-) ( cut for happy babble ) When I feel like I look like a million bucks, I'm more outgoing, more confident, and people react differently to me. It's startling and odd and wonderful mostly. NEW SHOES YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Current Mood: amused (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 17th, 2008
pornish_pixies [ alisanne ]	12:14p	LONG: A Successful Trip (Severus/Harry, NC-17) Title: A Successful Trip Author: alisanne Rating: NC-17 Pairing: Severus Snape/Harry Potter Summary: Harry explores some of the new shops in Diagon Alley Word Count: ~2000 Genre: Erotica Warnings: Voyeurism/exhibitionism A/N: Written because this bunny bit me and I thought it'd work for pornish_pixies 'cause the place could always use more Snarry. ;) Beta: sevfan Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only. ( A Successful Trip ) Current Mood: working (28 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 16th, 2008
elke_tanzer	8:19p	Lost my weekend. Miserable weekend, bah. I ended up sleeping most of it, with short, semiconscious breaks wherein I got myself caught up on watching Supernatural episodes... I think I managed to see most of most of the eps, although I was drifting in and out of sleep and so my brain may have fabricated a few scenes here and there (yum), and slept through others (hopefully they were just the boring bits). But the next time I get such a painful, blinding headache that eats an entire, precious weekend? It would feel more worthwhile if I'd just caused the headache myself by doing something powerfully psychic and entirely kick-ass... at least then the lost time due to the headache would feel useful if there were some smoke and smitin'. I'm just sayin'. Bah, humbug. I'm still wrestling with all of the Issues that make me want to throw my shoe at the screen and/or stop watching Supernatural entirely, but I am finding some redeeming bits in the canon and also fandom's creativity in this fandom has always been very amazing, so I'm gritting my teeth and continuing to watch (albeit in half-season or quarter-season chunks; I don't watch every week). Bah, humbug. Also? The various Los Angeles area wildfires suck donkey balls. They're not anywhere close enough to be dangerous to me, but the air quality sucks right now and I think that was one of three major causes for my debilitating headache (the others being post-conference sinus infection and work-plus-family stress). On the up side, I can now look forward to reading Supernatural fic without spoiling myself. On the down side, I've slept most of the weekend, and I don't feel rested at all. And I haven't even done my laundry, much less all of the other things that needed doing these two days. Current Mood: exhausted (5 Comments |Comment on this)
rivkat	9:49p	Double Cross 6/6 Summary and warnings in <ahref="http://rivkat.livejournal.com/207809.html">part 1</a>. Part 5. No longer canon-compliant. ( meret made an awesome cover, beneath the cut. ) Current Mood: uncomfortable Current Music: Kaiser Chiefs - from the neck down (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 15th, 2008
rivkat	9:34p	Double Cross 5/6 Summary and warnings in part 1. Part 4. No longer canon-compliant. ( Read more... ) Current Mood: crappy Current Music: Morcheeba - What New York Couples Fight About (Comment on this)
Friday, November 14th, 2008
elke_tanzer	11:15p	Ooooof. Home again. And now I'm home, after a long and productive and inspiring week at the sysadmin conference, and a very, very long day today at work. Oooooooooooooooooof. I have a ton of things I want to do this weekend, and a ton of things I need to do this weekend, but right now? Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep. G'night, lovelies... may you dream of dancing with the eddying wind through beams of moonlight and starshine, the arch of the sky above stone sentinel mountains, whispering pine forests, rolling green fields, rushing streams with their misty waterfalls, and wave-swept soft sand beaches. Current Mood: home (1 Comment |Comment on this)
rivkat	9:42p	Double Cross 4b/6 Part 4a ( Later, he watched her back—her shoulderblade rising like a wall against a siege as she curled into herself on the bed—and thought. ) Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: Apogee - Lover I Don't Have to Love (Remix) (Comment on this)
rivkat	9:38p	Double Cross 4a/6 Summary and warnings in part 1. Part 3. No longer canon-compliant. ( One thing about driving the Impala alone for four months: he could make it do tricks he’d previously thought reserved only to Dean. ) Current Mood: touched Current Music: Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime (Comment on this)
rivkat	12:56p	SPN spoilers ( I know what you ranted about last summer ) Current Music: Garbage - #1 Crush (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
rivkat	11:12p	Double Cross 3/6 Summary and warnings in part 1. Part 2. Note: obviously, written before tonight, and blithely ignoring whatever we found out there. (I have a whole bitter rant that is only half about the ethical issues; the other half is about Bad Characterization in Lazarus Rising; but, whatever.) ( “What the fuck was that?” Dee asked again once they were safe in their room, struggling into one of Dean’s T-shirts to replace the shirt she’d ruined with the victim’s blood. ) Current Music: Melnyk - Strut (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
rivkat	8:30p	Double Cross 2/6 Summary and warnings in part 1. ( Sam’s laptop battery was nearly dead by the time his phone buzzed. ) Current Music: The Knife - Forest Families (Comment on this)
elke_tanzer	11:29a	Giving thanks, and upcoming holiday spirit I kind of missed out on October this year, and actually, most of September... actually most of the summer, too... Now that it's November I just want to say that I'm thankful for all of you. I'm thankful that you're present in my life, and that you are the people you are. You're infinitely fascinating and creative and joyous and inspiring and Of My Tribe, and I'm so thrilled that we've found each other, either in RL or on this wild and wacky intarweb. *group hugsmish* *squeezes tight* I am feeling braindead about wishlists for myself this year, but I figure I'll manage to put something together by Thanksgiving for my family and friends (online and offline). I need to update my Amazon wishlist and my ThingsIWant.com wishlist and to write my fannish wishlist, and I'm just not feeling up to that right now. I have too many half-finished gifts and obligations for other people I need to complete before I can even think about things that might brighten my own life. It's been quite a year. Right now, if you want to do something nice for me? Please email me at elke dot tanzer at gmail dot com with your snail-mailing address, your IJ username and your preferred email address (and whether or not it's OK for me to send you porny things -- if you live in stealth mode with nonfannish family or roommates, for instance). See, I have a big pile of wee little gifties and cards that are supposed to be winging their way around, and I'm fairly certain my addressbook is incomplete and/or out of date for plenty of you fine folks. Also? If you have posted a wishlist post? Please comment here linking to it. Because wishes are wonderful things. Current Mood: cheerful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
rivkat	8:44p	Double Cross 1/6 Double Cross SPN Summary: Searching for a solution to their divine problem, Sam and Dean meet a newcomer who really shouldn’t be there. NC-17: Het and threesome, and at least as much Sam/Dean subtext as that implies. Thanks to kindly betas giandujakiss, geekturnedvamp, and meret. (  Shit, Dean repeated, a little muffled by the hand he'd clasped over his mouth. Shit.  ) Current Music: Tori Amos - Winter (Comment on this)
rivkat	4:46p	Poor little me, and Yuletide So, early Saturday morning I fell down a flight of stairs while holding 2.0. She was hit on the head, as was I. Z. was out of town; 1.0 was watching but doesn’t seem to have been traumatized. Many hours and one CT scan later, 2.0 was declared fine, and I started feeling the pain. I have no memory of the accident, but the bruising suggests I hit a bunch of steps in a bunch of places. Ow. Today 1.0 had an asthma attack and now has four separate prescriptions, plus a steroid shot. He’s holding up like a trooper, but still not pleased. Anyway, I’d love to be cheered up: comment porn, links to places you get your SPN recommendations, anything that is making you smile. ( Dear Yuletide writer! ) Current Music: Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence (2 Comments |Comment on this)
elke_tanzer	11:56a	YAY YULETIDE. Dear Yuletide recipient: You don't know I'm writing for you yet, but I adore your request. Dear Yuletide author: I don't know you're writing for me yet, but I adore you already. Seriously, I adore you, and I will be thrilled with the story you write for me. I get utterly squeeful and dopey with glee every year during this entire season because of Yuletide; if you doubt this, check out http://elke-tanzer.insanejournal.com/tag/yuletide and http://elke-tanzer.livejournal.com/tag/yuletide. ( For reference, my Yuletide 2008 requests... ) P.S. For additional info on my requested fandoms... The Ranma 1/2 fandom overview I wrote for LJ's crack_van, and recs I posted. LJ posts I've tagged for 'fandom - ranma' IJ posts I've tagged for 'fandom - roswell' My webpage of all Captain Blood fandom resources I can find I don't have a collection of resources for Perry Mason fandom, but if you need more info about that fandom, ask the Yuletide admins to ping me and I'll see what I can turn up. Please remember that the optional details of my requests are optional, per the official Yuletide rules and the spirit of OMG YULETIDE IS AWESOME. I adore each of the fandoms I requested, and I adore that you care enough about my wee little fandoms to write one of them for me! YAY YULETIDE!!! Current Mood: giddy (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 9th, 2008
pornish_pixies [ femmequixotic ]	9:14p	Masterlist of fics and art, Autumn/Halloween Challenge The following fics and art were submitted for the recent Autumn/Halloween Challenge. If you haven't had a chance to take a look at them, please do and please feed back! :D Also I personally would like to extend a huge thank you to all the writers and artists who participated in this challenge. You guys are fantastic. \0/ ( Masterlist for the Autumn/Halloween Challenge ) Current Music: Van Morrison:Daring Night (Comment on this)
elke_tanzer	2:39p	THIS is why I live in Burbank and not in Indiana. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are more jobs in Metropolis than there are in Smallville. For the second time this year, while waiting in line at a local shop within walking distance from my apartment, upon hearing that I am an IT project manager, someone next to me in line tried to offer me a job. This happens at coffee shops, at the Kinkos-FedEx store... it's STARTLING, dammit! But apparently there are not many IT project managers who are outgoing and personable in the world. Weird, huh? So. Are there any other Los Angeles area IT PMs reading this journal that want a line on a job possibility? I don't have a lot of info about it, but I'm happy to share. In unrelated news... my employer has announced that many if not all of our own temporary workers are being let go, to preserve the organization's viability in this sucky economy. I have The World's Best Temp IT Project Assistant right now who will be looking for a job soon. I'm serious... my assistant right now is incredibly professional and detail oriented and doesn't even blink when I lob huge stinky disorganized analysis grenades of data at him like it's nothing; he's more organized than I am (OMG before I met him I couldn't even believe that would even be POSSIBLE). I'm going to forward him the opportunity that just found me at the coffee shop today, but we also have good temp workers who are doing admin assisting and AutoCAD work who need to keep putting food on their tables after we're forced to let them go. If you know of any potential job opportunities in the Los Angeles area for admin assistants, especially IT project workers who (a) are more calm and even more organized than me, or (b) know AutoCAD and architectural IT stuff related to data and voice networks, please let me know; I'd love to forward you the resumes of some solid folks. I think our teams had hoped to hire them on full-time after their temp time was up, but that's looking very unlikely in this economic climate situation. Bleh. On to positive news... I went shopping yesterday and found good deals at Sears (who offered an extra percentage off prices if you use your Sears card this weekend) and Mervyns (who are going out of business, so everything was 30%-50% off) on a couple more washable suits and wool blazers. This is a very good thing, since all the heavy lifting I did helping my parents in October has resulted in me losing nearly two pants sizes. My shoulders, though, are still a 14 or 16, which makes things a bit interesting on the must-look-professional front. I also finally turned the Macy's gift certificate which was a holiday gift from my boss last winter into part of a pair of shoes. Thank heavens that autumn is here, because that means that Macy's stocks shoes for women that are not strappy sandals. I splurged on two fabulous pairs of Clarks Artisan shoes, because the one pair I bought a couple years ago has worn like iron and are amazingly comfortable for office-suitable heels. In related news, I got my hair colored again today. I might be a bit biased, but I think I look like a million bucks. This ROCKS. I'm just doin' my part to shore up the consumer confidence numbers, apparently... I've got to keep to a stricter budget than I have been, but I didn't completely go overboard this month. But crap, I still have a ton of things on my to-do list for today before I get on the road to the sysadmin conference. GAH!! But at least I'm having lunch now, and doing laundry, as I type this... I'm considering wearing my suits to the conference, just to freak people out. See, in the sysadmin world, flannel shirts, jeans and Birkenstocks are the usual fashion. I've mutated over the past few years and most of my sysadmin friends haven't seen me since I've become a suit-wearin' IT PM powerhouse. Hee! And not only that, but I honestly don't know if I'll have to drive back to LA mid-conference to deal with Urgent Crapnitude At Work, so I'd better have the suits with me anyway... *eyes seldom-used-suit-carrier-non-suitcase-thing in the closet warily* Yeah, I guess I'm bringing a suitcase and the suit-carrier-thing, and the laptop(s) bag. Harumph. Current Mood: busy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
elke_tanzer	9:23a	OMG Yuletide... Because RL has been taking up all of my time, I wasn't able to participate in the fandom-nomination process this year, but I am signing up to participate in Yuletide again this year. I just spent a couple hours figuring out what I'm requesting and what I'm offering (this year, that's 25 fandoms for which I am willing to write any characters, and 10 fandoms for which I am willing to write specific characters, and that's not the same list as last year... OMG). I don't think I'm going to have enough time to participate in any other fannish exchanges or challenges this year. But I am writing for Yuletide, although I don't think I'll have much (if any) time to offer myself as a beta-reader this year. I miss spending time being fannish, dammit! Every year, it's easier for me to figure out what I want to offer than it is for me to figure out what I want to request for Yuletide... so many things would make me happy that I have trouble being specific about fandoms and characters and genres and such. And I'm really looking forward to writing in whichever of the fandoms I've offered winds up being the request I'm assigned... And there are a bunch of other fandoms this year for which I neither requested nor offered, but for which I'm looking forward to reading finished stories in! Wheeeeeeee! Of course, with my RL being what it is, I may get around to reading the stories not written specifically for me sometime in... February? ...sigh. And it just dawned on me that I probably should note something about one of my requests for my Yuletide author... when I say "no deathfic, please" in a fandom which is specifically known for its canon murder mysteries, I mean "no character death of the four characters I've listed in my request" not "no minor-character murder for there to be a mystery about". It's been such a rough year in RL that I just can't handle major-character-deathfic right now, in any of my fandoms. OMG YAY YULETIDE!! ETA: Holy crap, Yuletide is up over 1300 participants this year... (And now I have to get back to all of the other things on my huge to-do list... gah!) Current Mood: busy Current Music: Journey: Be Good To Yourself (6 Comments |Comment on this)