Rather a Story

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~Major John McCrae

Does anyone local know someone in need of a cat? (By local I mean Montreal, Canada, and thereabouts)

Poor Smudge is not adjusting well to the dog.

Worse, the dog is not adjusting to Smudge either. The dog got into the spare room tonight where Smudge has been camping out, lunged up onto the furniture after him and tried to bite him. Or eat him, I honestly can't tell. He literally had his jaws around poor Smudge by the time I managed to intervene, and I nearly broke my finger getting them apart.

Since Sergent is here to stay and is fine with the other two cats, I think I need to re-home Smudge in a nice, calm place where there are no other cats or pets of any kind. He's a sweet, affectionate cat with people—it's just other animals he doesn't get along with. He hasn't had any behavioural issues in years: he always uses the litter box (even the whole time the dog was stressing him out, no less!), and cuddles with me and purrs whenever I go into the room.

As much as it breaks my heart, I think he would do better in a single cat household. Right now I feel like he's being punished for something that's not his fault or his doing.

Anyone in the area looking for a cat? Or do you know someone looking for a cat? If you do, point them my way, please. Smudge deserves a better life than the one he has now. If there's interest, I am happy to answer any and all questions about my kitty)

This is a non-fandom post. I stole it from a friend of mine in a different place, because I think this is where the power of fandom can be harnessed for good. I've been feeling a little out of place and useless in the world lately, and this seems like a good way to get rid of that feeling.

Feel free to link this around, too, if you'd like. The more people see this, the more likely everyone will have a chance at getting what they need.


ETA: You don't have to be my LJ friend to participate. In fact, I highly encourage you to participate no matter what! Go ahead and ask for something. You never know what people might be able to provide.



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What do you need? (Copied from a DW friend, so not in American, but you can Google translate. I like how it reads.)

(We can solve our own problems and help each other. Here's a spot to do so. Leaving it open...Non friends comments screened by default but I'll release them as soon as I see them.)

What do you need? Not what do you want? A million pounds, a fairy godmother, a nicer car.

But what do you need? A friend in Spain. Or Norfolk. A car that works, to get your kids to school. An old and unloved mp3 player that has been chewed by a cat but still works. A loan of fifty quid, for a week. Someone to trade emails with. People to visit your online shop. A hand-made card to make you feel loved. More friends on your journal. A copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, not too old. Advice on doing your own taxes. A loving but firm kick up the bum to get on with that project. Someone to talk lampwork / knitting / martial arts with. Clients to photograph in return for train fare or lunch. Help with your vet or medical bills, a dollar at a time. A used wheelchair. An unwanted bookcase. Reviews on Amazon. A cat-sitter. Reassurance because you're getting married / having a baby / getting your first job / struggling in college and need a pep-talk.

Sound off. Send people here.

ALSO? GO AHEAD AND FRIEND SOME FOLKS. Might as well frenzy a little bit too. Pleased to meet you.

So far 2012 is looking to shape up really well. So rather than start the year on a bad note, I am ending 2011 with the decision to drop two of the smaller challenges I picked up and quite simply haven't had the time, energy and inspiration for. It's unfortunate, but that way I can start 2012 with a clean slate.

With any luck, this year will be free of all the massive upheavals that I had last year. Granted, they were all good upheavals, but nonetheless, they were time and energy-consuming, and the latter half of the year was a write-off, writing-wise.

This year I'd like to get back into my original writing as well. I adore fanfic, it's what got me writing again, but I do miss my original stuff.

I am going to work tonight. So I will see everyone on the flip side! I hope 2012 is awesome for everyone!

I am having issues with my internet connection at home. That, coupled with Christmas and work, means I won't be around as much until I get it all resolved.

Sorry to anyone who's waiting on something from me. :(

Anyway, I'm working on getting all of this sorted out.

delicatale is doing a love meme.

My bosses decided that my sarcasm and body language are inappropriate at work, even though they in no way, shape or form affect the quality of the work I do. I am not even allowed to roll my eyes or ~sigh~ when I've hung up after a difficult call. Apparently this is bad for office morale.

In short:




So here's my thread. Tell me something nice?

So I've decided that for my own sanity I'm going to unplug for the first two weeks of December. I'm going to go 90% offline from December 3rd to December 18th inclusively. No Twitter, no LJ, with a couple of minor exceptions.

I've been spending way too much time online and not enough time in the "real" world, and my outside life has been suffering for it. So I'm going to detox for a couple of weeks, and hopefully return with a newfound sense of balance between work, life and fandom.

There will be a couple of exceptions to this rule, because I have commitments that I fully intend to honour:

1- I will check my emails once a day in case of "emergencies."
2- I will be keeping up my monitoring of ohsam with regards to the fic challenge
3- I will be posting challenge/exchange fics on my appointed posting dates

Otherwise, that will pretty much be it. I'll be focusing instead on my writing (without distractions), on getting my house in order and on de-neglecting all the lovely folk who live near me in the flesh.

In short, if you feel like you're not hearing from me much in early December, that will be why. :)

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~Major John McCrae

I hope everyone is keeping safe.

Check in every so often, okay? If and when you can.

Real Life has become overly complicated. It's mostly a good complicated, but right now I don't have the mental energy to complete most of the writing I want to do.

So I'm going to drop out of the two remaining Bangs I'm in (Sam/Dean Mini Bang and the Dean/Cas Big Bang). I am giving myself amnesty and I'll just write those stories at my own pace and give them the attention they're due.

I'll stay in the Sassy OTP challenge (my contribution is mostly written) and the Summer of Sam challenge (I have it mostly done as well), since those have no wordcount limitations and thus aren't going to make me stress out unduly.

I am also declaring the rest of 2011 a challenge-free zone for ratherastory. I'm going to write all the stories I want to write, when I want to write them, and not fuss with deadlines and minimum wordcounts. So there. There is one exception to this rule, a BB I signed up for that's due in November.

( Story plans behind the cut )