Archive | September 2011

Tattercoat Bard

Sep16

New flash series! I’m going to write one flash for every Icon I have, over 4 LJ accounts, 1 DW, and a whole bunch of not-currently-in-use, until I get bored or run out of icons.

(Yes, if you want to make me an icon to get me to write a flash about it, you can. In that case, I’ll even write 2x as much!)

I’m starting with DW, in alphabetical order. Today’s icon:

Stranded World, Autumn.

Icon & Art by Djinni

Also [community profile] dailyprompt “perched precariously on a ladder” and “beautiful morning”.

This is the prequel to Love Letters and Colder Weather.

“Beautiful morning, m’lady.” The bard passing through waved up at Autumn, who, perched precariously on a ladder, was trying to get her sign hung.

“You hast a strange idea of beautiful,” she muttered; the sky was threatening rain and the wind was ripping at her sign. And he… she glanced at him again, as he climbed up the other side of her booth and reached for the sign. “Thou’rt new, too.”

“Nay, for ‘new’ would suggest someone who was planning to stay, and I am but a vagabond knave, a tattercoat bard.” He sketched a one-handed bow. “They call me Ian the Inglorious.”

“I’m sure they do,” she smirked. “They call me Autumn.”

“That time of year thou mayst in me behold,/When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang,” he recited, and then shook his head. “Nay, thou art ‘more lovely and more temperate’ than even a summer’s day, and no more agéd than a Spring morn.”

“Thou art truly golden-tongued,” she murmured, but he had gotten her sign straightened while he mangled the Bard. “But Spring and Summer art my sisters, and I am the leaves that fall in harvest time.”

“But I hear,” he continued, leaping down from his perch to offer her an entirely unnecessary hand, “that the fruits of early Autumn are the sweetest, the best for the longer to savor them, to wait. And I, Lady Autumn, have been waiting for your like for quite some time.”

Savoring the flattery, Autumn took his hand.

~~

Tattercoats is abusing Shakespeare’s Sonnets 18 and 73.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/129329.html. You can comment here or there.

Friday, with goodbyes and fire

Sep16

Yesterday, we cleaned out the old apartment and turned in our keys. Carpet shampooers are both awesome and scary (there was THAT much dirt in our rug? O_O)

That place is where we buried our Gatsby-cat last summer, so it was harder leaving it than most places. I said goodbye again, and got rather teary. He was a very good kitty. I will miss him forever.

***

We are pondering a wood stove for House, after fuel-oil sticker shock. The one we want will run us about $2000, but we’re thinking of putting in a smaller, cheaper one now, then moving that to the garage next year or the year after when we can afford the one we want. Fire is nice heat when you have oil as back-up.

***

Tomorrow is my monthly call for prompts. The theme will be abandoned, lost, and left behind.

***

And this – http://call-small.blogspot.com/ – is wee and adorable.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/129102.html. You can comment here or there.

IconFlash – Alexa – Through the Door

Sep14

New flash series! I’m going to write one flash for every Icon I have, over 4 LJ accounts, 1 DW, and a whole bunch of not-currently-in-use, until I get bored or run out of icons.

(Yes, if you want to make me an icon to get me to write a flash about it, you can. In that case, I’ll even write 2x as much!)

I’m starting with DW, in alphabetical order. Today’s icon:

Facets of Dusk, Alexa.

Icon & Art by Djinni

There was always a moment, when she stepped through a Door, when Alexa felt as if she was walking in eternity. She closed her eyes, every time, despite common sense and protocol, but it didn’t help. For that endless moment, she was standing in space, the stars all around her, lost in the ice of Void.

She took a breath. She always remembered to breathe deeply when she was here, in the non-place. It smelled like nothing she’d ever felt anywhere else, like power and pleasure and fear. It felt like freefall, like firing a semi-automatic gun, like the best orgasm of her life.

Breathe in, breathe out, and step. The step was as important as the breathing; she’d learned quickly that the others didn’t see what she saw. They saw a doorway, felt maybe a small wrenching, and they were through. If they got impatient, though, if she was too slow, then they jostled her. The first time they’d jostled her, they’d ended up in one of the far-variant worlds, and it had taken them seven dangerous Door-steps to get back home. She did everything she could to make certain that didn’t happen again.

Step again, the stars still twinkling beneath her eyelids, the scent of the Void still stinging her nose, and again, to let the entire team through the Door. And then, with a long inhale and a slower exhale, find her fingers, rooting her into her team, into the teammate holding her hand.

And they arrived.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/128902.html. You can comment here or there.

Poll-Off

Sep14

Since http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/120192.html / http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=1773562&mode=results ended in a tie when you combine results:

Manually x posted from here – http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/128575.html

30 Days Second Semester: 30, Vas’ World, Coming Up

Sep14

For the 30 Days Meme Second Semester, for the prompt “30) The story ends with ‘coming up’.”

This come directly after #1 in this series – “It’s going down.” (LJ Link). Vas’ World.

“Someone built it,” Suki assured him, not for the first time. “We might not have met builders yet, but elevators don’t grow organically.”

“I know. That’s my issue,” Vas finally admitted. “Look at the pulley. It’s nearly identical to ones we have back on Earth. The horses,” he lowered his voice, despite the fact that the damn things seemed telepathic, “are remarkably similar to horses on Earth. Even the walls we found are reminiscent of old New England cobblestone walls. It’s eerie.”

“Theory of common construction from common need?” Suki asked. She didn’t sound like she believed it, either. “Simple tools are simple tools on any planet. We found wrenches on Mondant Three.”

“Wrench-like tools,” Vas sighed, not certain why he was still bothering. “Not something you could have picked up from Sears.”

“You couldn’t pick that pulley up at Sears, either. Or the horse.”

“But do you really believe the parallel evolution bullshit some of the pseudo-scientists put forward?”

“In some cases it’s provable. The Antoni, for example…”

“Were cat-like, yes. Cat-like and with some behaviours that could be considered feline. But they were hexapodal.” He knew he sounded peevish. The elevator bugged him, more than even the horse-like creatures, and it seemed as if everyone was ignoring his concerns. “Not just scaled-up pastel horses.”

Suki peered over the edge, making Vas’s stomach lurch. “Mmm. You may have bigger things to complain about soon…” She trailed off. “For a certain definition of bigger.”

“What?”

“You’ll see. She’s coming up.”

The List:
1a) the story starts with the words “It’s going down.” (LJ Link)
1b) the story starts with the words “It’s going down.” (LJ Link)
2) write a scene that takes place in a train station.
3) the story must involve a goblet and a set of three [somethings]
4) prompt: one for the road
5) write a story using an imaginary color
6) write the pitch for a new Final Fantasy styled RPG (LJ Link)
7) prompt: frigid (LJ Link)
8) write a scene in the middle of a novel called “The Long, Dirty Afterwards” (LJ)
9) prompt: mourning dead gods (LJ)
10) write a story set in three different time periods. (LJ)
11) Write a movie trailer style trailer for a story, existing or not-yet-written. (LJ)
12) prompt: sweet iced tea (LJ)
13) re-write a story that everyone knows (LJ)
14) write a vanilla story dealing with kinky subject matter (LJ)
15) prompt: ascension (LJ)
16) write a scene that takes place at the end of a long road trip. (LJ)
17) write an uncomfortable story (LJ)
18) prompt: a step too far (LJ
19) write a story in which something goes BOOM. )LJ)
20) Write the end of the story ‘The Purple Bag. (LJ)
21) Roll a d20 twice. Combine the themes of the two previous stories for those numbers. (LJ)
22) Prompt: White Knight (LJ)
23) write a scene that takes place in a place that is war-torn (LJ)
24) prompt: founding fathers (LJ)
25) write a story set in a library LJ
26) Prompt: Elemental LJ
27) write a story using only one period. (LJ)
28) write a story set in a laundromat (LJ)
29)…Re-write that prompt as a Spaghetti Western or Melodrama (LJ)

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/128492.html. You can comment here or there.

Wednesday, Kitty Edition

Sep14

Drake earned his keep this morning: at 7:35 (my alarm usually starts ringing at 6:40; I get out of bed between 7 and 7:10), he stuck his nose in my face:
“Are you EVER gonna feed me?”

“Blearg. What time is it?” /peer at alarm clock/ “Hunh. I guess I am.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now, kitty.”

Guess I fed him too much at 4, or he would have woken me up on time 😉

He’s loving the new place, now that he’s gotten used to it, although the closed basement door offends him, especially when we’re down there cleaning it out, and he’s fascinated by the upstairs; when I call him, he almost always comes galloping down the stairs.

BzzAgent sent us a free bag of Hill’s Science Diet “Age Defying cat food” kibble: though Drake’s on wet food for dietary considerations, he gets kibble once in a while for convenience and teeth-cleaning. He seems to inhale this stuff, which, at $10+ a bag, is probably the most return I’ve gotten for internet surfing since I stopped doing MyPoints.

And now, links, also kitty-based:
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/6fe2ac97-d9a3-401f-b45f-5c74d8a18ab0.jpg
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/78129291-1f21-4141-ab75-95a4718e8214.jpg
http://tardisbuilders.com/

TARDIS!!!

(I might make mine in grayscale… 😉

aand… less yip, still interesting… Glowing Green Cats

All links via spouse-man

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/128131.html. You can comment here or there.

Monday, with caulk jokes and no cock

Sep12

Friday, we caulked the tub in the House. Well, I tried, ruined my favorite shirt (still sad about that), and made a mess. It turns out I’m not very good at caulking. 🙁 T., on the other hand, is pretty good at it.

I can be a bit puerile at times, though, so there were more than a few “caulk” jokes flung about while I was making a mess – and the ugly tub is a bit less horrid for the new, clean, white caulk (however, the shower doesn’t work. Guess I’m getting new tub faucets sooner rather than later (the lever you “pull up for shower” is no longer attached to anything).

Then we were at Lowes ordering a window, sort of shooting the shit with the windows-and-doors guy, and I was talking about learning to use tools from my father, and the salesman asked…

…“Did you dad always want a son?”…

I swear, power tools and carpentry and toy trucks and I don’t think anyone has ever asked this. I think I answered “No, he just didn’t see any reason I shouldn’t know how to use tools,” which is probably accurate (Dad? Close?).

Wow.

***

Djinni is having another free icon day; tips are appreciated & incentivized but not required. If you’re not familiar with Djinni’s work, here are 4 icons he’s done for me:

and some more

Did I mention [personal profile] meeks has illustrated Autumn in the very first story I wrote about her?

***

Link du jour: a lego bedroom

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/127807.html. You can comment here or there.

30 Days Second Semester: 29, Wild Horses, Cya/Boom/Addergoole post-apoc

Sep9

For the 30 Days Meme Second Semester, for the prompt “29) (from Lilifluff) Randomly pick a number between 1 and 28 (Random.Org) . Re-write that prompt as a Spaghetti Western or Melodrama.”

I got 19, and am writing a continuation to #19, though it seems I can’t write either Spaghetti Western or Melodrama.

She rode into town like a whirlwind, a mad mink of a girl with fire in her eyes and capture on her mind. She had a tongue smooth as silk and her lies were like a lasso, ropin’ me in.

I shoulda seen her coming, I suppose, but what can a man do when she blinks at him like that with big doe eyes and whispers her magic sweet as honey? No spider ever wove a web so neatly as she did, there in that parking lot. And I, damn fool I am, walked right into it.

So there I was, sitting in her trap, in her car, staring at the cowgirl who’d done me in. Trussed up with her magic as surely as if she’d tied me to the back of her horse. And getting carried off, too, abducted. Damn. And here I’d thought I was done with Hell.

“It could be a lot worse,” she told me, cool as a cucumber. I found I had a voice again.

“It could?” Hell could always be hotter, I suppose. But she was a pretty hot shade of damnation already.

“I could be a sadistic predator who’d just gotten you in my clutches.”

“You’re not?” She sure as hell had me in her clutches, after all, and wasn’t doing anything not to gloat about it.

“I’m not sadistic, at least,” she admitted, smiling so sweetly at me. I wondered about diving out of the car. It couldn’t hurt that bad, could it? Going ninety miles an hour on paved roads – Ellehemaei could survive anything. I reached for the door handle, slow and subtle like. “And I’m not out to hurt you, which is more than I can say for the road.”

“People who kidnap you aren’t generally out to give you a nice night on the town.” The road did look awfully hard.

“One year.” Chill and calm, like she wasn’t asking me to walk on hot coals. “Be mine for one year.”

Boom. And that was the trap slamming shut.

The List:
1a) the story starts with the words “It’s going down.” (LJ Link)
1b) the story starts with the words “It’s going down.” (LJ Link)
2) write a scene that takes place in a train station.
3) the story must involve a goblet and a set of three [somethings]
4) prompt: one for the road
5) write a story using an imaginary color
6) write the pitch for a new Final Fantasy styled RPG (LJ Link)
7) prompt: frigid (LJ Link)
8) write a scene in the middle of a novel called “The Long, Dirty Afterwards” (LJ)
9) prompt: mourning dead gods (LJ)
10) write a story set in three different time periods. (LJ)
11) Write a movie trailer style trailer for a story, existing or not-yet-written. (LJ)
12) prompt: sweet iced tea (LJ)
13) re-write a story that everyone knows (LJ)
14) write a vanilla story dealing with kinky subject matter (LJ)
15) prompt: ascension (LJ)
16) write a scene that takes place at the end of a long road trip. (LJ)
17) write an uncomfortable story (LJ)
18) prompt: a step too far (LJ
19) write a story in which something goes BOOM. )LJ)
20) Write the end of the story ‘The Purple Bag. (LJ)
21) Roll a d20 twice. Combine the themes of the two previous stories for those numbers. (LJ)
22) Prompt: White Knight (LJ)
23) write a scene that takes place in a place that is war-torn (LJ)
24) prompt: founding fathers (LJ)
25) write a story set in a library LJ
26) Prompt: Elemental LJ
27) write a story using only one period. (LJ)
28) write a story set in a laundromat (LJ)
29)…Re-write that prompt as a Spaghetti Western or Melodrama

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/127331.html. You can comment here or there.

A Fixer-Upper

Sep9

[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith recently posted her poem “Picket Fence Committee” about the Monster House, my favorite of her settings and a house that is itself a fixer-upper. This topic is near and dear to my heart right now, for probably obvious reasons.

The House we bought is, by all definitions of the word, a fixer-upper. The bones are solid – foundation, walls, roof – but the inside is quirky, uneven, and rather ugly.

This means two things to us: first, we got the house for less than the appraised value, at an amount that makes the mortgage plus all associated fees (taxes, insurance) no more than our current rent. That gives us a lot of financial wiggle room.

Second, and perhaps more importantly: when we are done, this house will have our stamp on it, un-debatably. We will have ripped out the floors, the walls, the ceilings, some of the fixtures if not all of them, some of the windows and most of the trim, and replaced them – mostly by ourselves; we’re handy people and like doing things like this – with things that suit us.

The bedroom will be painted, a closet added, giraffe carpet. The back room will be turned into a gallery with black walls above the chair rail for the high-contrast art we both like. Most of the paneling will go. Ceilings up, floors down, attic space pushed out. We’ll put in new light fixtures (albeit short ones), and possibly knock out some walls.

It’s like building a house, only very slowly, and getting to live in it while we do it.

And it is a giant craft project – sanding, staining, painting, reflooring, nailing, screwing (hee). And that makes it 100 times more exciting – and sometimes a bit more frustrating – than moving into a new home someone else did all the work on.

Our House has quirks. When we’re not swearing over them, we love laughing over them – much like with our friends. It’s what makes it ours.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/127137.html. You can comment here or there.