i'm feeling good and optimistic-ish today so far. dinner is in the slow cooker, bach is on the stereo, willa is sleeping in her carrier. i have as much of the day as she'll give me to get ready to start rehearsing carmina burana tonight.

i've never performed carmina before. so many people love it, but my prof from my current (stalled out) program hates it. and after spending a lot of the past week with it, i can see all the sides. from the choral singer's perspective, it's pretty easy. at least in terms of note-learning. there are some vocally challenging spots and there is a LOT of text in latin and german, but overall, it's surprisingly simple. which is probably why my prof hates it and i can understand that too. orff was composing when stravinsky was, which makes this music looks like a child's drawing next to a kandinsky. but. it's fun. and i think that's what it really comes down to. we'll be performing it with a wind ensemble - two of their concerts in may and one of ours in june. i'll conduct the june concert and there's no way that won't be incredibly fun. big and noisy. i can be down with that.

this weekend was lovely. we had a picnic to celebrate my birthday (a little early). and we went to cora's first birthday party. i still find it so hard to believe she's just about 7 months older than willa. she's walking around and understanding what people say to her and eating real food and... all kinds of stuff i really can't picture willa doing. it's so exciting to know that's coming, though.

in the mean time, willa had a good weekend after a bad week of night waking and crankiness. i should say that to me 'night waking' means waking up and staying awake fussing or crying - or sometimes just making noise, not just waking up to eat, which she does every night and i'm at peace with that. we've been seeing a homeopath and i don't know if the remedy has been responsible for changes and improvements, but if not, it's an impressive coincidence. at the very least, our homeopath is a very involved and calming presence and it's really nice to have someone else taking the colic/fussiness seriously and working on figuring it out.

one of the most amazing things in the world is willa waking up in the morning. when she wakes and realizes that we're awake too and it's morning time, her whole face lights up with this amazing smile. it's pretty much the best way to wake up that ever was. it makes an optimistic morning possible.

just checking in to say... we're headed to the hospital. GULP. like, right now. so, you know. see you soon? with baby?

*deep breaths*

i got out of bed and just about instantly started laughing/singing as i puttered around. why? it's cold! not really cold. it's sunny and beautiful but it's not 90 degrees out there today and it's not going to be. high in the low 70s today. 70s!!!! i'm giddy with delight and relief. the heat has not been kind to pregnant me this summer. i am super duper absolutely extremely ready for fall.

wrote a post earlier in the week when i was not at all giddy but actually really down and bleh. and then i didn't post it because i felt annoyed with my own crankiness. i'll put it here under a cut so you can easily skip it. ( summary: blaaahh. )

no, ok, real summary:

-all rehearsals and concerts went well.
-doctors really, really want to find problems with pregnancies. it pays their bills.
-i will relent and pee in a jug for 24 hours.
-i'm pretty positive me and the baby are just peachy, if slightly iron deficient.

it also helps that last night we started cleaning the house. we have more to do but it got a little out of control when we went away and then right away had guests (the loveliest inkjunket and hominidj!) upon our return. clear surfaces help me clear my mind.

man, i have all this stuff i could post about! we had a baby shower in boston! it was beautiful! and we painted the nursery when ink and j were here! it's beautiful too! and i've been taking some outfit pictures lately. see, all these happy posts. i'll have to start making lots of them. for now though, a little more cleaning and enjoying the weather, and then another lovely guest is coming for the weekend.

i would to blither a bit about hawaii five-0, sort of in the way of a pimping post, but not exactly. because i'm still not sure how in it i am, really, and maybe i want to sort that out a little. so i'll try to break things down. and there will be probably be some spoilers in here. h50 doesn't make it into the category of shows i care about spoilers for, sorry. i won't drop anything major.

reasons to watch hawaii five-o:

-the scenery. for me and many to most in my flist/circle, it's winter right now and it's cold and snowy and nasty. looking at lush, warm, green, gorgeous hawaii for 43.5 minutes is not a hardship at all. and getting tossed tidbits of hawaiian culture is interesting, too, though i do take them with a grain of salt.
-the bickering. i have seen many people claim that h50 is the slashiest show on tv. i guess i'm not really sure what else is on to compete with it but i know there have been many slashier shows in the past. so... idk, maybe? however. whenever the main characters, steve and danny, get in the car together, beautiful things happen. i love me a bickery pairing and that is what we have here. with danny "i'm from new jersey, i must rant about everything" williams and steve "expressions hurt my face" mcgarrett," you know you're in for some good bicker. what's that? you want examples? ok!
they're in the car! of course they bicker about music.
danny's from NJ! of course they bicker about that.
and of course there is a cheesy, edited youtube compilation of bickery moments.
-steve drives danny's car. i love this and i can't really explain why. it's not really explained in the show, either. danny brings it up a couple of times but it doesn't change. it's... cute! idk!
-chin ho and kono/daniel dae kim and grace park. i already knew the actors were awesome and their characters are pretty awesome, too. i would say chin's probably the most interesting character on the show, with the big question marks in his past and being shunned by work and family. well, family except kono. kono the tiny badass rookie who loooooves her cousin. i would totally read chin/kono but they get along too well to do any satisfying bickering so i haven't really gone looking for them as a pairing. their cousin-love is possibly dirty but definitely endearing. also, the two of them could act circles around scott caan who could in turn act circles around alex o'loughlin, but that's just my humble opinion and all that.
-everyone's pretty. at first, i had no interest in the show in part because steve and danny were so physically unappealing to me. one's tall and one's short but they're both kind of beefy/muscular and that doesn't turn my crank. but... well, somehow through the bickering they have become more attractive. and i didn't need any convincing about chin and kono.

this one point goes in the middle because it's neither here not there, but did you know that through very minimal googling of scott caan, you come upon a picture of his junk? i don't really know how i feel about this, but there is it.

reasons you might not want to watch hawaii five-0:

-the writing. yeah, that's sad, right? but it's true. the plots of the shows are... fine, i guess. i'm kind of lightly drawn in to their little mysteries. it's more fun to see the characters i like playing around in their roles than anything. but the dialogue. oy. it varies from funny to decent to painful. they clearly anticipate a somewhat stupid audience because they continually sum up or explain what's going on to each other in nice, simple words that make everything feel completely awkward. i'm hoping the show will mature over time and the writing will get less stilted and weird.
-steve's angst. it should be the driving force of the show but it ends up feeling really manufactured. chin's angst would be so much more interesting to me, but chin is portrayed as pretty emotionally healthy, if slightly damaged, so we're supposed to be moved by steve's attempts at angsty faces. i see what they're going for, but it doesn't quite work. it is, however, fertile ground for fanfic, so that's the upside.
-doesn't pass the bechdel test. kono is awesome but she's the only main character who is female and i can't, off the top of my head, come up with one time she's talked to another woman. the governor is also kind of awesome, but she only ever talks to steve. thumbs down.
-you don't read fanfiction. i mean, really, i'm a little bit drawn in to the show itself, but mostly i'm drawn in to the copious amount of fic that is coming out and i want to keep up with the canon.

aaaand, the good part now. recs! all danny/steve, but if you have recs of other pairings, please share!

inked by thehoyden - what could be wrong with a fic in which danny gets steve's name tattooed on his ass? for a case!

all the girls out on the stoop by mirabella - ok, really, it's a fic in which danny is part veela. i figured it would be a quick, funny little ficlet but actually it is on the longer side and... now i can't really stop believing that danny is, in fact, a veela.

might as well let you in (between the sheets) by giddygeek - it's schmoop, and these guys do schmoop surprisingly well.

motive and means by lamardeuse - "Your standard undercover-in-a-gay-bar cliché, complete with fellatio."

fix definitely as desired by giddygeek - first fic in the fandom that i looooved.

when all of new york city misses you by leupagus and sutlers - good and angsty.

break the lock if it don't fit by austen - i'm a total sucker for fics in which they move in together. total sucker!

riding on two wheels by lamardeuse - also a sucker for danny-grace-steve as a family fic. <3!

hope you enjoy! or, you know, don't. :)

(oh right, i don't have an h50 icon, so i'll use the best-ever cop pairing in their place.)

so. i have been consuming holmes fan media for weeks now. it's time to share. and if there are things you think are missing from this list, TELL ME PLEASE. :)

vids
your ex-lover's dead by misread_. if this vid doesn't rip your heart out, you probably don't have one. the saddest thing about it to me is that it's totes true to canon. hoooolllmes! :(

fever by talitha78. i think everyone's seen this by now but it's good to have on hand as a peppy antidote to the first vid.

art
NSFW. holmes and watson in a chair by laurazel.

NSFW. holmes and watson on a bed by laurazel.

mixes
fanmix by lamentalone
haven't downloaded and listened to this one yet, but it looks interesting. though obviously the song red is really about merlin and arthur. duh.

consequences by plastique
also haven't tried this one out yet.

these flickering moods by zarah5. this one i have listened to, quite a bit. it's true enough to the movie that is pretty seriously angsty. and some of the songs are really impressive fits - in lyrics and in overall sound. recommended.

(you could be my) unintended by lastling. ok, i haven't listened to this one yet either, but this one is also a picspam and a fic and it led to the tragically awesome vid listed above.

fic

a silly phase by zarah5. characters turning into children is not really my thing but this is pretty freaking cute.

scientific inquiry by sasha_davidovna. holmes needs to know about sex. for science, you see. (holmes/adler, holmes/watson)

hard to look so easy by giddygeek. ficlet on the prompt: Watson is impressed by someone else (another detective, a better violinist, etc etc) and Holmes is super annoyed and gets competitive. love the idea and love the execution.

the things we say with our hands by ariadnes_string. lovely, short, h/c fic. watson's war injury(ies) comes in so handy for these h/c fics.

the maiden voyage of the tiresias by astolat. involves some cross-dressing. completely awesome.

this day to the ending of the world by candle_beck. an h/w origin story that contradicts the book canon but is extremely well done.

a little vanilla is good for the soul by toestastegood. "With any other person Holmes would no doubt have grown bored by this point."

time is the best doctor by . sweet and dirty.

scientific inquiry (different from the other one by that title) FIC+ART by lizardspots and longleggedgit. short, sweet, adorable, nice, semi-worksafe art.

katie forsythe's fic:
all her holmes fic is here and i haven't encountered one yet that i don't like. all book canon, as far as i know. it's a little hard to square these characters up to the movie characters, mostly because of just how devoted her watson is - not that he doesn't get annoyed and angry, just not in the same eye-rolly, he's-such-a-pain-in-my-ass way as movie watson. but i love her versions of these characters. and these are my particular favorites -

full of grace. i think i don't want to read established relationship fics and then i do it anyway and sometimes it's awesome like this. this fic deals with oscar wilde's case and how it touched holmes and watson's world. the ending it so lovely and romantic i can barely stand it.

four minor interludes for the solo violin. long, satisfying, first-time romanciness. i'm absolutely convinced of them falling in love with each other in this and it's kind of hard to remember that it's not actual canon. followed by hallowed be thy name - even longer.

undiscovered country - h/c fic like awesome.

an april journey - they figure things out on a train. :)

eh, just read them all. pretty sure you can't go wrong.

several nc-17 linked by foxxcub - i totally second these recs:

annoying little things. includes NSFW art. i totally believe this holmes. fits in perfectly with movie canon and in that way is pretty heartbreaking.

the art of balancing by shockselectric. i believe these characters too and ugggghhhh, the heartbreak. why is the movie canon so evil? did i say evil? i must have meant awesome. wait, no, i meant evil.

unconventional cures by toestastegood. whew, this one is... rough. WARNING FOR DUB CON. and all around painfulness.

an interesting little problem by cimorene. hot and just the kind of sweet i believe they would be - particular in the pre-'09 movie canon.

other
page of recs and links to various authors's works. pre-'09 movie

archive/recs page - pre-'09 movie

some good picspam, gifs, recs, etc in here. mostly '09 movie canon.

youtube clip. jude law wants you to know that it's not a bromance, it's a romance.

the mysterious case of the marginally gayer alternate reality by longleggedgit. cracktastic picspam/story. love it.

hiiiiii. ugh, i'm tired. the past couple of weeks when i haven't been around lj at all have been really excellent times. anabelwumpkins was here for a lovely visit and then i was in utah which turned out to be beautiful and i loved it and then inkjunket and hominidj were here for more fun times and it has all been great but when i top that off with the late night drive to the airport and stella vomitting on our bed in the wee hours of the morning, i'm just tired.

i have a ton of pictures from the utah trip to share but it will probably have to be tomorrow since i need to dedicate this morning to getting back on track with my various projects i was working on before all this. vacation is over. i do not approve.

and now if i don't get right in the shower, i'll probably fall asleep with my face on the keyboard. so here i go.

i'm off to salt lake city this morning! i can't quite believe i'm about to get in a car and drive for 8 hours, but... i am. i'm all packed up, mixes made, some deathly hallows and some podfic to listen to on the way. i am indeed taking I80, the boring route through wyoming. i'll let you know how that goes.

anabelwumpkins's visit was so lovely, save for travel delays on both ends. we had good times around our neighborhood and denver and sang together at church on sunday. man, i miss singing with anney. nothing else like it.

and now i get to see my parents tonight! if i ever leave. i suppose i should get on that. i think i'll be twittering from the road (when i'm stopped, of course) if anything interesting happens. not really anticipating that so much, but you never know.

see you in salt lake!

forgot to say in my last post, i have 3 dreamwidth codes free to good homes. just let me know if you want one.

<3

anabelwumpkins is here! and asleep upstairs. she had quite a day - twelve hours of travelling, delays included. it should not take that long to get from boston to denver. but she's here now! yay.

thanks to people who voted in the highway poll. i'm pretty sure i'm going to take I80 through wyoming, which is what the vast majority of you selected. it did give me pause, though, that the majority of people who live around here and have been on those roads before chose I70. but i get to take 70 on the way back, when i can make rach drive through the mountains and close my eyes during the scary parts.

i continue to read as though i am not a fannish serial monogomist. star trek, merlin, bandom, due south. i am enjoying it but still feeling a little floaty and rootless. it's odd.

here are my favorite things i've read recently -

thing-thing by sinsense. frank/gerard high school au. omg, i love this story, friends. so hilarious, so teeange boy real, and also so sweet and fairytale-esue. and there is some excellent art and music to go with it.

play and record, held down together by snakevsladder. pete/mikey high school au. hmm, do we sense a theme? i've read this basic story before - geeky quiet mikeyway and soccer star jock boy* pete wentz just trying to make it work. but this is well done and long and satisfying.

inhabiting by gigantic. chris pine/zachary quinto. my favorite of this pairing so far. excellent dialoque, subtle and sneaky and pretty much captivating.

and now i'd better go get dressed so i'm ready to have exciting visitor times... when anney gets up. :)


*ok, so maybe it was different in your school, but in mine, the soccer players were not jocks. i have to suspend my disbelief for all such pete/mikeys. no one went to our soccer games, no one cared about the soccer players (who were actually some of the cooler guys in my class, imo, and not at all jockish), and they certainly didn't have cheerleaders. you?

anabelwumpkins is in the air! delayed slightly, though, so she'll be getting in right after midnight. which is actually kind of late for me these days. because i am an old lady? yes.

i went to boulder today to meet with myrtle about the monteverdi edition of which i just finished a draft and my repertoire list. i came back from boulder with a whole bunch of loot, including:
-a new pair of the same flip flops i've been wearing for the last three summers which have word down so much they were no longer miraculously comfortable and supportive
-a pair of keen shoes that are more comfortable than they are attractive which is not always how i roll. but my feet have been feeling kind of messed up lately, so. we'll see how this goes.
-a giant score for spem in alium. myrtle saw it on my rep list and decided i really should own it and so gave me hers. i am pretty psyched about this. it's a piece for 40 different parts so it is rather unlikely i'll ever conduct it and thus was not likely to purchase it for myself. however, i love tallis and all that enlish renaissancey stuff and i'm very happy to own it.
-another nerd score, a framed poster of a page of the old hall manuscrpit. myrtle said she gave it to me bc she knew i would know what it was. of course! what early english choral nerd wouldn't?
-a heaping pile of octavos myrtle is getting rid of for whatever reason. including some good stuff for women's chorus.

so, yeah, totally scored. :)

oh! and now rach is home and it's dinner timez! maybe i'll be back later with mcr high school au recs and highway decisions, etc.

so on tuesday, i'm driving to salt lake city. and i have to pick a route. i could take I80 through wyoming. it would take 7.5 hours and it looks dull as shit. or i could take I70 though colorado and utah. it would take 8.5 hours and go through the rockies, so it would be pretty much gorgeous. however! i am afraid of heights and while i can competently drive through mountainous terrain, it makes me very tense. also, on our way back, rach will be with me and she and i will be spending a night in moab, so we'll be taking I70 then. all the same, the I80 looks barren and boring. so... wise flist, which would you choose?

I80 or I70

Poll #1417087 mighty good road
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 27

two roads diverged...

rebooted

so, you know how rach and i are going to moab for a night? it's to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. which is today! being married to rachael is... kind of exactly like it was before we were married except i have memories of a beautiful party, a pretty ring, and still more confusion over what to call her when i meet new people. which is to say, it is completely awesome. ♥

ok, i was going to make a post in my usual blithery fashion but then i watched a video of a jonas brother dancing in a untiard and heels and now i just don't think i have anything to say.

so... anyone been to salt lake city? we're going there at the end of the month and we've already been totally surprised to find out that it's full of really exciting-looking vegan restaurants and also relatively gay-friendly. i'll be at a conference for much of my time there, but then there will be a weekend with rach and my parents all there... what should we do that's fun? anyone have any suggestions?

first, obviously, bandit lee way!!!!! i was hestiant about the name until hearing that it was a girl. god, they are huge adorable weirdos and that is going to be the most awesome kid ever. <3!!!!!!!!

i've been a little absent for the past few days because i've been spending my self-limited on-line time reading heaven help us. man, it was everything i wanted it to be. and sucked me right back into the mcr love. more <3!!!

before that, though, rach and i had a staycation over the long weekend. the only bad thing about that was that it had to end. it was so much fun, to be in our space, with everything clean and pretty, relieved from worrying about chores and responsibilities. we had a completely fabulous, restful, restorative two days.

which included a little hike at castlewood canyon near castle rock. we'd never been down there before and i was really impressed with how green it was. and we took some photos of our hike.

( rocks! and us. and distant mountains )

briefly, some things:

1. i had not realized that the star trek movie was exactly what was missing in my life. i agree 100% with all the criticisms about the pathetic lack of women and omg the miniskirts, but i also LOVED it. when it was over i just wanted to stay in the theater and watch it again. oops.

2. we are having a staycation today and tomorrow. we cleaned the house and did all our chores yesterday so today we can enjoy and lounge about (now that we're back from church) and go and do things like hike and barbecue and all that. this also means that i'm about to put away my computer for a while and pretend that i'm on vacation without it. be good while i'm gone? or... something more interesting than that.

man. any of you massachusetts types complaining about the cold weather, i would gladly trade my 90s and oppressively sunny denver days for yours. i couldn't sleep last night for the heat. well, the heat and my cat being an asshole. we've opened the window next to my side of the bed, but we don't open it very far at night. so chloe climbs up next to me on the edge of the bed and contemplates her chances of making the jump. if the curtain's in the way or the window's not open enough, she just sits there and growls. last night she attempted it but didn't make it. she landed in my pile of books and stuff near the bed and growled some more then jumped back up, right in my face, and tried again. not conducive to sleeping.

i feel a little fannishly lost right now. i'm mostly reading merlin, following bandom, rewatching due south, reading a little hp here and there... but i'm not in the thrall of any particular thing. i feel like this is a natural part of a fannish cycle and it's probably for the best, since i have so much work to be doing. but i'm missing the thrill. i feel like it makes me a little boring on the internet, too. but i think that's a natural part of being all productive. which is so awesome that i will take the boring gladly.

i must say, my boring week has been really productive so far. this seems to bode well for my summer. and yesterday i had a physical therapy appointment followed by an acupuncture appointment followed by a reflexology appointment. i'm feeling pretty groovy. and i ran into friend rachel on campus and we made dinner plans. so that was awesome. she's only here from hawaii for a few more days so i'm really pleased rach and i got to spend some time with her.

tonight is rach and my only free evening together this whole week. much as i love everyone, i really hope no one tries to make any kind of plans with us. i want to cook dinner at home, catch up on our shows and just generally chill out. the weekend involves two concerts, a party, and a church service. so friday night in pyjamas in front of the tv sounds just right to me.

also. greta? solo album? what?

who has two thumbs and passed her last score reading???

i feel like lj is the blogging site who cried wolf. i just don't get so nervous anymore. all the same, if the ljpocalypse does finally come, you can find me at insane and greatestjournal by the same name. as always, i hope that doesn't happen.

we're back in denver, as of late last night. it is definitely good to be home, good to sleep in our bed, good to see our cats. chloe has been incredibly snuggly. which is quite a treat.

our friend john was trying to tell us that after living here for 3 1/2 years, we should be starting to think of ourselves as coloradans or denverites or whatever. um. nope. i mean, i don't dislike denver. i just am not of this place. things feel more right to me when i'm in new england, even if i've grown to love and appreciate some things here. i still feel like a visitor. i still notice things that are strange to me. i still miss "home."

but home is also this house. which is a mess. and school and work, which need my attention rather urgently. i need to plan for church this sunday and women's chorus this monday. i haven't picked a program yet! yikes. much work to do. but i may let myself have another hour of relaxing in this space before i get back to the grind. relaxing and trying to set up wifi with our new computers so i can stop mooching from the neighbors.

also, i'm thinking of doing another year of photos. it was fun, i've taken a whole year off... haven't entirely decided yet, though.

me and inkjunket on new year's eve. photo by mmm_cake. <3

hi. happy new year! i've been off lj for a bit, since we've been jaunting about and my computers have been occupied with trying (and largely failing) to talk to each other. i kind of want to stab them both in the face right now. old computer (miranda) will not cooperate with the transfer process and new computer, who i have named greta and generally love, is now doing some seriously annoying stuff like not running my client and randomly freezing. i am going to have to step away momentarily so i don't throw anything expensive out the window.

so we've been in boston and swampscott and williamstown and somerville and providence and northampton and worcester. it's been great to see so many loved ones but now i am tired and starting to feel ready to go home. as always when we're away, i miss our bed and our cats. not necessarily in that order. and i miss the part where we don't have to be in a different city almost every day. i have a ton of work to do when we get home, though, so it's not going to be all relaxing and cuddling with the kitties. sadly.

we had a really nice new year's eve/day. we went to inkjunket and hominidj's house, along with scottxwl, powerfulkatrina and C, and eventually anabelwumpkins. we ate lots of good food, watched some dog whisperer (with and without pete and ashlee) and, my favorite part, played lots of scottxwl's guitar hero. like, lots. inkjunket and i stayed up til 4:30 am playing. she was on drums and i was on guitar and we rocked it. and we played more the next day when we set up our band, cheese sauce crisis. it's a very good thing that i don't own a wii or any such thing or i would never, ever get anything done in my life ever again. i was an instant addict. and every day i just want to play again. i actually got to play some rockband last night. which made me very happy. better music, but i didn't like the control as much. that may just have been our friends guitar-thing, idk.

also on new year's day, we made lucky new year foods. black-eyed peas and soy bacon (we decided that soy pork is as lucky as animal pork) went into a tasty hoppin' john that we ate with sauteed smokey kale and cornbread. all lucky foods. and rach made a circular orange chocolate chip cake and baked a coin into it - which inkjunket got in her slice. so. we've done what we can, culinarily speaking, to bring us all luck in the year to come. but also it felt good to be eating well - and together - on new year's day. it has to be better than the year we deep fried cupcakes.