I've decided that I'm in a good enough mood over the whole work thing that I'm having a sale at my Etsy...

Use the code "HAPPYDANCE" for 10% off your whole order. ;)

• I've done the stained glass soap as smaller soap sticks for party favors/gift sets/whatever.  I think they may be even more awesome when they're smaller. :)

• My soap ball mold is giving me a headache.

• We had a field trip to the LP Zoo today.  I took Sherlock and J3 as well as TM and a kid you've probably never heard me talk about before - S1. Sherlock was kind of adorable.  As we get off the bus he pulls the group over and goes,"This is awesome!  Miss [Waldo] knows ALL the cool stuff at this zoo!  So we're gonna s see [gestures with hands] |--------------------------| this much cool stuff, but the other kids will only see |--------| this much cool stuff."

• I made their day because I brought my ground blanket and I let them have the choice between finding a picnic table or having an actual picnic on the ground.  They voted overwhelmingly for the blanket.  It was very cute.  And they *tripped* over each other to be nice and share their lunches with each other.  They all had their own lunches, but they felt this intense need to share everything they had, except that each ate their own sandwiches.

• It's just slightly possible that my mother is more excited/relieved that I have a job for next year than I do. 

• If I get the 6th grade gig, I get a classroom in the space we're taking over next year, which they will start building next month.  BRAND NEW CLASSROOM!  That would be so very awesome.  I wonder if I can talk them into lowering the whiteboard about a foot for me.  On the weird side, I'd be in a room that was a functional Catholic Church like, two months before.  I wonder if, now that the church has moved out, we'll be able to do something about the signage.  It's a little more than creepy to go to work in a building labeled "Church of the Precious Blood" every day.  That said, it could be an AWESOME palace to convert into a haunted house once we move out in 2013.  :p

• My ferrets are around in my bedroom with me somewhere.  I have no idea exactly where.  This should probably concern me.

I was officially offered a 'real' teaching position at my current school for next year.  *Probably* sixth grade humanities, but 4th grade isn't being completely ruled out.

After the INSANITY of these small people this year, I can totally embrace either one.  Bigger people are FAR more rational.

Okay, after doing more than 15 hours of photography hiking in two days, I didn't leave the house today.  I figure hiking in the literal 100 degree weather yesterday pardons me from having to go out in the 95 degrees today... right?

Instead, I did Etsy work.  I realized that with the 'unofficial start of summer' upon us the Real Honest To Goodness Start of Summer would be coming up soon.  So I did a few 4th of July soap sets I had hoped to get around to doing last year... and never did.

The cuter set - I 'heart' USA.
The more... rustic set - Stars and Stripes.

Tomorrow I'll put up the party-favor-size rainbow and stained glass sets.

I also ran my dishwasher about five times.  Not that I had *that* many dishes... well, I had a metric ton of dishes, but then I had a lot of soap prep dishes and molds that needed cleaning too.  I also did three loads of laundry and made dinner for tonight and lunches for the (yay! short!) school week.

We go to LP Zoo this week with the kids.  Should be... um... entertaining.  So yeah, really short actual-teaching week.  I can't believe the school year is almost over.

And I knocked out 1000 words on an exchange story that's due in a little less than a month.  This is good as 1000 words is the minimum.  So wherever it decides to end now, I'm good. ;)

... cold-blooded!

That would have made today go SO much better.

Not that today sucked, but any time you do a 4+ mile photohike with 30 lbs of gear on your back in 100 degree weather, there are... complications.  Being able to pull energy straight from the STUPIDLY hot sun would have let me keep up with the little blue that never did land, the tiger swallowtail that was insanely good at hiding when it DID land and the frogs and turtles that could hear me coming WAY before I could see them.

Anyway, I drove up to Volo today.  A two hour drive so I could kill myself with heat exhaustion and a sore back (by the time it was over).

To the good:
+ finished the whole thing and didn't pass out.
+ saw the sandhill cranes.  Got pics... don't know if any of them are any good yet.
+ I gave myself permission to take frequent breaks and dump water on my head periodically.  Both of these are highly recommended in 100 degree weather.
+ many, many, many frogs!
+ my long, cotton, yoga-style pants are at least as cool as jeans shorts and infinitely more tick-proof.
+ my hiking boots are actually okay even in the stupid levels of heat we had today.  No worse heat-wise than gym shoes and better on my feet and ankles support-wise.
+ The very nice folks at the welcome center had a can of free-use bug spray.  Which is good, because I remembered sunscreen, but forgot bug spray.  Maybe it's time to back to an all-in-one that lives in my car.

To the bad:
- Other than the sandhill cranes, I'm not sure I saw anything I haven't seen here in Chicago.
- My new can of spray-on sunblock is only iffy.  I mean, I would have *toasted* without any sunblock at all, but there are still spots on the top of my cheeks and that one space on my left shoulder where my t-shirt kept sliding off my shoulder and left a weird space of shoulder between my backpack strap and where the neckline ended up.
- I need to remember to bug spray the bandana I wear on my head when I shoot.  I spent most of the hike with a buzzing in my ear as either a bee or a fly tried to decide if I was worth bothering.


In other news I had spirit guide on the vast majority of the Tamarack Trail part of the hike.  There was this smallish Black Saddlebags Dragonfly that kept pace with me all down the trail.  He'd stay about head-height and a foot in front of me.  If I stopped to chase a butterfly, he'd wait.  Sometimes I'd lose track of him as I started walking again, but within a few feet he'd be back on my right side, head-high, a foot or two in front of me.  I went into the bird blind to eat my lunch (and, apparently watch the bog, but no birds) and when I came back out, Claude was back with me.  I lost him at about the half-way marker, but when I was about a thousand feet from the end he was back again.  It was very interesting.

But damn it was *hot*.  I was so hot I was getting those 'cold chills' that tell you that your brain can no longer process the stupid levels of hot it's dealing with right now.  I couldn't figure out why my bandana and my face and the bottom of my t-shirt would dry in about five minutes after I dumped water on my head but the front of my shirt stayed wet.  Then I realized how much I was sweating.  Blerg.  I don't normally look that gross.  Ever.

I did think to carry a wet washcloth in a baggie today.  This was good for wiping my hands after lunch, but even better when I was done.  I went into the bathroom, pulled off my shirt and scrubbed down with the washcloth so I felt half-way human by the time I got in the car.  Next time?  Clean t-shirt in the car too.  Also?  I need to not scrub my face with plain water because all that did was make the "waterproof" *cough cough* sunblock run into my eyes.  NOT FUN!

It finally stopped raining and I am at my second pond of the day.  A very
random three year old just came up to me and said, ”I saw a sunbathing
turtle and it had one foot in the air and it was doing pillates.”

Also, there is a very impromptu wedding here.  There are no chairs or
decorations, just 20 or so people standing on the edge of the pond
watching two other people get married.

Also?  Damselflies!  But that part is probably only exciting to me.

 I will learn that a 10% chance of rain does not mean, "it will not rain."

Maybe it'll be on the day that I go out to shoot because it's only a 10% chance of rain and it actually *doesn't* ran on me.

I say this, sitting in my car waiting for this particular shower to pass so I can walk all the way BACK to where the herons are nesting.  I had JUST gotten there when the rain started.  Argh.

I finished that stained glass soap I was talking about yesterday.

I swear to god, I have no idea how I did that with the orange in a single white pour before it and a single orange pour over that.  But it's cool looking! :)



In other news, the weather's going to get me coming or going this weekend.  I've decided to go up and shoot Volo Bog this weekend.  I haven't been there in over a year and I don't think I've ever been while Spring Migration is still underway.

So I have a choice:  Go tomorrow and likely get rained on, or go Sunday and bake like a brownie while I'm there.  And as much as I dread this decision, my camera can handle the heat better than the wet... so I guess it's kind of decided for me.  And also, most animals go to ground when the wet stuff gets flung at them so...

I was totally prepared to get up at 4:00 and get there around 6:00 for the birds and butterflies and other things that are easier to catch just as they're waking up, but the thingy on the website says they aren't open until 8:00.  I'll call tomorrow to see if that's just the visitors' center or if it's the actual trails.

I guess tomorrow, I'll duck between rainshowers and go to the South Pond and see if the GAZILLION baby herons are starting to show their heads over their nests yet.  Which also should be done at oh-stupid-early because anywhere near (let alone technically IN) the Lincoln Park Zoo on the 'first unofficial day of summer' is stupid busy... which again... animals going to ground.

So those are my 'big plans' for the long weekend.  We'll see how it all goes. :)

I listed a couple of new products today:

A Set of Six Soaps - six different formulas, six different shapes... lots of fun. :)

and

Rainbow Cubes - pretty much what it says on the tin - a cube shaped rainbow colored soap.  I loved it so much that I started on a 'stained glass' version tonight that's going to be AMAZING.  I should be able to get those listed tomorrow.


Come, look, order soap! :)

I typically refer to them as 'the boy ferrets', but tonight it's the 'oy ferrets.'  More specifically, the Logi Oy Ferret.

Dumbass ate something Very Bad for him.  I think it was a bug.  Now, this in and of itself would not be so bad.  Ferrets are a protein based lifeform, and bugs... you know... more protein.

However, he gagged on the damn thing. (Which is what makes me wonder if in his supreme DUMBASSNESS, he ate a dust bunny THINKING it was a bug.)  Anyway, I put them in the cage and try to give Logi ferret-lube.  (i.e. hairball remedy.)  HE DOESN'T EAT IT!  

Every other ferret I've ever had goes NUTS for this stuff.  Hell, Kári was shoving in to get at the stuff because *he* wanted it, even though he didn't need it.  I had to force feed Logi ferret-lube.  That's like... unheard of.

I dumped ferret-crack on it... he licked off the crack and left the lube in the bowl.  I finally had to a.) ferret-crack Kári to keep him out of the way and b.) scruff Logi and force-lube his guts.  *sigh*  

Anyway, he got at least an inch strip of lube in him, so he should be slick enough now, and he's acting fine... but still... force-lubing a ferret?  Really Logi?  Even your boyfriend gets that that should be a totally voluntary operation.

I did a major house cleaning on my Etsy in the last couple days.

A few new fragrances (okay, one's not new, it just never made my list for some reason): Sweet Meyer Lemon (smells like lemonade), violet and sandalwood.

A new product. I totally love this mold.  Great big soap jewels!  So adorable!

I also relisted a bunch of things that haven't been up in a while.  Etsy finally made it really easy for us to see what we've sold and not relisted so I could put up things I'd forgotten had sold out. :)

To that end...

Lotion Bar Samples
Loofa Soaps
Bath Bomb Odds and Ends
Coffee Scrub Soap

And if you go to my store, there's a few more odds and ends relisted too. :)

I put about six orders in the post today, so I'm all caught up.  If you were thinking about ordering something, this might be a good time since I'll be able to turn it around quickly. :)

So at first, I didn't watch House.  I'd thought about it, but someone who knows me well enough said "a lot of needles and cutting skin and more needles" which was enough for me to go "ugh.  no thank you."

Then I heard there was a Holmes connection, so I watched (partly through my fingers when the needles came out) and realized it was awesome.

Then House got involved with Cuddy and became completely unrecognizable, so I stopped watching.

Then Cuddy moved to... I don't even know... Albuquerque or whatever... so I started watching again.

Then somewhere along the line I kept forgetting to watch it this season.

Then I heard Wilson had cancer. (Yay irony!!!  Yay potential hurt/comfort)  So I started watching again.  And the whole emotional journey with House and Wilson over this whole thing was done AMAZINGLY.

AND THEN IT ENDED AND IT WAS AWESOME AND OMG THEY *DID* THAT YAY!

For the first time since about season 4, I think I need to go find fic.  'Cause, yeah, wow.  That was a BRILLIANT ENDING!

I've talked myself out of going down to shoot the protest.  A.) Back acted up yesterday at the North Pond.  Do not need to aggravate further.  B.)NATO/protests/politics/police... not my bag.  Yes, it's 'once in a lifetime', but I don't care so much, so... meh.  That said, I will be going back to the Zombie March in a few weeks.  That was HYSTERICAL last year. :)

So instead...I'm dealing with some Etsy stuff and cleaning my house.  If anyone's interested, there's a new item up on my Etsy!

Plan for the day...

ETSY
• Make any outstanding Etsy Labels
• Make bubble gel insert
• Package orders
• Make new bath bomb orders
• Organize work space
• Mock ups
 - sugar scrub singles
 - gem mold
 - ball mold

WORK
• Make Turtles
• Make food for lunches Chili in crockpot

HOUSE
• Ferret Cage
• Human laundry
 - load one in washer
 - load one in dryer
 - load one folded/put away
  - load two in washer
 - load two in dryer
 - load two folded/put away
 - load three in washer
 - load three in dryer
 - load three folded/put away
• Ferret laundry
• Run dishwasher
• Empty dishwasher, reload, run again
• Trip down to the trash #1
• Trip down to the trash #2
• Trip down to the trash #3

Today:

• Shoot North Pond.  (OMG!Migration at the hedge last weekend was OMG!worthy!)
• Run to the Death!Jewel
 - meds
 - dishwasher stuff
 - wrinkle releaser
 - knox gelatin stuff
 - caramel sauce
• Finish Etsy orders, including the not-on-Etsy order for co-worker
• Turtle for thing for work
• Ferret Cage

Tomorrow:
• Laundry
• ??? Shoot NATO protest.  (part of me says I MUST SHOOT THIS NOW, because I'll never get a chance to again.  But it's people and I don't do people.  So, we'll see...)
• Make food for work lunches


I know I'm missing a thousand things, but these are the highlights.

Just a few other notes:

• Common Law amuses me as much as I hoped it would.

• I realized yesterday that of all people, Deeks has to (at least in large part) be the one to save Callan's ass in my post Sans V[whatever that French thing was] fic.
 - none of this is helping me focus on the story I *need* to write for an exchange that is NOT NCIS: LA related.

• I came home from work last night and fell asleep and slept for the vast majority of 12 hours.  I got up for about an hour to let the ferrets out, but yeah... 12 hours of sleep.  Oy.

• They're talking about 'last minute changes' to the LSD closures that will move them north enough to be a problem for me on Monday.  Argh.

• I've started putting up the skeleton for Fandom Olympics.  If anyone wants a peek, let me know and I'll send you the URL.


Okay, there are birds and butterflies waiting for me on the North Pond.

• Things were better, but not AWESOME, yesterday with those 4 kids out.  Mostly because we basically said to the rest of them, "we fed the bad kids to a monster and if you don't shape up, we'll feed you to it too."

• If you have any spare 'good luck' vibes to spare today, I could use them at about 2:00 Chicago time.

• It took me two days to figure out what I have to say about the season finale of NCIS LA.  It occurred to me at almost 11:00 last night what it is that I think about it and it will probably be said in a fic.  Weirdly, I suspect G won't be in the fic much if at all... it's all what SAM has to say about those last three minutes.  Most of it goes back to an episode I don't even like that much from season1 - Killshot.  And that I'm starting to really, really dislike Hetty.  I thought she was cute and a little scary and kind of good for comic relief at first, but I'm starting to really hate her Machiavellian ways.

John spends half of Baskerville going along with Sherlock, nodding and 'uh-huh'ing and then going, "Wait, what?!"

I swear there have to be at least 15 instances of him doing this in just that one episode.

• I had a work-party-thing last Friday.  I think the guy from the network office let slip that I'm being hired back for next year.  Nothing's for certain, though.  I'll know on Monday.

• Woke up at 4:30 today.  Blergh.  However, I did decide to roll out of bed at 6:00 and go to the Magic Hedge to shoot.  By the time I'd had breakfast and packed my camera bag it was 7:00 when I got there.  I hiked for four hours and would have stayed longer if my back hadn't spazzed on me.  And I mean that literally.  I started having spasms in my back that nearly made me collapse a dozen times or more.  I mean, most people who have the "OW DAMN MY BACK!  And now my vision is whiting out... am I falling down?" moments stop then... I was having too good a shoot.  But after another hour and another dozen massive spasms and continuous low-grade pain, I finally had to call it a day.  It took me three minutes to change position enough to get into the car.

• Did I mention I had a PHENOMENAL day at the Hedge?  I'll post it when I get it edited, but I got a single shot of four species of shore birds having a convention.  A black-bellied plover, a ring billed gull (I think, it may have been a herring gull... I know the difference, I just can't remember which one it is right now), a Ruddy Turnstone and a Willet.  The plover and the turnstone were hanging out together all morning.  I went down to the beach twice while I was there and I found them in two very different locations, but together the whole time.  So cute!

• I'll be amazed if I don't have pictures of at least 30 distinct species from the Hedge today.  It was AMAZING!  And you know what was really migrating out there in droves?  Photographers.  I have massive, massive glass-envy right now.

• My back is still problematic, even after many hours on a heating pad and a two hour nap.  And I absolutely must start work-clothes laundry in the next half hour.  Blergh.

Okay...more bi than lesbian but still...

Huge props to the NCIS LA folks for two reasons:
( Nonplot spoiler for tonight's ep. )
I also don't mind that( Slightly more plotty spoiler... same ep. )

Also, this episode did sort of scream, "This is what Kensi and Deeks were shooting while Sam and Callen were shooting on the 5-0 set."

That said...

When we got the "Stay tuned for a preview of next week's ep" voice over thing I realized we were coming up on the end of the season and all I could think was, "OH! What are they going to do to G *this* year?"

Then I saw the preview and went,( Spoilers for the preview )
And a last (and as an almost completely non sequitur): Toby Zeigler is on the NCIS wall... This may be worse than the space shuttle thing. :p

... with the office manager.

Me: So, sometime this week I'm expecting a package from a company called InsectLore.  Could you please call me to come get it as soon as it arrives?
OM: Is it bugs?  I mean, it's not actual bugs, right?
Me: Well...yes it is.
OM: You're bringing bugs into the building?
Me:  They're caterpillars.  Which is why I have to unpack them as soon as they arrive, so let me know, yeah?
OM: You're bringing *bugs* into the building.
Me: They're caterpillars.  It's not like I'm shipping in mosquitoes or roaches or something.
OM: You're ordered BUGS?
Me: Yes, I did.  Three classes worth.  So let me know when they get here so I can unpack them and pass them out.

At which point I walked away.  Now, note, I LOVE our OM.  And she's pretty fond of me.  This was all in fun... well, other than she has to sign for my bugs and then hang on to them until I can come get them. ;)

And then I did *all* the science planning ever.  For all three classes.  I did the pre-test.  I did the log pages.  I did the life-cycle work.  I am the bug GODDESS for our building!

(And also, when Primary Teacher asked what a moth was TM, my little future Madam Curie, said "It's a bug that likes to fly by the lights," PT almost told her she was wrong.  I had to cut in with, "She's right."  Basically TM didn't say, "It's like a butterfly" so anything beyond that stymied PT.  I was good, though and didn't start going on about feathered antennae vs. regular ones and all the rest that I could have.)

They clipped some stuff out of the beginning where they, basically, tear through about 12 ACD titles in eight minutes.  To quote the next ep., "disappointing."

In other news... the latest list of 15 from last night:

1. Danny Williams
2. Daniel Jackson
3. Gibbs
4. G
5. Neal Caffrey
6. Tony
7. Sherlock
8. Kensi Blye
9. John Watson
10. Abby
11. Jack O'Neill
12.  Jack Harkness
13. Hetty Lange
14. Peter Burke
15. Sam Hanna

Unfortunately none of them screamed fic at me.  Boo.

Twelve and Four wake up naked in a bed. What happens next?
Jack Harkness and G Callen: Jack just smiles and bounces his eyebrows.  G wonders what the hell he was drinking the night before and if there's any way this doesn't end in Sam killing him. 

I keep wanting to say Seventeen, but I know I can't, so Seven and Ten are raising a small child. Will that child be forever scarred by its childhood? If so, how?
Abby and Sherlock: I wouldn't say scarred, but definitely strange.  Also? *Terrifyingly* science-smart with a justice streak a mile wide.  Abby would be there to balance out any of the issues brought up by Sherlock's lack of social skills (and to make sure the experiments in the kitchen are put up high enough until she's able to recognize the universal poison symbol and knows enough not to eat anything in a petri dish), but the poor kid wouldn't have a chance at ever being dressed normally or having developmentally appropriate language (she'd probably be about three years ahead by the time she's six) which would inhibit friendships.  Abby would raise her to sign, Sherlock would teach her at least French and German and possibly Russian. 

She'd have little goth dolls that she'd try to DNA test and a full collection of those stuffed bacteria/virus/microbe toys.  She'd have developmentally appropriate microscopes available at all times, and probably a whole wall full of fish tanks and terrariums and mouse habitats and ferrets and a cat and an ant farm.  She'd be a huge fan of the guy who does the hard rock versions of classical music.

She'd be the one not only figuring out which kid in the class has stolen the teacher's test answer key, but also creating some kind of chemical that turns the culprit blue or something in retaliation for the class losing recess when he refused to 'fess up hand it over.  Both her parents would be exceptionally proud of her for both achievements.


One, Two, Five, and Thirteen have dinner. Who decides where they eat? Do any of them embarrass the others while they're out? What do they talk about?
Danny Williams, Daniel Jackson, Neal Caffrey and Hetty Lange:  Oh. My. God.  Well, Hetty would decide where.  Because, you know... Hetty.  

It would *clearly* become a case of one-upmanship with who can tell the wildest story that's also true.  Danny refuses to believe Daniel about the aliens.  Hetty's seen them (I'm sure she was assigned to Area 51 at one point) and Neal's open minded, but Danny thinks he's completely full of shit.  Neal has to try really, really, really hard to remember that working Hetty for the location of her jewelry warehouse would *surely* end very, very badly for him.  If he thought having the FBI after him was bad, he's pretty sure that Hetty could call in the CIA if she felt inclined.  Not to mention, that just based on her description of them, the team she has right now scares him pretty straight.  Danny talks about Steve handgranading a pawn shop and all Daniel can say is, "You really need to introduce him to my friend Jack.  Possibly Teal'c too."  Danny's a bit annoyed that nobody finds that maneuver completely ridiculous.  I don't think any of them would be embarrassed, especially if we're talking Season 4+ Daniel Jackson.  The others are clearly lacking the embarrassment gene entirely.

Three and Nine go to the movies. What do they see and how much arguing does it take for them to agree on a movie?
Gibbs and John Watson: Gibbs isn't a movie guy.  Maybe if his team were working with John and Sherlock on a case and there were a clue in the movie plot? (Though if that were the case, I suspect Gibbs would send Tony.)  Or if they thought the bad guy was in the theater and they wanted to wait until the lights came up so they didn't put a bunch of random strangers in danger trying to arrest him in the dark? 

If they did actually go on purpose, they'd probably both go see some kind of war flick.  War Horse or at an art house type cinema something like Schindler's List or some kind of battle-oriented thing like Hurt Locker or Blackhawk Down with lots of explosions and military jargon.

Four's phone rings in the middle of the night. Ten is on the line. What's the first thing that Four says? Do they mind being woken up?
G Callen and Abby: If G saw Abby pop up on the caller ID, and he didn't have her working on something for a case his first reaction would be, "What's wrong?"  Probably assuming something had happened to Gibbs for her to be calling in the middle of the night. 

And I doubt being woken up would be an issue.  It's CALLEN for crying out loud.  He doesn't sleep.  Maybe Abby's having insomnia issues and she knows he's a safe person to call (because he doesn't sleep) so she can kill the time until either she can sleep again or morning comes.  Maybe G's teaching her Russian so she and Gibbs can talk around the team... and make Tony paranoid, just for fun.  They wouldn't have to worry about talking about work since they both have clearance, so maybe they vent about stupid regs and stupid criminals and how sometimes the family you choose can make you batshit insane even though it's clear they love you. 

And yet, each time she calls, Callen probably still has a moment of, "What happened to Gibbs now?"  (Maybe Abby was the only one who knew to call Callen after the events of Hiatus, Part I).

I'm going to go shoot the supermoon at 10:00, so I'm forcing myself to stay awake.

A few notes of weird and whatever I haven't had the time/energy to post lately:

• Got an A in grad school.  98.25%.  But there was a weird note that my midterm project was ten days late and she doesn't have to take it after it being a week late and therefore I'm being docked 40% of my points.  Only I wasn't docked and my paper was turned in two days early.  Whatever, I wasn't docked.

• I won't be in grad school this summer.  The schedule is goofy and it won't work for me.  Back to the grind in the fall.

• M1 was in class on Friday and despite having to be physically removed twice, he didn't injure me.  The ways we mark progress these days.  *sigh*

• I'm currently driving through a concurrent red zone and construction zone to get to and from work.  The Congress is a hot mess with the new configurations through the construction.  ADD to that, there are now armed federal agents (okay, armed with bean bag guns) patrolling the area in the lead up to NATO.

• Both boys got shots in the butt today.  Kári his regular Lupron (which is working wonders! YAY!) and Logi his Rabies.  I've been informed that my ability to judge when a ferret is fat has been *seriously* skewed by Spirit and that at almost three pounds (2 lbs. 15 oz.) Kári's getting zahftig.  Spirit was nearly four pounds, so Kári looked okay to me.  Logi is apparently a runt-muppet.

Okay, I still need to kill two hours...  I'll toss the 15 characters meme out there again.  Maybe I'll even try to ficlet them while I wait for the clouds to part (according to the weather channel the clouds will clear at about 10:00 for the 'perfect' full moon at 10:35... which is nice of them).

You know the drill.  I have a list of 15 characters... give me a scenario with a few of the numbers and I'll give you ficlet. :)

Spotting #: 3/100
Location: South Pond, Chicago, IL
Species: Sora


I know, most of you are going, "A sora?  A what now?"  I had pictures of the thing and I had no idea what it was.  (Okay, I know exactly where to look to find out, but mostly I know the Illinois birds at least well enough to go 'it's a finch', 'it's a gull' 'it's a... whatever'.  Like I knew the tern I saw the same day was a tern and not a gull - despite how much they look and act like the local gulls.)  I guessed it was a rail, not because I see a lot of rails, but because last year this particular patch of reeds was claimed by a Virginia Rail that I saw exactly once all year.

Anyway, a sora is the smallest of the shorebirds in it's group.  They're apparently pretty wide spread over the country, but almost never seen, because OMG good at hiding in the reeds.

I so, so, so love his little bushy bunny tail!

My photography has improved to where I'm getting to a place where about 50% of my shots are worth putting into the editor and taking a good look at. This is up from about 10% of the overall total when I started.

The bad news is... I took 676 photographs yesterday. So I still have a fuckload of pictures to edit.

The good news... a SORA! And CASPIAN TERNS! And BREEDING NIGHT HERONS IN NESTS MANY MANY MANY NESTS!

The bad news... Damn dragonflies didn't EVER land yesterday.

The weird news... I can now identify a snapping turtle by his nose and eyes sticking out of the algae alone.

Dear Not Prime Time Author-person,

Thank you so much for taking on the task of writing something for me. I try not to be difficult, and in fact, I'm sure I'll love anything written in good faith. That said, I know I respond better to a list of concrete likes/dislikes and at least a bit of a general prompt or episode/season that my recipient would like to see. So while OMG!long letter is long, I'm already thrilled that you're writing something just for me. So as you know, my optional details are optional!

( In General... )

( In Sherlock... )


( In Hawaii 5-0... )

( In Torchwood... )
So, again, thank you so much for writing for me.  I'm sure I'll love it, whatever you do! :)

Post a list of 20 TV shows you watch/ed.

•Have your friends list guess your favorite character from each show.

•When someone guesses your favorite character, bold the title.

•When guessed, tell us at least one reason why you like that character.


1. NCIS: LA
2. NCIS
3. Glee
4. Hawaii 5-0
5. Enterprise
6. White Collar
7. Stargate: SG-1
8. SG: Atlantis
9. Babylon 5
10. Star Trek (TOS)
11. Covert Affairs
12. Torchwood
13. Sherlock
14. House
15. Sports Night
16. West Wing
17. Horatio Hornblower
18. Battlestar Galactica (2003)
19. Invisible Man (2000)
20. In Plain Sight

Don't feel that you have to try to guess a character for every show. Just tackle the ones you think you know. ;)

Okay, so I've wanted an NCIS LA/H50 crossover since H50 came out and we knew enough to start thinking that Steven and Sam would have served together.

Of course, as soon as you start to realize you're going to get what you want you start to dwell on how they'll screw it up.

But... so far, not too bad!

Spoilers...
( Anyone seen Winifred? )

Can't wait to see how they wrap it up tomorrow.

Originally posted by rosewildeirish at Scrapbook

Okay, so I answered all my number + number scenarios with little blurbs.

Then I saw that james actually wrote *fic* for the replies.  Sigh.  I'm so embarrassed.  In my defense, I don't write crossovers much, so...

So instead I'll offer this:

Pick a letter and give me a word that starts with that letter and a fandom I write in and I'll try to drabble (at least, it's actually way *harder* for me to write something that short) for each prompt.

A
B
C - conscious (Sherlock)
D - disappointment (NCIS)
E
F
G
H
I - insecurity (NCIS: LA)
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q - querulous (NCIS)
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Fandoms I'm likely to kick out something in pretty quickly right now:  Sherlock, In Plain Sight, NCIS, NCIS: LA, Stargate: SG-1

Fandoms I can probably work something up for, but might take longer: Hawaii 5-0, White Collar, SGA, Enterprise, Glee, Torchwood

So here was my list...

1. Sherlock Holmes (BBC)
2. Jack O'Neill
3. US Marshal Marshall Mann
4. John Watson (BBC)
5. Daniel Jackson
6. G Callen
7. Tony DiNozzo
8. Mary Shannon
9. Sam Hanna
10. Danny Williams
11. Leroy Jethro Gibbs
12. Steve McGarrett
13. Jack Harkness
14. Ianto Jones
15. Kurt Hummel

3 and 12 are stuck someplace with no form of entertainment but what's in their pockets.
Marshall and Steve... oh that's not going to end well.  First of all, if Steve has duct tape in his pocket, Marshall is screwed because his favorite way to pass time is to talk about really inane things.  And Steve's tolerance for inane is um... nonexistent?  So yeah,  Steve would duct tape Marshall's hands and mouth.  I'm sure they'd both have their cell phones.  Marshall would have a bucket load of either audio books and/or ebooks.  Steve would have, I don't know, World of Warcraft on his phone.   They might talk for a while and if Steve could convince Marshall to admit he worked for the US Marshals, they might spend time comparing the stupidest people they've dealt with at work.  Both co-workers and criminals/witnesses.

Just to be silly, 4 and 7 go to a Duran Duran concert.
Actually, John and Tony would have both been children of the 80's so it's not impossible.  Tony would be that DD fan who totally pretends he's not a DD fan because it's uncool and then he'd spend the whole night hoping he doesn't run into someone he knows at the show.  John's beyond caring what people think of his music tastes and he's pretty sure Sherlock doesn't know an artist born after 1900 anyway, nevermind who's cool and who's not.  Maybe they got assigned seats next to each other rather randomly and somehow ended up talking about esoteric partners.  Neither one of them would know if the other meant 'partner' as in the-guy-I-work-with, or 'partner' the-guy-I-sleep-with or both and neither wants to seem weird so they don't ask.  They'd end up at a pub after the show, having a nice time, but trying to figure out if the other one is just being friendly or if they're being chatted up.

Eight and ten are trying to stop a nuclear disaster. Are they successful?
Mary and Danny... hm... I can't decide if they'd spend too much time arguing over whether or not hot peppers qualify as an entire food group (Mary thinks they do, Danny thinks she's nuts).  Or if they'd get on like a house on fire.  After all, Danny manages Steve, who is an awful lot like Mary in temperament.  But they're both professional enough (and decidedly full-enough-of-themselves to not deprive the world of their awesomeness) to get the job done.  They're both parents and protectors at heart.  There would be jokes about 'we-just-saved-the-world-sex', but it wouldn't happen.

One, Five, and Nine are all hanging out together. Who's the third wheel?
Sherlock, Daniel Jackson and Sam Hanna.  Hm... They'd freaking take turns! Sherlock and Daniel both have a history of, well, underdeveloped social skills, but they'd end up talking about the minutia of archeology and how what Daniel does isn't so very different from what Sherlock does - they take small pieces of information and extrapolate the rest of the story -  and Sam would feel left out.  But then Daniel and Sam would talk about working as adjuncts to, but not necessarily a part of the miltitary, which would have Sherlock casing the rest of the pub to see who's there to cheat on whomever they left at home.  If Sherlock got wind of Sam serving in Afghanistan while he was a SEAL he'd spend the rest of the night trying to deduce if Sam ever met John.

Seven and Thirteen. What's one word to describe their relationship?
Sex.

Three, Fourteen, Six and Nine are playing poker. Who wins? Who cheats? Any sore losers?
Marshall, G, Sam and Ianto.  G and Sam turn it into a bizarre bridge/poker game sending each other subtle signals so that they can take turns winning.  They're all far too upright to out-and-out cheat.  Not to mention they're all way too observant to let anyone get away with it.  Unless Ianto has some alien technology that he can employ that none of the other three would even *imagine* exists. Marshall might pout a little if he loses, but mostly because he knows Mary will give him hell for losing to NCIS and bringing shame the Marshals.

Who on the list rocks Four's world?
Well, Sherlock obviously.  Sometimes in the way you mean, but sometimes with real rocks. Sherlock will swear he didn't mean to hit John, he was aiming for the alleged murder, but John isn't sure he believes him. He forgives him, though, because Sherlock rocks his world in those other ways.

Three and Eleven are taken hostage by Twelve. Why?
First of all, Marshall is a busy Mann...he's in like 1/2 of these scenarios.

But Marshall and Gibbs kidnapped by Steve.  Marshall was probably kidnapped for running his mouth WAY too much in the first scenario. ;)  But the only reason I can imagine Steve doing this would be to flush out someone he knows to be a federal agent who is targeting him or his team and he's narrowed it down to either NCIS or the US Marshals.  He'd do it as a ploy to flush them out.  They'd both get Steve to confide in him and completely play along, because they're not okay with a corrupt agent running loose.


Hee!  These are fun.  If anyone has a list and wants me to drop them a comment, let me know. :)

Picked up Honduras, Sri Lanka and Spain.  One day, three continents too! :)

1) Make a list of fifteen characters first, and keep it to yourself for the moment. (That way you're not leading the questions asked to fit the characters.)

2) Ask your flist to post questions in the comments.

For example:

'One, Nine and Fifteen move in together. Is this a really bad idea?'
'Under what circumstances might Five and Seven fall in love?'
'Which character on the list would you most want on your side in a zombie invasion?'

3) After your flist has asked enough questions, round them up and answer them using the fifteen characters you selected beforehand, then post them.


... Just in case it's not clear, I have my list of 15... drop your questions here please and thanks. :)

Spotting #: 2/100
Location: Fullterton Woods, Oak Brook, IL
Species: White-Breasted Nuthatch


So, nuthatches and creepers are really similar birds in both shape and behavior.  The easiest way to tell them apart - mostly - is by watching them on the trees.  Creepers will *always* go head down and around in a circle.  Nuthatches will travel in any direction, their heads going the way they're going.

So, of course, I happen to catch a nuthatch that's going down the tree, head-down.  Which led to me researching creepers for far too long before I realized it wasn't one.  *sigh*

 Okay, it was one of those days of 'how do trick all the computers ever into letting me do this at work and can I do it before work actually starts?' 

But it did and I did and I got a pavilion seat for the Duran Duran show in August.  I'm in the second tier of seats (Ravinia's pavilion is set up a bit strangely) in the center.  Not great, but it will do.  As luck would have it, I did get an aisle seat, even though I told the computer to just pick the best seat for me.

You'd probably have to be a Duran Duran fan to get why this is funny, but the entire left hand side of the pavilion was completely sold out, there were a few seats left in the center and tons on the right.

Is anyone else from Chicago going?  I'll probably do the Ravinia thing and bring a picnic to eat on the lawn until show time and I'd love to meet up with you!

Location: Fullterton Woods, Oak Brook, IL
Species: Common Snapping Turtles

I watched these turtles for about fifteen minutes. Someone on Project Noah helped me identify the species and the behavior. Apparently turtles court! Who knew? (Okay, I'm sure batagur knew). The larger of these turtles had about a sixteen inch diameter shell and the smaller was about 14 inches across. They stayed close together, often locked in an embrace. Aw... turtle love! They never did come out of the water, so these shots were as good as it got.
And for the one kind of twisted soul who wanted video... we have that too...

{Take the 100 Things challenge!}
So apparently all the cool kids are doing this. :) :) :)

I haven't been posting much about my photography here, so I'm going to post 100 nature spottings in Illinois.  Species that live in or pass through Illinois and are seen in the wild.  I'm going to try to stick to things you have to look pretty hard to find.  Less with the American Robins and House Sparrows and Monarch Butterflies and potted tulip gardens.  More with the House Finches and Red-Headed Woodpeckers and Mourning Cloaks and St. Anthony's Turnips.

• In my school: I survived the day with having the class by myself. That said, I stopped on the way home and bought chocolate cake AND alcohol.

• In my city: A giant replica of Sarah Palin's head is actually a stove and will be used tonight to roast a suckling pig. This is someone's idea of art. I can't decide if I have nothing to say about that or WAY too much to say about that.

• In my former life: I grew up in Aurora, IL. Aurora was a suburb of Chicago back then, but it's grown so big that it's pretty much a city of its own now. When all that started my parents moved to a micro-town called Elburn. Population something like 3600. Very small. Tonight, some guy who robbed a bank in MICHIGAN, led police on a high-speed chase all the way back to where he lived in Elburn. I'm quite sure that's as much excitement as the town has seen since 2004 when they got their first stoplight. (No lie.)

I took the OTW Community Survey!

So I apparently didn't do this last year, so I have no comparison, other than to say that since I wrote it in 2009, "Bottom of the Ninth" has been my top story until last week. So the new number one took three months to get ahead of the story that was number one for three *years*. I haven't been in the cool kids' fandom in so long I think SG-1 was the last one. (Yes, I did SGA, but when you can't stand McShep, you still don't get to sit at the cool kids' table.) So the fact that the Mistake Series as a whole has shot up so fast is a little shocking.

Stats of the moment...

1. A Capital Mistake (4152 words) by Waldo (Sherlock, John/Sherlock, Published: 2012-01-05) Hits: 8516

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment."
- Sherlock Holmes, "A Study in Scarlet", p. 27

Sherlock hasn't been right since Irene. John has a pretty good idea how he can help, but exactly how the hell does one turn casually to Sherlock Holmes and say, "So was your brother right? *Are* you still a virgin?"

2. Bottom of the Ninth (17857 words) by Waldo (NCIS, Gibbs/DiNozzo, Published: 2009-08-20) Hits: 8422

Gibbs realizes that if he and Tony are ever going to have a relationship, he's going to have to do something about it. It takes almost a year, but he gets there eventually.

Sherlock realizes what a massive mistake it was to intentionally terrorize someone with PTSD.
[Second part of the Mistakes Series published, but now the 5th part of the series.]

4. A Great Mistake (3834 words) by Waldo (Sherlock, John/Sherlock, Published: 2012-02-05) Hits: 7131

[Written 2nd, but is now the 3rd part of the Mistakes Series.]

Sherlock knows he's notoriously bad with words. He also knows he screwed up.

[This was my Sherlock-story-that-stayed-under-the-radar until *someone* must have recced it somewhere about two months after it was written. One morning I woke up to 25 kudos notifications that came in in about two hours and then over the next three days it got like 2000 of those hits. I never did find out where it was mentioned/why so many hits.]

7. (We Get Along) Like a House on Fire (1308 words) by Waldo (Hawaii 5-0 2010, Steve/Danny, Published: 2010-12-24) Hits: 5392

"I’m used to you getting the crap beat out of you at work. I’m used to you getting the crap beat out of me at work. But you did not have that mummy’s boy look going on when I saw you last, yesterday.”

“We’re going to make all the usual mistakes couples make when they’re working out a new relationship, but it’ll be okay,” John told him, lightly kissing Sherlock’s forehead.

“I wouldn’t know what constitutes ‘usual’ in this case,” Sherlock muttered.

Sherlock and John go to bed together for the first time. It's... a little awkward.

[Written 4th, but posted as the 2nd part of the Mistakes Series]

Lust is easy. Love is hard. Like is most important. (Carl Reiner)

10. Enlightening Mistakes (3424 words) by Waldo  (Sherlock, John/Sherlock, Published: 2012-03-08) Hits:  3100

“Sherlock! Lestrade is downstairs in our sitting room!” he whispered. He wished he’d managed to sound harsher than he did. As it was, he sounded more intrigued than abashed.

Sherlock’s hand slid between them, gently cupping John’s balls and half-hard cock through his pyjamas. “Then we should be quick. Shouldn’t keep a guest waiting,”

So, in summary:  Every Sherlock fic I've ever written is on the list.  Great Mistake is on it's way to being my first 10,000 hit story, [geeks a little], since it has more hits in three months than my most popular story which has had almost three years to get hits.  I suspect that if some of my stories had been first published on AO3 (say my Torchwood fics) that they may have been more popular than the stuff listed here, but there was no AO3 in those days. ;)

So it seems like *everyone* needs a hug or something to make them smile today.

It's kind of epic the number of people who I've seen on line and talked to in person today who have said, "WHAT is wrong with the world/people today???"

So this is a place for anyone and everyone who's having "A Day" to drop their name and ask for  a few little things that would make them smile.

A virtual hug, a drabble about your favorite character/pairing, an icon that would make you giggle using that clip from that one episode where..., an animated gif, a joke...

WHATEVER!

So drop your name and list a few things that people could do for you real quick that would make you smile.  Then check the other threads to see if you can pay it forward/back.

Feel free to send total strangers to this thread if they need a little love.  Unless someone gets truly stupid (which I'm not going to discount today), I won't filter comments from anyone.

I need to go put on lotion bar blanks and bath bombs and take some soaps out to cool and un-sweat... so in the mean time, I toss out a meme to you so I can have something to do when I get done smelling like an entire perfume factory....


Describe a story I've never written, and I will either give you a few lines from it, or from its sequel.

Fandoms include (but not limited to, you all know what I watch/write.): Sherlock, Hawai'i Five-0, SG1, SGA, Torchwood, Sports Night, White Collar...

So I thought today was going to be pretty much a bust photo-wise. Next time I think I can go with other people on a 'hike' and think I can do shooting the way I shoot... remind me of the last twelve times I've tried that and it hasn't worked, okay?

Anyway, I saw a truly ridiculous number of red admiral butterflies. I mean like, I could stand still and see six or seven without even moving my head. And then I could walk twenty feet and do it all over again. But other than them and a cardinal, I really didn't see much while we were all out there.

But then everyone else went home and I decided to see if I could chase down one of the little white butterflies I kept seeing, but that never, ever, ever landed and try to get a shot, because they didn't *seem* to be the cabbage whites we get out here.

Somehow that turned into me taking the three mile loop we hadn't done as a group. Wherein I saw:

• A downy woodpecker
• A chickadee (??? maybe some kind of big warbler)
• A warbler
• A mutant black crowned night heron. And I mean mutant... it was BCNH marked, but as tall as a Great Blue, which is to say over three feet tall.
• A pair of some kind of teal (common? cinnamon?)
• A blue jay
• And a pair of 12-16 inch diameter turtles having A LOT of sex.

Anyone want to see photos? Video?

Ever have a day go so completely fucking disastrously that you don't even have the energy to bitch about by the time it's over?  Yeah, that was my day.

The very short version of how it started was this:

Some fucker slashed two of my tires last night.  That's the second $400 bill I had to pay RIGHT THE FUCK now when I don't the fuck have the money IN LESS THAN A WEEK.

Anyone want to order soap/lotion bars/bath bombs for Mother's Day?  May Day?  Tax day? 

And that particular little fucker just used a computer... managed to erase an entire post about how he's using tools to take over the world...

Short version:  The boys have a 20 foot long clear dryer hose to play in.  Kári doesn't like having Logi in there with him.  Tonight Logi was doing his level best to make Kári crazy by chasing him in the tube.  So Kári went under the bed, found a plastic shopping bag (it's okay, they can play with those safely - unlike small children) and dragged it over to the tunnel.  He turns around, drags the bag into the tunnel behind him for about six inches and leaves it there... blocking him in and Logi out.

HE STOPPERED THE TUBE!  HE'S USING TOOLS !  OMG He's about to take over the world - using tools, even without thumbs!

It took Logi about 4 minutes to figure out that the other end of the tunnel was still open.

But it was a really, really good idea for those four minutes!

So I started going through the reviews of the assessment I'm assessing...

Um, yeah.  Totally wasted three hours at the library.  The reviews have everything I need in nice neat little paragraphs I can copy, paraphrase, quote and reference.  Not to mention, search for key terms in the document to find the bits we need in our review.  Between the two articles in the one database we have to use I have *everything* but the price and kit description.  Both of which I can get off the test's website.  *sigh*

I was clearly going into STUPID amount of details that I didn't need to.

*sigh*

• I get groceries from Peapod about once a month.  Mostly big heavy things I don't want to lug up my bazillion stairs.  Once in a while, usually in the spring, I a.) realize that I could stand to lose a few pounds and b.) remember that I can eat jicama strips like potato chips.  So today I had Peapod bring me a jicama, since they had them on sale.

The one downside to ordering produce from Peapod is that you don't know what you're getting until you've got it.  For example my 'large' baking potatoes today were... not so large.  On the flipside my jicama is the size and weight of a medicine ball!  I kid you not.  It took me half an hour to peel it and and slice it.  I now have a *family size* salad bowl of jicama strips.  If I'd known this was going to be the case, I wouldn't have ordered strawberries and grapes for lunches this week.

• Prof answered my email.  Apparently I don't have to actually *access* edition 5 to do my essay. I can do it all based on the reviews.  Upside: Yay, I don't have to drag my ass to campus this weekend.  Downside: I wasted 3 hours a few weeks ago taking notes I can't use on the 4th edition.  Grr.  Guess what I'm doing all day today and tomorrow.  Starting over!  *** Head.  Desk.***

• The results of a particular assessment came in at work and our reading groups got redistributed.  The upside: my group of 7 is now a group of 4.  The downside: O, J3 and BH are three of the 4.  Seriously.  All of them at once.  Guh.  And when the 4th kid - N2 - is with kids like this group, she becomes a pistol just to keep up with the Joneses.  Not looking forward to this.  My other group - the very high level group of 3 - is staying exactly the same.  Sherlock's in that group and U, and they're both challenges in their own way, but with N1 there they both tend to calm down because she doesn't take their shit.

• G4 is running a Quantum Leap marathon.  Only it's all the episodes where Sam leaps into a woman.  Is it me or is that a little creepy coming from a channel like G4 where the demographic skews heavily male?

All this and the day isn't even half over.  Oy.

Isle of Man?


In other news, I'm catching up on the John Stewarts I missed while I was out of town.  He just referenced RPS slash fic, using the term "slash fiction". Not "amature homoerotic fiction" or something...  It's becoming a mainstream term now?  When did that happen?  (He then followed the comment with, "My producers assure me that slash fiction is a real thing".)

A sign that greeted me as I walked into a suite (ETC - STORE - yay autocorrect) today. Maybe these signs
are common where you live, but we just don't have things like this in
Chicago.

And I say that with all the love in the world.

It's 7:02 and I'm at my gate for my 8:45 flight.  So to say I have a few minutes to kill would be an understatement.  But it's all good, really.  Southwest now has (at least at my gate, which, really is all I care about right now :) 4 full rows of comfy stuffed chairs with two power stations between each set of of two chairs AND they've added two USB ports below the regular plugs so you can charge your USB-corded phone/iPad whatever.  

Seriously, it's the little things that make me happy when I travel.  I have my phone plugged in to be my WiFi and my computer plugged in so I have a full charge when I'm on the flight... awesomesauce.

Also awesome, not having to pay to check my bag.  Because apparently the new rearrangement of TSA insanity is that instead of the old "black diamond" lines that I'm used to going through, there are now lines just for people who aren't carrying on suitcases.  If you only have a purse/backpack/tote bag, you get to go through the 'express' lanes.  Which is fine.  They did go very expressly and I was only x-rayed not backscattered, so... you know... good.  But new.  New security procedures always make me think I'll screw up somewhere and I'll get tossed in TSA jail because I have crochet hooks in my bag or something.


Less awesome... my fucking insomnia is back.  I literally got a one-night deal on sleep.  Went to bed around 10 or 10:30 last night and was up at 3:00.  THIS IS NOT OKAY, BODY! Sheesh!

• Woke up early to take the El to work.  Took the Red Line the ... I don't know 15 stops I need without incident and transfer to the Blue Line.  I only need the Blue line for like, 5 stops.  We get three stops in and the guy in the thing gets on the PA and says, "Oh and this is the last stop for this train.  Get off the train.  All of you.  Now.  The next train will go to the end of the line."  So we all get off the train.  And then he LEAVES his train on the track for FIFTEEN MINUTES so we couldn't even get the next train TO us.  (And it wasn't like they had to send a tow-train... he eventually moved it just fine.)  So I have to take this other train a whole two stops to get to work.

• Persecution-Complex!Student S totally destroyed the little faith I had in him today.  He comes running up to me saying. "J3 called me a faggot!"  Which is something J3 would totally do.  And he's the kind of kid other kids would apply that word to.  So I land on J3 and start heading for the phone to call her parents.  As we're walking, P-C!Student S yells out "OW! J3 just punched me in the stomach!"  And I'm about to lay into her again (because, again, she has a history), but before I could really say anything, Highly-Reliable!Student T tells me, "Miss [Waldo], J3 didn't touch him at all.  He's making up stories."  Now T really doesn't like J3 all that much, so for her to say that, it pretty much had to be the truth. P-C!Student S was totally in my doghouse for the rest of the day.

• My class was so off the wall that Exceedingly-Patient!Co-teacher lost it with them.  They had silent lunch today.  13/26 were still caught talking, so now they have five days of it in the room when we get back from vacation.  Yay for me... 5 days of not having to deal with their crap in the halls and in the lunch room.

• Total Disaster B was such a mess today Co-Teacher called her mom and said she can't go on the field trip tomorrow.  She cried for an hour.  She really didn't think we meant it when we kept threatening her with "If you do not stop talking/stay in your seat/choose kind words/etc... that we will not take you out in public."  Surprise!  NOT an idle threat!

> Weirdly, Sherlock realized we meant it and was really good this afternoon.  And that was even before he got the added benefit of seeing B lose it over the fact that she wasn't going to go.

• There's one school in our network that already has a Middle School department (we start building ours next year.)  Those little darlings hacked into our internet network and broke into both teachers' email accounts and the gradebook system.  This means the network admins LOCKED DOWN our internet system so that we can no longer use any personal equipment on the system.  This sucks hard - I actually usually use my iPad to check my work email and look up things for the kids.  So anyway, they had to finally issue me a netbook.  I could have had one in February, but I really hate these netbooks, so I didn't ask for one.  My iPad was doing me just fine.  So anyway, now I have to use a school unit to do all that crap.  The one they issued me has a broken shift key on the left, which means I keep borking my password.

> Weirdly, I've found out that if I use my phone, I can circumvent the blocks on the network and get to my Facebook games and they work *better* on the netbook than when I was doing the same thing on my own MacBook.

> So because I had to take the El downtown for something else I called my adorable camera repair guy to beg that they'd have my camera done today so I could get all my In-the-Loop errands done in one day.  SO VERY YAY that they could get it done.  Got a call at 1:00 saying everything was ready.

• The principal needed Co-Teacher at the end of the day so I had to do dismissal on my own.  Major, major, major yuck.

• Got on the Blue Line after school and went to get my camera.  Got up to the little office for the repair shop and there was a Very Scary Guy in there yelling at my camera dude because apparently he sold them something and they issued him a check.  He was half-yelling at, half-begging the guy to give him cash.  Because apparently the last time they gave him cash, but apparently last time it was only $30 and now it's $60 and the camera guy didn't have the $60 on hand to give him.  So the dude continues to rant/beg for actual cash because OMG the banks are CLOSED! (It was only about 4:45) and OMG he doesn't HAVE a bank account (so why does he care if they're closed?) and just OMG he needs the CASH!  Eventually, my camera guy took back the $60 check, gave him a new $50 check and $10 cash.  Drug issues much?  At least appearing to have drug issues much?

> But my camera dude LOVED my strap.  He couldn't figure out what it was made from.  It's recycled *bright purple* seatbelt strap.  I have no idea what car *ever* had bright purple seatbelts, but I love my camera strap.  Oh, and FWIW, my massively broken camera was fixed for $164.  Not even half what I was afraid it would be.

• Then I walked over to Michigan and got on a bus down to the Apple Store.  Only I forgot that I was coming at the Apple Store from the South, and therefore the store would be on the opposite side of the street.  So I missed my stop.  And the Michigan buses at that point stop roughly at every third stop, so I was hiking it back down the street for a while.

• I had to go to the Apple Store because ONCE AGAIN, my cord blew out.  In rather spectacular fashion, in the middle of grad school last night.

> To the good, the first person I talked to tried to tell me I had to BUY a new cord.  Then I said, "Uh... the *last* time I had to do this, they just replaced it because they know they're faulty.  So he called a manager who went, "Oh, one of these cords again.  Here, have a new one."  Score.

• As I was walking out of the Apple Store there was a 145 pulling up *right outside the door*!  Yay, right?  Um... no.  I got on the bus, even got a seat after two stops or so, but then they did that CRAP they pull on the 145 where they put on the outside of the bus "this bus goes to [Waldo's Neighborhood]" and then get about six stops away and say, "This other stop will be the last stop, all passengers must get off there because we aren't doing the last, roughly, 10th of our route.  Transfer, fools!"

PRO TIP TO THE CTA!  If you have equipment labeled as "going to this place here" - be it a train or a bus - it should ACTUALLY GO THERE!

ETA: Oh!  I forgot the corker!  I came home to find out that someone apparently kicked in our front door on my apartment building.  I didn't get home until nearly 7 and when I texted, the landlord said no one had notified him.  *sigh*.  My front door wasn't touched and the ferrets and my stuff were safe.  But WTF breaking off our lock/doorjam???

*sigh*

So it's 7:30 now and my dinner is in the oven... it'll be around 8 before I can eat.  My insomnia is taking on whole new levels of WHAT THE FUCK? lately.  Last night I was too tired to actually *stay* awake after I woke up at 2:00, like I did the night before.  Instead I woke up every half hour or so for about fifteen minutes.  It was ridiculous.  I can't wait to see what kind of fuckery it has in store for me tonight.

Tomorrow is a field trip to MSI with my whackadoodle class and then they are supposed to have field day outside for Spirit Week.  I am not. looking. forward. to. this.  Not even a little bit.

However, after that, the glory that is Spring Break starts.

Someone wrote a story for the Sherlock fandom that says in the notes, "This is an AU set in Victorian times."

So... If your series is an AU and you AU the AU back to the original... is it really an AU?  Chicken?  Egg?

Comments?  Theories?  Just boggled?