cleolinda | Entries tagged with christmas

Let me show you them, my books. ( Read more... )

Meanwhile, I will be watching the Twilight Zone marathon (OH CRAP IS IT ALREADY ON?) as usual, which has gone from "sad because I have nowhere loud and flashy to go" to "venerable homebody tradition, I do what I want." I would like to cheerfully drink my way through it, but I'll probably end up asleep by 10 pm if I do that, so.

Current Music: Divinyls - Science Fiction (Audiofly vs Villenueve Original Mix)

omg so tired. Everyone's gone now, though, so I can have a timeout or a nap or something. My meds getting screwed up has made me slightly hysterical--well, let me rewind that. The night I mentioned the medication problems, I managed to get my doctor on the phone, and while she never addressed why she refused authorization, she sounded like nothing was behind that and she was eager to get things straightened out for me and cognizant of me not having any Lamictal being a Bad Scene. So... I don't know what kind of misunderstanding happened, and I kind of don't care. But a couple of days' disruption has thrown me off enough that I've felt like crying all day, not even for any reason. Like, intellectually, I feel fine, but I have this physical sensation of distress. It's weird. I'm just saying, I'm glad to have some alone time now.

(By the way, I ended up posting the Secret Life of Dolls entry last night.)

MORE IMPORTANTLY. I've got about as many character doubles as I could ever possibly handle, and I love my little Toy Biz Galadriel, so this is strictly off-story, but... ( IT'S... BEAUTIFUL )

Also: SNOW. ( Read more... )

If we've had a white Christmas before, I don't remember when it was. Five or six hours of it now, falling pretty thick and fast... and only just now starting to stick.

So, if applicable: what was your favorite Christmas present?

The annual Super Cryptic Flash-Forward Entry! I really hope we're caught up by next Christmas and I don't have to do this again, but: here's what everyone's doing now, as opposed to the events of this July in the previous entry:

I can't put together Christmas presents for all of the Shelf at this point, but the dolls are actually a lot less obsessed with the Giftmas aspect of the holidays than we in my family are (maybe because they are the gifts). They have begun creating their own traditions--feasting, caroling, the Gathering of the Juniper, the brewing of many boozes, Crimbo tales of terror, and so on. At this point, the Middle-earthians (who have been with me the longest) think of presents as something "for the kids," by which they mean Ellowyne, Lyra, and the Twilighters (have you heard my new band, Lyra and the Twilighters?). So, as long as we have enough pie and games and booze, everyone's happy. And I'm definitely not giving out any weapons this year (Tonner Bella has already been supplied with the means to defend herself). I am, however, giving Lyra some marzipan, and a new hat from

tinyplasticmeat;

rienna_the_red and her sewing circle sent aprons for both The Littlest Bella and Tonner Edward (as my housekeeper, he does get a bit dusty on the job). ( However, the biggest present of all is for Clarice )

Not doing so well today. I had two pleasantly busy run-around days of errands, and then I kind of crashed yesterday because I'm still a bit consumptive and easily fatigued, but I tried to get some writing done anyway. It was slow and sludgy, but I made some progress. I made, however, zero progress on the cleaning and decorating required for the next Secret Life. And today, my wrist hurts (like I've been holding it on the keyboard the wrong way, that kind of hurt) and my right eye is bothering me, like I'm about to develop an eye-strain eyelid twitch again. Also, I have run out of one of my medications and my doctor is being all passhole-aggresshole about not calling it in, possibly because I had to cancel my med check appointment last week. Like, if this pisses you off or you insist on talking to me again first, just tell me, rather than not call back or say anything and refuse authorization when the pharmacy calls you. Like, it's not even "Oh, maybe she's out of office, it's the holidays"; they said she actually refused authorization. She's never done something like this before. I don't even know. And now I'm doing this really childish omg is she mad at me? thing and being afraid to call her. But I'm going to have to, because I'm out of Lamictal and it is the scary medication that you do not want to fool with. So... Day Two of no Lamictal, that is probably a large part of the problem, actually.

In more pleasant news, my college friend David has a chapter in In the Peanut Gallery With MST3K: Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing, and he interviewed me for it. It's up for pre-order now (it comes out in March. "Will not arrive for Christmas." NO KIDDING), and I may buy a couple of extra copies and do some kind of giveaway. We're also trying to get

foresthouse's rapidly imminent second eye surgery paid for, and I'm trying to decide how soon to auction off--well, let's go ahead and announce it:

( Read more... )

Meanwhile,

hybrid_xisha brings us news about the Last Unicorn Blu-Ray and good news (it looks like) about Peter S. Beagle's legal troubles.

And finally--using Youtube/Blip.fm/whatever as appropriate: bring unto me your favorite, legally available holiday music. My favorites, off the top of my head, are "Fairytale of New York" and "2000 Miles." And for some reason I associate "Toy Soldiers" with Christmas, even though it's about drugs or whatever, because there was this one Christmas where I got a pair of headphones with a radio built in and they were playing that every third song. Ah, childhood.

I have a horrible sore throat at the moment, but you know what I also have? Readers who thank me for putting up a tip jar. You guys are amazing, seriously.

(Yeah, I know about the Information on the Email Receipts issue. There's nothing PayPal will let me do about it.)

So. I caught the Death Blarg from my mother, a mere three days after my stomach ordeal, which has been fun. On the other hand,

foresthouse's first eye surgery to halt the progression of her keratoconus went wonderfully, as she found out at her post-op check-up the other day; in fact, her vision in that eye is actually better now. She hasn't updated on that since, I don't think, but she found out afterwards that her left eye is actually getting worse faster than they anticipated, so she's probably going to have the second surgery right after Christmas, rather than in January like she thought. I have something else I'm going to try to auction off for that, but we'll get to that in January.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of things to iron out on the new Secret Life, but it should go up on Saturday with no (foreseeable) problems. I have enough Varney done that I think I can start posting a little of that, maybe tomorrow.

HOWEVER. We have more important things to talk about.

Peoples of the internet, I am here to tell you about Best for Film's Write Christmas contest, namely because I am a judge! Exciting. Basically, the idea is to write a synopsis for an imaginary Christmas movie ("Any ideas will do; from Tim Burton’s unmade fantasy Twas the Cheekbone Before Christmas to Michael Bay’s never made classic When Santa Exploded") In fact, Best For Film mocked up a couple of examples: ( Benedict Cumberbatch plays FlArGHHhgog – a teenage Orc with a grown-up issue )

I am so pissed that I can't enter this myself, I can't even tell you. Well, pleasantly pissed. You know what I mean. So go over to Best for Film for more info; I think submissions have to be in by December 24th. MAKE ME PROUD, GUYS.

Current Mood: sick

In case you are wondering, I have not posted the new Secret Life because there's one photo setup I think I'll have to skip, and one I can't skip, but can't take at the moment because... well. Everyone's here. My mother is already decorating the house for Christmas. Which is fine with me, because I'm one of those people who wants to celebrate a holiday for a whole month (see also: Halloween). Speaking of which, I need to find a festive new background for my journal. Something I can purplify, just because. Something a little Christmas-spooky, if I can manage it.

ANYWAY. I will probably be able to manage to put the new Secret Life up tomorrow, unless you'd like me to just call it a day and wait until next weekend.

Meanwhile, I have been putting myself through a chronological refresher course of The History of Nineteenth-Century Vampire Literature. ( She might bite us all, and we should be a whole ship's crew o' wamphigaers. There would be a confounded go! )

Previously on The Secret Life of Dolls: The Shelf prepared for the Crimbo season and the coming of Santa Eorl.

I keep making mysterious allusions to things that have already happened--which have gotten even more tangled up now that Christmas is a thing of the past as well--so bear with me. When we last left the actual goings-on, it was last fall; Betsy 2.0 died, I went through a couple of Camilles, and now I have Lizzie, my beloved laptop. And then MORE CRAP HAPPENED. There were no updates for many moons. It happens. So yes, I was hinting at a great number of things that had happened in the interim, involving Faramir and Serafina, and Anna being shifty, and the intrigues of squirrels, and Tonner Edward's migraines, but no, you hadn't actually found out what they were. You didn't miss anything. But back in the fall, they were preparing for The Coming Squirrelmageddon. (Don't worry, it hasn't happened yet. Winter led to a cessation of hostilities; as Helm's Deep Aragorn informed me, campaign season was over until the spring.)

However, I don't want us to miss Christmas--it just won't be as fun however many months from now it takes me to catch up--so I'll try to go ahead and tell you what I can.

*facepalm*

So.

( Lyra and The Littlest Bella had finally discovered a common cause )

Lots of sad and serious things in the news today, but I don't really know how to talk about all of that this point. All I can say about the Detroit incident is that I'm going to focus on the positive and be glad that the bomb didn't go off, it's a Christmas miracle, etc.

I was really tense all day, but Christmas went reasonably well. ( Sam says hi )

So: what was your favorite present, and/or what did you do today?

Oh, P.S. I put up A Very Shelfy Christmas, Part 1 yesterday.

Previously on The Secret Life of Dolls: A lot of stuff happened.

So: Christmas in Shelfia, with a bit of catch-up from the Compocalypse. ( We Two Kings of Númenor Are )

(To be continued. Part two: Serafina. Part three: Anna.)

Current Mood: busy

Pleasantly busy day, it looks like. Howling winds outside, actually, but sunnyish, so that's fine.

Have to wrap presents later. I hate wrapping presents. I mean, I do an okay job of it in the end, and I like presents to be wrapped, but it usually involves me wrestling with a large, fragile sheet of shiny paper for about fifteen minutes.

Still have to take certain pictures. TLB went missing earlier this morning, but was eventually located. I would rather not discuss how the tableshelf ended up covered in maple syrup.

Lizzie's McAfee trial ran out, so I was like, the hell with this, I'm putting AVG on. So now I'm having to do all the scans and setups and whatever, but I hear it's better anyway.

(I am really glad it has a rootkit scan, because isn't that what Sony put on its CDs for a while there?)

For those of you keeping track on the Aromaleigh front, Wish is really pretty with Damask. It's a similar look to Chloe/Amelie, but more pink and less peach.

My feet are killing me, which suggests to me that I need new/better shoes, or some kind of comfort-inducing insert (although those "I'm Gellin'!" commercials make me want to slap someone). I actually want to go buy me some Chucks with my next round of book money, although I doubt those will have any kind of support. Hm. I just want some of those because I rarely get more formal than sneakers, but Chucks are an ever-so-slightly more sophisticated aesthetic than scuffed tennis shoes, you know? And you can customize them! I kind of want to make a purple plaid. I do not see any way to order a foot massage, however.

A few things of interest (or not):

The Christmas village on the back of our piano

A less artistic overhead shot

A darkened street

My festive sleeve, which I managed not to set on fire or trail through the dip (you can also see my moonstone ring)

@alliancesjr: @cleolinda This makes me think of pre-1960 attitudes towards women and body parts. One of these days you're going to show us an *gasp* ANKLE

@cleolinda: @alliancesjr http://twitpic.com/uvgzt

@queenanthai: @cleolinda You HOOR.

Lucy at the party

What I got at the swap:

The little china cup is actually a strainer that goes in the large cup; that's a wooden spoon sitting in it. The three teas are jasmine, green, and black, and there are little compartments in the box for the teas and the metal strainer. All of this is pleasing to me, particularly since I've been drinking my tea out of a coffee mug.

And for those who asked about "movie that will be made of certain book I was buying," I gave Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (movie version to star Natalie Portman), plus a guide to zombie survival.

Current Mood: sleepy

Very tired--like, "sleepy" tired, not "verge of a nervous breakdown" tired. Maybe it's just because there's been a lot of holiday-related running-around lately, which is fun. And I've been eating out more, which means I'm drinking soda, which means I'm getting more caffeine than I should, which means I'm not sleeping very well at night. All I know is, a friend called yesterday and thought something was seriously wrong, because I sounded completely out of it. I woke up a bit late and didn't take my meds on time this morning, so now I have a headache, etc., which I'm hoping will go away by the time I go out to the Christmas swap party tonight. Speaking of which, I am still trying to find my boots (just short black boots to wear under my jeans, nothing huge), because I would really like to wear those. Also, I have very nearly talked myself into wearing a dark blue top with crocheted sleeves that are a bit... princessy. Eh, I will claim they are "festive."

First, a few Avatar links, since that's what the last entry was about. And thanks for such a civil and thoughtful discussion over on the Avatar entry. It took 360 comments for someone hostile to finally show up and inform me that I am a prejudiced, touchy-feely liberal. After the all-time high of cleoloindaisgay, this was a fairly disappointing flame.

James Cameron Reveals His Quest to Build More Perfect CGI Boobs. Unfortunately, I read this before I saw the movie, so I spent the whole thing staring at Neytiri's goods, curious to see if such a paradox as a CGI nip slip could possibly occur.

EW on Avatar: Does story matter? "Titanic is Shakespeare compared to Avatar." ICE BURRRRRRN.

James Cameron Planning 'Avatar' Trilogy, Director Tells MTV News. Yeah, I told you.

‘Avatar’ could get nine Oscar nominations. I don't know if I'm just more ~~mature~~ mellow as a person now than I was circa Titanic, but I think I would manage not to claw my eyes out if it won something huge. I don't know--maybe my Zoe Saldana love is helping me hold on.

The "Moff's Law" link going around: RT @ebertchicago To people who say "Just enjoy! Don't analyze!" This speaks eloquently for me: http://j.mp/4XAkBR.

Meanwhile (alert alert alert): today's 50% off sale at Aromaleigh is the Eye Lustres section ( Quick reviews of the ones I like )

Speaking of color: Colorstrology. Something about birthdays and colors and Pantone sponsorship, I don't know, but it's interesting. December's color is Pagoda Blue, and the 14th turned out to be Green-Blue Slate: "Complex, quick-witted, expressive." "You are expressive and funny and people like it when you entertain them" in particular made me laugh. DANCE, HUMOR MONKEY!

Speaking of which, I am so behind on Secret Life. Oh God. The Christmas/catchup installment looks like it's going to be in three parts now. Dammit.

Current Mood: sleepy

Oh my sweet God have mercy. ( I decided that I would rather not go to prison )

By the way, remember this story?

Meanwhile, on the way home from our last excursion of the day, we dropped by my grandmother's to bring her some more ornaments. On the way out, I stopped to play with a--I don't know, I guess you'd call it a banner? It kind of looks like a long flat bell pull? I don't know. She has it hanging on her front door, and it's this tan-colored strip of fabric with little decorated felt Christmas trees, edged with shiny gold rickrack. "I loved this when I was a kid," I told her, shaking it a little so the bells would jingle. "Ruth made that," my grandmother said warmly. "She really liked arts and crafts. She made all of this herself, every bit of it. Even the tassels. She sewed everything on it there--the sequins, the little ornaments, she even put the pearls on the trees. She's dead now."

I managed not to crack up until I got to the car. My mother couldn't understand why I was doubled up in the passenger seat crying with laughter. I'm not sure I understand it myself.

This year, I got pictures of it:

And now, I flop.

P.S. I still want a foot massage really, really badly.

(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

So last night we finally decorated the tree that we got last weekend--the first thing you have to understand is that Christmas is a BIG THING in my family. Not in a religious sense--in a We Are Going to Decorate the SHIT Out of This House sense, and I love it. Of course, I loved it double-plus verygood when my mother opened a bottle of wine ("@cleolinda: Bottle of wine WOOOOOOOO"). I sucked down two glasses before she'd even made a dent in one ("@cleolinda: Second glass of wine WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"). Y'all, I need to drink every night. For real.

But before we get to the picspam, I will relay unto you a story Sister Girl told while she and her friend J. and I were in the kitchen afterwards: "YOU HAVE TO BLOG ABOUT THIS." (J.: "You haven't told her this yet? Oh, you gotta tell her this.") This past Monday, Sister Girl was minding her own business, working at Panera, you see, walking behind the registers carrying whatever it was wherever she was going-- ( The best book title Robert Ludlum never came up with )

Moving on! A Tannenbaum picspam expanded from LIVE ON THE SCENE Twitter posts last night:

( Read more... )

(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

Another photo safari! And this one is LJ-only ~~because I couldn't actually stop and tweet it at the time~~!

( I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one )

(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

Current Mood: caffeinated

As you may remember, the Compocalypse set us way, way back in terms of The Secret Life of Dolls, and I have many, many events to catch you up on. However, I don't want us to miss Christmas--it just won't be as fun however many months from now it takes me to catch up--so I'll try to go ahead and tell you what I can. Obviously, however, I'll have to be vague about a few developments.

( They have to be, in light of the coming Squirrelmageddon )

(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

... on THAT OF WHICH WE DO NOT SPEAK:

I went on another photo safari (this seems to be a new Saturday morning tradition), this time at Hobby Lobby, a terrifyingly huge artsy-craftsy emporium. (The reason the photo safaris happen on Twitter is because you can take a picture on your phone and email it straight to TwitPic from there, which then appears automatically on your Twitter feed.) I mean, I spent fifteen minutes in that thing and I am ready to craft THE SHIT out of something. You take TLE there, he'll think he's died (again) and gone to heaven. Note on photos: we did not even get into any of the vertical aisles at the store. This is simply the shallow end of the pool.( Read more... )

Back to work. Apparently the best part of the movie (minus John Cusack's best line) is online completely legally. Enjoy.

(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

So today is my journal birthday (six years old!). Also: HALLOWEEN. Wish I felt more celebratory. I felt pretty horrible all week, but then I cheered myself up with a Twitter-spamming errand-shenanigans photo safari this morning (uh... sorry about that, Twitfolk). It went like so:

( You're in Honeydukes? )

(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)