Captains and gods....

A line I loved in Passage to Mutiny by Alexander Kent: "On his ship, a captain was next to God, and some said this was only due to seniority."

Efforts rewarded

Yesterday I saw a friend I hadn't seen for six months. She said, on seeing me. "Elizabeth, every time I see you, you look younger."

It makes all the hard work I've been doing on fitness and diet really feel worth it.

Intents and purposes...

I didn't get this from squashed but reading her LJ reminded me of it:

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.

1. lose another 10-15 pounds


2. finish the stories and challenges in progress


3. finish "Simple Steps"


4. read the book Lisa gave me for my birthday
   
5. hold a party

2. List five people you've lost contact with that you'd like to hear from again.

Ruth Ann Jolly
Blanche Lewis
Sven Larsen
Kathy Wagner


3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.

1. origami


2. speak Esperanto, Latin and French much better than I do
   
3. save money! (obviously I don't know how)


4. tai chi with sword


5. fencing

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).

My first thought was that there are various causes I would like to back; but putting aside such things, there are ways I would like to change my life:

1. Visit Greece and Egypt (with friends)


2. Buy and furnish a house with a garden (and hire a gardner*)


3. Study history


4. Write novels


5. Buy some original art from my favourite artists

5. List five things you do that help you relax.

Yoga
Reading books and comics
Walking
Listening to my birds twittering
Listening to or looking at oceans

*I would not make the gardener change his name to Sam Gamgee.

The Fannish Five...

What fandom did you get into that you were absolivity and posiloutly sure, you were never going to get into, but you did.

Pirates of the Caribbean

What made you think you would never get into it?

I thought the previews looked really dumb; not to mention, it was a movie based on a Disney ride. How lame can you get.

What tipped you into it?

Johnny Depp. Who'd have guessed?

Did you start to write/vid/archive/dub/(fill in fannish creative activity) in that fandom? Do you still?

Write. Yes. Not as much yet as I hope to.

Have you ever pimped someone into a fandom without trying?

Yes, frequently.

Which fandom, and what did it?

Dunnett fandom. I love it so much, and am so enthusiastic about it, that people get curious even though I really try not to pimp it.

Do you have a fandom where you do not read the fic? Why not?

I'm not sure if I understand the meaning of the question. In science fiction fandom (which I have been active in for decades) most books don't have fics. If it means just movie and TV fandoms, I have several that don't have fics, or in which I'm not interested in the fics - The Man From U.N.C.L.E. would be an example, though I suppose it's a former fandom.

I adore Stingray (the 1986 show starring Nick Mancuso) but don't read the fics and don't see how it could be slashed, despite the canonical fact that Ray's former best friend was in love with him. But there is no other character in the show (least of all the said former friend) quite good enough. There could, of course, be a crossover, which is worth considering. The premise of Stingray - which made him a wild card type of good guy with military connections and a secret past - makes him ripe for crossovers, though I've never seen one.

I'm mad over Firefly but don't read the fic much. There's no real reason: I enjoy it when I do read it, but there are so many fandoms and so little time. I absolutely crave Smallvile fic so it gets more of my time and attention.

Many of my favourite comic book heroes aren't slashed, more's the pity. Has anyone seen slash about Nick Fury?

I suppose it was inevitable...

I got this from one of my mailing lists.


Oh dear, you are Bookish, aren't you? You are a
highly intelligent and witty bluestocking,
whose beauty is hidden behind spectacles. Your
dress sense is eccentric and a little
unfashionable, and you consider yourself plain.
You have very little use for men, who find your
knowledge of Shakespeare, interest in politics
and forthright speech formidable. You are
undoubtedly well-off. The only reason for your
presence in a novel of this kind (which, I
might add, you would not dream of reading,
although you have occasionally enjoyed the
works of Miss Austen), is your mother, who is
absolutely determined that you will make a good
marriage. Rather than defying her directly,
you are quietly subversive, dancing with anyone
who asks you, but making no attempt to hide
your intellectual interests. The only person
who can get past your facade is the man who is
witty enough to spar with you, and be amused at
your blatant attempts to scare your suitors
away. While you will, no doubt, subject him to
a gruelling cross-examination to find out
whether his respect for your intelligence is
real or mere flattery, you may be sure that he
is your match, and that you, he AND your mother
will all live happily ever after


The Regency Romance Quiz: What kind of Romance Heroine are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Jonathan's Boy

Another dodecal - a piece of 144 words - that I wrote for svdodecals. though I can't post it there right now. This is an unauthorized sequel to the dodecal Nighttime Visit by acampbell. I wanted to see Jonathan's view of things.

~ ~ ~

Jonathan's Boy

Jonathan had always wanted to be a father. It didn't seem right, though, when the little tyke from the spaceship walked into their home. The child wasn't theirs, for Christ's sake. They couldn't just take in a kid like a stray puppy from the fields.

Besides, the boy wasn't even human. How could they explain him? How would they handle the legalities? Where would the money come from?

Jonathan saw the look in Martha's eyes as she watched the boy, and knew they had to find a way.

The kid was cute, like the son he'd always wanted. Bright, too. Strong, but never destructive.

Clark was fascinated by the cows. He laughed when they mooed. He ran through the field, tripped, picked himself up, and waved at the cows, and laughed.

Jonathan was lost. This wasn't the son he'd never had. This was his son.

~ ~ ~

John F. Kennedy....

After reading acampbell's account of what she was doing the day JFK was assassinated made me want to do the same.

As a digression, John F. Kennedy caused my first awareness of politics and the wider world. At the time of his election in 1960 I read an article about it in Highlights for Children and went to my mother, excited about what I was reading. "I was just reading all about our new President," I announced.

She looked at me kindly. "No, dear," she said, and carefully explained that John F. Kennedy was the new president of the United States, which was a different country. Our country was Canada, she explained. We had magazines from the United States, but the leader of our country was the Prime Minister, Mr. John Diefenbaker.

I was fascinated, and impressed.

By the time Kennedy was shot, I was much more sophisticated and knew all about countries and Presidents. I was in grade six, and the class went on a field trip to one of the local newspapers, The Ottawa Journal, to see how a newspaper was made. We must have been near the end of the trip when the news broke. I remember the reporters looking at the messages coming in on ticket-tape strips; the excitement; the way we were quickly ushered home with an explanation of the news. We were speculating wildly on the bus all the way home. Who could have shot him? One kid suggested he might be revived, since they could save people from terrible injuries these days.

I went home, bursting through the door. "Mommy, President Kennedy's been shot!" She stared at me in total astonishment - I'll never forget her expression - and turned on the television. Yes, Kennedy had been shot.

It seems that the more we learn about that, the less we know. I don't think any thinking person who has paid attention can believe that the situation was as simple as it was made out to be; but the United States got through the situation all right, probably covering up unknown and dangerous truths for the sake of the greater good. Which shows more sense than you might expect.