'You never know what you'll find...'

filkferengi made sure I saw this poem by ysabetwordsmith, "Slashing Through the Undergrowth", of which I think the very best line is the one used in the title - but then there's this bit:

This is where the archetypes go,
so this is where the muses go too
at two in the morning
with cups of coffee and tea and cocoa

And this bit:

Put the pieces together in a different order,
dress them in fresh costumes,
and tell them what their fandom is all about.

Doesn't that just encapsulate fandom?

Let the sun shine...

Quite a day. I felt good. I had energy. I worked on all three of my current jobs and enjoyed each. I have some cool stuff to look forward to. Odds and ends:

• It was a lovely beautiful sunny day, and the tulips are in bloom. maaseru took a lovely photo of some tulips by the canal:
  
  
  
  The Tulip Festival started on Saturday, and on Friday it looked as if we'd be having a Festival without any Tulips. Then the seasonal miracle happened, the sun came out, and they are there in profusion now. Though we did wonder if National Capital Commission workers were creeping around in the middle of the night, encouraging blossoms with hair dryers.
  
  
• My doctor thinks I don't have a problem with wheat - not specifically. My doctor thinks I have a problem with my gall bladder. So, as seems inevitable after any visit to the doctor, I have to have some tests. Faugh. Sheila said encouragingly, "At least you know it's something that can be fixed." Well, yes, by a doctor and a medical procedure. I was hoping it was something I could fix myself with judicious eating.
  
  
• It annoys me that my computer at work offers me a choice between two keyboards: "US English" and "Canadian French". What happened to Canadian English, hmm?
  
  
• I didn't get my French homework done yet, but I did work on memorizing the verbs that take être in the passé composé:
  
  
  Arriver - Partir
  Descendre - Monter
  Venir - Aller
  Entrer - Sortir
  Naître - Mourir
  Tomber - Rester
  Retourner
  
  This is because during the class yesterday the teacher, Yrena, asked us what the verbs using être as the auxiliary are. And every one of us looked at her with that blank terrified look that doesn't mean I don't know so much as I know I know this but my mind's suddenly totally blank on the subject. With considerable mumbling and foot-shuffling (figuratively speaking) we managed to come up, collectively, with all of them. So I've been muttering aller, arriver, descendre, entrer, monter, mourir... from time to time all day.
  
  
• Had lunch with maaseru, which we haven't done in a long while. I lured her to my currently favourite restaurant, the Yang Sheng. It wasn't hard. We each had our favourite dish.
  
  
• I threw caution to the winds and ordered A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin from Amazon. I'm not sure I believe the book will really exist, or if it does, that it will be particularly good. I was disenchanted with the previous volume, much as I love the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire. But... it's still a must-have. In fact, I can hardly wait, with my enthusiasm stoked by the TV miniseries of A Game of Thrones. And I have to know what happens to my favourite characters. Tyrion - where's Tyrion?