Bit of Ivory

I hate being sick. It was inevitable, I suppose. This dratted cold has made its way through my family member by member. I think my brother is the only one who has escaped it by not spending too much time at home in the past couple of weeks. We’ve got Stake Conference in two weeks, and I’m singing first soprano in the choir– which means hitting a high A. Now, I’m either an alto with soprano tendencies or a soprano with alto tendencies. I’ve been singing alto most of the time because altos are usually harder to come by, but I am perfectly capable of hitting a high A. Unless, of course, I have a cold. Gah. My throat hurts.

Primary was pretty good today. Had a slightly difficult time explaining that in the scriptures “man” means everyone, not just those of the male persuasion. I started teaching my kids “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in French (tête, épaules, genoux et pieds) last week, and they remembered most of it this week. I was so proud of them! Plus it helps get the wiggles out, which is always a good thing with 7 year olds. Anyway, we talked about making good choices in class, and about how important families are during Sharing Time. For the unitiated, Primary is our children’s organization, for ages 3-11. We all meet together for opening exercises, then the junior primary (ages 3-7) go to class while the senior primary stays for a group lesson and singing time. My mom leads the music, so that’s kind of fun.

Since it’s the first Sunday of the month it was also fast Sunday. As a church, we’re expected to fast two meals each month, and donate the money we would have spent on those meals to the church for helping the poor. It helps us to put the needs of the spirit above the needs of our body, and most of the time we fast with a purpose– a problem of your own, for the health or well-being of another person, etc. Also, during Sacrament Meeting, instead of scheduled speakers, members of the congregation are invited to come and bear their testimonies. It’s usually a very special meeting, one where its very easy to feel the Spirit, and today was no different. It was lovely.

Didn’t bother watching the Super Bowl. Was the PoA commercial good?

In some ways, this one was harder than LtYD. It’s a shorter fic, and yet I almost put more thought into it than any of my other fics. But at the same time, this fic was much more organic– the basic idea presented itself in an instant. I’d almost say it was inspiration. Anyway, here it is, for what it’s worth.

The Way of the Wolf commentary:

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But it was fun nonetheless. As requested by Kirk, commentary on sections 3&4 of Look to Your Dreams. Lou also requested The Way of the Wolf, so I’ll do that one by and by. have to get some real work done, first.

Now, just so you all realize– Look to Your Dreams was a complete fluke. I had a dream one night about the guy I was crushing on, and the same scenario kept being repeated and repeated. I woke up the next day and realized that my situation was much like Ginny’s, and a fanfic was born. It started out as just the dream, and kind of, umm, blew up from there. I never, ever, planned on writing a fic (ever), and I was incredibly surprised when I got an idea. I wrote it, and because of lots of encouragement, I posted it at the HPC forums. Eventually, after several drafts and betas, I submitted it to SQ, and was frankly SHOXED to be accepted on my first try. Anyway, that’s how it started. And now look what’s happened.

So, without further ado,
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It’s the ever-popular DVD meme!

Pick a scene from a story I’ve written, and I’ll give you the DVD-style “What the heck was I thinking?” commentary thing.

Since I have such a large body of work *rolls eyes*, if you want spoilers for fics I’m working on (namely Albus), or are curious about what I’m thinking about storywise now, I might consider answering those, too. Well, some of them.

I’ve had so much fun reading everyone else’s that I figured I might as well give it a go. That is, if anyone’s interested. Which I doubt.

Was a lazy bum today. Didn’t get showered until 2:30. But I did do quite a bit of editing. Almost. Done. Can’t. Take. Much. More.

Am very glad that I decided I *don’t* want to be an editor. I like doing the other stuff– layout, design, etc.; and if it’s material I like (read: fic) I don’t mind doing the copyediting and proofreading either. But if it’s not material I’m interested in, it’s drudgery. I’m perfectly capable of it, but it’s not particularly engaging. Should have done literature from the beginning. *sigh*

I don’t feel so good, and I don’t know why.

It could be that I was up too late last night. I was tired, but not sleepy. That hasn’t happened to me for a long time. I finally got to sleep at about 4:00. But I didn’t have to wake up until 10, so 6 hours isn’t too terrible.

I think most of it, though, it because I got my eyes dilated at the eye doctor today. My left contact had gotten scratched (I have hard lenses), and I didn’t want to get a new one until I was sure that my prescription hadn’t changed– it had been about a year since my last checkup anyway. My eyes haven’t changed enough to need new contacts (whoohoo!), and the doctor thinks that a bit of polishing will fix my old ones. So I’m stuck with my glasses for a few days. Anyway, after the doctor we stopped at the grocery store, and I think that my eyes being blurry made me dizzy or something, ’cause I feel all lightheaded and queasy.

I’m feeling all nostalgic, too. I downloaded some of the old DOS shareware games that I used to adore– Duke Nukem, ZZT, Jill of the Jungle, Brix. I’ve been having entirely too much fun playing them. Am amazed that I still remember the commands for DOS, but I do! It makes me want to find the MUD I used to play when I was BBSing in junior high. I wonder if I could find it. The BBS was called Mystic Realms, but I don’t know if that was the name of the MUD or not. I do remember that I flirted with the SysOp and he gave me free experience points. Heh. That and the Lower Lights chats were quite a diversion for me. We got call waiting at my house because I spent so much time hooked up to some computer or other with our 2400 baud modem.

Ah, those were the days.

Comments have been fixed. So don’t be scared to post, people!

Thanks to everyone who gave me support on my last post. This will not be a serious philosophical post. Sorry to disappoint you all. I don’t have time at the moment– got to get this editing done!

Instead, there’s the Visited States Map:

create your own visited states map

and the RotK character quiz:

Eowyn If I were a character in The Return of the King, I would be Eowyn, a Woman of Rohan and niece of King Theoden and sister of Eomer. In the movie, I am played by Miranda Otto. Who would you be? The Return of the King Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

And various squeeing about Oscar nominations! Hooray for RotK– 11 nominations! And Johnny Depp! *does happy pirate dance* And Pirates got 4 nominations in all! Am upset about no acting nominations for RotK, though. If only they had a category for “best ensemble cast” they’d win it for sure.

Actually, not entirely meaningless drivel. Yes, there’s something wrong with my comments on here. If you try to post a comment and it says “bit-of-ivoryhttp could not be found” or something similar, DO NOT resubmit your comment! The comment went through– it’s just the reloading *after* the comment that’s weird. We’re working on it.

I’ve been doing some thinking lately. I looked back at my LJ and blog entries for the past two years, and I realized– there’s really very little about my religion in it. Which struck me as odd.

Isn’t a journal, even an online one, supposed to give some kind of picture of who the writer is? What is most important to her, who she most cares about– as Marianne Dashwood would say, “her tastes, her passions, her pursuits.” I’ve talked a lot about school, a lot about my family, about my love of Harry Potter and Jane Austen and LotR and PotC, and, umm, Orlando Bloom.

I think it’s clear from my posts that I am a person of faith, who holds herself to a high moral standard. I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think most of you knew that. I read the Scriptures and pray every day. I attend church faithfully each week, where I teach a class of 7 and 8-year-olds who are preparing for baptism, for which I have to prepare a lesson during the week. I attended a Church-owned college, and work in a Church-owned bookstore. The Church is a very big part of my everyday life. And yet it’s almost entirely absent from my posts. I’ve mentioned going to church, teaching primary, etc. But I’ve said precious little about my beliefs, and what I think about issues, both moral and political.

And I’ve been trying to figure out why.

Part of it, I believe, is because I’m afraid of confrontation. The last thing I want to do is offend people. My religion is well-known for being a proselyting one– I’m sure most of you have seen LDS missionaries walking or biking through your towns. I was afraid that any mention on my part might be seen as an attempt to convert you all (which I’m NOT trying to do. Let’s just make that clear. ). That’s part of it.

Another part is that I am very much a minority belief-wise amongst my online acquaintances. I’m conservative. I believe that homosexuality is immoral. I don’t drink. I don’t swear. I believe in waiting until marriage to have sex. I don’t watch R-rated movies and very few PG-13 ones. I actually like President Bush. I read your LJs and disagree with you. Often. But you have a right to your opinion, and especially a right to express it in your own LJ. But I dislike being one red marble in a sea of blue ones. So I keep quiet.

All of this was rather unconcsious, of course, until I started thinking about it. I finally realized that I am allowing the rest of the world a privilege that I’m denying myself– a chance to state my opinion, for better or for worse.

So that’s going to change. Not that I’ll be preachy or anything like that. In fact, for the most part I doubt you’ll notice much a difference. But I’m not going to censor myself anymore because of some imaginary fear of hurting people’s feelings. If I feel strongly about something, I’m not going to just swallow it anymore. If I can’t say what I think on my own journal, where can I say it?

I just want to give a more accurate picture of who I am, is all.

I am such a fangirl.

I just ordered the Orlando Bloom READ poster from the American Library Asoociation website. And a pack of 100 matching bookmarks.

It’s a great picture, though. Really great.

Am willing to share the bookmarks. Anyone want one?

I’ve edited until the world seemed azure. Haven’t reached my quota for the day, but I just can’t bring myself to care. I did some of the source checking today instead of next week, though, so I’m not too far behind. Now that I know for sure that I have until next week I can breathe easier.

In any case, Jen and I had some much-needed recreation today. We went to Gardner Village, which all sorts of fun specialty shops. I wanted to buy at least 87 things, especially at a store called “Anastasia’s Attic” which has all sorts of Victorian-type stuff. Someday when I finally make my Austen dress I’ll be able to accesorize it there. Didn’t buy much at Gardner Village, though, except candy (bad me, but it was Cadbury Flake! I couldn’t resist Cadbury Flake!). But afterwards we hit the mall. Sears is having a sale! I got a new coat (only $30! And it’s down!) and some really cute boots.

I love shopping.