Bit of Ivory

Anne Elliot

Which Jane Austen Character are you? (female)
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This is very true. I admire Lizzy the most, of course, but I am most like Anne. Is this surprising to any of you? I am MUCH less outspoken in Real Life than I seem to be on the internet. Except when I am provoked in debates. Then I channel my inner Elizabeth Bennet.

I have discovered that I can indeed read while riding the light rail (which is called TRAX, no lie, caps and all). This is both a source of joy and of consternation. I never thought I’d be able to read on the train– I get REALLY sick when I try it in a car or an airplane. But after 2 weeks of watching others read Harry Potter (I’ve seen 7 people reading it so far: 1 reading SS, 2 reading PoA, 1 reading GoF, and 3 reading OotP) and wishing I could join them, I decided to bring a book and try it. So I brought my current Heyer, and to my joy, it worked! Reading makes the time go much faster than just sitting there or even listening to music.

So what’s the problem, then? The PROBLEM is that I don’t want to stop reading! I get off the train and then have to put my book away and WORK for hours before I can get it out again on my break– and then a short 15 min. later I have to put it away again! It’s very annoying. And then, of course, I end up reading at night instead of doing more productive things (such as doing research on my Dumbledore fic as Rachel has been bugging me to), and staying up WAAAY too late to finish my current novel, and it makes me all tired. So when I finished Regency Buck (which had the first mention of Austen I’ve seen in any of Heyer’s Regency novels) on Monday night I decided I’d better not start a new one, even though I have Arabella, Cotillion, and A Civil Contract waiting for me. But I was bored out of my skull on the way to and from work yesterday, even with my Pirates soundtrack to keep me company. I decided I MUST read something.

So I brought my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with me today. I got some strange looks when I took it out on the train. I think some people thought I was reading a fake HP book. I love it, though. It really is like reading a different book, especially as I’m familiar enough with SS to notice the changes. It’s kinda like reading Pride and Prejudice with a different editor than I’m used to– I notice if they add “rein” into Lizzy’s letter to Mrs. Gardiner instead of leaving it the way it appeared in the first edition as “give a loose to your fancy.” Things like “You have a place at Hogwarts. . .” instead of “You have been accepted. . .” make me smile. Although Hagrid calling Dumbledore “Mr” instead of “Professor” is weird. I think the US editors made the right decision in changing that one.

Another thing about the train, while it is slightly connected. There one lady who gets on at my stop who always wears the same perfume, and in copious amounts. It’s a vile smelling perfume, too. I think I’m allergic to it. I always get off the train with my nose running and the urge to sneeze. I might start riding in the middle car instead of the last car to avoid her.

Today I decided to take my umbrella out of my purse, as I haven’t needed it for days.

It rained.

*sigh*

Oh, and for all those who want to hear further details on my coworker’s accident, I would love to hear them, too. We don’t know exactly how she fell out of the Jeep, we don’t know what she was doing, we don’t know what she was wearing or where she was. We *do* know that she got 7 stitches *somewhere*, and that she has to have surgery on her broken ankle tomorrow morning, and that she was bleeding out of her ears this morning which hopefully is only related to her concussion and not something more serious. My boss says that if I value my life and well-being, I might want to get out of their unit. In the past year, they have had one woman diagnosed with breast cancer (she just finished her radiation treatments), one woman have marital problems, one woman’s husband diagnosed with cancer (she’s the one I’m replacing, her husband died two weeks ago), one woman with knee trouble, and one woman with family problems. And now Heather fell out of her Jeep the day after she hit a deer.

Yikes. Maybe they’re right.

They shipped Ginny today! She’s going overnight!

Which means BY THE TIME I GET HOME FROM WORX TOMORROW I’LL HAVE MY LAPTOP BAX!!!!!

*does VERY happy dance of joy*

See, one of my coworkers (the one with the Scottish cousin) fell out of her Jeep on Saturday. *waits for giggling to stop.* Apparently her boot got caught in the seatbelt or something, and her Jeep is one of those high-riding ones, so it’s much worse than it sounds. She fractured her ankle, got a concussion, and has all sorts of gravel and other road rash in her back. Mondays are always busy for us, but it was even worse today without her. I ended up not going to my afternoon job but for 45 minutes so I could help out downstairs. I’m actually rather glad I don’t work on the switchboard all day. Not only are people very stupid sometimes, it’s exhausting.

No news on how long she’ll be out. They were going to take her to an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning.

And I just know I made tons of mistakes ’cause I was so frazzled. I thought I was good at multitasking, but this took it to a whole new level.

After work and dinner we went up to my grandparents’ for Bytheway family night. Celebrated my mom’s birthday, and called up my great-grandma. ‘Cause today is her ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY, that’s why. We celebrated all weekend. My favorite part was going to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast and hearing the choir sing “Happy Birthday” to her. My grandma, she’s a remarkable lady. 100 years old and still in her own home. I hope I can have her longevity. I’m gonna name one of my characters in my Dumbledore fic Ethel in her honor.

Funny thing, though. At the open house thing we had on Saturday night, her son gave her a t-shirt with a bunny on it that said “The Ethelgizer.” ‘Cause she just keeps going and going, that’s why!

Okay. Need to get to bed. Sorry , didn’t get my HP sticker list typed up. Will have to wait for tomorrow.

I finished all the work there was for me to do today in an hour. Two of my three afternoon coworkers are gone today, and the one that’s left doesn’t have me do very much of her stuff. So I’m proofreading applications. Wanna know what you have to do to be a Burglar Alarm Company Qualifier in the State of Utah? I can tell you. I get to do securtiy companies next. Blah.

But I got paid today.

Ginny should be returning in 3-5 days! WAHOO!!!

I’m gonna go to the library after I get off WORX and get some more Georgette Heyers. Don’t know when I’ll have time to read ‘em, but you get to check out stuff for a month, so I’ll have a while before I have to get to them.

I’ve recently been getting random comments on REALLY old entries in my blog. I don’t know these people, and I don’t know why they feel the need to comment on the fact that I got Bedtime Bear in a Care Bear Quiz back in February of 2002, but they do. Is all very weird.

One of my morning coworkers says that I should go out with her cousin, who is Scottish AND Mormon. Only drawback: He lives in Scotland. Hmm. May need to get over there. I always said I wanted to marry a Brit.

This same coworker hit a deer on her way to work this morning, and was pretty badly shaken up about it. I would be, too. Apparently it was able to walk away, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t still hurt. Poor kid.

Another of my morning coworkers is in New York this weekend, visiting her son. I am insanely jealous. I want to go to NY, and see Gilraen and Mellie and PrettyAnnaMoon and all the NYgals! Would be SOOO cool. Must start saving money to make it possible.

Gah. 2 and a half hours to go still. I guess I’d better get back to reading about how to submit experience for being an Alarm Company Agent.

Perk:

I get e-mails from the Governor.

Drawback:

We make so many copies that I swear my job title should be changed to Tree Killer.

My life is getting too busy. I am going into internet withdrawal–and my friends are going into “Emily’s not on the internet” withdrawal, esp. Rachel, who sent me a haiku about it. I need Ginny BAX, with her wireless network card! Best Buy is sending a box to send her in for repairs. Hopefully I will have her BAX soon.

Oh, without further ado:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!

She turns the big 5-0 today. You’re great.

While shopping for her present last night, I discovered that Bed Bath and Beyond is selling their down comforters for 50% off. So I bought one. I used it last night, and it’s lovely and warm. It was especially hard to get out of bed this morning, which is perhaps a drawback.

I basically listened to the Pirates soundtrack on repeat from 1 to 4:30 yesterday. I have determined that the soundtrack is great, but they siriusly messed up on the naming of the tracks. For example, track #2 is called “Medallion Calls” when it should be called “Captain Jack Sparrow,” ’cause it’s the music of his entrance. Similarly, track #4, “Will and Elizabeth” is actually the music for the duel, so should be called “Crossing Blades.” Hmph. I’m gonna make up my own titles. I think track #3 will be “The Worst Pirate I’ve Ever Seen.”

The only drawback to this listening marathon is that it makes me want to see it again.

Got lots of background plotting done on my Dumbledore fic. It’s coming along nicely, methinks.

To everyone who’s posted about me not continuing I Found Love: I may get back to it. Just not yet. And to Wolf: There’s a good reason ch. 3 doesn’t seem as polished as the first two. It isn’t as polished. It didn’t get betaed hardly at all, and therefore didn’t get edited to my satisfaction. But as there was very little chance of getting it betaed with everyone so busy, I decided to post it as-is. So that’s the story.

And the offer still stands: Anyone who wants to know where I was going with the fic, shoot me an e-mail at wahlee @ bit-of-ivory.com (without the spaces) and I’ll send you a summary. As soon as I type one up.

Okay, gotta get to WORX now.

Just got an e-mail from Heidi concerning publication of the Nimbus proceedings. Looks like they will be available through Cafe Press’s new print-on-demand publishing section, so they’ll be readily available to everyone.

And I’m sure all of you will be happy to know that the Ship Debate was tape recorded, and a transcript of it will be available in the proceedings.

So you can all read my snark as it was delivered, and judge for yourself who won.

I just submitted IFL 3 to SQ. I still feel bad about not finishing it, but it simply can’t be helped. Oh, well. Not much that I had planned was all that great, anyway.

Congratulations to Kirk, who is Walt Disney Pictures newest paid intern! I knew you could do it.

I got my shipment from Amazon on Friday, so I am now the proud owner of the Pirates soundtrax and a GRE preparation manual. The thing that really scares me about the GRE is the math. Everything else is doable. But I haven’t taken math since I was 16 years old. *sigh* Luckily I have Jen, who is a math ed major. I don’t know how I’d survive if it wasn’t for knowing that she’ll tutor me.

I’m just thrilled that Marta has drawn an H/G pic. See my new icon.

I really need to cancel my Columbia House membership, ’cause I’ve been really bad lately about remembering to stop the selection of the month from coming. I’ve got two sitting here that need to be returned, and one more that I can’t find that also needs to be returned. Yikes.

My dad (bless him) managed to put Ginny’s hard drive into his own laptop, and I got most of my data off of it. We’re also making a full backup just in case it comes back from repairs with a wiped hard drive.

This means, though, that I can now upload chapter 3 of I Found Love, which I was planning on doing the day after Ginny died, and I can upload the LJ icons that I made for RavenSnape. Hope you like them, Lou. Plus I also have the final version of my SQ Contest entry plus a myriad of other data that I only had saved on Ginny. Hurrah!

Have made some progress in the background info on my Dumbledore fic. Am still in need of an actual plot, but ideas are coming.

Now, must clean. I’ve got junk scattered all over the house. *sigh*

I love spending lots of money, particularly when it’s someone else’s. See, my graduation dress accidentally got shrunk, so my mom offered to buy me a new dress for the same amount I paid for the original– which was $90. Can’t find the same one, of course. So we went to Meier and Frank to see if we could find anything else. Not much there. So we started wandering, and I found an adorable khaki skirt, and the next thing I knew I had 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts and a skirt for just under $150. $50 of it is mine, but it’s worth it. Lots of cute stuff, and all suitable for work, which is what I needed. Plus we got $30 off of that through coupons. Meier and Frank is great with coupons– usually it’s for an additional 10% or so on their already-clearance priced merchandise. Wahoo!

Also finally got to Barnes and Noble with my $10 off certificate. Ended up buying a Georgette Heyer called Devil’s Cub, which I can’t remember Angua ever mentioning (and since the log of our conversations is on Ginny, I can’t check), but the plot sounded good. I’ll be careful while reading it just in case it SUX, so I can return it. Also bought a French vocab builder and a review & practice book meant for intermediate French speakers, which technically I am. I need to have a reading knowledge of a foreign language for graduate school, and my French is extremely rusty.

So all in all, a good night.