Bit of Ivory

Well, the costume is coming along nicely, although not quite as fast as
I’d hoped. After 2 days of crocheting and then undoing over and over
again, I found out I was doing the wrong stitch. No WONDER it was so
hard! Anyway, I finally figured out how to do it correctly, so I’ve
actually made some progress (albeit not a lot. I’m still only on the
second section of color). It doesn’t look all that great, but as I’m
practically a beginner, I’m not going to complain. My roommates’ looks
perfect, but she’s been doing it much longer and much more often than I
have. I brought my mom’s sewing machine down, though, so I’ll be able
to sew my tie and my skirt. I HAVE succesfully sewn several things, so
I’m not too worried about those. The material for our skirt is so cool!
The pattern for the robes ended up in Murray, but that’s okay, since
Jen is going back again this weekend.
I’m still having trouble finding knee socks. Everyone else bought some
at Wal-mart, but my shoes fit just a little tightly with them on. I’m
searching for some thinner ones, but no luck so far. I haven’t checked
everywhere, though. But as they’re the only thing I’m missing, it’s
quite annoying.
I think my biggest problem will be forcing myself to do my homework
when I’d rather be working on my costume.

I am going to have the coolest Halloween costume EVER.
I’m going as Penelope Clearwater.
Last night I mentioned to my roommate Jen that I wanted to make a
Ravenclaw scarf for opening day of Chamber of Secrets. She, of course,
jumped at the idea, and improved it: Halloween costumes. So we jumped
on over to the Sugar Quill to get some ideas. There we found
instructions on making a wand (a wooden dowel and Sculpey), a tie (two
different colors!), and an offer for the House Crests on Iron-on
transfer paper for $.50 each. We ran to the craft store and bought yarn
for the scarves, the dowels for our wand, ribbon to add to our
as-yet-unbought grey sweaters in the House colors, and decided on a
pattern (but didn’t buy it then, we were hoping to find it cheaper) for
the robes. Then we headed to Wal-Mart, where we scored material for the
robes, the Sculpey we needed, knee socks, and appropriate shoes (mine
are loafers). It was too late by then to get everything else, so we
headed home with a firm resolve to buy everything else today.
Our first stop today was Deseret Industries, which is a thrift shop run
by my church. There I found a grey V-neck sweater and a long sleeved
white blouse for only $4 each. My sister Laura hadn’t been able to find
any shoes she wanted at Wal-mart, but found some great ones at D.I.,
likewise for $4. Jen also found a shirt.
The we went to Savers, which is a commercial second-hand shop, where
Jen found a grey V-neck for $5 (Jen, as a readhead and a Gryffindor, is
going as Ginny, so it’s very appropriate that she should buy at least
some of her uniform second hand ). A trip to Target turned up
nothing, but Shop-ko had some more sweaters for my sisters, and Jen
found a pair of shoes she liked. Yay!
Next stop was the mall in search of grey pleated skirts. Nothing. We
finally ended up back at the fabric store, where we bought the patterns
for our robes, as well as one for a pleated skirt, and material for our
ties. Lisa and Laura also bought a pattern for a cape, which is in my
long-range plans, but probably won’t happen until CoS. We found some
grey material that we liked, but there wasn’t enough for all of us, so
we’re going to try another location of the same store tomorrow.
That means that all we have left to do is crochet the scarves (which,
incidentally, I’m TERRIBLE at, but I’m getting better), sew the robes,
buy the material for and sew the skirt, and make our wands and ties.
Considering we have 26 days to do it, I think we’ll make it. We ordered
the crests (4 Gryffindor, 2 Hufflepuff, and 2 Ravenclaw, in case we
mess up on the first one), so they should be coming soon, and
everything is hunky-dory.
I’m SO EXCITED for Halloween now. You have no idea.

I’m now up on FA– in the
Astronomy Tower.
I’ve already got 2 reviews there. They’re both really short, and not
very helpful, but gratifying nonetheless.
However, a recent rash of new uploads on SQ has knocked me off the
“Recently Updated” list (thanks a lot, Elizabeth ). So ends my day
in the sun on SQ.

Adventures in Fanfic
Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days. RJA reviewed my fic. She
didn’t like it. *cries* She said I did more “telling” than “showing”,
which is true. But how can you “show” someone’s complex inner thoughts?
I felt that the part where I needed to get across without looking deep
into the psyche—where it’s obvious that Harry likes Ginny more than
he’s admitting—was done quite well. She also said there was too much
exposition, which I guess *could* be true. But I think maybe she was
looking at my story in a different way than I intended. I was trying to
do a character study more than anything else. If the fic was meant to
be plot driven (which it wasn’t), then her argument would be valid. But
it’s not; the plot is there only to further explore the characters. I
never pretended to have a plot. My fic is really little more than
fluff. Anyway, what she saw as exposition, I meant as introspection. I
guess we just differ in what kinds of stories we like. Anyway, after
reassuring her that I don’t hate her (as if!), she suggested that maybe
I should have done it in first person. I can see where that might be
better. But I’m going to stick with it the way it is. I don’t think my
fic is bad– it just wasn’t the kind of fic RJA liked. And I can live
with that.
I haven’t gotten any more reviews since. Blast.
But there is some good news. I heard from Imogen this morning, and I’ve
been assigned a beta reader at GT. She didn’t expect that I’d need much
betaing, but she wanted someone to look it over just in case. Also
today, I got a message that my review board at Fiction Alley had been
started. According to the site, that means I should expect the story
itself to be up in 3 days or so.
So soon I’ll be on SQ, FF.net, FA, and GT.
Not bad for a first time author, eh?

For those of you who don’t get over to ff.net very often, I’ll post the
3 reviews I’ve gotten there so far here. I want to share my joy.
I am in utter love with this.
Sorry, just thought it was v. vital to my existence that i tell you the
extent of my admiration for this masterpiece.
Lol. Man, you have created something great. I loved how you tied in the
events of the past years with Ginny’s feelings, and how you made George
be the supplier of that infamous Valentine. Excellent detailing.
One critique? The beginning was a bit too lengthy, as opposed to the
almost mad rush of the later sections. It might have been better to
trim down the beginning and add on to the end.
Other wise, I’d say you’ve got a fan!!
Ta, Ruchi aka biggerstaffbunch
Here’s another one.
Very nicely done. I’m impressed. The style was great, there were
very few grammatical mistakes (if any), and I confess it’s WONDERFUL to
finally have something decent to read in the H/G section. Good job.
Honestly, I’ve searched for something to tell you that you could
possibly work on, but the mistakes are so few and far between that I
really can’t justify anything that I normally say.
I commend you on a job well done.
And the last
This story is wonderful! Err… spiffing! I’m in the process of
making a HP site, would you e-mail me if it’s okay for me to put your
story there?
THANKS!
Y-lime
Hee. I’m high on reviews. Definitely addicting.
In other news, I’ve submitted to Griffindor Tower and Fiction Alley. I
haven’t heard on either so far.

My
author page at SQ.
And my
story at fanfiction.net. It’ll be on FA soon, I hope. I’ll submit
it soon.
Let’s hope somebody reads it.
Now, who’s going to start the write-in campaign to get me and Elizabeth
on the Bookshelf?

I FINALLY heard from Carleton97 today. What she said was so cool that I
don’t even mind not hearing before now:
The only thing I noted was a strange line break when Ginny is
comforting Harry in the hallway. Other than that it was just fine; I’m
going to be recommending you for your NEWT’s so you won’t have to worry
about going through me as long as you keep submitting this quality of
work.
Hee! I don’t need an SQ beta! Of course, that’s assuming that I ever
write another story. May OoTP will give me some new ideas.
I, of course, can’t see any funny line breaks. Maybe she fixed it. . .I
dunno. Wolf, wanna take a last look at it before I re-submit for
posting?
I am grinning like a fool over here.

I saw him again today.

It’s infuriating, really. Do you want to know why I can climb so easily into Ginny’s head?

I’ve been head-over-heels in love with a boy for the past FIVE YEARS.

Pathetic, isn’t it?

Even more so, because I know I haven’t got a chance. Know for absolute certain. Because I told him once. A little under four years ago, I wrote him a letter, telling him that I cared more for him than just friendship. I knew what the answer would be. I almost hoped for it, in fact– because then, knowing the worst, I could forget him.

Fat chance.

When I got his letter back, it said just about what I expected it to– that he liked me as a friend, but that he wasn’t interested in more than that. Can I blame him? I’m 4 months older than him, but we’re a year apart in school. He’s gorgeous, talented, popular–everything I’m not. Of course, I was hurting for a while– but then I got over it. The crush seemed to be gone, and I truly believed I felt only friendship for him (anyone hearing echoes of my fanfic?).

Hah.

Then he left on his mission– two years in Brazil. I didn’t see him or talk to him for two years. I got 2 letters in that time– nice, friendly letters. With no hint of anything else. But it was while he was gone that I realized I had been deluding myself. Part of it was, of course, that he kept haunting my dreams. Every single time I had a romantic type dream, it was him. Sometimes it wasn’t really him– he was supposed to be Clark Kent, or some such thing– but it was his face, his personality. The only dream I can think of for the past 3 years where it wasn’t him was one I had three nights ago– I was married to Mark Hamill in that one (don’t even ask, I have NO IDEA where it came from). Other than that, it’s been him.

And the fact that I haven’t really interested in any other guy. There was one guy– Mark. I worked with him at Deseret Book. We seemed to be really compatible– I mean, he dressed up like Harry at our Harry Potter Party when GoF came out, and he could quote What’s Up, Doc? like he’d been born a Bytheway. But I wouldn’t let myself fall for him, because I was sick and tired of being in love with someone who doesn’t love me back. That was more than 2 years ago. No other guy has come along since.

When he got home from his mission, he came down here to BYU. And he’s shown absolutely zero interest in me. But I run into him all over campus. This semester the first time I saw him, he was standing with his back toward me. I could tell it was him from the back of his head. The next time, all I saw was the top of his head (I was going up stairs and he was on the ground floor). I could still tell it was him. The third time he was actually looking at me– we both said “hi” as we passed. Today, it was the back of his head again. He’s THAT familiar to me.

It would be so much easier if he was a jerk. That way, he could really, really hurt me, and I’d be able to get over him. Instead, he’s still the nicest, sweetest, most wonderful guy I have ever met. Every time I see him, it just makes me love him more.

Or maybe if I met someone else. But no one I’ve ever met can hold a candle to him. *sigh*

Now you know why I want Harry and Ginny to get together. I want *one* of us to finally get the guy.

Sorry about the long rant. But it’s been on my mind lately, and I just had to get it down in letters.

I am so upset.
In the English major, you have to take a major author in the 300-level.
They always offer Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer, and they have a
revolving class that studies different authors every year. I don’t
really like Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer all that much, but
Shakespeare is more interesting to me than either of the other two.
However, I’ve been putting off taking the course, hoping that somehow
the revolving class would study Jane Austen. Well, since I’m graduating
in April, I decided I couldn’t put it off any longer (since I also have
to take my Senior Course next semester, I didn’t want to overload
myself), and I signed up for Shakespeare. I looked at the Winter
Semester Schedule today. They’re studying Jane Austen next semester.
Dang.

I’m getting slightly irritated. No word yet from Carleton97. I don’t
know if she’s even looked at my story, let alone how long it
will take for her to beta it so it can be posted. I mean, come on, how
hard is it to drop me a short e-mail?
The thing is, I really want to post it both on FA and FF.net, but I
want to use the SQ version. If it’s going to be a month before I hear
from her, then why bother even putting it SQ?
GRRRR.