The Watchtower of Destruction: The Ferrett's Journal - One Firework Against The Darkness
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10:02 am
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One Firework Against The Darkness
Yesterday, my friends list was rife with tragedy: breakups, financial heartache, cybercrime, serious medical issues, dying relatives, serious differences in established relationships, fights with lovers, surgical complications, and of course the inevitable demon ponies.
This LJ needs a smudge ceremony. So come on in close, smell the sage, get a little ash on your face, and to help dispell the demons, post something awesome and wonderful about your life. I will use the little-known CSS property "border: 1px magic joyful" to set this HTML so that you may only discuss nice things. There will be no disclaimers about how you've lived underneath a sewer ever since you lost your job but yesterday you found a wet muckrag that might serve as a dress; no, for the smudge ceremony to work, you must only post a thing of purest joy.
Here, I'll start.
Yesterday, I was sitting at home while Gini was out and across town, and suddenly I realized that she loved me. And not just, "Hey, she's enamored of me," but that we have kind of huggy happy love where I realized that even though she was thirty miles away if I wanted a hug or some bacon or just a kiss blown into the phone, she'd do it without question - not out of obligation, but because my happiness is her happiness. And that in turn made me do a little wiggly dance on the couch, because to have that kind of love is such a marvelous thing that so few folks get and wow, it's amazing that it's been almost ten years since we got married and I'm still saturated in NRE like the Hulk is saturated in gamma rays.
So. What's good with you? Tell me something awesome in your life. Let's have a little DMZ zone of straight goddamned happy, if only for a while.
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Today is payday and I get to buy my shiny new bike! Squeeeee!
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/61912977/810751) | | From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jfargo |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:08 pm (UTC) |
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Ooh! New bike! Awesome!
And even without the bike, payday always adds a little bit of joy. :)
Next Wednesday, I'll get a solid week and a half with my boyfriend, which will be the most we've gotten to see each other since December.
I am so psyched.
Rock the hell on! Enjoy the heck out of each other. (Not that you need my support for that, but still.)
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/3152718/19930) | | From: | xiphias |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:05 pm (UTC) |
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We have kittens.
Two kittens, whom we've named Nick and Nora.
Nick likes to sit on my shoulder and give me kisses. Nora likes to sleep on Lis. They are about the most adorable kittens in the entire world.
Kitten kisses are so awesome. :D
| | From: | jfargo |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:06 pm (UTC) |
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The time on the treadmill said I had just completed Day 3, Week 2 of the Couch to 5k program, and a thrilling thought went through my mind: I can actually do this.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/42740726/809696) | | From: | jadecat |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:14 pm (UTC) |
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Awesome! I'm working that program too- and while next week is tougher- the feeling of success is amazing.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/90216983/137316) | | From: | morgi |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:07 pm (UTC) |
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Yesterday I realized that I have friends out there who'll do what they can even when they have so little themselves, just because they consider me worth it.
And even better, that should come with the thought that hey, you are worth it.
Trust those friends, man.
My life is full of food joy thanks to my CSA.
This week alone there has been:
1. Beet risotto with beet greens, parmesan, and fresh herbs from my fire escape.
2. Three pounds of tiny, fresh, juicy peaches.
3. Blueberry buckle. Berries from the CSA, recipe from Alton Brown.
4. Raw chopped kohlrabi dressed in Trader Joe's Champagne Pear Vinaigrette with gorgonzola. (Served as a side dish with pulled pork in mustard bbq sauce, which didn't come from the CSA but was awesome anyway.)
5. Pizza with spinach/fontina sausage, garlic, fresh basil, mozzarella, and arugula.
Glad to see you are enjoying your CSA experiment this year. I've found that my organic buyers group has completely expanded my palate and is such a great adventure every week. Oh- and tasty to boot!
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/93093433/208448) | | From: | aiela |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:11 pm (UTC) |
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That has made my day too. Am off to share it with housemates to spread the happy :-)
The foster dog has gone 3 whole days without pissing in the house. I consider that a cause for celebration.
| | From: | jfargo |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:16 pm (UTC) |
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As a dog fosterer, that IS a huge cause for celebration. Keep up the good work, puppy!
My cat has always been a little difficult, ever since she was a kitten, but I've realized lately how much she enjoys my company :) Lately she's been meowing at me at night when I'm going to bed so I'll hurry up so she can cuddle with me.
And - eschewing the nasty details, as you've requested - I have to say that my girlfriend really is dedicated to me and is willing to do a lot to keep us working. And that makes me very happy :)
I had a cat that used to do that! We'd be watching the news and she'd be standing in the door saying hurry up, come to bed! It's so sweet, even if the tone of voice is a tiny bit bitchy.
In 45 minutes, I am heading home to put my suitcase in the Jeep for a week of beach vacation.
Enjoy the heck out of it.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/84576716/932444) | | From: | pinwiz |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:14 pm (UTC) |
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The Troopers are legitimately a DCI Finalist. Joining them right after graduating High School was one of the best things in my life, and we got so close when I marched with them over ten years ago. It had been very hard as a fan and rabid alumni to watch them struggle for years after everything fell apart, and eventually they had to go inactive for a year because of financial problems. Three years after coming back, and they're poised to return to Finals for the first time in 23 years. It's my "The Cubs Win The World Series", and I'll be a happy sobbing mess at Indy watching Finals live. And tomorrow I get to see the show via the internet and see the new ending. I can't think of anything better.
Well done!
(For the record, this confused the heck out of me because Magic: the Gathering's tournament organization is called the DCI, so for a moment I was totally baffled. But now I know, and feel educated on top of happy.)
I am starting to believe I can write poetry.
You go and fly with that. Writing's all about confidence. And the humility to learn.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/37718801/445887) | | From: | streon |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:14 pm (UTC) |
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I am going to spend the weekend in a cabin on the lake with some friends this weekend, and next week I go home to see my friends and family in my hometown.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/7448451/1366673) | | From: | anivair |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:16 pm (UTC) |
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Yesterday I was in a pretty bad mood at one point and my lovely girl took me outside, made me look up at the night sky and calmed me down and everything was brilliant. Then she took me out for a milkshake at ten PM. Who doesn't like milkshakes?
A) My wife does not like milkshakes, but she is crazy. All sane people love milkshakes.
B) Milkshakes given by a loved one late at night are even better, and contain no calories.
C) I am not yelling, "I - DRINK - YOUR - MILKSHAKE!"
| From: | thakil |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:16 pm (UTC) |
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I got married about two months ago and the wedding was ludicrously perfect. I know its somewhat cliched, but literally everything went amazingly, my wife looked amazing, we spent the entire day with smiles glued to our faces, the food was great, the dancing was great (a ceilidh. All weddings should have one), and I made a considerable proportion of the room cry during my speech.
I, too, had a perfect wedding, and it's a moment that lasts. Not everyone gets one, so fuckin' w00t!
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/74792023/809696) | | From: | jadecat |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:16 pm (UTC) |
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Okay, back when my husband and I were 'just friends' and gaming together once a month, he would usually sit a few people down from me. Every once and awhile I would say something and he would lean forward, with his head tilted just a bit, and give me this look. As if to say 'I can't believe you just said that! You're amazing.'
Seven years later I still get a thrill every time I manage to say something that gets me the look. :)
We have a variation on that.
Ain't love grand?
| | From: | jfargo |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:19 pm (UTC) |
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Since we're sharing joy, I don't feel bad about commenting again with an other thing:
I'm LARPing this weekend. It's going to be awesome to get my geek on for a little while again!
Yesterday Hu and I went to our usual favorite place to get good eats. As is our norm, we ordered off of the special menu (just as long as the regular menu, twice as good). The kitchen and waitstaff pretty much followed my plate of pork tamales to the table because they all wanted some. I knew I made the right choice- NOM!
Chef Tim was very excited with Hu's latin plate (veal chop and crab cake with avocado/jalapeno couli on top of an exotic salad) and kept watching him eating it, but Hu only liked it- didn't love it. Tim noticed. It is an open kitchen so Tim asked what Hu thought it needed- Hu said it had a nice high note, but didn't have the normal earthy back note that Tim's dishes normally had. Well, Tim sent out a little cup of sauce and asked if that would make it perfect. Yup- spicy sauce perfectly balanced everything. It wasn't that the dish wasn't really good before (it would have been great somewhere else), but now it was perfect. Plus Tim and George (co-owner) gave us a discount for it. Thing is- I don't think the discount was because we weren't happy. It was because Hu helped make the dish better for the rest of the night (they decided to change the dish for the rest of the evening).
Going there, knowing the servers and the kitchen, just makes my night better all the time. And last night topped it all- we got to collaborate on a dish with the chef!
| | From: | jfargo |
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| Date: | July 24th, 2009 02:29 pm (UTC) |
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I got to do that one time at one of the local restaurants, and learning that they took my suggestions to heart, changing even the printed menus to reflect my suggestions, filled my with glee for weeks!
I realized that despite my fears, and despite the four years that elapsed since I last tried it, I really enjoy college and I'm actually doing really well. If I keep it up I'll get my associates with at least a 3.5 GPA. Considering that I flunked out last time I was in school, this is damn awesome.
Considering I never got through college myself, you have no idea how happy it makes me feel that you're rockin' it this time around.
My life in general right now is pretty good, and I have some really wonderful things coming to me: soon I'll be moving to Atlanta, where I will be living with the love of my life and attending one of the top art & design schools in the country (if not the world).
But the best and most recent source of pure joy was in being asked if "I minded" my essay on interstitiality, and what it means to me, being added to the Interstitial Arts Foundation website. It would join other essays by the likes of Charles Vess, Holly Black, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Jeff Vandermeer... I am completely gobsmacked. These are all folks whose craft I admire. (Of course I said, "No, I don't mind at all.") I'm still processing the sheer awesomeness of this.
I had something like that recently happen to me (that I can never talk about), and I know exactly what you talk about. It's like, "They? THEY value my opinion? OMG, I must be better than I think."
The moment I sit down on the couch, without fail, all my kids want to do is sit down next to me and cuddle me.
And yesterday, 3-year-old Charlie -- who is not my biological kid -- specifically requested that I stop what I was doing, come upstairs, and "unwrap the present."
He was the present -- wrapped in a sheet.
Oh my god. That's adorable.
As much as I hate to give him up, I always love seeing my 10-month-old nephew stretching his arms out for his momma when she shows up and I'm holding him. It's just so wonderful to see that closeness between them.
I find something to laugh at EVERY SINGLE DAY. Not in a wry or ironic or mocking or snarky way (although there are those, too), but things that are surprising or goofy or gentle or nice or sweet and also funny. I am a laugh addict and get a hit from it every day.
I'm also privileged to live with a partner who does the same thing. We're going to see G-FORCE. You know why? Because it'll be FUNNY and we'll laugh.
You know, I do it too, but I never thought of it as anything to be joyous about.
But you know what? It is.
In an undisclosed location, there is a long-awaited but undisclosed feature, which was whipped up by a couple decorative geekboys in under 24 hours.
And across the globe, a thousand fangirls screamed.
I took my toddler to an SCA social Monday night, where she ran around like a crazy baby with some of her favorite people in the whole world while I got to sit and eat venison and purslaine. Oh, and there was dancing, too!
ETA: Oops! Sorry, meant to comment directly rather than replying.
Edited at 2009-07-24 09:46 pm (UTC)
A publisher has requested the full MS of my romance novel. By no means a guarantee of anything, but does mean at least two people think my writing style is pretty decent. Yay--and crossed fingers!
Also, I have steak. Steak which I cooked. Because I can cook steak now. THE POWER IS MINE!
Rock on. I'm watching your writing career with interest. If you need a critter, you let me know.
(Not a weasel-critter, a writer-critter. A... aw, you know what I mean.) |
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