1,222 words today on Moonlight and Shadows (which, calience, you can appreciate, now makes me think first of two specific cats and *then* my story). I need to write another 1,400 to make up for not writing at all yesterday, but if I top off at 2k for today, I'll be happy. Starting to move forward easily now, so that's exciting. :)

Off to finish up The Eye of The World and to get started on the next book to read. Will most likely pick up The Great Hunttomorrow at the library, so yay. :)

Stealing from vgnwtch's LJ, I found this article this morning. Longtime readers of my lj know exactly where I stand with ants -- I'm a bug lover to a crazy degree, and ants are one of the most fascinating social creatures out there. I admire them, I'm fascinated by them . . . and when they're on the counter in the kitchen, I generally can't enter the room. Sure, I can pick up a spider/earwig/beetle/whatever barehanded. Sure, I'll capture that cockroach (though not waterbugs! Waterbugs DIE!) and take it outside. Hell, I even think they're kinda neat. Silverfish? Not a problem, and really, they're good parents. Ants? *shudder* Unless they're one of the tiny species, which I think are cute, I can't stand to see them.

So, the idea of one giant inter-related colony that spans the globe? I'm ready to move to the moon now, please.

Walking home from work today, I was distracted by my raging migraine (yay summer!) by the two deer grazing in someone's yard at the top of the hill.

They were mere yards from me, and looked at me like, "What? We're deer, we're eating flowers, what?"

I love this town.

...and as tedious as cleaning up my files. You know, I need to learn to save better, in some sort of order. I have a file just for beginnings and false-starts. So, that's where they should all be. And a file for short stories. Again, so they should all go there. Not, you know, all over the place.

Least they're all in the "Jo" file. For the most part. Gods. Messy libra!

If there is one person (or more) on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met without the Internet, post this sentence in your journal.

Heh. With the except of maybe a handful of people -- possibly less -- everyone I know, I know because of teh interwebs. Some amazing friendships. So, yeah. Go interwebs.

whether about dying celebrities (and I'm bad, because I'm less disturbed by Jackson's death and more disturbed to hear that he was fifty. When the hell did that happen?!) or about 14-year-old "strippers" or about seven-year-olds being beaten to death. . .

It's terribly irreverent of me that this makes me think of this. But, it does.

Somehow, I missed that they were making a TV series based on the books. I went and poked around at the site yesterday and I'm . . . I dunno. Dismayed? Wondering if they're setting it in the small town that Fells Church is supposed to be, and if so, awed at the cultural diversity that they're doing with the cast.

The *only* casting I'm happy about is for the Salvatore brothers. Will I watch? Probably at first -- vampires you know. And I'm interested to meet Elena's *cough* brother Jeremy. *blink* Grr.

Read the new book and I have to say that the trend I seem to have with regard to her books is holding true: the more recent the book, the less I like it. I dunno. Even considering the situation with Damon, and the reasons for him acting out of character, even when he wasn't, he still didn't read like *Damon* to me. Didn't really like it all that much. Will read the others, as they come out, and will most likely pretend at the end the same thing I pretend with the forth ST:TNG movie: didn't happen.

tonight, while I'm in bed trying to think of nothing at all, that since Jon's oldest son's gf has had her baby, and since that means I'm a great-aunt, if Jon was any type of a father at all, he would be a grandfather now.

And that sort of makes my head shut down.

Which is actually exactly what I need.

But, shit. A grandfather?!

Yesterday at work I met Clementine and Bob (Barker), two very thickly furred red with loads of blond and black underneath Poms. I managed to converse with their mum before throwing myself at them. Bob sniffed me and allowed me to pet him, and his sister Clementine, who was much smaller, wagged her fat little tail at me, shoved her head under my hand, and gave me Pom kisses all over my hand.

I'd forgotten how soft their little tongues are, how sweet their precious kisses are. I haven't had a Pom kiss since my poor sweet boy died, and I spent a good hour at work trying not to cry. The moment was harshly bitter-sweet, but there was nothing but sweetness in those kisses, and I'm so grateful for them.

Continued happy mo-jo for our job hunt is always appreciated. :)

This isn't really a huge thing, just: currently we are dealing with keeping bagels soft enough after one day so that Laure can eat them. So far, the solution is to wrap them individually in plastic. As you may know, I hate this solution. I'm not sure I can swing her to the "just nuke them for a few seconds" long term, and she's got chewing issues, so....

Anyone got suggestions?

We arrived a week ago tomorrow, and our pet arrived Saturday night. By necessity we moved into the house then, though it's still not entirely livable. I feel horrible for the owner, as the previous tenants really up and left *everything*, including a fridge filled with food -- and no electricity. He is a very laid back guy, and super nice, but at this point the laid-back-ness is not a good quality. We've dropped a HUGE deposit, and first and last months rent, and we have no real access to the kitchen (no fridge, that comes tomorrow; no sink, that's unplugged due to impending cabinet work; no cabinets, as parts need to be replaced.)and we have a roommate! *grumble* A smoking roommate. *mutter* Our cats are all in one room (except Princess and Heidi, who are in the bedroom with us and Corbie) and Princess is attacking everyone. It's a combination of the stress of moving and being put on prednisone, which resulted in a horrible mood. She's finally not growling at everyone, but she's still having a hard time.

We also have to keep more furniture than I really want to, but we can get rid of a lot of it. Some I understand -- it's old, been in the family, hand-made by relatives. But, gah.

We still pretty much have a go-ahead with the garden, except for a few plants, which I would keep anyway.

Cabinet work is supposed to be started today. The fridge comes tomorrow. The owner will be leaving when the cabinet work is done, to stay with his mum until he goes back to Prague. Soon? Please?

But! We are here! And it's beautiful! I've made friends with two beagles down the street. Corbie loves the yard, and the inherited cats love me.

So there.

Hey, and the corner store/cafe has free WiFi. :)

As the subject suggests, the vet visit yesterday didn't go *nearly* as well as the previous ones.

Orion, our 12 year old Keeshund, does not, in fact, have arthritis. Instead, he has an abdomen filled with tumors. He hadn't been to the vets in a while, due to our inability to get him there ourselves and Laure's ex's inability to be helpful (and we only just found out that there is a cabbie who would have been *happy* to take him in the cab, and no, no kennel necessary.) and our inability to find a vet who would make house calls in our particular area. He has a massive something in the middle of everything that makes it hard to see the other, smaller organs. He's got tumors in his liver, probably in his spleen (which is enlarged), in his heart (also enlarged), in his pancreas, and something is starting to from in his lungs. Were it one thing, we might talk about making him more comfortable for a while. Where we not moving across country, we might also. Instead, I remember days last winter where the dampness made him willing to hold his bladder and bowels for a whole day rather than get up. I remember him biting Laure -- this happy, go lucky dog who is sweet to the smallest kitten. He has some springy days, but mostly he lays around and looks unhappy.

It was only this past winter that he showed signs of having something wrong, and I'm sure that by then, it still would have been too late. Stupid stoic spitz dogs! It was very wrong to diagnose him with arthritis, though also understandable, given his age. Surprisingly, his hips are beautiful for a dog his age.

We're taking him in tomorrow afternoon, and I have to say that as horrible as it is, it has got to be easier, even on him, than going through what Angel went through. Though, he's started a horrible trend which needs to stop this year. It'll be a year on Monday since we put him down, and on Saturday, Orion goes in. Bah.

Zerkie, we discovered, is our lightweight, as far as the males in the house go. Our wonderful, awesome vet also suggested that we take him in for an ultrasound once we get out in Eugene, as he has a weird beat in his heart that she fears might be an indication of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She said she actually has a lot of experience with this, because when she was still in training, there was a whole lot of it going on. I'm not a fan of the whole "looks beautiful but drops dead suddenly" idea, by the way. So, we'll be taking care of that once we get out there -- if there is anything to be done. Hopefully medicine can calm it down.

He was good, by the way. He fought when I was taking him from home, although he didn't bite me, and once we were there he wanted only to look around.

Neech and Corbie did well -- Corbie had to have his anus sacs drained, and he *freaked* out when they were cutting his nails. Neech we need to watch his weight, because he's a big fatty (17lbs, he's our biggest) but otherwise he looks good.

And! In the middle of writing this, I heard a cat crying. I hunted it down, to be sure it wasn't one of ours. Did I find a super friendly, four-to-six month old kitten hiding under a van outside? Did Half-Brother come running over to check it out? Yup. She wanted nothing to do with him (he's a GOOD daddy) and leapt into my arms.

Currently she is in our basement. I'm going to write up flyers to see if anyone claims her. In the meantime, anyone interested in very friendly, very sweet soft orange lady?

Because, really. We don't need replacements *all* the bloody time. (And, I want Moe).

Totally viked this one from friggasgirl


If you're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!

Comment here and re-post a blank one on your own journal.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favorite and least favorite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you re-post this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

I'm currently waiting for the relocubes to be dropped off. Anywhere between 8 and 12, and I'm actually hoping for a wee bit later, so that maybe some of the cars along the streets by our house will go away. We have room in the back of the house for one, but I really wanted the second one to be dropped off on the side of our house, where the door to our basement is, as there are loads of boxes in the basement. Book boxes. Heavy boxes.

There may be space in front, on the street, but it's close to a corner and I don't want to give people a hard time getting out of our side street. There may be space on the side, but I think it may be too high and obscure the stop sign. We could, I suppose, plop it down in front of our neighbor's house -- they always park in the back of their house -- but it's across the side street and I don't wanna have to walk that far. Ah, the choices. I'm probably being way too considerate, and I'm probably going to see if it can sit in the front of the house, and damn the people who will have a hard time getting out of the side street. Go down another block and come out where there is an actual intersection.

I am so excited and scared about moving. My biggest worry remains, at this time, over the furry ones. Will Milhaus and Chester like us? Will they get along with our zoo? Will our zoo travel well? Will our zoo be okay with having out-door access? Find out next week on Soap....

We brought three of our ladies to the vets yesterday -- a nicer vet than the one we normally go to, who is easier to understand and who actually likes the animals. (Our normal vets are older non-American types, and they don't remember one pet from the next. It bugs me. They've been good to us, and Laure's been going there a long time, which is why we kept going, but they weren't helpful with the moving stuff.) We got health certs for all of them, and proof of vaccinations. Princess, our sweetest, friendliest kitty, hissed and growled and spat her little asthmatic heart out. As the vet looked her over, she proclaimed again and again how not healthy Prin was. We're worried about her traveling, she's our biggest worry, because of her asthma and the sinus issues. We got antibiotics to clean it out, for travel, and some prednizone, for the duration of the travel, too. Just to make it easier for her to breathe. The vet wasn't comfortable with spaying her so close to travel, which is fine; we'll get that done once we get out there. The funny is, I know Princess is inbred. I know she's the only one who survived the first litter. I know she is sickly and will always be sickly. I already know she's our special needs kitty. And I kept getting snarly when the vet would comment about how not healthy she was. My hackles got all up, and I was very unhappy about it. As if Prin doesn't *know* she's not like the other cats. As if speaking about it in front of her will change her attitude. No. She is wonderful. And I still won't be surprised if she outlives all the other cats, just to prove them all wrong.

Today we scheduled Zerk and Luna, but it may be Neech and Corbie, because . . .

Last night Corbie had a wee bit of blood in his poo. He's not acting the least bit sick, and the poo got a little loose, and after the two times, he stopped. We pulled him up into the bedroom with us last night, to keep an eye on him, and other than the typical getting up to wander around and then getting back into bed stuff, he was fine. But, want to get him checked out.

And, oh, to have a small dog in bed with me again! He's an under the blanket sleeper, so he burrowed down by my legs, and curled up next to me. It's bliss, to have a warm body pressed against me at night. Dogs cuddle heavier than our cats do. I don't know, it feels different. Watch; he's going to end up sleeping with us again. Or something.

*happy sigh*

Sunday was the coven's Mabon ritual. It was super awesome to see everyone, even though it was our last ritual with them. They are horrible people and made us cry! *stomps feet* It is one of the biggest things I'll miss about being in Philly; the group is just amazing, and I'm going to miss being a part of it. However, we made it clear that our door is open to all of them, and they did likewise, and I know it won't be the last time we see them. It sucked missing Bri and Misty, but it's also understandable. :o(

Saturday was awesome dinner out with efalki at Nodding Head, and that was fun too. Loads of food, oh gods, but our service was actually really slow, so it was stretched out over three hours. Which was fine, since we weren't in a hurry. It's always good to see him, too. More people to miss, after our move. *sigh* But we wish him the best in his east coast adventures.

One hour of waiting down...

Meant to post that -- more to follow as time allows.

Tomorrow I sit down and box up the books that are going far far away from here. If I owe you an email about them, watch for it, although I think at this point I only owe one person an email. Sorry it's taken so long. Other things have shoved their way to the foreground, but now it's back to business!

Because I keep forgetting to mention this: we do accept PayPal for those we won't be seeing in person. It'll be to wodandis at gmail dot com.

Squee books!

As some of you may already know, we are cleaning house and purging many, many books, to help lighten our load for our eventual move. I am listing here, publicly, the list of the various books we have that are unwanted. We are asking fifty cents to a dollar on the general fiction paperbacks, more for the hardcovers. (For example, I have some Elizabeth Haydon fantasy books in hardcover that I'm going to ask $5 or so for, each one). Some of them might be more, depending on what Laure wants for some, so really I guess what I'm saying is, inquire about the price if you want the book. We will gladly send pictures of the book, if you are worried about condition. (Some of these are banged up. Laure is HORRIBLE to her books.) We'll also be asking for shipping coverage for those that can't be delivered in person. Don't judge us by our books, some are ridiculous. :o) This is only the first sort through, so there will be more, have no fear.

If there is anything you are interested in, please email me at my username at gmail dot com. I'm handling this as a first come basis, so please email me even if you are here via Laure's LJ. We are attempting to be organized in this. (Stop laughing; I can HEAR you!)


In no particular order, we have:
Black Athena Vol II -- this is a used copy, lots of marks, highlighted, etc.
Dreams of Isis by Normindi Ellis -- decent condition
Priestess by Norma Lorre Goodrich
Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi -- marked, used.
Saga of the Icelanders
Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig -- this is one of the older editions of the book
Witchcraft and the Web by M. Macha Nightmare
Moma Lola by Karen McCarthy Brown
City Magick by Christopher Penzack
Book of Shadows by Phyllis Currout
Beowulf translated by Seamus Hanney
The Book of Voodoo by Leah Gordon
Psychic Vampire Codex by Michelle Belanger
Goddess in My Pocket by Patricia Telesco
Way of the Orisha by Phillip John Neimark
Folktale, Fiction, and Saga in the Homeric Epics by Rhys Carpenter
Woman in a Shaman’s Body by Barbara Tedlock
Bacchus, A Biography by Andrew Dalby
Write Your Own Magick by Richard Webster
Moonscapes by Rosemary Ellen Guily
The Way of the Shaman, Harner (this is an old, old edition)
Nocturnal Witchcraft by Konstantinos
Invoke the Gods by Kala Trove
Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston
Using Feng Shui by Antonia Beatty
Witch: A Magical Journey by Fiona Horne
Shapeshafters: Shaman Women in Contemporary Society by Michele Jamal
Goddess in the Office by Z. Budapest
Momma Gena’s School of Womanly Arts by Regena Thomashauer
Spells by Mathew Green
Your Book of Shadows by Patricia Telesco
How to be a Wicked Witch by Patricia Telesco
Voodoo Visions by Sallie Ann Glassman
A Charmed Life by Patricia Telesco
*cough* Norse Magic by D.J. Conway (hey, it’s good for a laugh)
Hereditary Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi
Wiccan Magick by Raven Grimassi
An Egyptian Book of Shadows by Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon
2002 Magical Almanac (because, you know, articles!)
Silver’s Spells of Prosperity and Silver’s Spells for Protection (stop laughing)
Halloween by SRW
Return to My Native Land by Aime Cesaire
The big blue book J
Near Death by Nancy Kilpatrick -- this is a bad vampire novel
Her Father’s House by Beva Plain
The Serpent’s Shadow by Merecedes Lackey
The Magician’s Nephew CSL
The Haunted Cove by Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton
The Saint Germaine Chronicles by Chelsea Quinn Yarboro
Guardian’s Key by Anne Logston
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas
Mindfulness by Ellen J Langer
Tears of the Furies by Christopher Golden (a thoroughly bad book, but one that was hilarious to read)
When We Were Gods: A Novel of Cleopatra by Collin Falconer
Twilight of the Gods by Dennis Schmidt
Dragon Queen by Alice Bordhardt
Someplace to Be Flying (it’s a battered copy) by Charles De Lint
Best Loved Poems of the American People
The Reindeer People and Wolf’s Brother by Megan Lindholm
Mona Lisa Awakening, Mona Lisa Craving, Mona Lisa Blossoming by Sunny
Darkside of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon
By Susan Krinard (all romance, but romance with stories! Most are paranormal, too)
To Catch a Wolf
Touch of the Wolf
Once a Wolf
To Tame a Wolf
Prince of Dreams
Prince of Shadows
Prince of Wolves
Chasing Midnight
Twice a Hero
The Forest Lord
Lord of the Beasts
Body and Soul
Kinsman’s Oath
Bewitched, Out of this World (both anthologies)

By Elizabeth Haydon (all hardcovers with dust jackets, in good condition) (fantasy)
Rhapsody
Prophecy
Destiny

Waking The Moon by Elizabeth Hand
Spellbound by Vivian Vande Velde
So You Want To Be a Wizard? By Diane Duane
Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day (paranormal romance)
Ilium by Dan Simmons
Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Banes
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell (these two are first contact space travel, but not hard SF
Pandora’s Box by Peter S. Hamilton (this is more hard SF, but it was so good! Also first contact)

By Nora Roberts:
Morrigan’s Cross
Dance of the Gods
Valley of Silence

By Kelley Armstrong (paranormal romance)
Bitten
Stolen
Broken
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
No Humans Involved

L. J. Smith (YA novels):
The Vampire Diaries
The Secret Circle Series, books 2 and 3 only
Dark Visions series
The entire Nightworld series

Anne Rice:
Interview with the Vampire
The Vampire Lestat (we have both a paperback and a hardcover of this one)
Queen of the Damned
Tale of the Body Thief (paperback, and the cover comes off, but it’s also autographed!
Memmnoch the Devil
The Witching Hour
Lasher
Taltos

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Lloyd Alexander (YA Celtic fiction)
The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King

Fiona Patton (secondary world fantasy)
The Painter Knight
The Granite Shield
The Stone Prince

The Nightingale by Kara Dalkey
The Dark Moon by Julia Gray (secondary world fantasy
Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer (SF, parallel dimension, first contact with Neandertal society. Hey. It’s a thing I’ve got, okay? ;o) )
Dean Koontz:
Door to December
Whispers
Phantoms
House of Thunder
Tick Tock
Voice of the Night
Funhouse (bad condition)
Face of Fear
The Bad Place

Barbara Hambly:
The Walls of Air
The Armies of Daylight
(these are books 2 and 3 in a fantasy trio that starts out here and crosses over to a secondary world)
IceFalcon’s Quest
Mother of Winter

Raymon E. Fiest (secondary world fantasy)
Magician: Apprentice
Magician: Master
Silverthorn
A Darkness at Sethanon
Prince of the Blood
The King’s Buccaneer
Shadow of a Dark Queen
Rise of a Merchant Prince
Rage of a Demon King
Shards of a Broken Crown