cosmic_llin

Festivids was really exciting this year! I got not one but two vids, both of them fabulous, and both of them by the awesome Nancy Blackett.

This absolutely perfect and wonderful dinnerladies vid, and this cute and fun and fabulous Nyssa vid.

I made a MASH vid, which was quite a challenge because it's a big canon and I'm not as familiar with it as I used to be, but I worked hard on it and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's here. I may make a proper vid post for it at some point.

Fandom Stocking was lots of fun too! I got an adorable Ace/Mel drabble, a delightful Team Crawley Sisters ficlet, fabulous Cybill icons, and cute beautiful happy-making DS9 fic that makes my pupils turn into little hearts! (Cleo and others still watching, don't click, may be spoilery!) Plus lots of nice good wishes! :D

I wrote eight ficlets in Deep Space Nine, Next Gen, Doctor Who, Vorkosigan Saga, Downton Abbey and SJA, and they're here.

I still can't quite believe she's gone.

Elisabeth Sladen shaped my fandom life for years, and without knowing it, she had a huge influence on my life in the 'real' world, too. As Sarah Jane, she inspired my wardrobe choices, my writing, and my very first fanvid. I devoted hours, days and weeks of my life to chronicling her appearances in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures for my website. I watched her episodes of Doctor Who and SJA whenever I needed to relax, or cheer up, or feel a bit closer to home. I even bonded with the Russian children I taught over showing them SJA in class.

Not only that, but having Season 2 of SJA to focus on and get excited about helped me to deal with my own mother's cancer diagnosis, and watching The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith helped me to come to terms with some of my family issues.

Most importantly of all, through Sarah Jane fandom I met some lovely people, many of whom are now an important part of my life. Including my BFF and Awesome Twin, ladyvivien, without whom I would never have met my wonderful carawj, and silly_cleo who has become one of my very favourite people.

She never knew me, but the gifts she has given me will stay with me for a very long time.

- Reply to this post with the word ICONS! and I will pick six of your icons
- Make a post (including this info) and talk about the icons I chose
- Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts
- This will create a never ending cycle of icon glee

( My icons )

Also, on a related note, I still haven't run out of icon space. I have yet to find my perfect Kira squee/happy-face icon, I want more Cagney and Lacey ones, Doctor Quinn ones and maybe some travelling ones or literature ones. The search continues.

Phew!

Bit of a manic weekend – it just didn’t seem to stop!

Friday night was fun. carawj, silly_cleo and I watched the whole of The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, and squeaked and cried and jumped up and down like idiots. Then we fetched chips and poked youtube for pretty much the rest of the evening!

Saturday was mostly taken up with getting Halloween costumes ready – I went as Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman, and carawj went as Ace! Also silly_cleo went as Rainbow Zorro, which was the best EVER. She came over to ours to get ready, and Maxine came for dinner too, and then we went for Halloween karaoke with jenepel(Elphaba) and lazyclaire (Boggart Snape), which was such fun because it was the kind where you get a room to yourselves so there aren’t strangers looking at you funny, and you can just enjoy yourself without it having to be a performance.

We had to have a few drinks first for the confidence, and then we had a few after as a reward, and then we eventually staggered home and had chips again (oops!). There was much drunkenness. I won’t say who was the most drunk, but it was carawj.

Yesterday was like three days smooshed into one – we went to meet Manda for dim sum (we waited aaaaaages to get in but it was totally worth it), then we went to a NaNo write-in at Waterstones Piccadilly (I decided to be a bit of a rebel and try to make the word count, but finishing off some of my projects that I’ve left hanging instead of starting something new. I need a push sometimes, and I find write-ins quite helpful. I’m already behind, though!), and then we went to visit carawj’s dad and stepmum and little sisters, and we heard about their holiday and played Guitar Hero and it was fun and nice!

Then we trekked most of the length of the Piccadilly Line home, and made a desperate attempt to catch up on all the stuff that needs doing on a Sunday evening, I belatedly updated the website, we collapsed in a heap, and six hours later we were up again.

Aaaaargh. Why aren’t weekends longer?

1. OMG, how hot was Penelope Wilton back in the day? http://community.livejournal.com/dw_daily/16860.html
2. Yesterday was the Sarah Jane gang trip to the panto - the Sladen herself was magnificent, the rest of the show was... well, I've trashed it here: http://girladventurer.blogspot.com/2009/01/peter-pan-comparison.html Although actually I don't like some of the sentences in there, I might go back and edit... Anyway, the show wasn't much cop but I still had an awesome day!
3. Colin Baker should drag up more often. Not that I like it or anything.
4. I've had a weird sore throat for over a week now, and I'm starting to wonder if it might be tonsilitis or something.
5. Weekends are much too short.
6. Mum Update: She's finished with chemo for now, which is nice. She's on some hormone treatment that makes her legs act weird but is otherwise much easier, apparently. So we're waiting to see how that goes but it sounds like her doctors are quite pleased with her progress.
7. Must remember to give blood. Ooh, but if this sore throat is actually something, I might not be allowed... Well... I'll leave this sentence anyway to remind me later.
8. I need a Bonnie icon! It's ridiculous that I don't already have one.
9. Going to see Mandy Patinkin in concert on Tuesday, Sash got tickets! But aargh, it clashes with my piano lesson! Oops...
10. There is no number ten.

In about two weeks time, I will be even more similar to Sarah Jane Smith than I already am...
Yes, apart from being quite short, sarcastic and afraid of heights, I now have a writing job in Ealing, and make a living from the BBC!

Yes! I got that awesome job!!
Ok, so writing TV listings for EPG and iPlayer isn't quite the same as being a journalist. And I won't actually be directly working for the BBC, but for another company that works for them, but I will still be writing exclusively BBC listings, so it's almost the same.
I can't believe I'm going to be able to say that I work in TV! And that I make a living out of writing. Ok, so, it's not in production, and it's really more editing and proofing and summarising than real writing, but still. It's a really good start!
I've been waiting on tenterhooks all week, and they finally called me last night, just as I was on my way in to work at the theatre, so I didn't have time to squee to anyone about it!! And then I was on the downstairs bar by myself, and the crowd was one of those annoying ones that won't leave even when you put all the lights on and start really obviously clearing everything up...
So it was quite late by the time I got out, but Justin said I could have a free drink upstairs, and there were still a few staff round who'd been on the upstairs bars, so I had a glass of wine to be sociable... And then Kayleigh got another pint, so I got another glass of wine... and then another...
I came home on the night bus at about three. Kayleigh, Lorraine and Justin were still going strong when I left. And now I'm up for work and I still feel kind of a bit drunk... And I've got to go into the office and tell them I'm quitting...
Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Stuff in my head:

* Happy birthday Els! Hope you had a wicked time.
* Urgh I feel so ill. I've been trying to shake off this horrible cold all week, and I just feel so drained and limp and fuzzy. Had a funny turn on the tube this morning, the Piccadilly line is very airless. I know that it's my own fault really for working too much and eating rubbish at stupid times of day. Day off tomorrow. I think I shall have a long lie-in and just lounge around the house. Maybe tidy my room a bit. I rearranged it and it looks good, but very messy.
* On Wednesday I interviewed for an amazing job. I should hear this week. Please cross your fingers for me if you have a second to!
* Today was the Elisabeth Sladen, Tommy Knight, Daniel Anthony signing at Borders! It was a terrific day. I did badges! There was food! I gave The Sladen a letter that some of my Kitezh kids wrote her. Other cool stuff. Possibly longer post later.
* Really missing Kitezh lately, actually. Feeling a bit emotional about it.
* I am sort of worried about Christmas. Fear it will be all forced jollity and people going off to cry in corners. Also, I have no money for presents.
* I don't like having two jobs. It makes me feel like I'm always rushing. Again... hope I get this one I interviewed for t'other day. It's in Ealing! Which, shockingly, looks nothing like TV-Ealing, since TV-Ealing is actually Cardiff...
* Oh self, stop moaning! You live in London, you have your own (small) steady(ish) income, your friends are great, the SJA is on every Monday, and your hair is cool. Blessings. Count 'em.
* In fact, self, why are you still up? It's half three! Being crazy-wired for no apparent reason is not a good enough excuse.
* Love and hugs to Penguins and associated persons!

Updating my journal at work, lalala...

* Isobel confessed her love to Hamish!
* Xena had her baby!
* Bren and Tony got together!
* As for SJA... well:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Real life is boring and full of translations that don't make any sense.
Also, I'm looking for another panel member for SJSWAS, anyone fancy doing it? Thought I'd ask my flist first and then go ask sarahjane_fic if nobody's interested!
Have a nice evening, all!