stormkeeper_lovedoris

 
1. I've gone headfirst and full-on fangirl with Spartacus. I think and hope I'll still love The 100 - I've been shipping my OTP from it since August of last year and there is just so much depth in this show. But it looks like right now it's all Spartacus for me.

2. And I've already posted a Spartacus fanfic and gotten a ton of comments on it. A ton. (7 comments on the fic plus 2 on Tumblr in the past 24 hours. Yes!!) My hat is off to this fandom! The show ended in 2013 but its fans must be very loyal. It does help that my OTP in Spartacus is the one that is, by far, the most popular in the fandom. (They have like 6 times as many fics as the next-highest pairing). I love that my writing is flowing! 

3. Other than that, life is good. The sun is out today though it's been so cold lately that I haven't taken walks like I used to. Game night was yesterday. Doris cooked today and it was so good (stuffed poblano pepper).

 
1. I gotta say there is nothing like being in a fandom and having someone to share it with! I'm on Season 3 of Spartacus. (Which is still filled with blood, gore, nudity, sex, sexual assault and dub-con. I would keep the nudity and sex and get rid of the rest). I love it despite all its flaws. And better yet, my friend who got me into it, she asked if I wanted to 'live tweet' my responses to the episodes to her, and we've been doing that. We ship the same ships in it. That is honestly the best kind of fun. I'll be sad when the show's over; there are just 4 seasons (and I believe all of them are short).

2. I'll get my wish to learn and do more at work. I forget if I mentioned that my coworker Erin is going out on maternity leave next year. We went over the plans for what we'll do when she's out, and I'm glad that I will get to learn and do a lot.

3. That's it....just my usual list of being glad for spouse, home, health, etc. Another of my coworkers has COVID and so far she's okay but....scary times.

 
1. I posted chapter 2 of my latest fic, and I went from 16 kudos to 40 overnight! So that's good, though I wish I had more than a handful of comments on it. But the kudos are nice. 

2. I recently made a small change. I used to eat less at breakfast and then have a mid-morning snack. But recently I went back to just eating more at breakfast and omitting the mid-morning snack, and that's actually worked great. I think I prefer going all morning without a snack and am glad I can do it. Also, related - got on the scale for my weekly weigh-in and the number was again low. Under 140.

3. My sister-in-law was supposed to come in this weekend but due to bad weather here, she had to cancel. I think it's better and safer for her to stay in California this weekend, so that worked out well.

 
Lots of good stuff the past few days...

1. Doris cooked on Saturday. I try to not nag her to do it because she works so much, but I love her cooking!

2. Had a lot of fun with Ann on Saturday. I enjoyed playing Scrabble with her at a cafe in Oak Park. The cafe was spotlighting women artists of color. I treated myself to an amethyst necklace. Also, I love the shoes Ann gifted me with; they are so comfortable.

3. Coworkers gifted me with two eyeshadow palates and they are gorgeous

4. Saturday night I posted the latest chapter of my fanfic and I woke up Sunday to 4 new comments and 4 more kudos. And the next day someone left me a ton of reviews on ffnet

5. While Doris was hanging with her Mom on Sunday, I made the Chicago trip to Women and Children First. It was so much fun. I'm so glad that the feminist icon of a bookstore is still doing really well.

 
1. Three wonderful things happened in the realm of fanfic:
A. One reviewer left me 5 detailed, fantastic comments
B. My beta tester for my new fic LOVED chapter 1
C. My beta tester for my old fic did a Tumblr post praising my fic

2. Two former coworkers were in town today and we got together. They complimented me on my passion and how I've continued the work we started

And...here's one bad thing. Every 2 years, my company has a huge convention in April. I hate it. It's like a 5 day long meeting with naps and it's in Orlando, ugh. I really really thought due to budget cuts that this time I'd finally get to sit it out. Found out today, no deal. I'm going. And what's worse is that I'll likely have to fly in Sunday and not leave till Friday. Just ugh. So much time away from Doris, eating crap food, wanting to be home, standing up for way too many hours each day. Well, time to remind myself that it's a job and they do pay me pretty well so....

 
1. Unity Days (fan convention for the 100) is coming up! In January. I made a Facebook messenger chat for those who booked with Sachin (the actor who plays one half of my OTP)

2. My newest fanfic has 14 followers on ffnet. Weirdly it has more followers and comments there than on A03.

3. Everything's basically fine. Work and health are good, Doris is well. 

4. Oh one more! I usually get groceries at our local coop and I haven't been to a Whole Foods for a while. But someone said they have vegan peppermint bark ice cream so I went to Whole Foods. They also had a burrito that I love that my coop no longer carries, and some breakfast patties. It was kinda fun to go and stock up.

 
I said it before and I'll say it again: I'm an introvert and sometimes I have to be coaxed to get out of the house and get active. But oftentimes when I do it, I'm so glad I did. I canvassed again for Marie Newman today. Met the most awesome volunteer, Tessine. We canvassed together and really hit it off. She's young and inspiring. She asked that we exchange numbers so we can go again. She doesn't have a car and she lives far from the district, so I offered to drive her when I can (I can pick her up at the el station as needed).

Everything in the news is so depressing, but it's insane what happens when you  volunteer or do activism.

And my new fanfic...I posted chapter 2 and am still walking on air - I'm getting reviews and kudos and faves on ffnet. The whole thing will have about 10 chapters and is basically done, pending some revisions to the ending that my (great) beta suggested. 

In other news, we're doing lunch tomorrow for my dad's birthday. Doris is making a pie, one which he liked a lot before. Mom shared the menu with me and it sounds awesome.

 
Sorry that this one will be mostly based on fandom stuff.

1. Posted the first chapter of my new fanfic about 6 hours ago and the reception has been great! Lots of reblogs with good comments on Tumblr, 2 reviews already (one on Ao3, one on ffnet), 3 bookmarks across both sites, 14 kudos. It's just so good to have affirmation that I can write! I don't think I mentioned that the new fic focuses on two pairing in the fandom: my OTP (who are both minor characters, so it's not that popular of a ship), and the pairing that seems to be the one that's most popular with fans. I did not include the popular pairing just to get reviews, but I have to say I'm so glad to think that my previous works probably didn't get as much traction just because my OTP just isn't as popular. I can write! :)

2. Also, apart from that, I'm at 18,000 words and the writing is still going so well. I'm really pleased with it. And - my beta has been awesome!

3. And one more cool thing. I mentioned that I had done some beta testing for someone else, who gets a lot of reviews and kudos. I asked her to make cover art for my fanfic....and she did! And it's really good. I'm grateful to her, and it also suggests that perhaps my previous stuff didn't do as well because it just didn't have cover art and such.

4. Non-fandom stuff: fun game night yesterday and Scrabble day with Ann today; when I went to the Veggie Grill opening on Thursday, their register was down so I got lunch for free; and I took a coworker to a vegan place on Friday and she loved it. 

 
1. That awesome vacation in Michigan I mentioned? Doris and I had been sorely in need of winter gloves that aren't raggedly and falling apart, so while in Michigan we bought some from one of the little shops there. But today...I reach into my coat and 1 glove is gone. I was so sad; the gloves hadn't been cheap and I'd hardly worn them. But then - found it later inside the car!! Yes!!

2. Went canvassing for Marie Newman's campaign today. I dreaded it but you know, it's never that bad. It actually went great! They partnered us up and my partner was good. I'm so glad to have done it! The weather was good for November.

3. And I'm in a great place with fanfic. Writing a new fic that features the most popular pairing in the fandom plus my obscure OTP. I have a beta and she loves the story!! YES!! And my already-posted existing fic got 3 reviews in the past few days. Thrilled that the writing is still flowing and that a few people do like it!!

 
1. Doris cleaned out the fridge. Yes! I need to think of a nice way to thank her

2. Had a business trip to Santa Fe. All went well (mostly). The travel part and hotel part were excellent. There was a great, cheap, lovely restaurant near the hotel where I was able to get vegan food.

3. Also Santa Fe is great. I was in Albuquerque once. Santa Fe is like Santa Cruz CA in that I'd kinda like to retire there, or at least I like to think about doing so. If Doris can ever take time off from work, I'd like to ask her to go to Santa Fe. She can barely take time off but maybe we can do a Fri-Mon thing. (It takes a while to get there so I say don't bother unless you're staying 3 nights)