Arrant Nonsense

YET AGAIN.

Because when I added headers, my paragraphs went wonky. AGAIN.

So much hate for Word right now. *beats it*

I'm still sad that I lost out on the "it would be just like him to die in her arms because he loved theatrical gestures" line, but ah well. I'm kind of diggin' the "afraid he won't wake up" scenario too.

I'm going to go through it one final time and search for more wonky paragraphs. And then I shall print out all 76 pages and ship it off to F&SF, tomorrow. I wonder if I should use a box. And where I would get such a thing.

Time to get back on the submitting horse, y'all. Because, seriously, I've got stuff sitting on my hard drive that hasn't gone out since August, and that's bad. I hear Baen's may be opening up for subs again soon. Wonder if I have anything I can dust off for them...

In other news, we bought a new sofa and...sofa...thing (with a center console! Yay for not losing all six of our remotes anymore!) for the family room today. Because the old couch is old and ugly and wearing out, and we found new and shiny ones that were actually comfortable and on sale. This is us, not participating in the recession.

So, I'm participating in the writercon Writer's Salon, which is basically a concrit workshop. Which means I need to submit a fic for it. Something under 2500 words.

Therein lies my dilemma. Most of my stuff (especially my recent stuff) is either over that...or way under it. I don't really feel like getting crit for a flashfic. Some of the stuff that would be suitable (such as "Hair Fetish") is part of a series and doesn't really make sense as a standalone.

So. Here are the ones that work:
A Whisper to the Living - Wash/Zoe angst, post-BDM.
Nature's Special Effects - Africander, wherein he meets a living, breathing dinosaur. This one has no dialogue whatsoever, which is unusual for me.
RiverDance - post-BDM, Jayne's worried about Mal firing him, so he takes matters into his own hands.
Virtuoso - pre-Firefly. Zoe starts thawing towards Wash.
Noble Souls, Rising from Disaster - Spike, Angel, Illyria, and Connor have a post-NFA sort-of-celebration.
Confusing Conclusions - Wes and Spike have a drunken conversation about Illyria and Spike offers to take her for the night. Then Spike and Illyria have a talk. Good Lord, that sounds boring... I suck at summaries.
Perplexing Sentiments - Spike and Illyria. He's ambushed and badly injured; she helps him the only way she can. Features my cast-iron kink. Yay?

Anyone got any strong opinions? I have to turn the thing in by Thursday night.

In other news, we now have two end tables and a coffee table in the front living room. I pulled out the red-rock stuff we bought in Moab, and it looks shiny. Still need a window treatment, a lamp or two, and to put the wall things up. I should take pix. Need a pic of my new echidna too. Maybe tomorrow.

I also want a couple of little clay figurines to put on the mini-tables. I know what they look like, but not what that style of clay-work is called. I thought it was "Pima Clay," but googling reveals nothing. And I thought it was Indian art, but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, it's this intricate stuff where the different colors are actually individual colors of clay, not painted, and they're just beautiful. I've seen cats, coyotes, lizards, snakes, owls, rams, and bison done in this manner. I just wish I could find them online so I could show you guys.

My comics still have not arrived. I've emailed the seller twice now, with no reply. I will give him until Monday, and then take it up with eBay. He's already left me positive feedback. *sigh* It's always something.

Writing? Well. I've catalogued Jayne's injuries in the Jayne/Zoe H/C ... thing I've been writing in fits and starts. *eyeshift* What's that they say about us hurting the characters we love? Um, yeah. *is guilty of that in spades* I have no idea where that one is going, or the random_urges fic either.

So, again, I say, blargh.

I did two half-hour sessions on my new recumbent stationary bike today and burned (according to the little readout doohickey) five hundred calories, total.

That's good, right?

In fic-writing news, I've done a whole paragraph in my random_urges ficathon entry. Go, me?

We did a day trip to Moab yesterday. Bought some pretties for the front room, which is coming together nicely. Wandered about some furniture stores today, looking for coffee and end tables. Found a set we like, which we'll probably grab next paycheck or so. Yay.

*headdesks* Remember how I said I wasn't going to break into my WriterCon fund anymore? Well. I found a teeny tiny echidna carved out of bone in one of the little shops in Moab. How could I say no to that? Will post a pic of him soon. His detail is incredible; I'll never find another like him. So, now I have to save an extra $15 from each check from the two we're getting between now and then. But, but...ECHIDNA! And...echidna that CAN'T POSSIBLY BE MISTAKEN FOR A HEDGEHOG.

*headdesks again* I spend my money on the strangest things.

So, we're in the process of actually furnishing and decorating the front room, now that we have the sofa and love seat in there (OMG SO COMFY). The Hubby had the neat idea that we can get these wall murals for the room and then frame them with molding, simple, elegant, and cheaper than getting real wall art all framed.

We decided we wanted to go with a sort of Moab red-rock motif in the room, and the best ones we found for that are at Murals Your Way. We picked this one for behind the couch, and this one for the other wall in the room.

Now, usually these things are so big that they come on multiple panels, and they overlap a bit and there's a seam. We were fine with that and understood that when we ordered.

I just got a call from them. The size we ordered? The panels are four feet wide anyway...and therefore they can get the whole design on one panel instead of multiples. This might make it harder to put up, but it'll look fantastic when it's done.

The fact that they called and asked? Wow. I'm really surprised that they did that. And very pleased, so far.

In fic-writing news, all I have to do is conclude the thing somehow. I hate writing endings. Oh, and a title. I need one of those. Yeah.

I read this fic this morning, and it filled me with glee. A Firefly/Discworld crossover shouldn't work...but somehow it does. What are you waiting for? Go, read, and shower her with praise.

COOPERATE, DAMMIT.

In other news, I'm sitting on my shiny new leather sofa, and it's comfy like whoa and smells So. Good. Remember the check I thought we'd gotten for our state income tax refund? I was apparently mistaken about us having received it at all, and the Hubby was mistaken about us cashing it, because it came in the mail yesterday. How...odd.

In light of my flamer apparently having a problem with Spike/Fred, I'm seriously thinking about writing about six Spike/Fred drabbles and posting them all at once to the appropriate drabble collection. As she has put me on Author Alert, that will mean six emails in her inbox letting her know that I've posted something new. *evil laughter*

So, flist. Give me prompts. I'll take the first six. Because I'm mean that way.

According to the Hubby, we already deposited the state income tax refund check, so that's a good. I don't remember it, but he does. So, we went to the furniture store today, and our new sofa and love seat will be delivered tomorrow afternoon. Yay!

Da Boy has decided that a plush monkey that's been ignored since Christmas is now teh kewllies, so he wanted to bring it with us when we went to the store. He also insisted on it being belted in to the back seat next to him. *grins*

New Spike vs Dracula comics! *flails* WHEEEEE!

Then we'll start looking for tables, lamps, and decorative thingys. I think we've decided to do a Moab (Utah) theme for the room. We've been to Tom Till's gallery in Moab, and the online pix don't do his photos justice. Of course, whether or not I'll be able to talk the Hubby into shelling out bucks like that for wall art is an open question. Perhaps when the parental units are here, we'll head down there and do some shopping.

In other news, I'm sitting at 6800 words for the apocalyptothon fic, and it continues apace. They still haven't hit planetside yet. This is, like, epic length for me. and I'd really like to wrap this thing up in about 3200 more words. Seeing as it's due in a week and a day, guess I'd really better get crackin' on it.

I can't find the refund check from our state income tax. I hope the Hubby did something with it, because otherwise?

Frack.

I wanted to do some math and see just how much we actually had for the furniture...

We've lived in our current house for five years. In all that time, we've had no furniture in the front room. We spend most of our time in the family room anyway, so it hasn't really been an issue. However, we're finally getting furniture anyway, because it's the first thing people see when they come over and it's kind of weird, you know? We hit several furniture stores and picked out a leather sofa and loveseat set that are actually comfortable. We still need tables and wall art and a lamp or two, but progress of a sort is being made, so, yay.

Two anteaters ended on eBay last night. I couldn't afford them both, so I decided that I would bid on the second one. The first one ended with no further bidding action and went for less than I would have paid for it. And then I sniped the second one. And lost. *sniffles* [Soup Nazi Voice] No anteaters for you! Ah well. The local Firefly Meetup is Saturday, and it's in the vicinity of a bookstore I haven't been to in awhile, so perhaps I'll console myself with books. Or I might snag Fray and the new Harry Dresden at Buy.com. Or (this would be shocking) maybe I won't spend it at all. Maybe I'll hang onto it. There's a notion.

I've written over 500 words today in my two_of_us_ficathon entry. This...is going to take a deft hand to pull off. I'm not really sure I'm up to it, but trying new things is a good, right?