If you sewed a bunch of black tea leaves together into a ball (like they do to make the "flower tea" that unwinds into a flower shape when you put it in hot water), would that be an Assam Blossom?

I must repeat as necessary:

"People who piss me off are just challenging me to be a better person. I will become that better person. And then I will crush them like the tiny insects they are."

My grandmother died yesterday.

( Ramblings )

If you're on my friends list, then you've probably been reading my journal for long enough to know that I like to scribble out stories once in a while. My actual ambition is to one day get some of my fiction published, although it's been a while since I had time to write anything, which tends to put a damper on the process.

Anyhow, about a month ago I stumbled across a notice about an anthology that's looking for submissions of stories that combine the supernatural and technology. So I figured, what the heck, I'll give it a whirl. And I wrote a story. I have no idea if it's any good, however, which is where you come in.

If anyone out there would be willing to read the story and give me feedback on what kind of help it needs and where, I'd be very grateful. It's pretty short, about 3,200 words, so it shouldn't take up too much time. I can't post it on LJ because that would technically make it a published piece, but if you're interested, please drop me a line, either in e-mail or by replying to this post. If you're so inclined, I'd be very grateful.

Last week I went to check on the tea house at La Salle and found it had been partially demolished.

( It wasn't my best week ever. )

Faith is like the mail. If you're in a place where you have it, it just comes every day without thinking about it. Sometimes it brings good things, sometimes bad things, but most days you just take it for granted -- until the day when something disrupts it, and then it's a huge crisis.

I was tagged!

Post 6 very random facts about yourself then you tag 6 people on your friend list to do the same.

1. I own seventeen kimonos.

2. When I was in high school, the one resolution that I made (and kept) every year was that I would not eat tofu, just on general principle.

3. Another one from my early days: When I was little, I had short hair for years. I decided to grow it long in a conscious imitation of Jessica Rabbit from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

4. I've visited more countries internationally than I have U.S. states.

5. A family trait that I share with both my father and his aunt (my great-aunt): We're not necessarily great cooks, but we have fun playing with food and putting different things together to see how it turns out.

6. I've always wished I could sing well -- or at the very least, in a way that doesn't send the people around me fleeing in horror.

Not going to tag anyone, but do it if you like...

Saw 300 this weekend. I have to say that it was visually gorgeous, and I'm not just talking about the men with washboard abs who ran around in nothing but leather boy-shorts. ;-) The whole thing was colored with a slightly sepia shading that made it look as if it was drawn rather than filmed, and that was reinforced by the way it was shot.

The rest of it, well... let's just say I wish they'd paid as much attention to the story as they did to the visuals. The plot was thin, the characters were two-dimensional, and there was very little that I didn't see coming a mile off.

I was so reminded of the movie "Troy" that I decided to do my own version of "Troy in 30 Seconds"...

(Warning: Massive spoilers under the cut.)

( 300 in 300 Seconds )

File this one under "you know you're being too disgustingly sweet when..."

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I decided to stay in for Valentine's Day due to all the snow and ice. So we're in the kitchen, and we wish each other a happy day, and we kiss. From the other room, we hear a gagging noise. It was one of our cats vomiting on the carpet.*

(*This is 63% funnier if you've ever met the cat, whose name is Shiro. She's a tiny little thing with a big attitude.)

Saw Children of Men last weekend. I don’t think it’s doing well at the box office, so I wanted to encourage people to go see it before it disappears from the theaters, because it’s the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.

( Cut for length, no spoilers )

Several times over the past few days, conversations have come up which made me think about the word Druid, and whether or not it applies to me. After one conversation where I was trying, completely incoherently*, to explain why I don’t like to call myself a Druid, I figured I’d take another run at it here in my LJ.

*(even more incoherent than usual, and if you’ve ever tried to talk to me in person, I’m sure you can imagine)

( Here there be rambling. It be very long. You have been warned. )

A couple of weeks ago I went to NYC with wildcat_714 and laughing_fox to see Evil Dead: The Musical.

No, that’s not a typo. Yes, it’s based on the Evil Dead movies starring Bruce Campbell. Yes, it’s a musical.

I was going to post about it then, but ran out of time, and I knew the show was closing soon, so I didn’t want to tease anyone. I just found out that the show was extended through the end of February, and I have only one thing to say: Go. See. Now.

( Well, okay, I have more to say than that... )

There’s no way to properly describe it. Just go buy tickets now.

My personal nominee for Headline of the Year:

"Ram-a-lamb-a-ding-dong"

(subtitled) "The search for long-lived sheep sperm"

The article is about efforts by Britain's agriculture ministry to artifically inseminate ewes with the sperm of rams that are resistant to foot-and-mouth disease, and the problems posed by how short-lived the rams' sperm is.

The final paragraph deserves a special mention:

"So far, the two researchers have identified a promising mixture of proteins, with the unwieldy name of sAPM, which can prolong the active life of ram sperm by several hours, and they hope to tweak this mix to improve its performance. The details remain under wraps, though, as their commercial backers are not keen on too much leaking out."

When wildcat_714 and I decided to move in together, I wasn’t too worried about how it would go. We spend enough time together that I had a pretty clear picture of the good and the bad, the former vastly outweighing the latter. ;-) But there was one cause for concern, something that our beloved friends did not fail to mock us about . . . he has three cats, and I have two. Yes, five. Yes, in one apartment.

Saturday was move-in day, and we decided to bring them both into the new place at the same time, so it wouldn’t be a case of one set of cats coming into a territory that was already inhabited by the others.

I’ll just give you a moment to cue up the Brady Bunch music…

( Here's a story... )

Santorum kicked out of the Senate and Rumsfeld resigns all in 24 hours? It's like Christmas in November!

But here's the interesting thing...

( My amazing psychic powers revealed behind the cut )

At long last, Morgan finishes the story! For everyone who's read this far, thanks so much for sticking with it. Hope you enjoyed it.

The previous part is here, or you can read straight through from the beginning here.

( The Nothingness Beyond )

This was going to be the end, but it went too long, so I'm going to break it into two parts...

To read the previous entry, click here, or you can start from the beginning here.

( Finished )