I started volunteering at the library today and was greeted enthusiastically.  It's certainly beneficial to have prior experience and to know everyone there.  Right now I'm shelf-reading the children's non-fiction, and found a grand total of 259 books out of place in about two hours.  That's a LOT.  >_>;;  I got up to somewhere in the 300s, so that's where I'll continue from next time I go.

Sometimes I forget how utterly delightful academia can be.  Arthurian legend is one such subject that's not nearly as dry as you might imagine.  The first Arthurian legend I read in class in college was Culhwch and Olwen, and it was so cracknificent that it set the tone for everything Arthurian.  Seriously, go read it and marvel at how little sense any of it makes. XD  And don't even get me started on Lancelot (The Knight of the Cart), because hooboy, is that one entertaining!  There are even strong female characters (consistently strong, I mean), my favorite of which is Lunete, who also happens to be one of the only non-blondes around.  And, of course, there's Sir Bors the Younger and the fantastically hilarious description of him in Malory's Sangrail.  AND the questions that the Green Knight's little mimicking game bring up in Gawain and the Green Knight.

Oh man, I need to hook some of you on this stuff, or go find a group of Arthurian nerds so I can gush about it all! XD 

[EDIT]  Oops, I got so excited about all that that I forgot what else I was going to mention.  In this age of unheard-of technological advances, why is it that I still can't use my cell phone from my own house?  Seriously.  It won't even let me text at the moment.  I really do live in the middle of frakkin' nowhere, I guess.

Dear New Fandom,

Sorry, but have I missed something?  I was under the impression that fanfiction authors wrote actual FANFICTION, not this nonsense referred to as ficlets.  If I want to read three hundred words, I'll read the jacket of a book.  If I want to read fanfiction, let's aim for around a thousand words, at least.  Something long enough to actually count as a story would be peachy.  Particularly when the fandom is fairly modest and there's not much out there. 

So let us review:  Ficlet = NOT A FIC.  Kay? 

LJ's update engine hasn't been wanting to load for me very quickly lately, which is unfortunate.

The smallest kitten, Beleze, is slowly improving; she weighs about a pound now--very much more than her previous vet visit! About half the cats are on a round of antibiotics and eye medicine for some viral thing that's spreading through the herd. I have to med them twice a day, and naturally some are less inclined toward cooperation than others. -_-

I've been reading a lot of Philip K. Dick lately. I recently finished Counter-Clock World and Solar Lottery (the latter of which was much better). I have The Man Who Japed in front of me, but haven't started it yet. This'll be the...fifth? Dick book I've read, I think.

Geek crushes.  Because we all have some.

( TV Geeks I Adore )

Christmas inspiration: S&M gingerbread men (and women). Hellz to the yeah.

Bollocks.  The Sims 3 won't work on either of our computers, as both have shite video cards.  *grumbles*

I bought The Sims 3 today!  I haven't installed it yet because I've been tying up loose ends with Sims 2 (ie. packaging the Sims I've made recently), but I'ma get on that ASAP.  My compuer's specs don't quite match up to the requirements, but only in one bit, so I'm hoping it'll work anyhow.  If not, that will certainly suck, as I don't know the specs on the crapass slow computer of d00m.  *shrugs*  I really wanted to buy the game while I still had money, since I've no idea when I'll be getting more money. :/  Broke now, ho ho.

My scalp is tingling.  Not alarming, though, as I'm dyeing my hair and I've done this so many bloody times that they might as well license me as a hairdresser.

I spent around four hours cleaning up the bathroom/laundry room today, and then swept up in my room a bit.  The kittens are doing better, though Beleze is still having issues with her bowels.  But both she and Jade have gained weight, and I'm keeping the fleas in check by bathing the kittens periodically and keeping them locked up in the laundry area while they convalesce.  I'm just glad our efforts are paying off and they're getting better!

Might do something shocking and go to sleep before 5 AM tonight...we'll see.

As I said I would, here are some pics of my Noel Fielding Sim, in all his Booshy glory.

He's been done for a while, but the whole process took about a month, because I kept reworking him and tweaking little things.  I'm very particular about realism, so I tried to get him as accurate as possible (and believe me, Noel's look is damn hard to duplicate!).  I'm pretty satisfied with him as he is now, if only because I can't think of any more tweaks to make at the moment. XD  If any of the features seem off to you, please specify and I'll see about tweaking. :D



( Noel Fielding--Simified! )

...It's weird, but I'm typing this from my laptop screen--the one that hasn't worked for over six months now?  I don't know how long it'll stay lit up, but man do I miss it!  So much better on my vision than the big desktop screen, which is set down at the end of my bed so that I almost have to squint even with my glasses. XD

It'd be nice if it would suddenly decide to start working again, but I think this is just a freakish fluke, and it'll probably cop out at any moment now.  Still, geez...what a difference!

EDIT:  Yeah, it lasted about a minute and a half longer, then went black again.  I wonder if the problem is just a loose connection with the LCD light bulb...?

Hohoho, custom layout FTW!

Well, with all its recent problems, I have a sneaking suspicion that my laptop is at the end of its life.  I guess I should go ahead and go buy some blank discs to backup my files on, huh?  I'd hate to lose stuff due to underestimating how decrepit this thing is. 

At least I've finally figured out what I need in a new laptop--gaming power.  I need good graphics and lots of memory.  Any suggestions for laptops that are gaming-oriented?  I have no idea when I'll be able to get a new laptop, but it would be smart to start looking at what's out there, you know?

I found a bathing suit and we got meds for the kittens, yay!

Though for some reason, this past week or so, my mind has become swiss cheese.  I'll find myself saying the weirdest, most laughably inaccurate things without even realizing it until later.  LIke the story of Dumbo...  I was talking about the cats' ears, and how Mooney's are so tiny that they're barely there.  I said it reminded me of Dumbo and when Mom looked at me oddly, I explained that it was because Dumbo didn't have big ears that he could use to fly with like the other elephants, but eventually he grew them.  Yeah...not quite. XD   The isolated incidents are pretty damn funny, but it's the number of them that worries me.  I'm going to try and get some sleep today to see if that's the issue.  I have been quite tired as of late...

Dear Magical Computer Pony,

Do you hate me?  Really?  'Cause not only won't the LJ style sheets load, but the graphics of my Sims 2 game are all wonky and, well, purple.  And while I do quite like purple, in this case it indicates other issues, such as object textures not loading properly, giving me stovetops that are weirdly shiny and non-colorful, amongst other things.  Makes it quite hard to build up a love nest for Howard and Vince.  I know it isn't just that my graphics card is shite, because I previously had ALL the expansions on here and everything showed up fine.  I've already reinstalled once, and now I'm redownloading DirectX in hopes that that might just fix it.  'Cause otherwise, I've no bloody clue what the problem is, unless my computer is simply decaying at an advanced rate now. :/

Blu came home last night!  We figure it might have been the nasty weather that made him run so far.  Beleze still isn't feeling well, but she's no worse.  However, her siblings seem to be getting a bit of what she has, especially My Sharona.  But they've got a vet appointment on Thursday, so they've just got to stick it out until then.

As soon as I can, I want to go buy a bathing suit.  I'm hoping to get to that tomorrow, if I can wrangle up a ride.  Since I avoid the sun like the plague, it'll be interesting...though I do now have SPF 100+ sunscreen.  I had no idea they made it so high; last I'd shopped, they only had it up to SPF 50 (which tells you how long ago that was!).

Oh gods, I just finished reading a fanfiction that has me blubbering like a little girl.  Fuck.  Why'd it have to go and end like that?

Oh for the love of...

Okay, I upgraded to IE 8, I downloaded Firefox, I cleared my browsing history, and I STILL can't see any layouts.  I can't see anyone else's layouts, either.  Does anyone have any idea what the hell is up with this?  I'm trying everything I can think of and nothing's helping.  It's driving me batty.  >__<

Well, the kitten (whom we started calling Mowgli) died yesterday evening.  It was quite sad, though not unexpected, and at least we were able to make him comfortable. :/  Once the stormy weather lets up, we have to bury them both.

I busted my ass cleaning out the bathroom today (aka, The Kitten Sanctuary) so now I'm just chillin' and waiting for my food to get done.  Haven't eaten all day and bloody hungry, man! 

I'm downloading IE 8 because my computer won't show my LJ layouts and I suspect that might be the reason.  I do hope so, because I'm utterly flummoxed ottherwise.  If that works, I'll be able to continue overhauling my layout, since as it stands I have no idea what you people see when you visit my LJ page.  I guess in the meantime I could muster the energy to make some fresh icons, eh?