Frittering Away the End of 2006
Dec. 31st, 2006 01:05 pmSo far, since Friday night, I've watched a gazillion hours of TV on my couch, drank gin martinis and New Belgium beer and slept more than I've slept for months on end.
I'm not sure if this is a sign of hibernation or renewal.
Right now, I'm still wearing my robe, tucked into my marvelously large bed ( a week of sleeping on the couches of relatives, or with my mother who snores - god love her - and so can't sleep with her boyfriend at my aunt's house because then neither of them will sleep, or in a bed too short for me so that my toes go numb. This, all of this, has made me loooove my beautiful queen bed and the fact that the cat, while pushy, is still a cat and does not snore). I'm listening to the "Best of Canada" thanks to my favorite Canadian:)
Hopefully today there will be a gym visit, and groceries and perhaps even some champagne. If I'm really with it, I'll even unpack my suitcase and write.
And speaking of writing, why didn't y'all ever mention "Yuletide before? I mean really, fandom!! That's a hell of a secret to keep. Hee. Just kidding, although this is the first year it's really pinged on my radar as something fascinating and now I simply can't stop reading.
Every story I wanted to have continue, that I wanted more of, everything is there and I've been indulging myself thoroughly and so thank you so much to all of the writers and to the people who organized this hugely, monumental effort. It's bloody marvelous!!
So far, I've read stuff for Elizabeth Peters' Vicky Bliss books (and dude, the writer nailed so much of the tone, but even more just absolutely nailed the history, the whole art and antiquity and brambly, prickly dance that Vicky and John do and this, beyond anything, was one of my first fannish loves and I didn't even know I'd want to read this!). I've read lovely stuff for Fables (yeah, yeah, I finally fell under the graphic novel spell. Of course it was for a fairy tale), for Touching Evil (US) which I adore for some weird reason, for Guy Kay's Fionovar books (also yeah, yeah shut up. I love these. He's almost ridiculous in his prose, but I LOVED these books), for The Avengers, for Blade Runner. It's... well, it's all quite absurdly wonderful:)
I think, as much as the stories themselves, I love seeing everyone's list of what they've read and loved, because it goes so far to show us those parts of each other that we keep hidden - even here in this fannish verse that's part creation and part real and only a part of each of us. We don't necessarily keep these loves hidden on purpose. Sometimes it's just an absence of relevance, sometimes it's something vaguely shameful, or something so dear that you don't want to share it, and Yuletide seems like something that allows everyone to share all of these moments of fannish joy or disappointment or love or tenderness - fondness for past moments, past loves, past interests. Like reading letters from old lovers or old friends and remembering why you loved them once upon a time.
It's also a way to redeem things that seemed irredeemable, or to spark a new love or a new light, to open something up and say, "No, really, it's beautiful, just give it a chance. Here, let me tell you it's story."
Sigh. Such a lovely lovely thing and I wish I'd paid attention sooner.
Happy New Year, everyone. May the coming year bring you everything you've hoped for.
I'm not sure if this is a sign of hibernation or renewal.
Right now, I'm still wearing my robe, tucked into my marvelously large bed ( a week of sleeping on the couches of relatives, or with my mother who snores - god love her - and so can't sleep with her boyfriend at my aunt's house because then neither of them will sleep, or in a bed too short for me so that my toes go numb. This, all of this, has made me loooove my beautiful queen bed and the fact that the cat, while pushy, is still a cat and does not snore). I'm listening to the "Best of Canada" thanks to my favorite Canadian:)
Hopefully today there will be a gym visit, and groceries and perhaps even some champagne. If I'm really with it, I'll even unpack my suitcase and write.
And speaking of writing, why didn't y'all ever mention "Yuletide before? I mean really, fandom!! That's a hell of a secret to keep. Hee. Just kidding, although this is the first year it's really pinged on my radar as something fascinating and now I simply can't stop reading.
Every story I wanted to have continue, that I wanted more of, everything is there and I've been indulging myself thoroughly and so thank you so much to all of the writers and to the people who organized this hugely, monumental effort. It's bloody marvelous!!
So far, I've read stuff for Elizabeth Peters' Vicky Bliss books (and dude, the writer nailed so much of the tone, but even more just absolutely nailed the history, the whole art and antiquity and brambly, prickly dance that Vicky and John do and this, beyond anything, was one of my first fannish loves and I didn't even know I'd want to read this!). I've read lovely stuff for Fables (yeah, yeah, I finally fell under the graphic novel spell. Of course it was for a fairy tale), for Touching Evil (US) which I adore for some weird reason, for Guy Kay's Fionovar books (also yeah, yeah shut up. I love these. He's almost ridiculous in his prose, but I LOVED these books), for The Avengers, for Blade Runner. It's... well, it's all quite absurdly wonderful:)
I think, as much as the stories themselves, I love seeing everyone's list of what they've read and loved, because it goes so far to show us those parts of each other that we keep hidden - even here in this fannish verse that's part creation and part real and only a part of each of us. We don't necessarily keep these loves hidden on purpose. Sometimes it's just an absence of relevance, sometimes it's something vaguely shameful, or something so dear that you don't want to share it, and Yuletide seems like something that allows everyone to share all of these moments of fannish joy or disappointment or love or tenderness - fondness for past moments, past loves, past interests. Like reading letters from old lovers or old friends and remembering why you loved them once upon a time.
It's also a way to redeem things that seemed irredeemable, or to spark a new love or a new light, to open something up and say, "No, really, it's beautiful, just give it a chance. Here, let me tell you it's story."
Sigh. Such a lovely lovely thing and I wish I'd paid attention sooner.
Happy New Year, everyone. May the coming year bring you everything you've hoped for.