Doctors Without Borders / MSF's current news from the field in Japan.

Particularly for Japan because, hell, I've been there, I have friends who live there. More than anything, I remember how absolutely kind and understanding everyone in Japan was, from the waiters and baristas and shopkeepers and hostel and museum staff who very kindly put up with my six-word vocabulary and probably-abominable accent, to the old woman who was absolutely determined to make me understand that someone had refilled the teapot I'd just found to be empty (after asking if I spoke Japanese and receiving a negative answer she made a little huff and just grabbed my elbow and led me over to it to show me) to the security guard at Narita airport who made sure that I actually got to my flight home (the gate had changed, and I was utterly lost) - everybody we met in Japan was wonderful, polite, and patient. Nobody deserves the stuff we're seeing out of Sendai the last few days, but this one does hurt me particularly, I admit, because I remember how wonderful Japan was to me.

More links about how to help Japan via the Huffington Post.

Note: Doctors Without Borders / MSF is always my choice for giving in times of disaster, largely because I'm leery of the fact that a lot of relief organizations are (overtly or covertly) faith-based - that doesn't necessarily mean anything about whether or not they're giving fairly at the right times in the right places (I think most of them are), but as a person who is not Christian, I feel like it's my duty to try to help out the alternative organizations, if only because I think people need to know that it's not just Christian groups who want to do good things and help the world. More about Doctors Without Borders / MSF, who they are and what they do. As always, what works for me might not be what works for you - there's plenty of options.

So, as some of you know, I completely dropped the freaking ball on fandom_stocking due to a combination of family/holiday stress, crazy life events (read: omg!engaged!), and a pathetic and debilitating bout with writer's block. In short, I suck, and I apologize for that.

But do you know who doesn't suck? Freaking everybody else over at fandom_stocking, that's who! They (including several of you!) freaking rock, because when I went my guilty little way to check my stocking this evening, I had a ton of absolutely freaking amazing stuff. I'm serious, there was wibbling. ♥

icepixie wrote me the most fantastically adorable Marcus/Susan fic ever, designed around the five poems that Marcus Cole knows by heart (and oh, are they perfect, and it's all so very Marcus. ♥

sophia_sol, who I don't even know, is my hero because she wrote me this awesome little Expendable drabble, and it made me very happy. ♥ Likewise sentientcitizen (whose username alone makes me grin), tried to write Expendable fic, only got one good sentence out of it, but it is one hell of an amazing sentence. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her from now on, because I bet the rest of that might come out eventually.

paranoidangel42 wrote me Harry Sullivan and Sarah Jane Smith and space octopi!!! And cosmic_llin wrote wrote Ace and Romana!

Lastly but not in the least bit leastly, isilrandir, who I must clearly keep an eye on in the future, wrote me an absolutely beautiful bit of Abe/Liz from the Hellboy comics, and I squeed a lot because this is my favorite little slightly-canon and oh-so-perfect pairing. Seriously, I love those two, and this fic just catches them perfectly.

So much wonderful fic! ♥ So happy!!!

It's snowing again! Fat fluffy flakes this time - very pretty!

We were supposed to be going to my aunt's out in Orting today to hang out with massive amounts of extended family, but after a look at the snow and a look at where we're both at mentally and everything like that, we're going to have a quiet Thanksgiving at the apartment. Supplies have been laid in, including a stuffed turkey breast and a pumpkin pie (which The Boy swears is the most important part). I intend to use the rest of the fresh cranberries that maymargaret and I bought long ago and have been keeping frozen ever since (hmm, I should probably have bought an orange or something, too, shouldn't I?).

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out there who celebrates - enjoy the turkey or the tofurkey or whatever it is you happen to be eating, and enjoy the company of whoever you're eating it with. Enjoy this blog post on NPR about the historical first Thanksgiving. And enjoy the modern meaning of the whole thing - being grateful for everything you have. I'm grateful for a lot of things this year (the fact that NaNoWriMo is nearly over, the fact that the snow started again, the fact that I got a day off work this week...), but most of all for the fabulous people in my life. My family, The Boy, and all my fantastic friends, both the ones I know in the everyday world and the ones I know only here on LJ. It means so much to me to have such a fabulous network of smart, fun, caring people that I can talk to about everything in my life. You guys are the best. ♥

And everybody outside the US not participating in our wacky little holiday, the love applies no less to you, and I wish you a very lovely Thursday.

Snagged from the lovely vega_ofthe_lyre:

In honor of All Hallow's Eve, I'm inviting trick-or-treaters to my 'door'. Comment "trick-or-treat" to this post and...well, you know the drill. Treats can be anything that strikes my fancy (pics of fave actors or pairings, one sentence fics, graphics, a few words about why I'm glad to have you on my flist, etc. etc.). The more "houses" to visit the more fun it'll be, so go ahead, open your journal and help spread the fun!


♥

Up very late last night hanging out with the Boy and the lovely miss_arel. Saw "Toy Story 3." Went to Lava Lounge for beers (or framboise lambic, for me!). Went to some lovely traditional Italian pizza place for pizza. Went to very nice lounge for cheap Happy Hour champagne (something else for Boy, cannot remember what). Went somewhere else when that place started filling up with a reserved event involving balloons and a lot of bleach-headed girls in cocktail dresses. Then went back to miss_arel's apartment and either fell asleep or passed out (not sure which) on her couch while she and The Boy discussed anime and video games and apparently passed my glasses back and forth a bit (see, I told you my prescription is weird). Boy called taxi to get us home because even after two glasses of water (plus the water I had during the evening) and nibbling some Ritz crackers, and sleep, I was a total goner. I did manage to wash face/brush teeth/take off glasses and get undressed before falling into bed. Looking back, this seems like a fairly major accomplishment.

In short, I have a hangover. It'll be okay. Boy is getting bagels, and I slept for something approaching ten hours. But still. Eugh. Stomach and head not happy. Bler.

Happy 4th of July to the American folks on the list, Happy Getting Rid of Those Damned Colonials to the Brits. Happy We're All In It Together I Suppose to other former colonies. I ♥ you all. Boy just got home with bagels and delicious dry sausage stuff. And vitamin water. Woo.

Happy Winter Solstice / Yule to everybody who celebrates. I'm feeling pretty nostalgic for it all, myself, today - we went out to the ballet for The Nutcracker last night, and I got my annual viewing of Love Actually in this weekend, and I have a feeling I'm going to end up lighting candles tonight, and staying up until midnight just because. K and I always talked about staying up all night some solstice, and we never managed it - we'd always peter out about one in the morning. But staying up with a candle always makes me feel better about the winter, and makes me more aware of the fact that the worst of the long nights is over.

I got your card, tromana! Beautiful work - the card is gorgeous! ♥

And I really need to get on gear and write/send my cards. :)

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody who celebrates!

I spent mine with my Boy, miss_arel, and narsilion, piro2247 and the rest of the family. It was very nice, and there was lots of good food and conversation. Added on top of a night out with tavern_wench1 last night for food and drinks and lots of laughing hysterically about the absurdities of our current writing projects (and also surreptitious giggling about the two mid-life-crisis junkies at the table next to us and the MySpace addict 21-ers at the bar on the other side), and I'm feeling full of the thankfulness. Grateful for Boy, grateful for awesome friends, grateful for fantastic family, grateful for kitties, grateful for job... all in all very happy. ♥

...And now I really need to go try to catch up on my writing. ;)

Another gorgeous day, unfortunately stuck inside at work. ;)

Tonight should be fun, though - going with some of the girls to see Vienna Teng perform downtown. I'm excited.

I'm also hoping I'll sleep better after the concert than I have been these last few nights - I'm still coughing a lot, so falling asleep's been a lot harder than usual. It seems to be getting steadily better, though. At least I hope it is.