Had to go back and check to see when I last posted--only Saturday, thought it was longer. I tend to be pretty hyper when I arrive at the beach, exhausted but hyper, and it takes a few days for vacation reality to set in, but it's been here the last few days. Only writing a couple of pages a days (each) in various fics (sorry, guys), not responding as much on lj, not posting much on lj, sleeping lots more (NAP NAP NAP!), eating LOTS more, MOVING much less. Too bad I have to go back on Wednesday, in a way, although good in another way. Will have to fly all day Wednesday, work on house stuff all day Tuesday (multiple trips to dump and donation, haircut, probably chiropractic appointment if Entwife can get one for me), and on Friday (MIGHT get into work that day). Saturday will be for Johnny English (we are BIG Rowan Atkinson fans), and somewhere in there I must see POTC again. A time or two. Then to the airport with Entwife on Sunday for her annual visit to Mum. Then it'll be me, 10 cats, and 3 dogs. Pippin the new puppy has been integrating nicely, bonding like crazy with big boys especially Russell (who when he hears her puppy cry dashes off to rescue her, a parfait gentile knight). She's apparently grown a lot and has developed Big Dog Bark though she keeps trying to do puppy bit. And she can be in pen with Blackie for big chunks of time (Russell very paranoid about pen, or any move to entrap him like two mommies approaching, one from each side, so he stays out except for thunderstorms). So less crating, which is a good thing. So no teaching, just have to do pet work morning and evening, and lots of free time to spend as I will. Which I hope will be learning new computer (after I pry it out of Entwife's hands, I think they've bonded) and new online stuff, if we get it set up. In theory I should start back to work on book....in practice.....well we'll see.

Zipped into Seattle today for second time (NOT making any plans in advance worked out so much better, got to have dinner with v. busy friend from college, and lunch with baranduin, on spur of moment), walked on ferry, got to see both Mt. Rainier and Baker (I used to live in Bellingham, close to Baker, had it in my bedroom window for two wonderful years. I love mountains.), zipped down to great restaurant and had wonderful food AND great slashy conversation.

I think the waiter thought we were both tourists because of the way he talked to us (as if we were five year old children, heh), and tried to shove us toward a table that had (GASP) A VIEW OF THE WATERFRONT. And was in direct sun (I'm on some medication that says "do not spend unprotected time in sun). We had to armwrestle him (skinny young guy, he never had a chance), whereupon we got a table in full shade without VIEW OF WATERFRONT which didn't really matter because I don't think we looked away through the whole lunch conversation. Which consisted of the wonderfulness of slash, especially Frodo/Faramir, interspecies, fandom, academic theories about fandom (blush, I admit it, I have 'em), Faramir was so wonderful, Frodo as incredible, the great things about slash, and oh yeah, maybe 10 minutes on oh like mundane stuff (work and all), before zipping back to slash. And Frodo and Faramir. Too much fun! Is probably illegal in seventeen states. In fact, got inspired and took notes on ferry ride home for "Last Night in Rivendell" (Frodo and Faramir have good food and great sex, and Aragorn and Boromir manage to have their first conversation that is not an argument!). Off to write more SLASH.

Still having a lovely time (in between obsessive reading of AU Letters! and that's insanely intensely obsessively LUSTFULLY FUN), lazing around, eating good food, doing fun things (and somehow ignoring the "work" I brought--some books on feminist/postcolonial theory and my stylistic analysis of Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring which I began with my graduate course last spring, and which we're turning into an article). Don't know why I bothered to bring them--getting extra points for hauling them across country? Yeah, and originally, I wasn't going to try to do lj while at mom's. HAH.

But I have discovered that I cannot write smut when my mother is in the room with me. Can read and reply to lj entries. But not write smut. Can write smut when I'm in a class where students are taking exam (did a couple of times last spring). Can even write smut when in a computer lab with class where they are doing online class discussion (I check in and read it at intervals). But cannot write smut with mother actually in room (even if she's not looking over my shoulder at computer which she wasn't).

Oh, well. Lots of other times available on vacation. But interesting to learn.

Had a Grand Day Out at the zoo Wednesday (can highly recommend Seattle's Woodland Park--lots of money/effort put into natural habitats, conservation and breeding programs, education), all necessary because we're wiping species out like crazy. I'm a bit conflicted about zoos. LOVE seeing animals, but....

Baby elephant and tigers esp. cute. Five hours of walking around v. good exercise. Then went out for lovely seafood dinner with friend at Ray's Boat House, which my mother used to eat at when she was at the UW in the forties. Must eat good seafood as often as possible when in Seattle area.

And out to dinner tonight (seafood) with mother's friend at the Elks (hilarious to go down there for all sorts of reasons...)

And now for some...

( Harry Potter thoughts Warning: Spoilers for OOP )

So went back and tried my best matches based on birthday (11/01/55)--sheesh.

Your best matches

Michael J. Fox 98%
Colin Mochrie 96%
Bono 95%
Weird Al Yankovic 94%
Tony Danza 94%

Who is Colin Mochrie???

Seems a schizophrenic list at best.....although, hmmm, THAT aspect seems to match...have to tell Entwife about Bono on my list since she's a big U2 fan.

Oh, well, off to have Grand Day Out (Woodland Park Zoo, meeting friend for dinner after--one of my theatre friends from undergraduate days who is still in Seattle). The fact that I've been on lj twice already (and it's only 9:30 am) had my mother convinced I am addicted. I pointed out I was just a considerate guest, getting on early, so as not to interfere with any morning phone calls, hee hee hee. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Plus I fixed a glitch in her internet access. I am a GOOD daughter....

Had heroic brush slashing yesterday, clearing stairway to beach, so we can have nice beachwalks during the rest of the vacation--hacking away at salmonberry, thimbleberry, and blackberry (most of which have thorns). The blackberry is especially sneaky--you can be pulling on one end of it, and the other wraps around your ankle like the Watcher outside Moria, and tries to hurl you down the stair. The nettles don't have thorns, but do sting like crazy (nature hint: rub ladyfinger fern on sting for relief). I find this sort of work v. soothing, good for taking out aggressive impulses. BUt luckily for me, Mom had the greater part of property brush cut by someone with BIG TRACTOR because it is an incredible task. Stuff can grow six feet a month here, and take over lawns, houses, garages, pets, people....well, OK, maybe I exaggerate a bit for effect. But stuff grows. People just think plants are nice and passive because their aggressive attempts to take over the world are done in slomo. Have seen great blue herons, hawks, and this morning, two red-headed woodpeckers. Mom also tells me that there's a black bear living in the neighborhood (which is actually fairly heavily settled), as well as the deer who keep eating her rose bushes.

Not missing work at all....

How pathetic is this: turns out that MacDonald's is tied in with POTC, so I find myself dashing into the room when I hear the music on their commercials just so I can see some pirates stuff (since there's no chance of getting to the film again until, um, July 24. Maybe July 23 depending on how tired I am when I get back to the airport at 3:30 and survive the 1.5 hour trip home in 100 plus degree temps). And the reunion with the cats and dogs. They seem to be be using several different clips from the film--one of my faves is when Captain Jack is looking back from the Dauntless to see the Interceptor, planning his take-over, and sort of holding his gun up to his mouth and smiling in a devilish fashion. *sigh*

And I clipped a couple of pictures from newspapers (OK, I read newspapers still, I'm 47, right, I know there are pix on the internet, and I can find them, but cannot get them for my own, and these I can cary around and then when I get back home tape to my computer tower or whatever they call it).

Anyway, one nice color one showing Captain Jack on top of his mast at the start, the other showing Bloom (great hair), Depp (in a hat), and Bruckheimer somewhere or other (I don't care). Total pathetic addiction. And thank goodness they ran Mask of Zorro last night (Antonio Banderas pretty darn yummy too--and Catherine Zeta Jones gets to do a pretty darn good job fighting with a sword--she doesn't beat Zorro, but then, hey, who does?) was on, so I got a bit of swashbuckling fix. Fun to see pretty (well more or less, he's not totally ugly) blonde boy as Evil Villain too.

And having been in my company for less than 48 hours (this morning), my mother has decided that I'm addicted to lj (of course, since she lived through the "let me tell you about reading Tolkein for the umpteenth time"--I read it 100 times between age 10 and 17 and recorded NUMBERED notes for each bloody time and would lecture people around me who could not run away fast enough--my addictions are not a New Thing for her. (I must have been an obnoxious child to be around, snerk).

I just smile and point out I avoided alcoholism (unlike the mumble mumble uncles on both sides of the family) and drug addiction, so that book addiction, LOTR and Pirate film addiction, and lj addiction aren't really all that bad. Plus I fixed a little glitch in her settings which was making it hard to access the internet after the dialup connection is made.

The official story is I write some fan fiction and a live journal (which I showed her but which she did not read). Just too hard to be too secretive.

So tonight she is off at her meetings (officer of the Elks--second woman to join the Lodge after they FINALLY decided that women could be EEK full members--go, Mom!) Two in a row tonight. So I decided to play on the internet (ignoring the beautiful weather outside--although a bit HOTTER than I expect over here during July.) Tomorrow will be spent outside (clearing brush on steps down to beach, beach walk, etc.) so tonight is for writing. Although the sliding glass door is open (screen is shut so Mom's five cats cannot get out--apparently rescuing pets is a genetic trait) letting in the sound of the wind and the waves and the windchime and the birds. Very pleasant writing situation.

And I was gonna do a harry potter thing, and a piece on Texas skies, but I'm feeling too lazy and vacation-y to do anything but babble and then read or write smut. So that's what I'm gonna do...