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Not dead...
I just realized that it's been almost six months since I last posted. A very busy summer, but a good one. I'm still employed at Semi-Benevolent Big Oil (approaching Year 7.5 of my "six month contract," wheee!), still writing (I self-published two steamy paranormal romances under a pseudonym over the summer, and am working on a third volume in the ( Read more... ) -
Gift fic for Sunhawk16
So, I've mostly been working on my original stuff these days, but every so often, the fanfiction plot-bunny bites.
The talented and lovely sunhawk16 posted a short AU vignette from her Ion Arc universe, from Heero's POV, and I immediately began hearing Duo in a follow-up scene.
Read this first: http://sunhawk16.livejournal.com/180276.htmlAnd here's the ( Read more... ) -
Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER miniseries
This link has probably already been spammed everywhere, but what the heck. I loved the original novel in this series (was less enthusiastic about the latest installment, which consisted of a number of beautifully-written scenes but didn't, IMO, hold together very well as a novel), and the audiobooks are among my favorites ( Read more... ) -
Photos from Sicily and Southern Italy!
I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment...I finally finished sorting through and editing all 2300 of my vacation photos!
The good news: I only uploaded a quarter of my photos to Picasa. The bad new: that's still, um, over 600 photos.
It was a truly awesome vacation with a plethora of spectacular sights and fabulous food!
And now that this task is out of ( Read more... ) -
Argh.
Apologies for never posting any further travel blogs for my recent travels. I had a fabulous time in Italy ( Read more... ) -
Sicily Day 5: Mazara & Selinunte
The scirocco wind blew in from Africa overnight, bringing with it a promise of rain and scudding white clouds. It was a bit cooler today, but with much higher humidity.
We began the day by checking out of our hotel in Mazara, then making a short stop at the Museo del Satiro downtown. Located in an old church, and surrounded by the picturesque ruins ( Read more... ) -
Sicily Day 4: Segesta & Motya
Today, we left Palermo behind, and traveled back in time 2500 years, to Sicily's ancient Greek and Phoenician past.
Our day started with a beautiful drive west along the coast from Palermo to Segesta. As we left the big city, the suburbs gradually thinned out, until we were driving through a hilly landscape planted with grapes and olives and bright ( Read more... ) -
Sicily Day 3 Cefalu & Monreale
Glorious medieval churches with glittering, gilded mosaic interiors, warm sun and cloudless blue skies, and a leisurely seafood lunch right at the edge of the sea...it was another perfect day in Sicily!
Our outing today took us out of crowded-but-fascinating Palermo, and along the coast, where rugged mountains march right to the sea, their lower ( Read more... ) -
Sicily Day 2: Medieval Palermo
Today was a fascinating (and jam-packed) tour of Palermo's Arabo-Norman architecture, dating from the 1100s, which combines Byzantine Greek, North African Islamic and Norman French styles. In the process, we managed to see much of the Old Town part of the city, as well as take a brief detour to Palermo's ancient Phoenician past.
( From there, our weary and footsore party trudged the few blocks back to the hotel, passing by the ) -
Sicily Day 1: Arrival in Palermo
Touching down in Palermo after a long 18-hr flight was like walking through a door into summer, with soft blue skies, fluffy clouds, and warm sunshine.
The small airport is right on the beach, and the 20 minute drive from the airport to the heart of the city was amazingly scenic, with rugged peaks plunging into clear blue-green Mediterranean waters ( Read more... )