All colors this time! (Fun fact of the day: for the variety of hydrangea most commonly cultivated, unless you get a white one, you can change the color from pink to blue and vice versa by adding or subtracting aluminum from the soil. The actual effect also depends on how acidic the soil is. Blue = more aluminum, less acid; pink = less aluminum, more acid.)

( But first, a picture from my walk this evening. )

( Now the hydrangeas. )

( And finally, another couple dog pictures. )

In other news, for some reason this NX fic has gotten more than 250 hits in the past three days. Needless to say, this does not, as a rule, happen for my fic, and it especially doesn't happen for tiny ficlets in even tinier fandoms. I'm desperately curious to know where they're all coming from.

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/860285.html. It has comments over there.

There's a trailer for Nashville out. It looks like it might be popular, actually, kind of a hybrid between Smash and Dallas, perhaps? A musical soap opera, basically. I'm not that into it as a story, although the tension between "old" and "new" styles of country music is interesting in a sort of anthropological kind of way. Country as a genre seems to be just the right size for that kind of argument; not big enough that fans can just settle in separate camps and not even know the others exist, and not small enough that it's in everyone's self-interest to support as many other people working in the genre as possible. Thus extreme bitterness between two distinct camps. (Actually, I think it's not as clear-cut as that, and there are definitely fringe coalitions, like the really rootsy folks, or the more singer/songwritery folks, but the big divide does seem to be between the older stuff and the newer pop-crossover stuff.)

But anyway, it is rather exciting to see the skyline and assorted landmarks on teevee, like in the various shots of the main character and her husband(?) talking on the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland. (Hush. We folks in flyover country don't get to see this kind of thing that often!) Also, I approve of the writers for writing the story so it revolves around two women who are obviously going to be frenemies, when that relationship so often goes to men.

Speaking of music, have some! Karine Polwart is releasing a new album this summer, and since I know she often puts songs up on streaming websites, I went a-digging and came up with treasure!

Cover Your Eyes - Many excellent lines here, from the opening ("I was Farrah Fawcett, you were Steve McQueen"), to my favorite, "Not even God himself/could stop the northerlies from blowing." I also like the xylophone or bells or whatever bell-tone instrument is featured here.

King of Birds - So beautiful. Apparently about the Occupy London protests; you can read a little more about it here.

Rags to Riches - Cover of a song by The Blue Nile, performed with the band Lau. Joyful and wonderful; possibly my favorite of these.

Salters Road - Also lovely.

Harder to Walk - This is a live cover of Karine's song by a new Canadian folk band called The Fretless. I love the fiddle accompaniment.

Also, I'll recommend Gregory Alan Isakov. His lyrics can be annoyingly nebulous (pretty, but vague), but he knows how to write some good music. He reminds me slightly of Mumford & Sons, if you like them. (Only better! Says someone who can't stand M&S, granted...)

That Moon Song - I do actually like the lyrics of this one, especially the chorus and the end. Plus the tune is great.

This Empty Northern Hemisphere - Starts slow, but picks up to awesome in the middle.

Idaho - Kind of bleak, but attractively so?

Garden - Love the chorus, creepy though it is.

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/860008.html. It has comments over there.

I've gotten behind on responding to comments and commenting on my flist due to RL busyness, but I AM going to catch up sometime this week! In the meantime, let me talk to you about fennel. I tried the actual vegetable (did you know it's a vegetable too, and not just an herb only suitable for flavoring? I didn't!), and sauteed, with a pinch of artificial sugar sprinkled over the results, tastes exactly like black/licorice jellybeans in vegetable form. It is deeply weird, but also pretty good.

We're exploring new and different vegetables because we've sort of gone low carb. Well, my mother has, and she's sticking to it the best, but my dad and I are joining her for solidarity and weight-losing purposes. It's actually done interesting and tasty things to our meals. We discovered quinoa, which is like rice but better--still amenable to being flavored by any sauce or spice you care to add, but chewy and firm, which I like in a grain. The other night we had guacamole and salsa over chicken with melted cheese (and today we're going to do basically the same thing, except with black beans instead of chicken). I even got my mother to eat fish, specifically tilapia, with a delicious sauce she made up using key limes, turmeric, garlic, and parsley. Om nom nom!

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/859689.html. It has comments over there.

I walk the dog in the evenings now, often just around sunset. This neighborhood has zillions of big, old trees, and so no matter the season or weather, it's always pretty, but in the early summer it's especially stunning. The western sky burns orange, and when the clouds are big and puffy, with crepuscular rays bursting over them, it really is like God or something is right there, holding court just beyond the fluffy curtain. The honeysuckle is still smelling up the neighborhood, and pretty much everyone does some mild landscaping in their front lawns, so there are always new flowers to see. The local wildlife also gets more active at dusk, from birds to squirrels to the truly amazing amount of rabbits we have this year. I usually walk a mile, maybe a mile and a quarter depending on the route I take, and recently I saw five rabbits in one evening. Just tonight, one of my neighbors had four rabbits in their not-huge front yard. Four! I didn't even know Eastern Cottontails were that social!

Speaking of pretties, I put the flowers-and-glassware ones I promised earlier today up in their own album on my website, because there were almost 40 and the prospect of hand-coding that was too daunting for me. Basically, it is a celebration of hydrangeas, glass, and the color blue.

Studies in blue.

Captions are at the bottom, so you may have to scroll.

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/859636.html. It has comments over there.

I have a bunch of flower and interesting glassware pictures I'm going to put up later today, but I wanted to post this one of Fiona first.

( Cuteness. )

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/859281.html. It has comments over there.

Internets! It feels like I've been gone from you for ages, but I suppose I haven't. I've been spending my time reading Paul Murray's Skippy Dies, which was quite good. Admittedly, the first 300 pages (of 650) were a barely-interesting-enough-to-continue slog, but after I got through them, it got excellent. It's also pretty funny in places. ( A few spoilers. )

In short, gamesiplay and rowdycamels, I think both of you would like this book, though perhaps for different reasons.

*

I recently read the following description for a sitcom that will be airing on ABC next season. I thought there was no way it could be real. Surely someone slipped it into the list of new shows as a little joke. Here, do you believe this is actually going to air on TV?

How well do you know your neighbors?

Meet the Weavers, Debbie (Jami Gertz) and Marty (Lenny Venito). Marty, in hopes of providing a better life for his wife and three kids, recently bought a home in Hidden Hills, a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course. Hidden Hills is so exclusive that a house hasn’t come on the market in 10 years. But one finally did and the Weavers got it!

It’s clear from day one that the residents of Hidden Hills are a little different. For starters, their new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye), Dick Butkis (Ian Patrick) and Larry Bird (Simon Templeman). Over dinner, Marty and his family discover that their neighbors receive nourishment through their eyes by reading books, rather than eating. The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo from their ears.

The Zabvronians have been stationed on Earth for the past 10 years, disguised as humans, awaiting instructions from home, and the Weavers are the first humans they’ve had the opportunity to know. As it turns out, the pressures of marriage and parenthood are not exclusive to planet Earth. Two worlds will collide with hilarious consequences as everyone discovers they can “totally relate” and learn a lot from each other.

It's real. I weep for humanity.

*

Anyway, enough of that. Burn Notice premieres on June 14th! Hooray! Especially since Castle started trying to turn itself into BN, I've been wanting summer to come. I have to admit, I'm not anticipating but knowing this show, at least Fiona will get to help break her own self out of jail, which is always good.

*

Plans for the rest of today: REVISION. I'm going to have the second draft of my space pilots story done by June 1 or else.

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/858689.html. It has comments over there.

Because the internet needs more shaky, badly-lit films of cute dogs, yes? Yes.

Feed me, Seymour!



She actually won't eat spinach, but that doesn't stop her from wanting it when it's on the counter. (P.S., Sorry about my lens cap swinging into view at the end there. Obviously I was not born to be a Steadicam operator.)

She's quite fond of pretending to kill her squeaky toy, too.



This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/858605.html. It has comments over there.

Argh, my website is down again. Definitely moving a different hosting company when this year's account runs out.

However, Photobucket will do in a pinch, for adorable dog photos must be shared!

( Fiona with her toy. )

( Flowers and a bird. )

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/857345.html. It has comments over there.

Yeeeeah, this space is going to be All Dog, All The Time for a little while longer. Anyway, today's success story: she figured out how to play with toys!

( Although that backfired a little on me. )

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/857036.html. It has comments over there.

You knew this was coming.

( Just a few, though. And a video! )

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/856597.html. It has comments over there.

Life is better with a dog. So today, after they spayed her, Fiona came home from the pound.

( Pictures of SQUEE. )

The folks at the pound thought she was about two years old. She was a stray someone brought in, and from her thinness, seems to have been on her own for a while. However, I think she was also someone's pet, because she hopped on the couch the moment she walked in the door, and has basically stuck to me like glue ever since. It seems like she might be house-trained, too, although we'll find out for sure over the next few days, I suppose.

"Fiona" is a provisional name. We wanted something vaguely Irish because she looks like a very tiny Irish Wolfhound, but we may settle on something else. Suggestions entertained.

:D :D :D

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/855686.html. It has comments over there.

Fringe gets a 13-episode fifth season! EEEEEEEE!

(There is one very vague spoiler in the article about the direction S5 will probably go. I am...not entirely thrilled, but willing to see how it plays out.)

In other news: Asteroid mining in the planning stages! Part of my space pilots story is coming truuuuuuue!

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/855471.html. It has comments over there.

I put up my fic for remixing in Remix Madness, and I got an absolutely gorgeous retelling of my Fringe story "Double Exposure" from Nina's point of view. You should all read it.

Give You Back The Open Sky (Single Focus Remix) (1227 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fringe
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nina Sharp, Olivia Dunham
Summary: Nina used to believe there were no coincidences; there was only chance. After the most brilliant theory, the most conducive set-up, outcomes could be neither entirely controlled nor predicted. It was at once what science hinged upon and what it desperately wished to deny.

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/854807.html. It has comments over there.

Title: Two Sleepy People
Artist: Originally written by Hoagy Carmichael, performed by Seth MacFarlane and Norah Jones
Fandom: The Thin Man series of movies (aka the Nick and Nora movies), with a bit of additional footage from a few other William Powell/Myrna Loy flicks, namely Double Wedding, I Love You Again, Libeled Lady, and Love Crazy.
Length: 4:28
Summary: Here we are, out of cigarettes
Holding hands and yawning, look how late it gets
Two sleepy people, by dawn's early light
And too much in love to say goodnight.

(Or, as my most excellent beta spatz, to whom I owe many thanks, said, "THEIR SWEET SAPPY FACES OMG.")

( Streaming and downloadable versions under the cut )

This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/854736.html. It has comments over there.