Quick-and-dirty update

[constance]

I would've posted this last night, but my connection was down. And it will be choppy and abrupt, but I just wanted to update while I had the chance. We connectionless pirates must take our opportunities where we find them!

• The dog! We have had a couple of moments which were traumatic for the both of us, but for the most part we are adjusting well. I've decided on a name, finally. Or really, he's decided on the name; every time I mentioned it in his presence he perked up, and now he comes to me whenever I say it, so I guess that's that, right? He's decided that his name is Leory, pronounced lee-ORE-ee, and we've been practicing all day, responding to it, getting used to the sound of it. A few more days, and we might even have forgotten the indignity of the name Freeway.



• Do you know that almost precisely two years ago I wrote complaining of having to pay $18.00 for a tank of gas? It seems laughable now, considering that this past week I paid $31.00 to fill that same tank. And only the prospect of paying more to look forward to. I said it then, and I'll say it now: thanks a pantsload, GWB.



• I love that google saw fit to celebrate Joan Miro's birthday! Several times yesterday, I visited to look at their trademark image, just because it made me smile, and I wish they'd left it up for a little bit longer. (eta: although apparently some didn't like it quite so much.)



• I would like to make it known that I am being harrassed at work! Three coworkers laughed at me all afternoon long yesterday because of the way I say "fucking." I pronounce the g and everything! The way they went on about it--they even made me repeat it for other coworkers--you'd think Mary Poppins had belched in front of them. To which I say, there is nothing funny about the way I talk, damn it. No, really.



• I reread some of the stuff on my old journal--not the fics, just the entries--and was surprised to find that even though I spent most of that last year thinking that I was writing the most drivellous and pointless entries on the whole of livejournal--when I could write at all, that is, when I wasn't completely paralyzed by anxiety--the entries aren't actually all that repugnant, after all. This was a bit of a nice surprise for me, both that I could read the journal objectively, and that it could give me some pleasure to read and remember. It's amazing how different things look from outside a depression.



• To that end I've decided to crosspost links to my Grimmauld Place project both there and here. Sorry for those of you who're seeing it twice. But I hope that the few of you who're interested in looking it over who haven't already seen it have fun with it. One warning: it's very image-heavy, and people with slow connections will have a time loading it. So many, many thanks to 21stcenturysei! And aubrem! And dahlia_777! And laurelwood! For being betas! Even though some of them did not want to be called that!

More later, I think.

Comments

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Does 'Leory' mean anything?

[tofty.livejournal.com]

It's a character from a children's book Andy Warhol illustrated. The character was supposed to be Leroy, but the story goes that Warhol liked the name Leory better and changed it all through his illustrations without asking. And then the author liked it better too.

Somehow, it seemed appropriate. :D

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Oh, totally. It also reminds me of the song 'Manchester, England' from the musical 'Hair' with the way that Timothy's Leary's name is sung.

But i hate to tell you ... I'm probably going to secretly think of your puppy as 'Bad Bad Leory Brown' from now on. I have a secret, horrible love for that song.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

*dies laughing* I hope Leory will live up to his theme song. Or maybe, now that I think about it, I really don't.

Weirdly, I spent a little while yesterday talking about how much I loved "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" when I was a little girl. I have a secret fondness for Jim Croce.

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you do! "Badder than old King Kong/meaner than a junkyard dog." How appropriate!

I don't know much about Jim Croce apart from having read an interesting article about him that basically spelt out that he was a folksinger who had this anomaly hit. Is this right? And I haven't heard that song, I don't think. Who sings it?

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Jim Croce sings it! I'm not sure who wrote the article you read, but Jim Croce, while not exactly the shiniest star in the pantheon, was no one-hit wonder. At least four of his songs (that I can think of offhand) were well-enough known to still be played on oldies radio: "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Time in a Bottle," and "Operator."

Here are the lyrics to "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," because I know you're dying to know them and I am happy to oblige:



Uptown's got its hustlers
The Bowry's got its bums
Forty-second street's got Big Jim Walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Yeah, he's big and dumb as a man can come
But he's stronger than a country hoss
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call Big Jim "boss"
Just because
And they say

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
You don't mess around with Jim
Ah-doo-doo, doo-da
Da-dee dee and dee-dee-dee

Well, out of South Alabama come a country boy
He said, I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy, my name is Willie McCoy
But back home they call me Slim
Hey, I'm lookin' for the king of forty-second street
He's drivin' a drop-top Cadillac
And last week he took all my money
And it may sound funny
But I come to get my money back
And everybody say, Jack -- don't you know that

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim
Ah-doo-doo, doo-da
Da-dee dee and dee-dee-dee

Well a hush fell over the pool room
When Jimmy come boppin' in off the street
And when the cuttin' was done
the only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet
He was cut in 'bout a hundred places
And he was shot in a couple more
And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When Big Jim hit the floor
And now they say

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim


It is an insanely catchy song, totally aside from the ass-kicking chorus, so you see why I loved it as a four-year-old.

:::

"Leroy Brown" might just as well have been Fred's theme song. Pray God, in all seriousness, that I never have another dog who's quite such a badass. :(

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, that's funny - from what I can remember, one of Croce's early (earliest?) albums was being re-released years after his death, and his wife and son were talking about the public perception of him compared to the music he normally played. So I must have misunderstood them - maybe what they meant was that the style of 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' was somewhat atypical? I could be completely wrong. In fact, I should go look this up online.

I love the lyrics to the Jim song, but I really don't think I've ever heard it. I'll have to look for it - You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger/And you don't mess around with Slim hahahaha

[tofty.livejournal.com]

maybe what they meant was that the style of 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' was somewhat atypical

Ah, that may be, unless his relative longevity is strictly a Southern U.S. thing. Which is totally possible, of course.

[21stcenturysei.livejournal.com]

The final Grimmauld Place project looks practically perfect in every way (much like Mary Poppins). Brava!

[tofty.livejournal.com]

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D Thanks again for the beta!

You will note that in the end, I decided to leave the dates in. This is not because I changed my mind about their being better left out, but because I am shamefully lazy. :( Otherwise, I did change the Great Hall description, and I like the new one much better. Your scientific recommendations were just what I needed.

[21stcenturysei.livejournal.com]

Yes, I totally adore the Great Hall description! It is a thing of beauty, and captivating to behold. :)

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Hahahahahahaha! Ex-celllllent, as Mr. Burns would say.

Hey, have you heard from L. lately? I haven't talked to her in ages, and I want to call her this weekend, but I was just wondering if you'd heard any news.

[21stcenturysei.livejournal.com]

No, I've not heard from the sister since Christmas...boo! I was just thinking of her the other day actually...don't laugh, but I was watching someone do a sage-burning ritual thing on tv. Anyway, I thought she'd be bemused, because it was so desperately silly and not at all the right way to do sage-burning thingies...because I know, since I should have done one before I moved into the House of The Possessed.

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

Aha, you posted it. I really think it's marvellous, T.

I could be around on YM this Sunday if you like?

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Yes, please! I may have to be at a cafe, depending on the Internet connection, but I'll make it my business to be there and be able to stay for a while, if that's what I have to do. What time's good for you?

Thanks again for looking the plan over--I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. And I hope you're still thinking about that fic!!

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

Is 6pm (my time) ok for you? I am still thinking about the fic. I actually wrote a plot outline for it last week. But then I caught this blasted cold and my enthusiasm waned, I must admit. I feel too sick to do anything except lie around, watch Jeeves and Wooster DVDs and read mushy Pros AUs. But if you like I will tell you about the fic idea tomorrow - that will probably get me excited again.

[sunkentreasure.livejournal.com]

Hmm. One (luckily not all) of my coworkers was making fun of the way I talk yesterday too.

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Well, not everyone at my work was making fun of me; there are only a limited number of people at my office to whom you can holler, "Hey, come hear how Cammy says 'fucking!' Cammy, say it for her!"

I feel that this is fortunate.

Why were they making fun of you?

[sunkentreasure.livejournal.com]

Apparently I have a sing-songy phone voice.

Also, after a life of perfect enunciation, I have recently dropped my end 'g's and I'm struggling to get them back.

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

Whew, just got home after 13 1/2 hour drive. I had to comment though to say that the Grimmauld Place Project looks great! Did you post it at omniocular? Or as the mod to post it for you?

ok, gotta unpack and fall into bed now ...

(it's nice to be home)

[tofty.livejournal.com]

The mod did post it--I'm not a member at omniocular. (Yet.)

WELCOME BACK! WE MISSED YOU SO!

[proteinscollide.livejournal.com]

Cammy, you are one of my favourite writers, no matter what you write. *hugs*

And the Grimmauld Place floorplan is amazing. I went and reread bits of OotP last night, after looking at your plan, and just seeing how much you'd inserted and fleshed out in little ways. Lovely. =)

[tofty.livejournal.com]

*hugs you back! exuberantly!*

Thank you so much! I had so much fun thinking it all up, and it makes me happy to see that you guys are enjoying it too.

[submarine.livejournal.com]

Sjksdj I actually dedicated around forty minutes to reading through your entire floorplan and then clearly I forgot to comment :( none of it would have been any good though because everything I was going to say had already been said in comments, so it was just down to me babbling my complete and utter love for the entire thing. I love your humour, Cammy, and I love your floor plans beyond all reason, and just jsdlksjdhkjd I'm sorry I forgot to comment, I feel awful. I ADORE YOU. AND LEORY IS A PERFECTLY LOVELY NAME ♥

[tofty.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't feel bad! I put it up while you were out of town, I think, and I just figured you had a lot going on. I got what I needed either way--and I'm just glad you liked it!

♥♥♥♥