h2_test

Tiny word-meter thingy for my scifibigbang fic:

5500 / 25000 words. 22% done!

This doesn't count the 12.5k words that I had written BEFORE I started the challenge. Of course, now I have to write nearly 20k in about a month. Erm - yeah, wonder how well that'll work. *glares at story with plot that just won't MOVE forward for me* I have plot pieces, but the pieces just don't want to get written - or something. *headdesk*


For kink_bingo, I've updated my card tracking post... everything that's finished is sitting in a beta-stage. I have 2 WIPs and lots of ideas. But, I keep having to shove my focus at the bigbang fic so I can get that one finished first.

Why did I decide to do both of these at the same time again???


quick eta: :( Mike Modano won't be playing for the Stars next year. If he plays at all, it won't be in Dallas - except as a visitor. But if he doesn't play, he'll most likely be in management for the Stars. *sigh* I'm very glad I got to see him play several times at live games - woulda been more had the NHL not fucked the scheduling after the last lock-out. *heavysigh* And I'd like to see him play more... even as not-a-Star, though I'm thinking he won't play anywhere else. He's been with the Stars organization for 22 years. But, hey, hockey's surprised me before.

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$local_milb opening day was a rain-out... as in, it's still raining 2.5 hrs after the game was supposed to start. So, opening day is now tomorrow. Maybe it won't rain again.


And, NHL - tonight is, possibly, Mike Modano's last home game as a Dallas Star (possibly as an NHL player). There's one more game for the Stars tomorrow night, then that's it, b/c they're out of the playoffs. (If they're higher than 11th in their conference, I'd be surprised - I haven't checked lately.) If he's planning to retire, he says he's not deciding until sometime in the summer.

This makes me sad. Mike's why I started watching the Stars. He's one of the few players who hasn't moved away from the team the whole time I've been following them. Langenbrunner is in NJ; Nieuwendyk retired; Ludwig retired; Sydor left, came back, left again; Zubov's path is a lot like Sydor's, 'cept he's now retired from the NHL and playing in Russia; Hatcher left for Detroit, then retired... all gone. :( Morrow and Lehtinen are about the only other ones left. Though Nieuwendyk is part of the management staff for Dallas and Ludwig is doing some commentary stuff. =) It's just not the same.

I've been to about eight NHL games - 2 NY Rangers, the rest Stars - so I've gotten to see my boys play (including Gretzky at those 2 Ranger games - why d'you think I went? XD). But with this year - 3 of these guys might not be back next season. (Lehtinen and Turco, along w/ Modano)

I think what makes it harder to deal with is that since the whole 'hullabulloo' between ABC/ESPN and the NHL regarding televising, I haven't been able to watch games like I used to. (online streaming wouldn't have been much help until a year or so ago, b/c we still had dial-up - even radio broadcasts were annoying on dial-up) I want my hockey guys to stick around for a while longer.

The nice thing is, Modano wants to keep working with the Stars organization, so, he likely won't go far. But, I think a lot of what he'll do will depend on whether or not the Stars decide to renew his contract or not.

Gotta wait and see.


minor ETA: I'm better than 1/2-way through Changes... it's really hard to read and watch hockey at the same time... reading and other TV, no problem, reading and hockey? Harder. Why?

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I don't find this one nearly as bad as the Rebok ad I saw a few months ago, b/c this particular ad could've been fine w/o one damned line...

This is an ad for Jack-in-the-Box. I've never been to one, have no idea what the food is like or the staff or anything else, so none of that had any influence at all.

This isn't the exact ad I saw - this is the longer version - but it's the one I could find on YouTube:



That line at the end - yeah, that one doesn't need to be there for the ad to work. There are any number of things that could've been said. Why do they feel the need to pull this kind of crap?

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On a totally non-fail-y note: The Dallas Stars aren't sucking at hockey tonight. This is a good thing, given recent play-age.

Modano's still out after his apendectomy, but the rest of the team seems to be doing okay. And currently, no word on when Modano's coming back - if he's back at all during the regular season.

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It's not quite fired, but it's certainly in need of some time in the corner.

People in this town canNOT drive. The one grocery store in town that carries Vanilla Coke was out of Vanilla Coke! (this is a bad thing) Then Starbucks didn't have cream cheese for my bagel. This after more people with a lack in driving skills. Ugh. Bad today.


On a better note - hockey! The Stars play tonight and the first of the Olympic hockey games is tonight too - Sweden and Switzerland, I think. Hockey is always good! And Canada and the US in the final would rock! *g* Though, is it a bad thing that I'm almost pulling more for Canada than the US?

And I caught the replay of the Opening Ceremonies - and Peter Forsberg walked out carrying the flag for Sweden. Him I recognized, Jagr? Not so much.


And, I still hate the Kia Sorento commercials.

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technically, hockey 'uniform' talk... as in, what were they thinking in Minnesota when they switched to this -> link to image of Minnesota Wild player in their latest uniform of choice.

Is this an aim at going 'throwback'? Or did Santa's elves design the uniform? Sure, the Coyotes (as also seen in the above shot) have done something similar, but not in the same color scheme.

I am so glad the Stars went with black as their main color, rather than green, because - wow. (We won't talk about how not well the Stars have been playing this game of hockey of late.)

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No, no hockey photos yet - they're coming. Had to have the film processed - OMG! YES! I still use ordinary film! B/c I can't afford a digital SLR just yet... not even with the Canon Loyalty program... (unless someone wants to happily slip me $300USD *g*). Anyway - hockey photos forthcoming. Possibly as early as later tonight.


Rockapella [see http://www.rockapella.com for details if you're not overly familiar with the group] has had another line-up change. They seem to do this every now and then, so it's becoming kind of familiar, but it's still a rough gig, since they seem to have lost/gained a member every year for the last couple here lately. There are now zero remaining originating band members since Elliot Kerman left last year (or the year before, I can't remember exactly). Which is kind of sad, but the group still knows how to put a tune together!

Personally, I still miss Sean Altman. I *love* his vocal range and the quirky lyrics he puts together. (He's off doing his own solo thing, but it's just not the same - see http://www.seanaltman.com for his solo work.) He's one of the founding members, along with Kerman and a couple other guys whose names I don't remember. When I first saw the group it was the line-up of Altman, Kerman, Scott Leonard and Barry Carl, with the later addition of Jeff Thacher (no 't' in the middle! *g*) when they were on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (WITWICS after this, b/c OMG so long to type!). Altman left shortly after WITWICS was canceled, so they brought in Kevin Wright. A couple years back Carl left and they brought in George Baldi (who has a wicked-awesome deep bass voice), then Kerman left and in came John K. Brown - who I haven't actually heard sing much yet. Now Wright's leaving and Steve Dorian is coming on board. I can't say much about him b/c all I have to go on is the latest version of "White Christmas" Rockapella has up on their website.

The link for that is here: White Christmas video and MP3 download. That's right - you can even download an MP3 copy of it! =)

If their nearest concert to my location hadn't coincided with my Stars game, I might have gone to a concert too. Dammit, why does everything I wanna do always happen all at the same damn time? C'mon planning people - spread shit out so I can do more stuff and have more time between things to find the funds!

Anyway - enjoy Rockapella's "White Christmas", and if anyone's interested in sampling other Rocka-goodness, let me know and I'll dig up some links. XD

ETA b/c I have goldfish-brain today: I've also created a feed for Rockapella updates: rockapella_news_feed

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Okay - now that I'm high on blackberry wine fumes from where Mom was dousing the Hermit cake... whoa -

Thank you to diamond9697 and katernater for the virtual cookies! yay!


That's the extent of the 'yay' though. I have to work 2hrs over at work 3 days this week - which means I don't get to leave until 0200 (usually leave at 0000). :( The money part will be nice, but the staying there that long won't be. We tend to get really punchy around 0130. It doesn't get better after that. 10hr days are just too long - ugh.


Oh - forgot to update the countdown!


Dominica Vacation Guide

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Made Red Velvet cupcakes again. Yes. The same ones from the last time. The Red Velvet cupcakes of awesome! Mom made a cheesecake. And much of dinner/lunch tomorrow is prep'd and ready.

I have to work, so we're eating around 1400 or so (which, since my time schedule is shifted, is still nearly breakfast for me, but that's okay. It also means I can pack some up to take for dinner at work too.

At some point I'll be making a cheeseball. And later - lots and lots of cookies.


I need to work on my Yuletide assignment. I've done a little, but I need to find some time to focus on it. Cool thing is - I think I have an idea. So, go me! XD


Stars currently are tied w/ the Blues at the end of the 1st/start of the 2nd.... let's see how that goes.


Also, I have mentioned that hockey game I'm going to, right? Dec 16th!

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countdown clock thingy ->


Dominica Vacation Guide

ignore the 'vacation' part... it's the best one I could find that didn't use Flash

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I think I'm getting my hockey-groove back. (thanx to wychwood and rihani for the mini-boost!) It's been a few years since I've actively followed the NHL - what with ESPN screwing the league over some time back (well, that was part of it - we won't get into that) and RL and stuff... but - need to get back in the groove. Need to learn who all plays for my team now and see if I can track down the guys I still follow who've wandered elsewhere.

So, I managed to catch the last period of the Stars/Leafs game tonight on the audio feed - hey, I had to watch Monsters vs. Aliens - Mutant Pumpkins from Space! - and yay! Hockey!

( Hockey game stuff )

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