Mania

[thrihyrne]

It's amazing what a person can get done when she wakes up at 4:15 a.m., and actually gets out of bed at 5, since busy brain has taken over and I've done all the thinking I can about avatars with the Weasley twins and wondering what Remus and Sirius would look like in my mind, and realizing that a new story is now bubbling on a back burner thanks to musesfool and her "The Hours" series based on the hours of the monastic services, except mine won't be HP-based; instead, I'd like to pick the day before the battle of the Pelennor fields, perhaps, and through the day each vignette would focus on different people at those hours: Denethor, sleepless at 3 a.m., pacing in Minas Tirith, or perhaps visiting Faramir (or is Denethor already toast; sheesh, I can't remember, must look at the appendix); Eowyn awake, listening to Merry snore in his sleep at 5 a.m. (or whenever the next service is; after going on retreat to a monastery twice you'd think I'd remember); an Elf, Thranduil maybe, during their battle up in the north but I've got to look at the timeline in LotR to get it all straight...

But could be fun. ARGH! Not another story.

Since 5 a.m. (it's now 8:25) I have, in no particular order:
-written a reply letter to a Christmas card from the mother of my friend who committed suicide
-made & written a thank you note to my aunt for my birthday gift ($10 Starbucks card. Woot!)
-written a thank you note/3 page letter to an ex boyfriend whose birthday is 5 days prior to mine (dear friend got me a used copy of "The Road from Coorain." He has excellent and accurate taste as I do already have a copy)
-packaged up a copy of my AHD soundtrack in a cool calendar page I saved for another dear Tolkien fanfiction writer, edrys
-taken a shower
-vacuumed the house

I had hoped to make a bit of progress on my R/S story which is getting a bit hot and heavy, and I'm listening to Cousteau to foster that, as the lead singer's voice, like Michael Hutchense's, just oozes silky/subtle sex. But I have to go to work by 9, so I guess I won't get anything written. Damn.

Last night I treated myself to lupercali's story "Vector." I adore it as I do "And Still," though they are exceedingly different in tone. Actually, I appreciate "And Still" more for its sheer level of dark, and the more convoluted side of this thing known as trying to understand oneself.
This morning while vacuuming I found myself musing again about romance and fanfiction. To my mind, "Vector" is Romance personified; and as much as I like men as a gender, and I have met and known and occasionally loved some who are capable of as much introspection and self-knowledge as Pru has written in for Sirius Black, I don't think it's at all realistic. But if I wanted realistic, I wouldn't be reading fanfiction, now would I? I drool over her writing style. There was a sentence in another story of hers I read recently that I saved as its own document so I could go back to it, and even showed it to my husband. (whoops, sorry- it's from Minx, another R/S writer) "As a writer," I said, pointing to the screen, "I wish I had written that. That is a perfect shade of brilliant. Gah." Said sentences were these:

Remus was really astoundingly drunk. Impressively, astonishingly drunk, with a side of bastard to go with the mix.

Who needs reality when you can read extraordinarily eloquent phrases such as "The sound elicited an uncomfortable acceleration in his chest, and a clockwork warmth that spread to the tips of his fingers and through his skin like dawn creeping across a floor."

Good lord. I want to feel that in real life. (That was Pru's, BTW)

In the meantime, I think I'll try and get Sirius properly shagged and get this one R/S story out of my system, then retreat to my more comfortable land of Tolkien and more staid emotional landscape, where much more is hinted than explicated. And I am already well-versed in the arcana.

It's snowing! Beautiful, heavy flakes, dancing through the sky. Last night when I left work (had to be at a Sneak Preview of "The Pirates of Penzance" which opens on Friday) it was 53 degrees. Now it's 28. Ridiculous weather.

But the snow is pretty.

Also received a gorgeous letter/card/CD from dear friend jensa last night. I have written 2/3 of a 4 page letter in reply in my head already, so be very afraid. :D Being able to communicate with her so frequently and from our rather great geographical distance makes my heart ache. It's almost as though I've been able to move closer, in that we are able to know so much about each other's daily lives and with much more frequency, and since we're both longtime stalwart snailmail letter writers, this writing medium is perfect. But it makes me want to pick up the phone and just ring her, as though there weren't a 15 hour time difference. It just doesn't seem that far away right now.

Must go- I'm still in my pj's and need to be at the office in 15 minutes! Whoops.

Comments

[jensa.livejournal.com]

yay! glad the package got there ok. let me know what you think of the CD - it was recommended by the ABC folks and they are usually pretty good. the a capella aspect also lured me in. won't say too much otherwise might talk self out before can reply to your next snail-mail... ;) [could this possible??]

and don't pick up the phone! you'll break the magic spell...lol. remember the microphone, k. I'll have the set-up in Melb and you and I can talk till we're sick of one another...

am lovin' this lj stuff.
but is my work getting done...?!