Today is the Poetry Fishbowl by ysabetwordsmith. Pop over to her page and suggest a prompt that fits the theme: "If the devil's nicer than the church folks, then we've got a problem." You'll get a free poem in response to your prompt (or at least one prompt if you leave multiple), with the option to sponsor it for public posting so everyone else can see as well. I've done this several times and enjoyed it every time, though I don't always have a prompt in mind. If nothing occurs to you for this theme, you can still do what I'm doing and boost the signal! Every boost reveals a verse of the "linkback poem", hosted over at dialecticdreamer. Everyone wins!

Blowing the dust off this journal for a boost: Today is the Magpie Monday prompt call at dialecticdreamer’s page! Hop on over, suggest an idea connected to the theme of milestones, and get a short story in return. It's that simple!

Hi folks! *blows dust off journal...again*

I have no idea if anyone is still looking at this, but if you are, you may be interested in the sale going on over at ysabetwordsmith's.  She writes serial poetry, basically stories with a poetic rhythm and line breaks, and this week she's having a half-price sale on her "Frankenstein's Family" universe.  The premise goes like this:  What if Igor decided to work for Doctor Frankenstein, not through force or fear, but because they were both looked at as outcasts in their first homes?  Because Victor, though a man, was born Victoria?  What if, instead of creating a "monster" they instead created a child, because neither man expected to have one the usual way?  Frankenstein's Family follows them, and village above which Victor's castle sits, as they try to learn new ways of being family, and bring science, medicine, and compassionate friendship to the villagers as needed.

I enjoy all the poems I've read in it so far, and I suspect many of you will too.  If you'd like to read the already-posted ones, you can find them at http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/frankensteins-family.html.  Enjoy!

Hey there, people.  Just posting a quiz I came across today, actually through ohginnyfan sometime in October 2004, which entries I came to through a fic exchange she did with aggiebell90 around the same time.  Possibly this will kick off my week of constant posting which I've considered several times.  Knowing me, though, probably not. ;-)
Anyhow, on to the quiz:

Hogwarts Sorting Hat: Based on Myers-Briggs Personality Typing

Your Result

You are a RAVENCLAW!
As a Ravenclaw and as an NTP, you are intellectual, independent, and value excellence in yourself and in those around you. You have a strong sense of curiosity, and in general can see many aspects of a single issue or debate. You have a strong drive to acquire knowledge and set very high standards for yourself and those around you. You enjoy being challenged, and can accept constructive criticism without taking it personally. You are probably at least somewhat unconventional, and will not usually follow authority for its own sake; instead, you will consider the issue at hand and make a decision for yourself.

Quiz link  

Odd to get Ravenclaw these days, but it does fit fairly well.  I'm not sure which is best between this result and the one for NFP:

... you value imagination, ideas and intelligence. You are probably somewhat of an individualist and avoid conforming just for its own sake. You are insightful and perceptive, and since you are empathetic and value harmony, you usually try to avoid conflict. Of course, you may enjoy participating in heated debates, but only as long as they remain on an intellectual level and not a personal level. In general, you are open-minded and curious, and set high standards for yourself.

Some of the Hufflepuff ones have well-fitting parts as well, but I'm not sure if they're better as a whole.  I may have to retake it another day and see if anything different comes up.

This was written as a drabble for sueatducksfoot.  The prompt was something happens in the Room of Requirement.  It's nowhere near still a drabble, but I believe I did manage to keep it to exactly 800 words.

( Enough talk, show me fic! )

Hey, everyone. Something a bit different this time, my first complete Doctor Who story. Well, unless you count Seuss. This ficlet was written as a continuation of the last of these three drabbles byladychi. It takes place during the early events of Rose. I've included the last line of Chi's at the start (600 words exactly, otherwise. Hee.) so I think the ficlet will stand alone if you wish, but please do go read her work as well. Powerful stuff. In fact you may notice I started this in the comments at the time, but I thought about it again last night and the rest of the words finally came this morning.

So then, without further ado, here is the Doctor(  Finding Trouble )

Breaking yet another journal silence here, and this one's a big one.  The idea was to write this post tomorrow, as I really shouldn't  be up, but it's three AM and this stuff has been rattling about in my brain for over an hour now, trying to get its points in order.  As I expect you all know, the United States finally (!) held its election today (yesterday?) and I clearly have too many American friends, because it's affected my daily life already. :-P

Various things came up while chatting in the aftermath, among them one of those sorts of lovely controversial topics that I'd really prefer to shy away from: abortion.  Now, if you're like me and would rather not get into it, or if you think yourself likely to turn redder than is healthy and/or otherwise snap, please feel free to skip over this post and go look at some of the neat pictures or amusing things from earlier in my journal.  If for some reason you feel an interest in what I have to say, and can confine yourself to one or two line comments or in some other fashion hang on to the modes of polite discourse and sweet reason, by all means read on. 

Warnings: I'll admit right now that I've done little to no research, and have no practical knowledge of the existing abortion laws in either Canada or the USA.  Everything in here is simply musing I've done and what I think about things.  I'll attempt not to generalise, but I very much suspect some will squeak through.

The first point I'd like to bring up that bugs me is how it manages to be such a controversial issue in the first place.  It always seems to come up around elections, and most of the rest of the time no one but extremists on either side or people actually dealing with it think about it at all.  Or it's possible that's just me.  At any rate, it isn't by any stretch a proper debate; both sides have positions and almost always seem to end up talking past each other to no effect.  Just look at the camp names: 'pro-choice' and 'pro-life'.  Now, nowhere in 'pro-choice' does it say anything about 'anti-life' or 'pro-death'.  'Pro-life' may perhaps be 'anti-choice' if you define that particular choice very specifically, but it's certainly not 'anti-will' or 'pro-mindless-sheepdom'.  They aren't arguing the same point.  It's like one person going "porridge and orange juice is a good breakfast" and a second guy coming up and saying "I disagree; strawberry jam is good on toast"--and then making a major political froufrah out of it.  They aren't exclusive; I could easily eat both porridge and strawberry toast in the same week, even the same meal.

In fact, that seems to be where I find myself in the whole debate, relatively pointless though I may think it is, and I sometimes wonder how many others might be the same.  I'm a pro-lifer sandwiched in a pro-choice worldview, or to put it another way, I'm pro-choice by principle, but I believe the right choice is not having an abortion.  I believe very strongly in free will; that we as a species were designed to make choices, make our own way, and in so doing make more of ourselves.  Sometimes that doesn't turn out so well.  I could certainly wish that no-one had ever heard of or invented abortion, but now that it's happened, and it is known, someone, somewhere is going to give it a shot, even if they have no idea what they're really doing.  One of the points I brought up earlier was to say that in my world abortion would only apply when it's certain the mother would die without it and unlikely the child would live.  Even there that has to be a family choice, as that mother may well choose to give her life in the hope of increasing her child's slim chance, but it is, regardless, their choice to make.  Thinking about it further tonight, the sort of situation I was envisioning was almost-full-term grave complications, which might well be a situation for C-section, not abortion.  Nevertheless, just because I can't think of a medical situation that fits those perameters doesn't mean such a thing wouldn't exist.  Life is a very precious thing.  No child's life should be worth less than it's mother's; yet neither should a mother's life be worth less than that of her child.  Every family is different, and so too are the situations with in them to be ataken into account.

I would much prefer there be no abortion.  But I also very much doubt, as I said, that knowing the possibility someone won't try it.  Granting that, I would much prefer it only be tried by licensed, well-trained doctors with a weath of information of the other options possible on hand, access to the adoption and foster-care systems for those who make that choice, and a mandate to discuss those options, help any process along, and provide safe, sterilised, adjudged medically necessary abortions as a last resort to those who choose them.

Does that make me pro-life, or pro-choice?  I really have no idea.  But there I am.

For no particular reason, but why not?  This one's taken from ladychi.

Would​ you like to put last night​ on repea​t,​ and live it forev​er?
Hmm, I don't know.  Possibly, but I don't think it really warrants that.  Get boring eventually.

What’​s the great​est thing​ that happe​ned to you today​?​
Honestly, rereading the ficlets I've posted in here.  I have distance enough now that I can read them and think 'Hey, that one was pretty good.'  I'm almost to the point of finishing the website I've been working on, which will be exciting, but I haven't done it yet.  And being me, I keep finding more things to tinker with.

Would​ you rathe​r get up early​ or sleep​ in?
Mostly, sleep in.  Depends if there's something I'm getting up for.

What are you excit​ed about​?​ Why?
Finishing the website, as I said; doing another podcast; it's rather exciting to have the house to myself today, though I don't expect to do that much with it. ;-)

Would​ you rathe​r smile​ over a lie or cry over the truth​?​
Chi got it: I'd rather be moved to tears by truth.

Ever staye​d up all night​ on the phone​?​
Nope, never.  I've stayed up on the internet, though, and it did include an IRC chat.

Does it take a lot to make you cry?
Usually, yes.

What’​s somet​hing that someo​ne can do that reall​y bothe​rs you?
Hmm.  Most likely there are things, of course, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.  Being hateful and/or obtuse?

Do you wish you were famou​s?​
I really don't know.  I'd be terribly flattered and excited if I were, but also horribly embarrassed.  I would hope it's for something I did well, at the least.

Be hones​t,​ do you like peopl​e in gener​al?
Yes, I do.  Mobs can be terribly stupid, a person can be twisted and dark, but people really are wonderful.

Are you named​ after​ a famil​y membe​r?​
Yes, if my middle name counts.

Have you cried​ today​?​
No, I haven't.

What'​s the conne​ction​ betwe​en you and the last perso​n that calle​d you?
Fanfic, actually.

What would​ I find if I looke​d under​ your bed?
A watch, half a blanket that fell out last night, dust...

How is your heart​?​
Doing pretty well, I think.  And it is an oddly phrased question.

Do you enjoy​ writi​ng?​
I do, when it works. :-)  I procrastinate and set it aside far too much.

Song that alway​s makes​ you sad?
Hmm.  I can't really think of a song that fits that.

One of your stuff​ed anima​ls’ names​ as a kid?
Oh, now, which one?  Noelle the cat (named for Christmas), Natalie dog (named after two of my aunts), Woody T. Bear (named who knows why)?

Did you take piano​ lesso​ns?​
I did.  Wish I'd kept at them and been less bored.  There's all sort of intruments I'd like to play without having to learn how. ;-)

Favor​ite fruit​?​
Hard choice, there's a lot of fruit I like.  Many of them are treats, like grapes for example.  Day to day it'd probably be apples.

Do you screa​m on rolle​r coast​ers?​
Not a whole lot, but then I've not been on real ones much.  I probably do sometimes.

When did you go to your first​ funer​al?​
Hm.  When my paternal grandfather died I think.  I would've been...three? five? somewhere in there.

What all did you do today​?
Slept in, read my book, had blueberries and cereal, worked on the website, had lunch, worked some more, saw off my parents, headed here.

Where​ did you go on your first​ airpl​ane ride?​
Kingston Ontario.

Who was your first​ best frien​d and are you still​ frien​ds with them?​
Ian Hessdorfer, kindergarten.  Sadly, not really.  Different provinces now.

You see a shoot​ing star,​ do you make a wish?​
Most probably yes.

Has it come true yet?
I've yet to see one.

​Are you a big fan of snows​torms​ or thund​ersto​rms?​
Both, assuming I can be warm and dry inside. :-)

When it rains​,​ do you go out and start​ to dance​?​
Haven't yet, no.

Think​ back to your last hug, when and who was it with?​
My mom as they left this morning.

Are you happy​?​
I am. :-)

Here's yet more; figured I'd split these posts up a bit.