Lyricality

*waves*

This is sort of ironic, heh. I barely post anyway, but this is a note to say that the self-help, creatively-unblocking program that I've been following for several weeks has an exercise this particular week that involves reading deprivation. Since I do a lot of my reading online, this is going to be a bit difficult for me. Basically, I just wanted to let everyone know that until next Sunday, I won't be following my flists here or on lj, so if something happens that you want me to know about, either private message me, shoot me an email, or catch me on IM.

♥ Wish me luck, heh.

*waves*

I know a lot of my flist are cat owners, and I'm looking for some advice.

Zachy, my big 12 year-old Maine Coon kitty, has been ill since around March of this year. His main symptom is vomiting (and a lot of it), and the vet to which I was originally taking him diagnosed pancreatitis from the bloodwork. He took a full month of steroids painkillers, and seemed to feel a little better, but his pancreatitis test was still positive and the vomiting never entirely stopped. He underwent an x-ray, which showed nothing, and then a second course of medication. This time, when he returned to the vet, the test was negative. Within a week, however, he had started to vomit again.

I was out of town, so my mother took him to a different vet for a second opinion. They did some different blood tests and found that his white blood count was elevated. This vet is treating another cat (also a Maine Coon) who has very similar symptoms, and they are consulting with a specialist.

The doctor is now recommending an ultrasound. I wouldn't necessarily hesitate, except that it costs $450. I'm afraid that like the x-ray, it won't show anything, and I'll just be throwing more money at this problem without getting any answers. The doctor seems to be leaning toward intestinal lymphoma as a diagnosis, but Zachy has already lived longer than most cats who are diagnosed with that (over six weeks), and he isn't acting particularly sick besides the vomiting. He hasn't lost a lot of weight, either (he's a little over 13 lbs, and he's always been around 14 lbs).

The other choice is IBS. In that case, he'll be placed on a very weird, special diet--something like rabbit and green peas. My hesitation there is that I've changed his food twice since this all started, once to Hill Science Diet Sensitive Systems and again to a special prescription wet food, and he'll stop vomiting for a little while and then start right back up again.

Siiiiiiiiiiiigh. Has anyone dealt with either of these diagnoses before? I'm just terribly unsure which path I should take, or if I should get him the ultrasound. Any advice would be helpful.

Urrgh, I have a stupid cold. *snnnrrrkk* *curls up in a tiny ball of pathetic misery* And, of course, I am behind again.

Day 12

In your own space, rec at least three fanworks that you think would make a good intro into XYZ fandom. Rec a fandom overview, a introductory picspam, stories that define and shape the fandom.

( Once upon a time, there was a boy named Charlie Bucket... )

Day 13

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

( Which is my very favorite....? )

Day 14 -
In your own space, ask for help. Need a beta? Always wanted to learn how to make a vid? a fanmix? icons? Maybe you’d want to have someone cheering for you while you work on an upcoming big bang or fannish bingo?

Ummm. Err. What I probably really need is someone who can literally stand behind me and hit me with a stick whenever my attention starts to wander away from writing and toward the internet at large. However, Lady Oneiros does not live close enough to do this in RL, so we will have to rely on semi-frequent online bashings by the Motivation Stick. ow ow OW thank you ♥

We spent yesterday afternoon packing away the Christmas decorations. :{ Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I kind of have trouble letting go of it. (Okay, once when I was maybe six or seven years old, my parents had to wait until I was safely away in the bathroom for a bath before they could take the decorations down. I've become a lot more helpful since then, but I'm probably still just as mopey and pathetic.) I really would leave everything up through January, at least, if I could. T-T I think the saddest part is that once the holidays are over, we still have about...five more months of unrelenting winter here. *goes under a blanket*

And now...two days at once!

Day 7

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Drop a link to your wish-list in this post. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

( I wish, I wish, I wish for a fish... )

Day 8

In your own space, talk about a talent (or talents) you have. Everyone's got something they're good at. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This feels a little repetitive, so I'll keep it brief. Sometimes, I think I'm good at this writing thing. I spend quite a lot of time on it, which is part of the reason that I'm so disappointingly slow at updating anything. I also enjoy it more than pretty much anything else I do. ♥

UGH. So, as background, I work for an agency that provides low-income housing. I've worked with this particular agency in one capacity or another for a couple of years, and I thought that--at this point--I was mostly desensitized to the numerous ways that human beings can be complete douchebags (committing fraud, lying about committing fraud, continuing to lie despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, trashing units for thousands of dollars of damage, stealing all the copper wiring from the unit walls...yeah).

This morning, however, I was reminded that some 'human' beings are literally just chimpanzees walking around in pants.

( More details behind the cut. Warning for extreme EWWWWWWWW. )

On to more pleasant subjects! Like the Snowflake Challenge.

I promise that I did Days 3 and 4, but I wasn't exactly going to post about either one, since both involved introducing yourself to new people. *waves at new friends* ♥

Day 5

In your own space, share something non-fannish you are passionate about with your fannish friends.

( I wish I had pictures, but my phone camera is made of fail. )

I am a sheep! Also I'm trying to be better about updating in general, and this sort of thing lets me update without actually, um, talking about myself. ^-^; Yay?



Day 1

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

( I won't pretend that these are anyone else's ideas of my best work, heh )

piscaria asked for something about Abracadabra...

( A lot more meta than I ever planned to write under this cut. )

I don't know that I really have enough material for this, or if there's any interest, but I've enjoyed reading these as they've shown up on my flist, so!

First five comments, one per person: pick a one-shot or a single chapter from one of my multi-chapter fics and I will do a commentary on it, DVD style, or a meta on that fic if doing it DVD style is too cumbersome. If you post this to your journal, revise as you wish (number of comments, style of commentary, etc.).

My fic is mostly archived over at the_towers, although I've never posted Seven Days there. I guess I should confess that I wrote this on the original kinkmeme thread, too. ^_^; Though I think a lot of people had already guessed, judging by the comments.

Like spacehussy posted, if you just have a question about anything, I'll be glad to answer it rather than post an entire commentary. In that case, I wouldn't count it as one of the five. Whatever you prefer. :3

I can't see DotM until tomorrow night, so I am feeding my gnawing obsession with pictures of pretty cars.

Still the prettiest:
Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano



...I'm imagining that in Hot Rod's paint scheme, because I just can't help myself. Guh.
Ultra Magnus: ...guh.
Kup: ... *stops chomping on his 'cygar' for a moment*
Galvatron: ...Fetch that for me, Cyclonus. It is clearly MINE.

I have today off and I am spending it mostly on writing. YAY.

In order to give me a worthwhile distraction from that lofty goal, here is a meme that I stole from mmouse15:

Pick a character and I will give and explain the top five ideas/concepts/etc I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to accurately depicting them. Any and all characters welcome (including ones I haven't written but might know about...[at least in Transformers, Lyric added]).

Now, time for lunch. :3