jain

I just had a telemedicine appointment with the gastroenterologist. Her office called at about 9:30 this morning, to ask if I was available for a 10:30 appointment, and I said yes.

The diagnosis is collagenous colitis, which I already knew from MyChart. The good news is that it's both benign and curable. The treatment will be nine weeks of budosenide pills, starting at three/day for the first three weeks, then two/day for the next three weeks, and a final three weeks of one/day. Those are to be taken with food, and in the morning because it's related to steroids and can interfere with sleep.

The most common risk factors for this kind of colitis are being a woman over sixty, and regular use of NSAIDs. Therefore, Dr. Morgan wants me to talk to Carmen about whether there's a plausible alternative to me taking naproxen almost every day, but she did say there may not be, since tylenol doesn't work the same way and may not be effective for the hip and knee pain I'm using it for.

I asked about continuing the Imodium and the fiber capsules, and Dr. Morgan said I could stop using them when the budosenide starts to be effective for the diarrhea, which might be within a week. I told her that the combination of Imodium and fiber is working well enough that I may not notice a difference, so the tentative plan is to wait at least a week, then pick a day or two when I won't need to go out, and try stopping the Imodium. (Adrian pointed out that I'm currently taking two pills twice a day, so I could try halving the dose and see how I feel. That sounds plausible, but I'm going to ask Dr Morgan if she thinks that's worth doing.

Also, a significant number of people with collagenous colitis also have celiac, so she wants to test me for that. I asked, and it's a straightforward blood draw, which I can do at my convenience: I don't need to wait until after getting blood drawn to start on the new medication.

She is sending the prescription to CVS, and told me to call her office if there's any problem with the insurance company.

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Posted by Mariel Ruvinsky

https://cheezburger.com/40672517/a-dog-person-got-adopted-by-kitten-20-wholesome-cat-adoption-stories-for-a-pawsitivity-day

Happy meowrning, everyone, and welcome back to the cutest thing you will see on the internet all week. This is one of our favorite segments to write, because it is just so full of pawsitivity and wholesomeness. It makes us happy to make it, and it makes you happy to read through it. Because there is not a single cat person out there who would not smile at a whole bunch of cats finding their furrever homes. It's time to meet the newly adopted faces of the week, everyone!

Every single week, we bring you a whole new collection of the cutest, newest cat adoption stories on the web. And every single week, seeing these felines find their homes brings us so much so, so every single week, we say thank you to you guys - to each and every person who adopted. And as always, an even bigger thank you goes out to everyone who adopted the "impurrfect cats" - the senior cats, the sick cats, the cats that have behavioral issues, and every other feline who needs a little more care than most. You have done an amazing thing, and we wish you all many happy and healthy years together.

https://cheezburger.com/40672517/a-dog-person-got-adopted-by-kitten-20-wholesome-cat-adoption-stories-for-a-pawsitivity-day

Posted by Ayala Sorotsky

https://cheezburger.com/10505731584/dont-listen-to-the-dog

It'a tough to engage with the world and its events when the media largely pursues a bread-and-circuses approach in order to catch attention. I realize that that attitude doesn't come out of nowhere, that human beings do turn to look and linger at a crash site.

But it does no good whatsoever for anyone to feel my heart tearing in pieces over any news coming out of Washington DC, either engendered by the assclowns currently infesting governmental centers, or in the environs (the recent shooting) so my intention to ostrich becomes more vigorous. What's more, the spouse, who usually watches the news every waking moment, even turned off the yatter yesterday.

I try to fill my time with purpose and pleasure that harms no one. Plan things I hope will bring pleasure to others, like: my sister's seventieth is coming up. I took a slew of our old super eight films to a place to get them converted and color corrected, to surprise her with--I hope. One of those super-eights is from 1948, when the parents' generation were all young, all those voices gone now. Most of the films are from the sixties and early seventies, before my parents split; then they start up again in the eighties with my spouse having bought us a camera.

It's going to take time to convert that stuff--the small box I chose will be just under a grand. Phew. But I've been waiting years for the price to come down, and I figure I daren't wait any longer.

In just for me, I'm busy reworking some very early stories. And realizing that ostriching was a defense mechanism that started in when I was very young, coming out in my passion for escape-reading and for storytelling.

The storytelling urge was very nearly a physical reaction,a kind of invisible claw right behind my ribs, partly that urge, and partly a shiver of anticipation. I can remember it very clearly when I was six years old, in first grade. I already knew how to read, but that was the grade in which public schools in LA taught reading, so I got to sit by myself and draw while the others were taught the alphabet and phonics. Writing stories was laborious, and I got frustrated easily if I didn't know how to spell a word, but I learned fast that adults only had about three words' of patience in them before they chased me off with a "Go play!" or, if I was especially mosquito-ish, "Go clean your room!" or "Wash the dishes!" (That started when I turned 7)

But drawing was easy, and I could narrate to myself as I illustrated the main events. So I did that over and over as the other kids struggled thru Dick and Jane. This became habit, and gave me a focus away from the social evolution of cliques--I do recall trying to make myself follow the alpha girl of that year (also teacher's pet, especially the following year) but I found her interests so boring I went back to my own pursuits.

I do remember not liking the times between stories; I was happiest when the images began flowing, but I never really pondered what that urge was. It was just there. I knew that most didn't have it, and for the most part I was content to entertain myself, except when we had to read our efforts aloud in class, there was an intense gratification if, IF, one could truly catch the attention of the others and please them as well as self. I remember fourth grade, the two class storytellers were self and a boy named Craig. His were much funnier than any of my efforts. Mine got wild with fantasy, which teachers frowned on. I tried to write funny and discovered that it was HARD. It seemed to come without effort to Craig.

In junior high, I finally found a tiny coterie of fellow nerds who like writing, and we shared stories back and forth. Waiting for a friend to come back after reading one and give her reactions made the perils of junior high worth enduring. One of those friends died a couple summers ago, and left her notebooks to me. In eighth/ninth grade, she wrote a Mary Sue self-insert about the Beatles. I have it now--it breathes innocence, and the air of the mid sixties. Maybe I ought to type it up and put it up at A03. I think she'd like it to find an audience, even if it's as small an audience as our tiny group back then.

Anyway, a day is a great day if I have a satisfying project to work on...and I don't have to hear a certain name, which is ALWAYS reprehensible. Always. And yet has a following. But...humans do linger to look at the tcrash site.

Tags:

reverie

Recently

sholio review Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, and as I have long vaguely followed Newport’s career, and also am a choir who loves to be preached to about the problems of productivity culture, I picked it up.

Newport lays out a seeming contradiction I’ve vaguely noticed before but never formulated: the people who find productivity culture most enraging are often, in fact, very productive people, who yearn to achieve great things. But the contradiction is purely a matter of semantics: “productivity culture” enrages such people precisely because it often leads to a kind of distracted busy-ness that makes it hard to actually dig in and accomplish something meaningful.

The problem, Newport explains, is that current productivity culture privileges steady work, and moreover steady work that is pretty close to the outward edge of a worker’s capacity, whereas innovative artistic or academic work by its nature requires more slack. There are periods where you’ll work sixty hours a week (and be happy to do so! The ideas are flowing! Work is the thing you most want to do in the world!) but also periods where you’ll outwardly be doing nothing.

He illustrates the point with stories about artists and scientists from the past: Jane Austen, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, New Yorker feature writer John McPhee. I love reading about people creating things, whether it be a novel or the theory of gravity, so very much enjoyed these interludes.

But my main takeaway from this book is that, although I enjoyed it, it’s not really the book I need right now. My problem in this moment is not “how to step away from meaningless busy-ness toward true accomplishment” but “how do I start writing fiction again?” (Obviously I’m still banging away at book reviews and letters to penpals etc. etc.)

The problem is twofold. One, I haven’t made time to write; and two, I don’t currently have a story I feel an urgent need to tell. I have written some short stories this year (eight currently in the caddy!), and when I’m excited about a story, suddenly it becomes easy to make time to write. But I think that if I were writing more regularly, I’d have more story ideas, perhaps even more long-form story ideas, which is really where my heart lies.

(Actually, the problem is not ideas per se, but ideas I’m so invested in that I’ll keep working through the frustrations inherent in writing a novel. You can scamper through a short story on inspiration alone, but a novel always has bits where you yell “This is the worst story ever written and I am the worst writer ever born!”)

However, if you make time to write and then sit down with nothing you want to write, you may just end up staring out the window at the Canada geese. There’s a bit of a chicken and an egg problem.

But the first step to fixing any problem is to define the problem, so at least I’ve done that?

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theories,
writing

Doing a Friday post, attempt the second.

- My weird life: I was on a bus when it decided the potholes in the road were bomb craters or something and set off a automated repeating voice message alarm: "This bus is under attack. Call 999. This bus is under attack. Call 999." I kept expecting Keanu Reeves to jump aboard. Tangent: it'll never stop being lolarious that the film The Big Bus existed 18 years before Speed.

- Memorable but cringeworthy acronyms: CLANG - connect, learn, be active, take notice, give. So somebody who does all those things is presumably a Clanger? :D

- Friday Five: answers on a post(card) please.

1. What was the best gift you received?
I mean, life from my parents but mostly the 9 months work my mum put in, lol.

2. What was the worst gift you received?
Life? But also the life-threatening infection "given" to me in hospital. Because humans are complicated.

3. What gift did you wish for, but never got?
[redacted]. [also redacted]. Nope, I "give" up! Nothing postable here. ;-)

4. What was the best present you gave?
The "present" moment, which I have given to many people - some of whom appreciated the gift.

5. What was the worst present you gave?
Probably some minor respiratory virus? I hope I haven't done worse than that!

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You all deserve a break from *gestures vaguely at the rest of the internet* so have a completely wholesome podcast for once. "LARP Camp" on Normal Gossip is about two awkward gay counsellors, a neurodivergent evil genius of a child, and a ghost or two.

It's been a challenging transition from Kelsey McKinney to new host Rachelle Hampton, but Rachelle has finally hit her stride with this episode (and the one after it)—it's very funny and her storytelling here does the thing where you're like, "and then what happened?" It helps that the subject matter is up my alley. Anyway, it is incredibly cute so take a break from doomscrolling and give it a listen.

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podcasts

Today is the beginning both of the graduation "stuff" and packing up Mason in earnest.

Tonight is some kind of champaign mixer for parents and.... Wesleyan grads? professors? It's somewhat unclear. Shawn and I are bringing along somewhat fancy dress so that we can look exactly like the scholarship parents we are. And by "bringing along" I mean that we are stuffing our somewhat fancy clothes into a backpack and bringing it along to our real job for thae day: Packing.

Mason has sent a few things home via FedEx early.Things he was not likely to miss, like his winter clothes. Now we triage what we can pack up and send back via some mail service (now that we will have a car, likely USPS, since it should be cheaper) and what absolutely has to come back in the car with us Like most college students, Mason started out with almost nothing and now has an apartment full of things. Wish us luck.

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Posted by Elna McHilderson

https://cheezburger.com/40707077/dude-shares-awwwdorable-pov-of-what-its-like-becoming-a-father-to-a-newborn-kitten-updates-follow

Becoming a father is a very huge responsibility. You have to dedicate a lot of your time and sleep to raising a small being. This is even the case when you become a pet parent. And it's very different types of parenting according to each age. You're not going to parent a newborn the same way you parent a teenager. That's crazy, and weird tbh… Anyway, take this guy who has taken on the position as the father to a newborn kitten.

This isn't his first kitty rodeo, he has always loved cats and already has two of his own! But this kitten is fresh out of the oven. She's itty bitty and very needy. She needs to be fed regularly, stimulated to go to the bathroom, shown lots of love, kept warm, etc. It's not an easy job for just anybody! But this guy is not only up for the challenge, he seems to be enjoying every second of it. He loves being a kitten papa so much, that he documents his days raising the tiny feline friend. POVs of mornings, evenings, and nights with his furry baby. See some below and check out more updates here!

Need another laugh? Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly serving of the silliest cat content!

https://cheezburger.com/40707077/dude-shares-awwwdorable-pov-of-what-its-like-becoming-a-father-to-a-newborn-kitten-updates-follow

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: Genfic, John Sheppard & Rodney McKay, Original female character
Rating: G
Length: 8103
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: Sholio on AO3, Sholio's own site City on the Ocean's Edge
Themes: Angst with a happy ending, Friendship, Families of choice

Summary: The old guy in Room 30B was about the most disagreeable human being that the nurses had ever met. But he did get visitors, including a retired Air Force Colonel.

Reccer's Notes: This is told through the outsider POV of a young volunteer nurse at a retirement home, writing out what happened - for herself, but she tells it as though talking to her mother, who died some time before. Because of that, it's not at first as angsty as it might be, as she doesn't initially like or care about the cantankerous old guy in room 30B. That changes a little as the story progresses, and of course, we feel the angst even if she doesn't, knowing this is Rodney who's old, increasingly frail, and basically dying, while John, not quite as aged and infirm, watches helplessly. Despite herself, the young volunteer gets invested in Rodney, partly as she has enough spirit to stand up to him, which he likes. Also, before he gets really ill he tutors her in his abrasive way as she's had a difficult life and is studying for her high school diploma hoping to eventually go to med school - but until Rodney helps, she's not doing too well. Eventually there's a happy ending, but not before those closest to Rodney like John, Sam, and Elizabeth have grieved for him and come close to despair. Luckily, Teyla and Ronon are on the case, back in Pegasus. The ending is very satisfying, where we see what becomes of Annie, the volunteer nurse who cared for Rodney and put up with him at his worst.

Fanwork Links: Old Soldiers Die Hard

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Going home today!

Seriously, I like travel, but not when work comes on top of it. Although being away from Sydney for the last two weeks has been good - the rain that is flooding northern NSW is also raining down in Sydney, albeit not as hard.

May need to check up in the roof cavity tomorrow to get an idea of how it's going up there. Might need to do a bunnings trip first for some decent lighting.

(ps. It's been raining pretty hard in Sydney the last couple of weeks. We're due for a few days' break shortly, just as I get back, hopefully enough to get the garden sorted out)

--

Last day on client site in Melbourne. Next week we're being included on the meetings (theoretically) and told about the issues that arise. And so begins the battle for (office) supremacy…

(ugh. I ate too much breakfast too fast and now I am having regret. Or indigestion. *burp*)

One of the issues in any translation from development to support is starting to recognise the issues that are arising and which ones are going to be perennial problem. There's also the manner in which we take on those issues.

I am a "we'll take it as it comes" kind of person.

My colleague (who is the team lead in this instance) is a "prepare for everything" kind of person.

So we are doing a lot of work to map everything out, determine what is going on, identify where things are happening, and look at possible solutions for issues that are not yet happening, but which might.

I personally tend to think that's a waste of time, but I am perhaps a little bit like the guy whose roof never leaks when it doesn't rain. Also, a lot of guys on the tech monitoring side tend to want pages and pages of directions. (Pages and pages of directions sends me to sleep.)

I'd rather dig out the issue myself than be fed what someone else thinks it is. Of course, that isn't how most support guys tend to think of it. And the up-tops really hate the "trust the techs, they know how to fix it" - which, granted, they often would find that maybe the techs in question don't know how to fix it as knowledge is lost between one support group to the next.

Next week, the processing of handing over the reins is supposed to begin. Whether it does, how much of it actually is given to us, and how we handle it? That's another question. I kind of miss the days of my last client, where if there was a problem, I would mostly fix it on my own cognisance. Then again, the system of the last client was set up to expect issues like this and things which might fall through. This client is a lot more insistent that every little issue be logged. I'm bad at that...

Oh well, colleague is on top of that at least. I guess I'm going to have to get up to speed on what's required to do this, that, and the other…

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work

Title: Deal

Artist:

leecetheartist

Rating: G

Fandom: Based on this story by

rdm https://aus.social/@rdm/113932602027808564
Characters/Pairings: n/a

Summary: A mermaid offers a deal

Content Notes:

rdm caught me as I was going out to MerMay and reminded me of a short story he'd written a while back, and suggested it as a prompt for today's drawing. You can read it and see if I caught the mood. Drawn with a water brush and three fountain pens. The rashy is done with Memory Lane, which is a shimmer, also seen Golden Lapis and Azure Kingfisher, and for the skin tone it's Robert Oster Terra Fuego I think.

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Happy birthday,

szandara!

Got any Follow Friday-related posts to share this week? Comment here with the link(s).

Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die".

Current Mood: busy

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followfriday

My first time reading about Hannibal of Carthage! Ernle Bradford's Hannibal is a decent intro and well-written, though after reading stuff by Mary Beard and others, it makes the lack of visible scholarship within Bradford's book stand out a bit. He does occasionally mention when Livy and Polybius' takes of Hannibal contradict each other, and does do some speculation on which route Hannibal and his brother may have taken into Italy, but otherwise it mostly presents things to be fact, right down to quotes that Hannibal was reported to have said. (By whom!) Which makes it good for an intro reader like me, but doesn't get into the nitty gritty or discuss other causes and effects of Hannibal's campaign except the overarching consequence that in the aftermath, Rome's influence in the Mediterranean increased and grew out into an empire.

Something like 80% of the book's content covers Hannibal's decade-and-half campaign in Italy, with particular focus on war tactics. It's generalizing to say that male historians enjoy focusing a great deal on the minutiae of war tactics in the biographies they write, yet that is a mild pattern I'm seeing. I would like to know more about the Hannibal's world and the political machinations of Rome in resisting and eventually repelling him. Because Bradford does present the opinion that Hannibal's wartime strategy in Italy was sound for invasion but not for consolidation, and it's the strength of Rome's political institutions that allowed them to resist Hannibal for over a decade of warfare without capitulation or destruction, but those processes are what I would liked to know more about. I would also love to know more about how fear of Hannibal impacted Roman society! But that's a minor thing, and not necessary for an intro read of the topic.

On a very basic note, the times being what they are, whenever Hannibal's father gets mentioned I have to forcibly read Hamilcar as a name instead of a Pixar AU of Hamilton.

Current Mood: hot

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1. Biggles - Biggles/EvS flirting/pre-ship + a long-suffering Algy

Prompt: EvS flirts with a mark to distract him, and Biggles has Feelings about it?

Originally posted here

( 500 words of flirting and Algy making faces about it )

2. Biggles - Erich + Biggles enemy-era h/c

Prompt: Biggles is giving his standard "You're too good for this, reconsider your nefarious ways" speech to EvS but wholly unexpectedly/uncharacteristically EvS just starts crying in response (feverish delirium? drugged? exhausted? drunk?) and now a flummoxed Biggles has to contend with a sobbing nemesis and (horror) Emotions

Originally posted here

( 1000 words of awkward crying )

3. Babylon 5 - Susan & Delenn post-series

Prompt: Susan / Delenn after the show ends. You might have to wait to finish the whole thing for full context. Anything. They just deserve to be happy.

(The resulting fic is basically gen, but could be pre-ship.)

Originally posted here

( 500 words of gentle post-canon bonding )

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1. Lots of driving today as I had to go down to the San Diego store, but the drive itself wasn't bad and I got a lot of audiobook listening in, and things seem to be improving at the store, so hopefully that keeps up.

2. Yesterday I found Jasper with his arms around Ollie's neck for grooming, and he kept pausing in the grooming but keeping his hold on Ollie and Ollie honestly just loved it.

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Posted by Lana DeGaetano

https://cheezburger.com/40684037/im-not-getting-rid-of-a-cat-whos-been-with-me-longer-than-our-marriage-husband-refuses-to-re-home

Cats are a part of our families once we sign our names on the adoption papers' dotted lines. If you come to an agreement with those you live with, especially your spouse or partner, they can't suddenly rip that agreement to shreds seven years later—that would be absurd. Pawrents know that our felines are our prized children, and we aren't willing to re-home any animal we've been with if they're not a problem in the household. The only problem in this next story is the pawrent's wife, who is telling him to re-home his cat after seven years of ownership.

The wife's reasoning is that she is pregnant and now worried about toxoplasmosis, which in most cases is safely preventable. Many pregnant women get up close and personal with their felines, and the husband thinks this is a copout reason. He explains that his wife never really wanted to bond with their cat, Milo, but understood he was part of the deal. There's no getting rid of one of his feline children—and he makes sure she knows that.

https://cheezburger.com/40684037/im-not-getting-rid-of-a-cat-whos-been-with-me-longer-than-our-marriage-husband-refuses-to-re-home

Another Thursday, another recs post!

Do you have a rec for this week? Just reply to this post with something queer or queer-adjacent (such as, soap made by a queer person that isn't necessarily queer themed) that you'd, well, recommend. Self-recs are welcome, as are recs for fandom-related content!

Or have you tried something that's been recced here? Do you have your own report to share about it? I'd love to hear about it!

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community: thursday recs

I seem to have spent much of this day driving in a nor'easter, when all the potholes overflowed and every other driver in between the streaming gutters drove like a hydroplaning yak. I got to see

rushthatspeaks and secured a new inhaler and an appointment with a pulmonologist. Foods of the hour look like pastrami, scones, and a Zagnut.

Last night's shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum is still going around in my head, even if I didn't have people in the Jewish professional community of D.C. I don't want to entertain a referendum on the politics of the victims any more than I want to hear it about detained students or deportees, but it feels too cheap for irony that the shooter targeted an event with a focus on humanitarian aid in Gaza: all that mattered was that it aggregated Jews. The word antisemitism should be like hot iron in the mouth of the man in the White House. What he has to offer, none of us need.

In stark contrast to the mishegos with FB, when Criterion's website refused to honor a gift certificate I had received from them in the last month, I was able to get a real live person on their customer support staff who solved the problem for me so that I could ship a DVD of Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) to a relative who really needed it. Maybe I should try to bribe them for editions of my favorite films.

Current Music: Matt Berninger, "Bonnet of Pins"

Posted by Ayala Sorotsky

https://cheezburger.com/10506523904/thats-a-pawmise

unsent_letters_exchange author reveals are out, and my shockingly unsurprising entry is Eloquent (Biggles/EvS, 2100 words).

In other recent exchange developments, I joined in the Mismatched Tropes flash exchange and got two lovely small gifts: A Safe Landing (Biggles wingfic) and Cuddly Circumstances (B5, Londo & Vir, literal cuddle pollen).

There is also this thoroughly satisfying snippet written by

philomytha for a prompt I left her: Any Biggles characters, revolutions.

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Posted by Sarah Brown

https://cheezburger.com/40688389/is-he-literally-trying-to-steal-my-cat-pawrent-has-claws-for-concern-as-possessive-roommate

Roommates. They can be your best friends or your biggest catastrophe. This pawrent recently adopted a pawsitively adorable bonded pair of siblings and is doing all the work—feeding, scooping, brushing, and giving them tons of love. But this hooman's roommate has taken quite a liking to the sister cat and keeps shutting her in his room. Sometimes overnight. Sometimes when he's not even home. The poor kitty ends up missing meals, skipping the litter box, and getting separated from her brother, who turns into a nervous wreck without her.

Even after being asked to check before closing doors, the roommate brushes it off with "oops" comments and says things like "she's mine" or "maybe I'll take her." That's not just a furball of a misunderstanding. It's a real concern. These two cats are a bonded duo and need to stay together with full access to food, water, and each other.

The owner's frustration is totally valid. It's time for a firm but kind conversation to set some clear boundaries. Cats deserve comfort, freedom, and stability, not mixed signals and closed doors. This isn't just about cuddle rights. It's about doing what's best for the cats. Paws down.

https://cheezburger.com/40688389/is-he-literally-trying-to-steal-my-cat-pawrent-has-claws-for-concern-as-possessive-roommate

I meant to make these recs earlier in the day -- as it is, I'm skating this in right before author reveals! But three quick recs from

unsent_letters_exchange...

(ETA: Now edited to include authors!)

For years I've been asking to see more of Keith Windham's journal -- the bits we get in canon are so tantalizing, with its "my Warrior" this and "Achilles" that. This year for

unsent_letters_exchange a lovely anon (I'm guessing

luzula!) gave us an additional few days of his journal -- cranky, bitchy, and smitten!

Excerpt from the Journal of Captain Keith Windham for August 14-16, 1745 by Luzula
General Audiences, No Warnings Apply
The Flight of the Heron - D.K. Broster
Keith/Ewen pre-slash
Diary/Journal, Missing Scene
1,011 words

I also want to rec two other works. The first is a gift for

garonne:

Now and Forever by Kantayra
Teen, Choose Not To Warn
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
Hill House/Theodora/Nell
Horror, Diary/Journal, Letters, Found Documents
2,751 words

Long after Nell Vance's death at Hill House and Theo's mysterious disappearance some years later, a stack of letters and a diary are uncovered which may shed more - or less - light on events all those years ago.

This next I suspect is by

garonne -- but is indeed lovely, whoever is the author:

In All These Empty Halls by Garonne
Explicit, No Warnings Apply
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Héloïse/Marianne
Established Relationship, Canon Compliant
1,089 words

After her mother's death, Héloïse returns to the island where she was living when she and Marianne met.

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There was one story I missed out about my hospital stay.

I think it was on the Friday, the quiet lady in the next bed was having seizures several times a day. They were not epileptic seizures - I didn’t know there were other types, but it seems there are.

She came out of a particularly bad one and her brother said something I didn’t catch. She started to cry. And when I say cry, we’re not talking quiet sobs, but loud howls of anguish which cut down to the soul. She went on to cry for two hours. I have never cried for two hours, even when my parents died. Maybe I’m just hard hearted.

Meanwhile, the five others in the bay, including me, were all on drips. IV lines run through a little machine which I think is both a pump and a measure. If the cannula gets blocked or the IV finishes the machine makes a burbling sound like a mobile phone to alert the nurse.

Just after the anguished lady started to cry and all the nurses were round her, every one of the machines started to burble their alarms. All five.

It was bedlam. I’ve never heard anything like it.

All five of us were looking at each other wondering if there was anything we could do, but obviously there wasn’t. So that was a stand-out moment. I still wonder what it was that the lady’s brother said that so upset her.

Current Location: Home (Bangor)
Crossposts: https://lexin.insanejournal.com/323129.html

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health

1. Dear Carolyn: My mom basically despises my boyfriend, “Tom,” because he didn’t graduate from college and works a blue-collar job. She is so rude to him, we can’t even be around her. She defends this by saying that looking at us together makes her feel disgusted, she can’t help how she feels, and she’s being as nice as she can given the intensity of her feelings. Tom actually cried after our last dinner with my parents.

Tom and I are 24, are independently financially stable and have lived together for six months — another source of my mother’s angst, but I suspect if I were “shacking up” with a more “eligible” bachelor, she would deal just fine. Although I am beyond furious at her treatment of Tom, I don’t want to lose her. Our relationship no longer resembles the mother-daughter bond we used to have. I’m also scared about what this is doing to my parents’ marriage. My dad is saying things to her in a tone I’ve never heard before — telling her that her behavior is unacceptable, that she needs to stop. She just gets defensive and yells at him. I don’t want my relationship to be their undoing.

I love Tom and could see us getting engaged in a year or two. However, I’m actually thinking about breaking up with him over this, although I know evil shouldn’t triumph. But I feel like he’s on one side, and on the other side is my relationship with my mom AND my parents’ relationship AND the potential to have it all if I meet a college-educated suitor. (I feel like a horrible person saying this.)

( Read more... )

******

2. Dear Annie: I am a 26-year-old woman deeply in love with someone my parents can't stand. He's not what they envisioned for me; he's rough around the edges, has tattoos, rides a motorcycle and works with his hands for a living. My parents like clean-cut, college-educated types in suits, and he's the complete opposite.

Yes, he has a bit of a "bad boy" past. He's made some mistakes in his younger years -- got into trouble, partied too hard, even had a brush with the law. But that was years ago. Since then, he's turned his life around. He's steady, loyal, hardworking, and treats me with more respect and care than anyone I've ever dated.

Despite all that, my parents won't give him a chance. They're polite when he's around, but I can tell they're just waiting for me to wake up and realize he's "not good enough." They constantly drop hints about finding someone "more suitable" or "more stable," and it's starting to wear me down. I feel caught in the middle -- between a man I love and parents I don't want to disappoint.

I'm not blind to his flaws, but I believe in the man he is now. How do I move forward when the people I've always looked to for support can't accept the person I've chosen? Am I being naive for thinking love is enough, or are my parents judging him unfairly? -- Torn Between Love and Loyalty

( Read more... )

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