I've finally got my Farscape drabble written - Impossible Dream.

Found I'd missed some nasty stuff at work on Friday, which is good. I'm terminally confused with The Bill though, because I saw 2 old episodes over the weekend, and coupled with Thursday night's means I'm not sure where we are. I don't really remember anything since Wednesday night very well, which is what is causing the confusion. I think Jim Carver's about to start his descent into alcoholism and Nick Klein has a drug problem. Er, that doesn't seem right...

Feeling a bit pissed off today as the friends I was planning on going to Vancouver and Gatecon with have decided they can't afford to go. There are so many people trying to sell their tickets as well, that it worries me I'll end up seriously out of pocket on this one. I don't really want to go on my own either, half the reason for going was because my friends were. It does make my life easier in some respects, but I am still seriously annoyed. Why can't they save or have decided this earlier?

I meant to write something in here ages ago, but then I got concussion. Self-inflicted as well. I spent the whole weekend (and Friday) trying to think of what to write for this weeks Farscape Drabble. Just managed to write something (although it's currently only 96 words). I won't get it posted on time though as it will need revising and that will have to come tomorrow. I really haven't done anything to write about in the past week and my short-term memory's gone, so I really can't get anything coherent written down. Really must go to bed as I have to get up early tomorrow for work. Only 5 more days to go and then 3 off. Woo hoo!

Have been busy today and updated website. A bit anyway. I got the book for Once More, With Feeling, which had the sheet music inside. But it was really hard to play because I can't remember my chords. I went back to my old music books where they at least wrote them out, but it was still hard though. My bass clef reading was never that good to begin with. I found reading treble clef hard till I realised I was thinking about it too much. I wish I had the opportunity to practise more - I wish I'd done that right back at the start of uni. Why do I play an instrument that's expensive and not portable?

I happened to look at Friends Reunited, which I don't do very often and I found Marian had written something in there, just 6 days ago! We've only seen each other once since school, so now I have her e-mail address, maybe we'll be able to keep in touch better this time.

I wrote a drabble for the Weekly Farscape Drabble. I'm suddenly finding Chiana more interesting than I first thought.

I read some stuff about fandom earlier and it got me thinking. So, today's post will be on the subject of:

Fandoms

The first fandom I was involved with was Bugs. We had a couple of message boards, the odd site and gradually started writing some fan fiction. This was around the time of the third series, I think. A year later when the fourth came around I'd not entirely lost interest in Bugs, but enough to not be participating in the fandom stuff any more. Which is a pity. Partly because there were some great people there and partly because the last episode had a cliffhanger ending. There are plenty of stories resolving it out there, but I don't really remember enough to read them and appreciate them.

The original message boards either no longer exist, or if they do they've moved, but the place to go is Bureau 3.

The next one was Star Wars TPM. That's when I really discovered what fan fiction was. I think I was probably on half a dozen miling lists at one time, although I lurked on most, getting the hang of it all. It's still the one I've written most for. I helped with archiving at the OKEB. That's still the place I've had most contact with, and the mailing list I've actually posted to.

Then I discovered Stargate. This fandom differs from all the others in that although I have been on mailing lists etc (and posted on them) I've particpated in a RPG, gone to conventions and played on the Stargate Command (no longer exists, unfortunately) and Ausgate sites. It makes a big difference, because I've actually met the friends I've made in it.

Then there's Enterprise. This one's also different, because I'm not involved with fandom as a whole, merely with the Trip/T'Pol part of it. It's been interesting to see it grow from hardly anything to what it is now. It has been a tad quiet of late because the season 2 episodes haven't really given us anything to go on. In fact they've almost given us the opposite.

The latest one is Lord of the Rings. I didn't mean to get into it, I just read a rec in someone's journal and it all went downhill from there. I've learnt more about it, discussed topics I'd never thought I would and written fic. I've got one accepted at Henneth Annun. Fandom-wise, most of it happens there, some on mailing lists as well.

I've left The Bill till last for a reason. It began on the Official Site as a little forum and grew to become the community it is now. I first visited it a long time ago, before any other fandom and before I knew what fandom was. I lurked a little, went away came back, posted a little went away, came back and finally stayed. I have got somewhat disillusioned with the series as a whole, so now I spend time in the virtual pub instead of talking about The Bill, but it keeps me in the fandom. And it keeps me chatting with my friends, some of whom I've met at the studios, others live in Australia and I'd love to meet when I make it over there.

Fandoms I've never really got into - Buffy, Angel, Farscape. Not because I don't like them, just because I haven't. I really don't know why. Quantum Leap I've written an episode for Virtual Season 9, but that's as far as it went. Red Dwarf seems to be a category all of its own, reasons wise. Some of the others seem to mingle together, so that you end up discussing Buffy and Farscape at Stargate cons etc. But you can only be involved in so many. They have this tendency to take up time.

I don't understand women. Really I don't. It's not that they're complicated. They're simple, they just don't make sense. I mean, clothes, wine, cooking, boyfriends. If your clothes fall apart you get new ones; why drink wine when you can drink beer or spirits; you cook cos you need to eat and can't afford takeways, it doesn't involve cookbooks; it it not necessary for continued existence to have a boyfriend. Really, it isn't. I would say it's something to do with spending 3 years at uni with mostly blokes, but I spent 6 years at a girls school, so it's not that. This doesn't go for all women of course, just most of them. What is it with clothes that show your midriff (however big or small it may be)? Admittedly, I can't do that even if I want to, midriff-baring tops come past my midriff, but that's not the point.

Men, on the other hand, are simple. Beer, sex, football, girls (with big tits). Not necessarily in that order.

The smoking rant - because I can't remember if I've done one yet. In America (and I believe Australia) it is illegal to smoke in public places. Over here, as of 1st April, it is illegal to advertise cigarettes. We're so far behind. Watching Queer as Folk at the weekend I thought I'd love to do that - go out every night to the pub/club etc. But I can't because I can only wash all my clothes so many times a week. I also like to breathe. A novel idea, I know. You can go to the pub and not drink, so why can't you go and not breathe in other people's smoke? There are less people who smoke these days than there used to. It's certainly not 'cool' or 'in' any more.

The part that worries me is that it's still fine to do research on cigarettes. We have a cigarette project coming up, probably. Low tar, as if that makes any difference at all. No-one should be spending money on getting people to smoke. Getting them to give up, fine. That's not easy, I understand that. I just don't understand how people can justify spending so much money to pollute other people's atmosphere and killing themselves, and others. Which is what they're doing. It's a slow form of suicide. If they didn't exist my asthma wouldn't be nearly so bad and my granddad would be still alive. Isn't that a good enough reason?

I can't say I've conducted an extensive scientific survey, but generally, smokers are less intelligent than non-smokers. Perhaps they're too thick to understand why they shouldn't. Any parents really have no excuse - young children shouldn't be exposed to smoke and they will also think it's normal. It isn't. At least drugs only affect the person taking them (at least directly, I'm not counting things like drinking and driving because they don't affect other people in exactly the same way as the person taking the drugs/drink).

Listening to the radio, the DJ was asking people how long it took them to get ready to go out. One of them said she has to start at 2pm as it takes her 5 hours! It usually takes me about 10 minutes, and most of that involves trying to get all the stuff I need to take into my pockets. Off to Leeds tomorrow, via Guildford. I meant to watch Leon, given that it's actually Emma's and I've had it since August. Not got round to it though. I still need to pack as well, and set my alarm. I might get round to finishing the 100 Things about me meme, assuming I can find the bit I started.

The Last Meme:

Last book you read: Jedi Quest 5: The School of Fear

Last movie you saw: Never Been Kissed

Last movie you saw on the big screen: Daredevil

Last phone number you called: Emma

Last show you watched on TV: Star Trek; The Next Generation (although it was videoed from earlier), so The Bill could also be an answer there

Last song you heard: Sugar Ray - Every Morning. At least I think it was

Last thing you had to drink: Orange squash

Last thing you ate: Dinner, which was fish fingers, peas and potatoes. I'm running out of food.

Last time you showered: Last night

Last time you cried: Don't remember

Last time you smiled: Don't remember that either

Last time you laughed: Today at work probably

Last person you hugged: I think that was probably Nicki before she went back to America

Last thing you said: Something to my landlady about how peas taste nicer when done in a saucepan, not in a microwave, even though its quicker. What thrilling conversations I have.

Last person you talked to online: Probably my dad

Last person you talked to on the phone: Emma

Last thing you smelled: My new blow-up chair. Its actually quite difficult not to smell. Will light a white musk candle later.

I put all the bits of my Isildur/Haldir fic together. It started off as one 160 word scene. It's now 12,000 words! I have more I want to add as well. I'm quite impressed at the amount of plot there. I have some nasty thoughts about the Farscape epic (might not be quite as epic as that at this point!). Have been listening to my CD of 180megs on my DVD player. The manual for my stereo says it plays CD-Rs and CD-RWs. This one doesn't work on it though. So what it actually means is it plays CDs. So why bother saying that in the first place?

Got desperate for lack of Cornflakes, and determined not to order anything from Tescos till after Easter, so I had a choice between Kellogg's and Waitrose. Picked Waitrose as I know Kellogg's are crap. Turns out Waitrose ones taste of cardboard. At least I know now. I think they might actually be worse than Kellogg's cornflakes, which is quite impressive really.

Working on a pizza project really makes me want to eat pizza. I'm so tired, I feel bed and a book might be a good idea tonight, otherwise I won't last the weekend (no idea what I'm actually doing yet, mind you). Looking forward to lie-ins, downloading and Passover food at Easter.

What type of slash writer are you?

Well, d'uh. But then that goes for everything, not just for slash.

Finished the latest Jedi Quest book - poor Obi. He just doesn't know what to do.

Yay at Blogger! We'll see how long it lasts though. I'm up to 650meg for my CD of mp3s. A few of those need re-downloading though. I'm running out of things I can think of to download (although there are some things I want that I'm not quite so desperate for, so maybe a second CD at some point). Can't listen to Bohemian Rhapsody without thinking of the dirty version though - at least the bits I can remember. Have completely failed to make it to bed before 12.30 any night this week. And I have to get up at 9 tomorrow morning.

My books have arrived! Only took a week. So I've been reading the latest Jedi Quest book. It's nice to get back to TPM after I've been reading practically nothing but LOTR. Can't help feeling I should write some Obi-Wan & Ani stuff. It's interesting looking at the two of them together. Obi-Wan's trying to be more like Qui-Gon, but is actually more like Anakin. So it's kind of a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'. But Obi-Wan/Anakin slash? Ugh! And ew! Despite the fact they're closer in age, I'm happier with Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan. Not that I see their relationship like that, but I think it easier to deal with slash when the two characters already love each other.

I can just about cope with Elladan/Elrohir, as nasty as that is. But sometimes Aragorn/Arwen can squick me if I think about it too much - they both think of Elrond as their father, that's just weird. Have worked out how to use Scorpius/Braca in the unnamed-Farscape-epic. In fact, I think it'll solve some of my plotting problems. Should maybe start writing them down. I was thinking about the number of pairings in it, and as well as the aforementioned S/B, there's John/Aeryn and Crichton/Chiana. Also Chiana/D'Argo and Chiana/various Peacekeepers I suspect. That gives me an idea - Crichton/Peacekeeper red-shirt. Must go and read now.