The woman who died in that house fire in Tacoma over the weekend was the sister of my department chair's best friend.

Today the Seattle Times and the News Tribune are reporting that she was shot multiple times.

Jesus.

( comic! )

(comicgenesis link to the same strip here)

When in doubt...turn on the television! If you can. I have tried to find out why we were having a power outage by turning on the TV, radio, or computer enough times that I consider it a running joke.

The talking head on the TV was one of my earliest characters back when I used to doodle in notebooks instead of accumulating learnings. She's got better teeth and hair now, just like the real thing. Mostly unreal thing. Hmm.

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quite liked that new Star Trek movie.#

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And that's that for the automatically imported Tweets. If you liked them, follow me (LyndaN) on Twitter.

twitpic.com/wg9bs - This is what I'm making tonight. #

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No post yesterday because I didn't get home until midafternoon, then was hosting a small-scale movie night (Mr. Darcy made lasagna, and it was delicious), then was too tired. I went to bed yesterday feeling peacefully exhausted. Overall it was a good day, and a mellow follow-up to an NYE that was generally awesome and epic in that way that means you don't get to sleep until around 4 a.m. Or so; I don't actually know even when I went to bed.

The 31st was a good day overall. I went out to Alki in the morning to do my Aphrodite dedication for SMF, and while I was there watched three crows attempt to intimidate a seagull into giving up a fish that it had just stolen from some other sea bird that was too far away for me to tell what it was; from the general profile I'm guessing it was some sort of loon.

After that I went home and did some work while Mr. Darcy started preparations for the next day. Later in the afternoon we went up to meet photopagan for costume fabric shopping. That was fun, though according to Mr. Darcy we are both incredibly difficult people to shop for. Heh.

But I'm really happy with what we found. People don't know this, because it just doesn't come up that often, but Mr. Darcy has an excellent eye for color and what looks good on people. I'm pretty sure I have just about everything I need now. (Note to andi_sunrider: I completely forgot about looking at the stuff you'd brought. If you are interested in helping me with costuming—and I could really, really use the help, especially since I don't know how to sew—I'm expecting to come up to Vancouver at least once in the next couple of months and maybe we can pool resources. We could also get together on one of your trips down this way; I'm just over in West Seattle.)

Then we headed over to Limani Liberte and joined the general flurry of preparations. Mr. Darcy stuck out the party itself for a couple of hours (and completely subverted the pirate game in the process, which was hilarious), but when the general influx of people began (with Canadians in the vanguard) he decided to head home. Large groups of people, especially people he doesn't know (and I think photopagan was the only person there he knew at all well) are not his favorite situation. He much preferred yesterday's movie gathering; we watched 2010 and Ghostbusters, and had a mellow and relaxing time.

Today is about writing, laundry, and preparing for tomorrow's read-through. This evening, the former Sirens are getting together one last time to formally close out our work together. I'm thinking of making lentil soup.

Back to work on Monday. Bleurgh.

Happy new year, y'all.

( comic! )

(comicgenesis link to the same strip here)

Wakey-wakey, 2010, it is time for happy drawing pictures time! Whee!

Notice that I drew this before Christmas. Okay, fine, TODAY I drew the first real live new strip for '10. The starter for '10, as it were.

...

This strip is an accurate depiction of how I wake up all the time. Sure.

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The snow is falling outside (which is always preferable), coating the future in a nice clean slate. The moon is behind the clouds somewhere, and I was lucky to see it last night in all it's full blue brightness.

The Paul Winter Solstice concert played as I finished up things and, well, wished everyone a happy new year.

Which is what I'm doing now.

Happy 2010 everybody! Thanks a million for reading the comic, but even more thanks for being there, because a lot of times just knowing that got me through this year, let alone the decade. I'm not even touching the decade, LOL. I tried to wrap my head around the music and there's just too much of it, which is I suppose why time is divided up into minutes. Smart thing, that.

Here's hoping the future's got an overabundance of good times.

THE FUTURE IS HEADING RIGHT FOR US! :O

♥ - Lynda

Cannot have Gigi without Daft Punk immediately afterwards. ♫ blip.fm/~iipuc #

All these years my heart could've been seen to if only I was willing to spew hate daily? Wow! Nevermind, the trade isn't worth it. #

2009, Imma let you finish with the best Beyoncé remix! RT @VioletThunk You're doing a superb job! I like this one too! bit.ly/7un2LA #

I am the type of person who loves Rosanne Cash and Lady Gaga. Here's some Gaga. ♫ blip.fm/~ijyhr #

1985: listening to Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen separately. 2009: listening to Rosanne Cash & Bruce Spring... ♫ blip.fm/~ijyru #

One more of my favorite ladies from this decade, Shakira, making a song about eyes sound awesome. ♫ blip.fm/~ijz3u #

Hey 2000s, this one's for you. ♥ ♫ blip.fm/~ijza3 #

Ladies and gentlemen, The Killers. ♫ blip.fm/~ijznm #

Okay kids, 2010's heading right for us, hope it's a good one! I'll see you there! #

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( comic! )

(comicgenesis link to the same strip here)

And the fifth year of drawing silly pictures goes snoozy times with some hot stuff.

One time someone asked me how many pictures I had, say I wanted to print them...all. I laughed. Oh, how I laughed. I'll cry someday, but not today. Today...cookies. I made cookies! Then I blacked out. But the cookies taste good! Even though they spread into one another and look like butts. Eheheheheheheh...butt cookies.

Thanks for reading this crazy comic, we'll be back next year! OH HAR HAR!

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is not planning to review the decade as it's all a sort of blur. I lost good friends, met people I really like & there was music involved. #

Just discovered this one thanks to @urlgirl -- so goooood. ♫ blip.fm/~iibth #

Another one that flew way too low under the radar this year was the return of a-ha just before they broke up. ... ♫ blip.fm/~iico1 #

If I were to go over the best songs of this decade this would be right at the top. ♫ blip.fm/~iid0y #

First heard September 2006, scrawled on paper: "don't feel like dancing. MUST FIND." ♫ blip.fm/~iidew #

Cannot go near a review of music of the oughts without the Crazy. ♫ blip.fm/~iidmw #

Blip is giving me hints to stop, so I'll leave the decade with this one for now. Cheers! ♫ blip.fm/~iie46 #

Further proof I could never cover ALL the good music this decade had in a short list: Rufus. ♥ ♫ blip.fm/~iiozs #

The White Stripes gave me music AND a neat video game to play this decade! ♫ blip.fm/~iip4q #

These past ten years would not have been the same without some Foo. ♫ blip.fm/~iipbd #

And Tom, two decades in a row, always there, being awesome. ♫ blip.fm/~iipga #

I listened to Gigi D'Agostino's version of The Riddle exactly a billion times this decade: ♫ blip.fm/~iipmt #

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THEN:
I was working at Amazon.com as a content editor. Unbeknownst to me, I would be laid off three months later.
NOW:
I'm an academic librarian at a small, Christian, liberal arts university, with faculty status on the tenure track. I feel incredibly ambivalent about nearly all aspects of my job, but I have more job security.

THEN:
I had never been outside of North America. Hell, I don't think I'd even been to Vancouver.
NOW:
I've been to Hungary, Hawaii (yes, it's part of the U.S., but it's off the continent you see), Thailand, Cambodia, France, London, and Greece.

THEN:
I had just bought the house that Mr. Darcy and I now share.
NOW:
We're contemplating a fairly sizable land purchase, building a house and facilities for our various projects, and selling this one, though I don't expect all of these things to happen in 2010.

THEN:
I'd started dating Mr. Darcy relatively recently.
NOW:
We married in 2008. (Chorus of friends and family: "Took you long enough!")

THEN:
I was writing a little, but not much, and what I did write wasn't very good.
NOW:
I've gone to Clarion West, published a short story in Strange Horizons, and have moved up the Rejection Ladder from form to personalized letters that give specific criticisms and room for improvement. This is pretty significant.

THEN:
I'd been to Burning Man once. I would go two more times before taking a contract gig with One Reel that led to working at Bumbershoot every year instead.
NOW:
I'm thinking about going again, perhaps volunteering in some capacity that leverages the experience I've gained working at Bumbershoot. If not Burning Man itself, maybe one of the smaller related festivals.

THEN:
I'd never been to Spring Mysteries. 2000 would be my first year.
NOW:
I've held nine different roles in the festival over eight years, and in 2010 will take on a role that a decade ago I'd have sworn I'd NEVER do. I'm also collaborating on a script with photopagan and leeotch13 for 2011. It's my first time writing something with other people and it's been a lot of fun.

THEN:
I'd been training with Jesse Glover for a couple of years, in a basement in Pioneer Square.
NOW:
Still training with Jesse, still getting my ass kicked on a regular basis. Now in a former speakeasy in the ID, which is under a Chinese tea shop. Yes, really. It's quite a good tea shop, too. The proprietor will offer to prepare tea in the traditional manner for you to sample, and you should definitely take her up on this.

THEN:
Baby pagan who went to Edge of the Circle a lot and had been to an ATC event or two but that was about it.
NOW:
Member of Green Star Inner Grove in the Sylvan Tradition, also get together informally and irregularly with a group of ritual winos. ;)

THEN:
Played drums in a rock band.
NOW:
Learning fiddle, gravitating toward Scottish and Scandinavian music with some North American mixed in (especially Appalachia and New England). Own, and have yet to learn to properly play, a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle.

THEN:
No tattoos.
NOW:
One tattoo.

TENTATIVE GOALS FOR THE NEXT DECADE:
Publish a novel. Maybe even two.
Help Mr. Darcy's entrepreneurial endeavor get off the ground.
Go to Ireland, China, back to Greece, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
Learn to play my Hardanger fiddle.
Pursue further graduate study at some intersection of classics, religious anthropology, and archaeology. (This is VERY tentative, and will probably require some post-bac undergraduate work as I have almost no formal study in any of the above.)
Take a theater class. Or two.

Would you like to see my parrots? bit.ly/7TukF5 #

Oh wow. I've been Tweeting 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, 6 hours, 47 seconds (July 4, 2008) according to: bit.ly/eC942 #howlong #

Imagine if I'd actually done nothing but Tweet for a year-and-a-half. ... Nah. #

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Should I keep posting the Tweets? Let me know....

I love having the week off from work. Last night I was contemplating what life might be like if Mr. Darcy's and my evil plans come to fruition, and while it wouldn't be like having a week off from work (because there would still BE work, a lot of it), I think I'd like it a lot more than my day job.

So. I think we're going to take another scouting expedition in January. So far we've looked around Graham (south-ish of Puyallup; didn't like it) and north Olympia (much better) but we still haven't settled on a definite area. This time around I think we'll be looking on the peninsula.

This morning I am getting some writing done; this afternoon I'm going thrifting with yaypatrol, which should be fun. The purpose isn't specifically costuming, but if I find one or two things that I can more or less use for Thursday night's party, that would be spiffy. (That party may also include a RARE! Mr. Darcy sighting, but come early if you want to see him because he's only planning to stay for a couple of hours.)

This evening is drinkies with kiltlad. Tomorrow there's not really anything scheduled, aside from kung fu class, but the four days after that are chock with event so I suspect at least some of it will be taken up with prep.

Has anyone asked airline security in Amsterdam what they were smoking yet? #

Was #thanksJasperSchuringa ever a trending topic? #

Thank you Jasper Schuringa, for being amazing when you had to be. #ThanksJasperSchuringa #

The idea of a Stephen King/John Mellencamp musical involving Neko Case and Elvis Costello intrigues me: bit.ly/4wToBq #

Uploading video of the fabled Bronx parrots.... #

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Remember to let me know in comments if I should continue importing the tweets. "No" won't break my heart. ;)

( comic! )

(comicgenesis link to the same strip here)

Here we have three solutions for most problems. Cheers!

Warning: combining cures for things may result in bad and/or silly things happening. Consult a professional before following any advice I or any small furry creatures may give you. Don't punch the hallucinations in case they are not hallucinations.

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It's a beautiful day, I'm back outdoors where I belong. So long, suckers! HAHAHAHA #

Things I learned early in life, #27: Miserable people are insecure. I'll take hope over that shit any day. #

DJ Earworm has made this year's pop music sound fantastic again: bit.ly/4RPjgr #

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Hey! Let me know if I should keep shipping the tweets in here or if they break up the happy fuzzy comic goodness.

wait, there really ARE Nigerian bankers? #fb #

McDonald's is selling Avatar burgers or something. WTF? bit.ly/50yTQz #

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Merry Christmas, you Christmas-celebrating kids! Here's some Bob Dylan because you're all so good: bit.ly/7C3hxa #

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( comic! )

(comicgenesis link to the same strip here)

I don't think this one needs an explanation, beyond saying that yeah, I'm a frikkin' hippie.

Have a good one, kids. Love the hell out of those you love, and laugh at the rest.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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