+woke up at 6am this morning to the alarm, then sat in bed in denial for the next forty-five minutes. maybe i'm nuts, but i love being able to enjoy my morning since it's really the only time of day i get to sort out my thoughts, and i will sacrifice sleep to do this. i've decided i need about an hour and a half (which can include packing breakfast and lunch, getting a shower, getting all my crap together), because if i'm rushing around in the morning, i just feel awful about the day.

+thinking of doing a fun fandom pic!spam post for Valentine's day. top ten kisses? top canon pairings? anything you guys would like to see? :D

+i've almost broken 10,000 words on my dracobigbang! my motivation was shot this weekend, so i maybe only wrote a couple hundred instead of my original goal. oops...

+i have a lesson today and i'm not ready. although there's not much new there i guess. this always happens, and it's frustrating: i work hard on solo music the first part of the week, and then i have my lesson on chamber music on friday and hardly any time to do much of anything in the practice rooms thursday, so tuesdays roll around and i don't feel prepared. sigh.

+i got the boy chocolates and a movie (amadeus, because he hadn't seen it and i couldn't resist being nerdy!) for valentine's day, and i bought construction paper so i can make him a card. :) this is the first time i have someone to share vday with instead of my piano (lol), and i still think it's a silly commercial day, but it'll be nice not to be alone! i have no idea what we're doing yet though... he's been just as stressed and busy as me, so i doubt he's had much time to think about it. as long as we can be together i'll be happy!

+random post is random...

I won runner-up for the last prompt for dyno_drabbles this week! For those of you who are familiar with my writing, brevity is really hard for me, and I find drabbles especially difficult because I always struggle to capture characters and a scene in just a couple hundred words. But I've been writing a lot of drabbles over the last couple months, and I think I might actually be improving somewhat!

The funny thing about this is that this is a Rose/Scorpius drabble, and I've never written that pairing before in my life. I have inadaze22 to thank for starting to get me to like them... usually they squick me because that makes me think too hard about Ron/Hermione. haha. But because of the word limit, I didn't even have to mention them!

Anyway, here is the drabble below--hope you enjoy!

Title: Different
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: 348
Author's Note: Had to include the phrase, "It's easy, when you smile like that."

( Different )

PS--In other news, why has it been snowing more in the South than it has been in the Midwest?

Something is clearly wrong with the world.

i know i should've listened to the State of the Union address last night, but i just couldn't bring myself to do it. i still respect and admire Obama as i always have, but i've been so horribly disappointed with congress these days. really, worse than children bickering on an elementary school playground. simply voting "no" just because it came from the other party just seems so absurd to me. and i'm not just talking about republicans here--i'm talking about everyone. i'm tired of the pointless fighting. where are the people willing to compromise and step across party lines to do that? what's it going to take for that to happen? another large scale disaster of some kind?

ugh.

but in other groundbreaking news, (since i'm on the subject of "no") i was able to politely tell somebody no for the first time ever the other day!

i love chamber music more than just about anything, and hate turning people down because i'm always happy to expand my repertoire and share the joy of music making. that probably sounds extremely cheesy, but whatever. but for the past three days or so, somebody different has come up to me with various proposals. i told the first guy "i don't know," (which ended up not being an issue anyway, lol) the second "maybe," and finally broke for the third.

if i weren't already playing a full chamber recital of my own (which means four different partners/groups), playing for two other recitals, and keeping up the quality of my own solo repertoire for my weekly lesson, i would have said yes to them all.

but self-preservation can be an amazing thing.

after twelve hours in the music building today, i have never been happier to get home!

nerdy fandom reference of the day--

my trio and i were discussing birthdays before rehearsal tonight.

leah: my birthday's july 31st!
me: oh cool, so is harry potter's!
leah: how did you know that?
emily: dork...

HEE.

dracobigbang update:

5820 / 20000 words. 29% done!


i tend to jump around a lot when i write so it's not continuous and there are even fairly large gaps in between scenes right now but... at least i'm getting closer to 10,000? once i break 10,000 though, i'll feel a whole lot better!

how's everyone else doing? :-)

meme idea gacked from heather11483!

what are your top five favorite women characters of all time?
they can be picked from books, television, movies, etc!

i'm mainly curious to see how similar the lists are!
HERE IS MINE.

i. elizabeth bennet
ii. eowyn
iii. hermione granger
iv. princess leia
v. bridget jones

a few of the many honorable mentions: gwen and morgana (merlin), renee walker (24), sydney bristow (alias), olivia dunham (fringe), uhura (star trek)...

UGH, HARD LIST WAS HARD!

i. woke up today to upsetting news: a democratic loss in massachusetts (epic fail, seriously) and a 6.1 aftershock in haiti. not that these two things are in anyway on the same level. but still.

ii. only the second day of classes and i'm already super stressed out. spent some time in the afternoon getting the necessary paperwork and approval for my chamber recital date. at least the stars are aligned on this one, because everyone i'm playing with can make my time, and i got the last available slot on the day i wanted, which is the last weekend in april. i thought *i* was being early and on top of things, but april was pretty much gone and everyone had claimed the only available weekend in may. i can't do my recital any earlier than that because this is going to be a lot of work to put together. needless to say i was relieved, and very glad to have done this today!

iii. along with that, i am doing triple duty for just about everything each week. three lessons, three masterclasses, plus scattered rehearsals for everything (i am collaborating with five groups/people this semester, and i'll be needed at all their lessons and masterclasses too) and two extra coachings for my string groups. i'm doing this mainly to get everything sorted out in my brain, because i am really excited about everything and i'm playing some really fantastic music--i'm just scared i've taken on far too much. but i can't stop playing solo repertoire because i'll still need to do a jury after my recital, so i have to continue lessons with my primary professor.

i really need to find a way to practice in my sleep.

or to just not sleep at all.

thank god for mike, really.

and you guys too--fandom is my constant happy place! ♥.

okay, so, i'm primarily a writer, and although i've co-moderated a couple things before, i haven't really given all that much to the community.

i'm interested in organizing a hermione exchange (het, slash, gen, everything!) and i know multiple bigbangs are going on at the moment, so if this happens it sign-ups wouldn't open until maybe may 1st, so people would have the summer to write.

i'm wondering if anybody would be willing to help me out!

i'd ideally like at least one other co-mod, and someone to make graphics for the community.

so what do you guys think?

any volunteers? :D

i know it's early still, but i'd like to get started advertising and getting the comm set up and organized!

on a side note, i get to start the semester tomorrow by waking up at 7am (woot?) for a piano lesson. that i'm totally not ready for. curse you, month long vacation (although you have been v. nice).

i've also changed my layout, finally!
alexajohnson alexajohnson alexajohnson

so help me, i've gone and signed up for the dmficexchange.

but the theme was so tempting and inspiring i couldn't resist! *rubs hands in excitement*

and tomorrow, i'm accomplishing something that's been on my to-do list for the past several years.

in honor of a new semester, the boyfriend and i are having an extended edition lord of the rings marathon.

and it's going to be AWESOME.

hee, i love that my boy is as nerdy as i am!

♥.

Title: Silver Bells
Fandom: Merlin
Characters: Merlin, Morgana
Word Count: 200
Notes: Writing this made me remember how much I loved the Merlin/Morgana dynamic in Season One and made me miss them. Hope you enjoy this, virginia_bell!

( Silver Bells )

Title: Dangerous Game
Fandom: Merlin
Characters: Arthur/Morgana UST galore
Word Count: 442
Notes: I had so much fun writing this I'm sorely tempted to turn it into something longer. We'll see! Hope you enjoy, iladora!

( Dangerous Game )

back from my hiatus!

and first, a big welcome to new friends from the friending meme over at dramione. i've seen most of you around the fandom in exchanges and such, but tell me something about yourselves! i'm looking forward to getting to know you guys outside of your work :)

i had an amazing trip to winston, and it was so good to see everyone!

i got back to madison last night after a miraculously smooth flight, especially after the disastrous twelve hour trip home.

went over to the boyfriend's right when i got in pretty much--ugh, i've missed him so hard. i have new respect and admiration for people who do long distance, because if we weren't at the same school that's what this would be. it was only two and a half weeks, but after not really being apart for longer than three days during the four months we've been dating (which was thanksgiving), and even with all the talking we did, it was still way harder than i even thought it was going to be.

but until i see him again tonight, i have a ton of crap to do today, like grocery getting, laundry washing (no clean clothes, ugh), and school business...

and i've had a random burst of inspiration for my dracobigbang! i'm still really excited about this story, and really hope i can keep it going.

progress thus far:

4777 / 20000 words. 24% done!

how's everyone else doing? :D

i have two more days at home (including today), and then on wednesday i am going on a four day trip to north carolina to see college friends who are either still in school or haven't left winston. i'll be staying with my former roommate ellie, and can't wait to see her!

i imagine i'll have a good deal of pictures after the trip, so expect to see some kind of pic!spam soon :)

this means, though, that i'm afraid i'll be going on a hiatus until i get back to madison monday evening.

i'm hoping to get a lot of writing done between now and my departure--my brain has kind of atrophied over break, and i haven't really been able to accomplish much of anything--so when i get back, i'll be posting the rest of the drabbles as well.

it's been a great holiday, but i'm anxious to get back to madison, because it's been hard being separated from my boy for so long--but we've been talking in pretty much every possible way (calls, texts, skype, you name it!) which has made this a little more bearable!

but i am so looking forward to seeing him again. :)

i hope you have all been having a wonderful start to the new year!

♥!

signed up for dyno_drabbles today, because they're doing a rare!pairs round, and i figured i could use this as my chance to practice writing draco/astoria for my dracobigbang.

and this is me accomplishing one of my writing goals for the New Year:

breaking out of my box and trying something new :)

other writing goals include--

i. write first novel, of which dracobigbang will qualify
ii. write draco/hermione in a way i never have
iii. experiment with a different style

what about you, flist?

what are your writing goals for the New Year?

For inell:

Title: Talent
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Word Count: 250
Note: I don't usually write slash, but I loved writing these characters together! I've written Kirk and McCoy only once before--and not in a slashy way--so hopefully it works! Hope you enjoy, inell!

( Talent )

For lindahoyland:

Title: A New Year
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Characters: Faramir, Aragorn
Word Count: 296
Note: It's been a while since I've written for this fandom, and doing so made me realize how much I've missed it! Hope you enjoy, lindahoyland!

( A New Year )

i have to round up all my fics still, and i've fallen so behind in keeping my fic journal up to date that i should really spend some time doing that later today. so for now, i'm just going to list by fest!

this year i participated in:

springtime_gen
dramione_ldws (summer and fall)
luvlikerocketz
gen_ficathon (for which i wrote three fics, my initial assignment plus two pinch-hits)
hp_holidaygen
dmhgficexchange
camelotsolstice

i think that's everything...not bad, i think!

and i wrote the beginnings of a fic for the hermionebigbang, the only fest which i had to pull out of. sigh.

exchanges and fests for spring 2010:

hp_spring_fling
dracobigbang (which i will finish! *glares at muse*)
springtime_gen

and the sshg_exchange is really tempting, because i found out sign-ups will open soon!

it's such a great fest with amazing participation and wonderful mods, and its been such a long time since i've written snape/hermione...

but anyway, i'm working on drabbles this afternoon, so expect to see the first of them later today!

♥!

i hope everyone's having a happy new year!

i have one of those wrap-up memes, and because i've written a good deal this year, i'm thinking i might actually do a wrap-up for writing, too!

( end of the year meme )

i hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday season who celebrates!

my parents aren't big on the gift giving--the way they see it, they'll get us what we need when we need it--but i did get some lovely things this year.

the haul:

i. a new pair of tall, chocolate uggs
ii. a beautiful shimmery purple scarf from the mother, which can be worn all year round
iii. "improvisation at the piano for classically trained pianists" from the boyfriend, who knows of my super sekrit desire to be a better improviser
iv. a mysterious gift still en route from virginia_bell :D
v. a new pair of jeans and a couple other necessities that will be gotten later this week at kohl's
vi. a round trip plane ticket from the parents to winston-salem, so i can see some college friends before returning to madtown

so i'm pretty happy!

the fam and i watched it's a wonderful life last night.
the ending still makes me cry.

and the boyfriend has invited me to come with him to his cousin's wedding in march, which will be in florida. i'd have to pay for my own ticket, but i make a couple hundred from gigs every other month, and this is something i'd really like to do. it's over spring break, so it'll be a fun trip, and i'm just really happy he's asked me!

also--it's 50 degrees today.

it feels like summer.

sad? probably...

MySpace Comments and Glitter Graphics

I hope you are all able to spend time with the ones you love! After a grueling twelve hour trip out of the Midwest--it had started snowing in Madison and Chicago, and for a few hours I didn't even know if I was getting home at all until Friday--I am back and enjoying relaxing and spending time with the family, although I am missing Mike a lot.

I am just waiting on one more grade--the class I had to write the ten page paper for--but so far, I've got two As and an AB, so I'm at a 3.75 at the moment. Not too bad!

But anyway, happy holidays to you all!

This is also your last chance to request a drabble :)

♥ ♥ ♥

YOU GUYS.

I AM DONE.

DONE!

I HAVE SURVIVED MY FIRST SEMESTER AS A GRADUATE STUDENT.

probably one of the hardest things i've had to do so far.

but, even though it got off to a rough start, it's been pretty fantastic.

i have an amazing piano professor, i've grown as a musician, and i've met the most wonderful boy.

grades are slowly coming in--so far all i've got is an AB for lessons--so hopefully i'll do well!

BUT I AM FLYING HOME TOMORROW FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE AUGUST.

i'm really going to miss mike, but i can't wait to see my family!

hope you guys have been doing well!

♥!