potentiality_26

So, when I was making icons regularly I used to have them hosted on photobucket, right?

Well, it must be several years ago now that photobucket decided it wasn't enough to just stick annoying watermarks on images from their free accounts, no, everyone had to have a paying account. And everyone was going to lose all their stuff if they didn't pay for an account. And I thought that was sad, but whatever, you know?

So now (again, I think years later), photobucket is sending me an email every couple of weeks asking me if I want my photos, and it's like... from the moment you told me that I had to pay you or lose them, those photos have been dead to me. And I guess I'd like them back, but not enough to dig up my password and go to your ad-riddled site to see whether or not you still expect me to pay for the privilege.

Anyway, I'm salty. Possibly my anger is rooted in other things. 
  

Feeling nostalgic...

1) Do an overhaul of my fic links and masterlists

This is going to end up being a next year thing, I think, so I'm taking it off this list going forward.

2) Post here more often

Doing better this month. I'll probably ask for fandom questions as some point in the next few days, to give myself something to post about.

3) Generally keep in touch better with friends

Doing okay with this too!

4 & 5) Try to write at least 5 days a week and continuing posting stories on AO3

Pretty even split between fic writing and RPG work this month, but I'm still working pretty much every day. I posted a new Astrid ficlet too!

6) Read more books

I read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas for a friend and I've started A Court of Mist and Fury.

7) Put up a 2024 calendar. Also, remember to turn the page every month

I have turned the page!

Recently I've watched Tracker and S5 of Discovery (three guesses what streaming service I'm on right now, lol). I'm glad Tracker got picked up for another season; it was enjoyable and very refreshing in a sea of police procedurals.

Discovery was a bit.. meh, for me. I do love the characters, but I think they went too hard on the "look how far we've come" angle for the final season, and it rang hollow when the show clearly wanted so badly to pretend it's first season didn't exist. They lost a part of me in "What's Past is Prologue" that they never got back, I fear.

Always a joy to see CKR, though. And may I say he's aging like a fine wine.

I also finished Hawaii Five-0 (late to the party, I know). Is the ship name McDanno? Anyway, I have to say, I've never seen two male leads manage to tick more of the classic slash ship boxes while simultaneously convincing me that there's no way these two men could know each other carnally. But if anyone has fic recs send them my way. I'd love to "get" it.  

I'm doing all right, I've just been so distracted. This time I really am going to get to my replies, I promise! (Though it is unfortunate how emails do pile up. Lapse for a month or two and suddenly there's 700...)

I'll put a goals post together for myself pretty soon, but right now I just wanted to check in. How's everybody doing?
  

1) Do an overhaul of my fic links and masterlists

This is still on the back burner.

2) Post here more often

Fell off posting here a bit late March, but I'm doing my best to avoid any disappearing acts.

3) Generally keep in touch better with friends

I actually had a really good talk with an offline friend I haven't seen much of in a while, so yay for that!

4 & 5) Try to write at least 5 days a week and continuing posting stories on AO3

I mostly managed the writing part this month. I wrote about 4k even though I had a dry spell toward the end of the month. I didn't do much typing or editing though, and nothing I've been working at the moment is close to finished. We'll see what April brings!

6) Read more books

I read Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch, and I'm still working on A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. 

7) Put up a 2024 calendar. Also, remember to turn the page every month

I have turned the page!

My March was a bit stressful tbh. And it's funny that this time last month I was posting about possible weather -- it may or may not snow this coming Thursday and Friday!

I have made my third attempt at the lemon bundt cake of my dreams. The recipe went smoothly, the yogurt was an excellent addition, and the texture overall was really great.

The problem (and it's really like... half a problem) was the lemon syrup that I soaked it with. Basically I got the cake out of the oven, poked it full of holes, poured the syrup on it, and left it to cool completely in the pan. Now the parts of this cake with the syrup tasted AMAZING, okay, top tier, but the syrup didn't soak all the way through, and ultimately the top third of it was a bit... blah.

I'm going to see if there's been more even soakage in the leftovers by tomorrow, but for now I have some thoughts:

1) Would it actually be better to wait until the cake is cool to the add the syrup? Recipes vary on this point.

2) To me the most obvious way to get the syrup more evenly distributed is to add half, let it soak in for maybe 15-30 minutes, take the cake out of the pan, and then pour to the other half of the syrup over the top, thereby getting both sides. I remember doing something like this with a loaf cake, years ago, but it seems... messy.

3) Even if waiting a day is the key, I'm not making a cake and then waiting 24 hours to eat it any of it. I don't have that in me.

The experiments continue!  

So far it's just been raining, no big storms yet. March here we come!

( Here's how my goals for 2024 are shaping up since February )


Overall my February was all right but it did feel... absurdly long? Anyone else have that experience?

I have seen Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, which I would describe as an okay movie that didn't need to be anywhere near as long as it was.  And it was only half of the story they evidently want to tell. 

*Sigh* 

I decided to try doing a music Monday, which I'm interpreting as making a post about music on a Monday.

Lately I've been thinking about live acoustic recordings of songs that, quite frankly, blow the studio versions out of the water. Such as:

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen


Anyone else have live or alternate versions of songs that they like better than the originals?

ETA: not sure why embedding isn't quite working for me, I feel like it used to. Any ideas? Fixed!