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So I'm accepted at the University of Colorado Boulder. I went for their Recruitment Weekend last week and it was a great way to get a feel for the program, campus, and town; it's a good fit for me, especially my potential advisor! Ronnie and I still need to drive up together so he can check it out for himself.

I called Berkeley today to find out wth's going on there. The Ed admissions office said that decisions for my program are going to go out today, but that since it's an automated program it could take 24-48 hours to get the email. GAH. I'm kind of in the mindset that it's extremely unlikely that I'm getting in, since I probably don't have the greatest fit with the current faculty (the professor I was most interested in working with left to go to Mills College AND strongly recommended a different professor at a different school!), but hope springs eternal--at least for a few more hours, anyway.

MSEDs: skirts, and some jewelry, lately. I plan to finish off some of these projects and get more pictures taken soon.

I bought a squirrel ring while I was in Boulder. It draws a lot of attention and amusement. :D

Our teaching season kicks off...technically, tomorrow. Ideally, after today and finding out about Berkeley, I'll be able to better focus on my actual job again.

...except for the finding a place to live and figuring out when to move and Ronnie getting a new job stuff...

We got new smartphones last week before I went to Boulder. They're fun, and I'm trying to be very good about how much data I use playing Pocket Frogs and Words With Friends when I'm not on wifi. So far that's going reasonably well.

Nox is a big girl now! Almost a year old!

I really really REALLY need to clean my office.

Yesterday was an exercise in futility.

Well, not entirely. In the morning I drafted, cut, and sewed a pencil skirt from this cheap silver polyester I bought in a bolt last fall. I even put a zipper in :) It was originally going to be the base skirt for the ruffles made from shirts, but I decided that wasn't going to look quite right. So I started again with an a-line base skirt and attempted to sew the ruffle strips on...only to screw it up repeatedly, sewing the skirt to itself and having to seam rip a lot.

And then I decided the whole thing looked ugly, so last night I started ripping all the seams out so I can start over. Sigh.

I guess these posts will be more retrospective on LJ.

Yesterday, I made a few dozen paper beads from wrapping paper. I actually bought about five or six rolls of paper specifically for making paper beads last year after the holidays. This paper was striped in red and white, with asterisks and "Merry Christmas" alternating on the stripes. So on some of the beads, letters can sort of be seen. I think one has a clear "R" on it.

For some reason, some of the beads were very hard to roll up correctly. I think it had something to do with the imprecise way I was cutting the triangles. I should also probably put another coat of Mod Podge on the multiple-strip beads to hold them together more firmly.

On Saturday, I experimented with putting snake skin sheds on some of the solid-colored beads. Not the easiest thing to do, and I'll need to practice more before I feel confident they look right, but the skin does have an interesting effect. And it's not like Ophelia minds. :)

I figure that posting my MSEDs here as well as on Facebook would make me write more. Plus, here I can be more descriptive about my MSEDs for my own future reference.

So here's the list so far, in reverse chronological order, beginning yesterday:
( Hmm. There have definitely been more than 38 days so far this year. I am definitely a little behind. :) )

I am overdue on my yearly summary post.

I'll do it later.

Best present: Ronnie gave me a sewing machine and a serger for Solstice.

The study/craft room has been cleaned, so (one of) my New Year's Resolution(s) is to make something every day. I made a necklace today. Yesterday I made dumplings. Still counts. ;)

Playing lots of SKYRIM, of course.

I also intend to exercise every day on the Wii. Helps delay muscle atrophy from playing lots of SKYRIM.

Haven't heard anything from schools yet. Will not worry about this.

Oh! I wrote The Chimaera Competition for yuletide. It's Star Wars Expanded Universe/Work of Art. Probably the only real attempt I've ever made at crack fic before, and it appears to have been mildly well-received. :)

Back to the making of things!

1. Memory, by Lois McMaster Bujold (1/17/11)
2. Finders Keepers, by Craig Childs (1/18/11)
3. The Lions of Al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay (1/18/11)
4. Making Money, by Terry Pratchett (1/19/11)
5. A Song for Arbonne, by Guy Gavriel Kay (1/22/11)
6. Unseen Academicals, by Terry Pratchett (1/24/11)
7. Guards, Guards, by Terry Pratchett (1/25/11)
8. Feet of Clay, by Terry Pratchett (1/26/11)
9. The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay (1/28/11)
10.The Wandering Fire, by Guy Gavriel Kay (1/28/11)
11.The Darkest Road, by Guy Gavriel Kay
12.Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett
13.The Swan Thieves, by Elizabeth Kostova
14.Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay
15.Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede (2/14/11)
16.Searching For Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede (2/15/11)
17.Calling On Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
18.Talking To Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
19.Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson
20.In the Land of White Death, by Valerian Albanov
21.Death With Interruptions, by Jose Saramago
22.All the Names, by Jose Saramago
23.The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
24.Kitty and the Midnight Hour, by Carrie Vaughn
25.Kitty Goes To Washington, by Carrie Vaughn (3/1/11)
26.Kitty Takes a Holiday, by Carrie Vaughn (3/2/11)
27.Kitty and the Silver Bullet, by Carrie Vaughn (3/2/11)
28.Saving Fish from Drowning, by Amy Tan (3/3/11)
29.The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold (3/5/11)
30.The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon (3/9/11)
31.Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (3/10/11)

More to come, especially in the Community fandom. Because Community is the BEST.

Grimm
Ponce de Leon's Folly
This one is my gift this Yuletide! Sad but lovely tale, where Nick, Hank, and Eddie do the best they can. I admit I still haven't figured out what story the 'monster' comes from, but even without knowing that, it's a good piece of Nick-being-Nick.

Discworld
The Day After Friday
A meme (okay, several) invade Discworld. Impressively in character even as crack ensues.

Classical Greece and Rome History & Literature RPF, Bill & Ted (1989 1991)
Dear Aristotle
Yep, you read that right. Classics crossover with Bill and Ted. I don't know a damn thing about this particular epoch in Greek history, but it's still hilarious even without that background.

Disney Princesses
A Sense of Freedom
Mulan/Aladdin crossover; Mulan and Jasmine are great, fully-realized women here.

What You Wish For and What You Keep
Really neat Cinderella story, where Cinderella has telepathic contact with the others in Disney...and her prince.

Aladdin
Passings
Genie has been through a lot before Aladdin shows up. I wasn't familiar with the post-apocalyptic-Aladdin theory before, but it really works well here.

Temeraire
Noble Experiments
Dragons in Chicago! One of whom is a rum-runner across the border! Who doesn't love that?

The Constraint of Conscience
During Laurence and Temeraire's transit to Australia. Laurence/Tharkay slash, beautifully written.

Better Off Ted
Let's Do the Timewrap Again! (We Make That, Too)
Better Off Ted fic always makes me happy :) And this one, with accidental time travel? Awesome :D

Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim
The Nine Lives of M'aiq the Liar
M'aiq has been around for a long time. Sort of. Calipers feature prominently. I am in the middle of Skyrim myself, and I love finding M'aiq randomly in the wilderness.

Enchanted
Flow
All the principals go on vacation in Alaska. Edward is...very Edward in his desire to see/do All The Things.

Les Miserables
God and Chance
I saw Les Mis for the first time this year (reading it now), and I'm so thrilled to see it in Yuletide! I'll have to go looking for old Yuletide Les Mis-ness. This is a great AU where Fantine survives but still keeps astonishingly true to the feel of the story. I want more of this version!

Well then.

My Yuletide fic has taken an...interesting turn.

I'm hoping the premise doesn't rely too heavily on knowing things that my recipient doesn't know! Oh dear.

edit: ...yeah, I've never written crack before. o_0 Heh. At least I'm amusing myself for the moment...

Hey flist! Does anyone know where I can watch full videos of Work of Art online? Bravo and Hulu only have clips. :(

This is Yuletide related, but Work of Art is not the fandom :D

I have begun work on my Yuletide fic.

Heh.

Heh heh heh heh.