Zubeneschamali

Hi, LJ! This is the first of at least three posts that I've been meaning to make for a couple of months now. I traveled to Kentucky in February, and I have some interesting pics from that. Then I went to New York in March, where I got to hang out with bewaretheides15 and tebtosca, both of whom are as awesome in person as online (not that you had any doubts, right?). Next week, it's up to Chicago for my annual super-sized academic conference (6,700 papers are being presented in 5 days), and then the semester will be almost over, whee!

( The rest of this post is an update on my running, so feel free to skip it if that's not of interest to you. )

I said I was going to finish this, even if it takes to the end of January. Grr.

( Five golden riiiiiiiings..... )

Happy weekend-after-Christmas! Hope Santa was good to you and that everyone liked the gifts you got them.

Seven foods that I dislike. Well, last week I disliked pretty much all foods, because I had a sudden, excruiciating toothache that drove me to the dentist, where they took one look at the x-ray and said, yep, that's a decaying nerve under that tooth, come back on Monday for a root canal. So the weekend before Christmas was spent eating the softest foods I could find, taking as many ibuprofen as I was allowed, and waiting in eager anticipation (seriously) for the root canal. Now that it's over and my jaw has stopped aching from being propped open for the procedure, life is much better. I'm so grateful that it happened after the semester was over (though I did have to grade one class's term papers with a raging toothache, but they almost all got As for their final grades anyway, so wev) and before Christmas so that I could enjoy the day with Mr. Z and the 'rents.

( Seven swans a-swimming... )

Let's pretend it's still yesterday.

( Thoughts on Season Six... )

The first episode I saw live is the episode that's still my favorite.

( Read more... )

Season Two. Best season. That is all.

( Okay, so that's not all... )

Embarrassing confession: I literally can't remember the last time I read a fiction book (that I hadn't read before). I was a voracious reader as a kid, but now with fanfiction and the Internet and whatnot, sitting down to read a piece of fiction when I know nothing about the author or the characters has seemed surprisingly intimidating and time-consuming.

BUT. I saw a rec on tumblr from xcziel that intrigued me, and so I gave it a shot. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie won last year's Nebula Award as her first novel (!!) She also won the Golden Tentacle Award for best debut novel; I did not know such an award existed, and now I WANT IT. *ahem* Anyway, I put it on my iPad next to my collection of Big Bangs and had at it.

It was interesting and well worth the read. I suspect I have read better fanfic, but it was certainly quite good. She did some really intriguing things with POV and language and show-don't-tell that got me thinking about how we write speculative fiction and introduce world-building and all of that. To my mind, her creativity came in those elements rather than in characterization or plot or themes, but that's not to knock her creativity. (You have to appreciate a book that uses "she" as the default pronoun.) I don't want to put any spoilers in the post, but I would love to discuss the book in comments if anyone has read it. And I would recommend it to you sci-fi geeks out there!

Bored. Bored, bored, bored. I have so much to do in terms of work and fic and running and quilting that I don't want to do any of it. As an aside, I've noticed that I can be disciplined about any two of those four things at once: I did great churning out the fic this spring, but now I'm burned out on it. I've been better about running more often and for longer, but I can't seem to get myself to work even though it's summer and my only deadlines are vague, far-off ones. Of course, that could be the problem; I work better under pressure, I guess.

Way back at the start of the year, I had this post-a-week idea set up, and then I stopped doing it. I still have a lot of suggestions to answer, so I'm going to start with xcziel's question:  maps! Top 5 things you love about them + 1 time you maybe were a little bit of a map!geek.

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There are still plenty of weeks left to fill, if you have questions you want to ask!

So remember this house that Mr. Z and I have been trying to sell? The one we put on the market last May and had zero interest in all summer and fall, the one where we decided not to renew our realtor's contract when it ended in December? We found a new realtor and spent a few thousand dollars getting the place fixed up (while being in NZ/AU), put it back on the market in February, and got an offer within a couple of days. Hooray! we thought.

But the house isn't willing to let go of us just yet.

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I find it really hard to believe that we've been here for a month already. Feels like we just got here! On the other hand, New Zealand seems forever ago, and Melbourne is starting to feel familiar. There's only seven weeks to go, one of which will be in Sydney, so it also feels like it's all going to be slipping away soon. :( I don't know if I can handle going back to a place without five cafes on every block, and worse yet, a place where they don't have flat whites. There's no brewed coffee here, just espresso (short black), espresso with water (long black), lattes, or something like a cappuccino but with micro-foamed milk (flat white). So coffee is always freshly made and always really flavorful. And it's everywhere. Sushi bars, Thai restaurants, fried chicken shops, pizza parlors, ice cream shops, etc. I decided early on to set myself the challenge of having coffee from a different place every day, and so far I haven't had to deviate more than a block off my usual walk to campus. :D

So I'm loving the coffee, and I'm loving living on the 16th floor overlooking the city and one of the many parks/gardens that fill the city (and are great for running in; thanks to pedestrian overpasses and riverside paths, the distance you can cover without having to cross more than one or two streets is incredible), and I'm loving that I'm missing one of the coldest and snowiest winters the Midwest has ever had (sorry not sorry). Here's the view from our bedroom, followed by two shots from the balcony:

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I haven't been keeping up with the post-a-week, but since I have nowhere near 52 weeks' worth of questions, I figure I can cut myself some slack. :) And also ask for more submissions!

The lovely deirdre_c asked me to share my most and least favorite things about running.

( When it goes well and when it goes poorly. )

Title: Hic Sunt Dracones
Artist: lightthesparks
Author: zubeneschamali
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Gen
Word count: 9,557
Warnings:character death (OC)
Spoilers: general for first half of S9
Summary: AU for S9. After the Wicked Witch was dispatched, Sam and Dean decided it would be a good idea to try mapping out the rest of the bunker. Dean never expected to find something as unreal as a hatching dragon…or that it might prove to be the answer to how to get rid of Sam's no-longer-welcome passenger.

A/N: This is my entry for the 2013 spn_reversebang. I was lucky to get in fast enough to choose a wonderful piece of art that turned out to be by lightthesparks, which made it even better! She's been great to work with and I've had a good time collaborating with her. I also owe her for the title, which is perfect for the story. One of her most excellent posters is below the cut, but you should see all of her awesome art here. Thanks also to fiercelynormal for the beta job.


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Last Sunday, I was shivering in Minneapolis in negative (Fahrenheit) temps while it snowed and blowed enough at home to send dozens of cars into the highway ditches. Yesterday, I went for a run and ended up wearing just a t-shirt. Gotta love the Midwest.

Wed. is the day we take off for the second semester of sabbatical! First is the 31-hour plane trip, assuming all goes well. *fingers crossed* Then there are a little over two weeks in New Zealand, which should be awesomely fun and beautiful and leading to lots of excellent photos. And then from Feb. to mid-Apr., both Mr. Z and I will be visiting the University of Melbourne, doing research in our respective areas.

Which leads me to the question cassiopeia7 asked me: what's my field/discipline?

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If you have questions about me you'd like answered, there's still plenty of room on the calendar here.