http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

Friedel de Wet claims his fourth wicket as South Africa close in on victory with two overs remaining in the first Test in Centurion.

Enver Gjokaj picspam.

Dichen Lachman official site. Her name's pronounced "Deechen."

So pretty. It almost makes me regret giving up on Dollhouse before the end. Almost.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/8423416.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8423416.stm

The US transfers 12 detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan, Yemen and Somaliland, officials say.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/football/8423241.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8423241.stm

Everton host Birmingham and West Ham entertain Chelsea in the Premier League after Wolves beat Burnley, while Newcastle see off Boro in the Championship.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

England lose their sixth wicket as South Africa sense victory in the first Test in Centurion.

Monday Dec 14 - Sunday Dec 20
Crossroads [G] for little_dollface (fic)
Glass House [PG-13] for atalanta84 (fic)
Familiar Surprises [PG-13] for fangirlyness (fic)
It's a Fine Life [PG-13] for floorcoaster (fic)
Running [PG-13] for a_theanalyst (fic)
Train Station [G] for zarahjoyce (art)
Excerpts from Letters to a Young Man [PG-13] for ashleyfanfic (fic)
Another Beginning [PG-13] for anglicwitch (fic)
The Meridian Scandal [PG] for lynnec114 (fic)
Restricted Actions [R] for kantbearsed (fic)
Mad Apologies [PG] for everythursday (fic)
Hermione's Secret [NC-17] for ldymusyc (fic)
The Bane of her Existance [NC-17] for serpenscript (fic)
Luna's Conversations with Eros (among other things) [PG] for elyaeru (fic)

List of entries for Week 1


Authors/Artists: You're more than welcome to reply to comments you receive, but please be sure to comment anonymously in order to keep your identity a mystery until the reveal post goes up.

Well, that's 25 gifts so far with 25 more to come!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/8423325.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8423325.stm

Dutch police say 14-year-old Laura Dekker, who wants to sail solo around the world, has been missing since Friday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/football/8423241.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8423241.stm

Wolves entertain Burnley and Everton host Birmingham in the Premier League with West Ham v Chelsea to come, after Newcastle beat Boro in the Championship.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

Friedel de Wet removes Jonathan Trott as England face a tense final hour to save the first Test match in Centurion.

I scored two eggs yesterday (what are the chances???). One is now a hatchling now and the other is still in egg. If both of them develop and live I plan to offer their "bite" to members of my flist who'd be interested in obtaining the vampire dragons. Of course their BSA might kill an egg too so there are no guarantees but being lucky enough to get them I feel I should "gift" them or attempt to to others.

And weirdly enough I scored two magma dragons as well. One is a male hatchie and the other an egg that, by using the pink gender influencing, should produce an unrelated female. I know sometimes the magma can be tricky too to pick up and, if both survive, I'll be breeding them.


And, in the spirit of giving, I went to rescue what I thought was a stone dragon (I already have one) with less than two days left to hatch and by golly I've got a geode hatchling which I'd been looking for as well. Score!!!

This is my last day of work in Marquette. It feels surreal. I'm wearing my How Ood shirt, to cheer me up. It's not that I haven't come and gone at different jobs, I usually only work at a place for two or three years before I get bored and move on, but I think that this is the first time I've quit jobs that I've liked. And, well, the whole moving thing. ( this got long )

Title: Luna's Conversations with Eros (among other things)
Author/Artist:
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Oh, god, if they were mine...but they're not. Nor am I being paid. I'm just a lonely, bored college student who looks for any excuse not to write papers.
Warnings: None
Summary: Cupid is given a mission for New Year's Eve.
Notes: elyaeru, I really hope you like this. I enlisted lots of help because sometimes I'm really slow. XD Also, I happened to fit in the ENTIRE quote... I hope you're okay with that!
Thanks to my beta, rivertempest for, as usual, preventing me from sounding like a ten year old on crack and also helping me sound funny. I promise, anything remotely giggleable in this piece was her idea. THANK YOU FOR THAT.

( Luna's Conversations with Eros (among other things) )

ferretbush_post is the account the mods use to post the gifts. It has not authored or created any of the gifts.

Title: The Bane of her Existence
Author/Artist:
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Characters are property of J.K Rowling
Warnings: Non con, anal, control, sadism, bondage, D/s
Summary: Hermione's once simple suggestion to spice up their sex life is now the bane of her existence, and Draco is more twisted than she ever thought possible.
Notes: Many thanks to my beta khasael

( The Bane of her Existence )

ferretbush_post is the account the mods use to post the gifts. It has not authored or created any of the gifts.

Last night at a Chinese banquet featuring smoked goose, prawns wrapped in bacon, sticky rice, and ten other courses I'm too lazy to describe, the room began to vibrate. Due to jet lag, the late hour, and three glasses of wine it was some time before I finally said, "Er... does anyone else feel that?"

The shaking continued and intensified. Since nobody seemed very concerned and the table was a folding one, I did not duck under it. Turns out it was a 6.8 quake, which is big, but there were only a few injuries and no deaths. Hopefully there will be no more natural disasters on this trip...

During the banquet, a guy asked Oyce's Dad, "When are you leaving for Xian?"

Not hearing the question correctly, he replied, "The Han Dynasty."

It's freezing cold, by the way, and the thermal underwear I bought before leaving turned out to be a top, not a bottom - they are all rolled up and I guess a top fell into the bottom bin. I have bought additional thermal underwear, but as I am still freezing and am not even in Xian yet... well, I expect to be cold. Very cold. Like New England is, apparently.

By the way, China blocks LJ. You all will hear from me in about five days. In the meantime and if you celebrate, have a merry Christmas and a happy Yuletide! I braved nearly frozen fingers today to write one more Treat.

One of the (many many many) things that people say about History that annoys me is that history doesn't matter. It's all in the past. It has no relevance anything now.

Bite me, history-hater. You fail at life.

I quoted this over at FWD a few days ago: Why We Do Disability History

...the United States Supreme Court has accepted appeals from several states which claim that Congress exceeded its constitutional authority in imposing the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] on the states. Congress lacked evidence to prove that state governments had engaged in a historical pattern of discrimination against persons with disabilities...

I argue that all history is political. Yes, I am explicitly political in what I write: I'm doing disability history, at least in part, because there is a disability-related history. By writing about it, blogging about it, nattering at everyone I meet about it, I'm reminding folks that there is a past - sometimes a very radical past - that encompasses this idea of "disability". That the definition of disability has changed, and that these changes are political in nature. That the whole of history of people with disabilities is not the Eugenics Movement, or the Conquest of Deafness, or even the War of the Dots. That it's not just Helen Keller and FDR, but schools and hospital and concentration camps and marriages and Deaflandia and wheelchairs and Laura Bridgman and radical protests and poster children.

My history looks political, but I argue that choosing to completely ignore disability, race, gender, sexual identity, class, religion... Not including those, or acknowledging their influence, is equally political, but it isn't viewed that way. It's viewed as default, as apolitical.

But, I was going on about how history has an influence on the present.

Back in November, the Conservative Government decided to change how Canadian history is presented to new immigrants.

The new document, which will be the citizenship study guide for the 250,000 immigrants who arrive in Canada each year, instantly becomes one of the country's most widely read and potentially influential pieces of writing. It will replace a document created by the Liberals in 1997 that the Conservatives criticized for its anemic presentation of Canadian history and identity.

No longer will new Canadians be told that Canada is strictly a nation of peacekeepers, for example. The new guide places a much greater emphasis on Canada's military history, from the Great War to the present day. It also tackles other issues of historical significance, from Confederation to Quebec's separatist movement, that were barely mentioned by its predecessor,

How different does Canada look if you change the historic focus like that? What if you changed it to focus on Japanese Internment and the Eugenics Laws? What if you changed it so the story was written from the viewpoint of First Nations people, rather than European settlers? What about if we only told the history of immigration? What about if the focus was on religious tensions?

These things matter in the way people perceive Canada. If we present our history - as it is often presented in schools - as Confederation / War / War / Repatriation of the Constitution / Present Day, that gives on an entirely different view of what's important to Canada and Canadians than if you present it as Conquest / Confederation / Immigration / War / Immigration / War / Immigration / Everything Trudeau Ever Did / Peacekeeping Stuff / Present Day.

And that's just Canada.

I just don't get this apathy towards history, this feeling that it's irrelevant. Boring, I can understand. I obviously don't find it so, but I also don't understand people's interest in peanut butter, so whatever. But complete apathy?

What's the saying? "The past isn't dead. It's not even the past." We still wrangle with historical issues every single day. Trying to pretend that's not true doesn't change that - it just leaves you ill equipped for the future.

Originally posted at http://trouble.dreamwidth.org/548703.html. You can comment here or there using OpenID. Comments at Dreamwidth: .

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/021213.html

Protester outside UN: Down with the British!
British coworker: What's with this shit?
American coworker: Apparently Britain is controlling the American government!
British coworker: Why the fuck haven't I been told?

--47th & 2nd

Overheard by: David

Guess who's going to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring James Earl Jones and Adrian Lester?

Yeah, that's right: ME! My Christmas present from my brother, and a very fine present it is too. Oooh, I can't wait...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/8423319.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8423319.stm

Crowds gather to mourn Iran's reformist cleric Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, raising tensions over fresh opposition protests.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8422633.stm

Kevin Pietersen is run out as England face a tense final session to save the first Test match in Centurion.