i'm goin' to toontown

Once again: the full list of books I read in the past year. Not counted are comic books, graphic novels, fanfics, works in progress that I have edited or beta-read, or webcomics. (For this year, that means that among other things I am not counting having FINISHED HOMESTUCK.)

Titles behind the ( cut-tag. )

My total count is up considerably, from 142 to 163. First-time-read count is likewise up, from 35 (25% of all books read this year) to 56 (34%).

My five most-read authors this year were Lois McMaster Bujold, Naomi Novik, David Eddings, Diane Duane, and Dorothy Sayers. Topping the first-time-read chart this year are Maggie Stiefvater, Dorothy Sayers, Catherynne M. Valente, Brandon Sanderson, Scott Lynch, and Jo Walton (with the last two tied).

William Gibson's Pattern Recognition and Jo Walton's Among Others are still my most-reread books over the nine years I've been tracking. Following them are Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy, Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, Janet Kagan's Hellspark, and Dorothy Sayers's Busman's Honeymoon.

And because I didn't say so the other night: Happy New Year to all, and may this year be better than the last. (Please and thank you, God, okay?)

A questions meme about original fictional characters, courtesy of in_the_blue!

If you know what character you want, you can pick, or you can describe a character and I'll snag my closest match. Or just leave it to me to pick.

Send me a number and I'll answer the questions with one of my OCs:

- How does your OC react when their rival is grovelling at their feet for their life?
- What’s the subtitle that accompanies your OC’s name during their dramatic intro?
- What incredibly lame thing does your OC do while thinking that it’s actually super cool?
- How would your OC react to meeting someone who is attempting to impersonate them?
- Would your OC try to weasel out of a genie wish limit with the wishing for more wishes bullshit?
- Exactly what amount of wealth would be enough to tempt your OC into doing something that is distasteful but not specifically against their moral code?
- What is the most unacceptable pun that someone would use in conversation with your OC?
- Would your OC eat cooked testicles assuming they’re prepared hygienically?
- If your OC attempted to clean their nails with a dagger like some sort of stereotypical fantasy badass would they accidentally cut themselves?
- How many days can your OC go without bathing before they can’t stand being in their own body anymore?

From all over: Comment with one of your RP characters and one of mine. I will make up the worst AU I can think of.

The year in review, as seen through public posts in this journal. Leaving out last year's end-of-year memes. (Bolded phrases are subject lines; unbolded are first lines of the post, used where no subject line exists.)

January: a random act of kindness
February: [purimgifts] Dear Author
March: Safely and exhaustedly arrived back in NY. Consonance was amazing.
April: Pesach recipe round-up
May: a postcard from the magical land of sick
June: Conterpoint ahoy!
July: So we saw Pacific Rim today.
August: a mazel tov
September
October
November: (It is completely ridiculous that I haven't posted a thing since August.)
December: words, words; they're all we have to go on

The year in review, as seen through public posts in this journal. Leaving out last year's end-of-year memes. (Bolded phrases are subject lines; unbolded are first lines of the post, used where no subject line exists.)

January: "Hello, folks! So yeah, while I will not be leaving LJ behind completely, I am slowly starting to make my way over to DW."
February
March: "omnomentaschen"
April: "Tonight is the first night of Pesach. Zman cherutenu; the time of our liberation."
May: "traveling plans"
June: "home again, home again"
July: "home again / Home again, in more ways than one."
August: "There's been so much going on this past month that I keep wanting to post about..."
September: "Closing the year"
October: "My pants: so bankrupt."
November: "Signal boost: NYC-area apartment needed, short-term rental"
December: "mumblesomething years ago"

Tomorrow or the day after, I am hoping to make these and/or these for Purim.

To that end, tonight I have attempted to make sugar-free raspberry jam. The last two times I made it, it crystallized when it cooled. I'm hoping to prevent that this time by means of using xanthan gum. I have no idea at all if this will work, but right now my kitchen smells like cooking fruit, and that is in itself rather happy-making. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile: a meme from a while back! ladysingsthe asked me seven questions. Answers behind the ( cut. )

Anyone feel like doing the Seven Questions meme? Comment here with "PICK ME" or some recognizable variant thereof, and I will ask you some! Probably.

The year in review, as seen through public posts in this journal. (Bolded phrases are subject lines; unbolded are first lines of the post, used where no subject line exists.)

January: "hitting the road again"
February: "I am smug like a smug thing and posting about it very belatedly."
March: "I'd Do NEFilk For You"
April: "Tomorrow night is the first night of Pesach. Zman cherutenu; the time of our liberation."
May: "[unfiltered] here's how it is."
June: "Tonight is Shavuot."
July: "write like a girl"
August: "That Icon Meme Again"
September: "closing, closing, closing the year"
October
November
December: "i'm still here. i'm not gone."

There are so many things I have been meaning to post and not gotten around to it, including a handful of links and an update on the acapella music collection project and a mention of the actual by-god double rainbow all the way across the sky I saw two weeks ago.

So of course I'm going to post a meme instead. From cflute via technoshaman: Write Like A Girl.

Italicize the authors you've heard of before reading this list of authors, bold the ones you've read at least one work by, underline the ones of whose work you own at least one example of.

Please feel free to repost with your own favorite female SF (or non-SF) authors included! (I've added my own in a different color.)

( throw your hands up at me )

So there are these two memes going around and I like them both, but for the moment I'm gonna just do one at a time. Seen several places:

Pick a character I've written or roleplayed, and I will give you the top five ideas/concepts/other I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to depicting them accurately. This includes both original characters and characters about whom I write fanfic.

Any character I've ever written is fair game, but I reserve the right to say "eh, I got nothin'" if I feel I don't really have that firm a grasp of them. A list of my RP characters follows below the ( cut. )

The meme goes: Comment and I'll give you a color that I think represents you, and then you list ten things you like in that color!

in_the_blue gave me ( brown. (Images behind the cut.) )

Hmm. A lot of these turned out to be food or food-related. Possibly I should have had breakfast before I started.

If you want to play, reply here saying "Pick me!" and I'll give you a color -- either one that I think represents you or one chosen at random.