not a perfect metaphor

Yes, thank you, Viking hordes, I really needed that when I had absolutely no materials for that cause with me.
But other than that, and... you know, the fact that I was traveling for the purpose of funeral services... this visit hasn't been too bad. My cousin said she could tell I'm happier now that I've moved.
( and now, a picture )
And now, for something completely different: Operation Let's Build a Goddamn Tesla Museum. If this doesn't blow past the goal by the end of the first week I will be very surprised. (Also, they should sell the Tesla > Edison bumper stickers on their own.)

Since my grandfather will not go to hospice, hospice has come to him. (Frankly, I think this should have happened months ago; my grandmother was never prepared to be a caregiver, and I think she's finally stopped pretending she can do it by herself.) So who knows what's going to happen from here, but at least he'll be a little more comfortable.
Meanwhile: #FicFriday!
( so far: Percyverse, W13/XMFC, Disc, Disc/W13, XMFC/Once Upon a Time )

If you'd asked me six months ago if I thought my grandfather would be the last of his brothers alive, I would have said no - partly because that was right after he had a major surgery, partly because the other of the five brothers was the youngest.
And then Mom's uncle was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer... I think a month ago? And things went downhill for him from there. Two days ago, he told his family to move him to hospice; he died this morning. Mom and Dad are going down over Mom's spring break, and they're having the services then so she can be there; my grandfather's still carrying on as well as he has been lately, but he's in no shape to travel himself.
In the immortal wisdom of Heywood Banks, may you never have a cranky pancreas, guys.

I've come to the conclusion that I only post when I have a meme/other handy reason to do so because I don't feel like my life is worth writing about.
So, a couple things of note:
*Work remains work-like, especially since we're in holiday prep mode. Job search... also remains job-search-like (and very, very frustrating in this climate, esp. since I'm trying to focus on somewhere I'm not).
*My grandfather had epic surgery in mid-September; he made it through that all right, but his doctor's told him to make sure everything's in order. I... will not be entirely surprised if we're having a funeral before the year's out. (I'm not trying to sound callous about it. It's just... dude's 81 and has a zillion health problems. I've made peace with it, I think. Though I reserve the right to say otherwise when it happens.)
*Got sucked into Once Upon a Time; looking forward to seeing where that goes.
*Upgraded to an actual purse! I've been using my old CD bag for ages now because it fit everything, but... really, self (also, since I got the iPod hookup for my car, I haven't actually played any of the CDs in said bag). It's one of Mom's old purses, but it'll do.
*Writing... needs to be a thing that happens. Prompts Accepted Here!

Last week, my parents came home with not one, but two puppies. (So: not actually romantic and actually less of a surprise than the last dog was, but.) They're akita-mastiff mixes; officially, they're Buffy and Willow, but I've been tempted more than once to call them both Pete.
(This is not an Adventures of Pete and Pete reference, except for when it is, in which case Buffy is Big Pete.)

A meme, for something a little more cheerful: Give me any of my characters, and ask me to put them in any of my other fandoms. Throw in a song lyric for spice, and I'll come up with a short fic combining the two!
(I reserve the right to work on this over the weekend.)
Following up on things: I did get a gift fic after all (I AM EXPECTING AWESOMENESS), and the dog did not come home in the Cone of Shame so much as with it. So far we haven't had to make use of it, either.

So on Sunday Mom went to get herself a soda, and spotted someone dumping a couple kittens by the side of the road. She and Dad staged a rescue despite her allergies (I never thought I'd hear a cat meow in this house); due to said allergies and the cold weather, we couldn't keep them overnight, so they took 'em to the shelter, where they will hopefully go to good home(s) soon.
...and where my parents promptly fell in love with a dog. ::facepalm::
I am still not prepared to be a dog-having household again. I expect I will be about three months from now. But she's a very calm dog, at least.
Meanwhile, a very pretty thing: Amy Pond in the style of Alphonse Mucha. mmmmmmm, Art Nouveau.

(The scene: The couch. Mom and I are watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Sirius and wolfy!Remus just started fighting.)

Mom: So... the wolf kills the dog?
me: No.
Mom: ...The dog kills the wolf.
me: No. Neither of them die in this one.
Mom: Oh, I thought Sirius died.
me: That's two movies from now. He falls through a drapery.
Mom: ...::blank stare::
me: It's supposed to be the ~*~Veil of Deeeath!~*~ ::spirit fingers:: But yeah, most of the fans are right there with you on the blank stare.

Meme time, because why not: If you could have me write a fic specifically for you, what would it be like? Fandom, characters/pairing, genre, plot elements, kinks... what's your ideal fic from me?
We're separating my ornaments from my parents' as we take stuff off the tree (hopefully it'll be of some use before December...). I have approx. a crapton of angels.
Tomorrow, I think I might try to detox my room (it's in desperate need of cleaning, partly so I can get my piles of stuff out of the living room and help Mom with her zen) and try to watch the Warehouse 13 episodes I missed over the summer. And keep poking at Vincenia; I think my writing spirits are buoyed by (a) finally having the nifty spreadsheet to keep track of the numbers and (b) having the I Do Two contract back in my hands. (PUBLISHING SQUEE, y'all.)

Barring someone calling off, I... appear to have a weekend off. I think that's the first time that's happened since I got the job. Did some Christmas shopping after work; more to come Sunday. Haven't decided between Oxford or Borders (or both, but they're in opposite directions, is the thing) yet.
Dad turned on Andrew Bird on his iPod, on the drive home from dinner last night. That... seemed to be exactly what I needed, so I'm following suit on the big computer tonight. I do not, as predicted, miss the dog howling because OMG THERE ARE VIOLINS.
yuletide uploading is up! I've got my assignment and Yulebunny posted; now it's back to poking at the next Yulebunny. (Which is terrifying because [character] says things like [COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS PHRASE] and I might have to capture that and I'm not sure I can. But it's one of the things I love most about [fandom], so! Cryptic parenthetical is cryptic.)