Like Dr. Jekyll and Donna Reed

I had planned to work for a while this morning, but it's very rainy. That's always EXCELLENT news out here, but it does make the internet sort of iffy. Plus, waking up to all the lovely birthday wishes (apparently even Google knows it's my BD? Weird. Also creepy) sucked me down the rabbit hole of DW/LJ and Twitter. Sorry, not sorry.

It's funny how, when I go through long periods when don't have time for my fannish places, I don't even realize how much I HAVE TO SAY. And now it all just wants to spill out at once, and I don't know where to start, but I'll give it a shot.

Perhaps with fannish stuff.

I've kind of lost track of SPN, but I see there are people still enjoying it, which makes me happy in a sentimental kind of way, not the least reason being that I wouldn't even be here without it, plus almost all of my dear fannish friends were acquired because of that show. It's odd how, in my little corner of fandom, friends from newer fandoms seem to come and go, but the old SPN crowd sticks together.

I actually don't have much TV to watch at the moment, since Sons of Anarchy and Justified have both ended, as has The Red Road, which is a newer interest, and a show I highly recommend and not just because Jason Momoa is unfairly attractive. Basically it's about a small town in New Jersey adjacent to a reservation, but it's very character-driven and I (rather obviously, I think) really love that. There's a lot of culture clash stuff that I don't necessarily feel qualified to criticize, and a really sharply contrasting juxtaposition of the very traditional nuclear family of the Jensens, and Marie's found, it-takes-a-village family. But I think what really appeals to me the most is the theme of growing up in a small town generation after generation, something I do know well in my own life. Regardless, it's pretty rich story-wise and character-wise, and well worth a watch. (S1 is on Netflix and S2 just ended on the Sundance channel.)

I have been around these parts, peripherally, because of podfic and Amplificathon. What an amazing output of podfic was had, too! I wasn't quite as productive in quantity as some years, because of RL and specifically, working on producing professional audiobooks, but in the true spirit of Amplificathon, I did dabble in some under-represented fandoms this year and it was quite enjoyable. (I discovered I really like the idea of Johnny Utah/Brian O'Conner, for one thing. :)

Speaking of audiobooks, the one I'm working on now is a lot of fun. Tess Mercury and the Crooked Pink The Audiobook aka Wherein Chemm80 Affects a Dubious Southern (Georgia) Accent for The Entire Book. Meanwhile, Sharon Woods Hopkins' Rhetta McCarter "Killer" series is available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. (I have download codes if you want to listen and leave a review.)

Meanwhile, I'm also putting in a lot of hours at the lab because they're available and I have various expensive travel-type things coming up that need paying for. But THE most time-consuming thing, at least for the last couple of weeks and for several to come, is the fact that my youngest child (of four) is mere days away from becoming a high school senior. I have feelings about this, as you might expect, but they'll have to wait for full consideration and mulling at some time when I am not so fucking busy running after him.

I usually try not to spend a lot of time talking about my children and their relative awesomeness (exponential, btw) because 1) I recognize that they are not nearly as interesting to other people as they are to me, and 2) because a big part of the value of fannish spaces for me is the fact that I can be myself in them, and fully express feelings and identities that aren't welcome in the society/part of the country in which I live, or in the context of parent/child interaction. My kids don't want or need to know that I'm bisexual or that I enjoy slash or other gay erotica or... well, you get it.

ANYWAY. Feelings. For one thing, I'm always emotional this time of year, because all the school activities the kids are participating in come to a close during April and May, and the awards banquets happen, and prom and all those emotion-heavy, tradition-laden events come to pass.

It makes me miss my mom. She was a teacher at the school where she and I and my kids attend(ed), so even though she's been gone for almost 7 years (and was retired for a few years before that), she was always at every program, ball game, spelling bee or awards assembly that my kids were in. It's always hard to be around the school without her.

And of course, the end of every school year brings home the point that soon, there will be no reason for me to be up at the school at all. This is a relief in some ways; kids are stressful, and very often so are school teachers and administrators, from a parent perspective. But I've been doing this parent schtick since August of 1987, so sending the last one off to college is kind of a big deal, lifewise. It's also very time-consuming, since he wants (but does not NEED) to play college sports, so I stay busy videotaping, editing video, and editing online recruiting profiles, in addition to all the usual registering for college entry exams, planning campus visits, etc. including a visit to Yale at the end of June, because he's been invited to a football prospect camp there. It's a long way from New Mexico to New Haven, yo.

Which brings me to the bragging portion of the festivities. My children are amazing. A day doesn't go by that I don't thank all that's holy for how they've turned out, and really, who they are. I've done all I can, but I recognize completely that a lot of it is just the luck of the draw: they're made of great stuff. They're all incredibly smart, funny, kind, grateful, athletic and good-looking. No, really.







The girl is a doctor of physical therapy and manages a small hospital PT clinic. The oldest boy (in the green shirt), is a few credit hours away from a bachelor's in wildlife science. The middle boy just finished his freshman year (which he financed entirely with merit scholarship money) of college, and is working on a degree in mechanical (and aeronautical?) engineering, with a minor in linguistics (he's currently learning Gaelic? IDEK.). The youngest plans to go to medical school and specialize in anesthesiology, while playing college basketball. Although he's been invited to a prospect football camp at Yale next month. So maybe football? Or baseball?

I'm almost superstitious about talking about them, because... well. Universe? Just so you know, I don't take them for granted, ever. In addition to all the above, they're all just a joy to be around. I don't just love them—I genuinely like them.

But speaking of baseball (wasn't I?), I must pack up my shit and begin the 200-mile trek to Albuquerque for state baseball playoffs. This is the 4th year in a row this team has made the playoffs without a championship. The bracket looks VERY promising this year, but it's baseball. Anything can happen. Just pray we don't mess up.

Thank you all so very much for the birthday wishes and for being my friends. I cannot possibly express how much you all mean to me. ♥♥♥