calissa | Celebrating

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. I haven't yet had a chance to respond to them all, but I hope to soon.

The last few weeks have been flat out celebrating the birthdays of many family members and close friends. My own celebrations were lovely--a picnic with friends and a morning tea with family. It always makes me grateful that I know so many awesome people.

I hope to post in more detail soon. However, the Conflux convention is starting today and I have been busy with preparations.

In the meantime, I'd like to take a leaf from

jenett's book and ask you to celebrate with me by recommending me something. It could be a book, a TV show, a piece of fanfic, anything that excites you or you'd just like to share. Some of you will know I did this on Twitter yesterday and it has been a lot of fun.

Current Mood: busy

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

davidgillon

Happy birthday!

I just finished 'Cold Magic', first book in Kate Elliot's Spirit Walker trilogy. I think her writing is gorgeous, and the voice of her protagonist is particularly striking. Highly recommended.

From:

calissa

I've been meaning to try something of Kate Elliot's. Cold Magic sounds like it could be a decent place to start. Thanks for the rec!

From:

sine_nomine

Thanks to

lilysea, I've inhaled the first season of Little Mosque [on the Prairie] and thoroughly enjoyed it. Trying to decide if it's worth the paywall (to continue on with it).

Also my friend G. just recommended Mozart in the Jungle, which is an Amazon production. Watched the trailer and think it has fabulous potential.

Delighted to hear you had a lovely birthday! Good luck at Conflux!!!

Edited Date: 2015-10-01 09:47 pm (UTC)

From:

dialecticdreamer

It changes significantly in season two, but season three just --lost me-- utterly. I'd say look for it on other sites (maybe project free tv.com) before you paywall just for that. However. all of season one is HILARIOUS. ("Get up like a bunch of teenagers who've been asked to do the dishes." BWAHAHAHHAHHA.)

From:

sine_nomine

Fascinating; thanks!

Looks like the whole thing is only on hulu; I can pay for Season 2 (but that's it) on Amazon Video.

So I have to think about if there's other stuff on hulu worth paying for (yes, likely; they have St. Elsewhere, if nothing else!) and also have to explore if hulu comes with the amazon fire stick or if there's an extra charge and all.

*ponder*

From:

calissa

Through Day One now and already pretty exhausted. I think it is going to be a challenge to pace myself.

Thanks for the rec. It looks like Little Mosque is going to be a bit of a challenge to get hold of here, but I shall keep my eyes open.

From:

sine_nomine

Understood re exhaustion... do try and pace yourself, if you can... cons can be SO challenging. (For me, the solution has often been having my own hotel room so I can get away whenever I wish to recharge, even for fifteen minutes, before going back into the madding fray; mid-afternoon naps are beautiful things, too!)

The rec for Little Mosque on the Prairie came from an Australian... so I hope it's not hard for you! Her link was to YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8APVztLSaw

I couldn't open it here because of copyright restrictions in the US, though I *did* in fact end up seeing the version she recommended (briefly; the subtitles drove me nuts though I thought Arabic subtitles were fascinating) elsewhere. I viewed it on Hulu.

From:

calissa

Ah, thank you for the link! That seems to have done the trick.

From:

calissa

I just wanted to say thank you again. I watched the first episode of Little Mosque and enjoyed it quite a bit.

From:

sine_nomine

:-)

So glad you're enjoying! I am not at all a tv person and was very surprised that I liked it as much as I did.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Since we're newly acquainted, I picked a variety of tones and fandoms. I hope at least one is enjoyable.

A lovely little character piece about Sherlock, John and Mrs. Hudson:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8204401/1/Restoring_Balance

A look at Jim Kirk according to the reboot--which I think is better than BOTH new movies. I wish it were canon!
http://archiveofourown.org/works/17969

Much creepier, an NCIS story centered around Tony, whose name wasn't always DiNozzo. (The crossover is a surprise, but it's gorgeously, tantalizingly plausible.
http://archiveofourown.org/works/270769

From:

alee_grrl

I haven't read the Sherlock fic, but can confirm that the other two stories are amazing.

From:

dialecticdreamer

Again, it's a different tone than the other two, very warm and cozy, but not tooth-rottting.

From:

alee_grrl

I'll have to check it out. Warm and cozy, but not overly saccharine sounds just about perfect right now. :D

From:

calissa

Thank you for these! I've been wanting to branch into reading more fanfic, but I've never really been quite sure where to start. I'm familiar with the canon for all of these, so this is great!

From:

dialecticdreamer

I'm so glad you liked them! Let me know what shows/ movies/ books you enjoy and I'll scour my favorites bookmarks-- anytime! Just drop a PM.

From:

onewhitecrow

I recommend Arctic Dreams, Isobel & November, Run, Freak, Run.

From:

calissa

I saw your review of Arctic Dreams and thought it was something I needed to track down.

The song was beautiful and something I needed. Thank you.

The last of the links doesn't work. Is it a book I should look up?

From:

onewhitecrow

You were one of the people I immediately wanted to thrust it at...he manages to put pure love into words sometimes, and you know that is super-hard.

[good wishes]

No, a particularly beautiful/nuts webcomic...try now?

From:

calissa

Definitely super-hard. I think the National Library has a copy, though I might be better off ordering one for myself.

Thank you.

Yes, that link has done the trick. Thank you!

From:

jenett

Music! I discovered things by Navan sometime this summer, and it entirely hits my interesting harmony spot. Ellas Mari is the one I keep coming back to, but there's a lot of other stuff on their albums I like for writing.

From:

calissa

Oh, wow! That was amazing. Thank you. I think I'll have to track down some more.

From:

alee_grrl

I can't remember if you enjoy graphic novels or not, but I came across a copy of Terry Moore's Echo: The Complete Series. I'd read the first two volumes and loved them, but hadn't had a chance to read the remaining volumes. I adore Terry Moore's work in general and have an omnibus edition of Strangers in Paradise, which is one of my all time favorite comic books series.

Glad to hear that your birthday celebrations have been enjoyable! Hope that you have a great Conflux experience.

From:

calissa

I'm not super into graphic novels, but that has been more a matter of finances than taste. How do you find Comixology? It seems like it could open up some avenues.

Thank you! It has all been very lovely, though I confess I am still quite worn out after it all.

<3

From:

alee_grrl

The cost of graphic novels is pretty limiting. I haven't used Comixology a whole lot since it seems to be most suited for tablets, but the few times I have used it I liked the general interface and the ability to read panel by panel. I keep meaning to try it out more and just haven't gotten around to it. :)

From:

umadoshi

Hooray! I'm glad you had a lovely birthday. *^^*

Since I already did my most heartfelt reccing at you on Twitter (this is where I'd put something like *cuddles Georgia* if Georgia Mason weren't the polar opposite of cuddly), I'll just hope that Conflux is wonderful and you have lots of fun. ^_^

From:

calissa

Thank you! <3

From:

nanila

Mmm, cupcake. Yay, birthday!

My book recommendation to you would be Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. It's romantic, the dialogue is priceless, the characters are lovable and there be magic and dragons and vampiresses and the best OTP.

From:

calissa

I can report that the cupcake was super tasty :)

I've been on the library waiting list for Sorcerer to the Crown for a while now and am currently second in line. I think I might finally get my hands on it by mid-November and can't wait.

Thanks for the rec!