Present and Unaccounted for

Some things I need to get out there so maybe I can stop thinking I need to call her all the time.

Sun, 14 Jun 2015 00:22:19 GMT

I really need to stop posting here with not good things.

On May 15th my sister passed away from a sudden, completely unexpected stroke. My child went to see her that afternoon, I spoke to her on the phone and then it was 11pm and we were rushing to her house to find out why she had not answered her phone all evening. She was 46.

Hindsight says we should have seen it coming. For the previous 2-3 weeks she kept complaining of headaches. It never occurred to any of us to say "Hey, Carol, is this headache you keep complaining of going away and a new one coming back or is it the same headache still?"

The month since then has been a long string of signing papers, cleaning out her apartment, people generally being assholes over who wants what, and extreme emphasis on how dickish landlords can be. (If anyone can tell me how a person 'gives notice' when they are dead I would really appreciate it. I am confused.)

Things I have learned in the last month: Write down your passwords for EVERYTHING (it is amazing what the people you will leave behind need to have access too after you are gone, seriously, shit you wouldn't even think of) and keep them somewhere safe but able to be found by one or two trusted people, have a will (my sister didn't) even if you think you will be around for decades still to come, death is expensive (in the neighbourhood of $4000 - $5000 in Canada) even for very simple and straight forward cremation so have life insurance if you can manage it, landlords can be the worlds biggest douchefucks in existence and look a grieving mother straight in the face mere days after her child has passed and say "Your daughter did not give us 30 days notice she would be vacating the apartment, you owe us a month rent.".

FYI, at least here in BC you do NOT have to pay that month, but they are still perfectly within their rights to keep the security deposit.

It hasn't all been bad though, there have been a lot of companies (Mid-Island Co-op, TD Bank, Shaw Cable, hell even Blizzard with her World of Warcraft Account) which were really understanding and made things as simple as possible. Simple is good when your brain is stuck in disbelief mode.

Things are starting to get back to normal now. I still see things I want to tell her about (a terrarium globe with a fairy statue in the grocery store yesterday) or have things I want to call and ask her. It has been about a week since I actually picked up the phone to call before I remembered I couldn't anymore. It doesn't help that one of the last things she did (literally within minutes) was to help save a the legs of a stray kitten we found who is currently running across my floor. The kitten is another story I have to talk about one day, a much happier story for a much happier day. A day when I haven't just closed her World of Warcraft account which she loved so much.

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Updates to Pleasantries Only on LiveJournal amd Fic Recs of a slightly different sort

Mon, 08 Dec 2014 18:24:06 GMT

LiveJournal is being pissy about cross posting and Deamwidth still has issues with cuts if images are included, so, in future I will only be updating Pleasantries on LiveJournal. Not that I want to, I would do just about anything to avoid the LJ interface, but I started the story there, it only makes sense to finish it there as well.

If you aren't on LJ you can still comment (anon commenting is enabled). I will share update notifications at my tmblr and twitter as well.

Now to the fic recs. The child and I are doing a .. thing. We will go with calling it a thing for now. To help with this thing I am looking for fic recs, specifically fic recs which contain a passage that you don't think a person could cold read out-loud without laughing. Good fics, bad fics, original or fanfic doesn't matter. Just so long as it has a passage, somewhere in the fic that would be difficult for someone who has never read it before to read out-loud (in front of a small audience) without laughing. The more absurd the passage the better. We would prefer non-explicit for the passage which is to be read aloud. The rest of it can be explicit, the child won't be reading anything you send me except for the difficult passage.

Thanks, and yes, I will share the thing when it is done. :S

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Pleasantries - Chapter 6 - In the Line of Duty - Part 3

Fri, 05 Dec 2014 20:55:43 GMT

Navigation

Index

Chapter 5

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
interlude
Part 6

Chapter 6

Part 2
Part 3

* * *

Genre: Drama, Modern, Sci-fi, Dark, Crime
Word Count For Chapter: 12770
Rating: NC17 / M for story as a whole.

Advisories are in Part 1. I am a little rusty here so just assume they all apply.

( Pleasantries - Chapter 6 - In the Line of Duty - Part 3 )

* * *

I want to apologize for those first couple scenes. I couldn't get them to read any less awkward. They weren't even supposed to be here until Caelan surprised me with asking Lilith out. I also had a little trouble finding the character voices. They are back now though. Chapter 7 coming up, hopefully without a 2.5 year gap this time!

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Couple things Re: Pleasantries.

Thu, 04 Dec 2014 22:26:44 GMT

First, about my last post, thank you for the words of encouragement both here and elsewhere. I am doing okay (and I mean that this time). Spoke to my doctor and we came up with a plan. Apparently I already had a much better handle on the situation than it felt like I did. That was good to hear. The situation sucks but I am on the right track.

Now on to Pleasantries.

I know I said the lack of images was temporary, but right now I just can't bring myself to rebuild the hood, again. When I think about even starting it just ... ugh. So many houses to redo, so many sets and little details that need to be included that the whole process takes, literally, months. I just don't feel up to putting in the time right now. Maybe at some point I will, but not now.

On the other hand I want to finish the story. I have other stories I have been working on, but every time I go to work on them recently I feel guilty that I still have Pleasantries sitting there unfinished. This guilt is 100% my own and has nothing to do with anyone who may still be interested in reading the story. It is a nagging little voice in the back of my mind that says "You will fail anything you try to write because you never finish anything. You can't even finish Pleasantries and you have known that whole story for years now."

So I will be finishing Pleasantries, and I will be posting it. It will be text only for now and maybe for ever. I NEED to finish this story. For my own sake. If you want to read along that is wonderful, I hope I can entertain you on the way. If not, that is okay too. I just need to get it out to shut that annoying damn voice up once and for all.

That being said, I have been writing a lot the past few days and, personally, I think it is working out better now that I know I will not have the images there to tell half the story. I am more aware of conveying emotions in the text rather than relying on the sim's expressions to do it for me. I am far more acutely aware of setting the scene now that I know it can't be seen. Both of those seem to be leading me further into the characters minds and that is coming out on the page.

It has been an interesting phenomenon to witness and a small portion of me wants to go back to the beggining and start again just to watch the characters come to life in a way that the previous version didn't because I was relying on the images too much. I am (probably) not going to, at least not right now. We will see.

All of this to say the remainder of chapter 6 will be up in the next few days when Lilith and Caelen will go on something resembling a date, Anto will be dropped head first into his own little hell, Ripp gets brave and the bottom drops out of Winston's world. Oh and we will finally get some answers about those poor murdered alien girls.

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Response to general poking.

Fri, 28 Nov 2014 18:36:35 GMT

( Ever had a day where you should never have started typing? Yeah this is one of those. )

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Meet Jayson and Brylee Meeks

Sat, 06 Sep 2014 09:09:09 GMT

Jayson is working on computer programming while chatting with his sister.

Brylee is working on her homework.

No, really, she is working on her homework.

AND she is happy about it because she is having an awesome conversation with her brother while she is at it!!!

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I hate tumblr. Like you wouldn't believe how much. Also TS4

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 21:01:01 GMT

On the other hand, I have found the ignore feature and this is a good thing because (apologies to anyone who belongs to the "simblr" community and doesn't fall into this category) there is some serious lack of intelligence going around over there. We are talking about a world in which sims can WALK THROUGH EACH OTHER, but a little floor clipping is supposed to be a serious issue? Does participating in "simblr" (no, actually, I am not capable of typing that without quotes, it is a physical impossibility ... apparently) just suck your IQ by default?

Moving on, yes? Yes.

( Sims 4 stuff under here )

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Renovating, moving and a question

Mon, 28 Jul 2014 06:53:24 GMT

Not moving far! Maybe 60 feet. Still in the same fence .... it's complicated. There was a stealth leaky roof, floor damage, discovered when the bathtub tried to fall through the floor ... suffice it to say I will be happy to get out of the 32 foot trailer we are currently in. I need space!!!!

All of the above means I haven't spent much time at my computer (thus the really late replies ...SORRY!!! :S ).

( Pics and a suggestion request )

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For anyone who is still missing Sims 2 Expansion packs ....

Thu, 24 Jul 2014 04:26:32 GMT

Go here. Enjoy. :)

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'Round and 'round the icon goes ...

Fri, 23 May 2014 07:29:57 GMT

That is my confused icon, though I am not actually confused. I am not sure what I am. In that case, perhaps I am confused after all?

( Read more... )

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That's my kid!

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 19:15:29 GMT

I told my child this morning she was making dinner. She is perfectly capable of making dinner, has been cooking since she was about 3 and there are days when I am just completely uninspired as to what to cook. So she heads off to the internet to look for ideas. A few minutes later I was sent this accompanied by much complaining about the image vs the description.

I replied with:

She responeded with:

I am so proud of her right now!

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RBPV 8.1

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 08:33:47 GMT

Last time at Harrell House 1 (and I only remember this because I just finished reading it :P) Rosica gave birth to quints fulfilling the "have 10 children" want ... plus an 11th because that is just the way this house works. I am warning you now, I can't tell them apart yet and the long break did not help that any. What followed was a long sequence of diapers and bottles and pain during which Stuart was largely neglected (Sorry Stuart) the house was expanded and Rosica fulfilled her Max all 7 Skills LTW. Longest sim days I have EVER played.

The quints aged up, Alexander had a fit about a toy robot Rosica left out for the children (though he changed his mind before throwing it away), Rosica and I hashed out exactly what earns the Business Owner point, Mitzi teenified into a knowledge sim with a future in Education and met her intended (Paris by winterinverona). Then Sally Tipple invited herself in and made out with Alexander. For the first time ever, Rosica had an issue with her husband's habit of kissing random women and things got ugly, though she did eventually forgive him.

Round about the time of being forgiven, Alexander headed out with the toy robot he had objected so much about to visit a witch living in the woods (she really does) and struck a deal for an as yet unrevealed spell after which he placed the robot on an out of the way shelf in his work room and warned Jason, very sternly, never to touch it.

Somewhere in there the quints aged up to child, Stuart teenified and will be unlocking the Artist career (not painter standing at the easel all day, the actual career), Wilford twirled into adulthood complete with promotion to legal secretary and, much to my dismay, Alexander and Rosica grew old together.

Whew! All caught up now? Good.

( This house is bursting at the seams! )

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Boo

Tue, 21 Jan 2014 00:44:58 GMT

Greetings interweb!!

I poofed again. And I am probably going to do it again. Maybe not for so long, but it is prolly going to happen.

I tried the NaNoMo thing, it went about as well as you would expect from me. 4800 words in I realized I was not writing the story I thought I was and was actually writing a much larger story that I was not prepared for. It was not a total disaster though! I can now, very highly recommend Scrivener! If I hadn't been using it I would have got lost before I even started and wouldn't be able to keep plugging away at what I have as time permits.

Now, because I wouldn't dream of being gone this long and come back empty handed, have a snippet from the Not-So-NaNoMo project:

( Snippet )
On a sims front, I am currently working on the long overdue update to RBPV and fiddling with textures for more terrain types to go with the farm fields.

On a health front I am doing great. For serious. I haven't felt this ... 'alive' is really the only word I can think of that fits ... in decades. It's good. I'm good. Everything is good. I hope everything is good for all of you as well.

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Smaller Farm Field 'Hood Deco

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 05:37:32 GMT

One of my biggest pet peeves in TS2 is that the farm fields are "effects" and thus can't be seen from within the lot. I mean really? That is a pretty major piece of atmosphere adding deco there, which a lot of us have spent a long time setting up to have exactly the right feel to it, and yet once you are in the lot your atmosphere just vanishes. It is also more than a little annoying that the farm fields are huge and you can't make anything but a square out of them.

I finally got tired of my atmosphere having to be "close enough" and going *poof*.

Really, with the size of these now it is closer to 1/4 of an acre, but who is really counting? I cloned the dirt road from Criquette's Decorative Road Set and applied textures from the Maxis Farm fields.

( More pics and a Link this way )

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Quote of the day

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 08:37:18 GMT

"I can't reach my glass it is on the stove and I am in a hamper"

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Image Organization.

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 17:00:52 GMT

I have a confession. My photobucket account looks like it was uploaded to by a chimp who hasn't slept in 2 weeks and some time around day 5 decided LSD was a good strategy for mental clarity. Over the next day or so I will be fixing that. Some of my images may go missing for a few days while I get everything re-linked. Shouldn't take too long, but if say a week from now, you stumble across a pic that is still missing, that means I missed it and I would totally appreciate a "Hey, dumbass, you forgot this one" comment.

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WCIF - Glass Dome Roofs

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 18:08:19 GMT

Update: Found courtesy of Psychosim. Thank you!
Also it would appear these were actually by SimArchitect, which means I most likely originally got them in a lot by Loverat and thus thought that was who created them.
____________________________________________________________________

I am looking for the glass roof domes by Loverat seen in these pictures:

( 2 more pics )

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RBPV 7.7

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 07:46:51 GMT

Last time we saw Nigel he was packing his bags and getting the heck out of his parents house as fast as possible. Not for any actual good reason, he was just tired of cooling his heels in teenhood and eager to get on with his life. In this case "life" means moving into this black and white almost-a-box and marrying Wilhemina Drexler. (via
ammochan8878 ).

A quick side note, I had previously been referring to those who rolled up working at the easel "artists". Obviously this clashes with the career of "Artist". Not the same thing, thus easel dwellers will now be referred to as "painters" which both Nigel and Wilhemina are.

( Underwear as a sales technique and other socialy awkward situations )

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RBPV 7.6

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 05:22:53 GMT

Last time at the Stalk Residence *takes a deep breath* Amber Dawn became Amber Stalk by marrying Patrick Stalk (courtesy of remisims ) Preston and Amber twirled into adulthood, Vivian (Preston and Amber's daughter) aged to teen, rolled farming and met her future spouse Hector Kelley (via amochan8878 ). *pauses for breath* Amber and Patrick welcomed their first child together, Randal, Amber fell pregnant (because at this point pregnancy may as well be a disease) and a whole lot of not much else happened including Preston making little to no progress toward his damn "20 simultaneous loves".

Not this time. Noooooo, he will fulfill that LTW if it kills us both.

( Preston Plays Doctor )

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RBPV 7.5

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:56:37 GMT

Every time I sit down at the beginning of a rotation and work out the math for how many entries there will be this time around (The 7.<whatever> part) I ALWAYS forget someone or find out later I had to move out sims I wasn't expecting to and then my nicely worked out decimals are all wrong. :( It is kind of annoying really. So now I am just going to number them sequentially. 1, 2, 3 etc. We might end up with a 'Week 42.8631' (OMG, no, no we will not because I will cry. 8631 is waaaaaaaaay too many houses to be playing) but sequential it is.

Last time in the Channing house: Chesly earned his gold fishing badge and upgraded the home business with actual walls and a floors and a roof! Kari aged up to child, Claire and Colton were born and there was much fishing and sewing done.

Plus

( guess what I forgot? )

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Home is good

Sat, 10 Aug 2013 03:31:02 GMT

Was probably a little sooner than I should have been home, but I am home none the less and doing okay considering the surgery I had.

On a slightly bizarre note, removing of one cyst can apparently equal a wight loss of 50 lbs. Interesting how that works really.

Now I am going to be all passy-outy in my bed, because I have missed my bed.

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I hate my brain!

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:13:59 GMT

So, it is the ass crack of dawn and I need to leave for surgery in about 40 minutes, have not packed the bag I am supposed to take with me yet and what is my brain doing?

Insisting I write that scene for Pleasantries it has been tormenting me with all night instead of letting me sleep.

Months where trying to write was kind of like hitting myself in the head with a spiky stick. This morning my muse is running amok.

Go figure.

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RBPV - Amadeus' Journal Entry 1

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 04:48:10 GMT

( - Begin log )

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RBPV 7.498

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 07:32:52 GMT

When we last checked in with the Murphy House Braden and Alexander stepped up their rivalry to punches flying, trading insults and the stealing of invisible newspapers. Nigel and Noe grew into teen hood and met their wives to be Wilhemina and Aisy. And Braden had words of encouragement for his children about winning this challenge.

Before we move on, I feel I should drop a warning in here for innuendo, a LOT of innuendo, nudity and sexual references.

And now we go to the chapel on the hill overlooking Pleasantview where a meeting of some import is about to take place.

( The Plot Thickens )

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RBPV 7.332

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 02:27:19 GMT

Last time in Harrell 3 (these are starting to sound like some kind of cult compounds ... ) Darius aged up to adult, Shot up his career track a LONG way, spent a lot of time wearing the stupid lightbulb hat and married Byrony. Byrony found her plans on hold due to my lack of foresight to get them a lot big enough for her to farm. So, with not much else to do, she produced spawn in the form of Adeline .. who has freckles!

They finished out the week by moving out of their tiny lot an into ...

( It's not easy being green )

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