Ayshela

nope. but... Have you ever been stuck squarely between arguing friends, angering both by agreeing fully with neither because they were both partially right?

heh. nifty. Okay, I'll be posting stories late tonight or tomorrow, so anyone who hasn't put their word list in but wants to needs to do so soon.

... had someone have a heart attack right in front of you? ... stayed up at night listening to the sounds your house makes, just so you'll know which sounds are normal? ... had someone drift into your lane and almost hit you - and realize you were only angry about it because you weren't alone in the car? ... wondered if putting a full-spectrum bulb in your porch light would make it so you could see rainbows when it rained? ... been so intensely thankful for the people who put up with you that "thank you" seems completely inadequate, but you can't think of anything else to say?

keep

*applauds* I'll probably have that stuck in my head for the rest of the day, with segues into "Joy to the World" =)

Zool - I talked with her earlier about the idea, but forgot to ask about when she wanted us to post the numbers. *sheepish grin* The "pick a number" thing is because she's making a list of objects, so everyone who picks the same number will have the same object. It's only the pre-set list of *things* that are limited in number. Mylo - I'll take number..... 8.

hah! Knew there were a couple more out there somewhere! =) Will post all the stories this weekend. Any other entries are welcome right up until the stories ARE posted.

sometimes, the only thing that works for me is to force myself to go write that e-mail I'd been putting off because I couldn't find the words, or pop open my journal and start writing - anything, nothing, whatEVER random bits of scattered thoughts run through my head, including writing about how I can't write. Putting myself at the keyboard and pushing something through the frustration, where there isn't an expectation of having something I'd want to post anywhere (but maybe send to Mom because she "gets it" anyway) - for me, that eases up the frustration enough that sitting at the keyboard, or with pen and paper, doesn't *hurt* from frustration anymore. It seems kind of like the trickle of water theory, for me. If I run a little bit through, even though it's not "creative" (because I'm not necessarily creating something I'll want to keep), it's still going through the same types of motions and becoming comfortable with it again. It seems like it cuts a channel through where thoughts can find their way out again. And I second keeping pen and paper handy! For that matter, I have several text messages sent to Ozy that I've kept because there was the germ of an idea in there that I wanted to work with. However it works to record ideas, make sure the means are available!

varies

OH! And one from today... have you ever watched the doc checking over an MRI, and had to hold your breath to stifle laughter as you were suddenly transported to freshman health class and pictures of genitalia? *snicker* (Mylo says I'm awful, even she didn't think of that, and SHE's the teenager! heh)

Well, I'd say we need to stop the fast-forward on the thirtieth... Mylo will be horribly disappointed if she misses her eighteenth birthday... but from now til then - I'd say we kick the whole thing into the trash-heap and be done with it!

I'll play. Do we pick our numbers now, or post them later?

felt the smile stiffen on your face and paste itself into place as "yes, of course, no problem!" slips between your lips again while all inside you shrieks and crumbles, leaving only whispers of "no more no more nomorenomorenomore"

Ayshela taps gently on HappyBuddha's door, mindful of the early hour and not wishing to awake him in a fright. "Good morning," she carols to the sleepy face appearing around the door. "I know it's early, but you really need to see this!" HappyBuddha protests as he's pulled down to the Cabaret Room. "But it's early! I'm still half asleep. I'm not dressed for - whatever this is!" As they stop in front of the Cabaret Room door he suddenly remembers he'd fallen asleep reading, so at least he IS fully dressed, even if rumpled. Ayshela reaches as high as she can to cover his eyes, but realizing she can't reach simply asks him to close his eyes and promise to keep them closed until she says it's okay. Promise given, she leads him on a weaving path through the tables and chairs and carefully seats him before telling him, "Okay. Now you can look." HappyBuddha opens his eyes. They widen as he stares down the tables. Three tables have been pushed together, each piled with a wide variety of breakfast foods in such quantities that he'd still be eating at dinner next day to finish it all! With a wistful smile he looks up and asks, "There doesn't happen to be an extra three hours' sleep here, does there?" OOC: *tacklehugs* Happy Birthday, hon! Hope the next year is gentle to you, yet as enlightening as the last has been!

wow. ... ... *wanders off thoughtfully*

... felt that you had to walk into the space most valuable to you wearing full body armour, because every time you tried to help you got kicked for it? ... sat in your car trying to explain to someone what was going on, between waves of crisis, unable to speak for being caught between laughing, screaming, and crying - knowing each was totally appropriate and meaning each? ... read someone's comment, knowing they meant it, knowing it was a good thing, and sputtered wondering where and how they saw that? ... deliberately gone out and bought a replacement for something you couldn't find, knowing that by doing so you would then find the original, and found it as soon as you got home? ... stared at the screen with your mind so blank that the song playing in the next room echoed in your head? And only after realizing that, wondered why that particular song was playing?

Now, see, THAT is why you do as Piers Anthony did, and write it in at least two books.

*pokes and prods this one back to the top in a last-call reminder* Anyone else?

have moved in the sense of being out of the old and into the new. Still am higher and deeper in boxes and totes and *stuff* awaiting all of our sorting out. *siiigh* (remembers the long ago days I took everything important, stuffed it all into a trash bag, and bolted out the door...) Have 'net access, though still dealing with sporadic time availability. New e-mail is working, though, and I *think* i have all the necessary bits and bytes flipped to get everything *re*changed so it comes straight to the home address. I KNOW this one is. =) So at need - phone me, e-mail me, PM me, poke Alaeha and ask him to poke me for you - whatever. Will make a point of checking in once a day, though, if I have to wait until everybloodyoneelse has finally given up and gone to sleep! *huggles* have missed you all

If you feel useless or worthless, you need a good friend who knows you well enough that you can believe them when they say you're not - and who knows you well enough to know that's really what you need the most. Let the tears run. You don't have to be able to *say* anything. Type what needs to be said. Or sit side by side and pass a notebook back and forth. Use sign language if you want. Say it with a hug, or get up and walk away - whatever the situation requires. Stifling the tears to try to talk will only create more, and it won't work anyway. Just let it be. Far, far easier said than done, yes. Try it anyway.

Ayshela and Kaitlyn slip in to leave their gifts - an overstuffed pocket full of hugs which will open only for Rune, and a parcel of chocolate chip cookies.

(throws a baseball at Ozymandias...heh) Likely deaths: Ayshela - hearing Kaitlyn's distressed cry, she leaped to help her, forgetting in her sleepy/coffee-deprived state that she was not on the ground floor. To Gwaihir's distress, she fell three stories into a formerly-hearty rose bush. Kaitlyn - too much sugar combined with a very rainy muddly puddly day and led to a hyperactive bout of puddle-jumping. Upon her return to the Keep Kaitlyn was mistaken for a very small earth elemental. OR Kaitlyn fell into the savage clutches of a sugar crash, which pitched her sound asleep in the Wiggly Cabbage Patch. She drowned when Gwaihir was overwatering them. *giggles*

Thank you, all of you! =) I will try to pop in briefly once more before my computer gets moved, because once that happens I'm offline until we can get the last of the utilities *there* transferred out of the name of the previous tenant who skipped out. O_o Hopefully will be back in a day or two. *huggles all*

Bless you, Yui. I, for one, would happily get behind that revision and help push if necessary! =) *thankful hugs*

niiiiice. =) this should be a LOT of fun! This will be left up for probably another week, since I'm moving between now and the first. Will gather all the word lists and post the stories when I get back. Wonderfully creative entries! I'm looking forward to this! =)