Sharibet's ramblings

I just realized that it's been almost six months since I last posted. A very busy summer, but a good one. I'm still employed at Semi-Benevolent Big Oil (approaching Year 7.5 of my "six month contract," wheee!), still writing (I self-published two steamy paranormal romances under a pseudonym over the summer, and am working on a third volume in the series), and currently sorting through about 2000 photos from a month spent traveling around Germany, France, and Belgium.

If you're interested, here's a selection of my Paris photos:

So, I've mostly been working on my original stuff these days, but every so often, the fanfiction plot-bunny bites.

The talented and lovely sunhawk16 posted a short AU vignette from her Ion Arc universe, from Heero's POV, and I immediately began hearing Duo in a follow-up scene.

Read this first: http://sunhawk16.livejournal.com/180276.html

And here's the follow-up:

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Duo:

It was the smell that gave the whole thing away.
( It was the smell that gave the whole thing away.Collapse )

This link has probably already been spammed everywhere, but what the heck. I loved the original novel in this series (was less enthusiastic about the latest installment, which consisted of a number of beautifully-written scenes but didn't, IMO, hold together very well as a novel), and the audiobooks are among my favorites.

A 90-minute panel Q&A/discussion of the upcoming miniseries with Ronald D. Moore, Diana Gabaldon, and the two actors playing Claire and Jamie (Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan):

http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/01/outlander-full-90-minute-q-panel-video.html

Apologies for never posting any further travel blogs for my recent travels. I had a fabulous time in Italy.

I've been home from my vacation for a couple of weeks now, and work has been frantically-busy ever since I returned.

And I've been absorbed in trying to edit the, uh, 2,300 photos I took. A digital camera with a large memory card, combined with a place as spectacular as Sicily, is a really bad combination.

I'm about halfway done with the photo-editing and will post a link to my Picasa album when I'm done. 

( damned impressive piles of rubble, their jumbled columns and huge blocks of stones heaped like abandoned LegosCollapse )</div>

( The Romans told lurid stories of Phoenicians sacrificing their babiesCollapse )

Glorious medieval churches with glittering, gilded mosaic interiors, warm sun and cloudless blue skies, and a leisurely seafood lunch right at the edge of the sea...it was another perfect day in Sicily!

Our outing today took us out of crowded-but-fascinating Palermo, and along the coast, where rugged mountains march right to the sea, their lower slopes crowded with holiday villas and hotels, interspersed with date palms, and groves of citrus and olive trees.

There are flowers everywhere--deep violet-blue morning glories climbing over fences and ruined walls, hibiscus, and a number of trees with large pink blossoms I can't identify.

( Most of us wanted a nap after that huge meal, but we had one more thing to seeCollapse )

Today was a fascinating (and jam-packed) tour of Palermo's Arabo-Norman architecture, dating from the 1100s, which combines Byzantine Greek, North African Islamic and Norman French styles. In the process, we managed to see much of the Old Town part of the city, as well as take a brief detour to Palermo's ancient Phoenician past.

( From there, our weary and footsore party trudged the few blocks back to the hotel, passing by the "Fountain of Shame," a huge 16th-century Renaissance extravaganza decorated with lots of nude marble sculptures imported from Florence.Collapse )

Touching down in Palermo after a long 18-hr flight was like walking through a door into summer, with soft blue skies, fluffy clouds, and warm sunshine.

The small airport is right on the beach, and the 20 minute drive from the airport to the heart of the city was amazingly scenic, with rugged peaks plunging into clear blue-green Mediterranean waters, and flat-roofed, white-plastered houses surrounded by palm trees and masses of brilliantly-blooming bougainvillea.

( Driving the wrong way up the street because the traffic in your lane wasn't going fast enough? No problem! Collapse )