And so it goes

[ciroccoj]

I love when the kids are snoring five minutes after I finish their bedtime story. Makes me feel like something's gone right in their world for them to drift off so quickly.

Chris is on call again tonight, so here I am on my own. This usually means I'm up until about 3am, but tonight I took my meds on time so I should be able to go to sleep relatively early.

Pretty good day, overall. Scrambled around to get everybody to their respective places so I could get to my Property exam review... only to find it was cancelled. Probably my prof's kid was just born. He warned us that he would be carrying around a cell phone and might drop our class at any moment in order to "drive to the Queensway Carleton Hospital to practice my breathing".

So I ended up doing my Legislation readings, put up the new thursday100plus challenge, then went to spend time with my mom. Then registered Justin into JK for next year (my baby! Going to JK!), picked both boys up, went back to my mom's with them for a few hours. Came back home, made dinner, got laundry, dishes, and bread started, helped Daniel with his J'Aime Lire homework, then put boys away. Overall, a pretty productive day.

So now that the kids are asleep, I'm indulging in what I've discovered to be a rather bizarre hobby of mine: running my own little printing press.

I started a couple of years ago, printing a little children's book for Daniel about his own birth, right before Justin's birth, so that he could get an idea of what births were all about. Then after Chris' accident I gathered all the e-mails that flew back and forth about it and printed them, as a sort of keepsake.

After I started writing fanfic I decided to print out my longer stories, since Chris can't read the screen for extended periods of time. And that's when I discovered I had an actual hobby on my hands. I like printing and binding stuff. I like the look of little books on our bookshelves that say "Rae-Bordes Publishing" on them, even if nobody but us ever reads them (although there's a L&O fan in... Massachussets? who has all my L&O stuff in book form too). Right now I've got the birth book, accident book, Aftershock (all four Aftershock stories in one huge volume), Pretty Picture, PP companions, Justice, Promises, and Short Stories. Plus my lj for Spring, Summer, and Fall 2003. And today I started to print out the Fall 2003 entries for thursday100plus.

What a strange little hobby I've made for myself. I wonder why it's important to me. I guess as attached as I am to the little screen, I'm a book lover at heart. Who knows. I mean, my mom's into making little cross-stitch pillows and giving them away. Why? Who knows.

I keep thinking of an X-Files quote from Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, where Clyde the psychic is walking through a dead woman's apartment with Mulder. "Why do any of us choose to do anything? Why did this woman choose to collect dolls? What made her say one day, 'I know: dolls'."

And on that rather strange note, I'm off to bed.

Comments

[misstexan9821.livejournal.com]

although there's a L&O fan in... Massachussets? who has all my L&O stuff in book form too
I'm your other Mass L&O fan...sans book form...but a fan nonetheless!

And today I started to print out the Fall 2003 entries for thursday100plus.
How very cool. I think it's great to have hard copies of all these things. Hopefully, someone will stumble across them someday and enjoy them all at once, as we enjoy them as they are posted! ;)

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[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, someone will stumble across them someday and enjoy them all at once,

Hee... the image that brings in my mind is some grandchild of mine going through my bookshelves some day, finding these things and saying "Grandma? You were a published author? Wow!"

"Check the publisher's name, dear."

"Oh."

And then said grandchild trying to understand all this stuff and realizing he'll have to first go through and watch old Law & Order: Classic DVDs, because they're nothing like the current Law & Order: ISS or Law & Order: Undersea shows he's more familiar with ;)

And hopefully by that time, Wolf's descendants will have made L&O season DVDs available to the public.

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[misstexan9821.livejournal.com]

And hopefully by that time, Wolf's descendants will have made L&O season DVDs available to the public.
Don't I wish! "Sure, season 1 is good, but people like the other seasons also, Mr. Wolf!"

HAHH! L&O:Undersea! That's fantastic! :-D

[minnesota-anne.livejournal.com]

Actually...

(Confessions of an avid fanfic reader follow)

I printed out copies of three of the four "Aftershock" chapters myself, right after I stumbled upon them, realizing it would be easier to read them on paper than on the screen. I have them - and lots of other stories I've enjoyed over the past year or so - in binders on the bookshelf next to my computer. (I bet your books look much better, though!)
Another somewhat odd confession for you - back in June, when I was first reading all of this, my husband had a minor surgery and I brought one of the binders with me to the outpatient clinic, to read while I waited, because that was what I was reading at the time.

Well... "Aftershock-McCoy" is not a story to read while a loved one is undergoing any kind of medical procedure, no matter how minor. I learned that lesson the hard way. :)

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[misstexan9821.livejournal.com]

I don't think I was fortunate enough to have stumbled into the fanfic world when the "Aftershock"..chapters?...were written. Could someone point me in their direction? Thanks.

[bear.livejournal.com]

No problem:

http://hamsandwich.topcities.com/cirocco/stories/aftershock.htm

(IMPORTANT: cut & paste this into your browser; Topcities won't let you follow the link directly.)

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[misstexan9821.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)
Now, to find the time to read them!

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[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I have them - and lots of other stories I've enjoyed over the past year or so - in binders on the bookshelf next to my computer.

Oh, that's really neat!

I printed out Karen Howard-Joly's "The Helper" for Chris to read too, although he hasn't yet. And I started to gather up some of my favourite L&O's from other people to print as well, but then sort of got verklempft about it. I just couldn't figure out how to group them, and... feh. Just gave up.

::brainwave:: I should print out Recs Judicata issues!

Well... "Aftershock-McCoy" is not a story to read while a loved one is undergoing any kind of medical procedure,

Oh, dear lord, no. Gah. So sorry. I should put a disclaimer on it.

[jenniferjames.livejournal.com]

I'm indulging in what I've discovered to be a rather bizarre hobby of mine: running my own little printing press.

I don't think it's at all bizarre. I think it's a wonderful idea. This way you can share your works, hobbies, experiences, etc. with people who are interested but who may not be computer savvy.

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[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

people who are interested but who may not be computer savvy.

Actually, I did give copies to my mom. She liked the Aftershocks, although unfortunately she apparently thought Rey Curtis was Max Greevey. ? Not sure how you could get the two mixed up, but there you go.

[jenniferjames.livejournal.com]

...unfortunately she apparently thought Rey Curtis was Max Greevey.

::hee::

Your mom sounds like quite a character. :-)