Cookatwork's fan(atic) journal

If in doubt - go trick-and-treating

2004-10-30T23:52:36Z

Halloween is still no special celebration-day here in Germany ( despite all the efforts of marketing agencies and trading companies ). The only thing slightly similar to it would be St.Martins-singing on the eleventh of November. And you better believe it: with some of the kids I'll undoubtly find on my door-step squealing and screeching at the top of their lungs I would certainly prefer to scare them to death and back instead of listening in silent horror and hand out candy. I'm asking myself: what for? For the unforeseen coincidence that I actually survive their singing?

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
cookatwork goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as the bloody butcher.
askance gives you 16 dark green tropical-flavoured gummy bats.
damerel gives you 7 brown banana-flavoured pieces of bubblegum.
darkamber gives you 17 light orange raspberry-flavoured gumdrops.
dgcandace gives you 17 green cherry-flavoured gummy bears.
erinslashslut gives you 6 teal vanilla-flavoured gummy fruits.
kriscat tricks you! You lose 5 pieces of candy!
maggiez gives you 19 white mint-flavoured gummy bats.
millefiori tricks you! You get a wad of paper.
ndancer gives you 7 tan orange-flavoured pieces of chewing gum.
roo2 gives you 9 light orange cherry-flavoured nuggets.
cookatwork ends up with 93 pieces of candy, and a wad of paper.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

I'm still way back with feedback, Thank-you's and generally giving the impression that I'm still a fan. The truly frightening thing is that nobody actually stops from posting new fics, interesting discussions, amazing vids and the usual tidbits of personal information that makes me feel I'm kinda participating in our little community. :: SIGH ::

Apologies ...

2004-10-11T06:06:00Z

... to everyone I owe a big fat Thank You' for the lovely feedback for my HXFQF-story. I can't tell you at the moment how nice it was ( and how it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside ).

But RL has its claws in my ( literally ) and I'm right now on the verge of going down in a great big boom.

This place is closed for a week because the ( long-awaited ) vacation is finally here - and I'm already hating every minute of it.

If I survive the following week, I should be back back Sunday ( from the plannings of my family about hiking, sightseeing and whatever I'm not too sure I'm gonna be alive enough at that time though ).

Message for Rhode Island - sorry, but no ass-pics available

2004-10-09T08:39:44Z

Maggiez' Birthday Quiz by cookatwork
You chose the name 'Maggiez' because
You're best known for
Money is for you
Your outlook on life is
Average amount of years until you'll become famous	1
What does the future hold for you?	the realisation that even school comes to an end eventually
Look who's coming for dinner?

Quiz created with MemeGen!

If nobody does it for you, you have to do it yourself

2004-10-06T20:57:42Z

Do you shiv or swallow? ( What are your changes to survive OZ? ) by cookatwork

username

gender

crime

sentence

your prisoner number

686,082

What will be your Unit?

Death-row

Who's your pod-mate?

What's your new name?

Little one

How will you cope?

You learn some tricks from Timmy

Changes you'll survive at least one season?: 52%

Things you'll learn only in OZ?

Carpet-burns are easy compared to concrete-burns on your belly

Do you shiv , swallow or bite?

Quiz created with MemeGen!

cookatwork @ 2004-09-28T08:41:00

2004-09-28T06:41:41Z

Aaaaaarrrggghhhhhh!!!!!

Thanks - I had to get that out of the system. Preferably before I spontaneously implode.

Just in case you really didn't see this coming: RL has done its very and most bitchiest best to make my life miserable for the last few days/weeks. And while getting through the day is simply a matter of who has more stamina ( the problems or I ), getting on-line is a thing that still refuses to go as planned.

I really really would appreciate it, if my family, my bosses, my car and my co-workers would all go on an extended vacation together. My house would be a whole lot cleaner, with lesser laundry and far less noise; my nerves wouldn't be stretched taunt in an attempt to keep myself from yelling my head off; my money would stay where it is supposed to stay ( in my pocket ); and I wouldn't face any possible convictions of man-slaughter ( if I can convice the judges that it was really only in self-defense that I hacked them all to pieces ).

Yeah - it's a nice dream. Unlikely to happen but nonetheless nice. I consoled myself with a trial-version gif-maker because that way I don't have to think or translate. :: points to icon ::

But I'm still trying (= operative word here ) to finally hop over to HXFQF and start participating again. And while I'm at it I could also visit herc_xena100; or get my ass in gear and give something akin to feedback for a very nice and entertaining story I have on my harddrive for roughly an eternity ( or so it seems ); reading my friendslist also sounds very nice and tempting; or finally getting around to make the last corrections for ITE ( yes - it's still in the making ); or ....

The list keeps growing and growing.:: SIGH ::

newest workout-trend: Eyebrow-hiking

2004-09-21T11:32:40Z

Just in case you didn't knew it already:

Photoshop is a tool of evil

marycrawford insisted on posting the most delicious screencaps on her page Vices

Corel Painter's designed to make your life ~~miserable~~ a helluva lot more complicated

dgcandace offered very helpful links and advices about resolutions and such
yours truly doesn't have one single bit of resistance in her when it comes to procratinate

JT is much too sexy to get away unmanipulated

Therefor I'll give you my latest attempt in something that - given the proper care and talent - might be viewed as 'FANART. You may be afraid now, yes you may.

Just in case anybody's interested: The manipulation included:

cropping

flipping the pic

re-sizing

setting the saturation on 0%

sharpen the original pic beyound recognition ( works better then 'find all edges' )

filtering the whole thng in aquarell

making a clone of the already heaviliy manipulated pic

filling the clone with white / opacity set to 63% ( you'll have to squint a bit but it's worth it )

re-drawing

( as a finishing touch ) blurring it

I used 'soft chalk' and only used the grey tones in the blue sector ( there are some faint colored specks in the pic ). I'm not entirely content with his hair and throat, but i do like how his nose and cheek turned out. In the original pic you could also see his teeth but there was no way in Tartarus that they would turn out right in my attempt. His earring also looks totally wrong, but I'm content with his chin and dimple.

All in all it was a very entertaining expirience - at least now I know what real artists have to get accomplished. Without nifty programs as the aforementioned ones. ~___*

ETA: I re-sized the pic a bit ( a 960x1200-resolution tends to burst your screen ). Thanks go to dgcandace for shooing me in the right direction to avoid mad scrolling.

My coloring book

2004-09-16T05:30:38Z

The newest adventures in Photoshop© for your 'pleasure' and for me to soothe my nerves.

:: hurries back to HXFQF ::

UFF!

2004-09-12T21:57:55Z

It's 23.55 around here and I just submitted my story for the HXFQF.

:: BLINK ::

I actually made it before the dead-line. Go :: YAWN ::me!

great, just absolutely GREAT

2004-08-31T23:45:26Z

Inspired by the vast department of "When will I ever learn" I'll bring you the

Facts of ~~Life~~ Fandom

1. Strife is not the posterboy for an abusive relationship -- fact is he would most likely kill anybody in new and inventive ways should said anybody rub him the wrong way. *** 2. Joxer is neither the new Sigmund Freud, nor will he save the entire Greek Pantheon all by himself. He's a lovable dork and he likes women -- Deal. With. It. *** 3. The God Of Medicine is called Ascelepius -- not Ace or anything sounding like a poker player from the Wild West. A-s-c-e-l-e-p-i-u-s Got that? *** 4. Ares is the God of War.... War!... Like in bloodshed, battle and mayhem. He is not the God Of Teary-eyed Commitment, Endearment and Snuggling. *** Cupid is the epitome of hunkness and male virility - he's most likely as monogamous as Casanova and beds everything with a pulse. *** All mentioned characters may fuck each other senseless and entertain yours truly greatly by doing so - but none of them is going to have any babies. -- N.E.V.E.R.! ***

Could somebody please slap me the next time I foolishly decide that the perfect way to distract myself from the hand-wringing job of writing my HXFQF-story, would be a visit to the AJCS mailing list.

Preferably before I start to read the last stories.

Thanks in advance.

There is a just and well-meaning divine power in this world ...

2004-08-28T10:03:56Z

... and if it isn't a divine power then it's at least the German tv-station K1.

After re-running every serie under the sun from 'Dallas' to 'McGyver' they start with another serie's re-run at September, 4th.

Guess what?

HERCULES / SEASON 1 / EPISODE 1

I think I'm in heaven.

:: faints from the sheer unexpectedness of it ::

So - this is what it feels like?

2004-08-28T07:01:27Z

I just typed the words 'THE END' under my story and send the damned thing to dgcandace ( why should I be the only one to suffer from it ).

Since that was my first ever finished story ( the second part of ITE is still sitting here and waits to be corrected) I expected to feel jubilant or at least content. But I'm not. I'm cranky.

That darn thing took me forever to write and somebody should have warned me that stories in general come with a title and finding a fitting title is a Herculean Labor. No - actually I think Hercules got the better deal with his labors.

But I'm also feeling proud - not only because I finished it, but also for showing self-control. Wednesday I bought myself a belated and very tempting birthday gift and I haven't even installed it. YET.

It's a graphic pen and tableau for my computer called 'Volito' and it came with Corel Painter Classic™.

I'm off to test it now. And hope it helps against the cranky mood.

Panic ensues!

2004-08-22T12:54:53Z

I started my HXFQF with a list of possible actions ( 139 easy to follow steps from 'Once upon a time' to 'The End' ). I fleshed out the first 21 of them which somehow took 5 pages or 2110 words. Which leaves 118 list-items still to be written out properly with the needed explanation and description.

We have the 22nd of August which leaves 9 days for me to write it and my beta-reader to correct the most glaring errors and me to make the suggested corrections and send the damned thing.

I think the deadline-panic is setting in.

:: going back to furious typing ::

Ooops! The birthday-race continues

2004-08-20T15:11:52Z

Throughout the world November seems to be quite a boring month which leaves people everywhere with the burning need to procreate.

Today is ndancer's birthday and I managed to find yet another Iphicles-pic ( although my reserves are starting to get low ). This answers the question what men in general did when faced with the age-old competition about their attributes - without the help of a Ferrari Testarossa or a 3.75 Magnum.

And of course the King of ~~Pout~~ Corinth wins by a few inches.

birthday wishes and doormats

2004-08-18T11:09:17Z

And it's yet another birthday today. Although roo2 may not have the best of times at the moment, I want to wish her 'Happy Birthday' and thank her for the wonderful snarky version of Iphicles in 'They Walk'.

The screencap for the pic can be found either at dgcandace's site Fugue or at marycrawford's site Vices. I honestly can't remember where I found it - and both of them have great screencaps from 'Surprise'.

Procrastination and brain leakage ( 2004 isn't my year obviously )

2004-08-16T21:33:54Z

What have I been doing ( part two )?

Apparently not very much. Unless you count making icons ( :: points to new bright and shiny icon :: ) and getting lost in layout-hell.

I think I need another computer without internet access to get anything done.

But it's not entirely my fault. Really. I was determined to do something with my story, but then all the people on my friendslist insisted on posting new screencaps, new tutorials how to make nice icons ( btw the pic for my new icon comes from marycrawford's site and I think I found it in the bloopers section - it's a tad bit hard to find among the nekkid pics *_____> ) and new drabbles in abundance.

And when I finally had the time to hop over to herc_xena100 livejournal decides to be a pain in the ass and makes posting some kind of lottery. And a very slow kind of lottery I hasten to add.

Procrastination is a waste of time! :: SIGH :: Yeah, tell me about it.

Oh - and for those of you with a pathological curiosity, here are some things you better don't do:
If you're carrying a heavy cooking pot - don't try to hurry.

If you have to hurry because you're already late - don't slip.

If you have to slip because the floor's really messy - let go of the damned pot.

If you're clever enough to let go of the cooking pot, be also clever enough to roll on your side - don't try to land flat on your back with your head impacting at full speed on the floor.

If you land on your back and your head hits the floor really hard - go to the bathroom at once ( it will help with all the puking, trust me ).

If your nose starts running a short time after your impact - go to the hospital at once ( you may have a thing for your trusted doctor at home, but leaking cerebral fluid hasn't been handled in his training ).

Sometimes I hate my live - and I have the very bad feeling that it's mutual.

:: SIGH ::

What have I been doing?

2004-08-04T11:20:51Z

Well - instead of working on my HXFQF-story, that is.

Nothing less but an overhaul of my website.

No - make that major overhaul.

Make that something like kicking out the idiot-proof page builder Geocities offers and starting from scratch. Granted the scratch was snatched from Open Source Web Design, but who cares.

Make that finally coming up with something akin to a link-page ( where the damned things are actually working ).

Make that typing in "<br>" for approximately 756 times to get something similar to a formatting.

I feel sufficiently geeky and would like to invite everybody to come in and have a look.

And now I have to work on my story. Intensely I might add.

Hey - an anniversary!

2004-07-29T21:30:19Z

It totally slipped my mind, but a good year ago I left lurkdom behind and jumped into the comforting warm waters of fandom. Apparently I'm still swimming ( and enjoying it ), but the last year has brought some very unexpected outcomes. When I made the first post to a mailing list I didn't expect that it would lead straight to finding new friends, spending more time on-line than I ever did before and taking my own take at writing.

A year ago I spent hours searching for the right words to phrase my enthusiasm about certain stories, fumbled with posts to get the right balance between "squee!" and "that's my favorite line", harrassed authors about sequels ( I'm still doing it but I try to be subtle! ) and worked on my appearance as an easily cheered reader.

Today I've spent my on-line time taking personality tests by the dozen to get in the right mind-frame for the HXFQF story I foolishly claimed.

If somebody had predicted that for my future a year ago, I would have been warned ( and most probably would still have made the jump ).

But honestly: I'm a cook. There's nothing wrong with it, but what on earth do I have to do with psychological inter-actions between three gods? I must be nuts ( or better to say I'm going nuts ) trying to achieve something that hasn't been in my life for all of my life.

And all of it because I have this weird big dream of writing a story that won't make it to temple_o_badfic.

:: looks puzzled ::

On the other hand I've always been what you might call 'determined' and I usually don't back down. So I'm trying to come up with some psychological profile for each of my characters and sent my draft-list again ( it's a funny way to start a story, but for me it's working great: I only list the different actions ( accompanied by some supporting thoughts and colors about moods and motivations ) and sent it to my beta-reader )

Oh - and yes: I've found another ~~victim~~ beta-reader. Those of you firm in faith and believe might want to include dgcandace in your prayers.

And of course I started with yet another head-dive into the depths of fannish misconceptions ( I really wonder if all the fanfiction I've read over the years has somehow infested my brain ). At that time the list came in handy, because re-writes are sooooo much easier. In the next version I rendered Psyche a Love-Goddess, and yes, NOW I know she's the Goddess Of The Mind. What do you think I spent my time with psychological chitter-chatter for?

All in all the last year was astonishing - and I really hope it stays that way.

:: goes back to her profiles ::

Too good to be true, ...

2004-07-28T07:08:35Z

... but it happened nonetheless:marycrawford has made a ton of screencaps from the Hind-trilogy. This translates with pages and pages and pages full of droolworthy hunks und hunters, with the occasional supersexy god strewn in.

Need more to be convinced it will be worth a visit?

How about this?

And there are many more of this caliber. So - go, have a look and a really good time.

:: goes back to drooling ::

The weekend's over

2004-07-25T20:45:48Z

THANK GOODNESS!!

One part of me is dead ( my brain ) and I'm feeling like the rest of me will follow soon. But we ( hubbie and I ) actually made it.

***330 customers served Saturday evening at six different feasts*** ( without cloning ourselves )

And all of them are satisfied with our little catering service.

:: drops dead ::

:: gets up again ::

I think I deserve a bit of 'me'-time.

:: checks inbox ::

On the other hand I think I'll answer a few comments and emails before dropping dead again.

Well - I'm proud to announce that ...

2004-07-19T20:06:59Z

the mailing list StrifeLust has a new moderator. Even better we have now two moderators for the price of one. So - our congratulations go to mythdefied and we hope she'll leave her mark on the list and lays down the law if necessary.

Congratulations, Erin - Listmom in training

E.t.a. that the list also has a new owner who hppens to be the same Erin mentioned above.

And since mythdefied talked about not getting that fact until the second moderator caliadragon pointed it out: I didn't get it either. So again:

Congratulations, Erin - OWNER of the StrifeLust mailing list

The netherlands should be in the same time-zone

2004-07-12T22:22:37Z

Happy Birthday,marycrawford

There's one art I'm the masteress of ...

2004-07-08T22:21:37Z

if procrastination is even an art. Time for a quiz found on str1fe's journal

cookatwork Highway

Bog of Eternal Marriage	8
Tower of Commitment	15
Lake Love	37
Paintown	157
Study Hall	421
Please Drive Carefully

Where are you on the highway of life?

From Go-Quiz.com

I'm missing the little red dot that says "You are here."

Where did the week go?

2004-07-07T13:18:29Z

I don't know where it went but I was'nt there. That's for sure. Although I got rid of my peniccillin bombs and the infection, I still felt like death warmed over.

It's so unfair. I have nearly a week off - and I couldn't get anything done because I went cross-eyed the moment I changed from horizontal to vertical. At least I got my braincells occupied ( two of them were off visiting neighbors, three couldn't be bothered, but the last 7 were with me ) and I think I'm somewhat nearer to solving my dilemma with the supposed hot and sweaty sex.

Iolaus was the main problem ( and drowning him in a barrel of wine simply won't do ), but I think I can convince him now ( with the help of some sturdy ropes ) to stay in the place. Of course he was all drama-queen about it, vowing to never ever have sex again in his live, but that's just the frustration talking ( or the rest of the wine ).

Strife wasn't much better in the beginning, but he finally seems willing to play along ( after threatening to dunk him assfirst in another barrel with olive oil ). And I took some of the more brutal actions out of the scene. Not that he's suddenly a dedicated follower of tender loving care, but it wouldn't do at all to have him nearly paralyzed on Iphicles' lap, too tense and anxious to enjoy it one bit.

Iphicles is still kind of an ass - but I think it fits him perfectly. And he's getting frustrated with all the prospects of sex in front of him - and not getting any. :: smirk:: Poor king.

******************************************************************************

Of course the moment I went back on-line I decided to change my layout, make it more colorful, new pictures, new borders - and a colored scroll-bar. Took me a few days to make it happen, but with the combined help of two communities, the support team and my provider's technical support I now have a matching scrollbar.

******************************************************************************

Finally it seems that a lot of the ~~victims~~ people who ~~foolishly~~ signed up for the HXFQF, are waking up and realising that there was a deadline mentioned. Thanks for the wake-up-call. Now I'm getting really paranoid, because I want 'ITE' finished first. I can hardly write one story at one time, so two at the same time is simply out of question. I think I better get started. Making decisions at least.

Tomorrow.

Maybe.

::head explodes::

The Godmother - Donna Andrea

2004-07-01T14:36:04Z

askance and luthien spread the news. Feel free to blame them.

20 Questions to a Better Personality

You are an SRDL--Sober Rational Destructive Leader. This makes you a mob boss. You are the ultimate alpha person and even your friends give you your space. You can't stand whiners, weaklings, schlemiels or schlemozzles. You don't make many jokes, but when you do, others laugh out loud. They must.

People often turn to you for advice, and wisely. You are calm in a crisis, cautious in a tempest, and attuned to even the finest details. Yours is the profile of a smart head for business and a dangerous enemy.

You have a natural knack for fashion and occupy a suit like a matinee idol. Your charisma is striking and without artifice. You are generous, thoughtful, and appreciate life's finer things.

Please don't kick my ass.

I can assure all of you that I've never worn a suit in my life and my fashion sense isn't that outrageous.

But I like the part about whiners and weaklings. ;)

To add to my misery

2004-06-29T22:01:13Z

My Best Friend is mythdefied

Our 10 common interests are: cats, cleopatra2525, creegan, cupid, deimos, fanfiction, hercules, joel tobeck, slash, strife

Who is your best friend?

Created by macoto

And she had foot surgery last week and will be off-line for a few months. WAIL!

And of course I couldn't let this pass. Found on henningz' journal

I am a member of 1 clique of size 8

cookatwork, mythdefied, roo2, ndancer, millefiori, askance, luthien, damerel

This thing looks at all the people on my f'list and looks for mutual friends which are then collected in a clique. The creator of this thingie has more information about it here