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I said I had a shelf fetish!

I've been coveting these:

oak floating shelves

Here's the two likely places I have to put similar shelves.

corner nook from kitchen

and...

The ultimate plan is to replace the defunct and never-used dishwasher with a useful rolling cart with a butcher block top. The soffit is hollow, and I'd really like to replace all the upper doors with doors that go to the ceiling. Failing that, beadboard backsplash and soffit, paint all the cabinets white, replace the hardware and relocate it from center doors to the corners of the doors. I can live with sheet vinyl flooring and yellow formica countertops...for a while.

So, where do *you* think the floating shelves should go? Over the desk? Or over the bar? Both? Neither?

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/160601.html

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I have a shelf fetish

The living room is done, excepting a bit of sorting and organizing.

The wee gargoyle says, "I'ma jump off parapets too, when I get big!" The globe watch necklace was a gift, and OH made the display stand.

The media shelves:

Are finally full! There are a few spaces left empty for small hardcovers and trade paperback books.

And the dining room is done! All that media storage in that tiny sliver of space!
dining room done!

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/160300.html

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SPN S12 DVDs updated update

After I received and was disappointed by the DVDs I ordered from Jubilee through Bonanza, I informed them of the problems I was having with the set they sent:

Case was very much thinner than usual. There was no insert in the case listing the contents of each dvd. There was nothing on each disc but a series of episodes. There was one listing on disc 6 labeled "special features," which my player could not access.

Jubilee informed me they have begun the process of issuing a return label and a refund, no questions asked.

I checked the Amazon and Target listings, wary of the absence of the usual listing of special features. Best Buy had the listing, as follows:

3 audio commentaries
4 Featurettes:
Gag reel
Supernatural: 2016 Comic-Con Panel
The Winchester Mythology: A Hunter's Life
The Winchester Mythology: Clash of the British Men of Letters
The Winchester Mythology: Mary Winchester
Unaired scenes

so I ordered another set from Best Buy. That set arrived today. The slipcase and case are the same thickness as the other season sets. I opened and went through the set, inserting each disc into the player to read the menus. There is an insert listing the contents of each disc, and there are cut scenes, commentary, and other extras on several discs, listed on each disc menu. Disc 6 includes the three Winchester Mythologies,the gag reel, and the 2016 ComicCon panel.

All this is what your factory issued S12 DVD set should contain, no matter who you buy them from.

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/160238.html

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I got wood...

I pulled out a pair of wooden candlesticks from the cabinet this morning, and wound up cleaning and oiling all my stained wood pieces. A big dough bowl, a square salad bowl, an amazingly shaped and grained salad bowl with two serving size bowls to match, a huge and gorgeous carved acacia wood bowl that's just damned art, two pairs of wooden candlesticks (there are more. I stopped myself from doing all of them), two small staved teak bowls, two staved paddle handled breadboards, an oak paddle handled breadboard, the Dansk carving board, a woven splint bowl from the 70s, a wooden brandy snifter-shaped ...I have no idea what the purpose is, but it's pretty, and two small sandwich boards. Oh, and my laminated teak tray.

The thing with oiling wood is that dry wood swells when it gets wet. Part of oiling it is to seal the pores so water doesn't get in and make the wood swell and crack. But if the wood's dry and you use too much oil, it still swells and can crack. The trick is to slather the oil on, wipe it down a *little* bit, so it's not dripping, and let it set for about an hour. Then go back and wipe it down again, removing the excess oil, leaving just a thin sheen of oil. Then depending how dry it was, after another hour or two, or the next day, polish it dry, and it should be fine for several months. All my pieces look so gorgeous now!

I still have to do my unstained raw cutting boards. I use mineral oil on everything. I made the mistake of using vegetable oil, and my raw wood mortar and pestle is still dark and ooky looking. I sanded it for *years* to finally get down to where the wood wasn't gummy and tacky from the veg oil. So, mineral oil only.

For cutting boards I have used bleach, sparingly, and I've sanded out dimples from the meat hammer--which I no longer use. The dimples look cool, though. "Mess with me and I'll do the same to you! Ha!"--and water rings. But what I do now is sprinkle coarse sea salt on the surface and scrub with a cut half of a lemon. It bleaches and disinfects, and is totally food safe. Once it's clean, you rinse it and pat it dry, then let it set for at least an hour to evaporate any water, and then rub it down with mineral oil. I like to use my fingers--the oil seems to penetrate the pores of the wood better from the warmth and texture of my fingertips (or palm, depending on the size of the board) than with a paper towel or other applicator. Anyway, I do both surfaces and the edges and then leave the board either leaning against the backsplash or upright in a dish drainer for an hour or two, then go back and wipe off any excess, and if the piece is small enough to fit in the sink, a quick dose of dish soap and water, rinse well, pat dry, let air dry so all surfaces have air, and you're good to go.

Ironically? OH does 99% of the cooking, and he uses plastic cutting boards. I insist on having my wooden ones (that I used when *I* ruled the kitchen) out where I can see them. I think they're pretty.

I...may have a thing for wood. Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. Well, yeah, that kind of wood, too.

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/159935.html

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Update on S12 DVD set

The majority of this was posted in comments in someone else's journal, so I thought I'd move it here, both for availability for my flist, and so I can find it later.

I ordered my S12 DVDs online from a website called Bonanza, through a seller called Jubilee Marketplace, here: www.bonanza.com/listings/Supernatural-The-Complete-Twelfth-Season-12-DVD-2017-6-Disc-Set-Brand-New/492229574

I was concerned that perhaps they were selling a cloned copy, so I asked here after they arrived if anyone had seen the actual factory set, bought at a Target or shipped from Amazon. A couple of people sent me photos of the valid set, showing the thinness of the case, so I was reassured that this is a factory set.

Someone asked if the photos on the back of my case were b/w, and they are in color. However, there is no insert guide to which episodes are on which discs, which discs contain deleted scenes, commentary, etc., and the gag reel.

I figured you would have to insert each disc and read the disc menu to find those "extras," so I loaded each disc in my DVD player. Each disc listed only the episodes, no extras, no deleted scenes or commentary. There is a button on the disc menu of Disc 6 for "special features." The first time I clicked that button the player launched right into Jared's commentary on Episode 1. That only ran a minute or two before the sound and the picture pixellated into garbage. I FF'd a bit and now there was commentary on another episode. I stopped play and went back to the disc menu to try the "special features" button again, hoping for a list of commentaries, deleted scenes, and gag reel.

We have an entertainment setup that covers the cable box/dvr recorder and player, the Xbox we only use for Blu-ray disc viewing and accessing Netflix, and the DVD player, which is located in the soundbar. We have a remote that designates which type of player we use.

What happened when I clicked the "special features" button on Disc 6 the second time, it kicked me out of the DVD player and onto an "auxilliary" channel. The DVD player was still on, but I couldn't select the DVD player, and the disc wouldn't eject until I turned off the DVD player, and selected it again. I turned the DVD player back on, re-inserted the disc, and tried the "special features" button again. It didn't start playing the commentary this time, just kicked me to the "aux" channel. I couldn't select "DVD player" and had to turn it off, and eject the disc again. I turned the player back on, reinserted the disc, and clicked all three episodes on the menu; each of which started playing immediately. So at least the episodes are viewable. I didn't check the episodes on the other discs. I hope they play, as well.

I didn't click around on the menu pages of each disc for easter eggs--I don't even think they hide "extras" that way anymore. But I did notice while running the beginning of the three episodes I checked that the digital replay is crap. The fine print on the back of the slipcase says that these are "widescreen," matted to reproduce the appearance of the episodes when they aired. The footage I saw was in widescreen, and I didn't notice any matting. Also, nowhere on the slipcase or plastic case is there a notation that the picture quality is HD.

I don't know. I'm assuming these are factory discs, and I am *very* disappointed with the quality. I assume if I'd been able to afford the blu-ray discs that they'd have all the bells and whistles, in addition to beautiful image quality.

I guess it's worth what I paid to have a copy of the episodes, but I do feel cheated of the extras, and the HD picture quality.

Here's a list of the "Special Features" on the DVD set at Best Buy:

3 audio commentaries
4 Featurettes:
Gag reel
Supernatural: 2016 Comic-Con Panel
The Winchester Mythology: A Hunter's Life
The Winchester Mythology: Clash of the British Men of Letters
The Winchester Mythology: Mary Winchester
Unaired scenes

That's a lot of material either not included, or inaccessable in the set I bought. Target doesn't list that on their page for the DVD set, nor does Amazon, or any other place I've looked.

I'ma have to buy a second set, aren't I? What I get for trying to save a bit of cash.I had planned to buy from Amazon. Their description has always included the number of discs *and* a list of all the extras. They don't have that this year. I didn't think to check with my Jubilee seller before I ordered, either. And really, you have no point to complain that something's missing if it wasn't listed to begin with.

But the set on the Best Buy site does have all the extras listed, and they're the only place I've found that does. If I was going to purchase a set now, knowing what I know, I'd buy from them.

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/159734.html

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(no subject)

This is my town yesterday, with smoke from the wildfires

downslope of Alabama hill

This morning I woke up to the sound of thunder--and rain! My weather map shows the rain isn't reaching to Seattle or Portland--I'd love to share, they need it as much as we do. But I have to rejoice in having rain at all.

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/159386.html

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question

Any of you who've gotten the Season 12 DVDs, can you clear something up for me? It's been...since S11 that I've bought a tv series season boxed set, so I'm not all up on what the kids are doing these days. Also, my budgetary restraint was DVDs or not at all--blu-ray was above my pay grade.

I ordered online, and the set came today, Woo! The question is, the case on this set is half the thickness of the other season sets--is it the same for anybody else? Anybody? I'm just wondering if this is the authentic set. Plus, it unbalances my shelf. Everything's uniform, S1, S2, right through S11, and then, S12--skinny! Wanna hook it up to the bicycle pump and make it match!

Crossposts: https://fufaraw.livejournal.com/159079.html

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news of the day

From my FB feed: Well, it’s good to know that the middle of the country, the folks who don’t “believe in” climate change, are safe at least.

disasters collage

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/158796.html

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I don't remember signing up for this...

I wanted a nice little row of pots of colorful flowers along the front of the house. Mainly geraniums and petunias, in all their glorious varieties, because petunias make me happy. OH just went nuts with the plants and the pots and the glavin. He discovered he didn't like buying annuals every spring, and started converting our pretty colors to... perennials. Which are mainly...green. And, well, they're better than empty pots, I suppose, but they don't thrill me the way !!Petunias!! do. So OH does rafts of little pots, instead of a dozen big pots with multiple plants, and they spread along both sides of the house and in back, as well as in front. And then he grouses and gripes about having to water and deadhead them all, but he does it because secretly he enjoys it. And then he goes away for six or eight weeks and I am privileged to water these...plants.
I got the front and half the side yard done this morning. I'll do the rest of the side yard and the back tomorrow. The neighbor is getting the other side when she does her own. I hope nothing dies of drought between now and tomorrow morning.

I would post pictures, but there are a lot and I'm lazy . So, the first nine photos (reading the captions might illuminate, a bit) here www.flickr.com/photos/59911899@N00/ are the new shelves and things OH has been working on between trips to NC. He got a huge amount done. The eight feet of DVD & CD shelving took a lot of careful measuring, cutting, painstaking putting things together, and more than a couple of hours just tacking the backing onto the unit, one shelf and vertical divider at a time.

He's off again, supporting his family as his brother undergoes cancer surgery. While he's gone, I get to load the DVDs and CDs, and rearrange the books so they make better sense than "out of box, onto shelves."

And then, yay! It's the Dread Closet Reorg. That's the bane of having a walk in closet big enough for a small nursery or reading room. So. Much. Stuff to sort and cull and purge and reorganize. And then, and THEN, there's the massive tarot culling and reorganizing.

Or, you know, I could nap.

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/158594.html

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...do us part

OH is leaving Monday for another stint in NC; his brother is having his cancer surgery, and their mom can't be left alone. BiL's partner is coming to stay near near the hospital and advocate for him during his hospital stay, and OH will be there once he's discharged to recover at home. We're expecting six to eight weeks before BiL is on his feet and well enough to manage for himself, and supervise Mom, if they've not found a good long term residential memory care place for her by then.

So there's that. He's been going ramming speed getting the bookcases together and in place so I'll have the books, DVDs, CDs, etc. to shelve and organize while he's gone. Then there's the walk-in closet reorg I've been putting off and half-assing for literally, years. I'll be busy.

So we bolted yesterday after he got the second coat of paint on the last shelf unit, heading for leafy shade and pleasant scenery, quiet music, and each other's company. Strapped into the passenger seat, I over-reached for something and my left shoulder spasmed and cramped. I eased it as much as I could, but as cramps do, it hovered right on the point of clamping down again. OH drove one-handed for a minute or two, while he jammed his fist into my shoulder blade, and when the knot went loose, he rubbed it out.

Once we were home again, he saw me working the shoulder and prepared to push his fist into the knot again. "No," I told him. "It's just sore from cramping up tight." So he massaged it (he paid for a semester of college as a masseur at the Y), rotated the arm and massaged it more until the joint was loose and happy.

So far this week I've had a gastric upset (due to inflammation and medication), aching thumb joints and resulting near-useless hands, loose hip joints curtailing walks of any length, and now a malfunctioning shoulder. I feel so useful, not to mention attractive. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," I told him. "That you got such a dud."

He hooked his arms around my shoulders. "You are intelligent, you're good with people, you have a good heart and a fierce sense of honor, you have a killer sense of humor, you have enormous patience, and you have a fabulous smile."

"I try," I said. "Yes, you do," he agreed. Then he grinned, the little shit. "And you have a *won*derful personality." Which is his way of avoiding telling me I'm pretty, because he's a little shit. Which was a good thing, actually, because up to that point it was starting to feel like, "You is pretty, you is kind, you is important," and nobody wants to bawl in the middle of the kitchen.

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/158280.html

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important trivialities

Part of my deal with aspbergers, or the shallow end of autism, is a random, unpredictable but gimlet-eyed hyperfocus on details. I usually try to rein it in, but about some things I don't even try. Thank goodness OH is very aware of this trait, and indulges me for the most part.

In excavating the books and dvds, we found our collection of antique jail keys and the skeleton keys from the old house, plus a clock key and a couple of other keys of forgotten origin. Also found is the escutcheon and key windchime, bought and never hung. The fancy escutcheon, and the fancy key that serves as windcatcher, are fake old brass. The chimes are bright shiny silver, trimmed with crystal and pearl beads. The old keys will be mounted on a board, horizontally, two cuphooks per key (so they can be removed for closer inspection), and the board hung on the side of the tall bookcase in the living room. The windchime will hang from the ceiling, directly above the keys display.

The keys, for the most part, are real old brass, and iron. I wanted them mounted against a background with a light texture, rather than a flat color. I decided to use the giftwrap I used to paper the back of the curio cabinet, across the doorway, directly opposite from where the board will hang. The paper has bright shiny silver dots, on a pearly finished background. I liked the idea of continuing the textured background from one place to the other in the room, and then realized, the bright shiny chimes and the pearl beads match the paper!

OH just grinned and shook his head while I hopped about, cheeping, "Look, look! I didn't even plan it and they match! Nobody but me will ever notice, but look! They match, they match, they match! Eeee!"

He loves me in spite of myself.

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stolen from the LJ flist

Five things in my handbag
1. notebook
2. keys
3. moss agate pendulum/worry stone
4. clip on shades/glasses
5. tiny zip bag with nippers, clippers, tweezers, sewing kit, magnet & more

Five things in my bedroom
1. tarot collection
2. pen and ink collections.
3. giftwrapping, fabric and paper craft, and office supplies
4. years' worth of filled journals
5. out of season house flags, wind socks, and door decorations

Five things I've always wanted to do (and haven't yet done)
1. spend time around stables, maybe learn to ride
2. rescue and train a dog
3. visit Provence and Tuscany
4. visit England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
5. visit Canada--from Vancouver to PEI and Halifax

Five things I've always wanted to be
1. a reliable ear and shoulder for friends and family
2. financially comfortable
3. comfortable with myself
4. healthy and athletic
5. a little more outgoing

Five things that make me happy
1. a scenic drive on a sunny--or even an overcast day, with OH
2. deep and ranging conversation with friends
3. soaking in a silent moment of beauty
4. writing something I recognize is well done
5. solitary time without guilt

Five things I'm currently into
1. new bookshelves and discovering book friends I've not seen for a while
2. stepping up exercize from couch potato level
3. Shadowhunters, esp. Malec
4. improving my diet, by deliberate degrees
5. re-evaluating and making changes (life, home, etc,)

Five things on my to do list
1. finish (as if) sorting and shelving books
2. finish sorting and shelving DVDs/CDs
3. drag *everything* out of the walk-in, sort, cull, reorg, donate, or list on ebay
4. sort tarot--find boxes and rebox culls
5. list culled tarot on ebay

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/157838.html

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Happy Birthday,

Dear roxy, Happy Birthday to you!!

t rex cake

And may you reign forever! Many happy returns!

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/157503.html

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art and photography

The top picture is a Michael Parkes print that has hung in my house for years--since we moved and finally had the space to hang it. It had languished in a folder for a long time. It took my breath away at first sight, and I often stand for a few minutes, looking into the picture and noting details, imagining the scent of that oncoming storm, the breeze disturbing things in the physical room around me, and stroking the soft fur of the cat.

Parkes cat and storm

The second pic came up today on my Tumblr dash. It's titled Tuscan, taken by Lars van de Goor. My breath caught when it scrolled into view, and I've been studying those hills, the light, those clouds, and imagining I can smell rain and feel wind rising, scent the mown hills and the dust in the air.
Tuscan hills in gathering storm

Aside from sharing those lovely autumnal tones, both pictures feel very similar emotionally to me. I've studied the photo off and on all day.

Have you ever wanted to step into a picture on the wall? These would be good candidates, I think.

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/157209.html

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afternoon

It's so much cooler now than it was last week. I feel like I'm actually living again, rather than laboring to exist from moment to moment. The air, while not perfect, is much clearer after the rain.

OH finished the bookshelves under the breakfast bar (pictures soon!), and we're both a bit dismayed to realize we have far more 15" tall coffee table books on various subjects than we even thought. Some of them will have to be shelved on their sides. Plus to that, the spines can be read easily. This coming week will be me pulling shorter books and fitting taller ones on the adjustable living room shelves, as the hall (bar) shelves are built for standard hardcovers. I'd kill for a library where I could shelve by subject, then author, then pub. date. But as things are, I shelve by size. And within that constraint, I try to organize by subject, and then by author, where I can. But mainly, it's all by size.

Since it's the anniversary of our son's death, we decided to drive out toward Deception Pass, where his ashes are scattered. The parking lot on Pass Island was jammed, so there was no hope of stopping, or having a private moment today, so we kept driving. Someone has planted trees and a garden around the massive chunk of driftwood that resembles a dragon and is locally known affectionately as Nessie. Thoughtful, but in a season or two she won't be visible from the road, standing guard on the cliff above the strait.

We drove out to Ebey Point--couldn't see the mountains on the far side of the water, but we found a gap in the sea oats that line the road by the beach and parked where we could watch and hear the breakers, as well as the grass blades and seed heads of the oats rustling in the constant offshore breeze. We'd planned to cut the stereo when we stopped, but Native American flute and drums were playing and it somehow seemed appropriate. We'd brought a fresh rye boule and a small tub of sweet butter, fresh zucchini, a bit of leftover smoked salmon, some very sharp cheddar (and string cheese, because picnic!), a handful of white grapes and another of home grown yellow cherry tomatoes. No conversation necessary at all, beyond, "More butter?" or, "Grape?" It was lovely.

I count as one of my great achievements getting OH to accept that hunks *torn* off a loaf of fresh bread are always better than a careful slice--more nooks and crannies for the butter! More texture, more flavor! Plus, that atavistic satisfaction of primitive humanoid ripping off a fistful of food and eating it out of hand.

I hope everyone had an agreeable Sunday.

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/156972.html

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Eughh.

After a couple of *weeks* of smoky air and haze, today I'm getting my first whiff of actual burning stuff, and ewwww. Poor people who've been in it all this time.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow or the next day, and wash a lot of particulates out of the air. That'll be nice. And drop the high temps ten degrees F or more. That'll be even nicer. If we hadn't moved, if I'd been stuck in NC all this time, I'm sure I'd be dead by now. If not from the climate, then from politics. Oddly, there's lots of NC history and landscape I do miss--most of which is either altered or gone, in rational perspective. Can't forget the view from Mt. Mitchell, though. Or starlings in an autumn dusk from a third-story classroom window at Salem.

Important to remember these things are brighter, softer, happier, in the light of nostalgia than they would be in the harsh light of present reality.

Come onnnn, rain!

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/156854.html

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Bummer

I was using the orange ritual candle from an assortment of colors someone gave me. I needed a "stub" of orange candle for this: extranewsfeed.com/a-spell-to-bind-donald-trump-and-all-those-who-abet-him-february-24th-mass-ritual-51f3d94f62f4 every time I perform it on the dark of the moon. I cut the candle into several pieces, each long enough to light and burn long enough to recite the ritual, ignite the picture, and then extinguish it.

binding ritual

Dammit, I just had to buy more orange candles.

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/156563.html

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not too late! First of the month--

Rabbit, rabbit!

hazel and backup

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/156276.html

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i have no tag for this

I don't know where my head has been

I took a nap this afternoon because, well, I felt like it, and I had no obligations and I could. I'm a rebel like that.

I dreamed of having moved into a run down neighborhood clawing its way back into being a neighborhood, getting to know people and stores and places to shop, folks rehabbing their buildings, cleaning up trash, etc. Over a weekend, someone had a crew clearing overgrowth of vines and some random trees from a lot between buildings, and one evening after the noise of the workers had stopped, some of us wandered over to see the results. They'd pulled down a few sheds and lean-tos that were about to fall down anyway, had cut the trees into sections, and set fire to the wood. It was still smoldering, flames flickering through here and there, and some of the neighbors got hoses and volunteered to keep watch on it, while we planned to find out who was responsible for leaving it burning and Have Words with them on Monday. I was walking home, and a kid I'd seen a few times followed me, wanting me to come play with him.

I was uncommited, unsure if I wanted to or not. As we turned the corner, another group was breaking up, and one of the guys turned to walk in the same direction we were going. I recognized Robert Urich, and we sort of fell into step. "Hello, smoker," he grinned. I shook my head at him. "I don't smoke." He made a "Sure, you don't" face.

"You've seen me smoking?" He nodded. "Then it must have been awhile. I quit three years ago."

We were having a nice, friendly walk, so it was rude when my alarm woke me. It was only a few minutes later, after I was up and moving through the house I remembered, isn't Robert Urich dead? Yeah, for quite a while now.

Huh.

I would like to have talked to him some more. He seemed like a friendly fellow.

Crossposts: http://fufaraw.livejournal.com/156103.html

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fandom...

I have been a Supernatural fan since first season. I will be a Supernatural fan long after they turn out the lights and lock the door--there'll always be fic and art and discussion going on somewhere, and even if there isn't any new material, I will never read all the fic in my lifetime.

But. During the hiatus, I seem to have fallen headfirst down the Shadowhunters rabbit hole. I haven't felt this squeeful about a show since early-seasons SPN.

It's running on the former Disney family channel, Freeform, and if you have Instant Watch, the first season, plus all aired episodes of season two are available there. Plus I think there's an app or something.

ANYway. Pretty actors*, pretty sets, surprising emotionally deep storylines and relationships for a fantasy genre tv show on a lesser-known channel. Give it a try--what've you got to lose?

magnus with teacup

*case in point: the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane, is wonderfully played by Harry Shum, Jr. previously appearing as Mike Chang on Glee. (point: biceps!) The rest of the cast is gorgeous, as well. I'm smitten. I'm full and overflowing with smit.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Lisa Berry, SPN's own Billie the Reaper, has a recurring role early in S2.