Pissed off in Budapest

Just seen motorcard of NINE police cars and motorcycles heralding arrival of our beloved Secretary General. Whooopeeeeee. Noisy buggers.Laptop's not working.... WAILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLWith all me notes, minutes from last time, references and I can't even write tonight.TOTALLY PISSED OFF about it. Interpol's tecchies have promised help tomorrow, and Chris is bringing his... but EVEN. There I was all ready to save Chrissypoo from a wet muddy moment and it won't load windows.Good news. Court stuff went well in that they need more financial info, but it won't be sorted until early next year AND looks like Chris will get off lightly.So all I need is Sam to work again and life would be quite rosy. Oh well.Going to try and boot it again, but at least the cybercafe here is cheap if nothing else. Grumble, grumble, grumble. How can Sam DO THIS TO ME (and where's the exclamation mark on a Hungarian keyboard? Don't they exclaim?This is weird. There really isn't oneYes there is. Lurking up top somewhere!

Why does my...

Why does my AIM icon have a little flashing mouse-like thing on it?Have tried 'blinking', 'mouse' and 'icon' in the help menu but am none the wiser.MOST curious. All answers on a postcard...

I wil...

I will never, ever put background on my pending files again. Never.Chris decided to do 9 estimates for me, called up my pending file and got a screen full of *eyeballs*. Couldn't read the text. And I in turn couldn't remember how I did it cos it didn't show up on my machine.Oh dear. I didn't even want to check my e-mail on a Friday evening. So he did.I don't WANT to do 9 jobs and 2,500 lines for a client. I want to WRITE.*sob*

Taken a un...

Taken a unilateral decision to go out for dinner, and He Who Shall Accompany Me ain't complaining :) Maybe some carbohydrates and alcohol will reach the part that neither Diet Coke (still warm) and coffee seem to be reaching. Last day of school. Charlotte's got a brilliant report and excellent marks, and is off to the year-end party with rather a lot of make-up on and - of course - the contact lenses. Probably going to incur paternal wrath if he sees the eye make-up, but with a bit of luck she'll have left before he gets in.I'm sure this is not good parenting, somehow. But heck, I was 14 once. She does have instructions to get the 11.15 pm bus and will be with friends. Meaning that by 11.29, when it's due in, I shall be getting antsy and waiting for the 'come and get me at the terminus' stop. Whatever Dinah says about Switzerland and repression and stuff, there's something to be said for buses that run on time... particularly when you're a parent :)In an ideal world, we wouldn't live a mile up a steep hill from the terminus. But then we wouldn't have the cowbells in the distance, would we? I *like* cowbells. They are *not* just for tourists.Nonononono. Not the time to start on another rant.

...

Warm Diet Coke his horrible. And the 2-litre bottles don't fit in the fridge. Charlotte's pinched the last Red Bull. Only one solution. Head for the coffee machine.

Blame Al ...

Blame Al for this. No, that's not entirely fair. Blame Al *partly* for this. Mostly, it's because of a really fascinating discussion on a writers-list about why people like (and hate) slash. Got me thinking and as I think better with fingers to keyboard, here goes.I like slash. Correction, well-written slash. I used to feel guilty about it, I suppose, having sworn it wasn't my thing. Probably stop and wonder sometimes why I write it even now but I refuse to be put off by people getting revolted or horrified.Tried to explain it to Elsa. Have had it rationalised by Elaine. Not sure which of the scientific and academic reasons I agree with, and it's not a question of being turned on by it either. Well - not only.Relationships fascinate me (hence the psycho-babble I write). Two extraordinarily attractive guys in a job where they have to trust each other totally - AND who are not blatantly heterosexual like some I could mention - could take the friendship further. Bisexuality - although it's not my personal scene - is a fact. You fall in love with people, and sometimes it's somebody of the same sex. This happens. Right?Oh, and the sex part. Written, graphic sex. I'm quite happy with slash-without-sex if that suits the tone and the story. However, I find beautifully written, hot sex between the two also has its place when I'm in the mood for it. Just as sex scenes between a man and a women can be astoundingly good. Now, this is me. I can understand people recoiling from it if it's not their scene. I tend to have the same reaction to various types of writing. The list includes: badly-written stories and failure to use a beta-reader to make it palatable; plot holes a mile wide; AU with particular reference to elves and rabbits; non-AU stories that are just so far-fetched and stupid I lose patience. And I'm not a very patient person and I use up most of my patience quotient on stupid clients.What I do *not* understand is when people decide what's good for me... or what sort of thing I should be writing. If I was getting paid for it, or if it was going to harm somebody, that would be different. But when I write slash it's clearly marked as such, protected from 14-year old eyes, and nobody forces them to read it. I'm an adult, I spend most of my life doing things for clients and family, and my hobby is for *me*. If others choose to share that's nice, too. If they don't, then fine. I value my friends, and don't base my appreciation of them on whether I like their fiction or they like mine. Sharing a passion for something, though, is great. I have this lingering suspicion that some people who get all hot and bothered by it are frightened of their own reactions - at least judging by what I've seen from various statements in several places. Once again, it's like a lot of other things. Nobody's putting a gun to their head, just like nobody - but NOBODY - is going to make me see Bodie and Doyle as two sweet, fluffy little rabbits. A little tolerance goes a long way. I can't see what other people see in many things: field hockey, pension funds and collecting china ducks comes to mind offhand but I'm sure there are many more. That's their affair. I can be a wine snob, but if people prefer diet coke and Irn Bru, that's their business *g*.I *love* writing. Slash included. That's *my* affair.End of rant, I think. Off to write something - either hot and steamy or less so. Dunno. Still reeling from Al's last one which I think is outstanding.