Hi all,

Just wanted to drop in and give...well, not much of an update. Heidi and I have moved into our new (smaller) house and we love it. Things have been crazy with the move and lots of other things that shall not be mentioned...lol! We are still going to hockey games (tho not this week, all the boys are staying home to watch some silly little thing called the Super Bowl...whatever!). I am writing, though not as much. And not about Jack and Ennis; I'm mostly writing in my journal. I'm getting very introspective in my "old age" and it's helping me greatly. I am also getting interested in art projects and being creative. We got a Cricut (if you don't know what that is, go look it up: www.cricut.com. We've been playing with it madly and making cards for everyone we know...and I've finally started scrapbooking. So many layouts and books and magazines about scrapping were based around small kids and documenting their every move (no offense to those of you that do that), but as a woman of 47 who only has step-teens, I felt a bit out of place. But I found some books at the library (where I work now, yay!) and I realized that I can scrap my journal, or just random events in my life. I scrapped a page for my brother's kidney cancer -- lol. I told him before the surgery to tell his surgeon to take a pic of the kidney so he could see it later, so he did and emailed it to me. I now have a lovely page of a cancerous kidney! (Hey, when you work in medicine for 12 years, stuff like that is fascinating.) So I am scrapping random things like our dogs and snowstorms and our cats who have eight toes on one foot...you know, those wonderfully amazing tidbits that keep the world turning on its axis.

So, as far as Jack and Ennis go, I still want to work on my teenage J&E story. I also want to take F&I and tweak it...there was so much that I wanted to change in that story after I read it back. I started reading OWL last night and was amazed-- I don't remember writing half of it! LOL. I have another plot bunny that has to do nothing with Jack and Ennis, so I may start working on that when things calm down a bit after this move.

And speaking of working at the library...may I just state what I see is the deplorable state of adult fiction these days? good God, does no one have an original idea anymore? Titles that start with "My Big Fat..."?? Nia Vardalos should sue! And so much lit aimed at women is just pathetic. I understand chick lit and all that, but damn, this oppressive theme of "just find a man and everything will be happy after after" is not only disingenuous, but insulting. I'm not  a man-hater (in fact, far from it, I love men!), but I don't care if it's a man, woman, dog, cat, fish, or Toaster Streudel...it's not going to make you happy. YOU have to make YOU happy! And relationships are a shit-ton of work. Some days just suck--there's no way around that fact. Fights happen. Words get said that should never have been spoken aloud. Feelings get hurt. Sure, there are good days--but if your bad days outweigh your good, then hit the road, sweetie.

As you can see, I've been very introspective lately. Things have happened that have made me really rethink my place in this world, where I'm going, and where I'm destined to be. I have a lot of conflicting issues right now and I am trying my best to sort them all out---so I think you can see why I haven't been writing fiction too much. It's all I can do to get my thoughts down about real stuff going on in my life; I can't really deal with fictional characters' issues too.

So, I hope all is well in your lives. Take care.

Carol

Hello Everyone!

I hope all the Americans are enjoying their Thanksgiving weekend, and everyone else is...well, enjoying their regular weekend. :)

Heidi and I made dinner for the kids yesterday, and we were joined by her oldest son's girlfriend, who is just a lovely young woman, and always a joy to have around. Lots of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, yams, apple-and-banana salad, crescent rolls, and three different kinds of pie were consumed. My stomach still hurts! LOL.

Now for the yucky part....

( Read more... )

Well, here it is...the end of Fire and Ice. I'm going to miss these boys. Thanks to all of you who stuck with me...greatly appreciated.

Carol
( Epilogue )

 LJ's messing with me again. "Post too large"...grumble, grumble. So this wasn't how I wanted to post this chapter, but oh well...

Good God, finally I got it done. Sorry about the long wait.

 

 Hi all.

So my laptop died. I took it in to be repaired and they called two days ago and said I lost my whole hard drive. Everything is gone--OWL, F&I, Return to Home, one-shots, pictures....gone. I had them re-install a new hard drive and he said he would try to recover the data. He was able to recover everything...in our son's folder. All of mine is gone. :(((((  (I do have one last option- one of my hockey buddies" best friends is a computer god, so he may be able to fix it.)

So. I stil have some stuff saved. I can recover stuff from LJ. It'll take time but I can do it. *sigh*  But of course, here's where I throw myself onto the burning pyre of LJ and ask any of you who have the time -- if any of you have any of my work saved, can you please message me if you would be willing to send it back to me? Right now with hockey camp going on, I literally have no time to cut-and-paste everything from LJ, and once the season kicks in, I'll have even less. 

I guess this is karmic payback for a bad haircut and dirty floors!!! LOL!

*sigh* 

Carol

 

The first part of this chapter was supposed to be the end of the previous chapter, but LJ said it was too long.

 

Also…this chapter was too long too, so I will continue it in chapter 33.

 

 

 Summary: Jack and Ennis have a little texting fun. 

A/N: There was more to this chapter, but LJ said it was too long. So I will post the end of the chapter at the beginning of Chapter 32.

 

Jack makes a new friend.

 

 Sorry again about the delay in posting. Chapter 29 should be up in a couple days. - C&H

 Sorry for the last minute delays in posting. Had a rough week. Enjoy!

 Thanks for waiting so long for the update! - C&H

Thanks to everyone who's been supportive during this hard time. And to those who hoped I *wouldn't* finish this story...HA HA! Don't read it if you don't like it. Makes no difference to me. 

Due to the mental imbalances of some members of LJ and some hate filled messages I've received, I will be taking a break.
As for Fire and Ice, I don't know whether or not I will fnish it now.
Thanks.

I can't figure it out.I'm having such a hard time writing right now. I have the rest of Fire and Ice planned out, but when I sit down to write, the words just aren't there--or, I just can't pull them out of me.
Any ideas, help, or words of wisdom?

Well.

I have to say right off the top that I am not a huge fan of RPS. My partner, who wrote some, is sitting beside me frowning, but she knows how I feel.

I have always felt that writing about real people-- real people that we think we know--is a bit invasive. As a reader, I feel it crosses a line somehow, because in my mind, we truly do not know these people; we don't know their motivations, their preferences, their lives and loves, at all. I usually never say never, but I feel fairly certain that I would never be able to write it. I have read a few RPSs that were simply gorgeous, well-written pieces that, if the names were changed, would be works of art. However, I never lost my squicked-out feeling that  these were real human beings we were writing and reading about, so I just chose not read most RPS. Or, if it came highly-recced, I would simply start thinking of the protagonists as stand-alone characters loosely based on real people. That was my way of dealing with my apprehension.

I've been following a lot of the conversation about RPS since Heath died, and I have to say, I am flabbergasted at how many people are turning on Jake...not Heath, Jake...since the awful event.

I am not certain of why this is so. He's one of your favorite actors, and suddenly the backlash against him is ballooning to frightening proportions. Why? I can see not wanting to write about Heath any longer; once someone is lost to us, there's a preservation instinct that kicks in, making us lionize and canonize him, wanting to keep forever that image we have of him. And that will be easy to do, because in our eyes and hearts, Heath will always be young and handsome and gifted and honored, a talented young man taken from us too soon, in his prime.

And yet, everyone seems to be backlashing on Jake.

I am confused. Is it because he hasn't spoken publicly about Heath? I for one would love to see him do an exclusive interview with People magazine or Vanity Fair (the American version, dammit)--speak once to us, Jake, and then you never have to do it again. But if he chooses not to, then we should respect that.

A few fans have said his recent movie choices have "bored" them. I'm confused about that, too. Were they bored with his choices before BBM, or just after? Were they wanting/expecting him to be a one-trick pony, just doing gay movies or cowboy movies or gay cowboy movies, so they could project their fantasies over and over again? Were they bored with Jarhead, or October Sky or Bubble Boy or Donie Darko, or were they just disappointed that Jake was growing up, making choices in film-making that were important to him, even if it didn't rake in big bucks at the box office? Or was it because he wasn't kissing a guy in any of his films?

If you want to see two hot guys kissing and having sex (and to that I say Bravo!), there's this stuff called 'porn'. There's lots of it out there, and some of it isn't bad. Take a gander, you might like it. ;) 

I guess I have to say that I am a bit concerned (and have been for a long time) that some people in the slash world, writers and readers alike, who have projected their image of what they think Jake is, or was, or might yet be, onto the real world, and now that they feel Jake has not lived up to their specifications/preferences, they're ready to turn their backs and judge him for the choices they wish he had made. I understand being disappointed when an idol doesn't live up to the ideals we have set for them. It's akin to coming close to your idol, asking them for an autograph or a picture, and ending up rebuffed and treated rudely. It's a reality that has happened to many people. But we don't know Jake. Seriously. We don't know what his preferences are, who he loves, who he's loved in the past (okay, we know one), or how his mind and heart truly work. The backlash against Reese seems more about the gender Jake has chosen to love rather than the person herself. Don't get me wrong--the thought of Jake with someone like Jessica Simpson or Paris Hilton turns my stomach with the red-hot intensity of a thousand burning suns. I would seriously think the boy done lost his damn mind if he went that direction. :) And I realize not everyone is a fan of Reese Witherspoon. But wasn't the message of BBM just that-- that some people make unpopular choices in their lives, but we should respect the choices they do make? Or is it only convenient to respect those choices when they agree with out own feelings, fantasies and desires? (And for the record, I wouldn't care if Jake chose a man or a woman, as long as he was happy. That's what I care about--but not to the point that his choices affect my daily life.)

I used to worry when I would see people post on boards about characters and stories in fan fic, stating that they were so consumed with this fantasy life that they would skip work and be unable to complete their daily activities b'c they were so worked up about something in a story. *deep breath* As a writer, I would love to stay home and write all day. I mean, let's face it, work sucks and reading and writing are an escape, just like television and exercise and eating and playing computer games. Nothing wrong with a little escapism, but I emphasize the word "little". However, I'm worried now that people in the RPS realm are feeling the same way--turning their backs on their former objects of affection b'c they aren't responding the way they want them to. I'm not sure what to say to that. I feel badly that some people feel that Jake isn't making good choices in his movies. I know I'll catch shit for saying this, but Heath made some unfortunate choices too. I won't say which of his movies I found unwatchable, but there were a few that stunk to high heaven, in my very humble opinion. To be fair, I also have a few of Jake's that I almost can't sit through. He is still my favorite actor--probably always will be. That doesn't mean I have to like everything he does. But to turn my back on him because of some career choices? We're all entitled to our opinions, but to quote a favorite movie line,  "Well, I won't."

All of this verbal vomit is just that-- my good-for-very-little humble opinion. I just don't understand why the choices a person we don't even know is so paramount in everyone's thoughts these days.

Never mind.

 Here you go.