joy and shadows

HAY YOU GUYS I WROTE MY FIRST FIC IN THREE YEARS.

If you like Egon/Janine fluffies, read on. Helps if you've seen Extreme Ghostbusters, since it's set in that era.

All Things in Good Time

Rated for innuendo and some naughtiness, but since I know you're all a bunch of pervs, that's encouragement rather than a warning. :D

Guys. Guys. You have to read this story.

When I was coming home from work today at about 4:30, I noticed a gaggle of the neighborhood kids standing on the corner, trying to sell lemonade, Kool-Aid, ice cream, whatever. I didn't stop because there was ice cream in the trunk, but later on (maybe 6:30) the doorbell rings. Two of the kids are standing there (sons of the people catty-corner to us) asking for donations to St. Hubert's Animal Shelter. I gave them a dollar and sent them on their way.

Just now, while I was having dinner, I heard them still out on the corner shouting to the passing cars to help the animal shelter. It was the most adorable thing, and they didn't quit. So, I grabbed a twenty, and I walked over to talk to them. I asked them why they were campaigning for the shelter, and then how long they'd been out there.

"Six hours!" one of them pipes, "And we got a lot of money!"

"How much?" says I.

"$39.75!"

They were clearly thrilled with themselves. So I told them that they had been very dedicated, and that they were doing a very nice thing, and that they should be rewarded for their persistence. I slid the folded twenty into their Dixie cup and waved goodbye. As soon as my back was turned, they must have pulled it right out, because I heard cheering and high-fiving going on behind me.

IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER.

Just fucking great.

The air conditioning is broken, my husband's in California, it's 11:15, and I'm left on my own to get the goddamned thing fixed.

THE SHIFT KEY ON MY KEYBOARD IS STICKING AND IT'S MAKING ME WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPSLOCK

I CAN'T DECIDE WHETHER THIS IS AWESOME OR NOT

THERE'S SOMETHING LOLARIOUS ABOUT WRITING TECHNICAL MEMOS IN CAPSLOCK, LIKE:

"THE REFERENCE STANDARD WAS PREPARED USING A CARVER DIE AND PRESS SRSLY U GUYS"

It was suggested that we all go out for Cuban food today, which we did, and that we also get some beers to go with it, which we also did. It was the best lunch outing we've had in years, and everyone is in a very good mood and planning to leave at about 2 PM, and I can't stop giggling over one of my coworkers remarking, "Oh, man, I'm going to have a food baby tonight."

Welcome summer!

FART JOKES ARE FUNNY YOU GUYS

J. Michael Straczynski on some of his early work on Real Ghostbusters

I knew Lorenzo Music while we were doing the show, but not afterward; we never really hung out or anything. He's a roundish, friendly kind of guy. We always had to separate him from Frank Welker and Maurice LaMarche in the sound studio, because if they were *ever* in close proximity, all kinds of hell would break out.

One day they got into a competition to do celebrity farts... little Doris Day squibs, a George C. Scott roller... we managed to keep it together until Frank let fly with his version of a William Conrad thunderer ...which went on and on and on... windows blew out... buttons flew off shirts... and when it finally came to its conclusion, *no one* was able to do *anything* for about twenty minutes. Shut *everything* down. No one could keep a straight face or get a line out. And Frank just sat there, smiling innocently.

Why do I have a thing for writing fic involving cleaning products?

YOU GUYS, I'M GOING TO TAKE ARCHERY LESSONS AGAIN I'M SO EXCITED

I'm going next Friday to have my shot technique evaluated to determine whether I have to get busted back down to the beginner class or whether I can start back at intermediate.

Also, the current jones for Real Ghostbusters is making me want to do Science, which is probably a good thing because that's my job.

I was so ready for the weekend after last week's training.

Husband was away last weekend in Houston, by coincidence also taking quality systems training, and he definitely had more fun than our Green Belt group. Thursday I got a pix and a text from Minute Maid Field, where he and some other students had gone for a game. The best we did was to hit Chao Phaya on Friday! At any rate, he came home late on Friday night.

Saturday was one long snafu. It was so frustrating. First, the power cut out in the house for no apparent reason when I was half done drying my hair, leaving one side all styled and the other side full of undried styling product. My folks decided they wanted to come for Mother's Day, so I later went to the airport to pick them up, to discover that JetBlue had been removed from the placards telling you which terminal to go to. Half an hour later, I was scurrying around the terminal trying to find them, and they think I've been in an accident and have husband on the way to the airport. (My cell phone was dead because I hadn't charged it after husband took the charger with him to Houston.)

We finally got back to the house and had lunch. I took my parents to Mass in the afternoon, and the service was an hour and a half long, leaving no time to wash dried styling product out of my hair before a fancy dinner. At dinner, my dad's dinner arrived cold and overdone, so he decided to share my mom's meal. The restaurant was very apologetic and sent out another dish, but my dad had already eaten most of what my mother had given him and back went a beautiful lamb sirloin to the kitchen. They also forgot to take the dish off the tab, which was corrected, but wow were we ready to leave (service was quite slow.)

Sunday, we took my mom out to Duke Farms for a look at the indoor display gardens before they are permanently closed to the public. It was very pretty inside, and Doris Duke sure did have a lot of money to spend on her whims. The property is not very well maintained, especially compared to Longwood Gardens, but Longwood is in a class by itself. My mother had a nice time, and we had brunch and dinner at home rather than joining the crowds of people taking Mom out to eat.

They left this morning after an interminable wait in traffic on 202/206 thanks to an accident. New Jersey traffic is such a pain in the ass. It would be better if they'd consider coming on Friday and leaving on Sunday, but maybe the rates are better this way.