Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box

Yuletide letter 2022

2022-10-22T19:31:46Z

Dear author,

Here we go! So sorry for the delay in posting this letter; I know it sucks to get a blank assignment!

I also hope you'll forgive me that huge chunks of my letter (*coughs*including this apology*coughs*) are copied from previous years--my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

Most of my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-haves, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want to give you free rein so you can write something you enjoy and are good at. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. When I say "any characters" or "any genre", I mean that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't come up with that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with this assignment, and that you have a great Yuletide!

comments

Dear Yuletide Author

2020-10-25T22:07:06Z

Dear author,

First off: Hello and thank you for writing for me! This year has been pretty much terrible for everyone, so let's all gather 'round and tell some stories to cheer each other up!

I hope you'll forgive me that huge chunks of my letter (*coughs*including this apology*coughs*) are copied from previous years--my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

Most of my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-haves, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. When I say "any characters" or "any genre", I mean that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't come up with that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

comments

Dear Yuletide Author (2018)

2018-10-20T12:30:43Z

Dear author,

First off: Hello and thank you for writing for me! Yuletide has become one of my favorite things about the holidays and I'm excited for this round!

I hope you'll forgive me that huge chunks of my letter (*coughs*including this apology*coughs*) are copied from previous years--my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

I have tried to give you multiple options and prompts for each fandom, and my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-haves, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. When I say "any characters" or "any genre", I mean that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't come up with that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

comments

Dear Yuletide Author (2017)

2017-10-02T11:37:43Z

Dear author,

First off: Hello and thank you for writing for me! I couldn't do Yuletide last year and i missed it! I'm so glad and excited to be back, Yuletide has become one of my favorite things about the holidays.

I hope you'll forgive me that huge chunks of my letter (*coughs*including this apology*coughs*) are copied from previous years--my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

I have tried to give you multiple options and prompts for each fandom, and my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-haves, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. When I say "any characters" or "any genre", I mean that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't come up with that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with this assignment, and that you have a great Yuletide!

comments

Dear Yuletide Author

2015-10-27T14:21:57Z

Dear author,

First off: Hello and thank you for writing for me! Yuletide is a treasured holiday tradition, and I'm always happy to share my love for these fandoms with someone else!

Secondly: I screwed up with my sign-up and discovered only after the deadline that my final edit, which included the optional details for Demon's Lexicon, didn't go through. If you were matched on Demon's Lexicon, don't worry! I love the series, I'll be thrilled to receive fic for it, and my optional details (which are of course optional) are here in this letter. I'm sorry I messed up!

Finally, I hope you'll forgive me that huge chunks of my letter are copied from previous years--my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

I have tried to give you multiple options and prompts for each fandom, and my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-haves, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. You'll notice I selected "any characters" for all my requests. I meant that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't come up with that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this, and I love you for it! And anybody who likes either of these fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

Dear Yuletide Author,

2014-10-24T08:55:55Z

Dear author,

First off: Hello and thank you for writing for me! I love Yuletide, it's a treasured holiday tradition, and I'm excited!

Secondly, I hope you'll forgive me if huge chunks of my letter are copied from previous years--my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

I have, for the most part, tried to give you multiple options and prompts for each fandom, and many requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-have's, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. In those cases where I said any characters in the request, I meant that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't come up with that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this, and I love you for it! And anybody who likes either of these fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

Dear Yuletide Author,

2013-10-14T08:59:03Z

Dear author,

First things first: Thank you for doing this! I absolutely adore Yuletide; it is one of my favorite things about the holiday season, and just writing this letter makes me go all warm and fuzzy.

Secondly, I hope you'll forgive me if huge chunks of my letter are copied from previous years -- my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

Most of my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-have's, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. In those cases where I said any characters in the request, I meant that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't have that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this, and I love you for it! And anybody who likes either of these fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

Dear Yuletide Author,

2012-10-15T15:35:56Z

Dear author,

First things first: Thank you for doing this! I absolutely adore Yuletide; it is one of my favorite things about the holiday season, and just writing this letter makes me go all warm and fuzzy.

Secondly, I hope you'll forgive me if huge chunks of my letter are copied from previous years -- my preferences and requests are pretty stable.

All of my requests are very broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-have's, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. In those cases where I said any characters in the request, I meant that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters or scenarios in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with at the time. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't have that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you to write a good story.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this, and I love you for it! And anybody who likes either of these fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

X-Men Reverse Bang: An Open Door

2012-07-15T18:40:25Z

I actually wrote something! Longest fic I've ever written, and the first time since, uh, 2007 that I've written something that's not for a winter fic exchange.

X-Men Reverse Bang entry: An Open Door
Original Art Prompt: 1037
Art link: Art Masterlist
Artist: eckses

Fic Title: An Open Door
Author: oxymora
X-Men Verse: X-Men First Class
Characters/Pairings: Charles/Erik
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 11,995
Warnings/Contains: Still-powered Priest!AU. Mentions of child abuse (off screen, nothing that's not in the movie).

Summary: Behold, I have given before thee a door opened, which no man can shut. In which Charles is a priest, Erik is a Nazi hunter, the two of them are childhood friends and each thinks that the other should change his job.

I'd never have guessed that my first stab at the 10,000 word barrier would be priest!fic (nothing against the genre, I simply haven't had much exposure to it before!), but I've been utterly intrigued by eckses' amazing artwork from the very start. The looks on their faces! The body language! The shading! All my inspiration for this has been flowing directly from that picture, and I only wish I had more practice to do it justice. Go give her feedback!

comments

The most wonderful time of the year

2011-12-27T15:06:59Z

This was my third Yuletide, and the best ever.

I got three amazing gifts for my prompts: Two full-length fics for The Sound of Music and a Yuletide Madness Calvin & Hobbes X Doctor Who crossover. I have no idea who wrote any of these and I'm a little overwhelmed by the fact that I got two treats and I just want to hug and cuddle all my stories forever. I've also gotten a lot of positive feedback for my own (still secret) story (on which christycorr and firstlightofeos did a fantastic last-minute beta job), which keeps making me very happy. I love fandom.

The recs:

Title: Pasturale
Fandom: Sound of Music (1965)
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Baroness Elsa Schraeder
Genre: Character study, includes Elsa/Georg von Trapp and Elsa/OMC
Summary: The Baroness is usually seen as a villain in the Sound of Music. Maybe it's time to think again.

A detailed, thoughtful story about Elsa's life, from her first marriage to the time that she lets Georg go to be happy with another woman. This has a very introspective and perceptive Elsa, who is kinder and more thoughtful than you would perhaps expect from the movie. It also does an exceptional job of reconciling the movie's historical inaccuracies with actual events. All in all, the world depicted here is perfectly reconcilable with movie canon, but the characters have a little more shades and the world they're in has a little less technicolor than the movie's. I also love the writing style; it is very much in sync with the topic of the fic.

Title: Fourteen and Impossible
Fandom: Sound of Music (1965)
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Baroness Elsa Schraeder, Friedrich von Trapp
Genre: Gen
Summary: "The boy is looking imploringly at her again. Elsa sighs, and holds up a hand to summon the waiter."

It's a missing scene with Friedrich von Trapp (that's the oldest of the boys) and the Baroness witnessing the Anschluss together during Maria's and the Captain's holiday! The kind of story that you wouldn't expect, but that works on every level. Elsa is pitch perfect as the movie's supercilious, shrewd socialite, and her commentary on the von Trapps is brilliant and cutting. And still, she and Friedrich manage to find and comfort each other in a bad time. The ending is a great example of show, not tell, and it makes me choke up a little every time I read it.

Title: Holiday
Fandoms: Calvin & Hobbes, Doctor Who
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Calvin, Hobbes, Melody Pond
Genre: Gen
Summary: It was just a silly old box.

A chance meeting between Calvin and Melody. It's brilliant characterisation and tongue-in-cheek jokes and canon references for both fandoms in 214 words. I absolutely adore Calvin & Hobbes crossovers, and this one demonstrates why.

All of these don't have nearly as many hits as they deserve, so check them out and leave spread the love!

I will make another rec post for Yuletide fics at a later date (I hope).

comments

Dear Yuletide Author,

2011-11-17T11:46:14Z

Dear author,

First things first: Thank you for doing this! Yuletide has become one of my favorite things about the holiday season (and there are a lot of contenders). I'm excited!

Most of my requests are pretty broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-have's, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. In those cases where I said any characters in the request, I meant that! Even if I'm talking about specific characters in the prompt--that was just what my mind could come up with for a prompt. Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy another story more, just because I didn't have that idea.

In conclusion: Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this, and I love you for it! And anybody who likes either of these fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

A list of helpful Chrome extensions for Pinboard

2011-09-29T10:35:37Z

Since I posted my Pinboard sidebar and custom buttons tutorial for Firefox yesterday, people have been asking about Chrome. I don't use extensions or addons in Chrome myself (Chrome is my sleek and fast browser), but I promised to look into it.

I started by looking for extensions that are already out there, since I have no idea how to make extensions for Chrome. I went to the Chrome webstore (https://chrome.google.com/webstore), did a search for Pinboard, installed all the extensions, and tested them. These are the ones that I think are useful:

( Screenshots and descriptions )

That's it. All the other extensions I tried didn't convince me. These six offer a lot of the functionalities the Firefox custom buttons and sidebar I showed yesterday did, plus more.

The following is missing:
1) There's no actual sidebar, but the Pinboard extension does something similar and is actually sleeker than the sidebar, plus allowing for tag filtering (with multiple tags!).
2) None of the extensions support the "popup with tags" option. This might be a real drawback for some people.
3) Only one extension (4) contains a link to your network. None of them offer a network sidebar. Again, might be a drawback for some.

If anyone is still interested in a real sidebar, a popup with tags option, quick access to your network, or any of the other stuff I showed for Firefox, let me know! I'll look into it.

(Also: feedback is love. Anonymous comments are enabled, IP logging is off.)

comments

Tutorial: Adding a pinboard sidebar and custom pinboard buttons to Firefox

2011-09-28T20:42:26Z

[UPDATE: I made another post for Chrome extensions]
[UPDATE the second: The popup with tags button now has a scrollbar. (Thank you to the anon who provided the code in the google doc.)]

This is a tutorial for adding a Pinboard sidebar and custom Pinboard buttons to Firefox. Hope it helps some people!

One thing I really liked about the old Delicious was the Firefox addon. I use sidebars a lot, and I love customized toolbars. I didn't really use the Delicious toolbar, but Firefox allows you to drag buttons that you like into other toolbars (in my case the amazing All-in-One Sidebar, see http://firefox.exxile.net/aios/index.php).

Pinboard offers only a very basic browser addon (no real toolbar and no sidebar), plus the bookmarklets that you can drag and drop anywhere you like. However, when I first got my pinboard account (back when Yahoo announced they'd shut down Delicious) I spent some time fiddling with the Pinboard bookmarklets and made them into pretty buttons. I also made a button for a Pinboard sidebar.* Now that more people are leaving Delicious for Pinboard, I figured these might be useful for other users.

( Screenshots and instructions under the cut )

* Well. It's the Pinboard mobile version opening in your Firefox sidebar. Not a replacement for the Delicious sidebar, but Maciej (the Pinboard owner) has said that he will not be implementing a real sidebar anytime soon because it would require too much coding. So this is the best you'll get.

comments

Yay, Tetris!

2011-01-07T15:35:41Z

comments

Dear Yuletide Author,

2010-11-14T23:50:12Z

First things first: Thank you for doing this! This is my second Yuletide, and last year was amazing, so I'm really excited for this round, and I hope you'll have fun with my prompts!

Most of my requests were pretty broad and/or brainstorm-y. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-have's, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that ;)), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this, and I love you for it! And anybody who likes either of these fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

Happy 20th German Unification Day

2010-10-03T10:21:22Z

Kinderhymne - Bert Brecht, 1950

comments

Home improvement

2010-09-14T12:47:53Z

Random update out of nowhere. I've been putting up a lot of shelves and generally redecorating the apartment. Here's what you see when you come in:

I love it. I'll put up bookshelves over all of the doorways. We now have books in every room (except for the pantry).

Have a close-up of the R2-D2 I got for the 100$ Sideshow Collectibles gift card I got at Comic-Con.

comments

so in love

2010-04-10T23:10:31Z

I was not completely happy with last week's episode--I loved the character introductions for both Amy and Eleven and the setup of Amy's relationship issues and background, but I thought the rest of the plot was, well, lame. Well, let's just say this episode made up for it. You have no idea how much I was squeeing.

( CUT FOR SPOILERS AND EXCESSIVE SQUEEE )

comments

Let's talk about gender perception, okay?

2010-03-19T00:23:51Z

A couple of days ago, this xkcd comic was posted, and I punched the 'bookmark' button about 30 seconds after I saw it in my RSS feed:

(please notice the alt text)

I thought of posting somewhere about it at the time, but so many people did that I thought it wasn't necessary.

Then, afterthree tweeted about this gem, which claims that

Men clearly have an urge to blog that women lack.

because

Guys seek thrills and speed. They go for the adrenalin rush. They get pumped by going higher, faster, farther than anyone else. They want lots of action and instant gratification. That's also why guys like blogging – instant opinions, and lots of them.

On the other hand,

Women never held peeing contests. Perhaps that helps explain why women tend to be more restrained and less concerned with public displays of prowess. We are just as interested in listening as in talking, and more interested in relationships than scoring points. We also tend to lack the public confidence that comes so easily to many men.

I could start ranting about how much is wrong with this, but Chelle did that for me, so I'm going to tell you why this made me decide to post the xkcd comic after all. What made me so happy about that comic is not that it mentions porn, or that it shows an emancipated female character or that it's funny, or true. It was that, at least for me, it managed to convey two important points:

1. People are people. Men and women are not as different as you might think. Fundamentally, we're all human, and we share basic desires, instincts, motives and propensities. (The same goes for different ethnicities, religions, cultures, sexual orientations, what have you). Most of us go through the world sorting their counterparts into categories without being able to recognize that this other is a person, which means that a) he or she is probably not as different from ourselves as we might think and b) at the same time much more complex than a list of checkboxes. Paradoxically, stereotyping makes us undervalue a person's uniqueness and our commonalities at the same time.

That's the message of the comic itself. The second point is in the alt text:

2. There are gender differences. And it's okay (and important) to notice them, talk about them, analyze them, and make fun of them. As long as you keep point one in mind, and do your research. Gender (as well as the other categories mentioned above) is a touchy subject, and storming in and writing a column based on your and your girlfriend's non-experience is not helping.

Neither of these points is especially hard to understand or demonstrate (fuck, Randall Munroe did it in one strip) so please, World. Get. It.

comments

wanted

2010-03-13T15:30:02Z

Has anybody seen this season?

Name: Spring
Characteristics: Sunshine. Daisies. Butterflies. Kids skipping merrily over green meadows. An astonishing lack of snow.
Missing since: About a month

If found, please return to: Bamberg, Germany
Reward: Eternal gratitude. Wardrobe change. Lower heating costs.

Seriously, can we just stop with the snow already?

comments

headdeskheaddeskheaddesk

2010-01-26T15:07:26Z

So far, 2010 has started well. I met christycorr and Bá in Paris, which was great, and I'll probably see them again in Bamberg and if that doesn't work out, there's still Rome, or Venice, or London. Yay!

For something completely different, this is getting a lot of attention on German Twitter accounts and news media. I am cringing so very, very much right now:

(Don't be scared by the German, something like English starts after 30 seconds.) Warning: Extremely high cringe factor, multiplied if you are German, speak German, or have any connection to Germany at all.

*sobs* This right there is the new German member of the European Commission. Way to pick a respectable international representative for this country.

Oh, and please laugh all you want, this man is a) dumb as fuck and b) completely despicable. As in, he holds revisionist funeral speeches for Nazi criminals.

comments

The afternoon, in fact, almost made up for the disappointing lack of philosophers.

2009-12-25T12:37:50Z

Guys, I got the most awesome fic ever for Yuletide.

Title: Scones and Violence
Fandom: xkcd
Pairing: Hat Guy/ Hat Girl
Characters: Hat Guy, Hat Girl, Beret Guy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary: What do you give a girl who has everything? Or at least, enough firepower to get it.

You should go and read it immediately! Proven to cheer you up on the crappiest of days (that would be mine)!

comments

Dear Yuletide Author,

2009-11-16T22:59:50Z

First off: thank you! I love all the fandoms I submitted, and consequently, I love you already for writing for me! This is the first time I'm doing Yuletide, and I'm appropriately excited.

Now that I've seen other people's prompts, I feel mine were really short. Part of that is because I really don't have particularly concrete expectations or must-have's, and the thing I like most about a gift is the surprise. In addition, I want the best you can offer (I'm picky like that :p), and I want to give you free rein for that. So, seriously: everything I suggested is just that--a suggestion. Do whatever you feel works best for you and feel free to ignore pretty much everything I'm saying here or in my prompts if that helps you.

However, if you'd like some more info about my preferences, here it is.

( about my general prefences )

( about my fandoms )

I hope this helps. Most of all, I hope you have fun with my fandoms and prompts! Don't be terrified, I'm so happy you signed up for this! And anybody who likes either of these three fandoms has my implicit trust.

comments

So, about Waters of Mars

2009-11-16T19:33:21Z

( Not really a spoiler, but cut just in case )

comments

9.11.

2009-11-09T20:49:20Z

( So today is November 9, which is definitely the craziest day in modern German history. )

My first political memory is of 9.11.1989. I was four years old then, and we were baking the first Christmas cookies (they were jam-filled). I had this huge pot of jam that I was licking clean, and my father sat me down in from of our tiny black and white TV screen, which showed people standing on the wall and crying and hammering holes into it, and he explained to me the significance of it all -- the GDR, socialism, democracy, . I remember this so clearly. [It's very likely that this actually happened a couple of days after 9.11., because I remember the pickaxes, and that part came later, but still, the sentiment counts!]

What's your first memory of a political/historical event?

comments

Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box

Yuletide letter 2022

Dear Yuletide Author

Dear Yuletide Author (2018)

Dear Yuletide Author (2017)

Dear Yuletide Author

Dear Yuletide Author,

Dear Yuletide Author,

Dear Yuletide Author,

X-Men Reverse Bang: An Open Door

The most wonderful time of the year

Dear Yuletide Author,

A list of helpful Chrome extensions for Pinboard

Tutorial: Adding a pinboard sidebar and custom pinboard buttons to Firefox

Yay, Tetris!

Dear Yuletide Author,

Happy 20th German Unification Day

Home improvement

so in love

Let's talk about gender perception, okay?

wanted

*headdeskheaddeskheaddesk*

The afternoon, in fact, almost made up for the disappointing lack of philosophers.

Dear Yuletide Author,

So, about Waters of Mars

9.11.

headdeskheaddeskheaddesk