Life is a nice place... but I wouldn't want to live there.

Ah, survived class tonight - it's getting better, and they're getting more talkative (good!). Have been talking too much and am left with a sore throat and half of my nose clogged up. Life sucks. Will have to be better if I want to go out drinking with hummelchen on Saturday. Would *not* do to pass up on mint daiquiris because of a bloody cold...

And now our announcer will bounce you right back to fandom...

(Boring) Getting to Know You Meme
gacked from scribbling_elf

1. If you could be a Harry Potter character for a day, who would you be? Why?

Draco Malfoy. No, seriously, I want to know what drives him, from *his* PoV. I'd say Lucius but chances are I'd slip up and get liquefied by YKW. If Draco effs up, it would be minor.

2. How did you discover the world of Harry Potter?

Hated the hype, refused to read it, picked up PS when I'd been on my third round through the bookshop with *nothing* of interest in sight on a Friday afternoon. Read it, bought CoS and PoA on Saturday, read those, gushed to a friend who promised me GoF for Christmas, and then fretted for the two months I had to wait…

3. Are you left or right handed?

Boringly right-handed.

4. What's your favourite colour?

Black and grey and dark green.

5. Do you have any pets? What is/are their names?

Cat (or so she claims) named Hexe (=witch) and rightly so.

6. When was the last time you stayed up all night to finish a book?

Last week, reading three of Rankin's Rebus novels in one sitting. I *did* go to sleep at 10am, though, but hey – that was the night gone. I do it pretty regularly.

7. What was the name of the book?

Um… 'Let It Bleed', 'Set in Darkness' and 'A Question of Blood'.

8. Have you ever had any supernatural encounter(s)?

A few ESP flashes in puberty… knowing a few utterly mundane things beforehand, knowing when my grandmother and aunt died. Spooked me utterly back then, but very short-term.

9. Where is your favourite holiday destination?

Either home in bed with a book, or wherever there are ancient ruins to look at.

10. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white?

Dark or milk, with peanuts or almonds.

11. Beach or mountain?

Uh… mountain, but my heart isn't in it.

12. Do you like your given name?

It grew on me . Yes.

13. What was your favourite subject when you were in school?

History and German.

14. Least favourite subject?

Honour shared by maths/physics/chemistry.

15. What's the worst job you've ever had?

Working in a bookshop right after school. The *job* was ok, the atmosphere atrocious, and I hated it too much for words.

16. I wanted to be a/an __________ when I grew up.

Archaeologist, librarian or writer.

17. Describe the clothes you are wearing right now.

Bluejeans, black pullover, black scarf (I've got a cold…)

18. Do you have any quirks that not many people are aware of?

I can eat parsley like salad; I prepare cheese sandwiches so you can't see cracks between slices of cheese (my *only* obsessive/compulsive trait); I sometimes count steps or pedal moves while walking or cycling.

19. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

Are you kidding? It's not even December yet!

20. Do you enjoy cooking? If so, do you have a favourite recipe to share?

Not too much… I can make mean nachos or chocolate chip cookies, but that's it…


(hopefully more useful) Rec Meme
gacked from mctabby

Pick your top five (or fewer, if you can't think of that many) favorite pairings, and rec one story for each, by writers who are on your friends list. If there's no one on your flist who writes that pairing, then rec the first story that comes into your head.

Harry/Lucius: What Do You Get for the Death Eater Who Has Everything? by amanuensis1
(picking just *one* of Amanuensis's fics is tough, but this is my favourite pure smut piece of hers... and just about of all times, too. Harry and Lucius are just *awesome* here.)

Harry/Draco: Puppet Theatre: part one, two and three by egoteabsolvo
(Harry/Draco revenge fic with a brilliant dose of Blaise thrown in - I just wish it would be updated at one point, *sniffs*)

Tom/Harry: Lest You Are My Enemy by maeglinyedi
(dark, hot and sinister - just as those two should be)

Harry/Snape: Through a Shattered Mirror by rushlight75 and its sequel Walking the Mirror's Edge
(yes, it's actually Harry/Snape/Draco, but the H/S dynamics are incredible, and Rushlight writes the most classic, tasteful sex scenes I know)

Lucius/Tom: Within These Pages by wired_lizard
(mindgames, Slytherinism and powerstruggle-smut... and Arkady's Tom... what more to ask for?)

Will go back to sniffling and writing H/D/R sex now...