So, it is party time again, folks!

[wiseheart]

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation




Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

...push us over the top!

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Page 5! HURRAH!!!!

[sammydragoncat]

Yeah page 5!

[sammydragoncat]

I'm on the US West Coast - so not quite bedtime for me, this should make it 753 comments! Impressive!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

I knew we would make it to page 5 when last I looked! Two more days to go!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Yay! Page 5 \o/

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So, new page, new topic: list your top favourite fandoms - let's say, we should limit to 10 tv and 10 book fandoms. You can list less in each category but no more.

It will be interesting to see how many we share. :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Here are mine

Top 10 TV fandoms:
1) Battlestar Galactica (the original)
2) Star Trek (classic, the original)
3) Babylon 5
4) Kindred: The Embraced
5) Tour of Duty
6) Merlin
7) Sherlock BBC ( the first 2 seasons - I despise S3)
8) Stargate: Atlantis
9) Star Trek: DS9
10) Torchwood

Top 6 book fandoms:
1) Tolkien's universe
2) The Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters
3) Taran books by Larry Alexander
4) Miss Marple novels by Agatha Christie
5) Poirot novels by Agatha Christie
6) Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin

There are lots of other books I love, but they can't be considered fandoms, so this is what I could think of off the top of my head.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And here is another topic for you: are you currently working in the job you always wanted? If not, what did you originally want to do? Do you intend to try pursuing it still or have you settled for your current life?

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Currently self employed web developer/unpaid carer. Neither of which I ever imagined being, but I never really came across a dream job. Maybe a some point in the future my health will be good enough to think about it and try to find something.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

800 comments! Go us!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Go us indeed! Have some chocolate to celebrate!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

Time for bed for me now; I have another lecture tomorrow morning, but this time at the much more civilised hour of 11am. There are plenty of other things I need to do at work this week, though, so must get some sleep so that I can do them...

Good night all, and thanks for fun discussions! Looking forward to seeing threads collapsing on this fifth page tomorrow!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They have already started collapsing - go us!

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

I talked for a bit on the phone night before last with the guy who mentored me on my fieldwork up in Canada. He's a wonderful person, and the conversation and revisiting my thesis fieldwork reminded me of strengths I forget because I've used them so little in my current job.

Isn't it funny how things come to remind us when we forget something important about our lives?

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

I've not said anything about our new home, which we moved into in February. We're still getting settled -- 10 years in the last place was the longest I'd lived anywhere in my life, so moving, particularly in between snowstorms, was a challenge at many levels. But it's beginning to have that feel of "home" for me as I nudge myself to go sit in the front room to drink my tea and read, rather than hunkering here at my work table in the bedroom in the back.

The 2 bedroom flat itself is a bit rough in spots, and we're still finding places to put things away, but it's getting to be cozy. I like the relative quiet of our one-block, one-way street, compared to the busy two-way street we lived on before. The back porch is a generous size, and our dog, Mac, is very fond of it. He goes up to the back door, sits, and makes the most pitiful sounds until he is let out. Even in rain or cold, he needs at least a brief visit to survey his domain!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Sounds nice, good to know you are settling in well.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Fandoms: I'm not really into them anymore, but what I still watch on TV occasionally is Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Sherlock Holmes (new version), Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Scandinavian thrillers and The Borgia's. Oh yes, and Isabel, a Spanish series about Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Isabel, a Spanish series about Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.
Oooh - that sounds interesting!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Sorry for not being around earlier - it has just been one of those days, one thing after another.

It looks like we are over half way to p6 and a great comment total \o/

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I think we have a chance of breaking a thousand before the end. What was the previous record, Soledad?

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

And in the interests of boosting our progress on the page count, a new question -- how did you first encounter our gracious host?

I'm not sure I know the precise answer to my own question! I know we met in Tolkien fandom. I recall I'd read and enjoyed her stories in that fandom. I think altariel must have introduced us? She kindly invited me to LJ back when codes were necessary, and I did pick up quite a few of her f'list when I joined.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Ah, I think I've tracked it down -- it was your 50th birthday party, when Altariel & others on my f'list sent everyone over here to get your threads collapsing.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

espresso_addict asked about the previous record: it was in 2012, with 1328 comments, on 6 pages. Then LJ decided to crash our party, and we tried to reconstruct it, reposting the comments still in our inboxes. The reconstructed party then had two separate entries, one with 765 comments on 7 pages and one with 617 comments on 3 pages. But that was partly a forced thing, to show that we can boast the numbers. I much prefer this year's party with the lively discussions.

In 2011, we had 943 comments on 7 pages. In 2010, it was 742 comments, on 6 pages. In the earlier years, it was even less, despite that we had twice as many party guests. This year's party is fantastic!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

This year just seems to be zooming along in conversations :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Either Soledad or I has just posted the 900th comment! I definitely think we can make a thousand!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Yay! \o/

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

10 more top level comments to get to Page 6. I think we'll manage so much in 26 hours, even without boaster one-liners, what do you think?

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Seems likely :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Latest comments don't seem to have come through to DW. It still stands at 780 over there. I'll give it another try tomorrow. sigh.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

950 if no one has beat me to it \o/

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

We need someone else to wake up to propel us to a thousand.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

This one is for the fanfic (or original) writers among us: are you currently working on anything?

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

I've mostly been stuck recently, but been trying to get back into working on my various ongoing projects:

• Firiel - I've been trying to split this into separate stories to try and make myself finish a bit


• Project currently called Firiel's heirs, which is AU from the main story line where she has more children in Gondor after the fall of Athedain, and Denethor discovers their descendants while trying to work out who Thorongil is.


• Swallows and Amazons/Narnia crossover featuring Lucy and Bridget ending up at the same school and talking, not realising that the other's adventures are different for a long time, and bonding over being treated like their official age.

The think the rest of everything is very stuck at the moment, of course, whether I make any progress depends on what my Yuletide assignment ends up as.

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I go away for a day, and come back to find you have managed to rack up over 950 comments! This is a fantastic party; my only complaint is that there is too much fun so that I can't keep up with it!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No-one of us can, not really. But that's all right, I think.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

Sixteen minutes to midnight on my clock - almost birthday time!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Are you and Soledad in the same timezone?

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

995 comments -- can we get it to four figures before Soledad's midnight?

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Looks like yes \o/

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

It's saying a thousand now, nd it's still a few minutes to the hour! Go us!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Amazing!

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

1009 (including this one) - and HAPPY REAL BIRTHDAY, SOLEDAD!!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you!