First note: if you receive an e-mail with 'anitabuchan at yahoo.co.uk' in the from field, it's spam. Don't open it. E-mails from me will say something like 'Anita Buchan' (or just 'Anita') in the from field. I don't know why/how/who etc, but people in my address book have been receiving spam e-mails from my address.

Second: Yay Arsenal! *hugs baby!Gunners*

Third: YULETIDE HAS BEGUN! Yay! My first reaction, as always, is to wonder how on earth I'm going to write a fic about that. But then I get all excited and remember how much I love Yuletide. And I'm happy, as for the last two years I've written Hustle, and this year I've got a new fandom.

Anyway. ( Dear Yuletide Santa... )

My flist has exploded with happiness, as has pretty much everyone else I know. It is just all absolutely brilliant. I hope so much that this will mean a better future for the whole world.

It's bizarre that I'm now off to Glenrothes to campaign in the by-election there (a UK Parliament seat - the last MP sadly died in August) to try and take the seat from Labour. One of the things that amazes me most about the American elections is the sheer scale and drama of it - and how quickly it all happens! (The results coming in, I mean. No waiting around in school halls for a returning officer to get a move on!) Everything's so much bigger and seems so much more exciting.

It makes Scottish politics seem tiny. But that's actually okay, because there's something nice about that too.


And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. - Barack Obama.

I may have, as a child, collected stamps.

This wasn't completely my fault: my dad had collected stamps when he was a kid (sadness is genetic?), and then passed them all on to me, but it was really fiddly and a bit boring. But I still like stamps enough to love these, and my feminist side completely agrees.



The six women included are:

Marie Stopes - Wrote first cheap book about family planning, and set up first family planning clinics.
Barbara Castle - Labour's 'Red Queen', campaigned for many things including equal pay and pension reform, fourth woman elected to Cabinet.
Eleanor Rathbone - MP who won family allowances for women.
Claudia Jones - Campaigner for black rights who helped launch Notting Hill carnival.
Millicent Garrett Fawcett - President of National Women's Suffrage Societies.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson - First female doctor and first female mayor in England, founded a hospital for women.

Coolness, yes? I'm actually buying many to give to female friends/relatives at Xmas :).

From sky_77. I normally try to avoid memes but I love handbags and am one of those people who believes the contents of said handbags have deep spiritual meaning. Or something.

one: Take a picture of your bag.
two: Now dump everything out, neatly adjust them, and take a picture (no matter how embarrassing).
three: Talk about the items inside. Details, plz.
four: Tag 6 people

( Read more... )

I had this job about to start that I was really looking forward to, and it would have been great experience, looked good on my CV etc. So I was obviously thrilled when I got it and quit my old job several weeks ago so I could have a break in between.

Only this afternoon they called to say that they're shutting down their Glasgow office. I think, from what the woman said, that there was something a bit dodgy going on financially: I didn't really want to question her, since she was losing her job and sounded quite upset about it.

So, back to job-hunting, which is just unbelievably depressing.

On the other hand:

1) DOCTOR WHO!!! I know everyone else has already squeed (or panicked/complained/wailed/etc) but, despite its many flaws, I loved that last episode. And, while not wanting to spoil anyone...if they really follow through on that cliffhanger, does that make them the best secret keepers in TV history?

2) Yay Spain. I was very happy with Russia and Turkey getting to the semis. I feel unpopular saying this because there are so many supporters of the 'big' nations on my flist, but...I always want the underdogs to do well. And that would have just meant so much to Russians and Turks. Although I was happy Spain won, since obviously they had that whole underachiever thing and hadn't won anything since 1964.

3) Actually, recently my life has pretty much revolved around TV. Except my mum called, to see if I wanted to go to the Orkneys in August, so my tour of Scotland may continue then! I suppose that's one upside of not having a job.

And, I may post pictures of Stirling/Inverness/Ullapool/Hebrides/Skye sometime soon. If I can be arsed.

Well, sort of. The credit union has been absolutely dead recently (seriously: we're getting in about 10 people an hour? Normally it would be several times that) so I asked for time off last week and got it. Meanwhile I've recently left Ann Summers and have a break before starting a new second job in July...so I'm off on a tour of Scotland!

The Highlands, really. Planned route is Inverness - Ullapool - Stornoway - Tarbert - Uig - Portree - Fort William. I'm planning on taking about two weeks? I'm a bit nervous, because I don't normally do things like this, especially not on my own, but I'm feeling restless. And why not?

So, my backpack is (almost) packed, railcard is ready, YHA membership renewed, and tomorrow I'm off.

Everyone have a nice two weeks!

Unless you've been living under a rock you've probably noticed lj and fandom haven't been getting along too well recently. Lots of people on my flist have posted about various issues, from Strikethrough onwards. I've also noticed my flist shrinking a bit as various people leave for greatjournal or insanejournal.

This is all relevant because at the moment the elections for the LJ advisory board are going on (voting closes on the 29th). I don't know how much power or influence it's going to have, and I know a lot of people are dismissing it already, but I'm a firm believer that you can't not vote and then whine later. So it is very worth going and checking out the list of candidates which should have arrived in your lj inbox.

If you can't be arsed going through them all, I'm voting for legomymalfoy as my first choice, vichan second, and rm third.

vichan was the one who created fandom_counts about a year ago. legomymalfoy has been an active member of fandom for years and was quite generally convincing that she'd be a good candidate, and rm, who is also an active member of fandom (including Torchwood and Doctor Who! Yay!).

I did have a whole paragraph here about other candidates, but it's all said much better here. Also, fandom_votes is trying to form a fandom voting bloc, to avoid splitting the fandom vote, if you're interested in that.

Go here to vote.

I haven't posted about this before because I'm emotional and angry over it. I thought those feelings would have calmed down, but they haven't. And I need to say this.

First, the facts: Taylor's challenge broke Eduardo's leg. It pretty much snapped it in half. The foot dislocated and the skin was broken. Because of that tackle - because of Taylor - Eduardo could have lost not only his career, but his foot.

That's not going to happen. We have a good medical team who acted quickly. He's not going to have an amputation. But he's going to be missing the rest of the season, the Euros, and most of next season, assuming he comes back at all. His career could still be over. When he was a teenager, he left his home in Brazil and travelled to Croatia where he slept in a stadium because he wanted to be a footballer so badly. His dream, his job, all he's ever wanted - he could just have lost.

But what have people/the media focused on?

Wenger's comments. The reaction of the Arsenal team. And when not criticising those, they've made excuses for Taylor.

He didn't mean to do it. He's not a bad person. It was an accident. It shouldn't even have been a yellow card. He didn't make that much contact. Alex McLeish - a man I used to respect hugely - suggested it was actually caused by Eduardo's studs being caught in the turf. Stephen Kelly said he thought the red card was harsh. Presumably only mowing down the opposing team with machine gun fire should be worthy of a red.

Well, sorry. If you drove carelessly and accidently ran someone over and left then with an injury as severe as this, you would end up in prison. Yes, Taylor should be harshly punished. He could have just ended Eduardo's career. I don't care if he now 'feels bad'. How does he think Eduardo feels? And maybe it would help to avoid these types of injuries in future: it was only two seasons ago Diaby was out for a year after a 'careless' tackle broke and dislocated his ankle. His career could have ended then. Last season had its share as well, worst being Cech's head injury. Are we going to have to wait for a player to be killed before people start to realise that 'careless' tackles, intended or not, are unacceptable? When carelessness can result in injuries as serious as this - in injuries that are life-threatening, in the case of Petr Cech - it needs to carry serious consequences.

And now Sebastian Larsson has come out and claimed that the reason Wenger was upset is because he's a bad loser and called his comments 'idiotic and childish'. Apparently Arsenal were in a bad mood all game, which shows bad sportsmanship.

What is wrong with this game and its followers, that these comments seem to be common opinion? That its okay that a man's career could have been ended, that the problem is in fact the way his manager and teammates were emotional afterwards, something Wenger later apologised for. Wenger was wrong to say that Taylor should be banned for life, as he later acknowledged. But he was speaking in the heat of the moment. The backlash that followed made him out to be the bad guy here - not Taylor, who could just have ended Eduardo's career. But Wenger, who was emotional after seeing one of his players recieve an injury that could have ended in amputation.

It makes me sick.

Nicked from booksbagsshoes.

1. Pick 15 of your favourite movies
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.

( Read more... )

I'm trying to distract myself from the transfer window 'cause there are rumours Pedro Moutinho could be making a last minute switch to Hearts :(.

I'm also quite excited because there is the possibility of me spending this summer in Estonia! And yeah, I don't really know anything about Estonia, but I've been doing a course called 'Central and Eastern European Studies', and if I write a good essay on Estonia then I might get a place. The best part? It's all FREE! I would only have to pay for my flight. And then attend Estonian language lessons while there, but, whatever.

My flatmate said that them being so desperate to get people to visit that they're giving out free trips is not a good sign. Does anyone know anything about Estonia? Mart Poom was from Estonia. I just want to go somewhere different.

Anyway, my yuletide 2007 fic which I've been meaning to post for ages.

Title: Past and Future
Fandom: Hustle
Rating: R
Words: 4600
Summary: A man from Danny's past returns to drag up memories he'd rather forget.
Written for: mooyoo

( Read more... )

Title: Homecoming
Fandom: Hustle
Rating: NC-17
Words: 2600
Summary: Mickey has returned from Australia. Mickey/Danny.
Written for: halotolerant

(Read more...)

A few seconds ago, I was over the moon at Arsenal topping the league. Now, it really doesn't matter.

Motherwell captain O'Donnell dies in an SPL game against Dundee United. His nephew was on the field at the time.

My deepest sympathies to all his family.

I did this last year, and I just saw amari_z's post which reminded me. If you want to play, just post the first line of the first fic you posted each month, with a link to the fic.

January: "Ah! Here he is, the man I was telling you about." - Hustle

February: None.

March: Jack, home after a long day that Piggy had made even longer, stopped in his bedroom doorway and stared.
- PR:SPD

April: None.

May: None.

June: None.

July: Ethan couldn’t help but think of Angela as they stood there, trying to work out how to foil Mesogog’s latest evil plan. - PR:DT

August: None.

September: None.

October: None.

November: David loved Jonathan. - Pagan's Crusade

December: It hadn’t taken Nicklas long to become aware that things at Arsenal were...well, not like they had been at Birmingham. - Footie RPS

So...kinda a rubbish year for fic. But RL has been hellish at times. That's my excuse! Also, I finished the Conner/Trent epic, finally. Hopefully next year I won't be so neglectful of my writing.

A bit early, but tomorrow I'll be leaving for the family gathering and thus losing all internet connection.

And, you know, what with the fact that we've been ordered to turn up in historical-themed fancy dress (I've opted for pirate, which is both vaguely historical and gives me an excuse to look up pictures of Johnny Depp), and the fact that all my family are going to be there, I should be dreading this. Because there will be tears, and tantrums, and fights, and bitch sessions, and hyperactive children, and at some point someone will demand that we all take turns to stand up and 'entertain' each other.

But earlier this year, there was a thankfully brief stage when I didn't think my mum would still be alive right now. And tomorrow I'll be getting off the train in Dundee, and she'll be there to greet me because she still doesn't believe I'm capable of travelling by myself.

So, at the moment, this is a very happy Christmas.

Save Al Bangura

Don't know if anyone on my flist has been following this, but essentially Bangura's story goes something like this: born in Sierra Leone; father was killed; secret and dangerous cult his father had been leader of tried to make him join and, when he refused, tried to kill him; ran away; was helped to the UK by someone who intended to turn him into a male prostitute; managed to escape; was spotted playing football in the park and now plays for Watford. And he's now facing deportation, despite the fact that this would mean leaving his family, including a new born baby, to return to a place where he'd be in danger of being killed.

Not sure how much help signing a petition will be, but it only takes a few seconds.

In other news, my aunt has decided that this year Christmas will be fancy dress. WTF? At Christmas, you wear clothes that are comfortable, that you can prepare and eat large amounts of food in, that you can play with small children in, and that are ideally as flattering as possible given that you only see most of these relatives once a year and you want them to think you're at least human-looking.

But this year, I need to find a historially themed costume. I have no ideas at all, because I don't really want to wear a skirt or dress.

Not happy.

Isn't it? *melts*

( Two more )

Apparently this is genuine - the tigress was raised by a sow, and now she's raising piglets. And it's apparently not a one-off, either. For some reason pigs and tigers get on quite well! But it's got a darker side, in that the zoo these pictures were taken in is under investigation for animal cruelty. Not for this, but for making animals perform in various ways.

Though I suppose I'm a bit late. 15 minutes late, which is probably quite fashionable, isn't it?

I don't like this fic much. Have been writing and re-writing for ages and it's still rubbish. WHY? But I need to start work on my yuletide fic and I can't with this hanging over my head.

Also? I don't talk about them much because I know there aren't any other Bairns on my flist, but send some good thoughts Falkirk's way this weekend. We've fallen to second bottom, when we were all hoping that we might end up in the top half of the table. There's no danger of relegation, because let's face it, Gretna are going down, but...my Falkirk!

Do better. Please. Cannot even care that much about Arsenal losing their first game of the season when you're down there.

Now, fic.

Title: Homecoming
Rating: Adult
Pairing: Pagan/Roland
Summary: A year older and wiser, Pagan returns to St. Martin's Abbey.
Babbling: This started out as two different fics, both of which I was trying to write first person and in the style of Catherine Jinks. It's now one fic, third person, and not really in her style at all. But this is the first time I've ever written Pagan-slash, so, hopefully next time will be an improvement!

( David loved Jonathan. )

I am sick. Not proper, need doctor sick, but feeling miserable with a blocked nose and general tiredness sick. Tried whining to my flatmate but she is German and a little odd. She said it was probably the rain yesterday. I tried explaining that it didn't in fact rain yesterday (it was barely drizzle) but obviously it got lost in translation.

So, I watched X-Factor. I hardly ever do, but...sick. Didn't love any of them to be honest. Then switched over to HIGNFY. It should be hosted by Anne Widdecombe every week, that's all I'm saying.

And then I'm a Celeb. I LOVE CERYS. Didn't used to, but she was cool and stood up to Rodney and I hate Rodney. I also hate Janice, but she was at least entertaining at first. Both of them are just vile. I hate people who use being 'honest' as an excuse to be as rude and nasty as they like. And then, the minute people start to treat them the way they treated Lynne, Rodney sulks and strops, and Janice cries and plays for sympathy. Typical bullies.

Am quite glad Lynne's gone, though. She was irritating. I just prefer irritating-but-basically-good people to irritating-and-nasty people.

Am not glad John's gone. Why?

Can you tell I have no life?

And yay Arsenal. Three points clear, wahey!

Mistake watching MOTD, though. Seeing all those goals go past poor Craig was horrible.

Italy and France qualify for Euro 2008.

Italy scored in the first minute. We equalised in the 64th. And then, as everyone knew they would, Italy scored in the 90th.

We dominated the game. We had so many chances we just didn't take, missed sitters and headers cleared off the line. We played so well, so bravely.

Some of the players are crying.

They are all heroes. In a group containing Ukraine, France and Italy, we were in it until the very last minute. That is more than anyone ever expected.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Israel are 1-0 up against Russia. England could be going through, despite the fact that they have played rubbish and that their own fans do almost nothing but criticise and boo.

That is the way of football, isn't it? Always breaks your heart. The big teams always win in the end.

Another glorious failure.

Am at friend's house. The TV is on, and nerves are reaching a point where people are already hiding under cushions.

City centre was mad. Flags everywhere, every other person wearing a Scotland shirt. Lots of kilts, four or five bagpipers on Sauchiehall Street alone. Everybody was just buzzing. Didn't notice many Italians, until I went into Birthdays and for some reason there were half a dozen on them in there.

There were rumours that a few hundred hardcore ultras had come over? That was the only negativity I noticed, with a few people saying that if they were looking for trouble they'd get it. I really hope the atmosphere stays good.

OMG SO EXCITED.

They've done so fantastically well to get this far. They are heroes, whatever happens now.

BUT WE CAN DO THIS. BELIEVE! MON SCOTLAND!