So it's 2010 and I'm getting married this year. Yeah.....that's not weird!! It'll take some getting used to. Thankfully, I have an awesome lot of family to help me deal with everything. Mum has already been phoning the hotel where we're having the reception. Not embarassing at all. Still, I have contacted the lady at church who's head of the flower team, tried to get hold of my friend who could DJ for us and emailed our hotel contact about booking the mobile bar. A good start.

A nice breath of fresh air to look forward to: a trailer of the upcoming Matt Smith era of Doctor Who - both he and his companion look adorable and interesting and energetic, colour me excited! - and David Tennant regenerating into Matt Smith (yes, I cried!).

So I've had some time to think and I might be able to now put into words my thoughts on the latest and almost last Russell T Davies Doctor Who effort.
( Spoilers for The End of Time Part 1 )

Busy busy busy. It's not even Halloween yet and already I am preparing for Christmas. It's that Dalrymple side of me coming out to assert control, more than usual anyway. I have presents bought for half my family and am struggling to think of something for little sis. The plan is to take those presents, wrapped and presentable, down with me when I visit the parents in November so that I have less to haul with me on December 24th when Anthony and I make our way there for Christmas itself. Travelling on trains is hard enough at Christmas without the lumpy awkward baggage of presents.

I also feel as though I am spreading my wings and jumping off from a great height as I fire off emails to all those far and wide who work computers and cameras at church for that great difficulty of my year - organising the Christmas rota for church service visuals. There are many services and naturally, my operators want to enjoy their own Christmases. But still, eager young Adam, only twelve and already straining at the leesh, is keen to do many duties now that he has learnt what to do and I have found wonderful Doug, computer sciences student who knows his Red Dwarf, who wants to learn everything. I'm gonna get him to ferret out more of his fellow students to join team, as we losing the ever wonderful and man of all answers, Jeremy as his work shifts him to Salisbury. I shall miss his reassuring presence very much so. Also the fantastic Mr Todd wishes to break away but has agreed to be emergencies only Pray for me and send all good thoughts that I would get this all fixed and ready by middle of next month.

Alas, we lose another. RIP Barry Letts. The man who produced the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who, who created the character of Sarah-Jane Smith, and who cast Tom Baker in the role and so changed everything. I feel I owe him so much and wish I'd met him to tell him so. Thinking of him gives me a warm nostalgic feeling. Today, I found a lovely message from his family to the fans. It says all it needs to:

"Barry always had a warm respect for the fans of Dr Who. As Barry’s family, we would like to thank everyone for their good wishes on the websites and forums following the news that Barry had died. We have been very touched that the many messages and tributes show such an appreciation and understanding, both of his work and of the very kind and wise man that Barry was."

I'm all of a-jitter as I'm off to Paris today! It'll be the first time I've been in France since I was 18 on a family holiday and I'm super excited as I really love France and I get to spend time with my parents, who are meeting me at the French airport after their plane gets in. I'm more than a little nervous as I'll be flying alone and this will be my third international flight in total ever. I have faith I'll be fine, but it doesn't stop me being anxious. Fingers crossed, one and all.

I have bought a new wheelie suitcase as my other trusty one has a locked lock with no key. I think that's in Cornwall, in one of the boxes the parentals packed my room into. I shall have to take a look through them when I'm next home. Everything has fitted in so far, it's just a case of turning up and checking in and everything else. I love train travelling alone, but plane travelling? Not so much. It will be an excellent holiday though, all I can think of is Paris, seeing where my parents first met all those years ago, where they lived and worked. And going up the Effiel Tower and thinking of the Doctor, Romana, and Duggan being there in City of Death.

There's always a real holiday feeling when we're in Warminster visiting Mum and Lee (Anthony's mum and stepdad). Maybe it's because it's usually sunny here and we do only come here maybe three times a year and see this lovely part of Anthony's family which honestly I feel part of. As usual, before I washed my hair today, I hadn't bathed for a couple of days, which always adds to the holiday feeling and being in the back garden was a delight - there's statues and ornaments everywhere of imps and fairies and dragons and mischievous creatures. I love it, as I loved it as a child being in Granny K's garden. There's always something magical to discover. There's also a small cannon, Anthony is against us having something like that in our garden. But I like it, it makes me feel piratey :)

I have watched two classic!Whos for the first time as I bought them recently with the awesome Amazon voucher Mum and Lee got me for my birthday. The Time Meddler is my favourite William Hartnell so far - charming and full of old-fashion 'daring do' with adorable companions, fab supporting characters (especially the Meddling Monk), and beautiful locations. Battlefield is another Sylvester McCoy that I've fallen in love with hard; Arthurian legend! The Brigadier! UNIT! Doris worrying about him! Ace blowing up an archaeological site! Bambera and Ancelyn!

Watching these caused Anthony and I to discuss the Doctor Who DVDs we want to purchase in the future and the awesome combined collection we will eventually have. We only have four doubles, which is impressive considering how long both of us have been individually buying them. Woohoo for a shared married life of geekery in the near future!

If you love Doctor Who or Supernatural then this story will rock your world. A crossover between the two shows, specifically series 3 Supernatural and series 3 Doctor Who (the Year that Never Was-centric and aftermath). I got tears reading this, happy glad tears. This author nails all characters, so please check it out:

Persistence of Memory by ChristinaK (Martha Jones, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Torchwood)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Or as we used to say in Uni, Happy Jesus Loves You Day. Much more snuggly I think. Makes me feel all warm inside.

So Anthony and I went out to lunch. TGI's was rammed so we went to trusty old Frankie and Benny's, where our waitress was awesomely chatty and sweet and the food was soooo good. Cards were exchanged and then we went shopping. In HMV, he got The Best of the X-Division: Volume 2 (a wrestling DVD in case you didn't guess lol) and I got Ultimate Rangers: The Best of the Power Rangers (to replace the old VHS copy I have) and The War Machines, a William Hartnell Doctor Who. Then we trawled Forbidden Planet, best shop ever. So much geekery to love and cherish. I desired far too much lol.

Looks like we're going to the Christ Church Ball next week. Though it shall be fun as there are rail replacement buses for part of the train journey and then we're gonna have to change in the church bathrooms into our posh clothes. So not how I imagined it all to be. Very glam lol. I may wear the dress on the train with my jeans underneath. Just to be super stylish. Not my high heels though. That would be really painful.

Title: Homecoming
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: It's all owned by the BBC.
Spoilers: Set after Series 4 episode 'The Doctor's Daughter'
Summary: Jenny has her own adventures, gains herself a reputation, and sees a million stars. She learns who she is.
Author Notes: Thanks, as always, to the remarkable Claire for her beta skills and friendship. I can't do without you. Cross-posted at fanfiction.net and Teaspoon and an Open Mind.( It's like standing on top of a mountain )

I am so happy for America right now. I muchly enjoyed what I saw of the events yesterday and the Daily Show's wonderful swipe at the leaving Bush administration. Congratulations, President Obama, let the rebuilding of America begin. We're all behind you. I celebrate with all my American friends *throws confetti and dances*.

Saw The Wrestler on Saturday and much fun was had. It is as good as the critics say and Anthony and I had a ton of fun identifying all the independant scene wrestlers featured - Nigel McGuiness! R-Truth! A sad film and rough but beautiful too I thought. I'm enjoying writing the Damaris article about it, though am as usual plagued by worries that I am missing stuff out and just repeating myself. So have set it aside to look at tomorrow so I have a little space and perspective. My Sanctuary article is up on the Damaris site and I like how it came out so that's nice.

Someone has done a beautiful thing - the Doctor Who opening credits in the style of Firefly's. Check it out for a moving experience.