"An elfin rout,
With berries laden,
Throngs round about
A merry maiden.

Red-gold her gown;
Sun-tanned is she;
She wears a crown
Of bryony.

The sweet Spring came,
And lovely Summer:
Guess, then, her name -
This latest-comer!"

- Intro to Flower Fairies of the Autumn, by Cecily Mary Barker

A happy Halloween to all who celebrated. I stayed in, lit a candle, and watched The Crow. As is my tradition. I try not to watch it too often, I don't want it to lose its power, you know? And the closing narration made me cry, as always:

"When the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever"

Continuing the Halloween theme:
Rama Lama - the infamous Emmy-winning routine from So You Think You Can Dance? season 2. Creepifying and perfect. Seems like the right mood.

I have discovered White Collar, thanks to a positive review from marcicat . It's a delightful show, with great charm and wonderful interesting characters and fun twisty plots. And Matthew Bomer is wonderful, as he was in Chuck. Seriously, check it out.
My favourite White Collar fic so far is: Kate, Short for Kevin by moonythestrals
Barty is getting sicker. He is at the vets, possibly suffering from anemia. He hasn't been eating and looks miserable, sitting in his cage as he heals. I am worried.

'Seriously, everything's going to be all right, whatever you're feeling right now' - on the back of a bathroom stall door in the pub last night

This week is turning out to be an excellent one for Anthony's birthday. Last night was reunion of his university housemates, for the first time in a long time - Tommy lives in Milan and Alex in Melbourne. George is Anthony's second best man so I was glad to finally meet him and his lovely long-term girlfriend, Karen. They each have a t-shirt to commemorate the time they lived together, with a number and a quote on the back. Apparently I'll get one too, which is pretty touching. We went to The Hobbit pub, definitely my favourite in Soton, and played a mad card game that I lost. It was really good fun and great to get to know the important people in Anthony's life. Now I can't wait for Saturday, where there will be ice hockey, a BBQ and more of Anthony's friends :)

RIP Michael Jackson. RIP Farrah Fawcett.

"Legends always die too early" - Kel

I agree. I know Michael Jackson led a very strange and often questionable life, but his music was something else entirely. I have so many wonderful memories of dancing to his music at birthday parties, being terrified of the 'Thriller' music video, watching Moonwalker spellbound with my brother, Si, neither of us having a clue as to what was going on, Si playing 'You Are Not Alone' on his clarinet, and then everything coming full circle as I danced to his music at many university nights out. What he created was both breathtaking and groundbreaking, and that and the memories we have of it is what we should remember.

As for Farrah Fawcett, I am too young to remember Charlie's Angels, but I watched repeats and loved it. I know it was lots of glam and sometimes not much else, but I felt inspired and I liked the friendship that was portrayed. Farrah was courageous enough to have her battle against cancer filmed (Farrah's Story) and it's utterly tragic that she and long-time partner, Ryan O'Neal, will never get to marry in a few days time as they'd planned.

My prayers and thoughts are with the families of both. All I can say is thank you for the gorgeous memories I have that I will not allow to be tainted at all.

Happy Halloween everyone! I wish pumpkins of goodness for you all.

It's so very cold here today, with that great wintery crispness to the air that makes me smile. 'Tis my very favourite time of year. As I waited for my bus home, all I could think of was a book of kids poetry called Colours by Shirely Hughes that I loved as a child. For the colour black, there were pictures of dark bare trees all spidery against the sky and snatches of the poem about the colour red flashed into my head:

"And when the winter's day is done, a fiery sky and a big red sun."

I can hear fireworks going off outside. It just feels that way right now. I could do without the cold inside too though, the boiler's broken and I am wrapped up in layers of trusty Nirvana hoodies.

"Science fiction is an existential metaphor that allows us to tell stories about a human condition. Isaac Asimov once said: 'Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinded critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.'"
- Grell, in Stargate: SG1 episode '200'

This never stops being true. In an episode of laugh-out moments, this is the part I remember the most and has stayed with me since the first viewing. It's certainly a truth of mine and never fails to make me smile.