Yuletide recs

I just spent a couple of hours browsing through the latest batch of Yuletide fanfiction, and found a few I like:

In Which Cimorene Settles In as King's Chief Cook and Librarian, and Deals with Politics The author's summary is "exactly what it says on the tin," and I'll go with that. (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Patricia Wrede)

Tell Me What You Eat pre-canon for the Nero Wolfe mysteries, describing the last (part of Archie Goodwin's job interview with Nero Wolfe, the part where Wolfe is getting Fritz Brenner's opinion of the candidate. This is pleasantly domestic, no mystery/detective content at all.

Wintersong a Moomintroll story in which Moomintroll decides to spend the winter awake; it's an atmospheric piece about the first day after almost everyone else settles in to hibernate; things happen, in the low-key way that things often happen in the books. The author here gets Tove Jansson's voice and the mood of the series (I'm in the middle of rereading Finn Family Moomintroll).

Three Tellings About Dead Things in the Earth is Always Coming Home fanfic. Echoing the book, the author gives us three unrelated short pieces with no obvious connection beyond that they all have to do with the Kesh: a bit of life story/dream that Stone Telling left in the Madrone Lodge after going to Wakwaha to tell them about her time with the Condor, a play, and another somewhat metafictional encounter with Pandora, much later than those in Always Coming Home.

a wish for the year

Hey.

May you be safe.
May you be free from tyranny.
May you be free from violence and the threat of violence.
May you be free from fear.

I wish this for you every day, and I wish it today.

May you have clean drinking water.
May you have a dry, warm living place.
May you be beloved.
May you be healthy.

I wish this for you every day, and I wish it today.

May you also be happy.
May you also be fulfilled.
May you achieve wisdom.

May you be less ponderous than this litany, and much funnier.

May there be justice for you and what you love.

May you worship or not worship, as your best understanding of the world guides you, in safety and peace.

May you freely give and receive love.
May you be brave and may you be a foundation for the bravery of others.
For their compassion, their fulfillment, their transformation.

May I be a foundation for these things in you, and you in me.

May I be given the honour to do this for you and not completely screw it up. And may you be able to do it for someone else and not completely screw it up. And may we be able to do it for all.

Let it be so, or let it be better than I have said, or let me try again.

(borrowed from radiantfracture, with permission.)

2018 in review

Digging out an old meme, a quick review of 2018 in the form of the first sentence of my first* post for each month of the year:

I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but my basic plan for 2018 is to keep on keeping on, and my fervent hope is that this year will be better than last.
I am a bit stiff but don't think there's anything seriously wrong.
I mentioned to adrian_turtle that since the 2016 election I have emailed and/or called every elected official from alderman up to senators (repeatedly), including the county D.A. and state attorney general, except the mayor of Somerville, and that I felt like I ought to call or email him, out of some sense of completeness.
I decided I wanted one more PT session for the hip, partly so we could discuss what my long-term maintenance/homework is in terms of stretching and exercise at home.
I feel like I got a lot done today, some of it stuff I'd been putting off.
I have talked to the Senior Technical Editor at the client I mentioned a few days ago, then looked at the various documents she sent me, and emailed to say that I'm interested and this looks like work I can do.
I had a follow-up appointment with my nurse practitioner today, who as usual greeted me enthusiastically.
I got my hair cut today.
Nine Goblins is by Ursula Vernon, using the T. Kingfisher byline because it's not a children's book.
cattitude and I got back from Montreal a couple of hours ago; we were there for Scintillation, a small science fiction convention organized by Jo Walton.
Even if I don't do anything else political in the next few days, I have done quite a bit in the past week, and every bit counts.
Our electricity went out around 6:00 this evening, and was out for a bit over an hour.

*skipping past a quote of the day, and a few links to other people's posts.