Casa An'hayla

Interests, Obsessions, and other Preoccupations that consume my time...

I have two obsessions that pretty much take up the bulk of my free-time. No wait, make that three obsessions. The first, and probably the most time consuming is Farscape. Yes, it's a t.v. show. But, for a dyed in the wool shipper like me, and so many others, it's become a way of life. Look, Mulder and Scully just weren't doing it for me anymore, so I had to move on to a satisfying relationship. Okay, John Crichton and Aeryn Sun don't exactly have the most realistic relationship, hey it's space opera folks, deal! Ahem-- any way, as I was saying, they aren't a warm fuzzy, happily ever after duo, well-- not usually anyway. Okay, there's angst and plenty of it, but at least they managed to kiss, not to mention other things, in the first season. Heck, the others things were starting to get out of hand in the middle of the third season. Whew! Not that I'm complaining, mind. So. Scaper's of the world unite ... yadda yadda yadda, and all that yotz. Go to Links for more on Scaperdom, or check out my own, tiny corner of the fandom:

My second obsession, which ought to be my first because it has been going on the longest, is of course the wondrousLiaden Universe of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. We'll call this section: Confessions of a Liad-dict or "How I Became a Friend of Liad."

When I first achieved the state of being "on-line" late in June 1997, one of the first things I did was run a Search with the keyword "Liad". I came up with a varied and interesting selection of links, one of which led me to a certain address at mint.net. At this point, gentle reader, I feel I should give you some background information...

In October 1989, I was a happy sophomore at the University of New Mexico. One day, while wandering through the campus bookstore, I happened upon a little book called "Agent of Change", I snapped it up, went home, stayed up all night reading, and went back first thing the next morning and picked up "Conflict of Honors" and "Carpe Diem". Not long after this, I became very ill. I was diagnosed with a rare case of adult-onset rheumatic fever, and was immediately hospitalized. No argument, go directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200.... There I was, hundreds of miles from my home and family, and all I had with me was my wallet, some textbooks, a day planner.... and Carpe Diem.

My roommate, bless her heart, hurried over with clean clothing, important documents... and the other two books. I was there for a week and then bedridden at home for many more. Needless to say, I had plenty of spare reading time on my hands. Not to put too fine a point on it but, gentle reader, those three books, by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, were a great source of laughter and escape in what was otherwise a pretty scary, sad and lonely period in my life. Val Con, Miri, Shan and the whole company became friends and companions that filled endless hours in a quiet hospital room.

As they say.. "Oi got bettah!" and the Liaden trilogy has always held a very special place in my heart and a premier spot on my bookshelf, no matter where I went. Some years later, I worked in a bookstore and tried to get more copies, but alas - no luck. I did, however, recommend them to anyone who would stand still to listen! I had given up hope of ever finding out whatever happened to Val Con and the gang. My three valiant paperback companions have seen better days, and have been well loved. Indeed, they are holding together more out of loyalty to me, I think, than from any mere glue the binder might have used. Truly, they are old friends.

So, on that fateful night, as the words "Welcome to Liad..." formed on the screen, I felt a curious emotion, a thrill of elation, of homecoming. Eureka!! I leapt from my chair, danced across the room and promised myself I would do anything I could to help bring these wonderful stories back. Heart beating furiously, I posted something nearly incoherent to the Liad List at [email protected] and was pleasantly surprised to receive a response from the authors themselves. This no longer surprises me, as I have found it to be exactly in character for these two very special people, who take great interest in all their "friends" around the web.

And thus, I became a card-carrying Friend of Liad. I've been told that there is medication for things like this, but honestly, why should I? Seriously, I love the Friends of Liad, I've met some pretty amazingly wonderful people, and I count the days to our next meeting (ConJose Aug.'02) and I seriously can't wait for I Dare's release in the spring. Check out my Friends of Liad site.

And lastly, or leastly, my third obsession is for the Sims. Yes, it's a video game, but not just any old video game. This is one of those evil, demon-spawn video games that sucks you into its incubus embrace and proceeds to devour your life for days at a time. The Sims definitely need to be kept on a leash. Maybe keep an egg-timer next to your PC or something. I have, in my quest for perfect Simdom, started playing a 10 am game only to come to my senses at 3 am the next morning, still in my frelling jammies. I believe I can explain this psychosis though. See, it's like this, in the Sims I can run tiny copies of Aeryn and John, or of Val Con and Miri, and make them do what ever I like. MWAHAHAHA! That's a lot of fun, even without the vibrating bed. I got Hot Date for Christmas. GRIN. Good thing I got two weeks off for Christmas, or it might have been ugly. As it is I haven't accomplished half the things I wanted. But, hey, it's not like that's your problem, right?

Stark pleads for Rygel's life, and really, who else would do that for the little frog anyway?

Aeryn proposes to John, like that is ever really going to happen. Except in a Sim world that is.

John and Aeryn do a little cuddling at a local diner.

So Korval throws this big party and everyone shows up, including....Drew Carey??

Val Con sweeps Miri off her feet, again.