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I made a really, really undignified noise just now, scrolling down my friendspage to read this on crack_van: Pairing: Dick Winters/Lewis Nixon.

Speaking of things that give me glee and Winters/Nixon, I want to reccomend After Rain, a Band of Brothers vid which is just *beautiful*. thefourthvine recced it as part of her happy-making post, and it is. I've watched it a few times now and each time, by the end, I'm just sitting there smiling. Even the song (which is wonderful) makes me smile. Go, request the password and *see it*.

Also, my torrent of Much Ado About Nothing finished downloading; it is still hilarious and remains my favourite of the Shakespeare Re-Told stories. It's also my favourite play of the one's down, but that's neither here nor there. Macbeth is really the best executed of the four, but I don't know. There's just something so *appealing* about Much Ado.... It doesn't hurt that Sarah Parish, Damian Lewis and Billie Piper are all made from awesome and pretty.

And now, I am going to go pack some more and maybe panic about my finacial state just for a change!

I am currently reading Thanks for the Memories: Sex, Love and World War II, which among other things has this quote:

The well-regulated, clean Honlulu brothel distric was[...]"the best little red-light district in the U.S."

Aw, Honolulu: the little red-light district that could!

In other news, Sofie remains as awesome as ever; we watched and cried our way through the rest of Band of Brothers yesterday, watched a lot of the extra material (Ron Livingston is surprisingly funny; Ross McCall is surprisingly British; Damian Lewis is *also* surprisingly competent; guy-who-plays-Buck-Compton is hilarious; Tom Hanks is made from WIN!) and finally concluded the following: Ron Livingston is hot. Damian Lewis is very, very purdy. It is true. This made Sofie and I crack up repeatedly yesterday. In public. And then we had inappropriate conversations. In public. There is no bad here! (These conversations may have included discussions of "Jesus Will Fill Every Hole!" teeshirts and kinky Mounties threesomes. Sofie is awesome.)

We also watched Eddie. Hilda, Hilda, get me a map of everything!


sooper-sekrit message for Sofie: the fic is Leave-Taking - makes Crossroads *better*, I promise!

So.

I'm back! *cancans* China was hot, stuffy and awesome - I was particularly fond of Shanghai, though it's way too big (22 million people is not a city, it's a frickin' country.); compared to Beijing it's incredibly open and fun to wander around. Beijing is kind of sterile and far, far too touristy for my taste and also has really creepy government buildings (I mean that the buildings are creepy. The government dealings which go on inside the buildings might be creepy. And speaking of creepy: 1984 is now one of my favourite books and The Assualt on Reason is brilliant. Al Gore = such a geek). Shanghai also has a a street which is called The City of Book: a gorgeous, lovely street which includes a seven-storey Foreign Language Bookstore where I bought 9 books for just under 200 kr. YAY!

But the real place of awesome was Yangzhou, a scenic little backpacking town buried among mountains - we took a river boat to get there from Guilin, which is the biggest city near by. So fabulous, with lots of really cheap bars where I could sit and have a drink and read or write and just *relax* - something that was distinctly lacking in Beijing and Shanghai.

Anyway, for those interested, I have photos up here.

(is it obvious I'd run out of photos by the time we hit Shanghai?)

Meanwhile, I am now back! And have spent most of today raiding the internet for Band of Brothers fic (I went two weeks without, I think I'm entitled to a day of getting back in touch with my inner slasher) and feeling a little bit ill - post-trip exhaustion is a joy for all. But the Band of Brothers fic is helping. A lot. I may even crack out a rec post, though it probably won't be necessary since - praise the slash-gods - for once my timing is *perfect* and August on the crack_van sees BOB as a small fandom. Again. YAY, 12 more recs with any luck.

man, August is going to be good. First Sofie in two days (SOFIE!) and then Gemma in 11 days (I HAVEN'T SEEN HER FOR OVER A MONTH. HELP. Seriously. Why does it keep getting worse?) and then, on the 31st, I move into my house. Seriously, guys. I'm pretty damn gleeful about August.

It's good to be back!

So. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. One word: ( awesome. )

It got me eight different kinds of giddy, anyway, and now I'm all excited for Deathly Hallows. I may have to buy it in the airport, because I NEED TO KNOW. I'd use this space to tell you about my spoiler policy, but I'm going to China for two weeks - I figure I'm pretty safe. Plus, if I do buy it in the airport, I'll have read it by the 23rd, anyway. My point being: not bothered. If anyone cares. *grins*

I'm actually getting pretty psyched about China now; I mean, I've always thought it was cool that I was going, but now I'm actually really looking forward to it. I guess I have to be close to something to get really excited about it (except for, like, seeing Sofie. And getting back to Gemma. Personal things, I get excited about way before I should.) Plus 15-hour-long plane ride! I like long trips far, far too much, but there's something so relaxing about them - here's 15 hours where there are no demands on my time. I can read, eat, sleep, walk around, listen to music and not feel the least bit guilty, or like I should be doing something else. Bliss. Even though it's bliss with very little leg room. I don't care! 15 hours of reading.

And tomorrow I'm over at Signe's to watch the last six episodes of Band of Brothers. You guys have no idea how much I've had to sit on my hands so I didn't download the damn episodes. I am not good with waiting, and I want to see the rest so bad. Like, yesterday. But instead I've been searching for World War II related books for my holiday. It's like indulging in Band of Brothers by proxy! Also, possibly nuts. But I am picking up Gravity's Rainbow from the library tomorrow, so some good did come out of it all! (And seeing the show! YES!)

Now I'm off to see if I can make crazy story of Doom (currently coasting at 15.000 words, oh god) work. At all.