Fictionalize Yourself

Entry 01

My name is Isabella and I live near the sea. For a living I test coffee makers and sample various coffees that companies just release. My mornings are started out by showering for about 35 minutes and then reading Einstein's Relativity: The Special and The General Theory for a good 20 minutes. I spend some time doing my paid testing of products and then I go to the nearby cafe and spend about 4 hours there drinking more coffee, contemplating my morning reading, and listening to the jazz type of music that is played over the speakers. I have no love life, no sex, and nothing ever changes. As for friends, well, I only have 1. Her name is Anastasia and she is a writer of fiction. I mentioned earlier that I have no love life, but Anastasia is the closest that I get. My relationship with her is platonic; no romance. She lives about 10 miles away and we spend time together on Saturdays and Sundays. As you can probably comprehend, I live a dull life and I am pretty stoic... and I love my life like this. And yes, Einstein's book is the only thing that I read. It has been with me for 4 years so far.
 
We had to bring the block party indoors (not that anybody really minded.) The storms today made outside less than desirable. Several of those not performing acted as servers and/or cooks (we kept Orihime away from the stove, much to everybody's delight.)

We've got a temporary ward (the girl whose parents don't seem to get the "You've got a huge responsibility, now can the 'she'll be okay if we leave her alone' attitude" statement by the judge.) Our attorney-in-residence was the attorney on record for the girl. She's got at least 250 foster parents and several foster siblings (or is it a multitude?), but Yuki and his family are the foster family of record. Yoh seems to be her favorite "uncle" (girl's got taste, in spite of her age. ;))

The :kitty:s are "on-call" just in case, as is Dog. Funny thing is, some of the guests I thought would be least-parental-type have turned out to be rather excellent parents for her. All weapons have been carefully placed out of her reach and weapons practices are being held either when she's asleep or somewhere away from the complex (especially target practice with the firearms.) Wren has programmed all emergency codes needed just in case he has to make an emergency call/flight to Children's Hospital. Hell, with the particular flu going around, I've suggested also programming the emergency numbers for both the adult and children's hospitals (he said he'll consider it.) Ryogo has programmed them into his wanzer (in case the weather's too bad for air travel [let's just say wanzer = walking tank.]) In a way it's better than calling an ambulance (since it's rather huge [when activated, it's about as tall as a two- or three-storey building] and it has excellent traction.)

Ah, Yoh's singing a lullaby right now to Yuki's children. It's almost better than Black Forest torte. I said almost, but not quite. *licks lips* I'd better go.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
I caught Yoh with a bit of Rocky Road ice cream and some whipped cream in the corners of his mouth (seems like he tried to sneak some before dinner.) Too bad since we're having Szechuan tonight (Yuki's kids are having Mandarin since Szechuan is too hot for them.)

We went to the park today, too (have to scout out the future site of one of the farmers markets, y'know) followed by the laundry (gotta get the sand out of her clothes, right?) Yuki's foster daughter loved the swing set and the slide but not as much as the horse (it's a horse that is mounted on an industrial spring that kids use as a rocking horse.) Her antics seem to have taken Sakuya out of his funk (might even get a song or two out of him.) The :kitty:s also are getting used to her presence. :D

Oh great. Three of the vets have traces of ice cream, whipped cream and cookie crumbs around their mouths. Excuse me while I deal with them.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
I was asked a question I couldn't answer: what's going to happen to the little girl if everybody returns their proper "universes"? She can't follow and I really don't have the proper qualifications. My answer right now is basically, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Kira's drunk out of his skull (he had to send a really young "client" in Texas over, a victim of the flu virus.) Right now he's sprawled in a not very dignified pose across the floor between the kitchen and bathroom, one foot caressing a wall. They all hate doing this type of job, especially the ones where the "clients" measure their ages in days/weeks/months. What made it worse was that there was a hungry ghost he had to fight before dispatching the soul.

Al has been teaching as many of the "guests" how to make regional dishes from where he's from (real pasta dishes, not the stuff that one gets at most Italian restaurants, and for much less!) Considering we've got so many people here, not to mention many of them are hefty eaters . . . . ;)

Ah. It seems that Al has his audience at his beck-and-call. Three of the guys are going to the store to pick up a few items. That's what one gets when dealing with a true ship's captain. :D

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
We had a little excitement at this one restaurant (never going back there again!) Yuki's foster daughter had a severe allergic reaction to the food she was served so we initiated our EHTS (emergency hospital transport system.)

Wren quickly initiated his wireless communications as two of the physicians, Tesshou and Dog worked on her and several of the (for lack of a better term) domineering members of my group had "a little chit-chat" with both the chef and the manager as both the onmyoujin and the shinto priestess cursed the place.

When the police arrived, they asked us politely to leave, but they confirmed that Yuki and his new daughter did indeed go to Children's and that she had stopped breathing twice. It would've been worse if it hadn't been for the immediate responses from the medical personnel, the "pilot" and Yoh (he brought her out to Wren just as he turned into the helicopter and stayed with the parents throughout the entire ordeal.) Al and Ranmaru left a little later with the two mecha pilots to lend their support and to make the parents' wait a little easier, too (found out that Al helped with an Italian family while he was there, too.)

Everybody's on "standby" while our girl recovers, including the :kitty:s. I'll try to keep everyone here up-to-date, too.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Promised update on Yuki's family:

Yuki and his wife are staying over at the Ronald McDonald House while their foster daughter's in the hospital, their son is staying with all of his "uncles"/"aunts"/"cousins"/:kitty:s and the rest of my "guests" are taking turns staying with the parents, too. Yuki's little one reminded me that tomorrow is the "Stamp Out Hunger" event (the US Post Office collects nonperishable food items left out beside personal malboxes for the local food pantries to distribute to families that would otherwise do without.) He picked out a box of Fruity Dino-Bites cereal, his expression breaking hundreds of hearts and causing a huge "I'm getting this to donate!" trip to the stores. I called ahead to the local branch of the post office and let them know that they're going to have send a semi tomorrow (my mailman's going to be very grateful for that!)

We have a court date for next week (the a$$holes claim that we "walked our checks" and caused a near-riot [as if!]) We're going to show photos of all the weapons that we have at out disposal, plus what they can do, to the judge (I hope the weapons aren't confiscated, especially since most of my guests depend on them in one way or another.) Our in-house attorney's going to defend us, explaning that if it wasn't for the fact that neither the kitchen staff nor the manager listened to us when we told them that she was allergic to the stuff they added to her dinner causing her to stop breathing three times (I think she might've also had a cardiac incident, but I'd have to ask later to confirm that.) I wonder what the judge's going to think/say about that. Anyways the onmyoujin and the shinto priestess tacked a few more curses onto the restaurant, the manager and the head chef. From what I understand, the onmyoujin's curses are going to be rather devastating to them when they hit ("All I did was made sure that they go through exactly what Yuki's family's going through." [Nekoyashiki can be a real ******* when he wants to be].)

We had Russian to make up for the fiasco (had to reserve the entire restaurant because we filled the place to capacity.) Entered it into my list of places to go when we want to eat out.

Oops, gotta go. It might be an update from Yuki.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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It was an update from Yuki. She suffered a minor stroke. :( Sorry to break the bad news. They are beside themselves with rage at both the chef and the manager of that one restaurant. We're reserving both several dojos and several firing ranges and Wren's borrowing a nearby military firing range so he can use his heavy weaponry (instead of using the restaurant as the target.)

We had some uplifting news today, though. Yuki's son got his picture taken by the local paper for the Stamp Out Hunger food collection event today with our postal worker, holding the box of Fruity Dino-Bites cereal (which almost hid the boy), beaming with his heartbreaking smile. Our postal worker gave him a stuffed dinosaur toy (it's in a safe place) and a child's postal worker's hat. The boy stole the hearts of the news crew. *sigh* They are holding off on printing any of the photos until his parents can sign the releases. It's a good thing that several of the "guests" weren't here or there would've been absolute chaos.

I'm going into the cattery to select a therapy :kitty: now. Seems several are willing volunteers.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Yuki and the rest of the musical guys found out about a telethon for Children's Hospital and are volunteering along with everybody else to help raise money. Yuki and his wife might be interviewed by the radio hosts to tell their story (hopefully his daughter's going to be awake by then, at least still alive.)

We're going to pretty much take up a park and a few other things to make this all happen. Wren's going to monitor the airwaves so he's not up when the Flight For Life chopper's making a run (might even volunteer his services for medical runs if need be.) The mecha pilots are going to give rides, too (first making sure that they aren't armed and weapons systems disabled.)

Everybody's contributing something to the fundraiser (they're just incredible! :eek:) The "poster boy" will be Yuki's son (the crew from the paper yesterday will be ecstatic to hear this, I bet) and Yoh's been practicing with the sensei and the senpai for his contribution. He told me that he might also go "serenading" in the halls of the hospital, to expand the musical horizons of the patients (and their families) and to entertain the hospital staff that have to work that day. Albert'll sing a few Italian tunes, too ("Why have Japanese singers perform Italian songs when you have the real thing to show how to do it?")

Gotta go. They want me to help fix a schedule for the day and to act as a go-between for Wren and the FFL pilots along with writing quick "press releases". :rolleyes:

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
The doctor asked both Yuki and the staff at the radio station if they wouldn't mind "spotlighting" Belinda's case for one of their segments next week. Yuki didn't promise anything, but left the possibility open.

The telethon's next week, I think, so we've been real busy here getting everything to set up. We're having quite a lot of music, ranging from classical to metal with stints of opera and folk, even more food (hey, with our group, we're not eating at the hospital so their stores won't be taxed) and the promised helicopter/mecha rides. Heck, anything to bring in donations. Sado's friends from campus are donating their time, too, onstage. We just have to get the cables and other equipment.

Our cellist is bringing out his Baroque cello for his part of the concerts, and he's been practicing so much that the adults have had to practically force feed him (as well as get him to bed.) The :kitty:s and Dog are sleeping on top of him once he's tucked in (that much more difficult to "sneak out" for more practice. :D)

The clarinetist has been going through her music sheets to see what she'll play. I'm getting her some kletzmer music to go along with what she's already got. All I have to do is get the violinists and the keyboard players to go along with it. *shrug*

Sakon will be performing both forms of puppetry (bunraku [traditional Japanese puppetry] and ventriloquism) during his stint there and he's making sure Ukon's looking his best. They're even picking out the outfits!

The members of the different talent agencies are going to be performing different things from one-man plays to elaborate dances, all for free, and the "security force" is working out the schedule.

I just realized something: this is going to be even more elaborate than even the block parties we've thrown. I think I'm going to require "Mother's Little Helper" real soon. :eek:

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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Emba, came up to me earlier today with a request/suggestion for "opening ceremonies": a few of the people who have some experience in woodwind/brass instruments would "call to the powers" and give the rest of the group a warning to get to the park. His delegation suggested that they have a conch shell, an alphorn, a shofar (albeit, not one that can be used in an Orthodox/conservative synagogue), perhaps something to represent the African continent, a bugle . . . ah I have the list somewhere. Emba would start by blowing the shell, then each individual instrument would join the sounding of the shell.

After that, the members of Astral are going to set up a "purified space", then all the different rock performers are going to jam with ELO's All Over The World, then they're going to "break up" and begin taking turns with the entertainment along with the classical/jazz performers and the puppet show. They've also invited a professional comedian to join (since he's going to be there anyway [a nephew went to Children's because of CF] and, well, there can't be too many entertainers . . . .)

The "closing ceremonies" are just going to be everything in reverse, sans the ELO.

And I thought I was good at organization/delegation! :rolleyes:

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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Six new "guests" (PtBs help us all!) and Yoh knows them all. The first thing I noticed at their arrival was when one of the men yelped in surprise at the shuriken that flew just by his fingers, embedding halfway into the brick wall. All six were frozen in place until Yoh called them by name.

Asami's cigarette landed by his feet on the stoop (he had to borrow a kimono from Ranmaru while his clothes did a turn in the wash, if you ken my meaning. ;)) FeiLong is keeping a relatively low profile after finding himself face-to-face with a pulse cannon (wouldn't've been pretty.) Both Asami and FeiLong as well as Kei and Suoh lost their guns to our blind swordsman (he sliced them up pretty thoroughly, rendering them useless.)

It was about this time when Yoh came home with Shuuhei and Soi Fong. Tao ran up to the non-shinigami and clung to him like stink on fresh manure. They're currently sleeping in the cattery as are the adults (who are sleeping with their backs to the wall. :rolleyes:) I hope they can relax enough to get integrated into the main community (they'd make great additions to the security detail next week and Takaba would be an asset as a "staff photographer", too.)

I think it might be a good idea to show them why we're so busy, especially since Asami and FeiLong seem to be dominant personalities and would be assets in getting things done their way when they want.

Gotta go. I hear terrified whimpers in the cattery. Might bring in Sekiren from Astral with me along with some herbal tea.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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It's a good thing that Takaba's a freelance photographer.

You see, my newest "guests" went to the restaurant that caused Belinda's trouble and, um, Tao got sick. Asami paid the bill, then they all left before they couldn't talk themselves out of killing both the manager and the head chef. Kei contacted Wren, who flew in (shocked them when they couldn't see the pilot) and then the whole group to Children's. Takaba turned his camera over to the staff that met them at the helipad while Tao was rushed to Emergency (the camera will be returned as soon as all the photos are developed.)

FeiLong's beside himself with worry over his charge. Hell, he hasn't left the boy's side since he said he wasn't feeling too good. Mikan and Manami are staying with them (they volunteered) and Sekiren is acting as go-between. Yuki visited for a short while, too, taking time away from Belinda's side (the nurses forced him to take a walk so he wouldn't become ill.) One thing that all of the "newbies" noticed about Yuki was the pure terror in his eyes along with the exhaustion. They might take the young man up on his offer of visiting for a bit in his daughter's room.

Gotta go. There's a "changing of the guard/therapy :kitty:" to prepare for.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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It's a good thing that the newest "guests" went to visit Belinda yesterday: Yuki collapsed right into Suoh's arms. Exhaustion. From what I heard, Asami ordered his bodyguard to place Yuki in the empty bed across from Belinda's as FeiLong summoned a nurse.

When they returned from the hospital, we basically briefed them as to why Belinda seemed strangely quiet. Their reactions were . . . well, FeiLong had to be physically restrained and there are four holes in one of my walls/neighbor's walls (Asami, Takama, Kei and Suoh punched right through from my apartment into my neighbor's apartment [all the way up to their shoulders].) There goes my security deposit right there. Anyway, we had them go for x-rays to make sure that nothing was broken other than the walls, and I promised them Indian food if they stayed away from the offenders. I mean, since they were the same ones who made Tao ill, I need to find a way to keep that restaurant whole (especially with the job market the way it is.)

They're going to make the :kitty: deliveries later today (one for Tao, one for Belinda and one for Yuki) so they can "case" the "joint" they're going to help patrol. We've been given the go-ahead to start Wednesday and end Friday, temporarily "packing up" at sundown Wednesday and Thursday, finally "packing up" Friday at 6 pm local time.

The only complaint I really have with my new guys is this: I really didn't need any more dominant personalities. :mad: :rolleyes:

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Kei had an emergency eye appointment today (too bad my prescriptions are/were too strong for him. :() How do I know my scrips are too strong, you ask? He's able to get from Point A to Point B with just a hint of difficulty. If his eyesight was as bad as mine, he would not budge from Point A without having at least two people escorting him to Point B.

He's getting wireframes with what are sometimes called Transitions® VI Lenses. That way, he only needs one pair of glasses to go between the indoors and outdoors. :cool: A few of the ladies also told him that they're sexier. Asami gave them The Look. The glasses are going to be a bit more expensive since they're a rush job.

Yuki's been transferred to the adult hospital for now to recuperate from exhaustion. His nurse is acting as go-between for all updates on Belinda's condition. She didn't realize there are so many "uncles"/"aunts"/"cousins" (little does she know [;)] and the less she knows, the better. He's practicing on an acoustic guitar (easier than setting up his Strat or Flying Vee, plus quieter.)

The snow spirits are setting up a few frozen concessions stands (they'll be able to participate, yet stay cold in temps reaching between 80 and 85 F. tomorrow, 70s F. Thursday and Friday.

Gotta go. Sounds like trouble with one of the neighbors again, and it sounds like he's picking a fight with Asami and FeiLong. :eek: :p

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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It's organized chaos, and there's already been an incident with Kei. Someone who had "barley pop" for breakfast confronted Kei. Kei took care of the situation, first grasping the guy's shoulder, then pounding the living daylights out of him until his "partner" (I think it's Kira) held his sword against the guy's side and the perp was escorted away by state police.

Yuki's about to be interviewed (along with his :kitty: and wife), a translator waiting with them as well as several of the "family", including her Italian "uncle". G!d/dess help us all in the general vicinity! FeiLong's also bringing Tao to tell his story since it is so closely intertwined with Belinda's.

Emba will be carrying his conch shell to show the deejays what they heard so early in the morning (luckily he's put on more clothes than he had on when he "invoked" the spirits.) I don't think the majority of the population's ready for his physique. :eek: ;) Afterwards, he's going to get back to his message-running "service".

Gotta go. I'm being "paged".

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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They've gone to sleep, Yuki in his hospital room, FeiLong in Tao's room, and everybody else in their rooms/apartments.

Yuki and about fifteen of the "guests" were interviewed (Al was a hit with the male deejay because of their mutual heritage, switching to Italian during his part of the interview) and the female deejay started crying when Yuki talked about the last meal Belinda had before collapsing, his voice cracking from the suppressed tears. Fifteen hands let him know that he wasn't alone (and, from what I heard, several pairs of eyes blazed with murderous rage, including the ones belonging to the five newest members of the "extended family".)

Suoh told them about catching Yuki on his way down just before the interview switched from Belinda's case to Tao's case. It's a good thing that FeiLong speaks fluent Japanese since it freed up at least one translator (plus Yoh translated the Chinese terms into Japanese for the Japanese translator to translate into English.)

After the discussion about the cases, the male deejay asked Takaba about his camera. Takaba said that he's a professional photographer but he was donating his services over the course of the telethon, his usual fees being donated to the hospital. When asked how much he usually charged, he replied, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." Asami glared at him right then.

Ah, I gotta take my cue from the rest of them. Good night.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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Emba's hunting prowess came in handy today (as did his speaking an ancient language.) A male who "donated" half of the genetic code tried to abduct the product of his "donation" at knifepoint. Emba grabbed the kid in his right arm, then went at his "escape the injured mammoth" gait. He called his companion, using their mutual language, and had him wait with Emba's spear at a particular spot.

When he got there, Kanou, the twins, FeiLong, Asami, Kei, Suoh, and Yuuen were waiting on the ground, Yuuen holding Emba's spear while Shigure waited in a tree. Yuuen traded with Emba, the child for the spear, then the child was surrounded by the defenders, weapons at the ready.

The moment the "father" arrived, he pulled the knife again, but found himself face-to-face with one spear, three knives, four guns and a plethora of Japanese weapons (the latter courtesy of Shigure.) The shuriken (yeah, the infamous shuriken :D) kind of stopped him dead in his tracks before the spear came into focus. He was grateful when he was arrested for attempted abduction and the police were grateful that Yuuen returned the boy to the proper authorities and explained Emba's actions. They gave Emba a warning not to do something so foolish or he'd be arrested, too.

Found out the boy was taken away from his biological "parents" because of physical/verbal/sexual abuse and neglect.

Thought you guys might want an update. :eek:

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
The festival's over, the last blast from the conch shell fading off into the distance. We're going to get a cashier's check cut (easier than carrying all the cash, plus it'll show exactly how much we collected, but the last count was somewhere around $180,000.) Emba'll deliver it himself, the twins, Kei and Suoh acting as his security guards.

Speaking of Kei, he got his new glasses today. They were really helpful (he escorted Yuki between his hospital room and the concert stage, carrying the Flying Vee played today [instead of the Stratocaster].) They got quite a number of compliments from several people in the crowd.

Wren ended up doing a couple of runs, one pilotless for a bit. I wonder when and how that was explained to the FFL medical crew. :D It was touch and go for one of the patients (a freak accident where a car was knocked over onto two people [the driver of the SUV that did that was caught by police later on, the SUV stuck on the railroad tracks].)

Anyway, I found out how Emba's "bundle" is today. He wants to go with Emba and Yuuen along with his two sisters and two brothers. :rolleyes: Will have to wait until the judge can sit the case, aka at least Tuesday.

Gonna go to sleep since it's been so exciting these past three days.

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Just found out my gang has a huge fan club (even larger than the population of my gang, if one can believe that! :eek:)

We (meaning my group) had a barbecue for Memorial Day (it's still going on as I'm typing) and it was decided that if someone wanted to come, they had to bring something, whether it was food, a beverage, plates, flatware, napkins, a game, whatever (unless said visitor/guest was a :kitty:, then that was taken into consideration.)

Emba visited a buffalo ranch run by a local indigenous tribe and asked permission to hunt from their herd. Apparently he impressed them with his prowess and his respect of the animals' spirits, so he might have a job there :)rolleyes:) if he so desires. His companion, Yuuen, impressed them with his ability to get as much from the carcass as possible (although not as much as Emba can [go figure]) plus the fact that he gave their hosts some of the choicer parts. Heck, they believe that one should use as much as one can so as not to waste the precious gift the animal gave. Yuuen also got mushrooms from a mushroom farm to go with the buffalo (and some for those who are vegetarians/vegans [grilled portabello mushroom caps make for really good vegetarian "burgers", y'know].)

Orihime was relegated to bringing plates (we weren't confident with her cooking prowess, nor with her ability to discern what's "thumbs up" and what's "thumbs down" in the beverage department.) Five cases of heavy duty plates and bowls was sufficient for a percentage of our gang, but there were members of our fan club, which made for another eight cases coming out of the "bank account" to be added.

Yuki was discharged, so he's here until seven when his inpatient doctor will take him back to Belinda's room. We're making videos and audio footage of the picnic for the whole family to play, just using some judicious editing to beep out some of the rougher language concerning some ancestry and such.

The :kitty:s are getting venison and/or rabbit for their dinners (courtesy of the pet supply place and the regular driver) not that they mind not having Liver Lunch or Fishy Feast today. Nekoyashiki waited to greet the truck (par for the course) as did Ryoutou. Our onmyoujin supplied the cheese for the burgers/"burgers" and the vet supplied a few kegs of beer and of soda. How he figured the cost of all of that and how he was going to afford it, I'll never know.

Gotta go. Kite flying competition, and I was "politely" told by a neighbor to "go fly a kite".

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
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Hi phyllis - sounds like you had a great memorial day and so did the kitties .... ah, kite flying .... it has been a long time and I remember it fondly, so nice of your neighbor to suggest it .... take care, po

p.s. what are the little icons at the bottom of the page - a green circle, 2 porkchops, and a flag????
 
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