Pictures, 100%, appreciation, bars.

So I finally finished posting pictures from my trip to London today. The ones from Kew Gardens and the British Museum start here, or you can see the whole set of them starting here.

Last night I was sitting with timprov watching the baseball pre-game, and one of the players was talking about how his parents taught him to always give 100%, no matter what the situation. I said, "You know what? My mom had to teach me not to. My mom taught me that some things are not worth wearing yourself out over, you can't do everything, so you have to be choosy about where you spend your energy." "Taught you so well you almost listened," said timprov, but it's something I recognize in theory at least: trying to do absolutely everything absolutely perfectly is a very, very bad idea. The fact that it's a bad idea I'm personally prone to doesn't make it a good idea.

Some of my friendslist people seem to have had a beta-readers' appreciation day yesterday, and I missed it? Maybe it was more a fanfic thing? I don't know. In any case, I do very much appreciate the people who beta read for me. With novels especially, I get so immersed in what I'm doing that I lose a sense of what I've included and what just makes no sense. Having other eye tracks on the page sometimes makes me more aware even if the readers don't say anything themselves.

Still very tired and not very perky.

Oh, I know what I was going to say: one of you (I think in a locked post) asked who was going to World Fantasy. I was wondering if anyone was throwing a livejournal party. I'm not feeling even close to up to it myself, but if someone else was doing one, I have been known to bring pans of bars to such things, so maybe you should let me know to do that. So okay then? Okay.

Things I Have Smelled In the Last Hour

Peaches
Tar
Paint Thinner
My shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion*
Chocolate**
Barbecue sauce
Lemongrass
markgritter, timprov, missista*
Blood**
Lilacs
Roses
Mandy's fake rose lotion from high school
Chlorine
Rotten cauliflower
Rotten raspberries
Cardboard*
My Gran's Emeraude perfume
The Gustavus caf's approximation of vegetable soup (no actual vegetables harmed in the making of this soup)
Envelope glue*
Dandelions
Copper
ETA (in the next ten minutes): Wasabi
Rotten shrimp
Oak and birch leaves*
Hot dog juice (you know, in the package, squick)
Blueberry cardamom mango soup

*Actually present in the room
**Actually present in the room, but in a sealed container

My main accomplishments of the afternoon are paying our property taxes, cutting another 150 net words from Sampo, and not throwing up.

I really, really need to bring in the last of the basil. I really need to make banana bread before the bananas start a fight. I am a great big coward, because I haven't done those things because I am terrified of what I will smell in the process.