That my trip to Tuscany in September was the first time I would be in a country where a language other than English was spoken. This is not true. I actually spent two holidays in Mexico when I was younger.

What makes this trip different, however, is that I speak no Italian at all. I spoke, at that time, at least enough Spanish to say ‘please’ ‘thank you’ and ‘where’s the toilet’.

So I will be phrase book shopping next weekend.

Next weekend is a four day one for me.  Monday, 25th, is a Bank Holiday and I took the Friday off as a holiday.  Four.Days.Off!!!!

As for today, the good news is I actually slept until 6:38.  The bad news is that that meant I didn’t have time to do my aerobics.  So I’ll do them tonight when I get home.

So yesterday I get a notification that I have an email in my, of all things, LJ inbox.  The only email I *ever* get there is from LJ staff, so I was curious, to say the least.

It was a person I have never met or heard of asking me if I ever wrote Stargate FanFiction.  Why yes, yes I did, ages ago.  I asked why she (I am assuming its a she because something like 99% of the readers of slash fiction are female) was asking.  It would appear that she read my work at Area 52 (warning, that link goes right to my fiction over there.  It is for adults only!) and somehow found a very old email address for me and tried to send me a message.  When it didn’t go through she googled for my old email user name and found my LJ.  And not only did she just leave me feedback, so told me that I am stilled recced at many Stargate boards around the web.

I am amazed.  First of all that I just noticed that my story list at Area 52 has had 9600 views in 6 years (the last time I updated was 2002).  Second of all that anyone, anywhere, is still reading those stories.

Fanfiction writers always say that feedback feeds the muse.  And its true.  That’s part of why I stopped writing it.  I had no idea if anyone was reading it and if they were, if they liked it or thought it was total crap.

I’m guilty of that as well.  I read a lot of fanfic in many fandoms, including Torchwood, Stargate Atlantis,   and Harry Potter.  And I almost *never* leave feedback.  A story has to be amazing for me to do that.  And that’s wrong.

I vow to the fanfic writers out there that I will try harder to leave them feedback for the stories I read.  And if you want to read some of my other work? You can go here: Tee’s Fan Fiction.

And now, an explanation of fanfic in general and slash in particular.  This is for anyone reading this who has no idea what it is (hi mom!).

Fanfic is, obviously, exactly what it says on the tin, fiction written by a fan of someone else’s work.  Some people think it is plagiarism.  Some people think its flattery.  What it definitely is is fun, whether reading it or writing it.

What I write (like so many others out there) is called slash.  So far as anyone can tell, the term slash began waaay back in the 60s, when the major fanfic fandom was Star Trek and the One True Pairing (OTP) was Kirk/Spock.  Read that as Kirk Slash Spock, and you’ll see where we get the term slash.  Female pairs can also be slash, but are usually referred to as femmslash.  I don’t write femmslash.  I don’t hardly ever write het.  I don’t know why I don’t write those, but I don’t.  I write slash.

Why?  No idea.  Don’t even remember when I first found out so many people were writing such incredible stories about their favorite shows/books.  I know I had been noticing for years the sexual undertones in many many shows over the years.  Because if you look at the right? Every piece of fiction out there has them.

Back to OTPs for a second.  The Fanfic world went crazy when Ianto propositioned Jack on Torchwood and their torrid affair began.  I’ve written fics on it my self.  *However* Jack/Ianto is *not* cannon slash.  Slash is *only* a fanfic term.  Jack/Ianto are a cannon homosexual couple.  Makes me crazy when people call it cannon slash.  ::steps off soapbox::

So, I write slash.  And I read slash.  And I enjoy it.  But if you don’t? Don’t click those links up there.  K?

back to sleep at 5…back up at 6…I.am.wrecked.

So I didn’t exercise today. Too tired, too achy. Just too too.

And, personally, I am bored with all these blog entries about not sleeping. So I’ll try to write something more interesting tomorrow.

Lack of sleep again these past few nights. Even with a pill.

However, I have managed to exercise for the past two mornings.  So that’s a good thing.

Just wish I could sleep more than 5 hours at a time.  And the next person who tells me I should just get used to it?  Is being buried.  I have building construction at my work.  I can hide bodies very easily….

I have none lately. I just can’t seem to get my butt moving. I have been eating so so, not great, not horrible, but exercise is just not happening.

So, here’s my challenge for myself:

I get up usually between 6 and 6:30. So instead of sitting on my ass on the computer for that time until I get ready for work at 7, I pledge, to myself, that I will exercise. On the following schedule:

M, W, F – Aerobics. Even if it is only 15 minutes. But try to do 30 – 45.
T, Th – Strength. Crunches. Legs, whatever. Just move!
S and/or Su – Yoga. Even just a half an hour rocks my world.

What kills me about my lack of motivation is that I enjoy the exercise. I really do. Once I am up and moving it feels great. And it feels great afterwards, when I’m all sweaty and glowy and ready for a shower.

So, dammit, Robyn. Just do it! (thanks Nike.)