magnetic_pole

First off, happy birthday, Harry! (And best wishes to you, too, Neville and Dudley.) Hard to believe you're 35 today. For some reason this morning I remembered that a few years ago I had written a tiny fic about July 31, 1980--both baby Harry!fic and a little celebration of the birth of my first nephew--and it shocked me to realize the nephew is now eight and the oldest of three (the oldest of five, if you count nieces and nephews on both sides of the family).

That was fast.

I've been feeling a little adrift fannishly lately, flist. I haven't written a word of fic yet in 2015, which may not come as too much of a surprise, given how little I write in any case, but writing is what makes me feel like a fan, and I miss it. Even worse, though, I'm not reading much, just keeping up with journals on LJ/DW. A few of my seasonal activities have fallen by the wayside--no

hp_beholder this April, and I didn't run

lgbtq_recs this June--and I haven't been good about trying cool new(ish) things, like

hp_silencio or

reading221b. How do I get my fannish enthusiasm back? How do you do it, flist?

That said...

I was lucky enough this past weekend to have lunch with

kellychambliss, who updated me on her whirlwind trip to Florida earlier this month, and I shared a spectacular diner breakfast (berries! waffles! french toast!) with

onehundredmoons, who listened to me prattle on about my little nephews yet again. Last week, closer to home, I met up for the first time with

king_touchy, who gave me the most lovely orange-flavored decaf coffee and reassured me that fannishness ebbs and flows over the years. (And who might be able to keep me company at Gridlock in Bethesda, MD, in August, so that's something to look forward to.)

On vacation in June, I met up with

whymzycal, enjoyed some Ben and Jerry's and gorgeous weather, and revisited the book store where I used to work more than fifteen years ago (now a trendy bar-and-games locale). And earlier in June, I crashed a Snarry meet-up and *finally* got to meet flisters

torino10154 and

alisanne as well as new fannish comrades

lilyseyes and

emynn. And even earlier this summer, I spent a weekend with

rose71 and talked until I felt slightly light-headed. (Thanks, Best Listener Ever.)

In short, it's been a lovely summer, filled with fans, if not with fic or my favorite fictional characters. I can't feel too bereft looking at this list--I may not be reading and writing the way I used to, but you folks are still there, and even more brilliant than ever.