December Meme - 9th

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For frozen_delight :

Your favourite and your least favourite Christmas tradition?

My favourite would have to be our Santa Sacks from childhood. In the early hours of Christmas morning (probably between 2-3am) mum or dad would place them on the ends of our beds. They were just pillowcases filled with lots of small, inexpensive presents, dolls and jewelry and and small books, for me, boys things for my brothers. The kind of things you'd find in $2 shops. We always pretended to be asleep and I probably did actually fall asleep a few years, when mum or dad would come in and they knew we weren't really asleep. I mean, how many kids can really sleep on Xmas eve??? The only rule was we weren't suppose to open the sacks until Sunrise. I think it was mainly a ploy by the parents to keep us occupied for just a few minutes more on X-Mas morning, giving them a little sleep in before being their bed was invaded by 3 kids all wanting to show what Santa had brought us.

Once mum and dad were awake, we were allowed to choose 1 present from under the tree to open. The rest we opened after breakfast. Then we would stuff our presents in our (now empty) Santa Sacks and head over to our neighbours to show them. We'd visit most of the houses in our street, as we were very close with all our neighbours. We called them Aunty and Uncle even though they weren't relatives of ours. So it would be an endless procession of kids running up and down the street, going into each others houses, showing off our presents and collecting more.

I honestly can't think of a least favourite tradition. As a child, I loved everything about Christmas.

December Meme - 10th

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For supernutjapan :

What holiday dessert do you enjoy?

My favourite is Christmas pudding with brandy custard. The pudding has to be really loaded with fruit (raisins, sultanas, glazed cherries and pineapple, candied orange and lemon peel) and soaked for months in alcohol. My nana made the best ones I've ever tasted. She also did a fantastic trifle (layers of sponge cake, custard and jelly -- or jello, I think for my US f*listies) that was also soaked for ages in brandy and rum.

December Meme - 11th

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For brightly_lit :

How long have you been part of this fandom, and what are your favorite parts of it and/or what do you most hope to get from it?

Although I started watching SPN in May '09, I didn't post about it until November of that year. I mainly lurked for months, quietly reading other fans' posts but not commenting very much. It was probably when I started posting fics and ep reactions and comments (and getting feedback and comments to my own posts) that I consider the beginning of my SPN family journey. I love reading what other folks though about episodes and what is going on both in the show and with the cast and crew. More than a few recaps & reviews opened my eyes to things I had overlooked that make my near constant re-watches so much better. And I especially loved joining in all the delight and squee when I found out that there were other Sam & Jared!girls on LJ who love him just as much as I do. And that not everyone who prefers Dean dislikes or even hates Sam. I have so many wonderful Dean!girls on my f*list and I treasure you all.

My favourite part of fandom is how much of a family we are. There is so much love and support and caring for every single member every single day, even during the long, empty months of Hellatus that we endure every year. Fundraisers and charity auctions for those who are struggling to make ends meet, a (virtual) shoulder to cry on when we are down and hurting, sympathetic ears when we need to rage and rant, genuine happiness and joy when things are going well and we want to shout it out loud. I felt this last one most in the hours and days after the 200th ep aired. Don't think I've ever seen my f*list so united in agreement. The love for SPN and the Js and Sam'n'Dean was so amazing that I couldn't wait to come online and simply wallow in it all. That love is getting me through the last couple of weeks when I haven't enjoyed the eps as much as the ones earlier in the season (mainly because of how Sam & Dean-lite, but esp Sam-lite) they've been and I know it will get me through the next 6 weeks until 10x10 airs.

I love this show with all my heart and soul and no matter what happens, I will be here to the (hopefully not) bitter end and I am just so honoured to be able to share it with so many wonderful friends and fellow fans.

Bring on 2015 already!!!!!

Just when I didn't think I could get any more excited about my con adventures next year , I find out that Ben Browder and Michael Shanks, 2 of my favourite actors (3rd and 4th after Jared and Jensen)  are coming to my hometown next April for OzComicCon and I just know I'm going to be spending the big bucks to have the best weekend with them, which will hopefully also include dinner with 1 or both of them.

I've had the pleasure of meeting both guys at various cons before, Ben 3 times (in LA, Sydney and Melbourne) and Michael once in Melbourne, but I'm still really excited to be getting the chance to see them again. More photos and autos and panels and I can't wait!!!! And I know I'm just going to be as giddy and nervous as I was when meeting them for the very first time.

With Ben,  this con will be extra special as I'll be getting to share it and him with my best friends, a group of amazing gals who answered my desperate pleas when I first discovered Farscape and was in need of episodes to watch. All I wrote in an Aussie yahoogroup for Farscape was "I've seen an ep and I need more. Please help!!!!!" It wasn't on air in Oz at the time, I didn't have a dvd player so they copied VCR tapes for me and sent them to my local library (2 were librarians) for me to pick up. In the decade since, we've met up every few weeks for lunch or dinner, we've travelled to the other side of the country for fan meet-ups (the best of which was TaScape '04 when they were filming PeaceKeeper Wars in Sydney. We did a double-decker bus location-filming tour, had the crew madly shutting windows when we drove past the studio where they were filming and had an amazing BBQ on the beach where a lot of scenes were filmed that was attended by lots of the crew. Unfortunately the cast (Ben, Claudia, ect weren't there) but it was still a fantastic day. So many crew were amazed that we wanted their signatures and to have photos with them. These guys were production people and set dressers and special effects crew and costumers and other behind-the-scene folks who so rarely get the recognition for all the wonderful work they do. Without them, there would have been no Farscape (and the same goes for SPN as well)

Anyways, only 2 of this group has met Ben before, so it'll be amazing to see the others get to meet him as well. And I'm hoping that some other Scapers that we haven't seen in years will make the trip from interstate so we can have a great big Scaper family reunion.

So my poor, poor credit card is going to take more torture and I'll be living off toast and vegemite for years (maybe decades) to come as I pay it off but oh boy, it is certainly going to be worth every bloody cent.

So, meeting and hugging Jared


and Jensen


and Ben


and Michael


all in one year and at 3 cons. I truly don't think I'm going to survive so much OMFG hotness and awesome and sexyness but dude, what a way to go!!!!