Dolorous Ett's Bestiary

... to Lazy Neutrino for sending me an LJ gift of balloons! Cheerful! Bright! Fun! Thank you!

For the rest, I'm still not dead, just permanently exhausted. But I promise to update properly soon.

*waves*

I'm back in the UK. It feels very strange. I know most of it is due to lack of sleep. When I feel a bit more myself, and when I have an Internet connection again, I will write more interesting things about my travels, or anything else that comes to mind.

This post is basically an excuse to plug omniocular's September Challenge. The computer I'm using right now won't let me put a link, but just go to omniocular and look for the post - it's easy to spot. Right now they are collecting AU's for the Challenge - the more off the wall the better. They close at midnight US time, so hurry over there and add your Alternative Universe suggestions to the list while there is yet time! Or just read through the suggestions - there are some real corkers there already.

I hope everyone's well. Have I missed anything important?

But you aren't going to be seeing much of me over the next month or so, as I'm going to China! I'd be dancing with glee if I wasn't so tired - in fact, I think I might permit myself a little dance anyway, as I really am very excited about this.

I'm going to a corner of the little-known south-west, where I lived for two years, where the mountains look like corn-on-the-cob or loaf sugar; where the food has lots of garlic and chilli and tastes like heaven; where at this time of year you can smell the wonderful scent of ripening rice in the fields, and see children doing their homework on the back of the water buffaloes they're supposed to be minding. I know nothing's ever that perfect, and it's poor and underdeveloped round there as well as all the natural beauty and kind people, but it's a magical place.

I might also take in the deserts of the far north-west - the Silk Road, in short - but we're still negotiating the money part of that.

Anyway, I'm off tomorrow morning. I may update from time to time, if anything of particular moment happens while I'm out there - but it won't be that often. This means I won't be there to enjoy the flutterings in the hencoop in the wake of HBP - or the germination of a thousand insane and brilliant theories - which is a pity, I suppose, but oh, I am so pleased to be going back to China!