OMG, I have it BAD

Okay, now you all have an icon to watch for when I'm likely to talk a lot about my newest obsession. Everyone, this is Gin Ichimaru. He's evil, but kind of like a fox... playful, teasing... vicious. When you see him up there in the corner, I will talk about Bleach. A lot. This is just a test, however. I'm going to talk about other things in today's post.

But you are warned.

Seriously, I can't remember the last time someone else's fiction has gotten me this worked up. Most likely it hasn't been since high school, and the days when I used to draw pictures and write scads of fan fic (pre-internet, thank god!) of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni or Anne McCaffery's dragonriders.

Don't tell anyone, but I actually wrote slash for Bleach....

I haven't decided what, if anything, to do with it. Right now it's just my own private, dirty little seceret. (Well, I did share with one other fan, but there's no link for anyone else... yet.)

HOWEVER....

In an attempt to talk about something else for five minutes, I have to tell you that I have been remiss in keeping y'all up on the other parts of my life. Mason, in particular, has some big news. At some point earlier this year, right around conferences, Mason noticed that the upper classmen had their AR (Advance Reading) ranking posted in the upstairs hallway. Sort of a "Top Ten." He asked his pull-out reading instructor, the librarian, what a guy had to do to get on that list. She asked the person who had organized it, and Mason found out that they hadn't previously included third graders. But they would see if he qualified to be in the top ten, regardless. It was discovered that he was fifth in the school.

That was cool in and of itself. But, Mason, who has inherited from me a strong sense of playful competition, has, ever since, had a rivalry going between himself and the number one AR student.

Last Thursday, when I went in to volunteer, Mason told me he had some news.

He was now number one!

That means he's read more books, taken more tests, and gotten a better score on the tests, than everyone else in the school. Mr. G., Mason's teacher, said it was a first for him... and possibly for the school -- to have a third grader ranked #1.

SUPER BRAG!!!!!

Yeah, I'm a little proud.

Meanwhile, back to my Bleach obsession, I discovered from a friend that the current (to me) storyline ("The Bount") is actually, honest-to-goodness "filler." (Since it involves vampires, it kind of explains the Buffy/Bleach crossover fan fic out there... sort of.) Anyway, they were episodes created while the Manga caught up to the Anime. That made me breathe a lot easier. Filler is a concept I can cope with... there's actually a very weird tension on this show between the supper-silly and deadly series. I will just treat much of this arc the same way I do when Ichigo's friends are drawing kitties or fighting over who gets to hug Orhiime.

Okay, today, however, I am determined to get some REAL work done.

Wish me luck.