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Found myself a nice little penthouse. Except I think my cat is more the owner than I am. I've lost control.. I bet if aliens look down on us from space they probably think the cats are in charge- and really they aren't far from right.

What is there to do on a Tuesday night around here?

Dear Dreams: Die in a fire. A really, really hot fire. No love, Elaine

Okay, maybe not die in a fire. But the Dreams aren't being very nice lately. I had a week or so without them, that was nice.. I need a drink or two after this last one..

Got my photos submitted for the edition, got propositioned for a new job as a photographer for National Geographic. Might take them up on it. I mean I doubt they'll send me to photograph radioactive boars.

Annie's already asking me if we are going to Mickey's Halloween Party like last year. We're going to go costume shopping this weekend. Just for ideas. And to hopefully narrow down her selection. Because I'm sure it will change three times by Halloween.

I ran into my dad today. I haven't seen him in a couple of months and it was just as frosty as the last time. They blame me cause they had to get actual jobs again after I sued them to get access to my money last year. It makes me so mad that they see all of this as my fault.

People more experienced with this than myself:

I've been told dating men is easier than dating women.

Contrary to popular belief, I have never dated a man.

Is dating a woman always like needing to care for a small child?

Is dating men any easier?

I've logically drank my dessert abs it was fantastic.

What the hell ami even taking about but anyone who hurts my Ruby will get disappeared

[ooc: um quite drink Harry is drunk]

Show's at 5pm and the first thing I manage to do is blow out my toaster oven making breakfast. I didn't even do anything different than usual, except be stressed out. I'm gathering on this network that it's possible for things to carry over from dreams. I hope that's not the case.

I think am going to work on not killing any other appliances and find what I need for tonight.

I'm in need of advice...

So, not that long ago, I came out to my parents. My mother was okay with it but my father has just kinda shut me out since then. My sister says that it's his issue to deal with and that I shouldn't worry about his opinion...but he's my dad. Am I stupid for wanting his approval?

What the actual fuck is this? Don't go telling me everyone sleeping everywhere is actually normal for O.C.? Why is this happening? Is someone doing this or is it the city?

Stars and sky! One week in my new place and I've already fucked up my computer. How the hell does this always happen? I think technology hates me. The only thing I've managed not to lose or destroy is my phone. And well, I probably just jinxed that.

Things that I have learned since being here.

1. As hilarious as going on an adventure and getting lost with a friend who is also new to the area, always make sure one of you has a map

2. Dreams are still convoluted and I don't see that stopping anytime soon. Or them in general. But I'm recognizing more people and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. (For the record? Frosty is a hilarious, but really bad, fake name <3))

3. I may be awesome as a bartender, but I should probably look for a day job as well (Don't worry, Harry, you still have me for bar-tending and whatever else you need, you're not getting rid of me that easily)

[Neal]
I know I didn't come with much and I may love a good surprise, but really? Breaking into my apartment? What exactly am I supposed to do with a red cloak and a sexy diner uniform?

rIGHT then names Harry Dresden I suck at this technology shit but apparently this is how everyone communicates now a days. I still say you should pick up a damn phone once in a while but that's just my opinion.

I'm the owner of the Blue Beetle New York and Chicago bars. I like long walks on the beach, expensive liquor and trashy science fiction novels. or is this not how its done?

hells bells just kill me now.

Reminder, don't eat kiwis out of the rind around my laptop or sketchpad. It's a lot harder than it actually looks; believe it or not. I've got kiwi juice all over the place. Eating fruit should not be this difficult.

And that was your random post of the day from me.

Holy stars, I'm going to be married in five days! Which means, yes, Evergrace will be closed until after New Years, while Harry and I are honeymooning and/or saving Christmas from Unseelie Grinches. Knowing how the universe and Orange County tend to work, it may well be the latter, and I don't even care. I'm so ready.

I guess I'm part of the club now.

Private to Harry Dresden
I'm utter shit at approaching anyone for help.
But I'll ask now, since you offered.

And I hate asking.
But I realized something today the Military might not want to keep me if things keep going and I change into something I'm not. Or whatever happens in this freaking place.

So if you were theoretically time traveling to a primitive post-apocalyptic future what would you bring along?

I have a solar charger for my iPod, and I'm working on narrowing down which yarn I want to take.

How utterly fascinating. And here I thought me and my military self was safe from such Dreams.

I kind of want to throw a Halloween masquerade for my birthday. You know, a completely over the top monster-movie-monster's ball. Is that too cliche? I'd just have to find a ballroom somewhere...

If I never have to go around broadcasting my every thought in public, it will be too soon. I felt like I was 13 going on 30 or something. Thank goodness I have a very sympathetic boss.

My daughter and I making a batch of Autumn Spice soy candles with our very own blend of essential oils, using recycled babyfood jars as votive holders. If they turn out well, maybe we'll sell the ones that aren't already designated for gift-giving in the clinic.

On the one hand, I kind of like the pie smell that seems to have permeated the house. On the other, I kind of feel cheated that there isn't any actual pie.

Might have to fix that.

Well, I managed not to break anymore doors with my temporary super-strength, and everything is back to normal now. As normal as it gets, anyway.

My new cat? Surprisingly unperturbed by the whole affair.

One thing the dreams are teaching me is that we can learn from the mistakes of our dream selves. That we don't have to be that same person, or do the same things. I've dreamed of my other self over several years, and he makes me look incredibly smart. Not that I'm stupid, mind you, but... ouch.

Also, learning magic is neat!

Well, the cats are back to normal. I'm sure Lara's friend Sam will be sad not to see them flying around on the webcam anymore. I'm kind of sad, too. Watching them terrorize Renji was amusing as hell. Sorry, Renji, but it's true.

Wrex is probably super happy that Doom the squirrel is no longer trying to bench press the Ranch, too.

Unrelated - Does anyone on here knit? I've got a really weird request for a knitter. I'd pay for the yarn and your time, but I'm looking for handsocks. Or something like that. A long piece of knitted tube I can slide over my wrist and arm, and part of my hand?

My skin is really sensitive so it has to be the kind of yarn that was produced by angel feathers or something, but I'm willing to pay really decently for anyone who can do this for me.

Anyone know a good P.I.?

Well, I must say that I'm very glad I missed this latest shenanigan. It would have been quite hard to do my Bar Exam if I had been in another body. And can I just say that I'm really glad that is over with for now? I can't believe I have to sit and wait until November to find out if I passed or not. I understand why it takes so long since there's SO many of us taking the test, but come on.

This now means that I can go out and have some fun. What's going on that I should go do on this lovely Sunday? Or hell, even this week. I need to get out and away from my books.

This week is weird even by my standards. Added to the list of things that went off, a now-dead laptop.

Fun times.

I'll be shopping for a new one soon, I guess.

Since this thing happened I've won the lottery without playing it, found someone selling a Starkphone for really cheap, not been called out for not being Thomas, acquired a bunch of women's phone numbers, and Dante found a diamond ring in the park when we went for a run.

So that's all been kind of nice. The lottery ticket paid for the interior decorations at the Den, so that money can be paid directly back to the loan I took out to rebuild. Which means I'm carrying almost no debt from the rebuild.

I could get used to be a wizard, if it's always like this.

Hello, Valarnet. My name is Jen Walters, and I'm a legal assistant at Dresden Law and Private Investigations. I recently moved to Orange County in pursuit of a lead job opportunity that I just couldn't pass up. Getting out of Minnesota before the snow flies was just the icing on the cake.

That horrible. That horrible, awful, nasty. That cow. That complete cow. I just. I can't. I don't. I won't.

I've just been asked to do some videos for Frost Industries. Might not be a bad thing to have some corporate filmography under my belt.

Anyone here a private eye?

Summer is going by too fast. Can we just live at the beach until school starts?

[Harry Dresden]
Dad, would you teach me how to drive? I know it's weird, and my birth certificate says I'm not old enough, and I don't really even want to drive yet, but you never know when I might need to know how.

Well my first week of being an intern over summer went well. I am set up on the computer and their systems and am shadowing one of the lawyers. It is very interesting and I am glad it is re-affirming that I am on the correct career path.

Getting shot at never quite gets to be normal. Not in the dreams and not here. Sometimes, I think I must just be irritating. Other times, I just know it. Either way, it usually means I'm on the right track. You'd think the thugs and criminals around here would have learned by now.

My daughter has just gone through all her toys and packed up the ones that she feels she has outgrown. Next thing I know, she'll be asking her father to teach her how to drive. I knew it was coming, but I'm not sure how I should feel about this.

I really wish I could blame lack of sleep on the Dreams that I had last night. But I know I can't. We created a "study group" (that became illegal nearly the minute after we created it) because of that awful, horrible, wicked cow Umbridge. So many things happened.

Then Hagrid returned. I saw the light in his hut window, the smoke coming from his chimney. I wondered where he'd been. It just doesn't feel like Hogwarts proper without him.

Shit has officially hit the fan. Shepard and I were attacked by new kinds of husks, apparently the kinds you get when aliens get turned. So priority number one is for none of us to do that, because God only knows what kind of thing we'd make if we got taken.

She said they either want someone really dead, or they're looking for something. My vote is that we start where Shepard and I first encountered them and work outward. Probably we could hook up with her people and cover more ground, but we need to be able to work autonomously as well.

From what I saw both the new types of things are dangerous as fuck. The thin ones with the spikes on their heads have this horrible scream, and when they die they explode outward. The big ones are enormous, really strong, and fast as fuck. Both of these have shields of some kind around them, you can't just shoot them in the head and go on your way. We need people with ranged energy capabilities on each team if we split up.

We need to find where they're coming from. Even more than killing the ones that have already been made, it's important we stop more from existing. We can mop up later, but stopping them from spawning should be our highest priority.

THOR
Can we get a thunderstorm for the next couple days?

Well, then... every animal in the area starts talking exactly when my dog from the dreams shows up? I think he planned this one. I definitely think he did.

It seems I have a new member of my family. Mouse, a Tibetan Temple Dog, was quite amused to find I had a daughter here, and immediately greeted her, and me, with appropriate enthusiasm. It's good to see him, even if the bruises from being bowled over will take a day to fade.

I really don't like these Dreams.

Why would someone bomb a library? Jim, have you dreamed this?

I started Fifth Year in my dreams last night. The Wizarding World is turning into a very dark place. Reading about Harry's brush with the Wizangamot almost makes me want to switch back to I'm intrigued to see how all of this affects Hogwarts. The Ministry and Hogwarts have historically kept a respectable distance.

In other news, I'm so incredibly thankful that my magic is back. I can't even begin to describe how relieved I am that my wand is working again.

One bad thing about slowly gaining dream memories and powers is that sometim4s the bad sides come with them. Not everything is either nightmares or sun and roses. Sometimes, you can have good dreams, and annoying side effects.

Take me, for example. I get magic from the dreams, but the kind of wizard I'm becoming had a hard time with electrical, electronic, and some mechanical things. The longer I Dream, the more this becomes true of real life, as well. I've gone through three phones and one laptop, as well as a car. If business wasn't good here, I would be in really bad shape.

Mind you, there are compensations. Magic is fun, and helpful in detective work. But sometimes... oi.

So I found out my magic works by toasting a bedside lamp. I guess I'm going to have to replace it. Not that I'm really bothered by that. I feel a connection and inner peace I think I was missing while I was powerless.

Next week my first album on US soil will be released to the public! It will be available online as well as several local stores. I wanted to support small businesses. I hope people enjoy it, I don't know if it's the sort of thing the American Public will enjoy, but I enjoyed making it.

Hello everyone, my name is Padmé and I just discovered this nifty forum (? right word?) - I'm stuck doing some social media advertising for my internship right now, so I happened to stumble onto this. I'm not going to plug my job here because that seems in bad taste. But if you need legal help, feel free to ask me about it.

But all I know is that I can't believe it's June. That means I don't have much time left before the Bar Exam and I'm starting to freak out. Doesn't help that one of the newer associates keeps talking about how hard it was and I'm pretty sure she's trying to mess with me.

But I can definitely tell that I'm going to need a drink after work. Any good spots I should go to?

I'm going to have a beach party on Friday evening before I leave town. Anybody want to join me? Say, around sunset?

Don't worry, I don't think I'm leaving for good. Just a little working vacation to kick off the summer.

Wise men compose books of spells
They collect strange, mystic tools
But ere thou speak the magic words...
You have to learn the rules!

A staff in the hand may be quite continental
But potions are a girl's best friend
A wand may be grand but it won't pay the rental
Or make car payments
Or feed you more than cheap ramen
Wizards old and wizards bold
They all have their charms in the end
Even young magi grow weary, but dry those tears, deary
Potions are a girl's best friend!

Magius! Gandalf the Grey! Zedicus! Merlin!
Talk to me, Harry Dresden, tell me all about it!
There may come a day when a lass needs a lawyer
But potions are a girl's best friend!

Today was perfect.
I don't think I've ever had such a lovely day off before. In fact, I am certain it might be hard to ever really beat.