yonmei:

Composing a note to my dad, I realised I was actually not sure how to address it. I have for years avoided it because one simply doesn't write letters these days. E-mails begin with "hi". Cards and presents are formally addressed.

How do I think of him? He's his name, of course: he's Father, which is how I speak to him more often than not: he is "my dad", which is how I reference him to others more often than not: he is "Pops" or "Granpops" to my siblings and to my nephews, respectively, but I've never thought of him as either one, though I can and do switch to their terminology when speaking with them. I addressed the note, in the end, to "Dear Name", on the basis that the nurses would realise more easily who it belonged to if it got cleared off the over-the-bed table at night. He is also half of the collective referent "the parents" which is how me and my brother and sister discuss them as a joint problem. Er, yes.

He was asleep when I arrived (late: bus breakdown) last night, and I sat watching/listening to him sleep, feeling that it would be a mistake to wake him up. He woke about quarter to eight, and concurred. We sat together till about ten past eight, or shortly after the trolley came in with the evening tea, and then I went home, because visiting hours officially end at 8pm and I thought it better to leave before being formally asked to go.

Sleeping did him good, though he is clearly getting better: he suffers pain now (he says) only in the broken bone, not all over. He was out of bed for an hour, and while it exhausted and hurt him, he didn't actually feel he was going to collapse, as on Saturday: and he is off the oxygen which was cleaning out his system after the anaesthetic. He rang my mum Sunday morning to remind her about the newsletters for the Quaker Meeting he had meant to deliver on Thursday, and was about to call her again after I'd left to let her know that the publisher of his book should know he is in hospital and not available to respond to e-mails. (Fortunately, he won't receive the proofs till 13th January - "your birthday", he said with a grin - and they don't have to go back to the publishers till February.) So. But, he is still not well enough to focus - to read/listen to radio. Though I brought him a new set of earphones, the sort that actually fit inside your ears (you don't know until you've tried them how much better the sound quality is) and a travel radio as an early Christmas present.

(Unfortunately, his ward is in a transmitter shadow, so he can't use the radio in hospital, though there is a hospital radio behind his bed.)

He's better. He will be getting better. Hopefully, he will be out of the hospital for Christmas, though that only leaves the problem open for now about where my parents are going to go, for how long, and how. (My mum planned to contact the university to ask about a flat with disabled access, available on a short let, as for a visiting scholar: which would be perfect if possible. If she does. Um.)

kyuuketsukirui:

1. The big happiness of the day was the new sofa and loveseat, and all the decluttering and furniture rearranging, which I already wrote about. :D Still excited about that!

2. Finally got the lights on the tree (still no decorations, but soon!), and as it turns out, I'm really glad I didn't decorate earlier, because the guys totally mashed up the tree when bringing the sofa in... (It's a fake tree, so it was easily unmashed, but I'm not sure our ornaments would have escaped unscathed.) The new sofa is currently in the dining room, right in front of the tree, since we figured better to leave the old sofa in the living room so it's easier to get out when the truck comes. Anyway, so we just sat on the sofa for a bit last night and admired the lights. :)

3. It's raining! It has been really overcast the past couple days and just really feeling wintery. Yay!

4. On Thanksgiving, my grandparents told us that if we ever need a car to run errands, we can borrow theirs, since they don't use it much anymore! So we took them up on the offer for the first time today and will be borrowing it on Tuesday to do exciting things like return something to Fry's. :p (Though we plan to stop at BookOff while we're there, too!) I hope it's not raining on Tuesday...

5. Thank you to janissa11, eruthros, telesilla, and busaikko (who sent one for verycarla, too!) for sending more LJ virtual gifts! They brightened up my day. :D

kyuuketsukirui:

This may be our last decluttering of the year, but we're going out with a bang! Our new sofa and loveseat were delivered today, and a truck is coming tomorrow to take the old sofa. We're going to see if they'll take some other stuff as well... XD

Our closet is fairly large, but there's no place to stand where you can get a good picture of the whole thing, so I had to take six shots to get all of it! (That's six before and six after...)

It was actually not that cluttered compared to how it was in years past. A lot of stuff has been got rid of already. But there was (and is) still a ton of junk.

Today we took out a bunch of stuff, got rid of a lot, and then got very, very tired and couldn't tackle the whole thing, so just put everything we knew we wanted to keep back in no particular order. (Because of how everything was jumbled up, it really wasn't possible to do the "one shelf at a time" thing I've done with other areas.)

So eventually (possibly we might do some more in the next couple weeks, but I am not going to stress if we don't) we'll have to come back and go through the rest of the stuff, then organise it all nicely, but for now, we've at least got a ton of stuff out of there.

Flickr is not wanting to show these in the right order, so actually the after pics are showing up first, then the befores (I only say that because they are both messy so it may be hard to tell in some cases!). But the tag for the closet is here and the whole set with everything we've decluttered this year is here (that one is organised in order, since it does let you rearrange sets).

( Lists of stuff thrown away and given to charity )


So, changing the subject slightly. The furniture. I will have pictures once everything is properly moved around. Currently the living room and dining room are a huge mess because there are two sofas and a loveseat in them! Also a very large desk.

You see, when we were thinking of how to rearrange the new sofa stuff, we began pondering what to do with the desk in the bedroom. That desk was bought a few years ago because Carla wanted a desk in the living room to set up another computer. That never took off too much, but then she did use it for doing homework for a while. But when we rearranged the living room, we put it in the bedroom and now it never gets used. It seems silly to have it sitting in there taking up space if it's not getting used, but we don't actually need three desks.

It's also a little nicer than I'd just want to give away, yet I don't know that I want to go to the trouble of selling it. And I do like the looks of it a lot. So what we decided to do is give away my old desk, which I do love dearly, but which is huge and I don't actually need all that space. I'd rather have floor/wall space than desktop space these days. So we'll get rid of the old desk (hopefully the guys will take it tomorrow) and I've moved the newer desk into the computer room and set up shop at it. I am liking it quite a bit, though it will take a while to get used to!

The only thing I didn't like about this new (to me!) desk was the horrible CD rack on the side. Why did I even install it!? We don't actually have CDs to put on it, and it doesn't hold them well unless you fill the whole thing up. Either way it's just a dust-catcher. So I unscrewed some bits that were holding the top of the desk on, pushed up, and tried to pull it out. As luck would have it, it was exceedingly flimsy, so I was able to just bend it out, then screw everything back in. Take a look at the remains. :D

The printer stand needs to go between the desks now, which means there's no place for my little rolly cart. I will miss it, but at the same time, it's not got all that much stuff in it anymore, so I can put that stuff in the drawers of the printer stand (and move some of it elsewhere). All of this will really free up a lot of space in the computer room.

So now we have a ton of free space in the bedroom, too, and we hit upon the brilliant idea of putting the exercise bike in there. OMG IT WILL FINALLY NOT BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIVING ROOM! This is a dream come true, really. There has never been room to have it elsewhere. I am super excited about this part.

telesilla:
Okay what the hell is wrong with you people?! There isn't a tag on AO3 for "puddlejumper sex"?

Or at least there wasn't....

telesilla:
So apparently, "real people" never ever get over having an abortion/making the decision to have one.

I can't give context because it's a comment in a locked post, but wow do I get tired of hearing, from both sides of the debate, that there's something wrong with me.

I also debated flocking this but no, this is part of who I am.

yonmei:

( The Rules )

1. For my dad's broken bone to heal cleanly and without complications.
2. Anything on my Amazon wish-list
3. A holiday somewhere outside Edinburgh.
4. A big glass goblet candle-holder, the sort that can hold a 30-hour candle
5. For my parents to see that the only workable solution to their current situation is for both of them to take a short let on a nice furnished ground-floor flat with a walk-in shower and let other people clear the guddle out of their duplex four-flights-up flat so that it can be sold and they can move properly.
6. 30-hour scented candles in cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and cardamom. (I have never seen a cardamom-scented candle.)
7. For my parents to admit that they see (5) and actually follow through.
8. Starbucks Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers
9. Time to write.
10. A Swiss Army knife

yonmei:

I met my mum for lunch, we had delicious vegan soup and talked in a fraught way about their home and then she went off to the hospital to see my dad while I went shopping. Afterwards I went to see my dad and he was very tired and I got the 8 back to have mulled fruit wine and other interesting fruit wines in good company. I got home late, tired, drunk, and slept irregularly till noon. It's sunny. I suppose going out would be a good idea, now I've had breakfast. And coffee.

kyuuketsukirui:

Well, I didn't get the quiet Saturday I was hoping for, as we ended up going out with Alexander to Target, Fry's, and Walmart. D: I was pretty exhausted by the end, but we got stuff we needed to get, so that was good. (Sadly the thing we got at Fry's must be returned, argh. Maybe we can get him to give us a ride again.)

And I am very glad that we decided to look at the Christmas tree lights before we went, because apparently two of our three strands died while sitting in the box between last Christmas and this Christmas. :( So we were able to get some cheap new strands at Walmart.

Then we came back home and Carla made this delicious pumpkin tortilla soup. OMG SO GOOD. And there's a ton left over, too. :D (And it was really easy to make.)

selenak:

Recently, a friend of mine wondered in an aside what a Watchmen adaption by Orson Welles would have been like. Clearly, this was an idea of pure genius. Because Welles had both the absolute fearlessness and cheek, and while managing to infuriate half the fanbase before ruthlessly jettisoning some of the main characters along with subplots and plundering other Moore works for dialogue inserts, he'd have created something breathtakingly original in its own right.

(Also the meta of it would have been fun. Because in Watchmen the book, one of the earliest excerpts from Hollis Mason's memoirs mentions listening as a fan to Orson Welles on the radio, playing The Shadow/Lamont Cranston, one of the earliest superheroes.)

This train of thought of course brought me inevitably to contemplating other adaptions of comics classics by legendary directors, or rather, which legendary director would match best to which classic comics. Here are some ideas:

Charlie Chaplin: Mad Love by Paul Dini. Come on, it would have been awesome. Given how Chaplin loved to branch out (see him playing both Hitler in The Great Dictator and a serial killer in Monsieur Verdoux), you know he'd have been utterly unable to resist casting himself as the Joker. And as Harley Quinn? Paulette Godard, of course. However, in my head this adaption is a silent one, because though I do like Chaplin's later sound movies as well, the silent film is his true and most perfect medium. It would have been the best and most unique of all Batmenverse based films.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Phoenix arc, by Chris Claremont. Hitchcock, expert in neurotic heroines and heroes as well as people going mad and trying to hide it, would have excelled at the original Jean Grey tragedy. Mind you, given that as Joseph Cotten put it in his memoirs he didn't understand why actresses didn't dye their hair blonde for the privilege of working for him, he'd have been sorely tempted in switching hair colour between Jean and Emma (if the Hellfire Club would have shown up in his adaption, that is, and knowing Hitchcock, I think it would have), but in the end he might have resisted.

Billy Wilder: Alias by Brian Bendis. Noir look at the underside of the Marvelverse, first person narration that really works instead of coming across as superfluous, sharp dialogue, inner brokenness? So a Wilder thing. He'd have probably ended up having a hate/hate relationship with Bendis as he did with Raymond Chandler on their shared script for Double Indemnity, but the result would so have been worth it. Including Barbara Stanwyck as Jessica Jones.

kyuuketsukirui:

Title: Sekai no Owari to Yoakemae
Author: Asano Inio
My Rating: 5/5

This is a collection of ten short stories by the author of What a Wonderful World and Solanin. The art is just beautiful. I could really just look at his art all day.

I really enjoyed all the stories. He does such a great job of showing these little everyday moments. For example, "A Day in the Melancholy Life of A-ko the Daydreamer" is just what it says, a day in the life of Eiko, a girl who works part-time in a little shop in a train station. "Sunday, 6:30 PM" is the same Sunday evening told from three different POVs on the day Katsuhiko and Wakana discover their father is missing (each of their POVs, as well as their father's). "Before Dawn" is another one that highlights how things are linked in ways we don't notice, as it follows a bunch of people through the hours before dawn. "Tokyo" is about a manga author who goes back to the town he grew up in for a casual reunion with his old elementary school classmates. None of the stories are anything huge or exciting, just ordinary little moments. I love it.

I translated this for Kotonoha and the scanlation can be downloaded here.

Title: Hakase no Ai Shita Suushiki
Author: Kurita Riku & Ogawa Yoko
My Rating: 3/5

Based on the book of the same name, this is the story of a single mother who becomes the housekeeper to a math genius known only as "the professor" who has virtually no short-term memory after an accident. All the previous housekeepers have quit because he's so difficult, but over time the narrator and her son form a bond with the professor through math and baseball.

This was interesting and I enjoyed it, but while the professor is well-characterised (more than you usually get from this type of story, I think), it still definitely falls into the "what can disabled people teach us?" genre.

The manga is Japanese only, but the book is available in English.

sorchar:

• 23:00 @helens78 What Ruth said. Since they took away the option to see @ replies on your list if they're to people you don't follow, sometimes... #
• 23:01 @helens78 ...ppl do that so more ppl can see the reply. I try not to abuse it, just use it for something ppl might really be interested in. #
• 19:53 foodn00bs.typepad.com/the_food_n00bs_adventures/2009/12/its-the-marshmallowest-time-of-the-year.html - Marshmallow post! #
• 20:55 @thebratqueen I saw someone else on my list post about this. What'd they do? #
• 20:57 @thebratqueen WTF???? #
• 20:59 @thebratqueen Oh, Jesus. #
• 21:19 @bibliotech your link got truncated. #

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limyaael:

( Ilona Andrews, Magic Bites )

( Cindy Pon, Silver Phoenix )

( Caroline Stevermer, When the King Comes Home )

selenak:

More Christmas mail, and I'm slowly but surely going spare over here. Which is as good a reason as any to interrupt the endless series of signatures and stamps to rave a bit about one of my favourite movies.

Wir Wunderkinder, from 1958, won the Golden Globe for best foreign movie but as far as I know is currently only available in German on dvd. Should this change, or should it show up in some retrospective, you really should watch it. It's the exception to such a lot of "rules" about German cinema from the 50s:

1) It actually tackles the immediate (Nazi) past as well as the post-war present (in most cases, you have to wait until the late Sixties for that one)
2) It's witty, charming and manages to combine satire with a deep humanism.

The title, which back then was translated "Aren't we wonderful?" but by now should be understandable to non-Germans due to the popularity of the term "Wunderkind", being a case in point for the irony the film uses at its trademark. Directed by Kurt Hoffmann, it tells the story of two Germans - Hans Boeckel and Bruno Tiches - who embody a lot of our national clichés; Hans Boeckel (played by Hansjörg Felmy) is idealistic, passive and none too effectual (he's lucky with the women he falls in love with, who are a great deal more enterprising than he is), Bruno Tiches (played by Robert Graf) is the pragmatic ruthless embodiment of a Wendehals, going effortlessly from trying to ingratiate himself to the (Jewish) richest man in his hometown to becoming a highly successful Nazi to making it on the black market to being a "I always was against Hitler" "honorable" post war industrialist. At the same time, we're not dealing with a simple "good German/ bad German" divide here; Hans Boeckel may be a really nice guy, but the extent of his resistance is not joining the party (which admittedly does cost him his job as a journalist, but he gets another one as a bookseller); during his and Tiches' last post-war confrontation, Tiches does have a point when he asks "and when did you ever open your mouth and protest? When did you ever try to stop us?". It needs Boeckel types to make Tiches types flourish as long as they do. Meanwhile, Hans' first girlfriend, Vera, emigrates; his second one, Kirsten, whom he marries, is Danish (which means the script gets in a lot of puns along the lines of "wohl denen, denen Dänen wohlgesonnen sind") and one of the most endearing female characters on screen during the 50s, both witty and resolute (and the person who ensures her husband & children's survival). Incidentally, in a twist that's both rare and refreshing, even today, both women are presented as sympathetic, and neither is vilified. (They're also the ones taking the romantic initiative.)

The whole story is presented as a film-in-a-film, basically, as two Kurt Hoffmann stalwarts, Wolfgang Neuss and Wolfgang Müller (both famous cabaret actors at the time, and really in most Kurt Hoffman pictures) comment in song (with biting lyrics) and prose on the story as they present it the way silent films used to be shown. It gives the whole film something of a Weimar atmosphere; Neuss & Müller might not be Brecht & Weill, but they're pretty good. And the actors are all splendid, some, like Johanna von Kocian or Robert Graf giving their best performances. Even minor parts like a Mother-Courage-like character whose daughters are both involved with Bruno Tiches or Hans Boeckel's landlady are played by then-acting legends like Elisabeth Flickenschildt and Liesl Karlstadt. (And it's fun to play "spot that later familiar face", too; for example, Hort Tappert, who two decades later became one of the nation's favourite screen cops as Derrick, shows up as Boeckel's old teacher.)

Wir Wunderkinder is a film that lives for puncturing smugness, which is another oh so rare thing for cinema in the 50s. Which is why it's important that it ends as it ends, not directly after the war but a few years later, in the then-present, being as acerbic about that period as about all the previous ones. And yet never at the expense of the characters' credibility. They're as endearing and infuriating as you could ever want fictional characters to be, and very, very recognizable, even today.

In conclusion, two excerpts. The scene below is set during the carnival in Munich, just a year before the Nazis get to power; some students present a Hitler imitation, which near the end gets interrupted. It's not subtitled, but should be understandable enough for non-German-speakers:




The second one is sadly without visuals, but it's one of the narrative songs from the movie, "Das Lied vom Wirtschaftswunder", "the song of the economic miracle", about post-war Germany, presented by the two Wolfgangs, Neuss & Müller. Here's a (unfortunately rhyme-less) translation of the last verse to give you a taste of what the lyrics are like:

Zwar gibt es Leut, die leben heut noch zwischen Dreck und Plunder
Doch für die Naziknaben, die das verschuldet haben
Hat unser Staat viel Geld parat und spendet Monatsgaben
Wir sind ne ungelernte Republik
Ist ja kein Wunder ist ja kein Wunder
Ist ja kein Wunder nach dem verlorenen Krieg

There may be people who still live in the dirt and rubble
But for the Nazi boys whose fault that is?
Our state has plenty of money for them.
Well, as a republic we haven't graduated yet
Look, that's not surprising
After the lost war.

Here's the song in its entirety:

kyuuketsukirui:

1. I really liked this article: We're not looking for Pity: The Trouble With Poster Children.

2. It was quite warm most of the time Erin was here (which she was happy for, but I was not), but it's back to being nice cold fall weather now.

3. We got the water bill the other day and fixing that major leak did indeed lower the bill a lot. There's still one small leak that needs to be fixed, which will probably make it go down a couple dollars more, but at least the main problem is fixed.

4. Here are some things that showed up on my feed reader lately that made me happy:

Maru!

This Dinosaur Comics and that Dinosaur Comics.

This Natalie Dee and that Natalie Dee.

I wouldn't get a tattoo of it, but this is actually quite funny.

Wondermark!

sorchar:

• 12:27 Bought stuff for homemade peppermint marshmallows, realized we have no candy thermometer. D'oh! #
• 12:28 Will buy one today. Also, Fred Meyer only sells unflav. gelatin in "Preparing for Armageddon" quantities. 32-packet box, WTF? #
• 15:26 Waiting downtown for car to be finished. Go to Dollar Tree or Spartacus (adult shop)? Decisions, decisions. #
• 15:57 .@miz_missy I was all excited to bond with Fox over candymaking last night. Ah well, he has time this eve before going swimming. #
• 18:02 @ceciliatan Unh unh unh? #
• 18:03 My kitchen looks like the set of a low-budget bukkake film, but the marshmallows are made. Will post full story at foodn00bs blog tomorrow. #
• 18:04 (They won't be ready to eat until tomorrow. The fluff is a little too pepperminty at the moment, but that may change when they're dry.) #
• 18:29 imgs.xkcd.com/comics/stephen_and_me.png - hahaha every volvo we've had, we've called Vulva. #
• 18:29 Also, I GOT MY CAR BACK! They ordered the wrong replacement light, but they can pop that in quickly when the right one arrives on Mon. #
• 20:50 .@v_angelique foodn00bs.typepad.com - it's been pretty dead but my cowriter posted a restaurant review recently. #
• 22:38 @dyk Right? If the only way you can stir interest in your story is with a mystery character, why bother? #

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telesilla:
Step One:
• Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered... whatever you're comfortable with) to your journal. The post should contain your list of 10 unlimited holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is to make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.
• If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.
• Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your journal, so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two:
• Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:
• If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it.
• You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out; it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.
* There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just... wish, and it might come true. Give and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

( my list )

selenak:

This week's fannish5 is a repeat which I've done already - Which five dead characters would you resurrect if you could? . Just as well, because I'm totally worn out from writing Christmas mail and other Christmas-related signatures.To paraphrase Yoda, if you writing your name you must seven hundred times, not so well you will look!

However, thanks to kalypso_v, I know how to brighten up my day. Radio Four put up a repeat of my absolutely favourite radio conversation of my favourite New Who Doctor/Companion team, which means us foreigners can listen to it again for a week: Catherine Tate interviews David Tennant in February 2008. As this was between seasons 3 and 4, it has absolutely no DW-related spoilers whatsoever, and if you managed to miss it the first time around, you really should listen to it now. I promise it will brighten up your day as well. These two are as funny together offscreen as they're on screen, and embarrassingly, I can quote part of that conversation by now. ("Would David like to meet Richard Schiff? David would like to be Richard Schiff!")

kyuuketsukirui:

We had surprise pumpkin pie tonight. :D I love getting those large cans of pumpkin, because it makes two pies and we usually just bake one right away and then put the rest of the filling in the freezer. So then we can just get it out to thaw at some later point, pour it in a pie shell (which also usually come two to a package, so there's an extra one) and throw it in the oven. Not that making a pumpkin pie requires much work in the first place (unless you don't use canned pumpkin, but we always do), but this is even less work than that.

I'd forgotten we still had the rest of the filling in the freezer, so it was a nice surprise to get it out and make a pie.

telesilla:
I just realized that, for some reason, I had blanked on the sga_santa deadline. It's next Thursday.

I haven't started yet.

Have I mentioned that I find it very hard to write with a head cold? Because yeah, I totally do.

Um....oooops?

kyuuketsukirui:

Title: Because I Said So
Author: Dawn Meehan
Number of Pages: 226 pages
Book Number/Goal: 69/75 for 2009
My Rating: 2/5

This book is based on the blog by the same name, which I started reading a couple years ago after seeing her humorous eBay auction for some Pokemon cards. So the blog is basically funny stories about her kids and it's amusing, though she irritates me occasionally and I every so often think of unsubscribing, but never seem to.

Anyway, I was given to understand that the book had a lot of new material, but it really, really didn't. Most was lifted directly from the blog, and the rest was also very familiar like maybe she'd mentioned it and then expanded a bit. So for me, it was totally not worth reading, though I did enjoy the stories the first time around, so for a reader not familiar with her blog, it would probably be more enjoyable.

I do recommend skipping the second-to-last chapter, though, which is all about her "seventh child", i.e. her husband. I cannot stand that sort of thing. She complains about her husband being a big kid, but puts up with and indulges his behaviour, and it's just not amusing. The whole "men are just big, stupid kids who can't ever be expected to do anything" meme needs to die now. The same chapter is also filled with a bunch of "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" crap, which also gives me the eye-twitch.

sorchar:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7771818/Butt-Hurt-Report-Form - This makes me LOL so hard.

yonmei:

The short version of the past 24 hours: I finally finished a task at work that got unconscionably delayed because I had a fit of the what'sthepoints, and a few hours later (not that I knew: this was up over at my parents flat) my dad fell over and broke his hip. My mum rang to tell me about it lunchtime. He is in the hospital. Hopefully, he will be operated on tomorrow. I saw him this evening, and he seemed fine. Aside from the broken leg.

The weather continues miserable.

schtroumph_c:

Scrubs is back? I'll have to remember to dl the two first episodes of s9, and see how the new characters are.

( Spoilers )

telesilla:

...or what?

Because...OMG people! LEGO Universe--a LEGO MMORPG!

telesilla:
Still sick.

This is getting old.

kyuuketsukirui:

I have a cold. :( And just had a bad day in general. :( :(

1. But we got the check from Carla's folks reimbursing us for her plane ticket and I was able to take that over to the bank, yay.

2. I got a 9/10 on my last yoga paper. (Not that my grade really matters, since it's not like I'm ever going to go back to school again, but I'd still like to get a B in the class (I think I have to many absences to hope for an A).)

3. This post reccing my reviews brightened my day quite a bit.

limyaael:
Winterfox on LJ asked me to link to this post about a friend of hers who is facing eviction. This is what Winterfox says about it, since she explains the situation better than I can:

A friend of mine, shuju_the_red (http://shuju-the-red.livejournal.com/) is facing eviction if she can't gather $2,500 within a few days. She lives in the Philippines and this amount is very, very hefty for her; combined that with the fact that she had to bribe the police to get her mother out of a military camp not long ago--it cost her $10,000--she's severely hard-pressed to dredge up more money right now.

My own journal has limited exposure and I was hoping you might be willing to link to my friend's entry detailing Ju's circumstances, because every cent will help.

yonmei:

Not at all.

selenak:

Via espresso_addict: there is a list of top films 2000-2009 via an IMDB search for movies scoring over 7 on the IMDB with more than 10,000 votes during 2000-2009.

Of these, here are the ones I enjoyed most, and/or which left the deepest impression. Not a "best" list - there were several among the 300 or so IMDB results which I have watched and which I know to be artistically better than several on my list of favourites below - just the ones which remained with me the most, which I watched more than once, during the last decade. Oh, and a word about trilogies: I've only included one of each not because I liked the rest less (though in the case of the X-Men movies...), just for room.

( So, Selena's favourites from the last ten years are... )

darkrose:

I feel kind of silly doing this but...I've been having a crisis of writing confidence for the last few months, so if you have anything nice to say about my fic, feel free to say so here

kyuuketsukirui:

1. Had a nice dinner tonight with a childhood friend whom I hadn't seen in years. She was always more Erin's friend than mine, but I went along with them to dinner tonight and it was fun.

2. We walked probably seven miles today. Had a nice walk to Panera again in the morning, and then Erin and I drove up to Will Rogers State Park in the afternoon and wandered around for quite a bit. (The park is really pretty rundown, but it's still nice for a walk.)

3. Erin is leaving tomorrow morning. It was really fun having her here, but I'll be glad to be able to relax and just have my time to myself again. I feel like I've fallen really behind on everything while she's been here.

limyaael:

I’m sorry to have been gone so long. Major health issues as well as writer’s block on the rants meant that I had little to post. While I think I’ll be posting more regularly again, I can’t promise it.

_____________________________________________________________________________

This rant brought to you by Magic Bites, an urban fantasy novel that I read recently and liked well enough—with the exception of one major irritant. I bet you can guess right now what it is.

( This is a temptation, yes, but there is a difference between feeling it and giving in to it )

Villain monologues irritate me for the same reason that idiot plots do: there’s no reason for them to exist, not when you have so many interesting tricks to avoid them.

schtroumph_c:
First:



Was late, as usual, and had to type 16k in few hours. I'm apparently very fast under pressure, but I'm not doing it again. We'll ignore that I said the same thing last year, after the same problem.

Then, the things I wanted to say, but had to push back because of this RL thing:

* 14 November: one day when there was more Tony/McGee fics than Tony/Gibbs in the newsletter:



* My brother went to see New Moon because his girlfriend (18 year old) dragged him. They didn't know what to expect, but from the reactions from those leaving the cinema, Kevin expected some action at the very end. He was disappointed. He said you could see all the girls in one side in fangirly mode, and the boys on the other, dead bored.

She didn't read the books, only based her knowledge from the movies and wanted to wait to see the others, so I explained some parts of the book they missed in the movie, and try to talk about the other without spoilering, to explain why I wasn't interested.

It's a game I loved playing with my friend in high school, giving enough to tempt, but nothing to spoil.

She wanted to know the rest. I'll never forget how her eyes got round when I got to the Jacob/Nessie thing.

* Dubbing can be a funny thing. There was Broken Bird on M6 one or two weeks ago. They dubbed Jordan with the voice of Kate. Apparently, no one wonder why an old regular came back. Or they thought we wouldn't recognise her, but they follow the new episode with two old from the season 2.

* Pauley Perrette answered some questions as Abby. I like this one, and not for the 'no romance at work'. Just for what I'll consider as Abby/McGee new old canon. Someone used the elevator.



In another, she spoke of the cupcake theft, without giving the name of the culprit. Until the end, "I'll come back faster you can say 'McGee is a cupcake thief!'.", the last part said very fast.

I don't think she can be cuter.

Now, catching up what I missed...

selenak:

Simon Callow, who to date has written my two favourite biographies about Orson Welles, has seen Me and Orson Welles (aka the new movie using the producton of Julius Caesar as a background and likes it, writing:

Miraculously, they’ve got Welles right, slap down the middle. The English actor Christian McKay, who bears a striking facial resemblance, and reproduces Welles’s cadences with accuracy (though pardonably he lacks some of the range and richness of what was, after all, one of the greatest voices of the 20th, or probably any other, century), succeeds where none of the many actors who have attempted to play Welles have, in that he suggests the astonishing alternation of masculine and feminine on which everyone commented. Now seductive, now abrasive, now skittish and now savage, McKay sweeps all before him, not counting the cost to himself or others, which is exactly what Welles did.

Now I'm really looking forward to the film, though it probably will take its time before being released in Germany.

On another note, and speaking of charismatic egotistic geniuses with a streak of self-loathing, here's an excellent article about Matt Fraction's run on Iron Man so far, which explains why I'm really fond of reading it, though I don't often review individual issues.

And lastly, more discoveries from the AO3, this time a Sarah Connor Chronicles story:

Blessed are your eyes because they see: James Ellison and John Henry, in the future. Firstly, I was delighted to discover a story about Ellison. Even better, a story about Ellison which doesn't pair him up with Sarah. Not that I don't like Ellison/Sarah combinations as well, but you know, the second season has involved Ellison in these fascinating relationships with Catherine Weaver and John Henry, and I can't understand why this hasn't been explored more in fanfiction. I was thrilled to find this gem.

yonmei:

Abortion is illegal under most circumstances in Northern Ireland. Women in NI pay the same taxes for the NHS as people in the rest of the UK, but when they need to have an abortion, they have to travel to the mainland at their own expense, find a private clinic, and pay for their own abortion. They're not allowed to access NHS services, even though they're UK taxpayers.

There's currently a petition to the Prime Minister (whoever that may be in October 2010) to demand redress for this injustice: regardless of regional law in Northern Ireland, a UK resident is justly entitled to the same NHS services as anyone else, no matter where she lives.

If you're a UK citizen, you can sign it: whether or not you're a UK citizen, please consider linking to it at your journal or blog. Because abortion rights are human rights.

<a href="http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AbortioninNI/"><img src=http://www.fpa.org.uk/News/Campaigns/womensrightstoabortioninNorthernIreland/main_content/Wy8n/small></a>


SPUC recently won a nasty victory in Northern Ireland: they claimed the guidelines on termination were "ambiguous" and needed to be redrafted.
The guidelines say, with regard to women who need an abortion but won't be allowed to have one in Northern Ireland because they're not actually going to die if they don't get one:

Health professionals should explore the woman’s concerns and expectations to establish what kind of support she is getting or may expect to receive from her partner, family, social services, work colleagues or school/college authorities. It is important to discuss any difficulties she foresees if she continues with the pregnancy as well as any concrete measures that can be taken to help her particular situation. A woman should be offered information about alternatives to termination such as continuing with the pregnancy, adoption, etc. She should also be offered information on organisations which can offer support and advice.

You may wonder, what's ambiguous about that? Well, for SPUC: the guidelines do not say, unambiguously, that health professionals are not allowed to point out to a pregnant woman that it's totally legal for her to travel to the mainland, get an abortion there, and here are contact details for organisations that can offer support and advice when she does so. What SPUC wants is a gag rule for health professionals in Northern Ireland.

And they won their court case.

334

kyuuketsukirui:

1. I made delicious creamy cheesy enchiladas tonight and Erin loved them. They're kind of a lot of work, but it's nice making them and getting such a good reaction. :D

2. Yoga was good tonight. More intense than we've been doing lately, but it was a good workout and I felt good afterwards (now I just feel tired and stuffed from dinner).

3. Erin had a bunch of stuff to do today, so I actually was able to get caught up on some stuff myself. I still feel like I'm hugely behind on everything and am trying not to stress out, but argh!

telesilla:
Yup, still sick.

I'm sleeping in the second bedroom because I'm coughing a lot and also because...well you know those stupid stereotypes about how all guys turn into babies when they're sick? Yeah, that, only I'm not a guy. I whine a lot and the sad thing is that I know I do it and that doesn't stop me from doing it. Also my sleep schedule is really messed up.

So that's the state of me.

Meant to say, this seems to be a garden variety cold and not teh hamtrax.

selenak:

( Your priorities have changed )

yonmei:

I have just been working out my To Do list till the end of March. For work, that is, though it includes such stuff as two weeks annual leave over Christmas.

One of my colleagues, USHomosamurai (who went back to the US a couple of years ago) asked me once why the British financial year runs from 1st April to 31st March. I didn't know, but was able to tell her that in Samuel Pepys time, the year's number changed on 1st April - his diary makes that clear. So the habit of changing the year's number on the 1st of January is something less than four hundred years old, but - I was able to work this out from first principles - can't be very much less, because the US cloned its calendar from the UK in the 18th century, and the US (say American friends) has financial and calendar year running concurrently.

But why (asked USHomosamurai) would the new year ever have started on 1st April? I thought about it, and shrugged: "Could be because the Roman Empire's New Year began 1st April, and you know how bureaucrats are...."

I don't care for today's XKCD. It's cruel to physics lecturers.

I did, however, love last night's House episode, even if it was rather cruel to House. Cruelty to House is what makes fanfic fun. ( light spoilers for what's either 6.8 or 6.9 depending how you're counting )

I have finished writing the skeleton of my Yuletide story.

kyuuketsukirui:

I'm not a big fan of this sleeping at night thing. :p Also the not getting anything done thing. But I've been having a great time with Erin here, so it's worth it. I can always get back to my regular schedule and catch up on stuff once she's gone. (I actually did have a chance to do some work this evening since she's gone to visit her goddaughter for a day, but I was so glad to be able to just be on the internet again that I spent more time reading flists and greader and stuff than getting any actual work done. *sigh*)

Today we drove up the coast a bit to Malibu Lagoon, where we wandered around a bit and poked at sea creatures down on the beach. There's some pics here, though Erin's camera ran out of batteries before we could get pictures of all the awesomeness.

Also making me happy are the last week or so worth of posts on Cake Wrecks. It's all Thanksgiving-themed and wow, so many bad, bad turkey cakes out there. Just say no, people.

sorchar:

• 18:25 PDX issues boil-water notice for west side of city, claims e coli. Meanwhile, spate of murder-suicides on west side. Coincidence? Or X-File? #
• 18:26 @KalCobalt How'd it go? And you be at work tomorrow? I have something for you! #
• 18:29 @luchalibrarian Isn't that something you should bring from home? #
• 18:29 @KalCobalt Can't wait to hear about hilarity. I finally finished the rest of your birthday present. *G* Dunno when I'll get in, because... #
• 18:31 @KalCobalt ...of having to drop my car off at body shop (why didn't I go to ICR right up the street? Cuz I'm a brainchild.) When I get in... #
• 18:31 @KalCobalt ...I'll bring your pressie. #
• 22:07 @luchalibrarian He beat up Spongebob? #

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yonmei:

Where did it go, again?

selenak:

Name 10 characters without looking at the questions, then answer for them.

Characters:

1. Abigail Brand (first Astonishing X-Men, currently Marvelverse at large)
2. Jo Grant (Doctor Who)
3. Benjamin Linus (Lost)
4. David Fisher (Six Feet Under)
5. Kai Winn (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
6. Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)
7. Henry Hellrung (The Order, Iron Man)
8. Alex Drake (Ashes to Ashes)
9. Maria LaGuerta (Dexter)
10. Owen Harper (Torchwood)


( Questions! )

kyuuketsukirui:

Title: War Dances
Author: Sherman Alexie
Number of Pages: 256 pages
Book Number/Goal: 68/75 for 2009
My Rating: 2.5/5

This is a collection of short stories and poems linked mainly by the fact that they're about whiny guys. I don't know. I did like a couple of the stories (especially the last one, Salt, and the title story), but the ones that left a bad taste in my mouth really left a bad taste in my mouth and kind of overpower all the rest. The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless was just gross, and I get that he was supposed to be a gross asshat guy, but I don't really need to read a story about a guy who's just wallowing in his assholishness while going "wah, wah, poor me", you know? I could go anywhere on the internet and find a million of them.

Added to that the fact that I'm not a big fan of poetry and these poems didn't do anything to change my mind, and that the writing itself wasn't that great, this was just really not the book for me. I'm glad this wasn't the first thing of his I ever read, otherwise I'd probably write him off and never read anything of his again.

selenak:

A friend of mine - in the publishing business, well-read, i.e. usually well versed in spotting set-ups in fiction -, is currently marathoning The West Wing. She's in mid-season 3.

Friend: Great show. But there aren't many personal stories - love stories, I mean.
Self: There are a lot of personal stories which aren't love stories, but sure, the emphasis is on the politics. Part of what I like about it. But there are a few on-off romances, like CJ and Danny...
Friend: *snorts*
Self:...and the couple most of the audience was rooting for from the get go will get together at the end, so there's that if you absolutely have to have a long term romance.
Friend: CJ and Leo?
Self: *snorts*

Seriously, though, I didn't 'ship Josh/Donna (meaning: I didn't seek out fanfic, I wasn't actively routing for them to get together; I liked what I was given on tv, sure, but I liked their alternate love interests just as much), and I could still see the neon signs early on. Surely if there was a couple who was a safe bet to get together before the show ended, it was this one. Meanwhile - CJ and Leo? Not that I object, I'm just not clear where my friend got that one from.

kyuuketsukirui:

Erin's sister got an earlier flight, so she was back over here by like 4.30, instead of between 8 and 9 like she'd planned. :D

We then went to Target (she rented a car for the rest of the time she's here, whee!), since she wanted to get some presents to take to her goddaughter tomorrow, and I found Tim Tams (at a cheaper price than the grocery store!) and a cute green and blue striped shirt.

Then we had a delicious dinner of grilled tri-tip and cheesy potatoes with leeks and bacon, with pumpkin pie for dessert. Om nom nom!

darkrose:

Dreamed last night that I'd uploaded a bunch of fic to AO3. I was disappointed when I woke up this morning and it wasn't true, because I'm lazy that way.

I also dreamed about the fic that's been percolating in my head for a few days now. I want to take the "John and Rodney get stranded on a planet that practices slavery" tropes and make it about John and Ronon, but I don't want to use the idea that Ronon has to be the owner because you have to fight hand-to-hand if anyone challenges you for your slave. Not that I have a problem with that trope, but it's been done, and done well; I want to do something different.

So my idea is that this particular world was used for genetics research by the Ancients, and about 10% of the population has the ATA gene. After the Ancients left, the gene carriers, called the Gifted, established an oligarchy where they ruled, sometimes as benevolent dictators, and at other times, not so benevolent. About a hundred and fifty years before the Atlantis expedition, the non-Gifted rebelled. They didn't kill or exile all of the Gifted, though, because they needed them to work much of the technology, so instead, they enslaved them. All adult Gifted are "bonded" to a person referred to as a Keeper, whose job is to make sure that the Gifted does his assigned tasks without exceeding the boundaries.

Somehow, John and Ronon get stranded on this planet, and Ronon has to be John's Keeper. In addition to John letting his submissive side out, and Ronon discovering that he likes being the one giving orders to John, I want to look a little at Ronon's conflicted feelings toward the Lanteans, and both of them realizing where the Lanteans' attitudes of patronizing superiority to the rest of the Pegasus Galaxy could be heading.

Of course, I've got to finish my Podbang fic--at least, once I get the replacement for the microphone Ogdred used as a chew toy--and figure out what I'm doing for prettylightsfic, and I haven't had much writing drive lately. But we'll see...maybe next year if there's an SGA Big Bang I'll try to do something, if only because there's not enough Ronon/John fic out there.

ETA: Several people have asked about the Ronon/John slavefic that I referred to earlier. One of them is When In Rome, by penknife. The other is "Release Mechanism", by hth; unfortunately, her site appears to be dead, and it wasn't posted anywhere else.

yonmei:

Today is Sssh! Saturday, which is an invention of a Londoner who wants it to become an international last-Saturday-of-the-month celebration of people holding hands in public.

I didn't hold hands with anyone today.

One of my dragons is about to die.

I have to go have dinner with my parents shortly.

None of the above statements has anything to do with each other or with this one.

As far as I know.

selenak:

Fannish5: Name five characters who would throw the best holiday gatherings.

1.) Londo Mollari, of Babylon 5. Not just because the Centauri in general and Londo in particular love to party, but because Londo actually has organizational skills if he wants to employ them (see: organizing conspiracies against heads of state, getting various representatives of the league of non-alligned worlds he previously pissed off to form an alliance). And he's got the charm and vitality to make everyone feel welcome. Lastly, we have on screen canon for this. I ask you, whose "practice of religious belief" looked like it was the most fun to attend in Parliament of Dreams?

2.) Jadzia Dax, of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.. Dax loves a party, is tight with the local provider of drinks and food, and with her xenophilia is bound to pick up a rich variety of guests. Centuries of age also give her the knowledge to avoid stepping on anyone's cultural toes. Lastly, I say again, on screen evidence. Her hen night looked like it was glorious fun.

3.) Chiana, of Farscape. Much younger and more anarchic than my previous two examples, but when she wants to say thank you to people she cares about, she has given on screen evidence for her ability to organize a touching celebration (and the food that goes with it). Also, if Chiana is throwing the gathering, you can bet the romantic angst will be kept at a minimum and the fun level will be high; of course, it's not guaranteed all the food was legaly obtained, but in the Unchartered Territories, who cares?

4.) Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, of Lost. This man has proven himself able to throw a party even under adverse conditions on the proverbial desert island, and to cajole people who constantly clash to attend. He's been known to share chocolate even with messed up sociopathic masterminds. Hurley is definitely a candidate for best holiday gatherer ether!

5. Lorne, of Angel. A long time owner of a karaoke bar frequented by demons and humans alike, superb singer, all time nice guy and friend, Lorne probably could throw holiday gatherings in his sleep. (Why, he could organize merry get togethers even in a brain washed state when most of California was temporarily in the Hyperion worshipping Jasmine.) In addition to sharing the celebratory spirit and organizing skills of my previous candidates, Lorne can also provide great music for the occasion. Just be careful not to sing yourself if you don't want advice for what awaits you.
****


Speaking of Chiana,one of the many virtues of the AO3 is that one can discover stories one missed the first time around. I've always had a soft spot for the Chiana-John Crichton relationship, so I was delighted to find a long and plotty adventure starring the two of them:
Left Behind, set in season 3, with the episode Eat Me as a starting point. If you, like me, didn't know this story since ages, go and read at once!

*****

And lastly, one does not need new reasons to love Patrick Stewart, but I found his impassioned article about domestic violence very moving, and very worth reading.

kyuuketsukirui:

1. I got my new sweatshirt in the mail today! It's the same one Carla got a week or so ago, but in olive green instead of navy blue. I love it so! My old sweatshirt was...not exactly something I would choose myself (had a big picture of wolves on it and said Alaska; I think it was given to us by Carla's aunt when they went on a trip there), plus it was worn thin in many places and the cuffs were pretty much shredded. Also it was a pullover, which is fine for in the house, but as a jacket to wear out, I'd rather have a zip-up sweatshirt.

2. We bought a new sofa! Earlier in the week we got a flier from Easy Life, which had an advertisement for a $599 sofa with free loveseat or recliner and we both liked the idea. The sofa reclines on both ends, plus the centre folds down to be a little table with built-in cup holders!

At first we'd been thinking about getting the recliner to go with it, since that's what would fit better in our living room, but the recliner turned out to be a rocker recliner, which I do not like, plus the hand pull on the side felt really cheap. So we're now not sure exactly where the loveseat will go, but we'll find a place for it somewhere, either in the living room or maybe here in the computer room.

I am all O_o over the fact that we have bought furniture. It's so grown up! We did buy a bed years ago when we got married, but that is the only furniture we've bought, new or used. Everything else was already in the house or hand-me-down from relatives. (Oh, and we got a coffee table from Carla's folks for Christmas a couple years ago.) Well, we did buy the three computer desks we have, and the CD shelves, but those don't feel like real furniture in quite the same way, you know? They're not a sofa!

Anyway, they were out of stock at that location, so it has to be ordered and will be delivered around the 8th.

3. They had Tim Tams at the grocery store! FINALLY! I have been hearing now for a year or more that Pepperidge Farm sells Tim Tams here, but I never saw them anywhere. I was kind of disappointed in the price, though. On sale for $3.50, regular price $3.99. I'm not sure how much they are at Cost Plus, but it's not that much more expensive. I was hoping these would be a little cheaper. I did buy a pack, but even the sale price is out of my price range except for very special occasions (like finding them for the first time ever).