tales from a twentysomething artist

Memeage

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:14:25 GMT

Fill this out! I wanna know!

YOU
1. Name:
2. Date of birth:
3. Where you live:
4. What makes you happy:
5. Currently listening/the last thing you listened to:
6. Do you read my journal?:
7. If yes, what makes it especially good or bad?:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. What do you love at the moment?:
10. Favourite place to spend time:
11. Favourite lyric:
12. The best time of the year:

RECOMMEND
1. A film:
2. A book:
3. A band, a song, or album:

PLUS
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Look at my friends-list and tell what you like about one of our mutual friends:
4. Put this in your journal so that I can tell you what I like about you.

Be prepared

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:51:15 GMT

Okay. Well.

Apparently, LJ just laid off an alarming number of people, the media is blaming it on slashers, and a lot of people are really very worried that the service is going to up and die at any second.

I'm going to come right out and say, up-front, that I'm not really worried that LJ will abruptly go down and we'll all lose each other and our journals forever. If LJ does indeed die, it's much more likely it'll be a long, slow decline, not something we need to leap all over right now. However, I do recognize that this is a scary situation, and everybody wants to be prepared. The good news is, we're fandom, we are organized, and we most likely have ample time to prepare for a disaster, if indeed one should occur.

So, let's take a few deep, calming breaths, and get practical.

1) Back up your LJ. If you haven't done so before, doing so now is a pretty good idea. It never hurts to have one.

The most popular tool for doing so is, far and wide, ljArchive. It's very simple to use, though currently only for Windows users. (The second most popular is LJBook, which, as far as I know, works for both, but is currently under heavy load from everybody panicking.) The only other tool I know of specifically for Mac is antennapedia's Python script, which also backs up communities, and can be used to re-upload your posts to another LJ framework server (such as JournalFen, InsaneJournal, GreatestJournal, DeadJournal, Inksome, etc.).

To re-upload your journal onto another server if you're a Windows user, I cannot recommend LJ-Sec enough. It works beautifully and simply, and there's a detailed tutorial on using it, written by brown_betty, available here.

There's a neat list of other tools, many utilizing Perl or Python (which should work on Windows, Mac and Linux), compiled by zvi_likes_tv over here.

This should take care of backing up your data.

2) The next thing that you should get comfortable doing is using an LJ client to post. For one, it becomes a lot easier to deal with switching servers if you're not using the actual update page--sort of a psychological weaning, so that your posting experience isn't disrupted. For another, you may have the option of synchronized cross-posting to multiple journals if you use a client, which is really useful if your flist doesn't all migrate to the same server. It also means that you'll have less re-uploading to do if LJ doesn't do anything foom-y for a long time.

So, yeah. Client is definitely a good idea.

For Windows users, I recommend Semagic. It's simple, it's awesome, it offers you a choice between HTML and WYSIWYG, and it supports synchronized cross-posting. A tutorial on how to set it to synchronize cross-post was written by snapetoy, and is available here.

For Mac users, I'm sorry, but I just don't know. I'm currently doing research into this and will get back to you on it ASAP. There only appear to be four Mac clients in the first place, and most are developed by average LJ users. But sit tight, I will post this information as soon as I have it.

3) The last thing you need to do, in preparing for an LJ foom, is make sure you know where everybody on your flist is. Make a post requesting people's non-LJ contact information, such as e-mail addresses, screen names, LJ clone usernames, etc. Keep track of who has given you their contact info and whoi has not. After a few days, if you don't have everyone, make a second post with a list of the names you still need to hear from. If there are still a few stragglers a few days after that, start checking profiles and leaving comments. Make sure you save all of this information as it comes in, and that it's attached to the correct LJ friend. I cannot stress this enough. You should have organized notes on each friend that look something like this:

darlas_mom
AIM: Tarzangrrrl
MSN: Doylesprincess85@hotmail.com
Y!IM: pandora_m_2000
ICQ: 396574848

LJ back-ups:

darlas-mom.greatestjournal.com
darlas-mom.insanejournal.com
journalfen.net/users/darlas_mom
inksome.com/users/darlas_mom

See how clear that is? You know who it is and where they are.

You need to not only have this information, but you need to be able to find it. Get a new address book and write it down; copy/paste it all into a massive e-mail and send it to yourself; import all of this information into a notetaking application. Something like that.

Personally, I recommend the notetaking application route. E-mails can be lost or deleted; address books can be misplaced. The application will be there for you as long as your computer is there for you.

Windows and Linux users: my personal choice for an application of this type is InCollector. It's small, fast, easy to use, and it puts all of your notes into one portable database. (I'm not kidding; it puts 'em all in one database file which you can e-mail to yourself to put on another computer, or stick on a flash drive to take with you anywhere that has a computer with InCollector installed. You can even file-transfer it from computer to computer if you need your contacts at work, school and home.) InCollector also supports tagging, just like LJ does, so you can organize and navigate your contact notes more efficiently. Plus, it's freeware. It won't cost you a penny.

Mac users: TiddlyWiki seems to be your best bet, which is an application that basically creates an offline wiki of whatever you want on your hard drive. It's as portable as InCollector, works on all major platforms (so you're not fucked if you switch to Windows or Linux later on), and there's a version of it that can be put on your iPhone. It also supports tagging, which should really help in organizing it. It is also absolutely free.

Okay, so that's that! If anybody has any questions, gimme a shout, I will do my absolute physical best to answer.

And, well, as long as I'm doing this, I might as well do the thing properly. Gacked from chaos_by_design:

It has been noted that while there are plenty of ways of saving one's journal, there isn't a useful way to save one's LJ social network. If you can read this, please send e-mail to heather dot cotter at gmail dot com with the subject line "social safety net" that has contact info unrelated to LJ, preferably e-mail (but no address@livejournal.com), and your LJ handle. Especially pertinent if we don't connect on any other forum. Thankya!

Flist, little help?

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:07:24 GMT

Hey, guys, can you suggest a blond actress who is freaking creepy as all hell? A woman that you look at and go, "Wow, she'd be hot if she didn't make me want to run away and hide under my bed."

Someone that isn't Tricia Helfer. I know she's the natural choice to come to mind if you've seen even a tiny bit of "Battlestar Galactica," but I really need somebody else.

Suggestions? Anyone?

Link

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:23:56 GMT

♥ the fanficcers love meme, continued ♥

Because I am nothing if not a sheep and/or a total attention whore. *g*

Last post of 2008, mebbe?

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:49:19 GMT

I haven't posted in six days, between holiday stuff, my father coming into town and then my mother going out of town, so that all but two of my brothers are here (and making a fantastic mess).

There's a lot of "2008 in review" memes floating around, so I thought I'd try a couple!

First sentence of every month, from masqthephlsphr:

Jan: Hey, greetings to all my Mountain and Pacific time peeps from the future! [It was barely after midnight on New years' Day.]
Feb: Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. [I hadn't posted in two weeks.]
Mar: Yesterday, I spent my ENTIRE DAY reading comics.
Apr: I am not a happy Heather today.
May: Took some pics of my kid playing in the backyard, blowing bubbles and wearing her dress-up clothes.
Jun: I am bored.
Jul: This one looked frickin' sweet. [It was a meme.]
Aug: Hey, all.
Sep: Title: How You Got Here [It was a fic I wrote.]
Oct: ::blows dust off of journal:: [I hadn't posted in two weeks.]
Nov: Happy Halloween, from my daughter the super hero [LJ-cut text for photos of Darla in her Wonder Woman costume]
Dec: Okay, flist. I have RAGE.

Note: This list does not include short children's books I've read to Darla over the course of the year. (Mostly because "Harold and the Purple Crayon," "That's How We Do It In Japan" and "The Complete Brothers Grimm" are the only ones that really stuck in my memory.)

1. "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli
2. "Ethan of Athos" by Lois McMaster Bujold
3. "1984" by George Orwell
4. "Animal Farm" by George Orwell
5. "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
6. "Soul Music" by Terry Pratchett
7. "Reaper Man" by Terry Pratchett
8. "Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett
9. "Mort" by Terry Pratchett
10. "Sourcery" by Terry Pratchett
11. "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett
12. "Carpe Jugulum" by Terry Pratchett
13. "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
14. "Is Our Children Learning?: The Case Against George W. Bush" by Paul Begala
15. "The Star Scroll" by Melanie Rawn
16. "A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin
17. "The Constant Princess" by Philippa Gregory
18. "Twlight" by Stephenie Meyer
19. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer
20. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer
21. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer
22. "The Subtle Knife" by Phillip Pullman
23. "The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes" by Neil Gaiman
24. "The Sandman: The Doll's House" by Neil Gaiman
25. "The Sandman: Dream Country" by Neil Gaiman
26. "The Sandman: Season of Mists" by Neil Gaiman
27. "The Sandman: A Game of You" by Neil Gaiman
28. "The Sandman: Fables and Recollections" by Neil Gaiman
29. "The Sandman: Brief Lives" by Neil Gaiman
30. "The Sandman: Worlds' End" by Neil Gaiman
31. "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
32. "Hannibal" by Thomas Harris
33. "Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris
34. "Things I've Learned From The Women Who've Dumped Me" by Dan Savage
35. "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle
36. "Big Trouble" by Dave Barry
37. "Watchmen" by Alan Moore
38. "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" by J.K Rowling
39. "Quidditch Through The Ages" by J.K Rowling
40. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K Rowling
41. "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" by Tom Robbins
42. "Shattered Dreams - My Life As A Polygamist's Wife: A Memoir" by Irene Spencer
43. "A Gay Couple's Journey Through Surrogacy: Intended Fathers" by Michael Menichiello

1. Twlight
2. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
3. Arséne Lupin
4. Casino Royale
5. The Golden Compass
6. The Dark Knight
7. Dagon
8. Goya's Ghosts
9. Juno
10. eXistenZ
11. Revengers Tragedy
12. Para Entrar A Vivir
13. Skinwalkers
14. Blood and Chocolate
15. Dragon Wars
16. The Producers
17. Enchanted
18. Boxing Helena
19. Dancing At The Blue Iguana
20. Made in USA
21. A Clockwork Orange
22. Pathology
23. The Grudge 2
24. Happily Never After
25. Southland Tales
26. Reign Over Me
27. Apt Pupil
28. Spider-Man III
29. Iron Man
30. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
31. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull
32. Alvin and the Chipmunks
33. Kung Fu Panda
34. WALL-E
35. Across the Universe
36. Dr. Horrible's Musical Sing-A-Long Blog
37. The Unsaid
38. The Illusionist
39. Stardust
40. Catch and Release
41. Wild Hogs
42. August Rush
43. Martian Child
44. Dan In Real Life
45. Penelope
46. The Lost Boys: The Tribe
47. House of Yes
48. The Boondock Saints
49. The Other Boleyn Girl
50. Shallow Grave
51. Barbarella
52. The Cell
53. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Re-Edit
54. Bladerunner
55. Earth
56. Apolcaypto
57. Hannibal Rising
58. Enemy Mine
59. Sweeney Todd
60. Scary Movie 4
61. Hogfather
62. The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon Emperor
63. Shaun of the Dead
64. National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets

1. "The Bionic Woman" (Never got into it)
2. "Jekyll" (Loved it, but it only ran six episodes)
3. "Merlin" (Loved it.)
4. "Babylon 5" (Liked it, but never really got into it)
5. "The West Wing" (Love it)
6. "Due South" (Love it)
7. "Lost" (HATED IT)
8. "Avatar the Last Airbender" (Love it to pieces)
9. "Slings & Arrows" (Liked, but didn't really get into it)
10. "Chuck" (Liked, but didn't really get into it)
11. "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (Didn't love it)
12. "Elfen Lied" (Didn't love it)

From stoney321:

The meh:

- I had my most crapsack birthday ever, for reasons that only a select few people have been allowed to know.
- s8219 moving out really sucked.
- I was celibate and dateless for this entire year. (Unless Cute Cashier Guy suddenly bursts through my door and makes passionate love to me on my sofa sometime in the next twenty minutes, anyway.)
- I spent most of this year incredibly, worryingly broke.
- I spent a worryingly large portion of this year combating some illness or other.
- My favorite shows ("Heroes" and "Doctor Who") are currently On Notice for being painfully mediocre overall, with glimpses of SERIOUS suckitude.

The great:

- I co-authored a project with lady1raven where we wrote over 100,000 words. (About 70,000 of those words were hers, but I take comfort in the fact that the project was my idea, and I'm still amazingly proud of her, and of how much and how well she wrote.)
- I cared about politics for the first time ever, and have learned SO MUCH about the world, the media and the general state of my country as a result.
- I donated and worked to raise over $200 in charity this year. Not much, in the overall scheme of things, but more than ever before for me.
- WE ELECTED OBAMA, YOU GUYS! OMG OMG OMG! AND HE'S GONNA BE PRESIDENT FOR REALLY REALS IN THREE WEEKS! America made history with that, and I love that I had my own small part in it (essays, campaigning and voting).
- One of my brothers came to terms with his sexuality this year. I was the first person he came out to. The amount of trust and love he showed me there, and the fact that I got to support him for this, was really, truly awesome.
- Pursuant to that last item, I now know pretty much all of the ins and outs of the domestic and international adoption processes. It'll be some years yet before he can pursue his dream of adopting a child, but this is another thing I'm really excited that he let me be a part of it.
- My little girl grew up so much this year! I can't believe how much she's changed, and I really can't believe that she's almost seven!
- I'm closer than ever with my dad. Which has its drawbacks, but overall? Pretty sweet.

In this moment, I am happy. And really, really excited about the coming year. :-) Good night and good luck, to all of us!

O_O

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:36:01 GMT

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Fuck you, Fox! You just ruined my Christmas. I hope you're satisfied. You may be ruining my new year. I hope you're satisfied.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 22:29:21 GMT

::headdesk::

I am such a chicken shit. I promised myself the next time I saw Cute Cashier Guy, I'd at least ask him what his name is. (Nobody at my corner store wears name tags, you see.)

Today, I...managed to ask him how his art history final last weekend went. And then paid for my candy bar and left. ::headdesk again::

I am never gonna be able to ask him out, am I?

::headpiano::

HEATHER SMASH!

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:25:18 GMT

Homework assignment, flist!

Explain to me, in 500 words or less, how gay marriage is just like the imprisonment, torture and execution of millions of people. I will be timing you.

(This enraged sarcasm is brought to you by several bigots who appeared out of nowhere to start a flame war on the comments section of my favorite newspaper.)

WTF? No, seriously. WTF?

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:50:25 GMT

Periodically, I do something very, very strange as a creative outlet.

I scout locations for fictional characters to live in.

No, seriously, I really do this. I also tend to cast actors I like for my characters, especially roleplay characters, because it gives them a unique voice in my head that I can always call upon to check how they sound. This works wonders for making characters feel distinct from each other.

But back to location scouting.

When you location-scout for characters, browsing real estate listings for places you can imagine they live, you're also designing for them a backdrop, a place they can come alive in. Have you ever noticed how much a person's home says about who they are? There's a reason that, in psychology, the house represents the self. There is absolutely no other material indicator that tells you as much about a person as the place they choose to live and the way they decorate it once they live there.

Same goes for fictional people. If you find a place that you can really picture them living in, it's creating an aspect of their character that helps you flesh them out in your mind's eye. Even if you never describe in detail what the place looks like to anyone, you know it's there, and it tells you A LOT.

Plus, it's a fun way to pretend you're rich and shopping for mansions you will never, in real life, be able to afford.

I'm sure, at this point, you're looking at me like I'm nuts. That's okay. I look at me like I'm nuts, too.

I told you all that, to tell you about this: Sometimes, when I'm doing this location-scouting, I find places that are truly, outrageously unique.

This one I just found in Merída, Yucátan, Mexico? Blows just about every other one I've ever looked at out of the water.

http://www.mayanliving.com/Listings/000961.html?listing_page=Merida&lang=eng

Are you looking at this thing? What the hell? I can only guess the architect was the bastard lovebaby of Pablo Picasso and M.C Escher. There's a room in it that totally reminds me of a cartoon beehive. (If you're looking, you know the one. The one where the wall is made up of a bunch of little pentagons? Yeah, that one. If you were wondering why it looked familiar, wonder no longer. Cartoon beehive. I'm telling you.) Also, check the slanted roofs with the half-barrel cylinder windows and the weird color bar bathroom wall tiles. Not to mention the ceiling that's shaped like upside-down stairs underneath the staircase.

My favorite feature is the swimming pool in the living room that goes outside into an even bigger swimming pool through some mutant mish-mash of a window and a tunnel.

I could never, ever make a place like this up in a million years.

I can picture no sane human being ever choosing to live in a place like this. Can you imagine the echo chamber that is the beehive room? You probably could hear a pin drop in there. And still hear it an hour and a half later.

This is my second-favorite house for sale I've ever come across when location scouting.

(The only thing I love more than this $800,000 crime against geometry is the underground mansion in Coober Pedy, South Australia. The above-ground bits in the photos are a courtyard for entertaining. Absolutely everything else? Yeah, underground.)

::sulks:: Why are houses in America so boring?

Huh.

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:50:46 GMT

This is the list of the top 100 grossing movies of all time. Bold what you've seen.

Titanic (1997)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Shrek 2 (2004)
E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Spider-Man (2002)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Forrest Gump (1994)
The Lion King (1994)
Shrek the Third (2007)
Transformers (2007)
Iron Man (2008)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Independence Day (1996)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Home Alone (1990)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Shrek (2001)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
The Incredibles (2004)
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Jaws (1975)
I Am Legend (2007)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Batman (1989)
Night at the Museum (2006)
Men in Black (1997)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Cars (2006)
Bruce Almighty (2003)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Twister (1996)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
War of the Worlds (2005)
Cast Away (2000)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Signs (2002)
Hancock (2008)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Rush Hour 2 (2001)
WALL·E (2008)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
King Kong (2005)
Ghost (1990)
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Aladdin (1992)
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
X2: X-Men United (2003)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Back to the Future (1985)
300 (2006)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Ratatouille (2007)
Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Batman Begins (2005)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Mummy Returns (2001)
Armageddon (1998)
Superman Returns (2006)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Happy Feet (2006)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Madagascar (2005)
Toy Story (1995)
Men in Black II (2002)
Gladiator (2000)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

For those who don't want to go through the list, I've seen all but eleven of them. I'm at 89/100.

And except for a small handful...

...I loved every single one.

Damn.

Marco!

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:04:20 GMT

LJ blackout, people! Look alive! Who's out there? Mouseketeer roll call!

Super!

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:28:38 GMT

Gacking a meme from my wife, because that's apparently all I do anymore. But I am including PICTURES in mine, just to be different!

Confidential to lady1raven: It took me forever to do this because I had to keep stopping and going, "No, I cannot use Thracians. No one else would know what I was talking about."

Assemble a super team from your favorite films, TV shows, books etc. Your team must consist of the following: Team Leader, Warrior, Smartypants, Hottie, Comic Relief. You may not use more than one character from each source.

Team Leader: Gregory House (House, MD) - Have you ever tried to imagine House dealing with a supernatural sci-fi/fantasy situation? You gotta try it, because it is FUNNEH. Also, imagining him interacting with the rest of my team here without killing or being killed by someone is also FUNNEH.

Warrior: Aeryn Sun (Farscape). There is no sci-fi female bad-ass I crush on harder than Aeryn, and dammit, she is a competent military bad-ass!

Smarty Pants: Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (Jossverse) - He's smart and he's awesome, and he's got a dark side and he's badass. He works perfectly here. Also, for reasons that will make sense only to lady1raven and s8219, I 'ship Wesley/Aeryn madly.

Hottie: The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who). Ten gets more ass than Doctors One through Nine combined. Don't believe me? Check it, bitches.

Comic Relief: Hiro Nakamura (Heroes) - My show may be failing lately (and I want points for hanging on as long as I have--most other people decided it was failing a while ago!), but seriously, no other character in the history of ever can ever be as funny as Hiro Nakamura.

Now, add a team of supervillains for your team to fight. They must consist of the following: Master, Loyal Lapdog, Mad Scientist, Bloodthirsty Assassin, Lovable Failure. Like your superhero team, all members must be from different fandoms.

Master: Jim Profit (Profit) - Profit is a grade-'A' manipulative psychopath who RULES ALL when it comes to making intricately-detailed plans that by all rights, should never work, but they do, because he's Just That Good.

Loyal Lapdog: Peter Petrelli (Heroes) - I love Peter, and he really is actually a good guy, but he's so easy to manipulate, it's not even funny. And, being honest, any team upon which Adrian Pasdar is in charge, by default, Peter Petrelli is on that team. Trufax. (Hush about the age of the picture. Peter has Emo Bangs in my head forever. The only reason I've stopped wishing he had never cut it is because it was the first thing Peter and Elle ever did together, and I won't speak ill of the dead. ::sniffles:: )

Mad Scientist: Dr. Horrible (Dr. Horrible) - "With my freeze ray, I will stop the world..."

Bloodthirsty Assassin: Billy Hyde (Jekyll) - Do we really need to go into it? "Pleeeeeease, let's play liooooons!"

Lovable Failure: Pintel and Rigetti (Pirates of the Caribbean) - I know it said I couldn't use more than one char from each fandom, but you cannot split these two up. You can't. You just can't!

For the record: I did NOT make any of the images above and I do not know who did. Google Images sucks like that. :-/ If you wanna use any for yourself, put 'em as "please claim." Don't credit me.

Also, this whole meme has obvious roots in the Tropes Wiki's entries Five Man Band and Five Bad Band.

MY RAGE PWNS YOUR HUNGER, YOU SOCIOPATHIC BITCH!

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:49:09 GMT

Okay, flist.

I have RAGE.

I mean, serious RAGE that warrants ALL CAPS.

If you are interested in helping me get past it, here's what I need you to do:

Kill Sylar.

That's right. Leave me a comment right now, of any length, killing Sylar bloody. Or comically. I don't care. Just kill him. Non-"Heroes" fen on my flist can be included in this! You don't even have to know who he is--if you can write a gruesome death for someone named Sylar, you're in.

Make my week better. Murder Kring's darling. Gabriel Sylar MUST DIE.

Hit me with your best shot.

Meme

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:35:23 GMT

This one's going around my flist, and it looked like fun, so I gacked. From kangeiko and likeadeuce:

Put your MP3 player on shuffle, and write down the first line of the first twenty songs. Post the poem that results. The first line of the twenty-first is the title.

Hunted inside, my days unfold

Send a heartbeat to the void that cries to you
Love me cancerously, like a salt-sore soaked in the sea.
Summer has come and passed
There's 104 days of summer vacation
I walk a lonely road
A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do
From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Must it take a life for hateful eyes to glisten once again
Every single night, the same arrangement
And you can try to fight this all you want
Down in the workshop
Watch, I can flash across the sky
The samples won't delay, but the cable
I'm the lucky one, always having fun
She wore faded jeans and soft black leather
The birds and the bees
Leaves from the vine
I saw the gravestones
Where are we?
The heart is a bloom

Q for the Flist

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:30:48 GMT

If you celebrated Thanksgiving growing up: tell me how?

Dude. SWEET!

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:51:34 GMT

This may, in fact, be the best, most useful and most effective writing tool I have ever used in my entire life.

You guys gotta try this thing.

Grrr

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 07:34:32 GMT

Dear "Heroes" fandom,

I don't know if you noticed this, so I'm just gonna point it out real fast.

THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS GODDAMN SHOW BESIDES SYLAR.

No love,
Me

*

Sorry, guys. Had to get that off my chest after doing the newsletter for today. (The newsletter in question being ninth_wonders) I collected dozens of links for it, as I do every weekend, but this weekend was special. And by "special," I mean that TWO LINKS IN THE ENTIRE THING had NOTHING TO DO WITH SYLAR.

For those not in "Heroes" fandom, Sylar is the new Spike. Sociopathic serial killer who happens to be good-looking and clever, so the fen lose their shit over his awesomeness.

Now, much like Spike and Jesus, Sylar would be great if he didn't have an occasionally insane fanbase. But he does, which is the sort of thing that can put me off the whole damn thing.

I'm in the unique position of being both inside AND outside that (inside because it's my fandom and I have to collect links to the content about it, outside because it's not my particular sandbox in the fandom), and this has been creeping up on me for a while. Today, I seem to have lost all patience with it. The sort of loss of patience that makes me wanna do something like have an "Anybody But Sylar" fic-a-thon. Which I would actually do, except nobody would sign up for it.

So there you go.

Fucking Sylar.

I update on fandom because I have no life

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:27:30 GMT

You know what is an absolutely fucking surreal experience?

Watching a new episode of a show you haven't seen in a long time.

I haven't watched "Dexter" since the end of S1. This wasn't a conscious decision, it just sort of happened. But then, last night, we found out by accident that my family has somehow gotten Showtime when nobody ordered it. So we ended up watching it for a couple hours, just to bask in extended cable programming, and I caught the most recent ep of "Dexter."

WTF? Jimmy Smits is here? And crazy-evil? And Rita and Dexter are engaged? And Rita's pregnant? WTF? What happened?

My wife needs to walk me through this, or else I might have to watch the last season and a half just to get some damn answers.

Also suddenly bizarre? "House." I haven't seen an ep since the one with House and Cuddy on a plane, I just watched a new one and I'm just lost. When did the ducklings go away? Who are all these people? Seriously, somebody tell me, WTF?

In other TV news, I love "Heroes" more than I ever thought possible (I haven't missed any eps, I just haven't been posting about them). The Petrellis continue to be the awesomest family ever, and their combined weakness for blondes is almost parallel to Angel's. Even Sylar's on the I ♥ Blondes team now. (ETA: If you didn't know Sylar was a Petrelli, sorry; it was revealed two months ago and it didn't occur to me to cut.)

"Merlin" also continues to be awesome, though my theory mapping the trajectory of the show was TOTALLY shot to Hell recently. :-( The "Merlin" Children in Need special was particularly made of awesome. If you haven't seen, you should watch, just for the AWESOMENESS that was Anthony Stewart Head.

Also? I'm considering seeing "Twilight." Talk me into or out of it?

Not dead

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:06:49 GMT

So I haven't posted in, like...two weeks. I think my last post was when I was all excited about Obama getting elected. I'm sure at least one or two of you were going, "WTF? Where'd she go?" (Or, if you're like s8219, you may have assumed I'm dead. *g* In case you've ever wondered why I always go, "I'm not dead!" when I post after not posting for a while, it's because she--not unlike my mother--assumes I'm dead in a ditch somewhere if I don't call.)

I'm not avoiding or anything. It's just that for a while, I couldn't really think of anything I wanted to post, and then last weekend, I came down with a vicious bout of bronchitis which not only killed my desire to do much in the way of anything, but which I had no medication for except NyQuil. If you've never seen me on NyQuil, it's not pretty. I generally refer to it as "Bitch, I will put you in a coma." Today is the first day since last weekend I've managed to NOT throw up because I coughed so hard, I gagged.

Another problem is that for what feels like FOREVER, I've been stuck at my mother's. She and my stepdad went on the road, so I'm here at her place, taking care of the kids. It's not too bad--Darla's the only child around under the age of eleven, and in fact, three of the five siblings currently on my watch are in their teens (Tim, 16, Shane, 17 and Sara, 18). The main reason it's annoying and TIME CONSUMING AS ALL HELL is that not a single one of them has a driver's license, and not a single one of them just hangs out. They all needs rides to and from school, to and from work, to and from football practice, to and from Japanese Club, to and from friends' houses--not to mention the many doctors' appointments and pharmacy trips once my bronchitis spread like wildfire amongst everyone else. Plus the fact that I'm also having to secretly smuggle brothers' girlfriends and sister's friends to Planned Parenthood to get birth control, because their uberconservative parents never told them that there was a place they could get it for free or on the cheap. One brother's girlfriend actually had a pregnancy scare today, and I had to take her to get tested, and then when it was negative, I got to reveal to her the OMG SHOCKING truth that:

1) You can, in fact, get pregnant even if he pulls out every time.
2) You can, in fact, get birth control without having to ask your parents or even tell them.¹

I'm sorry if I sound cranky. :-/ As you may have guessed, I'm not exactly having fun times...though I am officially The Coolest Adult any of these kids know, and I've never gotten to be the coolest anything before.

So yeah, that's been my MIA two weeks.

Tell me, how were yours? Tell me everything! I wanna know!

¹Before you ask, no, I am not, in fact, interested in being given a lecture on how these kids' knowledge of birth control should've been left to their parents. Guess what? They're having sex, anyway. They were having sex before they even met me, and they're going to continue having sex even after I'm at my place and never see them. They SHOULD be safe. They SHOULDN'T be getting diseases or having babies because they've been kept woefully ignorant by people who think they'll have sex if they know the truth about protecting themselves from the negative consequences of sex. Teenagers have sex whether they know what they're doing or not. I'd rather they knew what they were doing. And you know what? In Missouri, there's nothing illegal about giving a kid a ride to a clinic where they can make an informed decision about their lifestyles. [/rant]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG 297!!!!!!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:05:01 GMT

YATTA!

Election Day

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:17:26 GMT

Once my sister gets out of the shower and puts her face on, we're leaving to go vote. (Me for the second time in a presidential election [my first was for Kerry back in '04], her for the very first time.)

To say I'm nervous as hell would be a hideously inadequate understatement.

An equally inadequate understatement is that I really, really want Obama to win.

To the McCain supporters on my flist--'cause I know there are one or two of you out there, and that this time hasn't been easy for you here on LJ--I will borrow a quote from your dude when he roasted mine.

"I can't wish you luck, but I do wish you well."

Here's hoping.

PIP

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:06:39 GMT