Sometimes Things Happen

plop

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:50:07 GMT

Taking a break from my breakneck packing attempt now. I've crammed most of my life into boxes that will be sent when there's an address to send them to, and the super-duper essentials into a backpack, a duffel and a laptop case. I feel more like I'm running from something than running to something, half the time, but the truth is I'm both elated and terrified. Mostly the former, though, and I've no doubt things will work out eventually. Sooner would be nice, though.

Regardless! I'm leaving for New York tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing llyfrgell and yaoqing, and eventually the rest of you who are out that way. I should have internet on a semi-regular basis, but I may be about less than usual until I get set up. (Also, I'm trying to finish KOP before I leave, because it's really good, and from the library, and I have to know how it ends.)

So. Some pre-New York linkspam!

So, first, a Lost viral that's been going around a bit, in honor of the fact I just finished rewatching seasons 1-5 with my dad, so he can watch season six as it airs.

Next, a video that answers the question "What would happen if you took all the major pop hits of 2009, shoved them in a bag, and shook them Shake 'n Bake style before popping them in the oven?" I know you've often asked yourself this question. The answer is as follows:

And now my Stumble finds. First off, we've proof as to why Facebook could be problematic for the heroes of Star Wars. Also, the history of milkshakes is illuminating. Two classic Batman links. (The second is NSFW, really, for language.)

And finally...

...the best thing I've ever seen on Stumble. Though your mileage may vary... I laughed for a really long time.

And now... back into the fray.

Year's End Post

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:41:27 GMT

New year tomorrow. New decade. I'm about to pull up stakes and just start over, and that's amazing, and intimidating, and nerve-wracking in both the exciting and worrisome ways. Today was my last day at work, which was oddly bittersweet; I've only had this job for a little under five months, but I got really fond of quite a few of my co-workers.

A week from now, I'll be in New York.

24 hours from now, it will be 2010.

10 years ago, I was midway through my freshman year of high school, worrying myself sick over social insanity I can't remember now, upset that I didn't get a callback for one acts or the musical, trying to sort out being well again, or as well as I was going to be, after three years of health muck, and generally stumbling through being a new teenager like everyone does. The war on terror hadn't happened, I'd never been to New York, I hadn't met over half of the people I now can't imagine living without knowing. I hadn't gone to any funerals since I was too young to remember, only two of my cousins were married, and I'd never lived anywhere but the house where I'm writing this now.

On the whole, though, I've been incredibly lucky and fortunate this decade. The end was bumpy, but the final note is a hopeful one. I'm thankful.

Two retrospectives. First, photos month by month.

I was actively trying to improve my photography this year; it's just a hobby, but it makes me happy. Sadly, I don't have any real photographs from February or March, just a couple snapshots. However, these are my 10 favorites I took this year. (I find it interesting that my favorites now aren't necessarily the shots I liked best at the time.)

January:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

And on another accomplishment note... my list of books read for 2009. Just as eclectic as last year.

In chronological order starting last January:

1. Haunted, by Chuck Palahniuk. I was not very impressed, but have since been informed it's one of his weaker books by several of his fans. A couple of his others are still on my "to read" list, so my personal jury is still out.
2. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. I think Gaiman is good at a lot of things, but what I envy in his style is his ability to create characters, even (especially?) inhuman ones, that you care deeply about. Yvaine, de Carabas, Morpheus. For me, though Bod is the center, this is so Silas' book. Not that I'm complaining.
3. Fathers and Sons, by Ivan Turgenev. I really loved this. I want to reread it sometime in the near future, and just savor the prose, as I was caught up in the plot the first time through. It makes me want to know Russian, so I can just scuttle the translation and read it properly.
4. The Gift of Fear, by Gavin de Becker. Read because of repeated mentions by cleolinda, this was actually pretty interesting. de Becker is all about learning when to listen to your instincts, and how to keep yourself safe (especially from a female point of view, though not exclusively so).
5. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J.K. Rowling.
6. Furies of Calderon, by Jim Butcher.
7. Everything Bad Is Good for You, by Stephen Johnson. After reading The Ghost Map last year, I was interested to pick up some more Johnson. This examination of the growing complexity of popular culture was really interesting, and a great jumping off point for examining the effects of media consumption.
8. Starting Out in the Evening, by Brian Morton. Brian was actually my teacher, senior year of college, and I felt kind of homesick when I started this. It was really intriguing to see how his real voice informed but didn't dictate his fiction. The novel itself is good - it stretched me out of my comfort zone a bit in a number of ways, but I'm glad I read it.
9. Backup, by Jim Butcher.
10. Academ's Fury, by Jim Butcher.
11. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman. I wanted to read this before seeing the movie. One of the spookiest things I've read in a long while. I liked the movie... probably as much as the book, but for very, very different reasons.
12. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Another I wanted to read first. Hilariously, I still haven't seen the movie.
13. Just After Sunset, by Stephen King. I unapologetically love King's short fiction. Not as strong a collection as Everything's Eventual, but a couple of the individual stories were as good as anything he's done.
14. Cursor's Fury, by Jim Butcher.
15. Les Liaisons Dangereuses, by Choderlos de Laclos. I cannot describe how deliciously fun this novel is. Seriously. All the characters are so amazingly complex, and the plot is so intricate in a rewarding, not a frustrating way. I also imagine it will be very re-readable.
16. Six Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak, edited by Smith Magazine.
17. The Shack, by William Young. My dad wanted me to read this one, and after selling the thing for two years straight, I was curious. It's parable-y, reminiscent of my experience with Hinds' Feet on High Places in the broadness of the allegory, and is much more a theological musing than a traditional novel. It's clearly written with passion and affection, though, and my issues with the prose were somewhat mitigated by my reactions, both positive and negative, to the theology. Not the most spiritually impacting book I read this year, but interesting.
18. Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher.
19. Dead Street, by Mickey Spillane. I am teetering on the verge of having a full on crime novel streak on my hands. Spillane is lots of fun, though the heroine of this one annoyed me a bit. I liked the hero enough to put up with her.
20. Drood, by Dan Simmons. This book could have probably been 300 pages shorter. That said, the ending was genius, and made me glad I'd stuck through to the finish. On the whole, though, a little dissatisfying. I forgive it, though, for getting me to read Collins later on in this list.
21. The Children of Men, by P.D. James. I was unprepared for how radically different this book was from the movie. Once I went with it, though, it was interesting. The last third irked me, but James' world building is interesting, and the novel had some individual strong emotional moments that worked brilliantly.
22. Captain's Fury, by Jim Butcher.
23. The Woman Who Wouldn't, by Gene Wilder. I'm really glad I had the audio book of this, because the story did very little for me, but having Wilder read it made it charming, and I was glad I'd listened.
24. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. After seeing a brilliant theatrical adaptation, it occurred to me it was past time I'd read this novel. I loved it. Couldn't put it down. It's frickin' Crime and Punishment, I know. But wow.
25. The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth, by Roger Zelazny. Zelazny is one of my favorite SF authors. This is not my very favorite of his collections, but a couple of the stories in here blew my mind. "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" was especially brilliant.
26. The Prestige, by Christopher Priest. Unlike Children of Men, I liked this book slightly better than I liked the movie, which was enjoyable but not earth shattering. The book has room for more nuance, more ambiguity, which I think serves the subject matter well (though I could do without the frame story, frankly). Quite enjoyable, on the whole.
27. Cry Wolf, by Patricia Briggs.
28. Lamb, by Christopher Moore. No words can describe how much I loved this book. It is both one of the funniest and best plotted novels I've read in ages. Go, read it if you haven't. Seriously. I'll wait.
29. L'Etranger, by Albert Camus. In French, yet. Because I am attempting not to forget it through disuse, ugh. But Camus' sparse, alienated prose was really rewarding, once I hit my stride.
30. A History of God, by Karen Armstrong. You know, that "most spiritually impacting book I read this year" mentioned above? This was it. But it's primarily history, and really engaging, if challenging writing. It was work to read, but rewarding work.
31. Beyond Heaving Bosoms, by Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan I've really enjoyed reading Smart Bitches, Trashy Books for awhile now, despite the fact I haven't totally taken the romance novel plunge myself yet. Frankly, anyone who is this passionate about winning acceptance for any form of genre fiction gets a pat on the back from me. Plus, they're consistently smart and funny, in that order and about equal measure. So this was an engaging sort of pop culture/genre studies read for me.
32. The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier. A novel with an interesting premise and a really... well. I don't know how it could have ended in a satisfying way, considering, but I was kind of left off balance at the end.
33. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. ...though it wasn't as depressing as this one. Wow. Good, though The Road is occasionally a little too much an "important book" in its own estimation for me. Still, the emotional payoff is pretty genuine, all things considered.
34. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith. This was maybe the perfect antidote to the two books above. Completely adorable, in the sense of worthy of being adored. It reminded me, in a good way, of L.M. Montgomery and the Emily books.
35. Across the Wall, by Garth Nix. In which I realize I need to reread Sabriel badly. Nix is very clever, and very warped (which I mean as a compliment).
36. Princeps' Fury, by Jim Butcher.
37. Storm Front (part 1 of the graphic novel adaptation), by Mark Powers and Ardian Syaf. Eh. Okay, but not impressive enough for me to keep reading.
38. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, by Oliver Sacks. Oliver Sacks' enthusiasm for his subjects is totally infectious. Clearly earlier stuff than Musicophilia, so the writing's not as polished yet, but still fascinating case studies and anecdotes.
39. Q: Who Killed Iago?, by James Walton
40. Mean Streets, by Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Kat Richardson and Thomas Sniegoski. Loved the Butcher, liked the Green and the Richardson, and am still mad to get my hands on some more Sniegoski when I can.
41. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. Though occasionally a hint self-indulgent, the novel is mostly just aching and lovely. Susie is a narrator with whom I was glad to spend time, and enough emotional changes wove through that I was okay with the relative lack of convential plot arcs as such.
42. The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins. As noted above, the fact that it got me to read this novel means Drood is forgiven many of its faults. I loved everything about this novel; the melodrama, Marian, Fosco, the random jaunt to South America, the doppleganger thread, everything. I'm sure it will be fun to reread, but the first time through was something special.
43. Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris. I listened to the audiobook in the car. This was dangerous to my driving occasionally, as I was laughing so hard.
44. The Winds of Marble Arch, by Connie Willis. It's a crime I'd never heard of Willis before my father recommended this book to me. She's fantastic. A book that made me want to sit down and write is always a good one.
45. March, by Geraldine Brooks. Imperfect, but intriguing. I really loved the main character, but Grace frustrated me here and there. On the whole, though, worthwhile reading; it makes me want to go reread Little Women, in fact, while it's still fresh in my mind.
46. Paper Towns, by John Green. Longer review here.
47. The Pocket Book of O. Henry Stories, by O. Henry. He is amazing. Always.
48. 1001 Nights of Snowfall, by Bill Willingham and Todd Klein.
49. The Golden Gate, by Vikram Seth. (reread) Somehow, this got better.
50. The Giver, Lois Lowry. (reread) I read this again before seeing a theatrical adaptation. The play was fine, but the book's much better; the ending's really hard to do, I think, because it's so subjective. But I don't know if I appreciated how well constructed this book was, as the last time I read it I was probably nine or so. Augh.
51. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," by Washington Irving. (reread)
52. The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. One of the best books I've read in ages. I didn't want it to be over. I still don't.
53. Nightmares and Dreamscapes, by Stephen King.
54. The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym, by Edgar Allan Poe. Kind of Jules Verne-ish, actually, in many ways. Joe says it's somewhat a sideways precursor to Moby Dick, so there's also that.
55. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. (reread)
56. Fool, by Christopher Moore. Eh. Reasonably funny, but nowhere near as good as Lamb.
57. The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.
58. Batman: Year One, by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli.
59. The House that George Built, by Wilfrid Sheed. I know I mentioned this one before, but I was really impressed. Part musical history, part a collection of short biographies, I found the whole thing very engaging.
60. Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke. This is a book I may have to read several more times before I absorb it all. But even the first gloss was intriguing. You're tempted to rush through, because it's so short, but there's so much going on there.
61. First Lord's Fury, by Jim Butcher. The observant among you may have noticed I read all of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher this year. I'm usually not one for war stories, but Butcher... well, he's one of the best out there for my money, right now, in both world building, plot, and character. If urban fantasy isn't your thing, and you like high fantasy better, give Alera a go; it's unique and familiar both, and I loved it. Sadly, I'm all caught up with Butcher now, so I just have to wait for the new releases. Sigh.
62. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. Am I alone in my feeling that this novel achieves what Jude the Obscure wanted to with a fourth the length and a hundredth the weirdness? Just saying.
63. Little Brother, by Cory Doctrow. It's interesting how, already, this feels very much like a piece of its time. Doctrow was occasionally preachy, and I got frustrated with Marcus (the protagonist) fairly often. But otherwise, an easy to belive projection of the erosion of civil liberties, and what someone might try and do about it.
64. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. (reread) As every year. I always notice something new, though, cliché as that sounds. All the little nooks and crannies of this book, god.
65. Arkham Asylum, by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean.

And, as I did last year... my top ten favorite books of 2009. (Rereads automatically excluded.)

1. The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch.
2. The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins.
3. Lamb, by Christopher Moore.
4. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
5. A History of God, by Karen Armstrong.
6. Les Liaisons Dangereuses, by Choderlos de Laclos.
7. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman.
8. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith.
9. The Winds of Marble Arch, by Connie Willis.
10. Just After Sunset, by Stephen King.

The top four were all novels (albeit very different novels), this year. One history, two additional novels, a YA title, and two short story collections. And there you have it. Epic 2009 post... done.

Merry Christmas!

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:19:24 GMT

Even if you don't celebrate... happy three day weekend! I'm thankful for you all, and hope you've had/are having a lovely holiday.

I was very blessed to spend the day with my parents and my sister, helping my mom set up her new Wii, playing with my own presents, and baking hoska (I may do a cooking post in a bit, if I get so inspired).

Also? I got three Yuletide fics! I was just floored and so happily surprised. Thank you, thank you to all my writers. Be gentle with the Yuletide servers, but when and if you're interested, they are as follows. "Bang Bang Reprise" is a frenetic, delightful Brothers Bloom fic, which reminded me why I loved Bloom, Bang Bang, and this movie as a whole. "No Jarndyce and Jarndyce" is Bleak House fic (*squee*), with Christmas, slightly sketchy Jarndyce, perceptive Woodcourt, Carstone & Woodcourt offspring, and snarky narration. It is fantastic. And "The King's Man" is an absolutely brilliant Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell fic. Lots of Childermass, some Vinculus, rich details and a few surprising twists. I bounced. Seriously. Check them out if you like any of the fandoms. I am delighted.

Now time to watch a few more movies and enjoy the rest of the holiday. Love.

A couple gifts for you, my flist

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:49:37 GMT

Augh, why can I not go to Wadham next Christmas for the alumni carol service? *pokes at Wadham 400th anniversary pamphlet and sighs* This aside, however, things are good. Crazy, hectic, but good.

Here, have a video.

And "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, possibly the sweetest Christmas story ever. Enjoy!

Friday morning linkspam

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:06:41 GMT

It's Friday, my Yuletide fic is done, I got an unexpected call from yaoqing this morning, and I've got a little more than a week and a half left of work. It seems like the perfect time for a bit of linkspam! Heh.

First up, here's an Italian pop song from the early 70s with English-sounding gibberish for lyrics. (Much like Danny Kaye. Or the Sweedish Chef. Or both.) Thanks liberlucendus, for sharing!

Adorable Hamlet time with Brian Cox:

Ask a Ninja's "A Visit from St. Nicolas:"

This one has been making the rounds. Pokemon as a gateway to the demonic:

A really clever music video:

I'll be gone from KORB on Vimeo.

And finally, more evidence that Kate Beaton is brilliant.

Squee

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:44:17 GMT

1. It's the weekend! Yay!

2. Season Five of Lost. It is here. In my hands. It is shiny.

3. notfromnimh and I are rewatching Porco Rosso, which is very cute.

(Less of a squee - ants are coming out of my laptop's keyboard. I... don't know what to make of this.)

4. I finished Ethan Frome which, though depressing, was quite well-written.

5. I got some good solid groundwork done on my Yuletide fic this morning.

So... all good things. Woo.

And a little meme from tomboy_typist.

Reply to this post if you're interested, and I will pick five of your icons.
Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!

These are the five she picked:

by curtana, quote by Neil Gaiman, via his Sandman series

I love the Sandman series in general (as many do, of course), and part of its substantial charm is its meta aspect. Gaiman's always a bit self-aware, and in Sandman, he lets it run loose. This icon gets used more than I'd anticipated, really, for bizarre and/or lit crit things.

by curtana, quote by Terry Pratchett

Pratchett's hilarious. Always. (Also? This quote is totally true.)

by cowboyhd

My icons show that I love new Who. (I totally intend to get into Classic Who at some point as well, but haven't had time yet.) 10 is just... infectiously enthusiastic about everything. (After the Christmas special, I want to see if some of my theories about 10 pan out. I'll get back to you.) So for strong affirmatives... I have this icon.

by me, quote from Pushing Daisies

Emerson Cod was perhaps my favorite part of Pushing Daisies, and was the perfect ballast to keep it from floating away. This comes from a conversation he had with Olive about, of all things, horse racing. I also thought it was appropriate, given my RL reputation for ostentatious vocabulary. Hehe.

by grrliz_icons, quote from shoebox_project

Haha, this one. So... shoebox_project is one of the more famous Marauder-era Harry Potter fanfics, and I'll confess, almost all my HP fanfic reading was Marauder-era. Love. Besides the joke from the story, it's also appropriate as I have kind of a hilarious (to me) reputation for getting involved with stories having to do with cannibalistic... elements. These things, they just happen. Eheh.

Meme time

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:15:39 GMT

Because nothing interesting has really happened since my last post... a meme yoinked from minviendha (who I hope feels better soon). The typical pick ten characters before looking at the questions meme.

I decided to make this the all Jim Butcher edition! (As such, possible spoilers for both Dresden Files and Codex Alera behind the cut.)

1. Harry Dresden
2. Amara ex Cursori
3. Thomas Raith
4. Michael Carpenter
5. Kitai
6. Antillar Maximus
7. Molly Carpenter
8. Karin Murphy
9. Araris Valerian
10. Tavi

1. Describe the children of #3 (Thomas) and #7 (Molly)? Wow. That's just all kinds of messed up. Especially considering the events of Turn Coat. Um. I would say it depends greatly on when it happens, and who raises them. Eheh.

2. Describe #5 (Kitai) and #1 (Harry)'s first kiss. Ahahaha. Kitai and Harry, oh goodness. Well. Kitai would certainly initiate, if she was so inclined. And... set a rather enthusiastic pace. Though given the state of his love life recently, it's hard for me to think Harry would entirely object, except if he suspected she was a vampire. The pale, not-quite-humanness and all.

3. How would #2 (Amara) react to if #6 (Max) is pregnant with #10 (Tavi)'s baby? She, uh, might wonder just a little about the biology of that. Though Tavi and Max have always been... close...

4. How does #8 (Murphy) convince #7 (Molly) to go with him/her on a date? Oh, wow. This would be kind of cracktastically awesome. Um... probably by having it start as an excuse to check on/talk about Harry that then... progresses from there. This would crack me up though. Harry shuts down both women's advances on him, only to have them hook up with each other. Don't know how both epically Catholic families would react, but...

5. Where would #9 (Araris) and #6 (Max) go for their honeymoon? How is #4 (Michael) going to sabotage their honeymoon? Max, you heartbreaker you. Well, assuming Isana doesn't have something to say about this marriage... I imagine the two of them would go somewhere with lots of history... and lots of nightlife for Max. They'd probably duel a lot. I really can't picture Michael sabotaging it intentionally... but maybe him stumbling in from another universe might distract from the pleasant vacationing.

6. #6 (Max) is in love with #1 (Harry). #3 (Thomas) confesses his/her love to #6 (Max). Whom would #6 (Max) pick? Does #8 (Murphy) think s/he made the right choice? ...wow, my brain just broke a little. Um, well, on the one hand, Harry's track record suggests pursuing him is an unhealthy choice. On the other hand, Thomas is worse. As if he does love you, angst and the inability to touch, and if he doesn't, he just wants to eat you once he gets close enough. Murphy suggests he try to get over them both and enjoy being single for once.

7. #5 (Kitai) and #2 (Amara) must pretend to be a married couple. Why? Hm. I'm trying to remember, but I don't think there's any overt homosexuality in the CA books, so canonically, I can't think they ever would. Amara's sneaky, though, so my guess is that for some reason, Kitai needs a fake husband, and Amara is cross dressing. Maybe to shield Tavi from something? Hm....

8. #10 (Tavi) is moving in with #9 (Araris). What do they fight about the most? Isana, probably. Though neither of them would actually fight, per se. They'd just... disagree. *cough*

9. How will #4 (Michael) prove his/her love to #1 (Harry)? Ah, the bromance. The answer is in such a way that Charity won't kill him. Eheh.

10. #7 (Molly) and #4 (Michael). Love at first sight? Only in the sweet, she's his firstborn child sort of way.

11. What would #2 (Amara) give #9 (Araris) for Valentine's Day? Heh. Weaponry. Got to be. Or maybe a really fine shield.

12. Under what circumstances could #3 (Thomas) and #5 (Kitai) have a happy ending? Wow. Huh. That's... difficult. Maybe if she'd done the Marat bonding thing with him, and it had made it immune to the White Court/love problem. And/or the bond had let him rely on alternate food sources more reliably. But... I could... kind of see it? If I squint?

11. What would #8 (Murphy) like to change about #10 (Tavi)? Does number #10 (Tavi) approve? Murphy thinks his recklessness will earn him an early death. Tavi thinks that if Murphy was in his position, she'd probably just do the same thing, and shrugs off the criticism.

12. #2 (Amara) and #7 (Molly) are together. Who is more protective of the other? Aw. Amara of Molly, definitely. She's the older of the two, in practice at least, and being protective is definitely in her canon personality.

13. Who is first going to say "I love you", #1 (Harry) or #9 (Araris)? Probably Araris. But it would take them for frickin' ever, and Araris would only do it to get it out of the damn way.

14. Describe #10 (Tavi) and #4 (Michael)'s perfect romantic outing. This ship... what. I don't even... uh. I can't figure out how this would work.

15. Who suffers from pre-wedding jitters, #3 (Thomas) or #8 (Murphy)? How does bridesmaid/best man #10 (Michael) soothe them? L.O.L. This pairing. Um. Thomas, I think, but really, if they got to the point they were getting married, they'd have been through a lot of other hurdles before that. Frankly, Michael would probably be busy keeping Harry sane.

16. #6 (Max) is a secret admirer. What presents will they make the wo/man of their dreams? He'd probably commission some really atrocious love poetry. Then give up and bribe the girl with chocolate and charm. (It'd totally work, too.)

A little bit of background...

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:09:54 GMT

Yoinked from gileonnen, as it seemed to be a good idea.

You know how sometimes people on your friends list post about stuff going on in their lives, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute! Since when were they working THERE? Since when were they dating THAT PERSON? Since when?" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

If you like, copy the topics below, erase my answers and put yours in their place, and then post it in your journal! [Or don't, or post in comments, as you like.] Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration. One-word answers seldom help anyone out.

FIRST NAME: Amy, which most of you know, as I've never really had a nickname that rivaled my real name in use, online or off.

AGE: 24. Though I apparently don't think of myself as 24 yet, as I told the paramedics 23 when I was in an accident a few weeks ago. (Thankfully, not knowing my age was the only thing wrong, as I wasn't at all hurt.)

LOCATION: Finishing up a couple years in my parents' home in Indianapolis, where I've been for financial reasons. Moving back to New York in January with yaoqing, which will be fantastic.

OCCUPATION: IV pharmacy technician, at present, which has absolutely nothing to do with my training or inclinations, but pays decently at least.

PARTNER: Romantically, I'm single. yaoqing's my partner in pretty much all other crimes and misdemeanors, though.

KIDS: No, and none in the in the immediate planning stages either.

BROTHERS/SISTERS: notfromnimh is my talented and quirky younger sister. She's currently in her junior year of undergrad, majoring in animation.

PETS: My parents have a corgi mix, and have had for about 15 years, so he's kind of peripherally mine too, by proxy. He's a crotchety old man of a dog, but still gets about.

3 THINGS GOING ON IN MY LIFE:

1. I'm still trying to sort out exactly what I'm doing after the move. Most likely tack looks to be reapplying to grad school in the fall of 2010, but I need some space to figure it out. I've got a few half baked career thoughts whirling around in my head, and one may solidify soon.
2. Moving itself, of course! Sorting out the job situation and the apartment hunting and all which is both exciting and a bit intimidating.
3. Writing, a little. I don't want to jinx it by over-talking about it, but I've got a couple longer things, and half a dozen short ones that I'm chipping away on.

PARENTS: They just had their 25th anniversary last year; it's my dad's second marriage, but he had no kids in the other one and I've never met his first wife, as she lives out of state. Both of them are pharmacists, though my dad is retired now. He reads magazines and cookbooks for the blind at our local public radio station once a week. My mom's still working, and also volunteers at their church. The fact I'm way, way ready to move out should not reflect on the fact I love them both and that they're lovely people.

CLOSE FRIENDS: I'm lucky enough to have several, at present. Some from here, some from college, a few left from earlier than that. totemicdruid and llyfrgell have known me since I was very little, while a few of you here are people I've just met recently via RPs or communities. Yay everyone.

On a much less ego-driven note... idiocy like this makes me so frickin' angry. What is wrong with people?

Delovely

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:31:19 GMT

Despite a rocky start, this day turned out pretty well.

Things that delight me:

1. I am having so much fun reviewing the canon for my Yuletide assignment. With luck, this will translate into a story that makes the recipient happy; in the meantime, I am selfishly enjoying it for myself. Glee.

2. notfromnimh will be home tomorrow!

3. I'm reading The House That George Built, and it's totally fascinating. The author's writing style is very fluid and easy to read, and I'm learning all sorts of things I didn't know about the early years of American songwriting in the 20th century. I don't think he's very fair to Oscar Hammerstein in spots, but to be fair to him, he's not writing about lyricists as such, but rather as they relate to the composers with whom they collaborated. And I totally wish I could meet George Gershwin somehow.

4. Radiolab. The new episode, and generally.

5. It's almost the weekend, which is always delightful. And Thanksgiving is in a week, also delightful, for a number of reasons.

6. My car is back from the shop, in working order! Huzzah.

7. A variety of videos! (Mostly musical in nature.)

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

8. And... not so much delight, but on reflection, I thought "The Waters of Mars" was good. Disturbing, but good. I'll be excited to see how the Christmas special plays out.

Random TV woes

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:08:28 GMT

The moment the Prisoner remake jumped the shark for me? 6 (Jim Caviezel) histrionically screaming "YOU DID THIIIIIIIS!" outside 2's home, while 2 (Ian McKellan) theatrically eats a cherry cake. I don't know if this description can do justice to the supreme ridiculousness of this scene. Oh, lord.

And for some reason, the DVR didn't record V tonight. Grr.

But... at least the new Doctor Who special is about. *sigh*

Dear Yuletide Writer...

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:23:16 GMT

First of all, welcome. Thank you so much for writing for me; this is my third Yuletide, and it's always one of the highlights of my holiday season. The simple fact you love at least one of the following four fandoms enough to offer to write it for a complete stranger fills me with glee. Therefore, take as a given that anything you write for me will be delightful by dint of existing.

That said, if you'd like some more thoughts or guidance as to my tastes (which I'll assume you do, if you're reading this), read on. I'm generally pretty easy to please genre-wise; angst/fluff/smut/gen whathaveyou are all equally fine. I am not the biggest fan of massive AUs (i.e. radical changes of setting, major changes in a character's canon backstory/gender/etc.) as a rule. I'm hard to squick, though; as long as it serves the story, both explicit sex and explicit violence are fine. (That said, some of my favorite fic has also been G-rated, so don't feel I'm pushing you that way, haha.) If it's helpful to you, please feel free to yuletide!stalk some of my recommendation posts from past Yuletides, or poke at my own fiction journal.

The Brothers Bloom (movie) - character: Any

One of the things I loved most about this movie is how its very structure is, in some ways, a con; a friend and I who saw this movie separately were surprised to find that, though we both loved it, we had very different interpretations of some of the movie's events and themes. I'd be delighted to see another take on the central characters. Backstory about Stephen, Bloom and Bang Bang (either together or separately) would be fascinating; their dynamic was so nuanced, there seems to be a lot of room for exploration. Penelope is great too; I'd love to see how she got into "hobby collecting" or how some of her attempts at them went. Stephen and Bloom as kids are also endlessly fun, and the haunting presence of Diamond Dog in their past is certainly there too. (Even if you don't write it, please see this movie, if you haven't. It's fantastic.)

Charles Dickens - Bleak House - character: Ada Clare/Allan Woodcourt/John Jarndyce/Richard Carstone

As mentioned in my request detail, signups meant I had to pick either a handful of characters or all of them; just because I went with the handful, please don't feel you have to use all four. Any combination thereof is just fine; Bleak House is severely under-ficed, and there's so much to it to deal with. The relationships between any of these four characters give a lot to explore; even individually, there's Woodcourt's time at sea, Richard's time in the army, Ada's life after the novel ends, Jarndyce's life before it starts... so much to poke around in. How Jarndyce and Skimpole became friends, for example, or Woodcourt's relationship to Ada in the future, given the novel's ending. I saw and liked the recent BBC miniseries as well, so if that gives you extra inspiration, by all means, go that route. I've always felt Esther is something of an unreliable narrator, so people we see mainly through her eyes especially have a lot of wiggle room for interpretation.

Jim Butcher - Codex Alera - character: Any

As mentioned, if possible, don't include spoilers for High Lord's Fury, as I may not have it read by the reveal (...I probably will have, but I'm not going to count on it). As I said in my Dresden Files request last year, I think one of Butcher's strengths is his characters, and I really did mean "any" when I selected it. I can't think of a single character I would not love to know more about. The flavor of this universe is also very distinctive, so anything dealing with Alera's culture and history would be fun. If you'd like suggestions... a young Fidelias would be really interesting, as would a younger Bernard. The Aquitaines' marriage gets more nuanced by the book, as does Max and Crassus' relationship, and more about either would be great. I love Bernard/Amara, so fluff there would also be delightful. There's a lot of darkness in the books too, so something less lighthearted would also suit. I'll stop myself there, but (as my requesting them might suggest) I love these books so much.

Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - character: Arabella Strange/John Childermass/John Segundus/Jonathan Strange

This is one of my favorite novels, ever. As with Alera, the world-building is so nuanced, anything within the setting will be interesting in itself for that reason. As with Bleak House, please don't feel you have to use all four of the characters I've requested. Segundus I always think of as the bait-and-switch hero of the novel; you begin the novel with him, so when he disappears, you as the reader are left a bit at sea (which makes it all the more delightful, I suppose, when he eventually reappears). I'd love to know more about what he does in the interim, how he gets from point A to point B. Childermass is enigmatic by nature, which is part of his appeal, but his role in the world after the events of the novel is unique, and I'd love to see how he deals with the new world he inhabits over time. Arabella and Jonathan are so oddly perfect together, and seeing them together is always a delight; that said, they're separated in much of the narrative, so either one by themselves makes sense too. That said, their relationship fascinates me, and more of it can never be a bad thing. Clarke explores a great deal of her world and her characters, but seeing new facets of them would be amazing.

Thank you again for being generous enough to write a story for me this Yuletide. The delightful community this exchange pulls together never ceases to fascinate me. Happy writing, and see you at the reveal.

Late night flail:

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:45:27 GMT

LOCKE. FUCKING. LAMORA.

I can't even post a coherent review now. Just...just... auuuuugh.

(In a good way.)

Question.

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:02:57 GMT

Riddle me this, oh readers mine. Given the choice, with the caveat that both choices would theoretically pay equally well, would you rather...

a) do something you hate (whatever is most heinous to you - sanitation work, watching small children, being a cubicle monkey, etc.) for eight hours every day, with the certainty of being continually busy,

OR

b) be paid to do absolutely nothing for eight hours every day, but to be unable to do anything to effectively pass the time.

Discuss!

(The weekend was mostly good. A bit of car trauma, but... I'm good. Hopefully the car will be. And Halloween was a lot of fun.)

One of the many reasons I miss my sister:

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:32:15 GMT

notfromnimh: OMG
notfromnimh: I just
notfromnimh: I just realized...
notfromnimh: I can make my T-Rex do the time warp and fit the project requirements.
skaryma: That's... kind of one of the most awesome sentences I've ever read.

List post!

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:26:15 GMT

1. Last night, I dreamed that I was working for Charm City Cakes, which was kind of amazing. We also somehow took a road trip to France. Please don't ask how this worked. It was an awesome dream.

2. I've had this stupid cold for a week now, and it won't go away. I've been much sicker before, but this is just lingering and sapping my will to do much of anything. Ugh. (Aggravated by the fact we've been crazy busy at work, I'm certain.) Sorry for being semi MIA several places.

3. The Heartland Film Festival starts this weekend. Hopefully I will feel well enough to go to several of the films. *fingers crossed*

4. They keep playing Journey's "Separate Ways" on the radio at work, and this is all I can picture:

Which is mostly good, as I can always use private amusement to get through the day.

5. I was happy to see ceilingtile, if ever so briefly! Hopefully we'll connect a little longer before too long, but I gave her Steak 'n Shake and the Indianapolis Central Library... so not a total loss, I hope.

6. My books are making me so happy right now. I'm re-reading Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate, and listening to the audiobook of The Lies of Locke Lamora. The reader is pretty hyper-dramatic, but the story is wonderful.

That's about it.

Uuuh...

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:27:50 GMT

Nightmare Fuel:

Enjoy never sleeping again.

Backstory is my life.

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:16:54 GMT

The minor character meme: Give me one or more of my characters and one minor character in their lives (i.e. their mother, their father, their first crush, their crazy neighbor lady, etc. etc.), and I'll tell you 5 facts about them AND who I'd use as a PB for said minor character.

Good lord, I need to prune.

Britannia, NY
-- Arthur Pendragon
-- Elaine Corbin
-- Ken Statton
-- Larry Pelosi
-- Laurel Oglive

Desperate Fans
-- Cimorene
-- Gen Watanabe
-- Helen Rossi
-- John Childermass
-- Kay
-- Lamorak
-- Laurel
-- Lovel
-- Molly Carpenter
-- Molly Seagrim
-- Philip of Gwyned
-- Richard Carstone
-- Samuel Spade

Jim's Campaign
-- Mikaela Verrelison
-- Elaina Van Wyck

Mutants & Masterminds
--Rebecca Clearwater

ontd_lost_rpg
-- Danielle Rousseau

Rhedrah
-- Basem Nazar
-- Cordelia Natervun
-- Dominic Canungar
-- Georg Bergmann
-- Zoyala Colsirdi

Shadowrun
-- Sabine Hamilton

Star Wars
--Kinsa

Monstertown
-- Harmony Rainbow Moonbeam (seriously - don't ask if you don't already know)

I got a haircut today! It was very exciting. That's all.

Magical Rainbow Girl and Paper Towns

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:03:45 GMT

So! I finished reading John Green's Paper Towns this weekend, and I liked it a lot. A lot more than the first third led me to think I might, in fact, and that's because it's a fairly thorough YA deconstruction of the Magical Rainbow Girl phenomenon (or what TV Tropes calls the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Now don't get me wrong; I can love a MPDG as much as the next person... if the author allows for her to be a real person, on some level. (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: absolutely. Garden State: not so much.) (500) Days of Summer, though it had a lot I liked about it, irked me a little as it felt like the filmmaker, via Joseph Gorden Levitt's character, blamed Zooey Deschanel's Summer for being a real and fallible person beneath the MPDG exterior. Sorry, brooding, lonely men-children; a girl is not a monster for not idolizing you the way you idolize her. (I really like the plural "men-children," by the way.) Still, it's a common trope, and so when relatively straightlaced Quentin is dragged out of his window in the middle of the night for crazy, madcap adventures by a girl he's loved since he was nine, I sat back, ready for her to shake up his world until they realize they are perfect for each other, yay.

I underestimated John Green, it turns out. I don't want to spoil the book for you, as you should read it, but it turns out to be about a lot more than Quentin's relationship (or lack thereof) with Margo. One thing Green really gets right is high school, both in its social dynamics and its psychology. So much so that parts of the book gave me the uncomfortable feeling I was back there. As I read it, I was picturing the halls of my high school, and even given the slight time gap, these kids talked like I remember high schoolers talking. He's actually a little weaker with true adults; both Q's parents and Margo's feel slightly caricatured at times. But the book has a momentum that propels it past any of its small flaws.

And it made me put a finger on something that's been bothering me about Cory Doctrow's Little Brother, which I've been reading via DailyLit. Not to pick on it; it's not a bad book. But something about Marcus, the main character, has been bugging me for awhile. And I think it's that Doctrow set up Marcus and friends as a foursome. Not just four kids who hang out together, but actual friends. The way Ben and Radar are Q's friends in Paper Towns. But (and I haven't finished the novel yet, so take with a grain of salt) the difference is that not only has Doctrow separated Marcus from his friends, I seem to care more than Marcus does. Yeah, there's a little bit of angst, but he's distracted by his perfect, hot, nerdy, brave girlfriend who wants to have sex as much or more than he does. Ange (the girlfriend) has rubbed me the wrong way from the minute she showed up, and if Doctrow doesn't validate that feeling before the end of the book, I will be angry, because... well. What's satisfying with Quentin is that his search for Margo ultimately brings him closer to his friends (even making him a new one), whereas Marcus not only loses them, but is too busy with his cyberheroics and sexing up his girlfriend to notice. I grant you, the stakes in Little Brother are objectively higher. But I think one of the problems I have with the MPDG phenomenon is that it perpetrates the myth that one person can be everything another person needs. That if you're in a romantic relationship with the right person, you don't need friends or outside relationships, because that person is everything to you. And it's not only incorrect, it's dangerous to think that way. Mundanely, because you are certain to be disappointed. And in extreme cases, because it can lead people (of all genders) to accept emotional abuse because they think "that's how it's supposed to be."

To sum up, after this long digression, Paper Towns is imperfect but enjoyable and thought-provoking. Definitely recommended. (And check out John Green's youtube project with his brother Hank, if you haven't already - vlogbrothers always entertains me.)

Happy Friday!

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:31:36 GMT

Some linkspam for the beginning of the week

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:45:40 GMT

Sundry cool things encountered recently on the Internet:

1.) I'm about halfway through "season two" of Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This? on youtube. Much like Will It Blend?, they're basically videos of guys destroying stuff. Only instead of a kindly old gentleman with retro music, an industrial blender, and a budget, these are two college guys with a crappy little Sharp microwave and tinfoil. It's a total waste of time, yet I cannot look away.

2.) Dresden Codak tackles caveman science fiction.

3.) If the price weren't so steep, I would totally get one of these. Ah, Etsy, forever tempting me with things I cannot or should not have.

4.) I may have linked it before, but this dramatic reading of a breakup letter never fails to crack me up.

5.) I've always liked Luke Chueh's art, but I was delighted to see he's done a series of paintings inspired by Dante's Inferno. Adorably disturbing!

6.) A thought provoking comic of sorts raising awareness about schizophrenia and discrimination against those struggling with mental illness. Well done, and therefore a little upsetting.

7.) Despite the awkward formatting of the page, these horrible engagement photos are worth a schadenfreude-filled look.

No one loves a fella with a social disease

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:06:24 GMT

Why am I so bad at casual social things? Arrrgh.

Also, why did I have "Gee, Officer Krupke" stuck in my head all afternoon?

Finally, why is O. Henry so brilliant?

ETA:...additionally, why did I just have a dream where I alternatingly Jack Bauer and pregnant? (I was never both at once, but I was always mysteriously the same character.)

(Oreo) Balls!

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:44:52 GMT

So! It's been awhile since I've posted a cooking entry, but I got inspired last night to try the recipe that someone sent me for Oreo balls. (Whoever it was - thank you! I forget where it came from, as it was just in my "to do" bin of internet links.) I highly recommend them - they're pretty easy, really, and they taste fantastic. Sort of like the love child of a brownie and dirt cake.

So! The first thing you need to do is smash a package of Oreo cookies. I started with the traditional "plastic bag, meet rolling pin" method, which looked something like so:

Which was stress reliving, but didn't get the pieces very fine. So I resorted to the food processor.

That got the texture more or less where I wanted. At this point, I decided it would be easiest to add the cream cheese directly into the food processor, like so.

Which, after a few pulses, got me this:

The recipe gives you a lot of leeway for how big the balls should be - I aimed for about buckeye size. (Making these are actually very similar, if any of you have made buckeyes before.)

And then stuck them in the freezer. The recipe suggests about 30 minutes; I watched a movie, so I came back about 2 hours later, and they were quite solid.

So! When I returned from my break, I went to microwave 1 12 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Not as easy as it sounds, it turns out - it came close to burning, though it didn't quite, and the melting was a little uneven.

You could dip in this mixture, but it wasn't very smooth.

Then my mother suggested we do what she does with buckeyes: namely, add a little canning wax (parafin) to the melted chocolate. This actually worked beautifully, as the chocolate instantly got much smoother and easier to dip.

I used toothpicks to dip all the cookies in the chocolate coating; I didn't try to cover them completely, though I'm sure that would be doable if you're hosting a fancy party or something.

I let them sit in the refrigerator for about 40 minutes, then removed the toothpicks and put them in a bowl. Done! Ta-da!

They're very rich, but seriously, quite delicious.

ETA: It seems liberlucendus is to thank for my delicious shenanigans!

It is a random Tuesday!

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:44:17 GMT

...for less than a half hour more, really, but.

I had a lovely weekend. nuetiquem_erro was in town, and it was great to see him. notfromnimh and I saw 9, which was brilliant and disturbing, and now she's back at school. And I got to sleep in Monday, as this week was my first of working the evening shift (which should be semi-permanent, for those of you interested to know).

And now... photospam from the prior weekend, when notfromnimh, my mother and I went the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth.

The Marshall County Blueberry Festival is larger every year, apparently. Large tractor-pulled shuttles get people from the various parking locations to the festival itself, giving you a lovely tour of a couple blocks of Plymouth and various signs of blueberry-themed festivity.

I just meant to show how crowded the festival was, so the Possum Ranch was a bonus.

Our mission was to acquire blueberry taffy for our father. We succeeded with unexpected rapidity, at this both featuring appealing candied apples. (I didn't eat the apples after photographing them, but these are minor details.)

We didn't see the proper balloon launch, as that would have meant leaving our house at five am. But there was one balloon left behind to give very slow, unthrilling rides to children whose parents didn't want them anywhere near the real carnival rides. But it was large and pretty, if lexicographically confusing.

The reason I did not get a candied apple, of course, was that I was at a blueberry festival, and thus had no choice but to get a blueberry milkshake. It was delicious. But my adorable sister is not a fan, and so got a chocolate milkshake instead. Go figure.

REVELATION:

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:52:50 GMT

Tim Kang of The Mentalist

is totally the guy from the Shell Gasoline promotions that's always staring at you with such chipper confidence while you pump your gas. Hah!

...no one else cares, do they? Oops.

And on that note, I need to do some things and stop procrastinating them. I just feel like I'm emotionally hungover from the weekend. Ah well. Four day work week, at least. Happy fake Monday, everyone.

It's September!

plus5vswords@gmail.com — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:50:25 GMT

I don't know why this excites me so much. I don't know. I'm feeling optimistic, if cautiously so, these days. Probably because, among other things, it is looking more and more certain that I'm moving back to New York come January. It's a big step in the direction of how I want my life to go. And yaoqing will be home by Thanksgiving, which makes everything massively better. So now I just have to get certified so I can get a job similar to my current one in NYC, or if not, at least have that option to fall back on. And I should probably write Joe, to sort out this whole grad school thing. But for now... I'm happy with the direction things are headed.

Things I'm learning at my new job:

1. You cycle through the same 12-15 pieces of information about yourself with all your coworkers. This suggests that, if they gossip about you when you aren't there, said gossip doesn't include any of this information.

2. On the other hand, people who work in other departments, whose faces you don't even recognize, will unnervingly greet you by name.

3. Being the youngest person by a fair margin aggravates the insecurity of the training period.

4. Standing all day takes some getting used to, but is offset by being constantly busy, which makes the day go quickly.

5. Accidentally stabbing a needle through your glove and under your thumbnail hurts like a bitch. On the bright side, the only thing in the syringe at the time was antibiotics, so even if I got a little of the drug, it's no biggie. But... ow.

6. Every single person who teaches you to do something will teach you to do it a slightly different way.

But it's good. My coworkers are pleasant to be around, and I'm picking things up okay given that I've had no background in anything remotely like this job. Go figure. My boss, at least, likes that I'm inexperienced because I apparently don't have any bad habits for him to try and break.

And I leave you with another literalized music video. This time it's "Read My Mind" by The Killers. Not quite as good as "Total Eclipse of the Heart," but still fun.