eager feet

2003-09-26T12:11:00.000-05:00

Mr. Sark's answers to the interview questions are up at the LJ! I think they got him a little ruffled, but don't tell him I said that.

2003-09-24T09:35:00.000-05:00

I'm a sheep, what can I say? A sheep with an LJ. Sark de'Gabby a la Climb will be up there in a day or so.

2003-09-22T22:23:00.000-05:00

So, in lieu of actual fic, I've written a depressin song. Without tune, I run the risk of sounding silly. Ah, well.

For Lauren, early in the Relationship (Vaughren?):

I'll let you
bite your tongue when you come
and I won't speak,
let you
close your eyes this time
while you try not to breathe.
It isn't me.
The widower's new girl
takes what she gets.

Sleeping with ghosts in our bed;
look over my shoulder.
Shall I dye my hair for you?
The widower's new girl
has few needs.

Content to fold your clothes
until you look me in the eye.
Do I cut the sandwiches right?
The widower's new girl
won't hold her breath.

ETA: Heh.

2003-09-18T19:54:00.000-05:00

Something of actual importance.

So I was talking to a friend the other day and she said something that got me thinking. She thought that the general public, based on what the media hasn't been saying, has forgotten about AIDS and HIV to some extent. That they're so wrapped up in other things and in themselves that it's all turned into a boogeyman story. Personally, I don't think it's acceptable to be so complacent. That said...

I'm joining the AIDS Walk Wisconsin on the 28th this month.

Now, I'm one of those odd people who never send money over the 'net, not because I don't trust it, but because I don't pack plastic. If you abstain from virtual donation for any reason, that's perfectly understandable. If not: every dollar is very very appriciated.

If you'd like to sponsor me, drop me an e-mail and I'll tell you the name to type in.

2003-09-18T19:41:00.000-05:00

Fout this while surfing livejournals.

'Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. ceehiro.'

My English major sensibilities are vaguely offended...yet intrigued. Stupid sensibilities.

2003-09-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

From Trix:

Gimme some sugar baby.

Which B-Movie Badass Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Heh. They said "boomstick."

2003-09-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

So this guy in my seminar on Shakespeare's tragedies has this theory that, because Polonius is such a snoop, he obviously knows that Claudius killed King Hamlet. He explains this by suggesting that Polonius was in the orchard when Claudius did the act, and was hiding in a tree.

Also:Milk Duds. Balm to my soul.

Edited to add:

The world does not have enough Fight Club fic. If Chuck Palanhiuk wrote slash, this would be his best slash ever.

2003-09-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

This is why the end of "Beauty and the Beast" never satisfied me. This very idea. Of course, someone else articulated it better than I could.

2003-09-10T19:53:00.000-05:00

Guess who got a purty new Sex Pistols poster? There was this great God Save the Queen poster up in my favorite music store, B-Side on State St. in Madison, and I'd envied it for years, and now there's one on my wall. Woohoo!

A hint: don't read Theodosius the Great's Law Code if you don't want to be driven to untold heights of crappiness.

2003-09-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

From 15 floors above ground, the soupy fog covering my new city tonight looks very...improbable.

A car just went down a street I can't see like a lightning bug with a mission. It looks like the lake did late last night while we were sitting on the rocks waiting for the fireworks-- all indistinct night dotted with glowy bulbs. The downtown, some miles south, has disappeared completely, and from my little room above a shaded neighborhood that's ceased for the moment to exist...I'm feeling a litthe Noah without the animals.

Wish I could take a picture that would capture this, but I have the feeling it would come out all crap.

Never seen something so...magical is a cliché, so I'll say frightening because that's really more accurate. It's truly, from up here, like the world has disappeared, all but a tiny bit that's small and unreachable and alien to me anyway. The horizon is just two blocks away and distinguishable only by the last streetlamps that I can make out. Across the street the hospital buzzes, eternal, and to the north there is nothing, absolute, where Shorewood was at sunset.

I get the distinct impression that everyone I know, not just in Milwaukee, but everyone who lives at ground level is gone. Drowned, maybe(because it looks so thick out there and I can even feel that up here, just to breathe the cloud we're on), or just lost, like in a big, dark room where there aren't any doors and you can't find the walls.

Excuse me while I turn off all the lights and commune.

2003-09-05T22:32:00.000-05:00

My new boyfriend Damien Rice is glorious. Go listen. Howie-esque, Trix dearest, and the girls who accompany him need a record of their own. I'm 'specially digging "Cheers Darling," and "I Remember." For some reason his music is putting me in a Swilling kinda mood...has it been an hour? Time to change the desktop background again. Syd/Will 4 eva!

Just popped my 'One Hour Photo' cherry. Am going digital right now. Am never setting foot in Target again. Am looking at 'Jumanji' in a whole different, horrible, flourescent light. Am glad my family isn't the album-making type. Have realized why MV keeps his hair so short. He looks a little on the Wierd Al side of Jefforson Airplane, no?

So apparently I'll have to go home for Halloween because that's where everyone thinks the "big fun" is on the 31st. I guess the rest of Wisconsin gets more of a kick out of Madison shopkeepers' windows being broken and streets getting trashed than Madisonians do. Sweet, huh?

2003-09-04T15:11:00.000-05:00

Ack! Gosh! Gee-golly-HUZZAH! All the fannish-ness pays off in the end.

Meanwhile, I'm going to deplete all future funds in the next few weeks as soon as I crack and order the Alias, Firefly, and Buffy S5 DVDs. Frailty, thy name is woman! Mayhaps I can just put them all on my X-mas wish list and hope against hope that someone actually gets me at least one.

2003-09-03T16:34:00.000-05:00

Yay! My Shakespeare's Tragedies prof is an Alias-addict also. We had a long discussion debating over Irina's Evil or Non-Evil status. Left us both confounded, but happy to find kindred souls.

Is it S3 yet? I miss my Sark.

Also, klepto-ed from Pooh, I have the best battle cry ever.

2003-09-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

Rural is the most adorable little town. There's this canoe trip you can take down the Crystal River which flows through the town, and at one bend where the water's quite still there's a big 55mph sign. Also, at the portage you can stop for ice cream-- 25cents a cone. Mmm. That's the way life's supposed to be.

My Classical Mythology teacher is an interesting character. A tiny, well-aged blonde woman all in white linen who pauses in the middle of sentences for 30-second periods then picks right back up where she left off as if she'd never skipped a beat. She also had a band-aid on her cheek. Either cut herself shaving or has a thing for Nelly. Neither a delightful prospect.

I'm in west tower and get the most spectacular sunset every evening. Note to self: be home then.

Back to fandom.

I'm having a moral dilemma. Do I watch 'Angel,' or continue along as if it never happened? Mostly I'm just worried about what they're gonna do to Spike and if it's going to end up being a poor substitute for BtVS. Sigh. I have this irrational sense of loyalty that drives me to follow James Marsters through every career twist and turn in thanks for being an object of envy, lust, and general admiration...but if it also means I have to stare at David Boreanaz' forehead for an hour a week...how deep is my love, really? I have until October to decide. *sweat*

2003-08-29T16:36:00.000-05:00

Argh. Tried to post this long blog, but I'm on a lab Mac and it was killed. A memorial service will be held Wednesday.

Roomie is generally cool, but mostly Absent. Hasn't been home at all since moving in. Odd, yet nice, as I have the place all to myself.

Off to a place called Rural, Wisconsin for the weekend. More later.

2003-08-22T11:18:00.000-05:00

Rach sprained her ankle on a dog? Huh? All kinds of blackout wierdness. Get better, sweetness, I miss you too. Been big into the making as much moolah as possible and the packing frantically once the week-to-go mark passed.

In other news, this is a blog to say that I won't be able to blog again for a while. Making a teensey move to the Milwaukee campus on Monday and the(new!!!) computer will follow shortly after, hopefully before classes start after Labor Day. Then there's the whole "make it work" operation. So here's hoping that I'll be blogging(read: procrastinating) away sometime in the first week of September.

Speaking of the new computer: I'm feeling very old today. Or perhaps just a little bit frightened. See, I have a lot of files on this old baby. Plenty. Tons. Stuff I've spent years building up and never really deleting. My picture files are divided up by subject, group of subjects, and two misc. files. This vast accumulation of stuff, however, all fits neatly onto exactly one CD. It would take a stack of floppy disks to store all this junk and yet there it is, sitting neatly before me in its flat container. Years of packratting boiled down to something as thick as six sheets of paper. That's just not right.

Sooo...quit the job. Cuz I kinda had to cuz 'm kinda leaving. Still felt guilty calling up the boss and saying, "Hey [Boss]! How are you? That's great! Yeah...um...see...thing is...right. I quit! Sorry! Bye! See you at the party tomorrow!" Yeah, did I mention she was throwing a going-away party for me the next day? As always, I have impeccable timing.

On the subject of Milwauke, has anyone else driven into that city recently? I fear that in the heat of the summer there'll be a mile-deep eau de beer ring around it. Is it dangerous in any way to light incense in a car?

And here's something I never thought I'd say: I can't wait for 'Angel' to start. Also a bit scared because I know next to nothing about what goes on on that show, and also because I'm afraid that I'll hate what they do to my(okay, Dru's) darling deadly boy. I know, I know, I must trust in the Joss One. But, really? This better be good, yo.

2003-07-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

Texas? It's hot.

It's Manila-hot.

It's Manila in December when there's not soothing monsoon rains hot.

Sweat, sweat, sweat.

However, it also contains lots of very attractive men with pretty voices.

Viva la Texas!

2003-07-27T23:02:00.000-05:00

So I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for a weeklong stay in San Antonio, Texas. It's a summery thing to do, afterall. Why I failed to mention this before is simple: I'd almost completely forgotten I was going. Packed everything today while still stinky from the polo field, nagged myself and was nagged by others about what to bring and which suitcase to use, and agonized over the weather reports. Of course, I choose this time in my life to own about one pair of shorts. Death will be near, but I shall hold it off via much flirting with cute, accented young men.

Meanwhile, I just got "Writers on Writing" for my birthday, and will soon have many insightful things to add to the great discussions about fic writing. At the moment, I can say only this:

When I think of the process of becoming a fic writer, and becoming comfortable with posting your work, I need only to read 6.28, and there the entire process is, all laid out before me. My process, at least.

I posted that first, flirty, awkward chapter on a whim after writing most of it in my head one day. Then, as soon as I saw it there, on an actual website (ff.net), the second chapter burst out. Barring the first paragraph, I really do like that chapter, and apparently other people did too, because that's when I got my first reviews. It amazed me that people actually read this and liked it and wanted more, and eventually hung on words and waited for chapters. It was a thrill.

Somewhere along the way, though, the storyteller took over and wrote the rest before I was halfway done actually typing anything. So there I was with a plot that would probably upset a lot of my readers. I loved that best about it.

Long story short, the most significant thing I learned from my short fic writing career is something that should have been obvious long ago: what people ask for is not what's going to have the most significant effect on them. If your maintain someone's pre-existing viewpoint(say, oh, that an S/V relationship could really work out fine long-term), then they're going to like your story and move on. However, if you subvert a widely accepted idea, then your stories will make them think. In the end, that's what I want to do.

2003-07-26T13:16:00.000-05:00

I wrote a tiny ficlet today. Very, very tiny, but I like it, which is new and improved.

I'm sorry to have missed the Freaking-- it sounds like uber-fun.

Also, happy birthday to Mick Jagger, Stanley Kubrick, and me. :)

2003-07-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

Rob Thomas is married? When did this happen? And to some far too gorgeous latin woman? That bitch. I renounce him as my pretned-boyfriend. Except while "Smooth" is playing, then he can do whatever he wants and it's cool with me.

Also, I'm sleepy and smell like wet horse, so I'm not going to do the ginormous blog that karma demands of me.

Goodnight all, and go watch "Rozencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead." If you just watched it, watch it again. It kicks pirate booty, and Tim Roth is adorable.

2003-07-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

Yay! Postcardage! Riane, your handwriting is adorable.

Also, the careful grammatical construction of the publisher's print at the bottom made me smile. "Against the softly hued evening sky and reflected in the waters of Sydney Harbour, lights twinkle and blaze in the city towers of Sydeny, capital of New South Wales, flanked by the Opera House and Harbour Bridge." Makes it sound like some mythical kingdom, especially with that silly "u" slipped into "harbor."

Truthfully, though, the stamp with the picture of Mt. Roland in Tasmania made me want to go there more than the Sydney picture itself. :) Ah, for airfare. Hmm, junior year abroad?

2003-07-06T16:01:00.000-05:00

In other news, I selfishly insist that someone write more RR. Don't make me beg.

...Purty please?

2003-07-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

I just wasted a quarter of an hour playing the helicopter game, and my high score is still only 462. For all of you reading this at work: enjoy. Lots of clicking involved, so it sounds vaguely like you're very busy.

Meanwhile, Carlos (freaking) Santana! What an awesome show. His entire band, every person, was passionately into each and every measure, and when people were singled out and highlighted it became clear that this would have been an incredible show even without Santana. With him there, of course, there are few words left to describe it with.

Black Magic Woman. Smooth. Two of my favorite songs, and I got to hear them live. Life is good.

2003-07-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

It's funny that you should mention Ben Folds Five...because I'm off to see Ben Folds at Summerfest!!! Woohoo!

And there's a certian Carlos Santana I have a from-afar date with on Friday.

Mmm. Summer concerts.

2003-07-02T01:12:00.000-05:00

Every one seems to be blogging in lists today. That kinda day, I suppose.

1) So horses? They smell. Okay, so the horses themselves usually don't, but the stuff they leave us to deal with? Yeah, that smells. Thusly,

2) Showers may restore my faith in a higher being. So good. So good.

3) Regular people's interpretations of Xavier's School for Gifted Children are good stuff: "Bloke with sunglasses and white-haired tart off to S&M convention, if outfits any indication."

4) Have decided that I do not have insomnia. No, no, no. I am not the problem. The rest of the world is simply not accomodating enough to my chosen schedule. If I want to turn in a dawn and rise at noon, well then that's my choice to make. People like my employer and whoever sets the closing times for banks and shops should simply recognize the rights of people like myself and work with us, not against us. Power to the people!

5)Me in Radiohead, apparently:

Take the Radiohead Collective Member Test.

6) But then I cheated and just got Thom:

Take the Radiohead Collective Member Test.

7) Stomach has decided that 1am is a good time for dinner. Gumbo, anyone?

2003-07-01T01:11:00.000-05:00

Wow, I suck.

Meant to have a brand spankin' new chap of Comfortably Numb up by today, and that's less with the happening and more with the not having happened. Not for lack of time either. That is to say, I have been working every day, but I've also not been sleeping nights, and so have plenty of fertile time to plant more story in and watch it grow. Alas, it's just not happening in my head or my hands.

Doesn't help that I'm getting sucked into X-Men fic that I didn't even know was out there, and am on a slightly-insane(or so I'm told) hunt for a Hamlet/Horatio slashfic. It's out there, somewhere. It must be. God help me if I end up having to write it.

Hmm, see now how it's 1am and I could be staring at the pathetic amount of Ch6 that exists, glumly adding a word here and there until inspiration thwaps me over the head with a damp trout? But then I was just recc'ed this great Kurt/Logan fic, and, and...argh!

Damn fic's sinister attraction.

2003-06-30T11:32:00.000-05:00

Gacked from Aire because it's neat and I have little to say. Manual labor in the middle of the day is icky. So is sunburn. :P

but for you I unfurl like an onion girl...

(layer one)
Name: Gabby. Well, Gabriella, but Gabby is more descriptive.
Birthdate: July 26
Birthplace: Madison, Wisconsin
Current Location: Madison again, for less than two months more(!)
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac Sign: Leo. Roar.

(layer two)
Heritage: On my mom's side: Filipino, and thus prob'ly a hint of Spanish. Dad's: English, Irish, French, Scottish, Welsh
Shoes you wore today: Black fuzzy slippers. Days off are goooood.
Your weakness: Shakespeare. Just watched Kenneth's Hamlet last night with some girlfriends. *swoon* *sigh*
Your fears: Earthquakes, snakes, people who aren't just bigger than me but are actually HUGE...
Your perfect pizza: Bell peppers and pineapple. Trust me.
Goal you'd like to achieve: Get an Actor's Equity card...publish a (good) novel...learn Russian...become a big-time director just so I can cast all my favorite actors in a movie...finish college...:)

(layer three)
Most overused phrase in IM: Hmm, haven't IMed in a while. Will get back to this.
Your first thoughts waking up: "Crap. It's 10. Must go to work. Gnnnnnrkkkle."
Your best physical feature: Umm...Well, I'd go with boobs or hair. Both a blessing and a curse. Y'all know what I mean.
Your bedtime: I too share the insomnia affliction. This seems to be a trend among 'net-goers...Hmm. Bedtime has, this week at least, been around dawn. Which doesn't mean that I'm up all night doing anything productive, I mean, God forbid I figure out what the hey to do with CN chapter 6, no, no, the past few days have been filled with lots of surfing, Radiohead listening-to, and X-Men dvd-watching. Yeech.
Your most missed memory: My dogs. Twice when the fam and I moved we had to leave a dog behind, and each time I felt like such a bitch(pun intended). I miss my boys.

(layer four)
Pepsi or Coke: Neither. I try not to drink a lot of soda, but when I do it's usually ginger ale or tonic water.
McDonalds or Burger King: Neither.
Single or group dates: Group to get started, single from there on in.
Adidas or Nike: Nike, but only because I've never had a pair or Adidas.
Lipton's Ice Tea or Nestea: I hate tea of all kinds. Tastes/looks like dirty water to me.
Chocolate or vanilla: Both. And then some mint.
Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee in the morning, cappuccino for a pick-me-up.

(layer five)
Smoke: Once, for a while, but no more. Gives me a headache just to smell the stuff. However, it's left me with a legacy of gnawed fingernails and pens.
Curse: Oh, yes.
Sing: Yep. I've been told that my singing voice is rahter "unique," mostly because I haven't really been trained all that much, but I belt it out anyhow. Been compared to Ani Difranco, but I beg to differ. Ani rocks. Me, I just kinda teeter.
Have a crush(es): As in with people I actually know? Sadly none at the moment, but the eyes are peeled.
Do you think you've been in love: Yes. Not wisely, or with someone who, in hindsight, deserved it, but yes.
Want to go to college: Um, well, yes. Going, in fact.
Like high school: I had a shaky start to HS, and the requisite bumps and shudders along the way, but on the whole it was a positive experience.
Want to get married: If my Prince Charming shows up, sure. Just, you know, not any time soon. Meanwhile, Go Charity, Go! Woohoo!
Believe in yourself: Sometimes. Not nearly enough, really, but sometimes...sometimes I think I do.
Get motion sickness: Not really...I just don't like the smell of airplanes-- kinda stale and like rotting cheese.
Think you're attractive: Again, sometimes.
Think you're a health freak: By no means.
Get along with your parents: Almost all the time. This, to me, is huge. 'Twas not always this was, and I'm so glad that it is now, because my parents are incredible people.
Like thunderstorms: Ooooh, yes.
Play an instrument: Clarinet, recorder, guitar, used to play the violin (badly). Mostly just guitar now, and mostly on my electric Fender which is named Svidrigailov after a character from Crime and Punishment. I am a very big dork.

(layer six)
in the past month...
Drank alcohol: No.
Smoked: No.
Done a drug: No.
Had sex: Well, this is getting personal, innit it?
Made out: No.
Gone out on a date: No. *sniff*
Gone to the mall: Sadly, yes.
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: Hey, good idea!
Eaten shushi: Yep. Mmm.
Been on stage: Was that this month? Yes, yes.
Been dumped: And here's the positive part of not dating: No!
Gone skating: Well, it's kinda June, so no.
Made homemade cookies: Nope.
Gone skinny dipping: Heh.
Dyed your hair: No, but have been seriously Thinking About It.
Stolen anything: Possibly, but I don't recall at the moment. And prob'ly just a CD from my sister.

(layer seven)
ever....
Played a game that required removal of clothing: Well. Yeah.
If so, was it with mixed company: ...and the point when out of mixed company is...?
Been trashed or intoxicated: Yeah.
Been caught "doing something": Heh. That's a whole 'nother entry.
Been called a tease: Yeeeah...*sheepishness*
Gotten beat up: Outside or organized sports, no.
Shoplifted: Well, see...so there's this game my buds and I play called the Blue Game. You're driving down a highway(works best on two-lane highways in rural/small-town areas), and every time you spot a blue sign, you have to get out and steal something. Might be an ear of corn, or, say...*COUGHthetoiletpaperouttatheguy'sbathroomatachurchCOUGH* So yeah.
Changed who you were to fit in: Well, I think we all act differently around different people, so I'd say no, but yes. Heh. Me is cryptic.

(layer eight)
Age you hope to be married: No preference.
Numbers of children: Oh dear, I'm too young to be thinking of this..!
Names: Aaaah! Wait! That's not an answer! Umm, I also like Aidan...ummmm...hell, I'll name 'em all after characters in Hamlet. Yes. There we go.
Describe your dream wedding: Small, in a shady grove somewhere. Springtime or summer.
How do you want to die:Doing something exhilarating.
Where do you want to go to college: Let's call this Where I Want to Go to Grad School, ey? Columbia, Sussex, UBC.

2003-06-26T14:52:00.000-05:00

Hmm, blogger looks...pretty much the same. Only more like it was made by someone using a Mac.

Kinda an anticlimax, innit?

2003-06-25T02:55:00.000-05:00

Indulged in the perfect pick-me-up: a little late-night fic rec surfing. Tonight's picks:

Human by Ins (BtVS) is a Dead Letter from Xander to Anya. It's also some pretty solid advice on living happy and dying content. Short, sweet, and exactly Xander.

Take a Mutant to Lunch by Layla Voll (X-Men) is hil-freaking-arious.

You have reached the School for Gifted Youngsters. If you wish to report a dangerous mutant sighting, press 1. If you suspect that you, your child, or your neighbor is a mutant, press 2. If you would like to join our Take a Mutant to Lunch program to promote human-mutant relations, press 3. Otherwise, leave a message after the tone. Have a nice day.

Bishoop, Gambit(!), Cyclops, Iceman, and four 8th graders. Wackiness ensues. Also, the story of how this situation came to be? Masterfully disregarded in two setnences.

"Whose bright idea was this, anyway?"

But, like all unpopular ideas, it was an orphan.

The Mystery Tour Bus of the Undead: A Humorous Romance by Jennifer-Oksana (BtVS). There needs to be more Ganya in the world, and specifically more as good and spot-on as this. A fluffy S7 moment that actually made me like S7 Giles. Of course, I already loved Anya, so no change there, but this is doing Anya justice, so big props.

Warriors and Little Girls by Jaya Mitai (X-Men) takes Bishop, an oft-ignored character, and makes me cry with him. As a plus, it has lines like,

"She couldn't have been any easier if she had a sign that read, Tunnel Ahead, Four Lanes, 95 m.p.h." Also "You're outnumbered and trapped. Let her go."
"You can just go fuck yourself, mutie!"
Bishop stood behind the man and quietly placed one huge glowing hand around his throat.
"Reconsider."

Apocolypse, Soonish
or
Days of Future Last Tuesday Evening, Just Before the Football (also Part 2, Part 3) by Phil Foster (X-Men...but really, just read the damn thing. Trust Gabby.)

Why read this? Well, because...

6. And it happened that he grew angry, and he did cast himself out from his
job and his family, swearing a mighty oath as he did so
"Bugger the bloody fries!!! Sod the Chicken Burgers!!! I've had enough!!!"

6. And yea did she argue mightily with him, for she possessed the Phoenix
force, and unlimited power, and Yea, a rather nifty costume. But truly did
even she cower in terror at the faceless dread of Lord Bureacracy, and his
demon-spawn, Lord Red Tape, Lord Fill in These Forms, Please, and Lord I'm
Afraid it's been Lost in the Post.

5. And the people crieth out
"Why should we believeth thou, who art a mutant, and who doth look like a
chicken?"
And he did tower above them, and verily did wave his gun at them, which
was illegal in a public place.
And they did discredit him, and laugh at his big gun, saying
"We are men of the Nineties. We know that size isn't important"

1. And it did happen that Paige, daughter of Guthrie, did come to power,
although Power did not come unto her, for truly did he prefer brunettes. And
she did learn much, for her teacher was she known only as the White Queen, she
who was blessed with great powers of telepathy, fortitude, and the ability to
wear lots of white leather and get away with it.

...and all the bits that I'm too lazy to copy and paste.

A Mandate from the People, by D Benway (X-Men, but another in which fandom really doens't matter). Chilling and wrong, and awful, and gut-wrenching. Wow.

And now, for the gem of a long night's reading...

Tucker's Brother, by (BtVS). S6 post-"As You Were," this story actually made me love Andrew. The author paints a wonderfully unhappy vision of life where nobody notices you, and most can't even remember your damned name. Great and unexpected Spike/Andrew interaction, with both characters just as they should be. This fic kills me. So I guess I'll actually go to bed now. 3am is as good a time as any.

...maybe a snack first.

2003-06-24T22:26:00.000-05:00

*growl*

Worked late.

Missed Keen Eddie.

And it was the footie one too, wasn't it?

*simmer*

2003-06-24T14:43:00.000-05:00

This-or-That Tuesday, a blog for the topic-challenged.

1. Surf sites at random, or have a set list of regular reads? Mostly regular reads(my bookmarks file is bordering on ginormous), but every now and then I put in a good, long surf.
2. Do you visit mostly blogs, or news or other sites? Blogs, fic archives, footie news, and, when in season, spoiler sites. I'm a creature of habit.
3. Do you go online every day, or just a couple of days a week? Often more than every day. I need help. And, soon, glasses.
4. Do you allow comments on your blog, or not? Um...teach me how and I'll allow. Otherwise, taggy takes up the slack.
5. Do you shop online at all, or at regular stores? I'm credit card- challenged. It's RL shopping for me. Although I must say I enjoy surfing the online merchandise. And every now and then I make up a list of stuff I want and can't find RL, e-mail the list to my bro near my b-day or xmas, and revel in his obedience.
6. Have you ever done online bill-paying/banking, or not? Not personally, no. I know the parents do some of that on my behalf, though.
7. Which news site do you prefer... MSNBC.com or CNN.com? Or do you prefer some other one? Goog God, neither. I pray that they are swept off the face of the planet. BBC.com will do, but Fark is too amusing to ignore.
8. Live chat rooms, or message boards? Both, but for different purposes. Boards for actual exchange of ideas, chat for time-wasting and occaisional writing help/collaboration.
9. Instant messaging or e-mail? See above, substituting "e-mail" for "boards."
10. Yes or no: have you ever met, or at least talked on the phone with, another blogger? If not, would you want to? Why or why not? I haven't, though not for paranoid reasons. Mostly just don't live close enough to anyone, or have the time or moolah to travel. *sigh* I would love to, given the chance.

2003-06-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

Came home stinking of horse and hay. Showered, dreaded having to head out at the ungodly hour of 7:00 tomorrow morning, then suddenly felt a ton better. Know why? Because I remembered that I'd bought Robbie Williams' Swing When You're Winning last night and can now listen to it at will. Which has turned out to be all evening.

While the version of "Me and My Shadow" that he does with his (male) flatmate leads me to consider that Robbie may not be interested in those of the having-breasts persuasion, I see great Future Husband potential here. And hey, his flatmate has a great voice so I'd be more than happy to share.

Book Rec: Go read Kelly Link's collection of short stories Stranger Things Happen. At turns hilarious and haunting, and always, always insightful. Travels with the Snow Queen is my favorite. Also The Dictator's Wife.

And now for something completely different: I cannot write.

No, I'm not gonna go all "I'm awful, I'm tortured, pity me and re-affirm my pathetic ass." I simply see the screen, see what's already there, and find myself unable to add anything more to it that is remotely good. I bore myself. How in the bleeding hell do you solve this? Please, dears, tell me. I will be forever in your debt.

Edit to say: I RRed. I claim that this does not count as actual writing because, you know, it's all stress-free. In actual writing I agonize over words choice. In RR I agonize over getting followed-up by Rhien and thus blown outta the water. But that's a happy kinda agonizing.

2003-06-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

Thank you, thank you, gums are no longer bleeding. Jaw is now at a dull background ache. I'm distracted enough by Auburn's Bad Wigs, Black Leather, and Guns to not mind that much. Sark as a goth raver. Yeah, that'll do.

Hi Snookums. :)

I'm off to work another polo game now. Pray that I'm not trampled by Jake the Gelding who makes up for his emasculation by acting like a gigantic ass.

2003-06-20T12:16:00.000-05:00

My gums are bleeding.

Just got crowned. Finally. This was the fourth time they'd tried to crown my molar. The first three didn't fit, that is to say that they didn't go far down enough in the back, so I wore a temporary crown for about three months. Now that the real thing is on there it's biting into my gums like nobody's business.

OW.

2003-06-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

Life is so cool sometimes.

So I get home, sit down, of course check the e-mail, and what do I find? An e-mail from one of my BEST FRIENDS EVER who I haven't heard from in...three years? Two at least. I've been sporadically ecstatic ever since. He and I have this (slightly Harem-like) relationship in which we're constantly trying to one-up the other in terms of perversion and general filth. Ah, how I have missed his sorry, pockmarked ass.

Wisconsin is hotter than New York. Huh?

So I have this summer job in which I'm a barn hand/groom for this woman who has three polo horses and boards two others in her stable. It's a bit odd for me because I got into working with horses in a very sideways manner, and I'm still slightly afraid of them. They're so much bigger than me, for one thing. They could easily eat me up, trample all over me, or just eyeball me into a scardey pile of jelly. This one horse, the new Argentinean guy called Jake, is ripped like nobody's business. A bit of an asshole too. Kind of the Mr. Sark of the horse world-- that cute guy in high school who knows he's hot. He's kinda touchy too, so of course, in infinite wisdom, he's housed right next to Stealth. Stealth is the largest, spazzingest horse I have ever met. He's huge (and young, so will continue to grow) and has the mentality of a Jack Russell Terrier. He prances about like he's got "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music" on a loop in his gigantic horse head. Stealth also scratches himself using all the connecting bits to Jake's stall, forever freaking Jake out, and making him even more annoying.

Jake's the guy we're trying to turn into a polo horse. Disciplines, instantly responding to commands, and precise. Yeah, that's gonna be a barrel of fun.

Oooh. Coffee jelly beans!

2003-06-16T19:55:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah, some one or other nominated me for a couple FOF awards. WTF? This is weird and awesome. Big messy-kisses to them!

2003-06-16T15:26:00.000-05:00

Just got back from the Filipino section of Queens. There lies some good eating.

So as soon as I'm rich and/or famous, and can afford a place right next to Central Park, I'm living here. You know, for a couple of years somewhere in between the flat in London, beach-side house in the Philippines, and cottage in New Zealand.

NZ is definately the last on the list, because I plan to settle into a comfy retirement of being a rural milkman (milkmaid just sounds too...milkmaid) in a rural town and marry a dashing rural-yet-worldly man and have lots of great rural sex. Which, as I understand it, is just like urban sex, only in a rural location. For reference, see the movie "The Price of Milk." Karl Urban? Yeah, he'll do for rural husband. He'll do juuuust fine.

2003-06-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

A short 10 minutes ago the Sexiest Man on Earth was standing very (very very, breathing-down-my-neck) close behind me in a crowded subway car. Twas a turbulent ride. Lots of bumping. Brushing of hip on hand. Accidental nose-in-hair. Lingering eye contact at parting. Gabby like the subway. Mmmhmmm.

2003-06-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

Amy wrote more RR! It's adorable! Read now!

Also, we were passing through 42nd St Station last night, and saw one of the many subway performers. This guy was playing salsa music out of a stereo that he'd hooked up to several portable amps, and was dancing with his partner-- a blow-up woman-doll. Her feet were attatched to the tops of his shoes, and he used his hands on her hips to mimick her following him or doing her own thing or this or that. Scarily enough, he was very skilled at this, and was dead serious. I gave him a buck because, well, if anything ever deserved a dollar, it's balls of steel.

Went to this awesome little restaurant in China Town, called South Ocean Taiwanese Cuisine. Highly reccomended if you ever get the chance. Order the crispy chicken roll. MmmMmm. Me&Co. made so many food-enjoyment noises and loud compliments that we got a 10% discount. A little hard to find, but very worth the effort.

Rica has a bumper sticker that says "Fish Tremble at the sound of my name." Heh.

Slaughtered some crabs for dinner tonight. Poor little crustaceans! GabbyMom scooped them into the pot of boiling water and 4 out of 6 clung to the scoop with one claw in a desperate attempt to save themselves. The other two were kinda dumb. I think their thought process went something like, "Alright! Water! Hey, wait a...aw, crap." Ah, little crabbies, I cannot wait to eat you up tonight.

2003-06-13T09:39:00.000-05:00

Bad me and my non-updating. *thwaps self on wrist*

Guess where I am? In a state of post-shower almost-chilly-even-though-it's-really-muggy, NYC. Yep, the GabbyMom and I trotted over here to visit the GabbySis at Columbia before she jets off to a summer internship is thinly oxygenated Ecuador. Right now I have a lovely view of the apartments across the alley, where some guy just yelled something like, "Goddamnit! That's it! I can't take anymore...fucking beanie babies...I've taken all kinda of abuse!" I shit you not.

Any tips on how to stealthily steal GabbySis' music and/or capo? Or how to spell capo? Cappo? Cappooo?

Anyway, the genuine New York experience began, classically, with the taxi driver who spoke little to no English and smelled a little questionable. I hear we're about to go raid Rica's econ Prof.'s office and take all the shiny new books on the subject of econ that we could ever want. Is it dangerously geeky to be excited about this?

2003-06-03T21:09:00.000-05:00

My really phallic inner self:

************

The Muse of Music, Euterpe is her name, is one odd cookie. I'm having a pretty durn good day, and out I spit this downer of a song. Eh, I suppose I'll take what I can get.

Worthy

you're tiring me
tiring me out
been on my knees
on my knees crawling, inching, creeping,
but i thought you were woth it
thought you were worth it
are you, are you

so don't bother
don't bother walking out
cause i'm not ever watching
don't bother
don't bother doing me wrong
cause i'm not even feeling
no i'm not even feeling no harm
no how
from no one

so stick it in
knife me through
knock me down down
trip me up
mess around
cut me down down
i like it better
anyway
on the ground

i'm too tired
just too tired
to stick around

2003-06-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

"Cogito ergo es: I think, therefore you is!"

Red Dwarf forever, babycakes!

(Gabby's a little odd tonight, having an epistemological phone conversation about whether or not she's really having an epistemological phone conversation about whether or not she's having an epistemological phone conversation about whether or not she's really having an epistemological phone conversation about...yeah. That's biology for you: the study of living. Don't let no one tell you 'notherwise, cause this girl's got her sights on you, you deep thinkers you. And Gabby's left arm hurts like it's been pulled from the shoulder too hard, and now it's a pain to just let it hang there, an achey, pendulous weight. WFT? As if my shoulder's rejecting the concept of being build to hold up an arm. Okay, I get that, so let it ache away. Muscle owies as the uprising of the proletariat. Gabby needs to be getting more sleep, no?)

2003-05-29T22:26:00.000-05:00

Forgot to mention...there was a WisCon panel called Bringing the HoYay! I was endlessly excited and very talky, and the panelists were surprisingly up on their HoYay knowledge. Of course, I jumped in at all points to bring the Buffy/Faith, Mulder/Krycek, Sark/Vaughn (you say imaginary, I say handcuffs and groping) angle into play. At one point I was in the middle of a well-articulated, probably brilliant rant when I lost my train of thought completely. I covered suavely by simply shouting "and...XANDREW!" Happy chaos ensued.

It was superly odd to hear the word HoYay in RL, though. Try saying to yourself outloud, then say, in a geeky panel moderator voice, "So does the aknowledgement that a character is, in fact, gay reduce the actual Yay in the HoYay?" Or, perhaps "And what are some examples of HoNay? You know, something squicky like Gollum/anyone." Squicky, another silly word that makes one's mouth feel all funny. Squicky HoYay. Teehee! Oh, you must all try this three times fast! I couldn't get through it twice when I tried, just ended up in giggles.

2003-05-29T20:39:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, Amy! You = such a cutie pie, and naturally deeper than most people are when they're trying to be. And wow, hello to the awkward sentence structure. Generally? HAVE A BLAST!

So Diana linked to this, which is Hil with a capital Arious.

TARA’S GHOST
Wait, I have something to say!

WILLOW
Baby? What did you come back to say?

TARA
Dude, Kennedy sucks.

WILLOW
Ah-ha! It’s the First Evil, cleverly disguised
as my slain lesbian ex-lover!

AUDIENCE
No, dude, it’s Tara. Kennedy did suck.

2003-05-28T18:56:00.000-05:00

So I randomly started writing this thing today, and even if I never finish it, there's some cool bits I thought I'd share.

Unnatural light reflecting off the skin of an opaque puddle was temporarily blinding as Matthew approached a dying streetlamp in London's dead of night. He stamped through the cruddy water petulantly, then looked around embarrassed by his own childishness. The dimness that surrounded Queenstown Road at 1:50am yielded little human company. A hobo shivered convulsively in the open maw of an alley, huddling close to bags of garbage to reclaim the warmth of their decay. His stench reached out with each jerk and nod, rancid tendrils seeking purchase. Matthew hurried past.

Untrusting of snapping, cracking, whistling, breathing, of indistinct and undefined movements, he kept the park, impenetrable and sprawling, to his left and across the street. Chelsea Bridge was in sight now; a second degree reflection of embankment lights off the Thames sketched it in twinklings and streaks through the murk. Still a long way to go, or so said his severely under-exercised limbs. He leaned forward, forcing himself to stumble on faster to keep up with inertia.

They would be waiting for him, and he dared not be late.

"'Ow now, me old China?" A voice, brash, rolling around in the thick air, came from above. Matthew spared a glance, little more than a toss of the head.

"Fuck off, Bates. 'M busy," he barreled ahead.

The disembodied voice called after him, words imbued with a sneer, "Off to your meeting, then?" A moment of hesitation while Matthew continued, ignoring him, then a skittering of movement brought Bates closer, whispering right into Matthew's ear, "So what'll you and sundry be discussing, then? Got a bit of inside information for an old mate, hey?"

"You know I can't say none of that to you," Matthew threw back without pausing. He dodged just a little to the left to avoid another sneak-attack from the wall side, forcing his unwelcome companion to join him on the sidewalk. Bates did this after his own fashion: shadowing Matthew from behind for a few strides, hop-stepping around his side, then twirling to walk backwards in front of him, long filthy jacket spinning madly about his knees.

"Does get around though, doesn't it? Word does. Rumor. There's been talk, and I've been listening."

And that's all me wrote for now. Have some idea of where this could go, but we'll see if it gets there. If anyone wants to know the big secret of who Bates is, and the master plan, well...then you'll just have to beg. Or, say, post the next RR part. Whichever appeals to you most. ;)

The following is Rach's fault, every syllable.

Find your inner Smurf!

Which Rainbow Brite kid are you? By Growing.

If I were a month I would be: June
If I were a day of the week I would be: Saturday
If I were a time of day I would be: 5 pm
If I were a planet I would be: Neptune
If I were a sea animal I would be: a porpoise
If I were a direction I would be: up
If I were a piece of furniture I would be: a fishtank lamp, like from "Thelma and Louise"
If I were a historical figure I would be: ...can I be Joe Strummer?
If I were a liquid I would be: Lemonade
If I were a stone, I would be: amber
If I were a tree, I would be: dogwood
If I were a bird, I would be: a red-winged balckbird. they are rockin'.
If I were a tool, I would be: male.
If I were a flower/plant, I would be: a lilac bush
If I were a kind of weather, I would be: fog, or perhaps a light spring drizzle
If I were a mythical creature, I would be: the Nemian Lion. RrrrOOWRrr.
If I were a musical instrument, I would be: a digereedoo. I have no idea how you spell that... Okay, hell, I'll just be a Fender Telecaster.
If I were an animal, I would be: a wolf. I have pack mentality.
If I were a color, I would be: night-sky-blue
If I were an emotion, I would be: quietly amused (like the Rach, yet different...ah...how deep)
If I were a vegetable, I would be: something phallic.
If I were a sound, I would be: "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay"
If I were an element, I would be: fire
If I were a car, I would be: something old, used, and probably brown
If I were a song, I would be: "All 7," which is a Stalking Shaun original.
If I were a movie, I would be directed by: Ridley Scott. Possibly Spike Lee.
If I were a book, I would be written by: China Miéville? Ah, I flatter myself. Let me flatter myself more: Fyodor Dostoevsky.
If I were a food, I would be: delicious.
If I were a place, I would be: London. The whole damn mess of it.
If I were a material, I would be: Courdoroy.
If I were a taste, I would be: Didn't we cover this?
If I were a scent, I would be: Tulips, but more punkrock.
If I were a religion, I would be: I'm with Rach on this one: polygyny all the way!
If I were a word, I would be: opaque
If I were an object, I would be: a fountain pen
If I were a body part I would be: a thumb
If I were a facial expression I would be: a furtive smile
If I were a subject in school I would be: European Lit.
If I were a cartoon character I would be: Death, from Sandman. Graphic novel characters count, no?
If I were a shape I would be: a triangle
If I were a number I would be: 3

2003-05-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

The post-WisCon report. Was good. Was stimulating. Was awesome to meet so many writers who all gave me the same message: yes you CAN succeed and get published. But, more importantly...

I touched China Miéville.

Ah, yes, full hand-on-(huge) bicep action, to get his attention and ask him to please sign my copy of "King Rat" that I'd gotten at the auction. Now I have, in his endearingly messy, lefty handwriting, "To Gabby, [Re: Buffy] No More Spoilers! Keep it real. Take care, China Miéville." I ♥ that man. Intelligent, articulate, extrememly well-read, sure in his convictions but not at all closed-minded, intense, imaginative, patient, open and warm, and inspiring of written-on-a-napkin poetry. Yes, the following was written during his guest of honor speech.

Like a chocolate-dipped strawberry:
an attractive man in a fitted suit.
Delicious in the first place,
made more desirable
by obfuscation.

Also, he said something great while on a Politics and Sci-Fi panel the other night, and I'll recount it as best I can. Talking about why he was involved in political activism and the Socialist Alliance (Britain's Socialist Party), he said "I [do all this] because, if aliens were to come to Earth, I'd be embarrased. It's like when company drops by and your place is a mess. We'd all be (he looks around rushed, desperate) "Just bear with me a minute, okay?""

Ah, I can't do it justice. But he was great. And, to get all serious for a fraction of a second, he really did inspire me to write better, and the bits of stories (original fiction) I've jotted down since have been judged with the critical eye of "is this as good or better than China's writing?" So, ladies and gentle...ladies, my new goal in life: to be a better writer than China Miéville.

This may take a while.

2003-05-23T19:28:00.000-05:00

Am at WisCon now, in a hallway. So, I saw China come in and I was all "What's the big deal? he's not that..." and then he opened his mouth and started talking all London and I'm-incredibly-smart/deep, yet friendly as can be, and I was all "....uuuuuuuunnnh." Have engaged in some low-grade stalking since. Will soon be revelling in the lilting tones of his guest of honor speech. MMmmmm.

Brought some writing that I have to do here, but I have a feeling that it's going to stay stashed in my room. But there's this cool poem thing I wrote today that I'll post when I get the energy to drag it down here to the row of computers that're set up in a hallway.

I got someone to temporarily tattoo "RIP Spike" onto my arm. Teehee.

Meanwhile...

I demand that someone post the next RR chapter! I also nominate Rhien to do so. :) Because I say so.

2003-05-23T12:03:00.000-05:00

This week has been strange. At least once every day I find out that another one of my friends or aquaintances is/was a closet/out of the closet Buffy/Alias/both fan. I'm starting to think seriously about fate.

Is it the afternoon? Can I go to WisCon now? I hear China Mieville (sp?) is super-octane-British-guy-w/-shved-head hot. Just what I need this weekend: a guest of honor to perv during the con. Maybe I can drop something heavy and ask him to lift it for me.

2003-05-20T20:23:00.000-05:00

So I'm not going to say a lot about the final 'Buffy' ep, because if I do, then the secret of what a pathetic sap I am will be way out of the bag. Suffice to say, I managed not to cry at all until very nearly near the end. It's that damn "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign that did me in. One last time, baby! *sniff* But now I'm just oddly happy with how it all went down. Not in the yay-those-people-died way, but in the yeah-that's-okay way. Which, I guess, doesn't sound so enthused, but gimmie a break, my favorite show of (embarrassing number of years) just ended! In the eternal words of the Buffster, "You have but face."

2003-05-19T20:10:00.000-05:00

Yay for my band! We got a (tiny, but still cool) gig at a benefit-ish show this Saturday. Kinda collides with my plans to go to every minute of WisCon, but I can miss the hour or so of programming in exchange for more adoring fans. Or, you know, people we hire to act like adoring fans. I was thinking of selling men's undershirts with "Stalking Shaun is Best" on them for, say a dollar. True, most of the buyers would actually be in the band or related to one of us, but still... The most appealing idea is stumbling across one of them ten years from now at a garage sale. That would just make my ten-years-from-now day.

What in the world am I gonna do without my band next year?! Emily, she's our esteemed drummer, is actually making the move to Milwaukee too, so I suppose it should only be a matter of time until we con a couple more people to getting their groove on with us. Maybe by then I'll actually have learned to play the bass (and have lost all feeling in my left-hand fingertips, which I can already stick pins into..eeeeew).

Meanwhile, I just had to:

The Roma. You're a freak. A cool 'n' crazy sort of
hipster. You know what it's like to spend a
night on the town, to eat only french fries and
macaroons, to walk on the wild side. You're to
hip to hop, and yet you hop anyway. Kudos to
you, big guy.

Which Puma shoe are YOU?
brought to you by Quizilla

Soundtrack:
left my baby and it feels so bad
i guess my race is run
she's the best girl that i ever had
i fought the law and the law won
I Fought the Law-- The Clash

2003-05-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

My mother, after 50-some years of being the most brilliant woman I've had the pleasure of knowing, today got the degree she's wanted for 30 years and had earned a long time ago. Gigantic props to her-- she's still my hero, the unreachable ideal of a woman who I try to emulate in everything, and she challenges me to better myself every day.

And now, a generally unrelated quote that I found and really like:

Have you learn'd lessons only of those who admired you, and
were tender with you, and stood aside for you?
Have you not learn'd great lessons from those who reject you,
and brace themselves against you? or treat you with
contempt, or dispute the passage with you?
--Walt Whitman, "Stonger Lessons"

2003-05-17T23:28:00.000-05:00

Saw X2 for the second time last night. Am in you're-adorable love with Kurt Wagner (but in the Munich circus they call him the incredible Nightcrawler!). Convinced my friend of his utter adorability beforehand so that we could voice semi-loud "awwww!"s throughout. Gotta love a guy like a prehensile tail. Thusly...

Your ideal mate is Nightcrawler. His appearance
may be a bit off-putting, but his heart and
personality more than make up for it. He is
shy and isn't very sociable and comes off as a
bit of a loner (but you'll fix that). He is
also devoted and strong, and he always seems to
just *pop* up whenever you need him the most. :
)

Who Is Your Ideal X-Men 2 Mate? (ladies only)
brought to you by Quizilla

some spoilers follow

And I completely agree with pharo-- Gambit best be in the next one, and the Jean ending was quite lame. Also, why couldn't Bobby just suck it up and freeze the whole stupid lake? Sure, he was young, and Iceman was pretty lame for a while before he figured out the whole use-ice-for-more-than-bar-tending deal, but still...with the "I can do a whole lot more than that," line, I thought they were foreshadowing, but alas.

2003-05-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

I added to the RR! Once very quickly, the second time long and sexy. Mmm. I've missed my beloved Sarkney. Enemies getting their groove on is just automatically hot stuff. And when one of said enemies is Sark? Well, then it's almost too good to be true.

Meanwhile, I shall get my survey on (stolen from karen t, who got it from...who got it from...). Skipped some stuff. Bad me.

1. What's your full name?
Gabriella. Yes, like Madonna, I need but one name.

2. Were you named after anyone?
Caught me. Gabriella Silang was a Filipino warrior. Warioress? Like Xena. Only Pinay.

3. Do you wish on stars?
Shooting stars and first stars.

4. Which finger is your favorite?
Do thumbs count? I have double jointed thumbs, which I enjoy.

5. When did you last cry?
I don't cry a lot...but I bet you I will cry at the BtVS finalé, cuz I'm a sap like that.

6. What is the #1 priority in your life?
My family. Being on good terms with them, making sure they're doing alright, such and such. (My sister Rica's coming to Wisc. on Saturday! Three cheers!)

7. Your favorite lunch meal?
Sushi. Suuuuushiiiiii.

8. Any bad habits?
Finger-biting...WIPs...

10. If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
Well, I guess that would depend on what kind of other peron I was. If I were still me, only me #2? Yeah, I suppose. I'd think I was friggin nuts, and rightly so, but I'd still hang out. Maybe I'd be in my band. We could build a whole act around it!

25. Have you ever been on radio or television?
I was in the background at a PBS pledge drive, answering phones. Okay, so I wasn't answering phones most of the time so much as flirting with the cue-card guy, but that's what they get for taking in volunteers.

27. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
Yep. And I got the bruises to prove it.

31. Would you like to be a vegetarian?
I opt for "Happy Meat." Meat that I know has been raised in a humane way. I would go veggie if I didn't love eating meat so darn much. Mm-mm good.

36. Your favorite Popsicle flavor?
Orange.

39. Last person who called you?
Alex. "That guy."

44. Do you have a crush on anyone?
Sadly no, and I wish I did. Crushes are fun.

48. What's on the walls of your room?
Giant LoTR poster, silly X-Files pictures, framed photos of the family and some friends.

51. What is the best thing that happened to you this week?
Monday was really good for some reason. I think it was because I'd had a Talk with "that guy," cleared up issues (mostly), and felt that I'd been really mature about it, so I was in a very "go me!" mood. Then I stopped over at a friend's place and chatted in his garage while eating Swedish Fish, which is always an upper.

57. What was the biggest change for you in the last few months?
Finding out that I will, in fact, be in Milwaukee next year. Have I not mentioned that before? I'm moving to Milwaukee at the end of the summer! Exciting, scary, exhilarating. Psyched. That is me.

58. Have you ever danced in the rain?
Heck yes.

60. Favorite Song(s)?
Oh, hell, I'll just give you the ones stuck in my head today.
"One" by U2, but Trix, I'm in lurve with Howie Day's version.
"Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas, who has the sexiest voice in the world
"Respect" by Aretha. Hot damn.
"Soul Man: by...was it Sam and Dave? One of the Fame artists.
and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by...Lord, I have no idea. But it's so good. So so good.

61. Weirdest Inside Joke?
Something about Ass Hair. Yes, as a proper noun. On a slow day, I'll explain.

2003-05-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

Hi again all and sundry (the latter being Blogger which has been poopy today)! As you may have guessed, RL has been unkind to me recently. That's the bad news. The good news is that the sky is clearing, summer's coming, my guys-are-idiots troubles ended, and I have, at the moment, a very Fresh Start outlook on life. Including, if the muses will allow, some much-needed summer fic to fill the void. Because, damn, when I saw the end of this season, the first thing I thought was "Just think of the fic...!"

And hey, if I get a dry spell I can just post the fun short, 5-page-ish OC story thingy I wrote. It's in 2nd person, which is always fun, and has a single character whose only real-time dialogue is with a busted soda machine in the California desert. But hey, I think I like it.

Also a big heya to the many I've seen around but haven't yet met-- new writing blood. I'm thrilled to have so much SarkFic to catch up on. :) It's gonna be a good weekend.

Now off to do something I've missed muchly: read tons of blogs.

Oooh, and I got the coolest quizzy in the world from Amy.

Mean lil fellow, arn't you?

What Monty Python Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
"Is it behind the rabbit?"
"No! It is the rabbit!"
Teehee. :)

(The next RR chapter is mine! Dibs!)

2003-05-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

TEST! Just checking if this/I am still alive. Yep, I've been wondering too... :)

2003-03-06T19:45:00.000-06:00

Eep! "Comfortably Numb" just got a WIP nom at the Rendevous Awards!

Also, a good portion of my city was, as I liked to say, Truant For Peace yesterday. Go us!

2003-03-03T11:23:00.000-06:00

Ooh! 'Climb' got nominated in the Rendevous Awards! Yay!

2003-03-03T11:18:00.000-06:00

Alias:

Gabby love. :) I told Jack to take a step back, but did he? Nope! TV never listens
to me, and now he's got angst up the ya-ya. But the formation of one, big, happy,
EVIL family...well, that makes Gabby happy.

I renounce my allegiance to the "Sark is good" spec, and defect to the side of "Sark is Rambaldi."

2003-03-02T18:16:00.000-06:00

Nope, world still laughing at me. Went out meaning to buy Radiohead or some such proven-good music.
Ended up suckering myself into purchasing an album that John Lydon put out in 1997. That is, formerly Johnny
Rotten now John Lydon. I thought "hmm, wonder what he's been up to?" Turns out he's been up to utter crap,
with the mild exception of one song, called "Sun." Am very disappointed and still don't have my own copy of
"The Bends." I need to learn shopping restraint. I did, however, gain a cheap-as-free-dirt copy of all of
T.S. Elliot's works, so outing was not a total loss.

2003-03-02T14:20:00.000-06:00

Due to being fuckwitted, Blogger won't let me edit the breaks in that last post, or even delete it. And the madness
continues. Am now off to buy music and convince myself that technology laughs with me.

2003-03-02T14:13:00.000-06:00

My sister is the single coolest person on the face of the planet. Yes, possibly even cooler than future hubby James Marsters. She's also disgustingly in lurve with her new dreamboat of a boyfriend. I'm equal parts happy-for-her and jealous-beyond-measure, leaning towards the former because she just sounds SO happy and into this guy. Big good for her, especially after all the guy-crap she's had to deal with.

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Decode here. Or not, whatever, I just like the look of all those mysterious 1's and 0's.

2003-02-25T20:47:00.000-06:00

Oh. My. God!

"Storyteller" has instantly become one of my all-time favorite Buffy eppies. The funny was just so huge! The "We are as goooooods!" sequence nearly killed me. Andrew, I no longer want Spike to eat you. Although you do seem to have an unhealthy penchant for fantasies involving Spike waltzing about half-clothed all the time. MY vampire! Mine!

*ahem*

In other news, I chipped a tooth this evening. Nothing exciting like a back-alley fight or whatnot. Was just biting into an apple and got a "hmm, that felt odd" kinda feeling. Lo and behold, bit of tooth chippage. Must have knocked it earlier. I think it gives me character. Now I can never be a model, but I see that as a good thing. Plus it differentiates me from Norah Jones.

2003-02-24T19:39:00.000-06:00

I've been informed that I look nearly-just like Norah Jones. Seeing as I was not aware of her existence until today, and am not as luck as Amy with the TiVo having, I have only a newspaper picture to base my opinion on. I say no, but everyone still says yes. Then Emmy said how it's like how you can't smell yourself-- it's you, so it's like it's a negative smell, no smell at all. Then again, I can actually see the picture, I'm not all "you're crazy, there's no one there! teehee!" So the same-smell theory has a hole, but it's freaky enough for me to try and believe in anyway.

Writing more VampStory in itty bitty bits because I want to have a solid plotline and know what I'm trying to convey before I get too far. I think I'm going to tend less towards the literal "they want to suck your blood" theme, and more towards a general hunger for life, and a clinging for connection to a world they're undeniably disconnected from. Less sexy, but more angst, and who doesn't like more angst? ;)

2003-02-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

Heehee. Old!Syd looks kinda like Joan Rivers. Or maybe that was just my cruddy TV fuzzies.

While the actual burning people didn't freak me out too much (I'm too technical-minded towards film not to be looking for the telltales of stuntmen), their remains were seriously chilling. And props to JG with her "those used to be people"-face on.

Sark is so delicious. Obviously not doing cartwheels about working with Sloane, and I'm starting to agree with Rhien about the NotSoEvil!Sark!Spec. He had some definate inner turmoil moments, and was arguing with Sloane all the way through. Ah, my poor, conflictedly evil imaginary boyfriend! Gabby will make it all better!

Dixon, I almost cried seeing you rescuing Syd. And boy oh boy, was that interrogation done so very well. Love the visuals there, and, again, big yougogirl to JG for the increasingly-mentally-battered look.

Vaughn, I'm bored. I did, however, like how the last bathtub bit was more honest than I expected this 'ship to be. It showed that, wowee!, things suck and are hard. Um, that wasn't at all supposed to sound positive. I mean that the situation sucks and is hard. And that maybe it won't be okay and bubbly like warm bathwater. So I liked that.

But I want my SpyMommy. :(

On the upside, new Buffy tonight! And lots of yummy spoilage to feast on. *slurp*

2003-02-20T18:09:00.000-06:00

Hi Diana. :) Get more sleep and eat soup. :| (That's a stern look)

Been v. busy. Will continue to be that way for a while-ish type time. Poop.

On the suddenly exciting writing front-- was inspired by watching Nosferatu and Buffy in the same afternoon/evening, and started a random vampire story. It immediately became rather racy. Now, how did that happen? *pointed look at James Marsters* A non-racy excerpt follows:

Yes, I tell myself, this is why I seek out vampires.

I was 17 when I saw my first one, and for a week I'd been sure that he was a ghost. Holden Acker had been a senior and a left fielder at Central that year, that is, until the news reported that he'd overdosed in a club downtown on the Saturday night before midterms. I was an avid juvenile delinquent, and that Sunday at 11pm I spray painted RIP H.A. on the gym wall among the jumbled initials and calls for anarchy. I was alone, my friends being the particular type of punks who actually wanted to pass tests.

Walking home through the cemetery adjacent to my high school (source of endless sarcasm and threats to underclassmen), I gave a passing nod to the conspicuous new grave, and gave him a wide berth more out of nerves than respect.

I might have looked over my shoulder once or twice, but that was just midnight on the outskirts of Philly. I had not yet learned to feel through the night with a mind shaped like fingers, had not yet acquired the necessary hunger to seek out the shadows of people in the dark. So when I hadn't been mugged or catcalled all the way home I was feeling pretty secure. Even while searching with clumsy, bit-nail fingers for the house key, chain and bike lock keys clashing together loud as sheet metal echoing over manicured lawns, even then, I felt nothing but sleepily self-satisfaction.

And then he coughed lightly, politely asking for my attention. Face as pale as the beech he leaned against, one foot tapping restlessly, expression a calm mockery of my abject fear, and only one day dead, Holden stood there in my front yard, coughing for my attention.

Definately needs some ironing out, but seems to have some potential.

Meanwhile,

I am, of course, none other than blank verse.
I don't know where I'm going, yes, quite right;
And when I get there (if I ever do)
I might not recognise it. So? Your point?
Why should I have a destination set?
I'm relatively happy as I am,
And wouldn't want to be forever aimed
Towards some future path or special goal.
It's not to do with laziness, as such.
It's just that one the whole I'd rather not
Be bothered - so I drift contentedly;
An underrated way of life, I find.

What Poetry Form Are You?

2003-02-12T21:23:00.000-06:00

Found this and shouted "Eeep! They make 'em for Alias?!" Without really knowing the "they" part, but hey. Go read. Go read now!

2003-02-11T10:18:00.000-06:00

So. Am filming movie with a friend or two. At the moment I'm the three-person cast...it's kinda Spy vs. Spy vs. SpySpy. Acting for a camera is...odd. And different. The out-of-order thing, plot-wise, is easier than I'd expected, but having to pull in and out of different characters for short spurts of time is pretty trying. We're slowly getting better at it. Fashioned our very own, extra-low-budget dolly camera out of a rollerblade and a tripod. Works like a cursed charm, but is smoother than trying to run across the floor and still get a steady tracking shot.

--------------

Re: Alias.

Why is Sark so much hotter when really evil? Is this a personal problem I have? Should I be worried?.........Nah! Now I have the insanely hopeful hope that Sloane will force Syd and Sark to work together, and oooh, the tension, and the..the...mmmmmm....

Dixon was the best part of Sunday night for me. He rocks my world, and I'm so glad they're using him this much. And boy, he better stick around.

Sloane looked like a clown! Teehee!

2003-02-06T21:20:00.000-06:00

Oh, and thanks to the lovely Marifel, I have a kickass goth name! Me = Bloody Kisses. Boo yah!

2003-02-06T21:07:00.000-06:00

The verdict is in: the world has conspired to bring me nothing but misery and woe.

Went to a dentist appointment this afternoon. Nothing too painful was supposed to happen, as it was an already-rescheduled second half of a crowning. Just pull off the temporary and snap on the permanent, and pow! all done! Obviously I could never be so lucky with in the house of the profession that's terrorized me since kiddiedom.

Just like at my first appointment, the new crown does not fit correctly. At first I thought that this was not such a bad thing: take another mold, come back next week for more non-pain. But not. Oooh no. Mr.DentistGuy decides that the answer is to force down my gums with a pointy piece of metal. At one point I couldn't hold in a wince, and he asked if I wasted to be anesthetized. I declined because those giant needles scare the living life out of me. I concentrated on all the other, worse things I'd been through, which, for someone with an imagination as vivid as mine can be, is a pretty harrowing experience in itself. So then, after wiping some blood off my tooth, the dentist makes me take two more molds and does not mention any positive effect of the torturous gum-assault I'd just been through.

And I still have to go back next Thursday.

Why is that so expensive?!

On top of that, I missed the Sean-Astin-directed eppy of Angel last night. Now, yes, I've never watched Angel in my life, but still, I'm sad about that.

Okay, so not heaving piles of misery and woe, but a small stack of it, when combined with financial tightness, romantic relationship non-havingness, and really, really needing a haircut.

2003-02-02T21:25:00.000-06:00

SPOILAGE if you haven't seen tonight's eppy yet...

I have this feeling that Alias is going to get weirder every week. Especially with this odd sensation of being afraid of Francie. That last scene was creepy as heeeeellll! At first I thought it'd be Sark watching and I could then have made lots of lewd, innapropriate jokes, but then it was her, and I was all "Uhhh...ehhh....eeeiiiiii?!?!"

In other news, this ep was kinda slow at some points, notably the "they find out what the audience has known for a while and cut to commercial as if it's a shocker" bit, but I didn't mind too much, what with the double-eye-candy action. ;-)

Still unclear on how and when Vaughn got field trained and authorized, but will suspend my disbelief for the sake of not sounding like a nitpicking whiner.

Have discovered that, by mentally superimposing different people over Vaughn, I can deal with the smoochies. Not to mention focusing on what a creep he was to Alice. He tells Syd he dumped Alice the minute he had a chance with her, and all she can do is grin like a fool? Not even the pretense of guilt? Sheesh. Note to self: never date CIA men. Note to Sark: hurt other people for her sake-- she'll love it! (Oh! Is that a plot bunny I smell?)

2003-02-02T17:17:00.000-06:00

I am the Tardy Queen of Lateville to say this now, but Rach's new fic is awesome. Hot. Gorgeous. Titillating. Other words for "great."

There was a big (for Madison) march on the capitol yesterday, estimated at about 7,000ish people. Don't know how I managed to go up and down State St. three times (once at a run) after dancing the night away on Friday, but now my legs are telling me that a good sit-down, some heavy reading, and good-sized supply of rocky road is needed to recover. That aside, I'm very excited about going to a giant Campus Anti-war Network conference in Chicago in March. Big bunches of activist-y networking and plannage.

And in a brilliant follow-up to an action-packed Friday and Saturday, I'm sitting around, watching the tube, and listening to "Brown Eyed Girl." Love that song. I mean, how many songs are all "baby blues" "gorgeous green eyes" and so on? Brown eye power!

...and if you say one more time
that one voice can't be heard
I'm gonna raise my many voices
and create quite the stir...

2003-01-29T11:46:00.000-06:00

Meanwhile...Yay to Trixie!

Which Buffy Episode Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-01-29T11:21:00.000-06:00

I watched the first half of Bravo's Crime and Punishment last night and I'm in love with that book all over again. I am such a lit nerd. Still, seeing as I have this unhealthy thing for tragic and screwed-up characters, Dostoevsky is my perfect literary match. So either I'm too in love with the novel, or this movie version is very good. It's at least partly good, because there's this one move the guy playing Raskolnikov does when that stranger calls him a murderer out of the blue. It's this head-nod-blink-gape thing that takes about a second and says everything that Dostoevsky said in two pages. Punched me in the gut, that little move. Go him! And Razumihin is perfect. Sonia is more gritty than I'd imagined her, but that makes sense because the book is from Raskolnikov's perspective, and a movie is more eye-of-God. Porfiry is sliiiimy. Not physically how he's described in the book, but verbally spot-on.

In other news: it finally snowed!!! Yay!!! I can shovel!!! Okay, so I don't have to shovel, but, hypothetically, if I had to, I could.

2003-01-27T21:32:00.000-06:00

Posting this purely to see that adorable picture again. Aww! So cute. And I found something cool that James M said: "I've always envisioned [Spike] giving Buffy a garden that he could never go to in the daytime..." Ah, yes. Just in a fluffy, shippy mood today. Been reading lots of soulvamp and that lot, making me kinda odd and giddy-in-the-head with a bit of an alternate-season going on. Funny how fic and fic equivelant can get you up without the help of canon. Not that the canon's bringing me down at the moment, in any fandom, but I'm just saying.

What kind of B/S Shipper are you?
Bought you to by cerdd_gwen

You have no doubt that Buffy and Spike belong together and you fully expect to see romance on the show. While your high hopes occasionally set you up for a letdown, having an optimistic outlook makes watching Buffy that much more fun.

2003-01-27T11:23:00.000-06:00

Am still somewhat flabbergasted. Not sure what flabbergasted means, or if this is the proper use of the word, but it's a silly and confuzzled enough sounding word to use in this instance. May take some time to recover enough to make coherent commentage.

On the Sark front: I see this all as more proof that he is, in fact, God/Rambaldi/All-Knowing, and as a big set up for him an Vaughn to get shirtless and bleeding at each others' hands. (Choose a scenario. Any.)

Wancie!!! But wow to the potential of future WillAngst. That is gonna be some world-ending angst.

Sark/EvilFrancie! Sark/EvilFrancie! Fark? Sancie? Whatever, it must get written. As in NOW.

The Syd/Dixon thing is breaking my heart...and his phonecall?! *tear*

Uh, yeah. That's as much of my incoherency as I'm willing to release at this time. More later.

2003-01-23T18:43:00.000-06:00

Still sick, but closer to Sunday, and thus better. :-) Such a fangirl am I.

As pie was speaking of Lara Flynn-Boyle at the GG's, I was reminded of this and it's utter wrongness. *shudder* Yeek. Much cuter, though, are these. Aww! There ain't no love like HobbitLove!

Yay! Rach has a new layout and Wancie fic! And am I the last one to notice Rhysenn's really pretty new lj border? Mmmm. Now if only James Marsters, Billy Boyd, or David Anders were to show up on my doorstep and call themselves my "dog for life," I'd start reconsidering my stance on the existance of God. Work on it, people! Work!

Just found my old copy of Runaway Bunny. The BEST book in history. Favorite line: If you go flying on a flying trapeeze, then I will be a tightrope walker, and I will walk across the air to you. Say it with me now-- awwwwww!

2003-01-21T17:35:00.000-06:00

Came online meaning to do shout-outs like I haven't in...the short history of la blog? However, crappy computer is taking ages to load, and thus all I can say is: Marifel, heartburn sucks and I'm very glad it wasn't anything more serious.

On another note of personal health-- apparently marching around for hours in freezing weather is bad for one's health. Who knew? I'm deeply sick, coughing, really sore throat, stuffy nose, and general ick. :-P I've prescribed myself plenty of liquids, jello, vitamin C supplements, some Sark, some Spike, and a righteous feeling of "suffering for the cause." We'll see how that works out.

Argh. Must wait far too long for new Sarkage and new Alias in general. Spymommy! Whatever shall I do without thee? And must I really suffer through the last few minutes of football to make sure I have the start of the eppy on tape? Woe to moi.

On the other hand: new Buffy tonight! And as I am a shameless sucker for the Spuffy, I look forward to it. One must take into account that this was the first ship that I bought into while it was unpopular that actually became canon! I have legit love for the Spuffy! I loved season 6 Spuffy, damnitt! I will not be ashamed! I will

*hides under a rock with the tv clicker*

2003-01-20T10:45:00.000-06:00

Got home earlier than expected because of the best bus driver ever. Got us through a white-out in the middle of Ohio in the middle of the night without anyone in the very peppy back of the bus noticing. Him and the driver in the bus ahead of us preserved the lives of a good chunk of Madison's activist community. And, you know, me. :-) On to more important things.

That was the most incredible thing I have ever seen or been a part of. Most recent Washington Post estimate was a crowd of 250,000, most recent indy media count was more like 500,000. As in half a million people marching across the city in the bitter cold, advocating peace. Not to mention 200,000 in San Fransisco, and the hundreds of thousands in more than 30 countries who also came out on Saturday in a show of solidarity, and to encourage their own governments to encourage dialogue over violence. It was amazing to come over a rise, look down the hill, and see the endless stream of tight-packed people in the streets, cheering, chanting, waving banners, beating drums, dancing. "This is how much people love peace," someone near me said, and I felt so happy and so proud.

The sheer immensity of the march was amazing. At one point my little Madison contingent (who thought ourselves to be near the back of the line) paused at the side of the road for more than a half-hour for a breather and to watch the signs go by. In all that time the pace of the march didn't slacken, nor the number of people decrease. Still there was an endless stream going by, people packed into the four-lane street, and the energy hadn't dropped in the least when we re-joined. We marched into the afternoon and never saw the end or beginning.

There was such a spirit of community and a coming together, that no matter who you were next to in the crowd, you were right at home. There are some pictures of parts of the crowd here.

It was such a cheery crowd too. At one point we met the counter-protest that we'd heard rumor of. It came in two places. First in the balcony of what I think was the Republican headquarters. There were about four people with two whiteboards that said "We Support America's Troops" and "Hippies Go Home." *snerk* The DC people shouted "We ARE home!" And everyone else joined in with "We support America's troops! Don't let them die needlessly!" And other such things. Funny thing was that some Amnesty International people had snuck into the topmost floor of that same building and were hanging banners out the windows and waving, so when we were passing by the crowd was cheering at the building, making the poor "Hippies Go Home" guys think we were very sarcastic indeed.

About a block later we came upon at small area (and I mean small-- maybe 5 by 5 yards-- that had been taped off by police and was filled with about eight counter-protesters. They were waving the American flag and waving signs that said that we all (obviously!) supported terrorism and Saddam, and were likely very undemocratic. As the throngs passed them we passed the cheer along to always be in front of them: This is what democracy looks like. They were rather drowned out. Late at night on the bus home I was talking to someone else who remembered passing by that group. She's seen a woman behind the line yell something like "We are doing this for our children!" and then someone from the march who came over and smiled at her and said "So are we."

Some of the more original slogans I can recall off the top of my sleep-deprived head:
Drop Bush Not Bombs
Hell No, We Won't Go-- We Won't Fight for Texaco
If One Person is Killed, It's Murder. If Thousands are Killed, It's Foreign Policy.
Mr. President: Which Daughter Will You Send?
Ragin' Grannies For Peace
Grandads For Peace
Veterans For Peace
Middle-Class Suburban Americans for Peace
(On a guy in giant polar bear suit) Alaskans For Peace
(On a guy in chunky heels, faux pink fur, and a shiny pink hat) Baby, I AM the Bomb.
Keep Your Laws Off My Liberties

Whew! If I had a less sore throat or less aching legs, I'd be writing lots more, but that's the report for now.

Oh, and onebyone! I have great friends in the marines (and yay! now one in the air force!), and love them dearly. And I'd really rather they not die for the profit of the few, or participate in needless killing. If you, or anyone reading, has differing views, for God's sake, tell me! And we'll talk! I love constructive dialogue. It's what keeps life interesting.

2003-01-18T19:16:00.000-06:00

Quick update from my bro's place in DC, night after the big ol' honkin' protest thingy. Don't believe what CNN, etc say about "tens of thousands." If there wasn't over 100,000 people there, I'm a monkey's uncle. The dedication of all those people, tramping across the district in the sub-freezing cold just blew my mind. Go us!

2003-01-16T11:28:00.000-06:00

Eeep! So my absence will be somewhat prolonged. Off to Washington DC tomorrow to add some volume to the much-needed voice of dissent. If the media actually covers the march, you can all look for me on the teevee, the girl with big brown eyes and crazy-thick-curly-long brown/black hair. And a sign that says something like "Gorgie Porgie Pudding and Pie, Bombed the Kids and Made Them Die." Or perhaps "Disarm the US Now!" Maybe even "What is a Rogue Nation? A Member Nation of the UN that Takes Radical Action Without the Support of the Security Council." Or, say, "Beware the Right to Rebellion."

And may I say now, do not take me for an America-hater. I love Americans. I'm American, my best friends are American, half my family is American, and what's been done to pull wool over the eyes of these people I love makes me so angry and so sad and so ready to bus out to DC already.

Full report when I get back on Monday night!

2003-01-11T13:07:00.000-06:00

Just got a call from my aunt Mary Jane, part of the Mississippi half of my relatives. She said she'd heard that I had made a pact with a friend to go forth and wreak havoc in films, and decided that we should join forces with three of my cousins (two actors and on indie film-maker) should form a family coalition and take over the (cinematic) world. Not sure whether to be flattered that she seems to actually think this possible, or afraid that she'll order those cousins, two of whom are her sons, to show up on my doorstep and ask where the crew is, if the storyboarding is done, who's doing the digital, if the Balrog has wings, and God knows what else. Have decided instead to escape to choir practice/performance.

2003-01-08T23:13:00.000-06:00

Wow. I'm watching a little too much of the moving pictures.

In alphabetical order:

24
Been catching up on FX recently and just saw a live eppy for the first time in months last night. And damn. I want that president. I want Jack. In a different way, yes, but want. Lotsa want.

Nina must die. Someone just sneak up behind her and shoot the slut! How hard would that be?

Radiation poisoning makes me break down crying automatically because I've read "On the Beach" too many times (by Nevil Shute. READ IT NOW!), so, yeah, nuff said.

Alias
Liked it. Didn't adore it, but it was more because the devices that they use to get Syd in tight/little/no clothing is, to use some sarcastic word play, very see-through. It did amuse me to know that she coordinates her underwear to go with those get-ups. Although I wouldn't have pegged her for a thing girl, but I haven't really got a good idea of what a "thong girl" is. You know, besides Rach. ;-)

Dixon's awesome. "I speak nine languages. Techno isn't one of them."

Marshall = so very cute. Pong! Me loves Pong! And the tunes! Awwww..!

Mommy is a porn star. But I adore her anyway. Really wish she'd act at least a hint more evil, just to please me, but I'm okay with status quo too. Hell, she could break out in a rousing round of "The Mickey Mouse Song" and I'd be sitting here all "Ooh! Hair toss!" Jack is so utterly, obviously still in love with her. It's painful. And if she preys on that I don't know if I'll rejoice at the drama or scream for the SpyDaddyAngst. Likely both.

Is Kendall actually being reasonable? Eh, must be something he ate. Lay off the beans, Ken, I like you just the way you are!

I need Francie to have a character. I am so sorry for the poor actress who gets billing and publicity, but no character. She gives sage advice and is slowly becoming less oblivious. She probably likes food. She almost married a lunkhead. And my list stops there. I get more of my idea of Francie from fic than from canon, and that's just not fair for a beginning-credits-billed actress. Do something!

Oh, and Will rocks. He took the Vaughn's-looking-like-a-prick words out of many peoples' mouths. Will will kill you if you try anything!

I'll ignore the promos for next week, and reserve gagging or any other surprise reactions until then.

Buffy
Andrew must die. Please, please, please, just feed him to Spike or something. Oh, soul. Damn! Stupid soul.

Redemptionistas must be rejoicing, but I have to say that I liked him when he was a wildcard-- that season 4ish place where he did good things only because he couldn't do bad things. The Scoobs would thank him for the help and he'd make sure they knew that it was only for cash or a spot of violence or both, and that he'd soon be eating them all for afternoon tea. And early season 5 Spike going just mad and stir-crazy inside his own head. Obsessive and impulsive, every now and then forgetting to make up excuses for good deeds, and every now and then reminding everyone what he was, and what he'd rather be doing. I loved his gray area. But it was a period that couldn't last, of course, becuase it's basically saying that he could go either way. No matter what you want, you're going to eventually have to choose a way.

On another note: long live the Thunderdome. Very glad that I'm not a Slayer in Training-- seeing the girl whose life you might take say "This is a slayer" then watch her get the crap kicked outta her before finally winning through sheer force of will (and some handy barbed wire). A daunting thing.

Not a TV show :-)
Top Ten Favorite Pairings (in random order)

1. Spike/Dru (Buffy)-- Beauty twisted dark and bloody red and a passionate obsession that lasted over a century. Mmm. Oddly, I also love the thing that did away with it...

2. Spike/Buffy (Buffy)--I adored the love/hate. I even liked season 6 because I loved seeing the dark side and knowing that someone on TV had the balls to do it and do it honestly. Not sure if I like the new approach Buffy's had to him this season, or if I believe it. But we'll see...

3. Willow/Xander (Buffy)--Vlada, great minds ship alike. I'm still watching and waiting, even though I loved Tara to little bits.

4. Syd/Sark (Alias)-- I seem to be drawn to the love/hate. Call me crazy.

5. Scully/Krycek (The X-Files)-- See above. And see Nick Lea. Mmmmm.

6. Scully/Vibrator (The X-Files)-- Yes, you can be a Skipper and a NoRomo! More realistic than #5, and more palatable than MSR. And it pissed off the shippers, and after the movie, the flame wars were the only interesting thing.

7. Jack/Irina (Alias)-- A burning, searing, ugly, fiery thing. Love it.

Okay, so I don't have ten. Sue me.

2003-01-06T23:28:00.000-06:00

*simmer*

So my sister's going through some tough crap at the moment. However, I wouldn't know near anything about it if it weren't for whispered secondhand stuff and little, vague comments made when I talk to my parents. It doesn't hurt that they don't tell me anything. They feel it's not their place, and I understand that. It really hurts that she won't talk to me about it. I know I'm the little sister by a many years, but damnit, I'm not a child anymore, and I thought I had earned her trust with things like this. Things beyond the boyfriend situations and workplace spats. My first instinct when something really disturbs me is to call my sister, and hers is to keep me in the dark. Sometimes I wonder if I'll find myself middle-aged and still being treated with kid gloves by my entire family.

And people wonder why I'm not predisposed to "share my feelings." :P

2003-01-06T22:13:00.000-06:00

Pharo, your wallpaper reminded of one of my band's favorite songs (of our own), the chorus of which goes:
and I would love to be your downfall,
I'd love to watch you crash and burn
can I be your downfall, baby?
I'd cackle at the ashes of your
crocodile tears,
and overblown childhood fears.
Nice and ironic in person because the melody is really sweet and love-song-y. :)

------------------

You will live in House.
You will drive a Black Jeep.
You will marry Billy Boyd and have 2 kids.
You will be a Writer in Glasgow.

Boo ya!
------------------

Big fiasco with a couple of rats that Emily and I got for a mutual friend. The cutest little fuzzy things in the world, those two. Their soon-to-be-owner, however, was out of town the day we got them so it was decided that they'd stay with me overnight. They seemed fine when I went to sleep, but when I got up in the morning the smaller one, Peregrin, was splayed in front of one of the tunnels, having died while I slept. One of the worst things I've had to do is pick up that sweet, young, fuzzy rat and bury it myself in the hard, frozen ground. And I haven't been able to get the image of him running around last night, happy and exploring, and the grossly contradictary picture of him the way he was this morning.

We took his brother, Meriadoc to the vet today to get him checked out. He's healthy, but from what we told her the vet said that Peregrin was likely to have been eruntive and because of that couldn't handle the stress of moving. Damn good thing that Merry's not really mine, as I would likely refuse to leave him alone for a few days "just ot make sure." What kills me is the thought that I could have checked on them later in the night, somehow made him feel more at home, calmed him down, something. I was sobbing all the way to the bus stop this morning over an animal I met yesterday.

------------------

One good thing today: was talking to someone who'd seen the movies, but swore off the books because he'd heard they were too wordy and lacked interesting imagery. So I whipped out The Two Towers and read him a favorite passage of mine. Gimli describing the caves of Helm's Deep to Legolas while they ride to Isengard: There are columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose, Legolas, fluted and twisted into dreamlike forms; they spring up from many-coloured floors to meet the glistening pendants of the roof: wings, ropes, curtains fine as frozen clouds; spears, banners, pinnacles of suspended palaces! Still pools covered with clear glass; cities such as the mind of Durin could scarce have imagined in his sleep, stretch on through avenues and pillared courts, on into the dark recesses where no light can come. And plink! a silver drop falls, and the round wrinkles in the glass make all the towers bend and waver like weeds and corals in a grotto of the sea.

He was silent for a moment, then "That guy's nuts. That's nuts! Lemme see that. Can I borrow this."

:)

2003-01-05T01:22:00.000-06:00

Hm. So when I said I wasn't going to do any more quizzes? Lied. Yeah, I lied big time.

What amusing cast moment from FotR: The Extended Edition DVD are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Congratulations, you're the inane game Billy and Dom made up on Weathertop!

Fitting because I'm hell-bent on playing that trick on someone, anyone, somehow!
And I didn't get this one, but, at heart, I know it's my inner result:

What amusing cast moment from FotR: The Extended Edition DVD are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Heehee! Ah, if I could only find a screencap of that moment... Okay, so it was more of a "HA!" than a "ROWR!" thing, but that was mainly because of all the sound effects the boys were adding, and the big, puffy life-jackets both Dom and My Pickle were wearing. Can't hold it against them, really, for releasing a bit of energy.

*snicker*

And now, so as not to shame the Tolkien legacy overmuch, a random quote:

Sink your roots into the rock, and face the wind, though it blow away all your leaves. - Queen Erendis to her daughter Ancaline, who would be the first Ruling Queen of Numenor. From "The Mariner's Wife" in Unfinished Tales

-------------------

On a the note of a different obsession: the online MASH thingy simply refuses to let me marry anyone who isn't David Anders. If I were at all mathematical I'd find that I was only giving it mathematically-David-Anders vibes or some such thing. Being utterly non-mathematical I see it as a sign to go forth and commence stalking. Woohoo!

2003-01-04T15:16:00.000-06:00

Thanks for kind words about the layout! It's the best an html-illiterate such as I could handle.

----------------------

Some good news for the dork in me! I was over at One Ring and I read this article by this guy who was on the set of LoTR during the last few weeks of shooting. In describing his last day on set he said, among other things, The scenes from ‘Flotsam and Jetsam’ were filmed that day, with the hobbits meeting the entire group just coming back from Helm’s Deep. The Fangorn set was now also used as the newly-grown forest around Isengard – after the Ents had taken over. Which means that the last 60 pages of the first half of TTT won't be forgotten! And there's still hope for Pippin and the Palantir! Grinned like the big, dorky, idiot I am while reading that.

The lucky sod also got to be an extra at Minas Tirith. Any bitter, seething jealousy I had was swept away, though, when he spoke with utter humility and awe of the maginificent and nuanced work that he saw there. Now it's just a gentle, kindly seething jealousy. ;-)

----------------------

The new RR is fucking cool. The starting from the end bit makes the writing easier in some respects, seeing as you know exactly what you need to accomplish by the end of the next part-- you have to bring it up to the point where the last one started. On the other hand that can get a bit boring, so I also like the jumping-about thing. It creates a patchwork of a story with plenty of spaces that need filling-in to choose from.

2003-01-02T17:29:00.000-06:00

Joining the new year, new template brigade. Nice, simple, non-blinky to older browsers, and hassle-free.....ahhh....*leans back and sips a lemonade.*

2003-01-01T23:56:00.000-06:00

I'm still awake and have accomplished nothing. Unless, like me, you believe that accumulating lots and lots of Billy Boyd pictures is something. If you do, then, well, I've accomplished more than enough! Too adorable, that man. Too too. If I can still look like I'm 18 at 34, I'll be happy. I've just found out that he is nicknamed, among other things, Pickle. I think that's just pervy enough for me.

-------

Edit to say: That's it. I'm sold.

Just watched the DVD extra on digital grading, and...I'm so sold. I'm doing that. Not just that, but all of it. I'm making movies, no matter how long it takes me and what I have to do to get there. There is no way I could find anything more rich with input-- from script preconceptions to color to light to costume to set to character to edit and all the rest. I'm going to do everything I can to get my grubby hands in every one of those tasty pies.

Heh. And that sounded dritier than I intended. ;)

2003-01-01T14:58:00.000-06:00

Just saw "Bowling for Columbine." Rach, I'm suddenly very afraid of your state. Not that Wisconsin is any less gun-toting, but I'm irrational like that.

--------------

Should really be working of various projects right now. Somehow I manage not to. I think I'm work-a-phobic. Seriously! I get this sinking, sickened feeling whenever I sit down and force myself to work on something. Not things I like to do, of course, I could happily fic, read novels or, hell, even tech for hours on end. But if it's something I know I won't enjoy then I have a serious willpower problem. It's a physical effort, *such* a physical effort, to force myself to sit down and work. Note to self: never get a desk job.

-------------

Wow. So I hadn't been back to the boards in a while upon whiles, and when I do go the whole thing's moved! And all spiffy and new. Heh. Me? Outta the loop? Heck, I didn't even know there was a loop.

-------------

Luden's cough drops are divine. And Rhien and Mark are getting published! And my dad actually likes some of my band's music! I still can't get enough of the FoTR dvd! Holiday wonders abound.

-------------

And this site is like heaven for obsessive pervs. I loves it. ;)

Happy New Year everyone!

2002-12-31T16:35:00.000-06:00

Taken from Rach, and done by many others...

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Well, seeing as I hadn't really written fic at all before this year, I'd go with "more."

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2002?
Gotta go with the Sarkney. As evidenced in 6.28 (wow, that seems long ago and far away now), I was driven to write some S/V at first. Then I read Sakura and never came back. ;)

What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest.
Must say Climb. It started out as a one-parter, then the next one called out to me, then the next, and it wasn't until chapter seven that I knew how I'd end it in the next chapter. Somehow, in all of that, I ended up really liking how it turned out. It was my nitpicky peice in which I thought about every word, and I'm glad that I can look back at it now and still like the words I chose.

Did you take any writing risks this year? (See above for unexpected pairings, etc.) What did you learn from them?
Writing at all, I'd say. Maybe starting some Vaughn/Sark, but I didn't know it was a risk at the time.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
To actually finish all those stories I started. Now there's a task! :)

2002-12-30T22:46:00.000-06:00

Am with friends and looking up dream interpretations. Apparently my friend Emily is poor, ugly, and old, and I kicked misery's sorry, crocodile-skinned ass. Ha! Am obviously far superior to Emily. Plus in actuality Em's taken up knitting, making her old at heart. And I've taken up calling anyone sexy "my future husband," making me pathetic at heart. Ah well, one can't have everything.

Current List of Future Husbands:
Nick Lea
Manchester United (yes, the whole team. possibly Leeds U also.)
Allen Iverson
James Marsters
David Anders
Howie Day (damn you, Trixie!)
Orlando Bloom
Billy Boyd

Master plan of gathering them all in a remote Utah location will soon by put into action. Yay to polyandry!

Edit to say: Wow. I'm kinda creepy. ;) Heh.

2002-12-30T16:22:00.000-06:00

Am watching FoTR cast commentary for the third time. Am hopelessly in lurve with Orlando. Be aware, all: he is my future husband. He likes all the parts I like. It's obviously meant to be. *swoon* Ahh, say "walking past" again! "Wooalking paaaahst." Mmmm.

In other news!

So which fairy tale archetype are you? Hmm??
made by Michelle at EmptySpace.

You are an evil tree. What more can I say?
It's ironic Merry
and Pippin got to be such good friends with Treebeard
After
you tried to snack on them.
Advice: I'd advise you to keep away from Tom
Bombadil,
except ... you can't go anywhere.

What Toy From The 80s Are You
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm big and long

I fancy Elves.
The only one that will ever look good in tights. Oh yea.
Which culture from Middle-Earth do you fancy?
By Hannah and Dani
(heh. long-lasting.)

Argh! Why are those fucking things so fucking addictive! That was a purge! I swear it! No more! None!!! Aaaaaargh!!!

2002-12-28T23:42:00.000-06:00

Ah, what to do when creativity and the completion of coherent sentences eludes one? A survey! Yay for Karen T!

The story behind your lj user name
Name in general here, as I don't use lj...Gabby is my, well, my name...Silang is from Gabriela Silang, a Filipino heroine who I was named after. So I stole it, supporting my delusions of grandeur. ;)

Are you a lesbian?
Only for SpyMommy. Gods, that woman is hotter than hot!

Where do you live?
Wisconsin. Land of beer, brats, cow-tipping, and other dairy products.

4 words that sum you up:
Insolent, impatient, curious, sincere.

Wallet?
Pretty much all I carry, small and leather, perpetually in my back pocket.

Coffee cup?
Portable and durable. Cooooofffffffeeeeeeeeeeeee.......*drool*

Sunglasses?
One pair that I haven't seen since August. They're cool, though, brown-tinted and funky.

Underwear?
Yes, thank you. I have some that have ants on them and say "Ants In Pants." :)

CD in stereo right now?
Ugh, I have to get up and check?! I'm habitual. Prob'ly either Trixie's Howie Day burn, or Portishead. I'm in that mellow, kinda angsty mood.

What you are wearing now?
Formerly-black-now-gray jeans, black tank, blue hooded sweatshirt. Sitting-around gear.

Makeup?
Never, unless for theater. I don't even own chapstick.

If you could get away with it and murder anyone, who would it be and for what reason?
You know, I can't really name a single person...um, that came out wrong. What I mean is that there are many things I see in the world that need righting, and if I could find one person whose death would reverse all that (save the environment from our wrath, say, or prevent us from destroying each other and ourselves with nuclear weapons), then yeah, I'd kill them. But there's no one person. So I'd have to decline.

Some of your favourite movies:
This would take far too long, so I'll say two: "Invasion of the Body-Snatchers," and FoTR (extended! extended!).

Something you're looking forward to in the upcoming month:
Umm...getting a good night's sleep is ranking pretty high at the moment.

The last thing you ate:
One of my sister-in-law's Godiva chocolates. Mmmmmm. High-cholesterol goodness.

Something that you are deathly afraid of:
Earthquakes. I was in a major one when I was younger, and still get freaked out when trucks pass by and rattle windows and such.

Do you like candles?
Yeah...that's about all to say.

Do you like hot wax?
Heh heh! now I know what they were talking about! I can name some circumstances in which I'd like to have some hot wax around.

Do you believe in love?
I want to. I try my hardest every day, and that's no lie.

Do you believe in soul mates?
I guess I won't know until I find one, ey?

Do you believe in love at first sight?
Not first sight, really. First meeting, first interaction, maybe. Maybe.

Do you believe in Heaven?
No.

Do you believe in forgiveness?
Always.

Do you believe in God?
No. And not for lack of trying. Sometimes I wish I did, but I can't make myself believe something I don't as much as anyone else could. The world, people, the universe, is incredible enough for me-- a miracle of nature-- and I can't imagine anything could be greater than all this. I'm also a very visceral person, and I don't feel a god, if that makes any sense.

What do you want done with your body when you die?
Plain old burial, after organ donation and all that jazz.

Who is your worst enemy?
I'm with Karen, it's just little old me.

If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be?
A troupe of flying monkeys. Fuck yeah!

What is the latest you've ever stayed up?
Um. I tend to do the skipping-sleep thing often. So...yeah.

Ever been to Belgium?
No, sadly.

Can you eat with chopsticks?
Yes.

What's your favourite coin?
Don't have one. But I lurve 2 dollar bills!

What are some of your favourite candy?
Swedish fish. Anything else that's gummy. Twizzlers. Other things that will rot my teeth to their very roots. Mmmm...the sweet taste of tooth decay...

2002-12-26T22:02:00.000-06:00

Thanks so much for all the happy holiday tidings! Happy they were. Yummy foodies, lovely prezzies, etc, etc. Now onto the important stuff in life-- material possessions!

New guitar pedal! A gazillion different settings! 20 accompanying drumbeats! Eeep! Ooh, and pretty striped socks with frogs on the big toes!

Now.

Allow me to make something very clear: I am a great fan of the VCR, and of VHS technology. Tapes have been my friends for many a happy year and I never thought that I could ever want anything more, much less forsake it for the next techno-viewing fad.

Then came the Fellowship extended edition DVD. *dramatic organ chord*

Still, I resisted. 16 documentaries documenting the art I pine to be a part of, the cast and production crew I admire, and the story I've loved for years? Four commentaries by the cast, the director and writers, the post-production crew, and the design crew? Storyboards and pre-visualizations (*swoon*)? They did not sway me. I was dedicated to my VCR, to my way too extensive taped-from-tv collection of videos. So with all this done I feel confident that guilt is not the appropriate reaction to receiving a DVD player and the extended edition LoTR for Christmas. And I'm sure the fading gods of VHS will ignore the yelping and jumping around. Oh yes. And the 6-ish hours I've spent watching it already. And my plan to pre-order TTT as soon as it's available.

Teehee! Spent about 45 minutes straight just playing with the frame-by-frame thingy. Billy and Orlando would be afraid to know the shots I lengthened. There's this one with Orlando putting packages of lembas into their boats while Billy and Dominic sat around like the absurd, sitting-about-and-eating hobbits that they are, and Orli bends over reeeeal nice, and Billy has this great expression....................*drool* Must get self a Pervy Hobbit Fancier shirt. Ah yes.

Ooh, and meanwhile, the madness continues--

LOTR - Which Helm's deep Soldier are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
You are Legolas- the patient loving elf. you are a very accepting person and wont put up with any crap from people putting your friends down. You sure know how to battle, and do it in style- if such thing is possible. by the way- can i have your number?

I've Taken as a Sex Slave:

Fuckable Prince of Mirkwood
from
Legolas Greenleaf Love

I've Kidnapped and Shagged:

Sexy Brit that is Pure Raw Unforgiving Sex
from
Legolas Greenleaf Love

Oooh, fuck yeah. *salivate*

I've Kidnapped and Shagged:

Sexy Hobbit
from
Legolas Greenleaf Love

I've Taken as a Sex Slave:

The Sexy Scot
from
Legolas Greenleaf Love

Gaaaaahhh. *further salivation*

I've Adopted:

from
Legolas Greenleaf Love

*cheek pinching* Huh? Not --those-- cheeks, you pervs! Honest. Oh yeah. Honest...oh, my boy, your eyes for wide, your feet so hairy...

God, aren't all these pictures annoying? Heh.

what Lord of the rings man gets you hot?
brought to you by Quizilla

Heh heh. "*cough*PERV*cough,*" says my alternate personality. But pay her no mind. She's on crack.

2002-12-24T18:46:00.000-06:00

So! Family has invaded, and thus my total absence. Some quick shout-outs before I'm discovered to be on the computer and not making merry with food and song and drink and food and food:

Terra rocks and deserves the best holiday ever. :) Thaaaaank you! Diana ain't that bad either. ;) Love you, dear!

The RR is the coolest piece of cool ever. Have I mentioned how much I love the layout? I love the layout.

Why won't it snow?! Why?!! It's Wisconsin! It's Christmas! Is this because of that corn-stealing incident this last summer, because there's a perfectly believable explanation for that. Really. SNOW!

I got my dad (who was very nearly a priest) a Jesus action figure. Heheh. And my sister is getting the BOOJ (tm) a bit earlier than most-- I recorded some of it on tape for her since she was begging. And Rach, that's not a diss to your stalking skills, those are above par, just a sign of how whipped I am by my family.

Happy holidays to all, and a great new year. New beginnings sound good to me. I just found this song I wrote a while back and should have taken more to heart, so now it's my New Year's resolution.

I will take these things in stride
I will not be put off by your silence
I will take these things in stride
I won't be reduced to violence
I will take these things in stride
you won't hear me ask for forgiveness
I will take these things in stride
perhaps one day you'll comprehend this
but until that day arrives
it's enough that I understand
just what I'm trying to do
by holding my own hand.

It has a cool tune. I swear! Maybe if I master all these new softwares that people are throwing at me I'll be able to let y'all hear some of my songs. Ahh, a new project.

2002-12-18T03:32:00.000-06:00

It's 3:22am, and I have a very few things to say before I collapse into bed and dream of being ravaged by a battle-bloodied Legolas. Plus I don't want to spoil Rhien too much before we can spew and be freaky fangirls together. :)

Gollum's identity-dissociative disorder. Alternately funny, creepy, and downright scary. As it should be.

Too much Arwen (a-p-p-e-n-d-i-x!), but we knew that already. Still, her ninny-nanny could have been cut to include some of the things that were left out (Pippin and the palantir?!).

I am marrying Billy Boyd. Alternately Orlando Bloom-- I'm not picky.

Dwarf tossing!

Sean Astin.

Viggo.

The whole damn cast.

HELM'S. DEEP.

And yes, I spent the day dressed as Sam Gamgee, carrying around lembas, some Elven rope, and a frying pan. And I'm damn effin' proud. Was especially proud to be in a giant group that waited outside the theater (they didn't open doors until 11:00) in the freezing cold and pouring rain. I smell a bit like wet hobbit at the moment, but no matter! Still time to climb on the roof, have a bite of late elevensies, and watch the dawn. Woohoo!

2002-12-17T13:56:00.000-06:00

Like others, I will be MIA to a large extent this week. When I get back, I'll be free, fixing the screwy template, and posting Booji bits. :) Love, love, love, and long live the RR!

2002-12-16T00:14:00.000-06:00

The Abduction: The Review and Spec in which the author attempts to make observations beyond "Sark bounces when he talks. Bouncy bouncy bouncy!"

Overall, I fell for this episode. I say that because it was kinda designed to get you to like it, and I'm aware of being pulled in like the sheep I am. Baaaa. :) I don't have a problem with this, really. It's storytelling, and the point is to draw the listner in. Good on them for hooking me. That said...

Sloane messed with Sark and now he must pay. And he will. In some insidious, passive-aggressive way of Sark's. Some day, somehow, I can see him getting Sloane back. The boy's the type to have a long memory, and I have a feeling he might just hold grudges. Until that day comes, though, he's doing a grand job of being compliant in this episode, lending lots of helping hands here there and everywhere. It was almost funny to watch him brief Syd and Marshall on their op. And he bounced on the balls of his feet while he talked! Sorry. I love when guys do that and try to be serious at the same time. It's so cute.

The woman Dunaway's playing is such a ho it's sickening. I like her. She'll probably compromise Jack too, and I'm all for adding twists to the turns.

Irina, Irina, Irina. Please have some devious plot up your sleeve, nestled somewhere near your rock-hard biceps. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll even have her evil-gone-good babies. The Hair was a bit flatter this week, but was made up for by lots of little smiles, all unique. I'm in love.

Is it just me or is one of Jack's ears bigger than the other? It's the left one. I'm nearly sure of it.

Vaughn's look when Syd was all "I'm going to Paris, city of lurve...with Sark." I love that look. It resembled Syd when Alice was all "Mikey and I are seen together in public and have lots of sex. Sex sex sex. Do you think he's too injured to have sex right now? God, isn't he cute in a hospital gown?" Heh. Sarkney lives.

Marshall rocks. Trix, I saw the looks Sark and Marshall were exchanging and I thought of the Mod Couple. It's too true.

*yawn* Would do speccing about who Suit-and-Glasses is working for (Cuveé), and if Francie will ever get a storyline (signs point to no), but I've become inexplicably exhausted.

----------------

It's almost Tuesday!!!

2002-12-15T14:47:00.000-06:00

As Tuesday night approaches, I turn into more and more of a blathering idiot. I go out and find things like the Hobbit Name Generator, and it's sister site the Elvish Name Generator. I'm Belladonna Brambleburr of Bindbale Wood, and Aredhel Silimaurë. Teehee. :)

2002-12-15T01:57:00.000-06:00

Terra has made the RR so pretty. Who needs to write when you can just stare at what's there already, a line of drool slowly moving down your cheek. Then again, that may be the insomnia talking. It's 1:34am. Gimmie a break.

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Aargh. Ever get in one of those funks where everything everyone expects you to be doing just seems so stupid? It might be that the end of the semester's upon me, it might be that the holidays always make me kind of sad, it might be that everyone around me is wrapped up in their own shit right now so I'm just following suit. Whatever it is, 'tis bad for my work ethic. I just wanna stay in and and write and read and listen to music. I even want to be alone. A lot of people don't get that and can interpret it as me not wanting to be around them in particular, which is completely untrue. I've just been going full-throttle for an extended period of time-- something that's not in my nature-- and my body's telling me to slow down before the rest of the world would find that acceptable. Usually I'd say "fuck the rest of the world," but I've developed this odd sense of obligation, this inner voice saying that what I do with my life isn't all mine to decide. Then the old me lets out another resounding "fuck that," and I'm back where I started. Silly inner dialogue. I just feel like I'm wasting everyone's time, I guess. I want to do something stupid and hopeful-- run off to LA or NYC and do the crazy actor thing, get totally burned, but at least have tried. Mayhaps I'll feel more rational in the morning.

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A few good things:

The RR rocks. So does my band. I love all you guys. *muwah!*

SarkInUniform on Sunday. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

New Buffy Tuesday. Spike still not evil, but will ignore that as best I can. Can't have everything.

LoTR Two Towers Tuesday night! There are no words. I might dress up as a Hobbit. I'm such a dork.

My sister gets here on Thursday. Of course, I'm also getting dental work done that morning, but with Rica arriving it's kinda leveled out as a neutral day.

On break I'll have time to read my old favorite books again. Haven't done that for a while. Will likely pick up "On the Beach" and cry my eyes out. Cannot wait! :) Again, am huge dork.

i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to
-joyful girl: ani difranco