I've taken to playing horror movies while I do things when I'm alone at the house - clean, write, do homework. One I actually sat down and WATCHED was The Haunting in Connecticut, which I had to pay to get, but it was worth it. Creepy as all hell and not entirely predictable. Then I made the galactically stupid mistake of paying for The Unborn, and decided that I'd better stick to the free stuff from now on.

Luckily I have On Demand, which has a shifting selection of different genres as well as FEARnet. FEARnet has fast become a favorite with me, the last two installments of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead saga got me hooked, and I just went from there. (I missed Donnie Darko (;~;) but I plan to download it.) They had stuff from the last After Dark HorrorFest, which was awesome for as long as it lasted -- The Cottage was freakin' brilliant, better than Shaun of the Dead -- but I burned through the supply in a little over a week. Then I was down to just The Midnight Meat Train, which could've been great but got screwed up by a nonsensical ending. (Note to self: Clive Barker can't write.) So I had to dig through the free films. I watched Pet Sematary and found something I'd never heard of before: Event Horizon. Horror plus sci-fi? Yes, please!

I was watching the names go by on the credits and Sean Pertwee came up. I was like "...huh, you don't see that name very often, I wonder if there's any relation. Bah, I'm probably imagining things; probably not." And then I saw his face and I went "OMIGOD I WAS RIGHT! 8O" And I was, too. So yes, that's Three's son up in there. (If you've seen it, go watch it again - I guarantee it'll jump out at you once you know to look for it.) It was a good movie on top of that. ♥ ♥

And then the other night I dreamed that I ran into Paul McGann at a McDonald's. We both sat down at a table with a bunch of other people and their parents and it got really hard to keep the conversation on track. I don't remember what the conversation was about, but I remember it kept getting off-track. (No random dancing, though... sorry, all you people who where hoping for Kangaroo Hop: The Sequel XD)

So that's two unexpected Dr. Who moments in a week. It's a poor substitute for Chicago TARDIS but I'll take what I can get. ^.^

Chicago TARDIS

Plane Ticket: $250 (round-trip)
Weekend pass: $75
Hotel: $97/night
Handful of Ramen Packages: $5
2 2-liter bottles of Dr. Pepper: $3
Meeting Paul McGann: EFFING PRICELESS

Total Cost: $624 TOO MUCH

There are some things my money can't buy...

DAMNIT.

"Joan of Arc and Female Mysticism"
Anne Llewellyn Barstow
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 1, No. 2 (Fall, 1985), pp. 29-42
Indiana University Press

JSTOR access URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25002016

It's in a feminist journal. It's about Joan of Arc. It's well-researched, well-written and it's not patently ridiculous.

I am impressed beyond words.

I hate getting to the second page of a forty-page reading assignment and realizing that the author's premise and approach are completely wrong - and that, consequently, the whole article's useless. No, really, I H A T E it. It makes it extraordinarily hard to motivate myself to finish the damn thing.

Guh.

Ok, so it's been weeks since AFest, but I have pictures - well, picture - from the DW photoshoot. All I have are the Five's pictures so this is the only really good one with me in it. ^_^; I'm the Two (far right).





The one on the far left is a future Doctor (one of the Unbound Doctors?) and the girl was a female Ten. The Four was a lot smarter about her scarf than I was; she made it relative to her real size instead of going by a reference pic and winding up with a scarf that eats your face when you wind it!

We took one with the Four's scarf around all of us XD I wish I had it to post here.

I got a pocketwatch. (That's five in my collection now! ^_^) I didn't have a lot of money on me, but I splurged as sort of a late 25th birthday present for myself. Because it's beautiful. Engraved scrollwork front and back, skeleton center (I am such a sucker for skeleton clocks it's ridiculous), and this gorgeous red inlay... I'd put up a picture if I had the equipment to take and upload one.

I need to get a camera of my own...


I'm going to OniCon with Asmaria and Julie for Halloween. My Boogiepop costume should be done by then, so I'll have that in addition to the Two and Four in case I feel like, y'know, cosplaying more than one char all weekend. XD On top of that I found out from some of the people at the photoshoot that Paul McGann's going to be at Chicago TARDIS Thanksgiving weekend. AND I AM SO GOING OMG.

I don't normally go to cons as a fan - I never end up going to panels and autograph sessions, I'm more enthused about characters than actors as a rule. I have my favorite actresses that I like to stare at like everybody else, but meeting celebrities has never been at the top of my list. So it's kind of weirding me out that I am hell-bent on going to this flipping convention no matter what... but he's my favorite Doctor, so I am. ^_^;

So, uh...

Anybody want to come with? It'll be easier with a roommate. XD

I got a late start on my DIY shopping trip today - left the house at 3:30, overshot Manana Road AGAIN, passed the 45 exit to Houston before I realized I had overshot it and had to find an exit I could turn around on, so that added a good 45 minutes to the whole thing. Golden D'Or closes at 5:00, so I was running around like a headless chicken trying to find something to reupholster my vanity stool with. I did, though; I got a nice pink damask that's just the right texture. They ended up cutting it for me right as they were closing.

Then I went to Home Depot for the staple gun. It only cost $16.99; I was really surprised. And the guy working that department helped me sort out the universal one from all the fancy specialty ones that apparently have to have specific staples to reload. He even showed me how to load the staples in mine there in the store as they had a model out. I ended up going home with the gun and a large box of staples for less than twenty bucks. Which is why Home Depot > Lowe's. The people who work there are actually helpful, and they know their shit.

I also went home with a fistful of paint chips. This bathroom color palette issue is killing me. My room was easy; I got this framed Ashley David print to put over my bed and I just pulled all the colors from that - bang, instant color palette. For the bathroom though? I have NOTHING. Right now the idea I like best is to paint the cabinets a rich wine color and put rose on the walls. I'm mildly amused at the amount of pink I wind up using in my design for "my" rooms, I normally wouldn't categorize myself as a pink sort of girl. I'm even looking at going back to Golden D'Or for more of the damask so I can make window treatments. (I have an 8' ceiling and it's supposed to make the ceiling look higher to have a window treatment right up against it.)

Tomorrow I'm going to get the rest of that horrible popcorn shit off the ceiling in the bathroom. And when the painting service comes in to take care of the paint, I'm going to have them take it off the ceiling in my room, too. They're already replastering the walls for the wallpaper; it shouldn't be that much extra effort to scrape that crap off the ceiling while they're at it. I HATE that popcorn. It makes the ceiling look even lower, and it's just plain fugly.

Plus I found fabric for Two!pants at the Hancock and the lining for my Boogiepop at the JoAnn's so I need to go buy those before they're gone. And finish stripping the enamel from that old music box so I can refinish it for Cate. Gah, I have too many projects!! @_@ Better get to sleep so I don't get such a late start tomorrow...

All your fail does what? Bounces off me and sticks to YOU. As of now. I'm done taking all the hits, and I'm done making excuses for you. I'm annoyed as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.

You know who you are.

...actually, you probably don't. I'm not even sure you'll read this. But I feel better for having said it. XP

We reached a decision over the weekend at A-Kon, now I'll announce it: Due to the increasing popularity of Tales of Symphonia, in ooc/online I shall be known henceforth simply as "Doc." It's what my fellow muns in Adaugeo have been calling me for a while now, and it's just less confusing that way. I get headaches in chat/plotting sessions in both games going "wait, is that the char or me?" way too much. XD;

That is all.

(Mainly this is for Kate and Claire, so y'all don't get my Phantas app and go "o.0; who the hell is this?" lol.)

OH! And I think I figured out why the watch wouldn't wind. I think I might have been turning it the wrong way. ^_^;;;

What. What. WHAT.

What is the big idea with the Supernatural season finale?!?! It's freakin' Armageddon! How do you "To Be Continued" that?!

*cries*

I liked it better when I was two seasons behind. At least I could skip the agony between their cliffhanging season-enders. ;_;

This is why I'm taking my time getting caught up with the New Series Doctor Who... I'm still adjusting to the idea of the Tennant Era coming to a close. Mumble grumble I thought he was going to serve the rest of Eccleston's term too mumble... I mean, I know 3-4 years is the average but come on! It's not like we've got an unlimited supply, here! And Eccleston DID cut things by at least two years when he quit. I was sort of expecting they'd take things a bit slower, considering.

...

Well, thank god for Big Finish. XD

Today I took a major Big Girl Pill and committed all my high school and junior college fic to the big blue file cabinet in the sky -- er, driveway. Yup. I recycled 'em. Several notebooks and a huge bag-full of looseleaf notes, outlines, drafts and excerpts. Enough to fill two large cardboard boxes.

It was actually a lot easier, and less painful, than I thought it would be. I wasn't really going to finish any of them -- and I was somewhat surprised to find that I didn't really want to finish them. I've sort of come to regard RP as the highest form of fanfiction, and I don't particularly miss being a one-girl band when it comes to spinning storylines I can really get into. Besides, I hadn't actually worked on any of them in at least two years.

The OCs that had resulted from these efforts will live on in my heart, of course. (Well, some of them.) And I doubt very much that the epic, ADD, cracked-out caffeine trip that was Space Preserves will be entirely forgotten by anybody who had a look at it. Even if they try. XD; So it's true what they say: getting rid of the physical object doesn't mean getting rid of the memories.

Getting rid of all that ancient history has left me feeling refreshed and ready to really get into my current writing. (Yeah, I was so inspired by the plot complexity and brilliant execution of FMA that I dug out an old original, gave it a makeover, and am once again working to coax a novel out of it all. ^_^) And maybe sometime in the summer, when all the furniture is where it's supposed to be and we're tolerably close to resuming the remodel we abandoned 3 years ago, I'll even revisit the old ES/DW cross proposition. Because that was fun while it lasted. :3

Right, so a few weeks ago this big red dot appeared in the middle of the right side of my face. I thought it was a zit. But then weeks of intensive treatment went by and it didn't go away, or shrink, or change at all. I was pissed after two weeks, and by the time I hit three weeks it was starting to freak me out. Then I thought it might be a mole, but they're not supposed to be that color, so I made an appointment with the dermatologist.

I honestly don't know what I expected them to do. I mean, I've had an appointment like this before, and they did biopsies on everything. Somehow I still just hadn't thought they'd end up cutting the thing off my face, since it's, y'know, my face. But yeah, that's what happened.

So now I have a nice lovely spot bandaid in the middle of my face. And my cheek itches where they gave me the anesthetic shot and it's driving me nuts. (What happened to topical anesthetics?? ;_;) Good news is they said it's probably nothing too bad. Ick news is that now I have to wait for a confirmation call... and actually check my voice mail. >.>;;

I saw Rossini's La Cenerentola (Cinderella) tonight. It was adorable, and the Prince had the voice of an angel. Bass Hall was awesome as usual, I got prime mezzanine seating for $36 and didn't have to sit around stuffy rich people as part of paying for a good seat. (Coming out of La Boheme at Music Hall At Fair Park I had to listen to a businessman and a diplomatic attache get into a chest thumping match behind me trying to impress the ladies. Gag me.) As a center for the arts, Fort Worth has Dallas well and truly whupped, I have to say. Greater access, less elitism, and lower prices but equal quality in the productions.

I decided to treat myself during intermission. BIG MISTAKE.

I paid 6.5 dollars for a glass of champagne. I drank about 6.5% of its contents before curtain. There are now 6.5 elephants STOMPING AROUND IN MY HEAD. My stomach doesn't feel so good, either. I would think having a tolerance level this low was a scientific impossibility if I didn't hurt so damn much.

Normal people get tipsy or at least giddy with alcohol. I get headaches.

Fate is cruel.

The other night I dreamed that I was taking a road trip with my best friend. We stopped at one of those roadside fruit stands only instead of fruit they had krazy straws and paperweights. I put a krazy straw in my mouth, and this little fat lady running the stand started yelling about how people are always sampling things and not buying. I was like "Gawd, I'm gonna buy it, chill!" Then this guy came in and the little fat lady was like "I think it's Elvis!" - But it was really Gene Wilder. He walked over to us and we all did the Kangaroo Hop.

Hop! Hop! Do the Kangaroo
Hop! Hop! It's the dance for me and you
When you're over 80 you can waltz a little while
But hopping 'round the parlor is the very latest style~!

And then I woke up.

I'm just happy to be dreaming about something other than work for a change.

It's Good Friday. Know how I know? I ate at Long John Silver's.

I gotta find a new parish. Stat. This is depressing.

Right. So I was cleaning the house and I found this random crack!poem that I did in high school, and it made me laugh. Hopefully it'll make y'all laugh too. Or at least roll your eyes and tell me I'm a dork.




( The Cockroach Poem )



ALSO. I learned to use photoshop. And I made a manip. Of which I am proud. Because it is SO FREAKIN' CUTE. Even if I haven't worked out how to color things properly yet. ^_^;

Who gets upset over RP!Secrets? I mean REALLY? It's not BRPS. It's not a place you go to seek advice or just commiserate with other frustrated muns. It's not a comm where mature, decent RPers go to vent about people who aren't either of those things. It's not even really a comm. It's a wank generator.

People don't go to RP!S to pop off, they go there to be immature. I looked at it all of one time. The thing was full of two basic statements: "OMG ILU ALL TO DEATHY DEATH BUT SHHH IT'S A SECRET" and "OMG I HATE YOU SO MUCH DIAF!!1!one!" No rationale, no opportunity for other muns to present solutions or alternatives, and worst of all, no spam control. A feeding frenzy of people who have the emotional maturity of kindergarteners, egging each other on to no constructive end.

In a word: POINTLESS. I never gave it a second look.

So why in the HECK is this wart on the arse of internet gaming tearing apart so many people I have a genuine affection for?? What power is this that's turned the closest RP family I've been in into The Godfather Part II?? And what the heck am I supposed to do now?

I don't know who started it, and right now I don't really care. I'm not mad at anybody (ok, I'm a little mad at everybody, for fighting in the first place)... except RP!S. I'm furious at that bloody thing for existing.

I want my friends back.

How, how do you lose a keychain full of USB sticks that has a big honkin' rainbow shoelace tied to it?? Especially if the whole reason you tied said big honkin' rainbow shoelace to the USB sticks was so that you wouldn't lose them??

Well, there's only one way: YOU'D HAVE TO BE ME.
*headdesk*

...fucking EPIC Doctor-app... now I have to start all over...

And all my fic is gone. And every paper I've done since my undergraduate studies. And at least three Colin Baker eps. Poof.

WHY???

;_;     I'm really upset.

Right, so the other day, somebody keyed my car.  I'd gotten myself a new rainbow bumper sticker because the old one was just a white strip at that point--this is Texas; sticker colors don't last long in our sunlight--and then a few days ago, I was getting off work and I noticed this huge key-gouge right through the middle of the sticker.  (I have it on the trunk, not on the actual bumper.)

I started laughing.  If you've seen my car, you know why.  It's a '93 Nissan Maxima.  The paint's peeling off all across the hood and the back of the car, the tint on the windows doesn't match because I've had to replace 3 of them with old parts because that's all I can afford, two hubcaps are missing and all that's left of the license plate holder on either end is the top part.  My old license plate is rusted onto the car on the front end and I have to display the new one on the dashboard so I don't get pulled over for mismatched plates.

So while this person might have been going for a very upset, "why-you-bigoted-asshole-let-me-go-cry-now" reaction, all I could think was You dumbass... did you look at my car?  Why the hell would you think I'd care that you keyed it?

Stupid people are funny. :)

Because I can't ever figure this out. Ever.



♥

<♥>

<&hearts>

...one of those ought to work. Hopefully. ^^;;

I was hoping to get through this Olympics without having to ask this question, but:

What is the U.S. media's problem?!

So Nastia Lukin didn't get the gold.  She got the silver, by a paper-thin margin.  The rules provide for a specific series of sub-calculations for two athletes who have identical total scores.  You did the math on the screen, step by step, and guess what?  IT WORKED.  Because they DID IT RIGHT.  So why do you snipe and gripe all through the medal ceremony and say ON THE AIR that the Chinese athlete (sorry, I can't spell Anglicized Chinese without the name in front of me >.>;) had the gold "according to the rules" but Lukin "had a better routine"?  What are you, in the fourth grade?  And then three minutes later, before you break for commercials, WHY do you say "stay tuned as we crunch some questionable numbers"?  You just proved, ON SCREEN, that the numbers weren't questionable at all!  So I ask you, WHAT THE FUCK?!

I'm not even defending the logic behind the rule, here.  Personally, I don't see any reason athletes with the same total can't both get gold.  "Spirit of the games" and fair play and sportsmanship and amicable competition between nations and all that.  But the committee decided on the sub-calculations instead.  Bitching and whining about a silver that was fairly won (which is still nothing to sneeze at, you morons) and deriding the gold medal-winning athlete as said medal is being placed around her neck just makes you, and the country you represent, look like stupid, immature crybabys.  The world stage of the Olympics is probably not the place to be doing this, especially now.

Suck it up.

[And Olympic committee people... I have a "WTF?" for you guys, too: What's up with "No baseball, we want All-Stars and they're busy"?  They're not doing the World Baseball Classic again, so if you drop baseball from the Olympics, how the hell am I ever going to see the sheer awesomeness that is a Japan Vs. Korea--or tomorrow's China v. Cuba, which may or may not be on the air--again??  I don't care if Johnny Damon (or his equivalent) can't make an appearance, okay?  I really don't.  I don't even particularly like Johnny Damon... >.>;  There are plenty of talented players out there who didn't have the luck or the finances to get into the majors, and they'd probably LOVE a chance to represent their country.  Just ask the guys who're doing it this year for pete's sake.  Jeez.]

Back to NBC.  "Softball's out because the Americans keep winning and the world can't handle our awesome"?  Sorry, I don't buy it.  And you shouldn't be trying to sell it.  Can you idiots even spell "professionalism"?  You sure as hell can't demonstrate it on the air. 

But thank you for reminding me why I quit watching network news.  Jiminy Christmas.