|
mcjulie
|
|
|
Paul: I like the reference to Happy Days. I mean the Beckett play.
Me: Really?
Paul: The Barbie torso in the ant hill?
Me: That seems a little obscure... (Rango opens a parasol, which promptly catches on fire.) Okay, you're right. It's totally a Beckett reference.
(Note: I recently made Paul watch this play at New City Theater)
|
|
Comments: Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
|
I'm very tired. I spent all afternoon helping Draco with a photo shoot. I painted the model with liquid latex. Since none of Draco, I, or the model had ever worked with liquid latex before it was an adventure of learning. I learned that liquid latex looks good and smells awful.
|
|
Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
|
We have a juvenile chipmunk coming to the feeder now. He is sooooo tiny. I've named him "Squee".
|
|
Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Day One: Ten things your want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.
Day 4
1) Coffee.
2) World-building.
3) *refresh livejournal*
4) *monitor mood/internal state*
5) Schedule/To do list.
6) Relationships.
7) Bob.
|
|
Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
|
siderea
|
|
|
Well, my mind is blown. *hugs Mac fiercely*
The Windows 8 user interface is not backward compatible with earlier versions of Windows. Windows users who upgrade to 8 will have a not-inconsiderable learning curve to operate their machines.
Note that Win8 is strongly optimized for touch-screen devices (and I see a lot about it which seems to be optimized for small touch screen devices) and draws heavily from the iPad and from Android for its inspiration.
If you are a Windows user, I particularly highly recommend you watch the demo video (embedded at the above link) so you can see it in action -- and be the first kid on your block to discover how to turn your Win8 computer on and off (no, not joking).
To editorialize for a moment: I can't be the only Mac user looking at this thing and thinking, "Migod, they've put the design ethos of iOS on top of the architecture ethos of Mac OS 6."
ETA: I got this compliments of Metafilter, which has some inspired commentary, one of my favorite of which observed, "How can anyone be surprised by this? Windows OS consumer versions are on the same release pattern as Star Trek movies; every other one sucks."
ETA2: Also, can I just say how pleased I am to pick up the vocabulary word "skeuomorphism"? It's a concept I've had for a long time, and I'm glad to have a word with which to decry it.
|
|
Comments: Read 18 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Day One: Ten things your want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.
Day Three:
I don't like the wording of today's list starter. "Winning your heart" reads to me too much like my being a prize that can be unlocked by filling out all the right check-boxes. I don't work like that. Does anybody work like that?
I have a check-list of things I look for in a partner.
Tasty brains.
Survival skills.
Cooks well.
It includes things like compatible values and good communication skills. These are things I need in order to have a healthy partner relationship with another person. Having everything on the list doesn't mean I'll love you. My loving you doesn't mean I'll like you. My liking you doesn't mean that I'll have a dating or partnership relationship with you. And that's without taking into account all the life circumstances, time and distance issues, health and energy, whether I want to have another relationship or relationship of that sort right now, and otherwise independent circumstances that occur.
So I'm changing the wording of today's list starter to:
Eight things that can endear people to me.
1) Good boundaries and self-awareness. I cannot over emphasize how sexy and attractive this is. I like people who deal with their own shit. Here are a few of my posts on the topic: Boundaries (book summary), The difference between "helping" and "being helpful", Good fences make good neighbours, and ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) siderea's Parable of the Hard Boiled Egg.
2) Being considerate of one's self and others. This is the opposite of carelessness (read comments too).
3) Initiating and making time for me. We make time for what is important to us.
4) Good communication skills and a willingness to negotiate. This isn't so much and end-state as engagement and commitment to an ongoing process. People who make it easy for me to communicate with them and understand what they want are many shades of wonderful. (Communication, safe space, punishment, and natural consequences)
5) A sense of and willingness to engage in friendly play with me. I love to play. I love having people to play with. Skilled role-players can captivate my attention for years.
6) Avidity! Especially accompanied with intelligent and engaged conversation. Conversation is one of my favourite activities. I organize groups for this purpose. I'm still on LJ for this purpose. People who are interesting and interested conversationalists will have me coming back for more.
7) Love of food and an ability to cook well. I love food and wine. I love being fed. I love trying new food. Most of my social events have a food aspect. Food is social and sharing. Someone who can bring me food experiences with joy will be welcomed in my life.
8) Giving me small appropriate gifts. I turn into a bouncing pile of squee when presented with appropriate (see #2) small gifts like links, flowers, useful tools, art, compliments, running a small errand, coffee, tea, cookies, and other things that indicate that the giver has noticed my likes and dislikes, present mood state, or otherwise been paying attention to my needs and desires. I am surprised and delighted by such things.
|
|
Comments: Read 9 or Add Your Own.
|
siderea
|
|
|
I saw "Snow White and the Huntsman" tonight. It was okay.
0) You should totally see it on the big screen because it's a very touching movie. No, not emotionally. I mean, I have never seen a flick so luxuriantly, lavishly tactile. If there's an Oscar for Textures, this is a shoe-in.
1) Kristen Stewart can't act. It would have helped if they had given her lines. In some cases at all. What's the opposite of "witty repartee"? You know, where someone says something cheeky, and you just stand there wishing you had a snappy comeback? That. She seemed to have quite a bit of that. Maybe they were expecting her to emote or something, and gave up? Or just failed to finish her script? Unfortunate.
2) Fortunately Charlize Theron is also in this movie. In addition to mostly carrying the thing, she actually did something that's quite an accomplishment: she made the villain both totally gorgeous and totally bad-ass in that "all shall love me and despair" sort of way, while making the character repellant and unsympathetic.
3) I've heard commenters say things prior the opening that casting Kristen Stewart as "the fairest one" against Charlize Theron was asking too much suspension of disbelief, because of how much more beautiful Theron is than Stewart. That, it turns out, was an absolutely deliberate choice. The movie establishes it explicitly early on that Snow White's beauty is more "inner", and then throughout almost the whole the movie, any conventional physical beauty Stewart might bring to the role is pointedly undermined by coating her with grime, (see "Textures" above) and then contrasted by constant cuts to the Evil Queen, who is the one clean, conventionally beautiful person left alive. By the end of the movie, the film has managed to bring the audience along to the point of seeing the super-human beauty of the Evil Queen as uncanny in the bad sense. That is quite the accomplishment, too.
4) Gothic Fitted Dress sighting! Whoo!
5) Spoilers: Does Snow White get rescued by the prince? Revived by a kiss of true love? How is the Evil Queen defeated? Snow is revived from a poison apple bite by a kiss of true love -- but not from the prince, and the true love is not for her. Snow then leads an army to assault the castle and get her within the walls, where she, being the one with the Magic Destined Power to kill the Evil Queen, hunts down the Evil Queen and kills her. Snow's crowned the rightful Queen, happily ever after. No weddings. Really, in this flick, people die after getting married; staying single is probably for the best. Er, this movie kinda has attachment issues.
6) I kinda feel like the screenwriters knew what they wanted to acheive, but were unclear on how to go about doing that. It was not the most compelling of stories. But I don't begrudge the theater my $10.
|
|
Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
|
roadnotes
|
|
|
May was not much of a month for me writing here, for a number of reasons. Some disconcerting-but-not-necessarily-bad news, which sucked a fair amount of my attention away; two visits to the IRS office to try to resolve things (now just old New York State stuff, and things should be good); visits to the Center for Sex Positive Culture, resulting in mixed feelings about the community; plans for another round of Botox for Soren's leg, thanks to a friend, which wound up being scheduled for the morning of my return from Minneapolis; a week in the Midwest, Minneapolis with Elise, Wiscon with various and sundry, and back to Minneapolis; Zach's confirmation the evening after I returned; emails of various levels of helpfulness....
...and, because it was a goofy idea, I have submitted a video of myself singing "I Miss the Mountains" to Chorus Idol, which is a contest being run by the Seattle Men's Chorus. On the off chance that I win, I would be singing a solo in the SMC's concert later this month. The odds are very low that I will even make it into the semi-finals, but, as I observed earlier, if I didn't enter the contest, the odds would be even lower.
Jane has posted about Skippy missing me; I should note that he's been deliberately snubbing me for the past two days: I put fresh food out for him, and he walks away from it. (He does eat it when I'm not in the kitchen, though.) If we have salmon for dinner tonight, I'll see if I can win his affections back with some.
|
|
Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
|
siderea
|
|
|
I just got off the phone with MBHP ((800) 495-0086). There's no obvious place to get provider applications on their website, so I called. There's no obvious place on the phone tree to ask about applying, either: the trick I used which worked was to pretend I was an already-enrolled provider to get to a person, who then was surprisingly prepared for my statement, "I'm not an MBHP provider[*] and am interested in learning more about becoming one."
[* Technically incorrect. I see MBHP patients all the time -- under my clinic's enrollment. I get their [REDACTED] PCC newsletter in my mail box every so often.]
The way you approach enrolling is that you write a "Letter of Intent" where you tell them for whom you will be fighting licensure level, "site demographics", foreign languages, specialties, PCC or PCP affiliations, and a copy of your resume "in month slash year format". You then either mail it to their High Street office or email it to the appropriate secret email address which I now have. I also have the name of the Manager of Contract Development and Provider Relations, to whom all this should be addressed.
I am, of course, happy to share the details with any of my fellow MA LMHCs, out of band.
Now, this is where it gets interesting: I'm not strongly interested in getting in bed with MBHP. This means I have very little to lose in my dealings with them. I'm not concerned with pissing them off by being insufficiently deferrent/desperate. This puts me in an interesting position.
When I asked the nice woman on the phone if there were any documents which would explain to me the contractual requirements MBHP has for its providers or its offered compensation, "so that I can make an informed decision whether to apply to be a provider with MBHP", I clearly had just gone Way Off Script, and she didn't have any answer for that.
As is, I gather, usual for insurance companies, you can't find out what they'll pay you (or what you'll be contractually obligated to do for them if you accept their money) until after you've gone through a heroic application process and they'd deigned to admit you (if indeed they do).
You're supposed to be desperate enough not to care.
The nice woman told me to address my questions to the email address, so I guess I will. Though it might be better to do this in print.
|
|
Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
|
siderea
|
|
|
https://www.masspartnership.com/provider/pdf/CredentialingCriteriaAppendixA04192012forweb.pdf
Several licensure levels qualify individuals to serve members, either in private practice, group practice, or in organization providers settings (clinics, agencies, and/or hospitals), as distinguished from those who may practice in organizational providers only. The licensure levels that belong to this classification are as follows:
[...]
Licensed Mental Health Counselors
[...]
Profession-specific credentialing criteria
All network practitioners must meet the general credentialing criteria listed above. In addition to these general criteria, all network practitioners must meet each of the profession-specific criteria listed below that pertain to their specific profession.
[...]
Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC)
1. Master's degree in mental health filed (including, but not restricted to, counseling, family therapy, psychology, etc.) from an accredited college or university
2. Current, valid, unrestricted licensure or certification to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC).
Guys, this is HUGE. Poor people in MA can see master's level therapists in private practice. (If, you know, master's level therapists sign up with MBHP.)
There are a huge number of patients on MassHealth (Medicaid) who want treatment and have MBHP insurance and are stuck on waiting lists, and a huge number of master's level therapists in private practice who are going hungry for want of patients. Until now, MBHP (MassHealth's Behavioral Health plan) wouldn't add LMHCs, LICSWs or LMHC to its panel. The only way for master's level clinicians to see MBHP patients has been through a Dept of Mental Health certified clinic or other medical facility, and pretty much only junior clinicians tolerate that. Consequently, poor folks on MassHealth were effectively not allowed to see more senior counselors.
That just changed.
Of course, this is all theoretical unless they post the freaking provider application. But perhaps that is discoverable.
Also, there's a real question of which therapists in private practice are inclined to put up with MBHP and its rules. I'm not sure I interested in putting my head in that noose. But I'm not sure I'm not, either.
|
|
Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Day One: Ten things your want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.
Day Two:
1) I have two large tattoos and hope to have an appointment scheduled for the third by the end of this weekend.
2) I cannot stand puns and function as the "designated groaner" for my friends. This is a bit of a persona since I simply ignore puns when I really don't want to hear them.
3) I am not allowed to sit beside my "partner in crime" (Squashbane) at ballet shows anymore.
4) I am very difficult to photograph well. Even my photographer husband has problems taking pictures of me when my parents ask for a "nice" photo. He says there is "something missing" from my formal photos. The big exception to this when I pretend to be someone else. Then I photograph great! Unfortunately, family doesn't want photos of me the pirate/spy/etc on the dining room wall.
5) I want to be a shapeshifter.
6) I linger over the decorative cupcakes at the grocery store but usually get overwhelmed by either the large number of choices or the sugar I'm inhaling, and don't buy any. When given too many choices I tend to walk away with nothing.
7) I'm neither a morning person (gaaaaahhhh) or a night person (zzzzzz). I do my best work usually between 2pm and 7pm.
8) I'm considering joining twitter for politics and news. This is in direct opposition to my statement that twitter made no sense and I'd never join. I change my mind on things that give me reason to.
9) I'm an information junkie. That's why I limit my exposure to news outlets and other sources of information that might be problematic for me. Once something catches my eye, I look. Sometimes friends take advantage of this to pour things into my brain that require brain bleach to remove. If I don't know to look, I don't look and it doesn't eat my brain.
|
|
Comments: Read 12 or Add Your Own.
|
solarbird
|
|
|
|
Up early, waiting for my partner and occasional collaborator Anna as she gets dental surgery done – it’s nothing serious, but does involve anaesthetics which mean Anna requires babysitting. Note: DO allow texting (because hilarious), but do NOT allow root access.
This diurnal thing is for the birds.
We have a winner on the review lottery; thanks to 403 on Dreamwidth for the kind notes about Cracksman Betty, particularly the songs Song for a Blockade Runner and Columbia. Get me your address so I can mail you a signed physical CD! The band address works fine. :D
Leannan Sidhe’s Kickstarter project has hit $2500, or 83.3%; statistically speaking, they’re sure to make it at this point. So go pick a level, ’cause at this point you’re pre-ordering. :D They’ve also announced some stretch goals.
And finally congratulations to friend-of-friends Mira Grant, whose novel Blackout has made the New York Times mass-market paperback best-seller list. I’ve read the first two (Feed and Deadline) and have this concluding novel queued up to read today while babysitting Anna. I’d've read it before, but I didn’t want to lose a day, which is what tends to happen with these things.
Have a good weekend, everybody!
Mirrored from Crime and the Blog of Evil. Come listen to our music!
Echoed via dw:ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん.  comments at Dreamwidth.
|
|
Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
|
siderea
|
|
|
I guess I never posted this, though I thought I had. I was just reminded of it by tripping over the preview for the forthcoming movie (The Imposter, out in the US July 13th) that is based on the case.
The article The Chameleon by David Grann, published in the New Yorker in 2008, is one of the best thrillers I've ever read, and has one of the very best plot twists I've ever encountered.
It's non-fiction.
I remember reading it, and thinking, "Holy crap, why isn't this a movie?" And, well, now it is, though they've made a straight-up documentary, where I was anticipating a dramaticization.
The whole article is available for free, and I highly, highly recommend it. Absolutely delicious reading. It's long and unfolds a bit slowly, but that's all necessary and perfect; plan on settling in with the beverage of your choice some evening soon for an unforgetable read.
|
|
Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
|
seattle
|
|
|
I'm trying to find a good (cheap) place to get my rings appraised so my failed relationship with my ex can at least help me pay off some of the debts that occurred because of them.
Any suggestions? I live on Capitol Hill but I'm willing and able to travel a reasonable distance for this.
Shane Company is out as they don't appraise things not bought from them. I honestly don't remember the company where she got it. It was in the Northgate Mall near the north entrance but it's a different shop now. (These rings have been in limbo for a while.)
|
|
Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
|
siderea
|
|
|
From MetroWeekly:
BREAKING: DOMA's Federal Definition of Marriage Unconstitutional, Federal Appeals Court Rules
Posted by Chris Geidner |
May 31, 2012 10:45 AM | Permalink
Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act -- the federal definition of "marriage" and "spouse" -- is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court in Boston ruled today. The decision by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Massachusetts v. United States, is the first instance of a federal appellate court striking down any portion of the 1996 law.
Writing that "Supreme Court review of DOMA is highly likely," the appeals court has stayed, or put on hold, the implementation of its decision pending any appeal.
Judge Michael Boudin, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush, wrote for the court: "[M]any Americans believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and most Americans live in states where that is the law today. One virtue of federalism is that it permits this diversity of governance based on local choice, but this applies as well to the states that have chosen to legalize same-sex marriage. Under current Supreme Court authority, Congress' denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest."
More at MetroWeekly article.
The decision itself.
|
|
Comments: Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
I have no interest in professional sports and do not follow any sports leagues. That said, I have a long tangential history with professional soccer (or football if that is what you call it).
I played soccer as a teenager (first on a boys team, then on girls teams) so I'm familiar enough with how it's played that I can follow a match without assistance. As an adult I work around engineers and scientists from all over the world and the thing they all have in common is soccer. Not hockey, not american football, and certainly not baseball... soccer. As a result, I usually am informed when any major international soccer tournament is on.
This coming month is the Euro 2012 and I have joined the office soccer pool.
I know nothing about the teams, so I'm doing my usual -- dice. I'm rolling (1d5-1) per team, for every match, and determining my match outcomes that way. It's fun, I don't have to know anything, and my pool manager loves the idea. She uses my dice rolling to encourage others to join and to mock the really serious (and seriously good) players. It keeps me included where I might otherwise be excluded, so I'm happy with it.
Plus, if I win, she's promised to let me put "The Dice" on the trophy.
|
|
Comments: Read 8 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Day One: Ten things your want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.
Day One:
1) Don't take anyone with you when you die.
2) You, and all your coworkers, have my sympathy.
3) He doesn't go away when you ignore him.
4) Thank you.
5) I'm Batman.
6) You're not alone.
7) It's coincidence, but it's amusing.
8) I'd like to help.
9) Want to go for tea?
10) I'm not sure what to do next.
|
|
Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
|
|
Wednesday, May 30th, 2012
|
jinian
|
|
|
Monday:
Slept until 10:45! Ate the little rhubarb pie with a spoon cleverly kept from the dessert salon.
Visited art show (already cleaning up and taking away) and dealers' room, messed about generally. I was going to sit outside and read, but it started raining as soon as I got to the Capitol. The anti-Walker protesters had a difference of opinion about whether it was a good idea to go under the trees (due to rain) or a bad one (due to possible lightning) but settled under one anyway. Too wet to read even under there, so I went to Michelangelo's and knitted and finished Flora's Fury.
Lunch at like 2:30, in a hole at Nick's. Eventually made it to the Dead Cow party, hung out with Lenore and Lise et al. talking about con organization and world travel. Felt kinda fannish for a change. Missed some people I was looking for, but scrammed when it started filling up too much and I wanted to check on some home things. Hid out in the room the rest of the night.
Tuesday:
Breakfast with roommates in the hotel restaurant. Crossed off my life experiences list "get drenched in soda spilled by waitstaff." Changed clothes, which were conveniently right upstairs, though inconveniently packed already.
Surprisingly, I felt that I had seen the botanic garden enough during my last three visits. I went to the lake. I tried to read the Onion, but it was way too windy; Best Science Writing 2011 was more physically manageable.
It was really windy.
![[Breakers are not normal lake behavior!]](http://underhill.hhhh.org/~igg/2012-05-28-splash.jpg)
Also sunny, so eventually I was worred about burning and tired of so much wind. I walked along Gorham and found a little park.
![[Shady benches, sunny benches, birdbath, rose garden]](http://underhill.hhhh.org/~igg/2012-05-28-park.jpg)
Look at the caustics from the water on that three-tiered birdbath!
Peacefully read about hormone therapy for menopause until lunchtime. (Summary: Timing and molecular composition are very important!) Then went to Casa de Lara for enchiladas and a margarita, then A Room of One's Own, which is moving down a block in July. Then gelato, then time for the airport shuttle.
My flights went smoothly, and I wasn't randomly screened for once. The end.
This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/503717.html. Respond wherever you like.
|
|
Comments: Add Your Own.
|
jinian
|
|
|
Up early due to light sleeping, I went down to Heteronormativity in YA SF and ate my blueberry bread there. Good panel -- lots of YA dystopias mentioned and critiqued, the passivity of the titles right now (so many of which are past participles), Delirium mentioned as actually referring to homosexuality ("unnaturalism"), appearance policing even when there's no romantic choice possible, overt reproductive or sexual pressures.
[I got Delirium at the library today and was surprised at how good it is. Sure, the whole reason Ordinary Girl questions her dystopia is presented as being An Outsider Boy With Golden Eyes, but there is a lot more going on than that -- some good slow reveals of just how fucked up things are, decent worldbuilding, and lots of relationships among women and girls.]
Geek Girls and Self-Objectification panel: already complained about it. Check out http://doctorher.com/?p=1208 for an updated presentation by Courtney Stoker on the same subject as the panel's source material.
Lunch: more delicious farmer's market bounty, hanging with roommate and her friends.
Reproductive Justice: lots about the different things this can mean, not just the ability to decide when to be pregnant, but access for both parents, the ability not to fear your kids will be taken into foster care, and more interesting issues. Mostly not that SFnal, though we got into some works at the end. The Testament of Jessie Lamb won awards, but the premise is appalling (pregnancy kills you! your choices are to die before or after the baby is born; also you are comatose at the time!) and one of the awards is the Man Booker Prize, so enough about that forever. It did remind me of The Clockwork Rocket, which I recommended. And in When She Woke by Hilary Jordan the scarlet A is for abortion and covers your entire skin.
Shoujo Fairy Tales: Obviously Princess Tutu was the queen of this panel, and I tweeted Håll Om Mig Nu as a panel summary. (yes, I rewatched it when I did that, taking betsy somewhat aback when she came in to very loud music partway through; and yes, I also rewatched it right now; and yes, I still got chills both times.) A few notes on Japanese fairy tales: Natsume Yuujinchou, Xxxholic, Kamichu; Susan Napier, Thomas Lamar.
[Don't go looking for my Twitter account expecting content or anything; it's just for Twit-specific things.]
I debated chilling in the room at that point, since I was tired, but found myself unable to chill while Eleanor Arnason was reading something. The thing that killed me dead at the Aqueduct reading, though, was Liz Henry's poem about the moon landing. Kiini Ibura Salaam's stories were very good, too. And this is where the Wiscon Chronicles explaining Moonfail were explained aloud. I bought all three books.
Dinner with ![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) boxofdelights, who knows me too well, at Buraka. Wonderful as always. Quick stop at Ragstock for a shirt to go with my other silk clothing-swap skirt; I genderfloomped femme this year, which I had basically planned, if only through thinking men's clothes are too hot for dancing in.
When we came in, the line for the dessert salon was still going in, and it was halfway through its timeslot. Why people do that I will never understand. I went away for a little while, came back and got leftovers (seedy strawberry-rhubarb crumble and perfect blackberry panna cotta), and watched the speeches just fine. Really liked Andrea Hairston's about SF and expectations, and bucking them to fulfill SF's promises in her own way.
After that I danced all the things. Once again I fail at dancing with people, but I think I can sometimes tell when they want to now? If you grab my hands, even I will definitely clue in, though I am still crap at doing anything about it. (Sorry, S!) The "cops" -- probably hotel security -- came by to legitimize our rocking at about 2am, and we broke it up around 2:30.
This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/503450.html. Respond wherever you like.
|
|
Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
|
seattle
|
|
|
hi all, I hope this allowed.
I've lived in Seattle for a little over a year now (I'm originally from Florida) and I love living here (I live on the cusp of Greenwood and Ballard). I guess I don't have much of a question besides, where are some good places to meet friends? I have a few friends here I made at work, but I'd like that number to increase. I miss having someone to talk to about more than pop culture and hanging out with new people, etc.
sorry if this sounds lame lol.
|
|
Comments: Read 17 or Add Your Own.
|
jinian
|
|
|
Fantastical Girlhood panel! It was great! Victoria and I basically disagreed on everything -- she has seen only the gross pony episodes, while I remain appalled that Monster High has no outfits without high heels, including the orange jumpsuits in juvie -- but were able to talk fine about the traits of things we liked. Apparently there are a lot more Power Rangers shows than I was aware of and some of the Pink Rangers are stone cold awesome, which is good to know. What do I think of bronies: um, well, I have to split them into at least two groups; some are helpless before the power of the show, and I approve of them, while others are making skeevy-as-hell fanart of pony butts, and I wonder how much of that is them trying desperately to be macho somehow. Rebecca and I emitted ATLA/Korra-squee to the rafters and talked about why ensemble casts are great. Add transparent moderation and a good amount of audience stuff, and my first panel went wonderfully.
Other panels attended:
. Feminist Bottoms (generally good, varied, socially responsible; occasionally assumed that everyone in the room IDed the same way)
. Meta Elements of ATLA (lots of happy awesomeness; some trouble negotiating what we mean by Asian-American vs. Asian-inspired American and whether they'd look the same)
Dinner with pameladean and arkuat, plus oursin, boxofdelights, and someone whose online ID if any I know not. Turns out at least half of us would have preferred a smaller group, but it went fairly well, just polarized into a history/literature conversation and a science conversation. arkuat and I pooled our knowledge and his inspiration to reveal that in Rainbows End the scanning of the shredded library is a metaphor for shotgun-style genome sequencing, which thrilled me to no end. Wim later pointed out that there are some real-life projects where computers reconstruct shredded documents, too. Himal Chuli: delicious, with a great variety of vegetarian options.
I love the Tiptree Auction. Ellen Klages is hilarious, and people's creative works featuring Space Babe were especially amazing this year. Furthermore, I won Flora's Fury. It still ran too long despite revised bidding rules, but was definitely better than usual.
Talked to rushthatspeaks for a little bit. Then, as I have finally decided that I am not obliged to attend parties if I don't like parties, chilled for the rest of the night. I was sorry to miss the Haiku Earrings in particular, but crowded places are crowded. And loud.
This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/503193.html. Respond wherever you like.
|
|
Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Scrapbook is borked so I can't upload the truely fucked-up ad Facebook foisted off on me. I'll try that again later. For now, I suppose, I should do that personal questions meme that is going around. Unfortunately, it's dull and I don't like the questions. I think you folks can do better.
Ask me a question, any question, and I will either answer truthfully or lie blatently.**
-----
**No turnips were harmed in the creation of this meme... however, I can't vouch for their safety in the completion of this meme.
|
|
Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Yesterday was an odd day. Fast-moving thunder storms that took down trees, a window falling out of the top floor of my building, and body parts being mailed to our ruling political party. Overall, it was very orderly and calm. This resulted in an absolutely hilarious gaming session where our brains were not monitoring our mouths very closely.
Edit: Oh... forgot... I had the BEST cookies last night. G made peanut-butter and jam cookies. Two thick, soft peanut-butter cookies with strawberry jam filling between them.
|
|
Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.
|
bodhifox
|
|
|
|
I did this a few months ago, but I know people still in need. Link to it on your pages. Round Deux?
What do you need? (Copied from a DW friend, so not in American, but you can Google translate. I like how it reads.)
(We can solve our own problems and help each other. Here's a spot to do so. Leaving it open...Non friends comments screened by default but I'll release them as soon as I see them.)
What do you need? Not what do you want? A million pounds, a fairy godmother, a nicer car.
But what do you need? A friend in Spain. Or Norfolk. A car that works, to get your kids to school. An old and unloved mp3 player that has been chewed by a cat but still works. A loan of fifty quid, for a week. Someone to trade emails with. People to visit your online shop. A hand-made card to make you feel loved. More friends on your journal. A copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, not too old. Advice on doing your own taxes. A loving but firm kick up the bum to get on with that project. Someone to talk lampwork / knitting / martial arts with. Clients to photograph in return for train fare or lunch. Help with your vet or medical bills, a dollar at a time. A used wheelchair. An unwanted bookcase. Reviews on Amazon. A cat-sitter. Reassurance because you're getting married / having a baby / getting your first job / struggling in college and need a pep-talk.
Sound off. Send people here. Left public for...you know. Helpfulness.
ALSO? GO AHEAD AND FRIEND SOME FOLKS. Might as well frenzy a little bit too. Pleased to meet you.
|
|
Comments: Read 34 or Add Your Own.
|
solarbird
|
|
|
|
THANK YOU everybody at Folklife who stopped by and chatted and said hi! And particularly all the people who stood around and listened. It’s hard to get heard over the din at Folklife – I mentioned on Twitter over the weekend that Folklife is mostly about yelling and I stand by that – but this was a good year! I guess I’m getting better at yelling. Also at when to perform and when to kick off for a while. XD
I’m sad it’s over, even if I have a pretty epic case of the sleepies. Seriously, I’ve been writing this for 45 minutes and being distracted by oh hi kitties. You kind of lose track of the whole awesomeness of this music thing in all the grinding day-to-day business bullshit, and huge epic festivals playing with other people remind you.
And it doesn’t hurt anything when a stranger walks by and then backs up and looks at you and goes, “…are you … did you do that Skyrim fan song about the Winking Skeever?” and you can go \o/ and say “yes! Yes, I did!” And they ask if you’ll do it live and you do. \n/
Folklife wasn’t even the only thing awesome this weekend! I can’t talk about Anna and things involving certain creative efforts other than Faerie Blood. But I want to. And I’m not even talking about the soundtrack and certain plans we have for that which aren’t signed yet. But I want to. I can say that the Leannan Sidhe Kickstarter has charged up to 72% on what is normally a totally dead weekend, so that’s awesome – go push them to 75%!
Oh, and the review raffle thing has until Thursday. So go write up a little commentary thing about Cracksman Betty in public and link me to it by Thursday EOD if you’re in.
I got more, but you go ahead. What’d you do this weekend?
Mirrored from Crime and the Blog of Evil. Come listen to our music!
Echoed via dw:ソ-ラ-バ-ド-のおん.  comments at Dreamwidth.
|
|
Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Most of my weekend was spent outside either building lands to conquer or trying to find lands to conquer (and discovering that they were already conquered by bugs). There are photos of Saturday's adventure in attempting to visit odd and cool things in Ontario. I'll post about that when I get a chance to take the photos off my camera. Monday I planted many doomed zuchinni and Sunday I was accused of having powerful mediator negotiation-fu.
Other than that... I have discovered the ease of tinfoil baggie BBQing. The secret is butter. Fish, fennel pieces, lemon, tarragon, and butter -- wrap and toss on the BBQ for perfection. Sliced potatoes, red pepper, celery root, italian seasoning, and butter -- wrap and BBQ for perfection. Chopped chicken, savory, mushrooms, and butter -- same, nummy. Pear slices, splash of sherry, cinnamon/nutmeg/etc, bit of brown sugar or not, and butter -- OMG with ice cream. So simple. Anything that comes near me gets wrapped in tinfoil and BBQ'd. We are eating well.
|
|
Comments: Read 7 or Add Your Own.
|
thefourthvine
|
|
|
Okay, so, recently I've been having this thing where sometimes I post an entry, and it looks posted, but if I log out, I can't see it, even though it isn't locked (and doesn't have any icon indicating that it's locked.)
This time, something even weirder than that is happening: I just posted an entry, and I can see it, even logged out, on my computer, but I can't see it if I'm logged out on my iPad. I have checked this several times on each device. SO CONFUSED.
So if you've got a moment, I'd appreciate it if you'd go to my journal to see if you can see the entry - Fannish Psychological Testing - and if you can't, let me know. Lord knows I will need ALL THE DATA if I'm going to ask LJ support about this one.
|
|
Comments: Read 49 or Add Your Own.
|
thefourthvine
|
|
|
Recently, Best Beloved and I had the pleasure of being test subjects for rachelmanija. She needed a local couple that had been together at least six months to take a psychological assessment tool, and, well, we have indeed been together for more than six months, which apparently makes us something of a rarity in the greater Los Angeles area. I'm not depressed about that at all.
We filled out the instrument side by side, as instructed, which was a problem because, uh, Best Beloved and I are used to sharing our opinions. (And also asking for clarification. Given that when you're administering these tests, you can't say anything but "Just do the best you can" and "Pick whichever one seems most appropriate" without invalidating them, we are probably the worst subjects ever. Rachel used those sentences a lot. And the thing is, I knew she couldn't clarify, and yet I still wanted her to, which is a problem I have had with psychological tests since, basically, ever. I would just like everything to be clear, okay?) And we had a lot of opinions about that test. So it sort of went like this:
Me, to Best Beloved: Number 26. I mean, not on purpose, but -
Best Beloved: I know! I guess - false?
Rachel: Maybe try to collude a little less?
Us: Sorry.
Best Beloved: 44, though. I can't just do yes or no on that one!
Me: Well, I put true, because it's more true than false, but yeah, I need a scale.
Rachel: You're colluding again.
Us: Sorry.
Me: Oh, god, 81.
Best Beloved: I don't even know. Could go either way. I'm putting false.
Rachel: STOP COLLUDING.
I gather from this that relationship therapists have to spend a lot of time telling their clients to stop talking to each other, which is not how I envisioned it prior to this experience.
But my major take-home from all this was that, frankly, the instrument sucked. It was unclear, it had questions that were absolutes, and it had questions that made me want to write lengthy essays as opposed to circling true or false. (Also, it was hugely biased in favor of heterosexual, monogamous, gendernormative couples, which was no big deal in our case since we were basically taking it for kicks, but makes it much less useful in practice. If you're not straight, or not monogamous, or genderqueer, or in any way not in line with the cultural norm, then finding a relationship therapist is probably fraught with extra stress - like, not only do you have to go in there and deal with your shit, but you also have to go in there and hope the therapist takes your relationship seriously, which has got to just massively suck. And how great would it be, feeling that way, already nervous for all kinds of reasons, to sit down and take this very biased survey that says, "Hey! When I say 'relationship,' I don't mean you." NOT THAT GREAT, I'm guessing.)
Also, the test was just boring. I'm sorry, but people who already have problems should not be subjected to lengthy tests that are roughly as interesting as an eight-part documentary on dryer lint. I could not help it; I was compelled to write some more fannishly oriented questions. So, here you go:
The Fannish Relationship Survey- If I were transported to another universe, I would immediately try to find my partner's analogue. (T/F)
- If it was an evil mirror universe, I would still try to find my partner's analogue. (T/F)
- I would also expect my partner's analogue to find me, even if said analogue had no way of knowing I was there. (T/F)
- My partner and I are capable of having complete conversations using only eyebrows, shoulder punches, or awkward, shuffling silences. (T/F)
- Other people have sometimes accused my partner and I of being telepathic. (T/F)
- If my partner or I were to turn evil, so that we had to spend the next fifty years as mortal enemies, I would still expect us to be there for each other in times of personal crisis. (T/F)
- I have brought my partner back from the dead, or my partner has brought me back from the dead. (T/F)
- I have sacrificed my life, my sanity, or other people's lives to bring my partner back from the dead, or vice versa. (T/F)
- I have remolded reality to protect my relationship. (T/F)
- Our souls, or a representation of our souls, have merged. (T/F)
- My partner's soul is as much my responsibility as my own. (T/F)
- If my partner is ever grievously injured, I will violate hospital protocols, not to mention health and safety regulations, to keep a weeping bedside vigil, even during lifesaving surgery. (T/F)
- If I am ever grievously injured, my partner is likely to quit, go catatonic, go berserk, or otherwise become a less than functional member of society. (T/F)
- At least one improbable being (mystical creature, copy of me from another dimension, minor deity, etc.) has declared that it is my destiny to be with my partner. (T/F)
- Basically the entire universe has declared that it is my destiny to be with my partner. (T/F)
- I am fairly sure that if I ever leave my partner, the universe will end. (T/F)
- My partner was at some point literally the only boy/girl/other in the world, and neither of us minded. (T/F)
- If one of us was transformed into a vampire, that person would immediately transform the other. (T/F)
(Scoring note: One point for every true. Anyone who scores more than 14 on this survey should probably take a different test. One that measures how well in touch you are with reality.)
See? Now there is a test that I would enjoy taking. Although I admit most of the pleasure would come from working with BB to identify all the couples references, which would mean Rachel would have to spend even more time telling us to stop talking to each other. (Eventually, she'd probably have to threaten to put us in separate rooms. The motto of psychological testing is, and always has been, "Stop having fun or I will turn this session around and no one will get any therapy.")
Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are  comments.
|
|
Comments: Read 51 or Add Your Own.
|
jinian
|
|
|
Well, I feel like I failed right now. I was just on a panel about self-objectification and geek girls, which I am competent to talk about in a cultural way. Unfortunately it was taken in a direction that was All About Cosplay At Cons, which I am not so knowledgeable about, and apparently I am the only one who thinks LESS objectification OVERALL would be better than ONLY having people who aren't thin-white-pretty-abled-etc. claim their ability to feel sexy by wearing revealing stuff in public. I think that can be great! I also think it can be problematic, for cultural reasons that the panel's source material addresses but our discussion kept veering away from.
And maybe I should be sorry, but I'm not: I do think individuals have a responsibility for the messages they're sending to others in public, regardless of how they personally feel about the outfit. (See "In Defense of Slave Leia" -- which I like a lot, I just disagree with the conclusion. Not every woman gets empowered.) The personal is political. I didn't expect to be alone in saying that at Wiscon.
So (1) the panel went wrong for me to begin with; the mod kept asking questions based solely in cosplay and cons, so we never really got to my material. (While I am annoyed with the result, it was a legitimate interpretation of the panel; I just wish we'd talked in advance so we could have modulated based on everyone's input.)
(2) We were missing a panelist due to injury. We got a substitute toward the end, and I really wish she'd been there all along! Up until then we had nobody who cosplays regularly, nobody familiar with the community, which it sounds like can be really great and supportive.
(3) I undoubtedly came off more extreme than I felt because it seemed like no one was hearing the cultural stuff I was trying to convey. THERE ARE CULTURAL FORCES, PEOPLE. Sometimes you want to dress up sexy because you're told to want that. No one is immune! Kids and babies are incredibly adept at picking up language and cultural cues, and social animals like us have evolved to be excellent at conforming because conformers don't get killed by their social groups. What I actually think is: when we know what our environmental factors are, we (yay humans!) can consciously choose to conform or not, and there are powerful choices to be made on both sides.
I wanted to talk about the Science Cheerleaders, man. And fucking Team Unicorn. Clearly cosplay is a huge topic that everyone wants to discuss, though. We didn't get to a quarter of the audience questions. Maybe I'll attend that panel next year (to hear what a jerk I was?). Hopefully I can be on one eventually that talks about the broader geek culture in a way that's more interesting to me.
This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/502385.html. Respond wherever you like.
|
|
Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
|
mcjulie
|
|
|
Finally saw the first two episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones last night. I was kinda disappointed. I was really looking forward to Peter Dinklage as Tyrion, and he did not let me down. I was riveted whenever he was on the screen. When he wasn't… not so much.
(Note: if you like Dinklage and have not seen The Station Agent, go see it now.)
It's hard to see exactly where it goes wrong. It looks great at first glance -- beautiful and richly textured. But there's a cheapness to the design, a lack of attention to detail. We see the interior of two palaces, but they don't look much different from each other. Similarly, the clothing and hairstyles and jewelry don't do much to distinguish between different classes and functions of people. I feel like I ought to be able to tell at a glance who is a member of the King's party, and who is a Winterfell resident, and I can't. I ought to be able to instantly tell Lord Stark's bastard son from his eldest legitimate son, and I can't. The dragon eggs should look gorgeous and ominous, and they don't.
The amount of story chosen for each episode seemed good, but I still thought the scripts were weak. Or maybe it was the direction. Or the casting. Or the acting (of everyone except Peter Dinklage). Whatever it was, I didn't get a strong sense of character or emotion at any point. Everything just seems very serious and slow and heavy with Medieval solemnity. And yet the sense of mystical foreboding from the book doesn't really come across, and several scenes that should be suspenseful or exciting simply aren't.
Probably my biggest disappointment is the queen and her non-dwarf brother, because they are the villains and they are awful and I should hate them with all my soul. Instead… they seem kinda like everyone else. Very serious and dreary and Medieval.
So, I''ll probably keep watching, but I'm not running out to rent disk 2 right this second. To those of you who've seen the whole series, does it get better? Or is this pretty much it, and if it's not really working for me now, it never will?
|
|
Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.
|
jinian
|
|
|
Vid party: Pretty fun, mostly with a couch to myself, which led to literal curling at times. I did get some company when maevele and friend were around, yay. Vids looked better when F.lux was turned off, despite being projected on a textured tan wall. My amazing swap skirt came from futuransky, who clearly has no shortage of wonderful clothes, as she was wearing a great minidress with silk-screened octopuses. The sing-along had a few too many newer songs I don't know, but the Occupy vid and a truly amazing Clark/Lex were definite highlights of the show overall. (I can find neither right now but will link the playlist when/if it goes up.)
Farmer's market: Very depopulated in the rain! You could walk at your normal speed and even go around slow people; this unfortunately meant people felt free to stand around doing nothing in the path, but oh well. Even the booths were thin on the ground. But I got delicious foods and admired impossible things like cooking-only foods (golden oyster mushrooms!) and flowers.
- Kalamata olive bread
- Cinnamon roll with frosting (breakfast; too sugary)
- Sugar snap peas (also breakfast; just sweet enough)
- "Hull-less" popcorn named "Baby Rice"
- Pint of strawberries
- Beautiful rosy-red radishes (if oyceter had been here I might have gotten the black spanish radish to share, but that thing was big)
- Cheese curds (2 bags for $6 rainy-day special)
- Chevre with ash
- Little blueberry bread
- Raspberry turnover
- Little rhubarb pie
- Pesto-and-something croissant
So, picnic on more market goodies, then off to the green room to prep for my panel on PONIES Fantastical Girlhood.
This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/501987.html. Respond wherever you like.
|
|
Comments: Add Your Own.
|
ms_danson
|
|
|
Our plans for this lovely day are breakfast, trying to find an abandoned quartz mine based only on gps coordinates, and gardening. As a result, I'll be outside for most of the day (same as yesterday).
For those of you who are new here from the Frenzy (which is still ongoing, wow) here are a few things about this journal that might be useful to you:
1) My family includes dracodraconis (husband), malovich (partner), Daven (cat - dumb), and Zoe (cat - used to be evil, now complacent in her supreme power).
2) I generally run this place like this. I use tags extensively and on every post so that I can find stuff. I can read my lj from my phone and email in photos from there, but it is a pain to comment from my phone so I usually wait until I'm at a computer to comment.
3) Many of the regulars around here enjoy my Minion Bob stories.
4) I used to moderate ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2) intj. There are a lot of mature INTJs hanging out around here as a result.
Welcome! Have fun! Play well with others. :)
|
|
Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
|
|
|
doop doop doop
I was going to say, "I don't post much anymore," but I've never posted much.
I've been going rowing instead of sailing lately, which is different, and is more exercise than sailing. A pretty strong squall came up as I was rowing today, which was mildly exciting. The skiff I was in handled the waves fine, but it really really wanted to point upwind, which was tricky because that's not where the dock was.
|
|
Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
|
|
|
sleepy.
happy.
pleased.
![[honestly I am probably an earth pony though]](http://underhill.hhhh.org/~igg/kylee-pony-wiscon36.jpg)