sundries

[rm]

- 29 days.

- Today is a bit of shopping and sewing for tomorrow. Apparently, I'm going to be parting my hair to side, slicking it back and then pinning parts of it under. This is evoking, for me, moments of high school when I did just that, for reasons too embarrassing to get into mainly because I did it badly. So I hope it even half works. It'd be nice to have friends and be hot all at once like that. It's hard to explain. chite knows, but I hope respects my rather fragile dignity on this one.

- Still haven't decided if I should do half of fencing class tomorrow before the thing. I could. And it might put me in the right mood. It also might make me tired, sweaty and rushed, and none of those things are particularly fun-inspiring. I think this is one of those situations without a correct answer.

- Work, oh work! It's going to be a long day.

- Reading Another Life (yes, it's another Torchwood book), which is actually written like a book. A detective novel really, which is the sort of cadence that doesn't really work for me. But what's interesting about it is the really weird, oddly lovely details that appear for no reason at all from time to time -- like the bit about Jack trying to grow coral in an ashtray on his desk. It was very what the fuck and oddly sweet to me. Yeah, I'm damaged, we know.

- The blessing that the iPod is remains huge.

- Note to self. You own fabulous cufflinks. You have almost no shirts that take cufflinks. And now you want to buy more cufflinks? *eyeroll*. Get the horse and cart in the right order please!

- Gah, that reminds me, I really need to pick up my dry cleaning.

- Read a bit of Twilight in the bookstore the other day. Tell me it has some redeeming value other than the brat narration voice that has taken over YA literature, wedding porn and a "vampires say abstinence is hot" agenda? Because I respect you guys, but yikes. Why do you love these books?

- I have a lot of outstanding pro-fic that needs to be dealt with this weekend.

- I also have more Jack/Annie stuff floating around and I think a porntastic Jack/Ianto idea (finally) that sort of involves Gwen being an idiot, but not in a hateful way. She's just really useful as a nosey plot device.

- I will not set anything on fire, tempting and occasionally appropriate though it may be.

- The worst thing about one's 30s is discovering that it's not actually technically possible to be gifted at anything anymore because one is expected to be successful. And living ridiculously just isn't the sort of thing people have enough regard for. Or something. Stupid, stupid pothos. Stupid.

Comments

[theotoky.livejournal.com]

when i wore suits everyday i wore french cuffs and cufflinks everyday too. i love love love cufflinks. i haven't worn them, however, in 10 years. i miss them. i have a chinese set, some vintage 60's sets, a weird modern set...oh, you're making me all cufflink-lusty now!

get thee some shirts and wear them, for goodness sake and i'll do the same. ;-)

THANK YOU for someone finally agreeing with me on the Twilight thing. i wanted, so much, to love those books but, man alive, they are so poorly (and obnoxiously) written. ugh. don't get it at all.

[alabastard.livejournal.com]

I have to chime in on this, I see no appeal in Twilight or why everyone is so gaga over the series, it's got nothing, but I guess it's more the idea that has captivated people, for it's got me puzzled.

Cufflinks, more people should wear them.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I think that certain groups enjoy it because of the almost sociopathic, emotionally abusive relationship between Edward and Bella. It's the kind of thing you thought would be awesome when you were twelve? I read the first book, but have almost no desire to read the rest.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, thanks, I've got Torchwood for my sociopathic sex fantasies and at least there's sex in that and people at least trying to be moderately more civilized.

Proper!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Yes, by all means, let us endeavour to keep our sociopathic sex fantasies civilised! Quite.

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

the bit about Jack trying to grow coral in an ashtray on his desk. It was very what the fuck and oddly sweet to me.

I don't recall the source, but I'm 99% certain it's been stated somewhere that Jack has started growing a TARDIS of his own. :)

I couldn't get into Twilight, either.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't recall the source, but I'm 99% certain it's been stated somewhere that Jack has started growing a TARDIS of his own. :)

Canon or fanon? But that never even occurred to me. Hrrr! How awesome.

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

Can't find the original article, but this is on the wiki entry for Torchwood items:

Jack has a piece of coral growing in his office which actor John Barrowman identifies as being a piece of the same substance as the TARDIS. Barrowman suggests (as did the Tenth Doctor in "The Impossible Planet") that TARDISes are "grown, not built". The piece in Jack's office has been there for approximately 30 years, and in 500 years the "carving process" begins.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. Well frigging awesome. Jack certainly has time. If the piece in Jack's office has been there for 30 years, when did he randomly get a chip of Tardis in the late 70s?

[laufeyette.livejournal.com]

Hmm... yea, that's weird. I guess he found it like he found the Doctor's hand, in that "this is Torchwood, we don't have to ever explain it" kind of way. :)

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Earlier Doctor. Bet the TARDIS likes him.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

TARDISes are alive, sentient, and rather notional. Makes sense.

[laurab1.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's a baby!TARDIS :)

[habiliments.livejournal.com]

Wait, I thought the point of Twilight was to enthusiastically hate on it?

(I admit I read the first book on a tear, but the minute I stopped to think, I started laughing.)

[marchek.livejournal.com]

I will not set anything on fire, tempting and occasionally appropriate though it may be

But it can be oh so very cathartic.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Rarely socialy useful, and will often get one talked about.
Frankly, we only lit the White House to see if Mr. Madison could run!

[lolliejean.livejournal.com]

I think living ridiculously and enjoying it = being successful. At least it's true for me at 50 y/o.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Also.
But smashing your enemies hopes to flinders is rather good.

[nobodyreally.livejournal.com]

"vampires say abstinence is hot" - um, not my vampires!

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Twilight is best enjoyed for the lulz. Although I originally found it compelling because the romance reminded me of the us-against-the-world-vibe of my relationship with Jason, although Edward is obviously a vampire and not a suicidal cat furry blood fetishist.

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

LMAO

I still support Cedric Diggory. In my pants.

and give me some sparkly ponies too while you're at it!

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God. breathe!
Hahahahaha, that's like the best summary of the book EVER. Ever.

Re: and give me some sparkly ponies too while you're at it!

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

IT IS. :D

[aynatonal.livejournal.com]

Ugh, Twilight is a totally crap book and I can't imagine how I would have turned out if I'd been born in an era when that monstrosity was the vampire gateway drug of choice rather than the Anne Rice books.

[rothko.livejournal.com]

i fucking LOVE cufflinks. now that i have cash again i need to see about hitting up thomas pink again. nearest one is in dallas, though, and i fucking hate dallas. guess that's what the interweb is for...

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

I'm going to step in as devil's advocate for Stephenie Meyer here (and also point out that it's not her fault her parents decided it would be cute to name her after her father by keeping the E from Stephen instead of the traditional A, thus making her and her parents look like illiterate morons. I'm all for unusual names but GOD, that's stupid.).

I've recently read the first three books and do plan on reading the final one when it comes out. When taken for what they are, I really don't think they're that horrible. They are YA romance crack, and in that, they serve their purpose, and I think they're written well enough for that. They're not Billy Shakes, and they're not trying to be, and they're really not even great literature, but for some reason I was able to sit down and get involved in the story, even if I did spent 3/4 of the book screaming at the characters for being so completely stupid and blind to what was in front of them. And I have no idea WHY, but it still appealed to me.

I haven't been able to sit down and read 500 pages at once since the final Harry Potter last year...and the targeted reading level is what made that possible, because obviously children's and YA books read faster than books written for adults. The Twilight story starts off well enough, but I will concede that a lot of the conflict in the second and third books has to do with mere stupidity on the part of the characters (omg, YOU MEAN THE COINCIDENCES AREN'T REALLY COINCIDENCES NOOOOO!!!!), and from there they get frustrating. But if I'm being honest, Jo Rowling isn't the greatest writer in the world (what she is is a good storyteller), and to be perfectly honest, Deathly Hallows was kind of anti-climactic for me. I liked it well enough (epilogue aside), but aside from knowing which supporting characters were going to die, how much were we really surprised? (Okay, Molly calling Bellatrix a bitch was pretty awesome.) Twilight can never live up to that legend anyway, but is it really any worse than whatever this generation's Sweet Valley is?

Of course part of my opinion may be that I'm just glad to have an alternative view of the vampire, instead of every reference I see now being a rip off of Anne Rice, whose own work is so sub-par at this point she's part of her own wank (Blood Canticle, anyone? No? Didn't think so.). Or some sort of attempt at justification because I actually enjoyed the crack read as a break from the works more traditionally recognized as literature that I usually read.

Also, sparkle text is fun.

[rihani.livejournal.com]

I have... copies of Twilight and the other two making their way to me just so I can be astounded by the, um, badness? Because I swear 90% of my flist is reading the damned things, I figure, gotta see why. I have at least been made aware that it's like it was written by a teenager who read too much bad X-Files fanfic, so actually, I'm kinda looking forward to that, in my own twisted way. lol

[telesilla.livejournal.com]

I tried to read the first Twilight book and I couldn't get past maybe...chapter five or six? It's got so much bad going on. The writing is like bad fanfic that never quite goes over into badfic so you can't even mock it. The characters are either blah or just horrible; I hate Bella with a passion and since it's first person, you can NEVER get away from her. And the story isn't interesting in the least.

I didn't expect anything great, but they weren't even entertaining page turners, which half my flist seems to think they are. One person said something about how it took her back to her high school days and maybe that's the problem for me: my high school experience with love and new schools and being an outsider were nothing at all like that.

[mysduende.livejournal.com]

I would advise against reading Twilight if you're predisposed againt it - well, that goes for any book actually.. ;)

As for why I personally love the books, crack obsessed but not srs bsns about them, well, it's plastered ALL over my LJ the reasons why.

And of course, teh sparkles and teh dazzle of a certain character is equivalant to 'bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses.'

Though..speaking from the PoV of someone who has been entrenched in Potterverse for quite some time, Twilight is entirely nothing like HP (the constant comparisons are ridiculous, imo.) However, I would say that both JKR and SM are similiar in that they are not srs bsns 'the classics' type authors. They've both reached popularity merely for mom success stories, writing a storyline that was enjoyable to them personally and having it turn out an overnight success. The are decent Storytellers - not masterpiece authors. So, being chagrined that Twilight is not classic author's work is a bit moot.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wasn't expecting great literature (I think JKR is a pretty awful writer in a lot of ways), but it just had the very thing that puts me off from the land of YA books, which is that bratty tone. Perhaps because I could never identify with that type of narrative -- not that I can't be a brat, but I never had the privilege to be someone who was popular enough to be bratty (instead of frightened, angry and hiding) in high school. It's too unfamiliar and I'm under the impression (perhaps erroneous) that a lot of the people who are actually in the age bracket these books are for do aspire to that sort of thing and it immediately gets my hackles up. I mean, I'm 35, but girls like that will never stop being the enemy I don't think.