sundries

[rm]

There are just a few more days to bid on things at debsliverlovers. Some more really cool stuff went up yesterday (an awesome novel with art drawn into it directly by Thomas Canty! An original page of comic art from Colleen Doran!) and some more awesome stuff will be going up today. So far the auction looks like it's raised 6K, but the goal is 10K to help with the costs associated with this live donor liver transplant. Go check it out.

This UK trip is still confusing.

I know it's super easy to go to Cardiff for a day. Patty and I did it last month. What's not super easy is leaving New York on July 7, landing in London on July 8, going to Cardiff on July 9, heading to Bristol that night, heading back to London on July 11, leaving for New York on July 12. See how much better this plan is if Cardiff just gets removed? SO MUCH BETTER. But I'm still torn because of the nature of my research and my desire for fabulous gluten-free welsh cakes. Also, the part where I am whiny.

On the other hand, after reading an article about how awfully hard it is to manage to use points on Delta, I'm a bit more "fuck it" and leaning towards Virgin Atlantic. Did you know, however, that you can't trade frequent flier points between Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America? Also, the most ideal times for the flights to allow me to actually do stuff in London on Monday involve me flying back into Newark. Getting home from Newark sucks, but a little bit of inconvenience is worth it, right?

Also, what do I want to see in my brief stays in London this time? Imperial War Museum. But what else? What do I want to see in my super brief sojourn in Bristol? Cardiff is the WORST possible plan, right? The question is whether not going to Cardiff is an even more terrible plan.

smirnoffmule made a warning for slash bingo card. If you start to say one of those things on the card? Stop.

Remember that thing when LJ tried to make people indicate a gender _and_ the options sucked? Now it's DeviantArt's turn. Bad plan, DeviantArt, bad plan.

Life on the subway was super annoying this morning: don't fucking litter and don't fucking sit like your balls are the size of New Jersey. It kept making me want to burst out in Buffy-esque song.

Last night after helping a friend put stuff into storage and fighting the subways Patty got home super late, so we have no Buffy or Angel update for you. Also, I am pretty damn tired, as we stayed up too late talking when she did get home, because we prize the check-in time.

The love from fictional characters meme hasn't just been funny, it's been oddly sweet.

redstapler links us to sidewalk lanes for New Yorkers vs. Tourists. Pity it's a joke.

I got a ticket to the White Collar event at the Paley Center. Yay.

Meanwhile, Patty and I must get Metropolis tickets immediately.

My parents have started to read my Bristol paper. They're on page 9. They are proud of me. My mother says she didn't know science fiction was about things. I explain that genre is merely incidental to the work - Sherlock Holmes isn't science fiction (although, fiction with science!) - as SFF has more ways of talking about death constantly. So far she finds the paper "sweet" and "fascinating" but I don't think she's gotten to the part that I expect will break her brain yet. My father relays his more muted opinions through my mother, which is good, or else he'll talk to me about god.

Comments

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

"But how will people know it's slash?"

Erm, don't the characters have names? *shakes head*
You post a fic, and in the "Pairing" part of the header, you put "Harry/Draco"... sounds very slashy to me. Should I put a warning? :P

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

As for warning for het, I can only see the reasoning when it's a majorly slash story and the het in question involves one of the characters in the main pairing.

Like, I write a Harry/Draco fanfic, but at some point of the story, Harry (or Draco) gets romantically/sexually involved with Ginny (or Hermione, or whatever other female character).

[weirdquark]

You post a fic, and in the "Pairing" part of the header, you put "Harry/Draco"... sounds very slashy to me. Should I put a warning? :P

You'd think so, but a friend of mine wrote a story once which lists the pairing in the "A/B" way and got a comment back from someone who said that they loved it, but that it was kind of gross that my friend had made the characters gay. Which left me wondering what this person thought was meant by "A/B" in the first place. Possibly that A and B are two straight guys that love each other so much that they have sex and a fulfilling romantic relationship? But they aren't gay!

I guess it's pretty clear that some people actually do think (for certain values of "think") being gay is a kink -- like using whipped cream or handcuffs or something, but I've never understood where that comes from.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

I also think that, gosh, people should just read the damn story. I co-wrote a story where letting people know that it was slash ahead of time would have been a major spoiler for a chunk of the plot. Plus there's a noisy chunk of fandom that won't read stories if there's a hint of *gasp* lesbian relationships. Which is pretty much all I write.

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

It's lovely that your parents are reading your paper. :)

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

Metropolis!!! YES! I saw it the last time it was shown, but now with more new footage! Must See! That's as good as seeing the original subtitled Godzilla with all the Raymond Burr additions removed!

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

I know! Must try to get tickets myself! (Seriously, I've got a VHS of the Moroder version, a DVD of Kino's best reconstruction prior to the discovered material, *and* the book.)

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

I went to Bristol on a work trip in October. I really, really liked the city a lot. Part of that, I suspect, was the love born of them having a bar ("The Apple") entirely dedicated to ciders and peerys and apple-based alcohols, which I really like, unlike beers. (Welsh Back, near King St.)

That said, that was only part of it.

It seemed a very friendly little city, with a nice and walkable center - despite the hills. There are old bits, there are 70s concrete horrors, there's a fabulous Brunel train station, and Brunel's SS Great Britain, which is on the river that runs right through the center of the city and which has water buses running on it on a constant basis. There is also a modern reno of part of the waterfront in to a nice civic center.

Oh, and don't forget the St. Nicholas Markets.

I also did a day trip to Cardiff during this trip. I'm very glad I did, but I really liked Bristol more.

All in all I'd say - as you did just do Cardiff recently, and as you'll mostly NOT be seeing Bristol, since you'll be busy with the conference - take some time to wander around Bristol and see what's there.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and I'll be back in Cardiff in November. It's really, entirely an issue of the stupid idiotic timing that makes me feel like I should be in Cardiff.

The cider bar is very exciting for me since I can't drink beer. Thank you for the tip!

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Thank you for mentioning Metropolis! I'm a fangirl and love the thing to pieces and YET did not know about the new release! My favorite local theater is showing it, and though I will likely not go to the Friday night opening with live orchestra performance, I will go see it that weekend comma dammit.

[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

'...and don't fucking sit like your balls are the size of New Jersey.'

Exactly, LOL! Why is it that most women who are larger than average can fit into one seat on the subway, plane, bus, etc. but some average sized men seem to need to have to take up half of my space as well?

[laughingirl.livejournal.com]

I'll see you at the Paley Center. :)

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Did you know, however, that you can't trade frequent flier points between Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America?

Gah, no, I didn't. Wonder if that has anything to do with the whole palaver over codeshares and airline alliances?

[rm.livejournal.com]

It may also have something to do with the issue about foreign owners of US airlines and may be something Virgin America had to do in order to prove to the US gov't (which was really pissy about it) that it was not controlled by the UK Virgin conglomerate.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

OMG the fictional love meme is the best thing ever.

I'm going to miss our warning labels. Maybe we can put a sex category and warn for all the other stuff still?

Sex: slash, het, poly
Warning: recreational potion use, head-in-a-jar, unfortunate catering choices, the seduction of memory

Also, where does stuff like kink go?

[rm.livejournal.com]

I think warning for kink seems to make sense but it also sort of douchey. So I think it goes in the "sex" or "includes" or other non-judgmental category.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

One time I deliberately sat next to a guy who thought he had balls the size of something larger than a kumquat and spread my legs the same way he did. It was a fascinating social experiment. I got the dirty looks and he looked liked I was encroaching on his space.

That fictional love meme has been lovely. I keep trying to figure out who wrote what, but I can't!
It's so much fun :)

[ophymirage.livejournal.com]

eumelia, you should know that your response to the "captain jack" letter was responsible for a keyboard bath. well played, madam, well played. :D

[cozzene.livejournal.com]

Any chance that after the paper is presented you would be linking to it somehow? I've recently gotten absorbed back into the S.H. novels and would love to know what your take on it is. This whole Watsonian v. Doyleist argument has be up in arms.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I know I'm going to regret it if I don't tear myself away from Supernatural long enough to go see Metropolis. Thanks for the reminder!

[cruentum.livejournal.com]

Aside from the Ianto thing which I don't really have a connection to, I'd never not go to Cardiff when the option is there.

[sweetevangeline.livejournal.com]

I know if I didn't go to Cardiff and I were in your shoes, I would spend the whole trip slightly miffed that I wasn't going to Cardiff, even if it is the "smart" thing to do. Just my thought.

And it's cool that your parents are proud of you.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, Patty and I must get Metropolis tickets immediately.

You really do. The additional footage makes a huge difference. In particular, the big crowd scenes at the climax — the flight of the workers' children, and the mob's pursuit of Maria — are better paced and thus even more suspenseful.

Oh Lord, I just wondered if it'd be possible to do a Metroplis/Torchwood fusion, in which Jack = Freder, Gwen = Maria, Ianto = Josaphat and Georgy, Suzie = Rotwang, Yvonne Hartman = Frederson, Lisa the Cyberwoman = robot...Jesus Christ, my brain, I don't even know.

[rm.livejournal.com]

THIS IS GOLD

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

You know, I did think "slash" had a certain element of "non-canon" about it. So Jack/Ianto isn't *slash* because it's *canon*. Gwen/Ianto yes, Jack/Ianto no.

Now, given that 99.9% of non-canon pairings seem to be same sex, I kind of understand why it's "het" contrasted with "slash" and I'm just pissing in the wind when I privately think it should be labeled gay or het or poly and then any non canon pairings slashed in after that.

I mean, cause then I could run like hell on "het: Buffy/Giles"... :D

Overthink much? Me? Nah.

[malle-babbe.livejournal.com]

Life on the subway was super annoying this morning: don't fucking litter and don't fucking sit like your balls are the size of New Jersey. It kept making me want to burst out in Buffy-esque song.

"Don't Splay in the Subway, Darling/
Seat-hogging is such a pa-aain"

(Apologies to Petula Clark)

[curriejean.livejournal.com]

I do not see the point of bingo cards. Straw-manning the competition? Expressing frustration? Narrating what other people are saying without explaining why they're wrong? Bingo cards do not contain an argument. They don't explain anything. Why do people make them?

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Because one day, someone is going to have an awesome party, maybe at a con and actually play bingo with some of these. It's been my dream for ages.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I love that the internet always brings out Fox Mulder and wizards. Hah!

[humascot97.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, Patty and I must get Metropolis tickets immediately.
Film Forum has extended the run, but I'm not sure for how long.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

...I was worried about that.

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

Is it possible for you to head straight to Cardiff from Heathrow, instead of staying the night in London?

[rm.livejournal.com]

It is, but since we won't really be spending time in London in November (Patty will be living in Cardiff for the term), I figured, I should it now. The whole thing is so complicated and ridiculous and about my inner conflict.