sundries

[rm]

Beach. BEACH BEACH BEACH BEACH. Seriously, I love going away with Patty. We travel really well together, even though are travel styles can be pretty different.

S1 has sort of died for me. I keep trying S2 and hate all the options.

I really wish the super in our building would understand that some of us actually have jobs. He stops me this morning to tell me he has to have someone check our plumbing, as they are checking all the plumbing in the building (this is good because we have a water pressure issue with the cold water in the kitchen, and there's clearly still some leakage going on from the bathroom shower above us), but being all shocked that we need this to be scheduled and can't wait at home all day on random days when the plumber may or may not even show up (has happened before) because we have jobs, annoys the living fuck out of me. Luckily, the management company will call to schedule now. SO ANNOYING.

Hrrrrr. I'm taking two RT flights on Delta in the next month, one of which with Patty. I wonder if I should pick up a 30-day pass for the Delta Sky Miles club thingy or whatever. Could make the whole thing less miserable. Normally, I wouldn't spend the cash, but it would get a lot of use. Talk to me, people.

The decision on the stay in the Prop 8 case is coming down today. I will be surprised if it is not maintained, but we'll see.

Did you all catch Rachel Maddow last night? She is so, so effective on DADT. All the West Point graduates and what not make for very effective media of course. No one really gives a shit about the 19-year-old private getting screwed by this mess. But I lived a good chuck of my life in the very weird narrative shadow of West Point, and it just hits me, hard and strangely. That cadet. Wow.

Haven't read it yet, but AfterElton asks if slash has made the world better for gay men. Glad this discussion is happening somewhere other than the table of the frustrated at WriterCon (man, I never wrote up that slash panel that I felt was so problematic. I really should share that little handout with the world).

I haven't talked about the global economy in a while. Things are getting messy again. And then there's the wheat situation in Russia. If you only read the financial news sporadically, read it this week and next. And be thankful this is happening in August when the markets are kinda slow and the whole world isn't paying attention and having panic reactions. (On the other hand, it takes less to cause market gyrations in August, so that should also be a concern).

Amazon is doing an interesting thing which means hopefully soon I can tell you about an actually interesting thing. (I'm not a tease, I'm impatient).

copperbadge, please comment on the following horror immediately: Chicago-based meat cupcakes.

First woman in the New York Philharmonic's brass section.

Am I seriously going to have to create a quasi-functional Covert Affairs fandom all by my fucking self? Because while I'm fascinated from a fanthropology standpoint by the spate of "Annie dreams about her and Auggie's wedding" fics, I was never that person even when I was fourteen. Even my badfic was way more weird than that. So... yeah. Help?

Last night on Angel: "It's not always about holding hands." I love Wesley SO MUCH. Also, thank fuck, Connor is finally squicked by Cordy and everyone else seems to have figured out that she's evil (although that confrontation ended on a cliffie). Cordy's evil dress (maybe that's how they figured it out) is still stupid and I loved Wesley snarking about the last time Cordy was impregnated. Also, RTD, still a Wesley/Angel shipper -- and my god, the way they look at each other! I'm so bad. Also, all femmeslash should contain Fred. It's not that she's that hot, it's that she's hot in like EVERY pairing. Also, Gunn and chick who has never had sex because she's electric? cliche, cliche, cliche, but it was sort of ballsy that they actually went there. Also, that crack about a turgid supernatural soap opera? That was beautiful.

Comments

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

I just realized that you are the perfect audience for femslash_minis. Namely, the Fred tag.

A personal favorite: Buffybot/Fred.

<3

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

I like Covert Affairs but I'm not shipping anyone. It's one of those things I'm just watching to watch, but then again, I can't handle a bunch of fandoms at once. :)

Re: the Delta Crown club stuff... how much does that cost - %90 a month?... and do you often fly on different airlines besides Delta? If you can get Amex Plat, the fee is $400 a year and you get VIP lounge access on all major airlines for you and Patty. AND you get extra travel insurance and if you buy everything ever on it, you'll get points for flights without a ton of effort. I've put my other credit card in the shredder, because it sucked compared to this.

[mamadar.livejournal.com]

I loved the picture of Merlin and Arthur as "a popular recent slash fiction subject".

[rm.livejournal.com]

It has occurred to me that I really want some very conflicted Annie/Auggie/Jai fic.

I doubt my credit would let me get an Amex Platinum right now (I've fixed things, but now I'm waiting for shit to drop off of the reports), but that is good to know. This would just be a one time $90 thing for a 30 day pass for me and her, which would make the Chicago and Atlanta trips less crap, especially since I tend to be super early to the airport.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Rachel Maddow is amazing! A-Mazing! I got chills, man. Chills.

The article on Slash is interesting, though I feel like it's light years behind us. It seems a tad focused on normalisation and such, and doesn't, naturally, get into the fetishisation of gay men.
Still mainstream discussion of slash, woot.

[51stcenturyfox.livejournal.com]

One time thing, yeah, it's definitely less crap (but no sex) in the champagne room. I have expensed travel to thank for the miles (and I'm on Delta Skymiles too, just not their Crown level thing). http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-points-1/ is where all the pointhounds hang.

I got regular Amex and they upgraded me because I put everything ever on it. Sneaky.

And threesome? Yeah.

[azn-jack-fiend.livejournal.com]

I've been flying on Delta since the dawn of time and I've never bothered to get a membership to one of those lounge things... they always sounded like a rip-off to me.

The thing I need for long stays in airports is internet access. If I've got that taken care of, everything else is kind of secondary.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

And then there's the wheat situation in Russia.

Yeah, I was impressed to see that BBC World News America covered not only that, but also the comparable wheat situation in neighboring Central Asian countries suffering under similar conditions.

I'd go with the Delta pass; it sounds like a modest investment for a bit more peace of mind with that airline.

Meatloaf...cupcakes. I bet Sam's R would probably scarf one down in nothing flat.

[ckd]

So, the DL Sky Club.

I've had Crown Room access in the past, though I don't at the moment. I made Platinum Medallion one year, which at the time included free CR membership; later, my then-spouse had a membership and would take me in when we travelled together. On the occasions when I spent miles for BusinessElite flights to Europe, that included lounge access for those flights as part of the deal.

The main thing for me was that it was a nice, (usually[1]) quiet place with comfortable chairs, places to plug in my laptop, and a clean bathroom. I don't drink so the free booze didn't matter to me (though water/soda never hurt) and there were usually some reasonable snack options (though I have no idea how they are for GF).

The 30-day pass becomes a much better deal when you're making connections through the hubs, since if you're there for 2 hours between flights you can get an hour and a half of lounge time.

My recommendation? Check the list of clubs to make sure most/all of the airports you're going from/to/through have 'em. Add up the number of hours you're likely to spend in lounges based on your travel plans. Decide if a nicer airport environment is worth $X/hr.

[1] Depends on location and hours. BOS was usually fairly quiet. ATL in the middle of a hub push? Not so much.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm going to watch Covert Affairs just because of you. Though I'm afraid my online presence is too silent, disorganised, spoon- and attention-deficit to be any use to you as part of a fandom. But maybe if I squee at my friends about it I can get some of them to do it?

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Meatloaf Bakery is a legend in our neck of the woods, and it's been open less than a year. R's eaten there, and says it's very good. On the one hand, he thinks grapenuts with mayo are very good, but on the other I really don't see what's so disgusting. They sell portion-controlled helpings of meatloaf as well as full on loaves, and they do both a heart-healthy salmon loaf and a vegetarian lentil loaf as well. By all accounts the food's quite good.

I actually bought the Groupon for them this morning, and I'm going to treat R to a dinner there the next time he's willing to drive me. :D I've been wanting to try them for ages.

[ckd]

Oh, one other advantage I forgot to mention: travel disruptions.

This applies in two ways:
1. If your flight is delayed, you have a nicer place to wait.

2. If your flight is delayed/cancelled/etc, you have a separate and better desk you can go to to get rebooked. The line will be a lot shorter, and lounge staff agents tend to be a bit more experienced and may be able to do something for you that the gate agents can't or won't.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, part of this is the special, special hell that is ATL.

And the quiet is the big issue for me, as I get sensory overload with ease (which I c an usually manage, but the idea of doing Dragon*Con without Patty and then having to deal with that fucking airport is just super UGH).

[rm.livejournal.com]

Be warned it's kinda crap at first. And it still has issues. But each episode has been better than the one prior and 3 had some amazing moments and 4 was genuinely, consistently, really good.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It's the visual dissonance. I look at a photo that looks like carrot cake to me, but I am told it's meat. FREAKS ME OUT.

Cupcake shaped things should be sweet.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I guess I could see how the cupcake design is a little offputting, but I find it weird and I dunno, a little angering that people are going yak over it. Maybe it's just because it's a local place but it's a small independently-owned business that makes reasonably high-quality and quite imaginative food and offers vegetarian options; no publicity is bad publicity, but I hate to see people being down on something that I see as a pretty positive thing.

But yeah, it could just be Chicago Pride coming out :D

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's like "iew that's so disgusting" and in person it might be cute. But it's high on the list of things where photographs don't make sense. They should put the one with veggies on top in the front of the photo, it makes more sense and doesn't lead me to ask "is that cream cheese icing? on meat?"

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

That sounds familiar XD

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hahahahahahaah.

THERE IS NO SECRET ROBOT GIRLFRIEND.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

LOL yeah, I suppose I can see the cognitive dissonance there. I guess it didn't hit me because I saw Meatloaf Bakery and knew immediately what they were.

[abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com]

I did catch some of Maddow last night, actually, and the cadet was amazing. I remember her saying something about being commited to service and that she'd come back to West Point or into the military should she be accepted AS SHE IS, which I thought was powerful and moving and provided me the reminder of how both lucky I am and grateful I ought to be.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

WELL DAMN :/

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh! It must be mashed potatoes, yeah?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yet.

[azn-jack-fiend.livejournal.com]

Ah... I remember one year I happened to go through Hartsfield on a very special summer weekend where three massive events hit us at the same time:

- Pride
- Megafest: huge evangelical conference run by T.D. Jakes, a superstar (and homophobic) preacher
- The Bush Surge: troop deployment from Fort Benning

The airport was packed from wall to wall, the A/C had run out and so giant fans were running everywhere. It was definitely hellish.

Under normal circumstances I like Hartsfield though. The planning and layout make sense to me. I always get lost in LAX, that's my least favorite airport.