sundries

Man beaten for being gay in New York City.

I wish Karl Lagerfeld would stop saying so much offensive crap about food and weight (via fabricdragon) (btw, if you read what he has to say a lot, which I do, you can see that his size-ist stuff really comes out of his own issues and self-hatred), because I find him really fascinating and incisive on a lot of other topics. But man, he is such a toxic arse on this topic. Even other people in the fashion industry find his stance on this stuff appalling.

So it appears I'm really going to Zurich. I should have the plane tickets this week. I am... more or less completely zen about it as regards work and my real life and all that, which was not the case when this first sort of came at me. I'm sure I'll still find some reason to be weirded out by being in Switzerland (with my pinstripe suit and my fucking greatcoat) in the middle of NaNoWriMo. Also, should make a note to go over to the Sprint store and see what the deal is in terms of my phone and Europe. I don't want to be unreachable there, and fear I may be without serious intervention.

You folks make me want to have a what are you doing to ruin SF? poll every day. You are all awesome.

I finished Risk Assessment, more later. Thumbs up.

The home Internet is out again. *growl*

Last night (after an emergency B&N Internet run) we ate our baby klari cheese peppers and the paprika that we grew. We're pretty awesome. We've also started cooking and eating together a few nights a week (something we haven't done before, because my dietary restrictions, our food preferences and our schedules has made it hard). It's awesome and time-saving.

This weekend is the Regency Assembly in Connecticut. The weekend includes a night of dancing, period food, and a day of period games and refreshments. It is not too late to join us (period attire encouraged but not required). Info:
Front | Back | Registration Form
(if you decide to register, best not to do it via mail at this point -- comment here for paypal or other info)

Going to marrus's book launch party cabaret thing on Thursday. Now that I don't have to try to fit it in a suitcase, I can get her book.

Some guests have already been announced for Dragon*Con 2010. They are hilarious to me for reasons of embarrassing personal history. Also: I am really glad my hair is short at present (even if it does need a cut). That is all.

Torchwood: Risk Assessment

So James Goss is back with another tie-in novel. Goss is, in case you forgot (but you didn't) the author who brought us "Ianto turns into a woman, er... sort of" in the form of Almost Perfect.

Unlike a lot of people, I more or less liked Almost Perfect although I wanted it to be smarter and more complex about the gender stuff (this is Torchwood, we can handle it) and found his "hey, I understand fan culture" to be a bit heavy-handed.

But, what's great about Risk Assessment is that Goss takes the things that makes his style unique amongst the Torchwood novelists and refines and contains it. It's still funny and clever, but it's no longer distracting. His gender stuff is also less fucked this time, or at least better disguised in the form of Victorian Torchwood Agent Agnes Havisham.

( and this is where it gets spoilery )

Anyway, righto, back to Risk Assessment: Good aliens, snappy dialogue, steampunk plot elements, Gwen in Space, nuancy character stuff. Even if Almost Perfect bugged you, this is very much worth a look.