sundries

There were a bunch of kids from Newcastle on the train this morning. I noticed them at first because the girl was wearing a paper poppy, which is a thing you don't see in the US (or apparently I don't -- comments below tell me otherwise). Then I noticed them because of the following exchange:

Boy #1: So what'd you buy then?
Girl: Shoes. And a pink hoodie and a fairy hoodie and an I love New York hoodie and a NYPD hoodie and a NYPD hoodie for my friend. What'd you get?
Boy #1: Shoes, a jumper, fierce hangover.
Boy #2: And he tried to tip the waitress $70
Boy #1: I had a beer, a shot, and then I remember nothing else.
Boy #2: $100 worth of nothing else. AND A $70 TIP.

I cheated: 456 words on ConSweet last night. No, that number is not a joke. Yes, it was an accident.

The girl who didn't know who she was has been named. It also seems this has happened to her before. I hope life gets better for her.

Maine Governor Baldacci says that "What you want to have coming out of [the same-sex marriage vote] is respecting each other regardless of your sexual preference." Respect doesn't come out of people voting on whether or not I'm as human as they are, Governor.

What would be the harm? A case designed to get equal marriage rights in front of the Supreme Court may be moving too quickly to get the results we want. Article is interesting both for details on the situation and the tonal quality of the piece which includes the tidbit that while younger Americans support gay marriage older Americans "are still opposed to the practice."

I'M SICK OF PEOPLE THINKING IT'S PERFECTLY REASONABLE FOR MY HUMANITY TO BE UP TO A VOTE. For that matter, I'm also sick of various courts and officials not doing the right thing because "people just aren't ready yet." The expectation that anyone should sacrifice on matters of fundamental well-being solely so people can remain comfortable in their prejudices blows my fucking mind. Life's uncomfortable! Suck it up and do the right thing.

And I loathe the word "practice." I loathe the clinical tone, the suspicious tone, the fake-science psueudo-authoritarian bullshit that's really about a terror that supposedly exotic individuals are somehow having better sex than a bunch of straight married people and are therefore a threat to the future of civilization. Sick of it!

It's embarrassing, and I'm tired of having to be a gracious animal it (my mother always says when I am angry about bigotry that those who have been treated as animals must not act as animals).

I'm so tired.

A man in Liverpool is brutally assaulted by as many as 20 individuals for being gay. The man is in extremely critical condition. He was with his partner and another friend at the time of the attack. via catdancerz.

The Mismeasure of a Woman. Good piece. Of note, the author mentions how men but not women come through her door and ask for demand promotions. I'm one of those women who has asked for promotions, and let me tell you, the ways in which I've been shot down (by other women) is why I got out of the corporate world. Sadly, most articles about the state of affairs for women in the world could be replaced with three words: there's no winning.

Meanwhile, The New York Times continues to place topics perceived as "women's interest" in "fashion" even when it has nothing to do with fashion. This time, a piece on whether it's safe to post pictures of your kids online. It takes until page two for some experts to be quoted who note that child abduction by strangers is extremely rare and that "there is this characterization of pedophiles using the Internet as an L. L. Bean catalog, but this is not the way it happens."

Department of Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!: Looks like the DWNY Waters of Mars viewing party will be when I am in Zurich.

I bring you porn: I don't know who not_actual_size is, all I know is they posted two short ficlets on touchyerwood and then opened a journal where they have continued the series. BDSM, Jack training Ianto, you know the drill. Except that's the thing, whoever this writer is, they're using different tone and language choices than most of the rest of the fandom, and it makes the stories feel fresh and like we've got a really new lens on this stuff. These fics are porn porn porn and in places feel repetitive to me, but then a sentence or moment will come out of nowhere that totally sells it and makes the whole thing crazy hot again. Need porn? Check these out. Need something that doesn't sound like twenty other things you've read? Yup, read this thing.

More as it happens!

*sporfle*

I'm more than slightly ashamed that I am giving this a post all to its ownsome.

However, the DVD cover and stills have been released from that straight-to-DVD Holmes thing GDL is in.

And man, it's more dreadful/funnier than I could have possibly imagined. And I need you people to giggle with me. (also, drunk room party viewing at Gally? Y/Y?)

http://www.theasylum.cc/product.php?id=164

signal boost

Real person. Real situation that came to a very ugly head tonight. Summary from her and how to help below:

I am a disabled military wife and mother of two elementary-aged kids. Due to a delay in processing transfer orders, my husband's move to his next base isn't lining up with the end of our lease. This means we are having to pay for our move out-of-pocket, with the military reimbursing it later. My husband is currently with his ship in another state, so all details of handling the move fall to me.

We had planned to borrow the money for this from my mother. She has always been slightly mentally disturbed; tonight, this hit new levels. In the past two days, she's attempted to kidnap my kids and threatened to kill my mobility dog. She deliberately chose the time when I would be sickest from my low-dose chemo treatments to do this. I severely doubt she plans to honor her promise to pay for the movers tomorrow.

The movers are going to cost roughly $1300. If you can help, please send money to my paypal account, marna.m(a)gmail.com. Please indicate if this is a gift or a loan; we will begin paying back loan amounts as soon as we can. Thank you.

More: http://deza.livejournal.com/1331013.html