I've been reading Supernatural fic lately and I have to say that the vast majority of it kind of sucks because it seems like most of the fandom is totally fixated on sex.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with a little porn. Mention of dick isn't going to shock and offend me. Heck, I'm a Queer as Folk fan. My problem is when everything is reduced to sex, particularly non-con & dub-con, just as a matter of course, and usually in wildly implausible ways while they're at it.

( A few examples from Supernatural fic, but other fandoms are equally guilty in smaller percentages )

I am pretty much blind. I can't function without glasses but having to up-grade my prescription and buy a new pair was one of those things I've always put off as long as humanly possible. I'd dread new glasses partly because when I try on frames I don't see well enough to get better than a vague idea of what they look like and if I pick wrong I'm stuck with ugly glasses for the next couple years but mostly the problem was the price. The last time I got my eyes examined I got two pair for $570 and that was a buy one get one free deal--I couldn't have bought one pair for half the price.

Then I found Zenni Optical. They do complete pairs of glasses starting at $8 plus $5 shipping. With my prescription (and the extra fees for more complicated lenses) it's still only cost $25-45 a pair. I had my doubts when I saw the price, but tried it anyway. I've bought 5 pairs and my dad has gotten another 4, neither of us has a simple prescription, and they all came out perfect.

There is a 2-3 week wait for them to arrive. I had to adjust the frames myself. Some weren't really flattering once I tried them on and Zenni doesn't take returns unless they did something wrong--so I'm just stuck with a couple ugly pairs. So it's not perfect. But just counting the three that are cute, that's 3 pair for $185 (plus a couple back-up pairs).

I always suspected but now I know for sure Lenscrafters, Eyeglass World, and Pearle Vision have been screwing me over for years. Anyone who wears glasses I strongly recommend giving Zenni a shot.

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions: Look at the list and put an X after those you have read. Tag other book nerds.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (x)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte ( )
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (x)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (x)
6 The Bible ( )
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (x)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (x)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ( )
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens ( )

Total so far: 6/10
( Read more... )
Britains schools must kinda suck, because with about three exceptions the ones I read were all school assignments. I am very much not a classics dork. I tend to like my entertainment completely without educational value.

There has been a lot written on the massive fail that is SGU's 'Sabotage.' I've seen extensive writing on the offensiveness of its portrayal of disability, lesbianism, and non-consensual sex.

One thing I haven't seen pointed out, that I personally find offensive, is just the fact that this character has a few days to experience things she's never been able to do before and she immediately has to find herself a man.

Even if they managed to write their way out of the other issues, maybe have her swap with a heterosexual character, have the person she swaps with give her permission to do what she wants, or have her realize when she's back to her regular body that being fully abled doesn't fix her life--the whole plot point still hinges on the concept that no woman's life is complete without experiencing the power of the almighty penis. (This isn't to say that this issue is any greater or lesser than any other issue with the episode. There is roughly equal amounts of fail all around here. I only mean to point out that it's a separate offense unto itself.)

There's been a lot of fan outrage and accompanying wank in the SGA fandom of late and I'm of two minds about the whole thing.

On one hand, I don't think there's anything wrong with cancelling SGA after 5 seasons and starting a new show. On the other hand, there is not a doubt in my mind that Brad and Joe did the SGA cast, crew, and fandom wrong and I'm also reasonably sure SGU is going to suck.

( And here's why... )

The bottom-line is I suspect SGU is going to fail. Then in an attempt to salvage an audience for the franchise they'll dust off the original plans for an SGA movie--but considering the travesty of the last year's episodes and all the bridges they've burned with actors and fans I don't think there's much they can do to get out of the hole they've dug for themselves. I think, right now, we're looking at the beginning of the end for the current franchise--although I'm sure it'll be resurrected one day after a long enough hiatus for the nostalgia factor to come into play--for the moment it is pretty much played out. And that's kind of sad.

I just got a wide-screen monitor and needed new wide-screen wallpaper to match. Couldn't find anything to suit me, so I cobbled something together. Feel free to grab it if you want.



I was trying to fine tune the wallpaper above, get John the right way around for one. While I was looking for gate graphics I ran across an SGU gate. I got to thinking about how Rodney's got this kind of long suffering expression and John looks aggressively neutral in these pics (I suspect David and Joe really don't like doing publicity stills). Then, inspired by sgamadison's Cabin Series, I put two and two together, and came up with this.

I adore crossovers and every time I get into a fandom my mind inevitably strays to crazy crossover space. However, since I have the fandom attention span of a goldfish and I rarely work up the energy to actually write, I very much doubt I'll ever actually develop any of my ideas. But since there's some slim chance I'll take one of these up one day, I thought I'd jot some of them down. (And if by some bizarre chance you like the sound of one of these feel free to grab it.)

( various, mostly cracky, things that have occurred to me )

I read tons of fic from lots of different fandoms. Then when I'm looking for the same fic again or get a craving for a particular kind of fic it gets kind of tricky to find what I'm looking for amongst all my links. I really appreciate Story and/or Genre search communities and am trying to compile as complete a list of them as I can. Here's the ones I know about:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel Inquiry
DueSouth Genrefinders
DueSouth Storyfinders
HP - FictionAlley Park
QAF Get it Here
SGA Genrefinder
SGA Storyfinders
Star Wars
SPN Story Finders
Smallville Inquiry

I'd be grateful for a link to any currently active search community, no matter the fandom.

I've been seeing this 52 Books in 52 Weeks thing popping up all over and it got me to thinking about how I rarely read actual books anymore. It's almost all fanfic of late. So I'm making a conscious effort to try some real novels. I don't know if I'll get to 52 or manage one a week, but there's got to be some really good books out there I'm missing. I'm thinking a running list might help. So far:

( March )
( April )
( May )
( June )
( July )
( August )

They got a new firewall at work. It blocks LJ, which really, really sucks. I don't post much, but I do read a lot and comment some. Now I'm stuck trawling FF.net, one of the few sites that isn't filtered out as 'adult content' or 'social networking.'

The up shot is I've found a few stories I absolutely love that I probably never would have tried based solely on the description if I'd had anything else to do.

Shadows in Starlight by Vathara - It's a Rurouni Kenshin/Star Wars crossover. I know that sounds like it has to suck, but it was surprisingly brilliant. She managed to make the crossover work perfectly. It was so good, I've actually taken to SW fanfic and I don't even like SW that much. I still haven't seen the last two movies and probably never will watch them, but this one fic has sold me on a serious attachment to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I'm also really impressed with two WIPs by Marz1:

A Village Hidden in Hope - A Naruto/Star Wars cross that's very well written and quite addictive.

The Truth Decays - A Fullmetal Alchemist/Naruto cross that has nailed Edward's personality exactly.

After a long absense from FMA fandom, I'm finally getting back into it a bit. Yaoi is still my first love, but a couple gen fics I really like are:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3537350/1/The_Book_of_Truth
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3628620/1/Alchemys_Child

Anyone have good recs for me? I haven't been keeping up the last couple years. I'm sure there's some gems I missed and some old favorites that could stand a reread.

Roy/Ed is a favorite but, like with the two above, gen fic is good too. I'm willing to give pretty much anything a shot. Really good writing can sell me on an idea that made me cringe to start with. The only thing I can't stand in fic unrelenting misery that drags on for ages without any glimmer of happiness on the horizon.

Just a snippet I did for Drabylon a few months back but forgot to post here.

Summary: Brian/Justin a few months post-513. Justin's had some time to think over this New York idea.

( Reconsidering )

I mentioned watching Queer as Folk three times in my last post. This time, I figured I should do something useful. (Useful or batshit insane, the jury is still out on that one.) So I took notes and so far I've come up with this:

timeline.xls

I start showing my brother season 4 this Friday, and I'll post the completed version as soon as we get through the last two seasons.

Updated: I finally finished it. If anyone has any specific questions as to why I spaced things out the way I did, feel free to ask. I'd be happy to consult my notes and explain which evidence I'm giving priority and my reasoning as to why.

FYI: The show timeline was a bit off. The first season was definitely 2001. There were actual dates in the show. Seasons 4 and 5 were dated 2004 and 2005 on screen. But only 4 years passed in the show narrative (unless Mel was pregnant for 2 years). So it was either move the later seasons back or the early seasons forward--I went with moving the later ones back but could have easily gone the other way. My goal was to put events on a calendar relative to each other, the years are just there for perspective.

It's been awhile since I posted anything, so I thought I should say something to show I haven't completely abandonned this thing. So a few things I've learned:

( Queer as Folk: One of the Best Shows Ever! )

( Book Mooch: Very Nifty )

( Bizarre, Yet Brilliant, Fic Recs )

Babbling about my current musical selections. Thumbs up on NIN's Year Zero.

( Read more... )

Once again, I open my mouth, I get myself in trouble.

I had a bag of leftover chocolate I was bringing into work to pass around the office and walked passed my boss on the way in.

ME: Want candy. (Holding up the bag.)
HIM: Isn't that my line. You should know better than to offer a dirty old man candy.
ME: I meant figuratively not literally! (brief pause) No, wait, I meant the other way 'round. Literally, not figuratively.

Then I stomped up the stairs trailing the tattered remains of my dignity while he cackled in the lobby.

My mom bought a vacuum sealer so she could put steaks in plastic bags and suck all the air out so they don't get freezer burn.

My brother said: "She could have just used a plastic straw."

My reply: "I don't want mom sucking on my meat."

I tried to retract, but it just kept getting worse. I think I may have scarred myself for life.

This is pretty much going to be me bitching and moaning about my life, so you probably just want to skip it.

( Read more... )

By the by, regarding fic, still not abandonned, just on an indeterminate hiatus. I've got to get this work and lovelife business sorted first.

And, because I already posted my shoe woes, I must recommend my eventual solution:

CutesyGirl.com - The best shoe store ever!

My assistant at work is completely fucking useless (and kind of a closet racist). Not only do I have my work to do, I've got half of her work plus fixing all the stuff she screws up if I don't keep a really close eye on everything she does. I get home completely exhausted and incapable of anything more taxing than vegging out in front of the TV.

I've still got my post-its for the last few pieces of Life in Progress, but god only knows when I'll be able to write again.

On the brightside, I got the complete Queer as Folk for Christmas. I'd never seen it before and absolutely adored it--the first three seasons at least.