laceblade

littlebutfierce is hosting a love meme.
My thread is here, if you'd like to leave a comment.

dingsi has created an alphabetized index here for easy browsing.
For those too shy to nominate themselves, dingsi has also offered to put your name in for you (anon or not, depending on your preference).


I myself am sometimes hesitant to start new threads in love memes because I know that some people find them more anxious-making than not. So I guess this is to say that if you feel like you need it, I highly recommend starting a thread for yourself. You can start a thread anon or not!anon.

Whether you participate in the love meme or not, just wanted to say that I <3 all of you and I'm always glad to read your comments on my entries.

Just so everyone knows, iconomicon makes some really bad-ass icons. SUCH AS THE ONE USED IN THIS POST.

I still remember that one time when sasha_feather was driving and we dropped off antarcticlust and he answered the door and I was like, "OH MY GOD, sasha_feather, THAT IS THE ICONOMICON!" I am no longer awe-struck when I hang out with him UNTIL HE POSTS NEW ICONS AND THEN....

It's like that scene with Will Ferrell in "Elf," when he's like, "SANTA?! I KNOW HIM!"

Purchasing

As expected, one of my best friends, Steph, left the most detailed analysis about which Mokona bag to purchase. I think I'm going to go with the orange one. Now I need to decide whether or not to buy this hat, as well.

To shamelessly copy Bridget, here's what I'm reading and planning at the moment:

Reading

Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? True Adventures in Cult Fandom by Allyson Beatrice
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke
Baby & Me manga, by Marimo Ragawa

Planning

To go to Concerts on the Square with both co-workers and LJ friends. I need to come up with names for my groups of friends, so people know WTF I'm talking about. Like, some of you could be "blue group" or "Wiscon people" or something.

I need to watch more Angel. The next episode for me is "Smile Time," so I'm eager to watch it as soon as possible.

I'm trying to catch up on Battlestar Galactica. I had notes on 3 episodes, but I think I might have lost them. Regardless, I need to keep watching more.

I must watch another episode of Arrested Development so that I can finally get a new Netflix DVD.

You know what? I look pretty damn cute in the pictures of me that got uploaded to the SASS thread. Indeed, I love what K. Tempest had to say:

I was scrolling through the thread and looking at the pictures and, instead of being ashamed that I associate myself with such people (horrors!), I couldn’t help but think of how beautiful all those images are. They are pictures of beautiful women of all sizes smiling, having fun, loving where they are and what they’re doing. These are the poeple I go to WisCon to be around. And nothing those half-brained monkeys on that forum say can make me feel any different. You wanna call me out as a fat loser? You go right ahead. But it’s plainly evident that I not only have more class than you, I also have a better life and better friends. All the evidence I need to support that statement is my lack of time spent on the internet trolling for pictures of people I don’t know in order to make fun of them for arbitrary reasons.

Get a life, you losers. And coming from a Star Trek fan, that’s fucking sad.

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Panel 191 Report: Last time, on Battlestar Galactica...

Reading, Viewing, & Critiquing Science Fiction and Fantasy ♦ Sunday, 11:30-12:45 A.M. ♦ Senate A

We saw the first part of Season Four, let's talk about it. Where is the series going? Let's speculate on the ramifications of the final five Cylons, Roslin's reoccurring cancer, and all the good stuff in the rest of Season Four.

M: Ben Burgis, Maddie Greene, JJ Pionke

This panel began at 11:30pm. Most of the panelists were drunk, as was most of the audience. This was hands-down the most hilarious panel I attended during the entire convention. I don't even remember what we talked about, and I didn't even drink. Cracktastic Cylon theories and references to Ikea planets were made. It was the just-perfect combination of people making insightful comments while also being drunkenly cheeky. I think my favorite moment (aside from Starbuck's white viper coming from Ikea) was heyiya's "I have a really complex and insightful theory, but I've had a few beers and I can't complete this thought process!" I had so much fun that I didn't take any notes.

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I didn't attend the "Is Racism Inherent in Fantasy?" panel, but I have heard a lot about it from friends (whose brains were broken). badgerbag has video responses from people who attended the panel. My friend brdgt is "Bridget" in three of these videos, and you have the opportunity to see how hilarious she is.

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coffeeandink has has posted about the "Can Internet Drama Change the World?" panel, posting a mostly-complete transcript of the panel. I attended this panel, and intend to post my own notes later, unless I decide that I don't have anything else to say. The consensus, though, was "Yes, Internet drama can change the world."

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( Here be sign-out stories, involving Tamora Pierce, Patrick Rothfuss, and Maureen F. McHugh )

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Yesterday was work and grocery shopping, but sasha_feather and I had time to eat dinner together, and I then showed her the first two episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist. She is pretty new to anime (I think she's only seen Cowboy Bebop?), so I cackle with the glee of corruption. She hopes to reciprocate by getting me to read slash fanfiction.

So I have been doing more than just reading manga, watching anime, and watching Buffy/Angel, I promise. I just decided to catch up on stuff I had finished a while ago. I think all that's left at the moment is to write about the end of Elfen Lied (it got better, sort of) and how Code Geass is going (awesomely!).

Friday night, I went to The City (a bar) with co-workers to celebrate one of their birthdays. I only had two drinks, but the strawberry martini was hella high alcohol content, I think. I danced, I said snarky things, and I was vigilant against creepy bastards, on behalf of my friends. This means that it was a typical bar night, I suppose, but in honor of my friend, we kept playing Michael Jackson songs (they had a digital juke box) and totally busting it out in our corner of the bar. Amazing! I hadn't thought that I was very inebriated, until Chad drove me, Antoine, and a friend home (best roommate EVER!), and I tried to get out of the car. Holy crap! Getting out of the car was difficult. I didn't fall or anything, but it was more like, "Foot. Lift it. Move it. Put weight on it." Probably the most amusing part of the night was someone accusing me of being drunk, me saying, "I am not drunk, damn it!" and immediately afterward, Antoine bumping my hip with his (he was dancing), and me almost falling over.

On Saturday, Chad, Antoine and I went grocery shopping a day earlier than usual, because we knew that the weather would be bad today. Antoine and I ate dinner at Rising Sons Deli (Really, really good! And I think it's very nicely decorated in there.), and I went to Anime Club. By the time I got to Club, I was pretty damn tired from the night before, and sitting in a dark room reading subtitles didn't help too much. Still, the shows were good last night (or at least, as good as Elfen Lied gets!).

After Anime Club, though, was the most fun evening I've had in a while. I considered staying home because I was tired, but decided to go join my friends from Bleak House (the book publishing company where I interned this summer) to celebrate my former boss's birthday. They had already eaten dinner and cake together, but I joined them for some sledding at Sanitarium Hill, way on Madison's north side. The view from the top of the hill was great - you could see the entire city! Also, the building is supposedly haunted because it was originally a tuberculosis sanatorium, where people went to die. It was such a creepy building! Made of brick with large windows, and french doors on the ground floor. It's pretty much exactly how I imagined the various buildings to look on the high school campus that my characters attend in my ghost hunting story. This page has some black and white photographs.

After sledding (the hill was so huge! It's been a long time since I had fun that way), we tromped through the woods, originally behind the sanatorium. Then, we decided to go to a fort that two of the others had been to. We drove out to the Mendota Mental Hospital (holy barbed wire, batman!) and walked out to a place called Governor's Island, and sat on rocks where Frank Lloyd Wright had allegedly built a house that sank into the lake. My socks were full of snow, as were my jeans, but it felt good to spend so much time outside, and not just walking to work or class.

The way home was mostly good, except that towards the end, the falling rain was freezing on the roads. Despite traveling at a low speed, I almost fishtailed right into a parked car. Within a block of my house, my car could not make it up a relatively shallow hill. I had to put it in reverse and let it slide downhill (Thank you, driving instructor! I never believed you when you said that straight-backing would come in handy some day!) and went around the block, going at it from a different angle. This hill was even more mild, and my car still almost didn't make it. It's on the street now, probably completely covered in a shell of ice. The buses stopped running at 8:30am this morning. I am supposed to lector at 9pm mass this evening, but unless the snow makes it easier to drive (doubtful!), I will probably have to call in. I hate having to shirk responsibilities, but hopefully people will understand my not-wanting-to-die.

Anyway, I am glad that I bought food yesterday. Today will be spent washing laundry, doing some schoolwork, cleaning, and watching some DVDs. And hey, you never know - maybe blogging about anime again. Are my posts becoming too spammy? I feel like I haven't been this prolific since high school.

So, I am stupid and apparently set the wrong alarm last night. I cursed when it went off, and I could see through my blinds that it was already light outside, being 8:00 am. Because my Career Advising appointment would force me to leave work at 10:45, and it would be at least 9:30 by the time I got to work, I called in and will just be going after the appointment is over with. Still, I feel like an idiot, and kind of terrible. I pride myself on being the person who never calls in sick or comes in late, so even though it's a rare occurrence, I still feel bad and have found it difficult to enjoy my morning.

Steph and I enjoyed a meal last night, made by Steph (although I did some hardcore supervising). Eating and talking with a friend might be one of the best things ever.

Yesterday, I finished reading Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, and I loved it. I think that I liked this one more than Book of a Thousand Days, which I think I read sometime last week. Shannon Hale writes Young Adult fantasy. She has written a couple of other books that I haven't read yet, but I think that these two are her most famous at the moment. I do love that in both books, protagonists are not physically perfect (one is small, one has a disfigured hand and face). In both novels, the author takes great care to do a lot of intricate world-building, down to how the characters approach religion, each other, and their customs. She does this without distracting from the plot, which is saying a lot, as the books are only about 300 pages each, with relatively spacious text. Each novel also deals with classism, prejudice, and belief in one's self. I also think it's neat how the power of song plays such a vital role in both novels. And thus, it's been decided that I like the author Shannon Hale a lot! Go read her stuff!

Anyway, I should go print off my resume. I'm also excited to stop at the bank on my way to work this afternoon. I have two paychecks to put into my savings account, and two at the same time adds up to a lot of money! Money! I need it. Or, I will when I graduate. ;_;

Today was very relaxing, which was a nice change compared to the last few days. I was in my pajamas for most of it, which always helps. My dad and I bought a space heater, so hopefully now when I go back to Madison, I won't feel like dying from coldness in my room all the time. Julie and her kids came to our house for dinner (steak and potatoes), and afterwards I went to Chad's house for a while, to spend time with him, Kristy, and a couple of other people.

I spent time doing some blog maintenance, too. While I originally thought that it would be too much of a pain in the ass to keep a heinously organized tagging system of labels for posts, I've since decided that it's quite useful. So, the LiveJournal tag list has been weeded through and organized, and I cleaned up the sidebar of the journal. As for the blog version of this blog, the tags list is still a bit of a work on progress, but can be found here.

Last night, I was also at Chad's while he entertained friends of his parents for dinner (delicious). After they left, Kristy, Chad, Dave, and I watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which is the movie sequel to my favorite video game of all time, Final Fantasy VII. Kristy had played the game a long time ago, so I wanted her to see it for closure. From an outsiders' perspective (Chad's, Dave's), and even from an insiders' perspective, the movie was pretty lol. Chad kept asking if there was a plot, and if Sephiroth was going to show up, while we all laughed at at the improbable physics, and the cutting-in-half of a motorcycle with a sword. What got made fun of the most, though, was the English dub. I hadn't watched it all the way through in the dub yet, so I didn't know how poor it was. There were a lot of sentences that had unnecessarily large pauses in the middle of them, and I don't even know where all of that "dilly dally, shilly shally" crap came from. It gave me lots of game nostalgia, though. I should check out the special features on that DVD.

Speaking of movies, I've seen a number of ones for kids in the last few days, with my sister's kids. Among them are "Meet the Robinsons," "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium," and "Night at the Museum." All of them were all right, although "Meet the Robinsons" was probably my favorite of the three.

Westmark
I finished read Lloyd Alexander's Westmark today. It is the first novel in the Westmark trilogy. I've never read anything by Lloyd Alexander before, but he seems well-known and respected in the Wiscon crowd for having been an author who wrote lots of YA fantasy that included strong female characters. Westmark was quite bleak in its reflections on human nature and society, and I quite liked it.

One thing that I definitely liked about the book was that Alexander doesn't take forever doing his world-building. His prose is sparse and to the point. Action, plot, dialogue. There is no lag. A pleasant change from, say, the endless reflections that plague the Libba Bray books.

( I have other thoughts that are spoilery )

I have the next book, The Kestrel, checked out, but I have some other things I need to read first. I'm looking forward to it, though, as many people say that The Kestrel had a profound impact on them.

rilina on Westmark here (Spoilers)
oyceter on The Westmark Trilogy as a whole here (No Spoilers)

Anyway, it's time for a bit of reading, and then bed. I'll be at the Packer game tomorrow with my dad, sister, and brother-in-law. I find it amusing that many households that live near Lambeau Field plow their lawns of snow (often to the point of completely covering their windows and siding with blasted snow) in order to be able to park more cars on their property, and make money.

Okay, so maybe I should write about my life instead of comic books?

My resolution to walk places whenever possible has thus far been successful. On Saturday, shortly after arriving home, I walked to get lunch, and bring it back home. I also walked to my friend Lindsey's house to hang out with her, her parents, and my friend Laura (We watched narcoleptic dogs and fainting goats on YouTube. I highly recommend it!). It seems like it might be difficult to convince my friends that I can walk just fine. Even though Lindsey only lives a block away from my parents, I had to do some hardcore convincing, along the lines of, "Really! I'm going to sit on my butt for two weeks reading comic books! I can walk a block!" My only failure so far was last night, when I went to Ryan's house. I feel justified in taking my car, though, because it had just snowed, the roads weren't plowed yet, and I brought my laptop with me (heavy stuff!).

I tried watching an episode of Angel with my mom. I even purposely picked one that had a lot of focus on Kate Lockley, the female cop, because my mom is usually attracted to similar characters, and knew the actress from Law & Order. Most times when David Boreanaz appeared on screen, she would say, "It's him! It's him!" Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well she took the demons and vampires that also occupy the show. At the end, I was like, "So......done?" "Yeah," she said curtly. Although, that might have been because The Amazing Race was on. Might try again later.

Yesterday afternoon, there was a party with my neighbors, which was fun, as I haven't seen some of them in a while. Also, Chad and I got to experience our mothers being together while intoxicated (let's just say that my mother is....a joyful, boisterous drunk).

So, that was lol. Then, Ryan, Dave, and I got together to watch some anime. I showed them the first two episodes of Black Lagoon, which they enjoyed thoroughly. We also watched the first two episodes of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Goodbye, Mr. Despair) which I think is my favorite new series. I will have to blog about it at some point, although it defies description. I will take many screen shots.

Anyway, today is Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is preferably to me, compared to Christmas Day, because my family opens its presents to each other, and from Santa Claus, on Christmas Eve.

I don't know where my mind was when I was packing to come home, but I forgot my retainer and all of my makeup in Madison. :( This is upsetting! So, today I plan to go to the store and replenish; also to the library. I will hopefully also wrap all of my presents, seeing as most of them will be opened today, :O

PS: Even though Libba Bray's The Sweet Far Thing isn't supposed to come out until December 26th, it's sitting out on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. If bookstores can do that, how come they don't put manga out when it's supposed to have been released??

Oh yeah! Two of my grades have been posted, and they were good! Okay, time to go and have a productive Christmas Eve morning.

1:20ishpm: I notice that today's Wikipedia article of the day is the Heian Palace. My first thought is, "Dude, it looks just like it did in the Otogi Zoshi anime!"

3:10pm: So, I complain to Steph about how I'm done with one final, and have apparently stopped caring about the rest. She advises me: "Well, enjoy the satiating defeat of one class, jackles. Feel its blood dripping from your mouth and watch its children cry tears of indomitable anguish." ADVICE ACCEPTED.

3:12pm: If anyone tries to convince me to go to law school ever again, I'm going to say, "Yeah, I lived with a 1L for one year. Not gonna happen." I remember "Senior Night" towards the end of our high school career. All of the seniors got together for dinner and an award ceremony with our parents. We voted to give each other stupid award like "Most Likely to Succeed" and "Best Writer" and whatever. So, it is announced that Chad won "Most Organized." Although we were sitting at the same table (I think? It's hard to remember these things), I start laughing, very hard and quite loudly. Most parents are clapping and saying, "Ohhhh, that Chad." My mother is saying, "STOP IT, JACQUELINE." Well, it was amusing to me because Chad? Is like, the least organized person I've ever met. Every time I went to his house so that we could leave for school together, from second grade through sophomore year of high school, he'd always be freaking out, looking for a shirt and his homework, and whatever else he needed to get through the day. Chad was a good student and "student leader," and all that other BS that students are supposed to be, but organized? SO LOL.

And this is why law school scares me. Because last night, Chad came upstairs to show me the outline that he would use on the 4-hour final exam this morning. This outline? Is organized. With tabs. The text IS COLOR-CODED. An entire semester's worth of cases and theories, crisply organized in a binder. I give him my Who the hell are you and what did you do with Chad? face, and he taps the open page, which happens to be a color-coded flow-chart with computer-generated arrows. "I made that!" he says. I quietly close the binder and hand it back to him, not sure what to say.

Law school is scary. Just.....WTF.

7:21pm: I'm pretty damn tired.

9:56am: Blahhhhh. So, last night I went to Antoine's because reading for class is better when cuddling on his couch. I received an unexpected Christmas gift from his roommate, The Hammer! The Hammer and his girlfriend are always cooking and baking delicious food, from which Antoine and I shamelessly mooch (well, I lie. I do feel a bit ashamed.). But, The Hammer gave me this really nice cookbook that he says is his favorite. It's very nice, with explanations of how and why things work the way they do, and recommendations for "the supermarket's best" version of mayonnaise, bacon, etc. I'm pretty excited about it, and I know that I could handle some of the things in it: like cookies, or eggs. When I get my own apartment, I expect to be cooking a lot more frequently. I wish I had time to do it now! Maybe over break, I can cook a few new things. I'm sure my mom and sister will go into cardiac arrest upon this discovery.

It even has suggestions on how to make the perfect batch of white rice, which is definitely something I'll be eating before I leave for break. Also, I have a couple of more eggs!

Anyway..I should be productive now. I want to finish (and start) my take-home Medieval Literature final, tidy my room, prepare for a meeting with the Career Advisor, and start studying for my English Lit final, all before two of my cousins come to town and meet me for dinner.

Oh yeah, there was sad news, too. It turns out that Antoine is going to be leaving for Milwaukee (from where he will fly out for Florida, where he's spending Christmas with family) right after my last final on Friday, so I probably won't be able to see him after Thursday, :(

PSA
Before anyone else has a hernia, I should probably make it known that the Supposed Religious Zealot who left dickish comments in my blog that caused Ryan and I to spew fire is, in fact, Chad. As I'm sure you can surmise, Chad is extremely repentant for his actions, which were not meant to provoke a reaction in any way. He does not find the situation hilarious in any way.


An update on me
I handed in my genocide paper Friday morning before going to work about an hour and a half late. I feel like it's a terrible paper, but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that standards are slightly lower in a Poli Sci class (as opposed to an English one). Still, if I was grading it, I'd definitely give myself a C. :/

Life got a lot better once I handed it in, though, life instantly improved.

Friday night, my boss had a holiday party at his house, so I brought Antoine to come party with all my co-workers. Alcohol was consumed (but not by me - I am a responsible driver!), discussions were had, revelations made, etc. We also did a secret santa at work. I made an extensive list of cheap things I would appreciate, so as to make myself the easiest person-to-buy-for EVAR. I received some Burt's Bees chap stick and some nice, argyle socks from GAP. PWN.

I was hella tired, though, from being up so late Thursday working on my paper. On Saturday, I relaxed and watched some Buffy, and then went to Anime Club, and then hung out with Antoine. Sunday, we ordered Chinese food for lunch with Chad and watched the Packer game. Thus far, it's been class and work this week. I'm really glad that I took off of work next week for finals. I'll have time to study and square all of my shit away before the break begins.

Kristen gave me the coolest Christmas present ever. It's 5 DVDs worth of Ghost Stories, or rather, investigating awesome places like the Tower of London.

I really need to start buying presents. ;_;


Bitches.
Chad and I have been shoveling and plowing snow like none other. We were out last Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Apparently, it wasn't enough for the woman who knocked on our door yesterday and told Louise that she was going to call the city about the atrocious state of our sidewalks (which, I might add, were much better than many of our neighbors, and certainly better than the shit I have to walk on all over campus!). So, Chad and I spent over an hour outside again, mostly chipping at the ice left at the corner from the plow. I wanted to write smartass messages for this woman with ice, but was persuaded by Chad that this was not advisable. Of course, to bless our hard work, the sky opened up last night and continued throughout the day, so Chad plowed again, but luckily I was able to get home and help scrape and shovel, and get my car moved to the proper side of the street before the sun set.


Plans
Although I just want to watch more Angel (especially after watching an episode over dinner!), I will now read for class and watch "Sicko" for extra credit in my women's studies class. Hopefully, there are not sad stories in it, although I'm thinking there will be. My hormones have gotten the better of me today. I've already cried twice, for absurd reasons both times. I don't need to do it again!

Also, I am running out of Kleenex.