my monkied brain

the mighty, mighty list

2009-07-08T05:24:27Z

my current job was mostly project-based, and now almost all of those projects are over, except for one major component:

"how to"s. Possibly the most boring kinds of procedures to write up, the most painful (because no matter how painstaking you are, there is always something to be left out), and right now the most complex, because the new content management system is a cascade server and while it's supposed to be intuitive, the operative words are "supposed to be." Even though I know the identity of my successor, I'm afraid if I don't make things as complete as possible something painful will happen - it did last time I did this job.

So I spent most of the day writing up "how to" documents, with accompanying screenshots, explaining the simplest set of actions. And when my brain went dead I switched to fic. Then back to documentation. Then back to fic. Then back to documentation. The hardest part is yet to come. Woot.

D. & I had a merry time this evening though - went to the story and even though I was totally indecisive and we both have a hard time annoucning our preferences for fear the other one of us doesn't want to buy that kind or that brand, we still manage to get it done.

At the end of the trip, after we pick up halfway decent produce (oh god California, I'm happy to be moving back to your growing crops!), and I make the executive decision we're having shisk-ka-bobs (spelling anyone?) for dinner, I'm standing in the coffee aisle sniffing at the lids of all the coffee dispensers trying to find the least foul, most interesting coffee.

This is a much harder task than you'd think because the last coffee we got from our little market was basically blackened pig swill with a bitter aftertaste. It was, however, Free Trade (which at the time had seemed like a very important decision to make). The problem is it's a bit of a discount market (like Trader Joe's if any of you know those) and so all of their coffee sells for the same price per pound. Know what this indicates about the quality? Yeah, chance in hell of getting something good. But we're saving money for the move and at least it's coffee. D. is suddenly standing beside me helping me sniff, worrying at the fact that we both have this snobby love for hand-roasted beans. But we've got to have some vices right?

The recipe:
- microwave your firm tofu block for 3 minutes
- let it drain on a papertowel for 10 minutes
- cut into squares
- dredge in a ginger-peanut marinade (hey, we were trying to be quick)
- dredge in breadcrumbs (throw a tiny bit of garlic powder into them, but be careful, a lot goes a long way)
- slide onto spears
- cook on grill

AND THE COOL PART WAS THAT IT WORKED! This is my first attempt at tofu cooking, because I'd heard about the microwave trick to get the water out (otherwise it just seemed too much of a pain in the ass to pressure drain it between paper towels for hours... I am not a patient cook). They were tasty, crispy, and soft on the inside. Me and the vegitarian were both pleased.

We haven't heard from the realitor for a couple of weeks - he was going on a family vacation and due back on Saturday, which is fine, but the roofers hadn't received the payments for the work they'd done, Neil had both emailed and called, and for 20 minutes or so the dog was bewildered because I was off in freak-out land. You know, the kind of place where your brain makes up weird scenarios - like the realitor had somehow died, or his mother wanted to pull out of the sale, and somehow not hearing back from them signaled that we weren't going to sell the house at all but instead would be tied to Austin and having to put it back on the market. I even thought "oh my god, what if he's dead and no one is following up on his business stuff?"

Yes, it was apparantly the night for me to quietly freak out. Probably part of the reason why the dog kept looking at me like I was crazy (usually I'm in a great mood and not thinking about anything in particular on our walks).

My thoughts went like this: I wasn't even sure if Neil had gotten a signed offer from her, so I started to wonder what if we weren't in a binding contract? Would it even be a good idea to go to LA this weekend and look for an apartment? What if we had to put the house *back* on the market and start the whole process again? Thank god I'd talked to Maija and she said I could stay with her if we hadn't found a place, because I might need it. Does the realitor even have an alternative telephone number? Do we have the buyer's number anywhere?

Luckily, about half an hour after I got home Neil got an email from the realitor addressing all of the pending items and letting us know he'd had a little medical mishap but was feeling better now. Relief... so that's what that feels like.

summer_of_giles redux ii: movie poster madness

2009-07-03T22:45:54Z

It's confirmed, I'm addicted. 21 movie posters for 20 fics... there are so many Giles fics you might have reading material for the month (and they're from all different kinds of genres from angst to fluff, from crossovers to AUs).

* this absolutely stunning manip of demon!Giles was created by khaoschilde
(thank you sweetest for making such fantastic work and sharing it!)

coming soon:

+ please let me know what you think
+ please don't link directly (though authors, if you do not have hosting, you are welcome to link directly to these pieces, just let me know)
+ icon/graphics website HERE, resources HERE.

summer_of_giles redux: icons, banners, walls, layouts

2009-07-03T22:39:02Z

It's that time... just in case you missed some of my Summer of Giles posts (and because I like to have everything in my journal anyway), here's the first of two posts of everything I've put up so far.

04x wallpapers
06x banners
37x icons
02x layouts

the teasers:

+ please let me know what you think
+ please don't link directly
+ icon/graphics website HERE, resources HERE.

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Giles/Buffy: Scholar & Warrior
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Giles/Spike: Temptation
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Giles/Xander: Seduction
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Giles: Watcher
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Giles/Buffy banner
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Giles/Spike banner
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Giles/Xander banner
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Giles banner I
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Giles banner II
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Giles banner III
750x350

live preview l image preview

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live preview l image preview

» works with -- Free, Paid & Sponsored
» comment pages -- paid/sponsored accounts only

click here for instructions and layout code

things I learned today

2009-07-01T03:12:24Z

First off, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY DARLING mishloran!!!

So, what did I learn today?

Do not attempt to read a Charlaine Harris novel right after you've read the 'all old movies suck' entry (and a good half of the comments, at least) at iblamethepatriarcy. Or after you've read this fic rant about over-idolization of a single character. Basically, the upshot is that Sookie Stackhouse novels, while entertaining, are never ever ever going to be anything other than mediocre fiction with a lot of problems.

Also, do leave the house because apparantly it puts everyone in a better mood. Even me. For, like, at least 10 minutes.

conferencing

2009-06-27T04:11:02Z

Sometimes the joy is all about the goofy meeting of minds, perched on seat edge listening with all ears attuned to someone elses' theories about life the universe and everything.

In other words, I was a geek and attended a couple of panels at a Taiwan conference today.

First panel was on literature and film in Taiwan - the first panelist happened to be a PhD candidate from USC! So yay new alma matter. It made me sit up and pay close attention, though the best part was that she was presenting one of the chapters of her dissertation and didn't bother to read from her paper but instead just talked over her salient points, which is far more egaging and fun than listening to people stumble over words meant to be read, not said. The english language is a weird one.

Anyway, I now have another film I should probably watch (though sadly netflix doesn't actually have it available - stupid hollywood hegemony or something) and know that Cape No. 7 , for all of it's pop status as a cute little rom com with lots of musicians in it, is a quasi-national allegory hinting at the birth of a community and nation, but also that it has a circular temporality where the twin love stories are the origin of one another - so trajectory of the one informs the other while they're being displayed onscreen in contiguous time. It's ahistorial in the sense that it doesn't dig into or revisit history, the originary moment is precisely the moment of separation and homecoming.

See, when I put it that way, don't you want to see it too?

And this afternoon I learned about the global lingua franca (of course, sadly it's English, which is just a creuel thing to do to the world really) is disseminated in teaching materials in Taiwan that are both glocalized and interested in confirming/conveying stereotypes of homogeneous white people (because, of course, learning another language is not ever just about learning how to speak and write, but always about learning the culture as well...)

And there was another presentation on Unicode and Chinese language that I'm too tired to explain properly that was absolutely fascinating and had one of the best speakers I've listened to in a long time.

Oh, yeah, and of course because it's a conference and people from out of town are going to expect it, dinner was BBQ. But at least it was decent BBQ.

The best part about the whole thing was the holiday atmosphere - everyone was chatty and sweet and having a good time. OH, and Mulhollando-san, if you're reading this, I met a friend of yours!! And I bonded with the woman who gave the talk from USC so I actually got to ask her some of my financial questions - and had on the whole a totally intellectually stimulating day.

The roofers seem like they're done with the re-roofing of our house, but of course they screwed up the alignment of the satelite dish when they put it back on the roof so we have no TV (the horror!). After two days of incessant pounding going on over head I'm glad they're done and everyone around here is a little tired and a little on edge and ready to drop.

Oh weekend. I am pleased you're here. Perhaps there will be graphicing.

fifteen books meme!

2009-06-24T03:31:51Z

gacked from wesleysgirl:
Name fifteen books you've read that will always stay with you, and don't take too much time to think about it (the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes). Copy this into your own post. (and just like WG I have included the first lines of each in my own description, because, well, it was awesome to go revisit them... and linked to their Barnes and Noble profiles because Amazon is still evil even if it is convenient)

1. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt

Do Samurai Speak Penguin Japanese? There are 60 million people in Britian. There are 200 million in America. (Can that be right?) How many millions of English-speakers other nations might add to the total I cannot even guess. I would not be willin to bet, though, that in all those hundreds of millions not more than 50, at the outside, have read A. Roemer, Aristarchs Athetesen in der Homerkritik (Leipzig, 1912), a work untranslated from its native German and destined to remain so till the end of time. I joined that tiny band in 1985. I was 23.

2. A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

A great city is nothing more than a portrait of itself, and yet when all is said and done, its arsenals of scenes and images are part of a deeply moving plan.

3. Dhalgren by Samuel Delany

to wound the autumnal city. So howled out for the world to give him a name. The in-dark answered with wind. All you know I know: careening astronauts and bank clerks glancing at the clock before lunch; actresses cowling at light-ringed mirrors and freight elevator operators grinding a thumbful of grease on a steel handle; student riots; know that dark women in bodegas shook their heads last week because in six months prices have risen outlandishly; how coffee tastes after you've held it in your mouth, cold, a whole minute.

4. The Hero and the Crown by Robyn McKinley

She could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it.

5. Synners by Pat Cadigan

"I'm going to die," said Jones. The statuesque tattoo artist paused between the lotuses she was applying to the arm of the space case lolling half-conscious in the chair. "What, again?"

6. Diary of a Mad Old Man by Tanizaki Junichiro

:( couldn't find a preview and the books are packed

7. Hebi ni piasu by Kanehara Hitomi

"Know what a split tongue is?"
"Tongues like snakes and lizards have. People too, they get tongues like that, you know."

8. The Elephant Vanishes by Murakami Haruki

I'm in the kitchen cooking spaghetti when the woman calls. Another moment until the spaghetti is done; there I am, whistling the prelude to Rossini's La Gazza Ladra along with the FM radio. Perfect spaghetti-cooking music.

9. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead. He fought for survival with the passion of a beast in a trap.

10. Dr. Adder by KW Jeter

again, couldn't find a preview online and all the books are packed .... grrr

11. Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin

One high horn shrilled and ceased. The silence that followed was shaken only by the sound of many footsteps keeping time with a drum struck softly at a slow heart-pace. Through cracks in the roof of the Hall of the Throne, gaps between columns where a whole section of masonry and tile had collapsed, unsteady sunlight shone aslant.

12. Youth in Revolt by CD Payne

WEDNESDAY, July 18 - My name is Nick. Someday, if I grow up to become a gangster, perhaps I will be known as Nick the Prick. This may cause some embarrassment for my family, but when your don gives you your mafia sobriquet you don't ask questions.

13. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

Where you're supposed to be is some big West Hills wedding reception in a big manor house with flower arrangements and stuffed mushrooms all over the house. This is called scene setting: where everybody is, who's alive, who's dead. This is Evie Cottrell's big wedding reception moment. Evie is standing halfway down the big staircase in the manor house foyer, naked inside what's left of her wedding dress, still holding her rifle.

14. Masks by Fumiko Enchi

Tsuneo Ibuki and Toyoki Mikame sat facing one another in a booth in a coffee shop on the second floor of Kyoto Station.

15. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

The citadel was dark, and the heroes were sleeping. When they breathed, it sounded as if they were testing the air for dragon smoke.

The Wrapup
Female main characters - 5/15
Male main characters - 7/15
Ensemble or alternating male/female POV - 3

Themes (some overlap)
Post-apoc theme - 3/15
Sci Fi - 3/15
Fantasy - 2/15
Young Adult - 2/15

Out of print - 2/15

I was most surprised that there wasn't more sci-fi on here. I don't know if it's just that I haven't been reading it lately because of the whole urban fantasy thing, or what. I mean, there are scifi books on here, don't get me wrong, but I guess I'm a more eclectic reader than I thought. And if you want to know more about any of them, just ask and I'm happy to go ad nasueum.

reading list... try it, seriously

2009-06-21T06:39:39Z

ok, first off, one of my all time favorite EVER WIPs just got a new update, so really, if you haven't read it before you should start now, even if you don't read WIPs, even if you don't read Spike/Xander, even if you don't read fanfic, and tell the author how you got swept up in its wonderful small imperfectness too:

And then, I spent most of the afternoon reading a Star Trek: Reboot Kirk/Spock called Breaking Point that was about two men whose weaknesses actually help shore each other up, and about a third man who sees way too much potential in them both and so makes things happen, and it was absolutely wonderful and plotty and kind of adorable and fun and most of all hopeful at the end.

And speaking of hopeful if you're ever going to venture into Buffy/Giles, you should really be aware that it can be done like glimmergirl does it in Love is an Evil Word because she does it well, she does it beautifully, and she somehow fixes Season 3 things that are broken with the delicacy of an architect who only works with dreams.

And finally here's a dirty, pithy (and yet nicely satisfying for a one-shot), adorable Merlin/Arthur fic by freudian_fuckup called Forgotten for Good that is not only hot but sweet with a slightly grumpy Merlin, a slightly snarling possessive Arthur, and even though they're in an a ... relationship, this is the big magic reveal and it's important and sweet and serious all at the same time.

Besides, you know you're bored, and you know you want to go read!

We were supposed to have roofers arrive here at 8 am to put on the much-needed and heart-poundingly expensive roof, but instead of showing they called to say they'll be here on Monday and possibly Tuesday instead. Good because I slept in, bad because three of us are working from home right now, and having people laying roof above your head is not going to be a quiet process where you can make lots of phone calls. Oh well.

I've been feeling nasty from something I think is probably allergies, but it's something that both Neil and I 'caught' within 12 hours of each other, so if it's blooming hopefully it will be done blooming soon. The worst part was that I couldn't seem to get my brain to focus on anything for a decent length of time, and I kept waiting for the brain-fog to clear. Yesterday I relented and took a claritin, which seems to have actually helped for a change.

Saw Up! last night and bawled like a sentimental fool three different times during the damn movie. It was not the best piece of film I've ever seen, but it was cute and the animals definitely stole the show. Someone (st_salieri? missmurchison?) had mentioned that Pixar is great except they make stories where the main character is male, and women are fixed in very traditional roles (absent, dead, love interest - but only that). I'd agree. And it's lame. Also saw the preview for the new Disney movie where they're doing the Frog Prince with an African-American princess set in New Orleans and threw up a little in my mouth from all of the lip-service they're paying to creating diverse characters while reinforcing the worst of stereotypes (guess who the bad guy is? a Voodoo master!) The sad part was that it made Mulan (which I still haven't actually seen) look like it was culturally sensitive.

Tonight lostgirlslair and The Fiance came over to indoctrinate us in the third installment of The Prophecy series, and it was highly entertaining (just like the other two - they were right!) and we got to talking horror movies and ghost stories and had a grand time. Christopher Walken simply does not dissapoint.

nummy food discoveries

2009-06-17T23:08:17Z

the only other entertaining thing I've done in the past week (it has been atrociously hot here and it leeches the energy out of humans at an evil rate) is to play with a cooking thing that my mom (dhranstz is her LJ, and she even occasionally updates it) suggested on Saturday. They're like mini-quiches except you don't have to work hard on the crust... and they are SCRUMPTIOUS. We made a set on Saturday, gobbled them all up, and then made another set last night.

What you'll need:
- cupcake/muffin pans
- 1 package/roll of Pillsbury pizza dough (flat-bread dough if you can get it)
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup shredded cheese (we used motzarella)
- 1 tablespoon or 2 of milk

a variety of veggies and possibly meat - this you can basically mix and match with whatever you have in your fridge. We used the following:
- a couple of slices of prosciutto (for the meat eaters)
- a mushroom
- a handful of spinach, roughly chopped
- 3 or 4 spears of asparagus
- chopped walnuts
- 3 or 4 green onions
- 1/2 a tomato
- a red potato, diced up small and cooked with 1/2 of the chopped green onions and a tablespoon of olive oil

What you do:
- preheat your oven to 425 degress
- cut up all of your veggies into small pieces (smaller is better!)
- break your eggs into a bowl & scramble them with the milk, then add 2/3rds of the cheese and mix in
- unroll the Pillsbury dough onto a flowered surface, roll it out with a rolling pin until it's about half the thickness and cut out rounds (we used a small bowl to cut the rounds so they'd fit into the muffin containers)**
- don't grease your muffin tins! The great part of using the pillsbury dough is that it won't stik. Place the rounds in the muffin tins, making sure there's a little lip over the top (otherwise your dough will slide down a little bit as it gets warm)
- mix and match your veggie/meat filling for each one - try and place lightly because you're going to pour your egg mixture on top of it. They seem to work best if you only use two or three ingredients per cup (ie: asparagus & mushrooms & prosciutto, mushrooms & wallnuts, spinach & tomato, etc.)
- spoon your egg mixture over your fillings, until each cup is filled 2/3rds of the way (your eggs will plump up so you don't need to fill more than 2/3rds of each cup!).
- if you're a cheese fiend like we are, add a little bit more cheese on top
- back for 10-15 minutes, until the eggs have plumped up and the edge of the crust is a warm golden brown
- pull out of oven, let rest for a minute, & serve (or, alternatively, you can stick 'em in the fridge - they're great cold too).

I know, it's not the most adventurous of recipies, but we gobbled these things UP because they're tasty, and other than the cutting, they're actually *really* easy to make. And with a side salad it's great for the ferociously hot evenings when you want something to eat but you really *do not* want something that's horrifyingly heavy.

** OH, and we also tried this with Pillsbury's giant crescent rolls, and it works without having to roll anything (and might actually be slightly more cracktastically wonderful). There's a slightly shorter cooking time, but same tasty product.

Graphics: Merlin & Torchwood

2009-06-17T01:17:10Z

Oh dear god I'm playing in different fandoms!! *looks around* it feels very weird around here. But, I can't resist. So behind the cut you'll find me experimenting with new faces in icon form. Hopefully it won't be too boring. And if you don't like them, it's not really my fault! It's all because elizabuffy and glimmergirl are such temptresses.

teasers:

32 Merlin icons (all of Merlin)
32 Torcwhood icons (mostly Jack & Ianto)

+ please let me know what you think
+ please don't link directly
+ icon/graphics website HERE, resources HERE.

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spring_with_xan redux: movie poasters

2009-06-12T15:10:46Z

And finishing with movie posters ...

I offered to make movie posters for fics (either completed, WIP, or forthcoming). Inside you'll find the results! I hope you like looking (and perhaps reading the fic attached to them) as much as I enjoyed making them. And if you do like the fic, don't forget to feedback your author as well. :D

THESE FINE FICS ARE AVAILABLE IN THEIR ENTIRETY
RIGHT NOW
AT A LIVEJOURNAL NEAR YOU
(just click to read!)

THESE FINE WORKS IN PROGRESS ARE
AVAILABLE NOW AT A LIVEJOURNAL NEAR YOU
(just click to read!)

THESE FINE FICS ARE
COMING SOON!

Don't ask why... but in the same vein as the "Dark Night Returns" movie poster series... or the "Star Trek" ones coming out now, I was inspired to do a series for soft_princess and mireille719's fic Conspiracy Theory:

And THEN, I had this idea that I'd make a movie poster for every story posted at spring_with_xan this year. So, I made it up to April 26th before I totally buckled. So if you missed an early fic, here you go! If you wrote a fic, here you go too!

+ please let me know what you think
+ please don't modify (talk with me, I'm happy to modify for you!)
+ please don't link directly (though authors, if you do not have hosting, you are welcome to link directly to these pieces, just let me know)
+ icon/graphics website HERE, resources HERE.

spring_with_xan redux: icons and picspam

2009-06-12T15:00:45Z

So, in the rush of the end of the semester, the packing and the sellin of the house, I realized I hadn't posted my graphics for spring_with_xan in my own journal. Crazy huh? Yeah, not so much. But for those of you who weren't watching the comm (or those who want a second look) here are two posts with everything I did.

Starting with Icons...Oh Xander. How I love your expressions. Your rolled eyes. Your chagrined grins. Your long suffering looks of sheer terror (check out #15 of the 'couples' icons, you will see what I mean).

teasers:

+ please let me know what you think
+ please don't modify (talk with me, I'm happy to modify for you!)
+ please don't link directly
+ icon/graphics website HERE, resources HERE.

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And THEN ... for last year's spring_with_xan I went back to my favorite Xander season (three) and picked out a bunch of my favorite moments. Sadly, I didn't actually get the chance to finish up the season last year. The bonus though? It means I got to finish it this year! Behind the cut you'll find the dial-up unfriendly caps I've collected and messed with.

One thing I noticed was the fantastic set of sweaters that Xander paraded - there's the beautiful green one, the bright yellow one, my favorite -- the teal green/blue one - and the one he wore to prep for graduation day that has wonderful sparkly snowflakes! Besides that, though, remember that Xander had to watch Cordy asking Wes out, got his face bashed in by evil!Angel (so not cool), reconnected with his love of cheerleaders, wore the sparkly wonderful green and red striped shirt while Buffy could read his mind, and traded it for a lovely beautiful blue one just so Larry and he could bond over their gayness (no, really, that's what happened in my world).

Remember On-The-Road-reading Xander? (SO CUTE) The guy who almost sided with Wesley just because his Willow was going to be in danger. OH, and HE WAS DOING SPELLS WITH OZ. (sorry, my latent Xander/Oz love comes out...)

And the man who not only took Anya to the prom (and suffered through it - oh my god look at those faces) but got her into the library to talk about the Ascension. All while managing to make sure Cordy was wearing the prom dress of her dreams (I had to include that moment, because it is SO sweet and unspoken). And who is a fantastic leader of the troops during graduation? after some heavy studying in the library with Giles? Xander is!

And highschools, when they explode, sure are pretty.

all of these files are sharable - feel free to do with them what you like. If you do, please credit back to this post. Most of the screencaps came from thirdhex's buffy caps (if you'd like clean copies)

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE

2009-06-11T14:22:30Z

You read that right. Three days (ish) after we put it on the market, one day after the first person who came to see it saw it, we had an offer, Neil signed it, and IT SOLD!

The inspector is coming over this morning to do the inspection, and other than finalizing that, we're actually done with this part of the process!

Funny thing was we went out to dinner last night to celebrate and we're all so tired by the end of it we had trouble making conversation. But no more having to think about how we're showing the house! No more cleaning every little speck of something everytime we walk past it (it was kind of crazy what D. and I were doing - I think we literally wiped down the cabinet doors more than 30 times in the last month.... and taking an electric toothbrush to the linoleum to get it *really* clean... yeah). But it all paid off since the first person who saw it wanted to buy it.

And the best thing about this is that they're an investor, not a family that wants to move in, so we can set our timelines and our dealines for moving out to something that *works* for US!

SO YAY!

/insert witty subject line here/

2009-06-09T05:24:43Z

I think my brain is still on vacation.

My car is mostly fixed, except I discovered that they didn't reconnect the wiring that lights up the dashboard at night. Someday I'll schedule a trip back to the dealership to get it fixed.

The first possible buyer is going to see our house tomorrow! And the cool part is that they're looking for an investment property (which means we might have a little bit more flexibility with our timelines if they like the house). I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but how amazing would it be if we put the house up and the first person who looks at it buys it?

We made cupcakes yesterday because it is one of the few desserts we all three actually enjoy eating. This whole baking thing (in retrospect, of course) meant that we felt we were finished with the house ... or as finished as we can be without moving all of our posessions into the garage. Now only about 50% of our things are sitting out there (thus why my car is in the driveway). It's frighteningly clean in the house right now, with nothing sitting on the counters and no dog toys on the floor. And our bedroom, which is usually a hodge-podge of strewn clothes and books overflowing from the nightstands and desks and every other available surface, is now practically barrent. The only thing I'm half-afraid of is that I'll start to really like this whole uber!clean look and want to keep it up. It's too much work for normal people to keep up every day, I think.

things that i have found interesting lately

2009-06-06T08:05:48Z

summer_of_giles of course!

but also, check out this picspam comparing Angel the Series to Torchwood (be careful though, major spoilers for TW if you haven't seen the second season all the way through). It may not be a perfect fit but it's kind of awesome anyway!

and i have finally fallen off the log and gone competely crazy becasue I'm reading American Idol RPS. Yes, you heard me, I've read Adam/Kris and I'm actually admitting to it. But that's because it's written by astolat, who could probably lure me into anything with her writing. And she just started the first square of idol kink bingo so my ticket to hell should be coming any day now.

And glimmergirl? I finally downloaded Merlin! I am hopping on that crazy train with you darling. They are so frigging slashable it's creapy and I'm only 3 episodes in. and oh my god the pretty.

you can tell my brain is taking a break, can't you? I've also finished 1-8 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which were delightful brain candy that didn't hurt the way LKH / Anita Blake does. YAY. And our house may be going up on the market tomorrow. And we will probably have an open house on Sunday. eek!

big giant pile of steaming 'UGH'

2009-06-04T15:06:32Z

my car was broken last night. Not broken into, because I am an idiot and didn't lock it. So, broken. They apparantly watched too much TV because they tried to circumvent the steering wheel locking mechanism by breaking off the top of the key cylinder. The only upside is that I'll get to get my driver's side door handle fixed in all of this mess. And of course our insurance deductible is high enough that this is all out of pocket.

this is only made worse by the fact that i basically got ripped off yesterday by the auto repair shop I took my car to, to get the breaks fixed. They doubled their advertised price for the breaks and I ended up having to pay it because they said I got a 'different kind' of breaks than the cheap ones they put on for the special. And I couldn't get my car back until i paid them.

I just want to dump my car into the river and be done with it, but I need a car.

your totally random Giles quote for the night...

2009-06-03T04:44:27Z

Buffy: Did you know about this?
Rupert Giles: No. Unless I blocked it from my memory, much as I will Xander's vigorous use of his tongue.
[Giles takes off his glasses and starts wiping them]
Buffy: Is that why you're always cleaning your glasses? So you don't have to see what we're doing?
Rupert Giles: Tell no one.

Not that I totally want to hide behind glasses over the last couple of days, because I don't. Things have calmed down on the house front - instead of major emotional breakdowns there are minor grumbles, insignificant and quickly gotten over. The house is almost in shape to show, and hopefully we've done such a wonderful job that we will put it on the market and it will be whipped up by someone who falls in love with it. It is strange to live in a place where more than half of your stuff is sitting in the garage. It feels practically empty, but it is definitely easier to clean. It is strange that the things that make it 'our house' are not really the couches, or the bed, or the dining room table... but are instead the books and the curios and the little pieces we have collected here and there. We'll find out tomorrow if we have to take down some of the paintings in the living room (they're nudes, and honestly I didn't even think about them being something a house-hunter might object to, but Neil wondered, and so the real estate agent will be over to offer his opinion).

I started working yesterday. My summer job is the same as last summer, but this time I'm actually trying to stay within the 20 hours a week and not get carried away working on projects until all hours of the morning.

Oh, and apparently I got the 'she's a woman' treatment at the place I took my car today - they called this afternoon and told me they were going to charge me double to redo my breaks. Neil looked up their website and they're running specials they failed to inform me about. Since they aren't finishing with my car until tomorrow I'm waiting until then to wander in with their website coupons. Since they're pulling the 'we're mechanics, we can overcharge you' schtick, I'll be pulling the 'oh gee, i'm just a girl, i have all of these coupons I forgot to mention initially that mean I won't pay you the price you quoted me over the phone... sorry!' card tomorrow. Hopefully it'll work. :D

And other than that and allergies, it is proving to be ... not so bad a week.

OH, AND summer_of_giles FINALLY STARTED!! YAY!

they full on attacked this morning

2009-05-28T04:58:13Z

We had the carpets cleaned this morning and they got here early, we were not ready, and oh my god. They called from down the street to say they were on the way and I was standing naked in the bathroom brushing my teeth when Neil announced they were here and at the door. We shoved the animals in the bathrooms and traumatized them with banging noises while trying to get all of the small furniture in every room off the carpet. Neil made a four-foot-high lump in the middle of our bed by piling laundry and pillows and futons and stuffed animals all into one gigantic pile. The cat managed to leave a four-inch cut in D's collar bone because, while he may be cute, he's also incredibly strong and doesn't react well to crazy machines and half-asleep and freaked out guardians. It felt like a noisy war was being waged around us as they cleaned vents and dragged their hoses into the house to go over the carpets. Of course it was also pouring down rain, thunder and lightening making the whole process more ominous and much wetter. Even after they decamped we were left feeling somehow as if we'd been overrun, not helped. And the combination of our bad planning and their ruthless efficiency left us with wet floors for the next six hours and two people who are supposed to work from home in separate offices jammed into the dining room and kitchen with roughly 2/3rds of the living room in there with them.

Saying the day did not start out well was an understatement. We're still waiting for the bedroom floors to completely dry, but at least we've regained a sense of calm. It's been two days of this house-type madness since we had contractors here replacing the bathroom flooring and redoing the deck yesterday. But, even including the three separate trips I had to make to Home Depot, yesterday was nothing compared to the weird 'i'm not awake enough for this shit' terror of this morning.

The realitor returns tomorrow to (hopefully) tell us how much we're going to be able to sell this house for, I get to start packing the books that aren't in our bedroom and (hopefully) finish up some of the painting/touch ups. And then we'll be in the awful business of trying to sell the house while still living in it with a dog that sheds and an untidy cat.

I'M GRADUMATATED!

2009-05-23T19:57:16Z

Ok, so i'm not going to the ceremony where they have you move your tassel (because it's open to every graduating student, undergrad and graduate, and that's like at least 5,000 students). BUT, I went to the other one this morning where they awarded me my hood!

pictures forthcoming(ish), but it was great fun, and one of the other women from the department (south asia side but still) was there so we sat together and made sure we looked pretty when we went out on stage. I could hear my mom screaming from the audience when I walked across (the lights were a little bright to actually see). It was all of the hurry-up-and-wait-in-lines that you'd expect from a graduation, but overall great fun, and only a couple of hours, and I kind of feel like I really did finish my master's now.

We went out for fantastic brunch afterwards (we were all amazingly hungry because the 'champagne toast' at the alumni center right after the ceremony only served popcorn and jawbreakers ... seriously! and we ran out of the house this morning at 7:30 without having done anything but suck down a bit of coffee), with challah french toast, and portabello eggs benedict, and fresh croissants. mmmm.

so yeah, it's done! and celebrated! and all of that!

ok, this is the last post you'll see on the flist about this from me, promise!

2009-05-20T22:56:03Z

Calling all Giles fans! We wanted to let you know that we've decided to keep sign-ups open until June 1 for summer_of_giles

We still have 15 whole days open, so if you were hesitating signing up, please reconsider! Picspam, drabbles, meta, short fic, a couple of icons - we'd love to see anything and everything you'd like to share to keep the Giles!love strong.

Also, if you wanted to sign up for a second day, we're pleased to have those requests too! So stop on by and sign up (again).

calendar of open days l sign up post

i was wrong!

2009-05-19T05:28:26Z

ok, admittedly, i'm an idiot. i didn't realize that both murielle and tokidokiame commented to my meme too... this is for them:

for murielle
I grew up in a house filled with art, and I'm proud to say that I still live in a house filled with art. My mom is a mixed media artist and I know I'm profoundly influenced by her views on what art should and can be. So when I go to a gallery I'm particularly in love with places that do conceptual art, things that have whimsy and the thrill of random juxtapositions and strange manefestations. I like functional art, and I love the interactive artwork that grows and changes as I look at it, or over time, or whatever.

I love the 15th & 16th Japanese black and white paintings by artists like Sesson Shukei (and others) that are almost dreamlike in their execution, like this scroll painting by Yamamoto Baiitsu. But I'm not and never will be a fan of folding screens like this one ( the two-d flatness doesn't make me happy).

I get off on great photography, not matter what the subject - Ansel Adams is always a favorite, and so is Anne Lebowitz (usually) but sadly I'm not very educated about specific photographers.

I absolutely love italian futurists to look at (things like Duchamp's nude descending a staircase no. 2), and i'm kind of intrigued by things like Takashi Murakami's Superflat movement, at the same time that i kind of love (and am a little embarrased that i love) lawrence alma-tadema's reclining ladies. My favorites as a kid used to be Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock and Monet (my college dorm room was literally wallpapered in Monet, until i got sick of him and didn't put those posters up anymore).

and i'm lucky. my house is actually filled with artwork from my friends and family. my grandmother's line drawings of plants grace our bedroom, a couple of the nudes my mom did are in our living room, along with a charcoal of a dark-angel by a local artist mom got for me. My father's black & white woodblock prints of airplanes are in our dining room, and i even have a cochroach done in pastels by a friend in my library, along with a kanji-inspired scribble by the drummer in Neil's former band. it's hard to say if there's anything cohesive or 'sensible' about those choices except that i happen to think they're all exceptional artists and i love looking at all the work they've put their love into.

for tokidokiame
so the question was this:

how do you feel about the people who are really into anime/etc but don't actually try and understand the cultural context or learn anything about japan? sorry if that's not clear, but i figured you'd know who i was talking about...you know, the people who only know the word kawaii and eat pocky obsessively (not that pocky isn't food of the gods...). be honest ;p

This one is a toughy, because most of the people who I've met who are anime mad are people in their first couple of years in Japanese. And yeah, ok, they're trying to learn Japanese because they want to translate their favorite anime or manga, but hey, at least they're there learning, right? I do get frustrated when people persist in thinking about Japan like it's only filled with flower arranging or samurai or harajuku girls, but some of that has to be blamed on Japan, since the country self-promotes in some pretty specific ways, and those ideas ARE reinforcing the stereotypes. But to get back to the question ... I suppose ... yeah, it bugs a little. But it's funny too, because there remains a mystique around Japan, that somehow it's mysterious and impenitrable and lavish and ... and sometimes i use that a little bit - like when I tell people I work on Japanese literature -- people who have no idea bout it all -- and they go 'OHhhhhhh' as if what i'm doing is so masterful somehow. it's not, it's the task of learning just like everybody else.

random random random

2009-05-19T04:27:30Z

responding to the only random request for info (so aesiron, this part of the post is for you)
Here's the thing... there are very few pretty bras for big girls. The two I wear most consistently right now I bough in Japan. You're not supposed to be able to buy clothing from Japan for people who are not Asian - especially not personal things like underwear. A person who wears an 'a' cup in the states is a 'b' there. Imagine that. And i'm not a small woman, so imagine my surprise when I went into a lingerie shop not expecting to find anything that actually fit. Instead I spent at least $150 on these two adorable, beautiful, comfortable flowered bras I can and do wear with practically everything.

Oh, and I'm terrifed of wearing granny panties. I hope that never happens to me. So instead I go for the cotton girlie prints that have little flowers on them, or are in bright colors, or solids. They're not the sexiest little things in the shop, but they're not the plainest either.

things, things, and more things
going backwards from this evening....

I spent 8 hours today grading student final projects for my class. We're not done.
I spent 4 hours yesterday watching final projects (and presenting my own ... which I admit, I am completely pleased about and think it came out frigging cool, check it out here)
Friday and Saturday I worked on the above mentioned final project, juggling pieces here, tossing pieces there, painting, gluing, printing and cutting. I think I used an entire bag of glue sticks making it all work.
Oh wait, of course there were the little things like scheduling people to deep clean the carpets, a handyman to do all the little things we haven't gotten to yet, and trips to homedepot to pick up more closet doors.

but wait, here's the to do list for the rest of the week

clean the house again because the realitor is coming on wednesday (and my Mom is coming for my graduating Thursday)
schedule my financial aid exit interview
plan all the logistics for the graduation ceremonies on Friday and Saturday (parking included)
figure out a dress to wear for graduation (shopping? lol)
finish submitting grades tomorrow afternoon
meet with the handyman tomorrow morning
fix the planting/backyard issues
submit my registration forms for USC
call the yard guys so they'll come and take out our overgrown bushes
finalize summer of giles stuff
call my dad
email my sisters

the whiny kate
creatively i'm totally washed out. worked. over. done. I run out of words every time I open a window. There are so many things that crowd the brain and yet I can't seem to actually express them. I'm trying (hence the post above) but I think I need a couple of weeks just to not think for a while.

oh, and in strangly not disconcerting (and yet, on reflection, possibly not good for future job people who are internet savy), Kelsey, an internet machine from my Weird Science class, decided to stalk the whole class and create diaramas based on the information she could find out about people online. She found my livejournal with EASE. I realize that while I don't mind at ALL that people in that class might be able to find my blog and fanart and the like, I should make it slightly harder for someone who is ... say ... interviewing me. Or someone who has an assistant who is web savy (or heck, is a websavy intellectual themselves). Or for my students. I thought I had things locked down, but I found a way to find myself within about 4 clicks from my real name to my livejournal profile. While I can't change everything, and I don't want to friends lock all the time, I am going to have to figure out ways to distance my fandom self from my "RL" self. If anyone has any advice (not the 'delete your livejournal and start another one' advice, but anything that's a step down from that) I'd much appreciate it.

all of that is the long run on explaination as to why I'm in the market for graphics hosting. Does anybody frequent a non-LJ graphics website they like? Especially one that hosts icons in a nice way? I really want to explore new possibilities and I don't know where to look.

katekat1010 @ 2009-05-14T12:31:00

2009-05-14T17:31:05Z

snagged from maharet83

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

no good, very bad, very long day

2009-05-13T02:57:31Z

I spent the day doing house chores so the realtor would see the pretty house instead of the frankly scary house of last week. Went back over everything we'd done in the last couple of days and added in a couple of things that needed extra clean up. Oh, and went to Home Despot. And the grocery store, again.

Started reading / grading fairly pathetic final papers for the class I'm TAing (it makes me sad because we did so much work on writing this semester and clearly we either did it wrong or they didn't care).

Oh, and toss in a minor fight with the housemate and you'll find I'm stick-a-fork-in-me done.

This whole having to put the house up on the market by the end of the month is for the birds.

I'm Done!! And now it's time to do 50,000000000 other things

2009-05-12T05:36:03Z

The finishing of the thesis has been accomplished! It was like giving birth to a baby. A whiny, comma-ridden, overwhelming, far too long, hopefully showing flashes of brilliance baby.

So, now that I've won the superbowl, what did I do?

Friday: went to a party w/the other grad students in my department and had a great time for about two hours until my energy gave out and Neil took me home.
Saturday: slept in, watched TV, took my family to see the new Star Trek movie, walked the dog
Sunday: slept in, mowed the lawn, cleaned the kitchen and dinning room, went to the grocery store, walked the dog
Monday: slept in, cleaned out the email inboxes (ack! email!), cleaned the bathroom, started the laundry, and didn't walk the dog.

My brain is still fried from writing, so it all seems exciting to me. Exciting in a 'i don't have to be coherent about that' kind of way. We're trying to get the house ready to put up for sale, so there is a to do list about 100 miles long, and at some point we're going to start packing the house up to put it in storage, so it doesn't seem like the house is as full as it is when it shows. Why yes, we have learned from watching HGTV way too much. Oh, and I have a final art project type thing due on Sunday, plus a bunch of undergrads who are probably going to want grades at some point here. But I'm waiting until after the real estate agent drops by tomorrow before I get started on projects that will muck the house up.

at the risk of starting a fire when i can't put it out

2009-05-05T21:36:29Z

helllloooooooo! i have 3 more days until the thesis is due! I have .... a weeks worth of rewriting to do (at the least).

So instead of nattering on about rewrites or bemoaning my work habits or freaking right the hell out (or responding to comments, actually) I will give you something that totally amused me (but may, indeed, start a fire, but i don't care, I love it).

It's Twisty's amusing Law of Conservation of Human Dignity:

The Law of Conservation of Human Dignity, which states that, within a social order based on dominance and submission, the total amount of human dignity must remain constant. In other words, whenever women are treated with an iota of decency, a reciprocal diminishment of men’s humanity must obtain.

A consequence of this law is that whenever a girl gets to kick a soccer ball, somewhere a boy will be made to play with Barbies. Whenever a woman exercises sovereignty over the contents of her internal organs, somewhere a man will have to wear a frumpy 19th century calico dress and do the family laundry by hand. Whenever a woman publishes a paper on particle physics, somewhere a man will be waterboarded for a week before being shot by a firing squad of hairy humorless feminists. Etc. Ergo, the fact that a mysterious benefactor has given a few bucks to women’s education means that no colleges run by men will ever get any money ever again. [from iblamethepatriarchy]

And some of you may say to yourselves, 'oh no, not another radical feminist talking about things that just aren't true'. But some of you may see that this whole law seems to be behind some of the most "we're ok with women but we're not ok with...." dialogues that happen all the frigging time (case in point: most recent issue of Maxim that bemoans modern feminism in the US because it used to be all about guys finally getting to sleep with whoever they wanted and NOW it's turned all women into plastic mannequins who are interested in making money or being respected. Yes, they do actually say that.)

Happy tuesday beloved peoples.