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Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
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1:21 pm - Ah...I've been reviewing again....
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Check for these at ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) wpbookreviews.
I've reviewed the following:
Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - abridged audio version
Dead boys by Richard Lange - hardback
Tell me a Story - folk tales - audio version
Flawed by Jo Bannister - hardback
Patriot Acts by Greg Rucka - hardback (I think)
Judgment Fire by Marilyn Meredith trade paperback
Night Work by Steve Hamilton - Hardback
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| Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
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2:14 pm - WOE!
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The last two times I've had a migraine, I've also eaten chocolate. Now, both times there were other factors, so I thought, let's not panic.
Now I can panic.
I had not eaten chocolate in a couple of weeks. Today I ate chocolate. Approximately one hour later, headache - trying to work its way into migraine territory.
WOE!
It cannot be true, but it appears it is. Chocolate has become a migraine trigger for me.
My life officially sucks now.
(sigh)
WP
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| Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
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10:34 am - Two New Book Reviews posted
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Over at wpbookreviews, I've attempted to write about the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy. I think it got away from me, but still, I said something all thinky.
And then there's a review of the literary horror novel, A GOOD AND HAPPY CHILD by Justin Evans.
Should anyone be interested, feel free to wander over that way.
WP
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| Monday, April 2nd, 2007
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1:28 pm - MUSKRAT JAMBOREE, How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....
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This will be one of my very, very, few, rare, not-common at all, public posts!
I must share the Muskrat love. I simply must. I'll use my tattoo icon, because some of you may have seen it.
Honestly, I signed up simply because I had friends who were going to be there and it was a good, cheap excuse to go somewhere and have a few days of doing nothing but being a fangirl and seeing people I love.
kageygirl was one of the organizers, and I'd met her in the past, so anything she worked on I knew would be fun - plus seeing her is BONUS. I met misspamela and brooklinegirl, and let me say that they were lovely, generous, and did a fantastic job of putting together an event that was both organized and informal. The panels were intelligent and fun, but they were "discussions" with a room full of people with intelligent points and insightful things to say.
The vids were well-made, and even though I didn't know many of the fandoms, I was entertained by the music and the pretty.
I totally suck at names, so if I cannot recall you specifically, do not feel short-changed, or that didn't care. I once answered an entire American Literature essay final (according to the professor) better than anyone else in the class, but ended up with a B because I didn't get a single character's name right on the entire final. Out of the 8 books we'd read, I did not use the correct name for any character on any essay. So I'm rather famous for knowing faces, but names - not so much.
I shared a room with kylielee1000 and crysothemis. They are great roommates. First of all, Kylie brings food. And more importantly, Needham's chocolate from Maine. Those are these really fancy dark chocolate covered coconut candies that I hoarded. I ate one a day the whole time I was there so they would last longer. I'm still only eating one a day. They are treasures.
None of us snores loudly (unless it was me and they were too nice to say), hogs the covers or the bathroom, or in anyway is a bad roommate. I can recommend them both highly as good people to share a room with.
I arrived in Boston around 9:15 p.m. on Thursday night and waited for auskestrel to come in from Cincinnati. Her flight ran a little late, but not a big deal, since I knew which one she was on, so it was easy to see when she'd be in. I had made a sign so she could find me, and she did. We grabbed a cab and got the hotel. It was very nice. It turned out she was in the DS fandom and knew crysothemis, so that was nice. At the hotel I called Kylie and she came to the lobby to meet me. It was pretty late by then, and I desperately wanted food and alcohol, but the bar had closed at 10, and we didn't know where there was a liquor store.
So I very brazenly woke up kageygirl and demanded alcohol. Rather than telling me to go fuck myself, she met me at the door to her room with an open beer. Now that is a friend. I woke her up, and she still gave me what I asked for and didn't get pissed off.
Kagey, you are a fine woman, and someday they will sing songs about you.
Kylie and I went back to the room where I proceeded to eat food she'd brought and we talked for a while. We went to bed at a relatively decent hour and I slept well.
The next morning we got up, missed the welcoming speech because we were being slow moving, but we did get to the check in. Kylie had already gotten her package, but I was able to pick up mine and Crysothemis' because she wasn't getting in until mid-day.
Or so that was the plan.
Around mid-day I got a call, and she had gotten accidently re-routed. For reasons that we don't need to go into here, she was in D.C. She was waiting for a stand-by flight. I told her that she WOULD be in Boston by dinner time. (Hey, I believe in thinking positive at all times, such as I'm positive I will probably always be a wiseass and broke.) And indeed, she was! She arrived around 5 p.m.
Kylie and I went down to greet her in the lobby and it was lovely. If I'd been a dog, my tail would have been wagging off at having both Kylie and Crys there.
Kylie and I, in the afternoon before Crys arrived, went to a wonderful panel on Secondary Characters. It was great. There was a lot of discussion about why we fall in love with these characters, and there were as many reasons as they are characters. It was lively, fun and panel moderator shihadchick was great.
Later we went to the panel on the English language (or, "How People Really Talk"), and had a terrific time. It was led by roaringmice, and there were just fantastic people in it. calathea who is originally from Northern England was fascinating, and able to explain all kinds of differences about the English school system. There were many others with great points about places where English is spoken, but how different it is, and how school systems vary and how even the simplest terms can mean such very different things from place to place. (Basics like asking people the time can REALLY be confusing, which is astounding when you think about it.)
Kylie and I went and bought beer in the afternoon and then realized that we didn't have a bottle opener. ACK! I used to (back in my college days) be able to open a beer bottle many different ways, but clearly those skills are long gone. Not to mention that I was doing it next to Kylie's computer, which was so TOTALLY a bad idea, it doesn't bear thinking about. (I did move to the sink in the bathroom, but still failed.) So we called Kagey again and found someone in her room who was sweet enough to open our beers and send us away.
In the evening after Crys arrived we had a lovely dinner in the restaurant in the hotel, and then we went to the cocktail and cookies event, and then on to the vids. We stayed for the first half hour of vids.
The people who make vids are incredibly talented, and they did a lovely job with the show, in spite of some minor technical delays, and I compliment mrsronweasley on putting it together. It's an ungodly amount of work, and it was good.
Crys, Kylie, and I are just not big vidders, so we decided after the first half hour to go and spend time talking to each other. We did this, and it was great.
On Saturday morning at 9, I moderated a panel on Fanon vs. Canon. What an amazing group of people were there! I basically stated my interested in fanon. When I began in the X-Files fandom lo those many years ago, it was 3 years into the show. Much of the fanfic I read kept referring to an event that had happened to Mulder in Oklahoma. But I couldn't find any references to that event in the stuff I could find about the show itself. I finally stumbled across a fanfic called "Oklahoma" by Livengoo. It turned out that her genfic had become "fanon" in the X-Files, something that had been accepted by the fans and referenced throughout other types of stories.
So I wanted to based the discussion on where fanon comes from, and how it crosses over all types of stories - slash, het, and gen - and becomes something that we all are aware of and think of when working or reading stories in a particular fandom.
The insightful comments, the ideas expressed and discussed, the variety of fandoms brought up, well, it was just diverse and fascinating. Goddamn fangirls are fucking smart women. That's all I gotta say. You all totally rule!
Later Crys and I attended a panel on "On-line friendships." Listening to others discuss how they felt about the people on their friend's list, and who they regarded as close friends, was illuminating to me. I realized that I think very differently, so I posed the question to the room - "How many people are on your friend's list." Most were well over 50 or 100. My list is about 18 people. So no wonder I saw friends on LJ - and even the internet in general - in such a different light. My journal is friends-locked, and since I don't write stories any more (no time), I only write about my life. And yes, my life can be very bizarre and very funny, but I think generally it's not something everyone wants to read, so I lock it. And I only friend those people whom I find that I share something more than just fandom with - some different level of interest. And I do come to regard those people as friends. But if I had a friend's list of 100 people or more, I would feel very differently about it. I would have a different level of intimacy. Most of the people who know me on LJ know me from my comments to public journals, so that's a whole different way to connecting.
So I found that discussion very interesting.
Later Crys, Kylie, and I went to the panel on "The Mystery of Rodney McKay: Why Do We Love a Character Who's Entirely Obnoxious?" Well, clearly the answer is because he's not JUST obnoxious. It was great. There seemed to be three moderators, and I apologize for not knowing your names, but I thought you did a great job, and it was wonderful to hear what it was about Rodney we all found appealing.
Good thing Rodney wasn't there, he couldn't have been able to leave the room because his head would have been so swollen with all our compliments.
But the best comment of the panel was from mmmchelle who said, "I just think Rodney would be so damned glad to get laid." Yes, I think we can all agree on that.
We also decided he's very task oriented, and thus being in bed with him could be a WHOLE lot of fun for his partner.
The final panel we attended was "Turning Up the Heat: Maintaining Sexual Tension in Fic." We talked about what made us choose the characters we slashed as a pairing, what needs did they have that the other met, and how did we get them to the point of actually "doing it" and what was most satisfying about the stories where they are a pair. mmmchelle led this, and she was great. I think the biggest point was that the event had to have meaning - to somehow ping something in us emotionally as well as in the characters. And that the sex could come before that moment of "ping." It was great, with tremendous variety in suggestions and comments. emrys made some terrific points and later I got to talk to her more and really enjoyed our conversations. She was with basingstoke who was very funny and they shared an Indian dinner with me, Crys, and Kylie.
That night was the MJ party, which was fun, but we ended up back in our room watching the brand new season 3 Dr. Who episodes.
sailorscully and I had a talk about writing for magazines. zvi_likes_tv and I discovered we're both interested in OT4s (especially your's 30toseoul!), and I need to send her a story I'd read that she was interested in. And celli came down for a break with Kagey at one point, and she was extremely nice.
I didn't get to talk to nearly everyone I would have liked to, because it was all over too fast. But it was a delightful event, with wonderful people, and I'm still smiling.
Thank you all for making it so great. Oh! And forelorn42, I did find tx_tart and relay your hello!
WP
ETA: I think I've fixed the people not being able to comment thing. Damn it. I'm so technically impaired.
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| Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
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6:59 pm - The Florida Voices Book Fair
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For anyone in the groups who may live in Florida, I wanted to make this general announcement:
The Florida Voices Book Fair will take place in Gainesville, FL at the historic Thomas Center beginning on the evening of April 27 and through the day of Saturday, April 28, 2007.
Tim Dorsey, New York Times Best Selling Author of books such as BIG BAMBOO, TRIGGERFISH TWIST, and the recent HURRICANE PUNCH will be speaking and reading from his work on Friday evening, April 27, from 7 to 8:30 pm.
Then on Saturday, April 28, from 10 am to 4 pm, a wide variety of authors from all around Florida will appear to sign books, sell books and talk with their fans.
If you're interested in more information, please see the web site: www.artsgaca.org/bookfair.htm or write to me: SarahBewley@sarahbewley.com
Thanks for indulging this announcement. I know most of you aren't in Florida, but it's going to be a very cool event, and I thought those who would be able to come, would like to know about.
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| Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
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11:17 am - What? I can do thinking....
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Yeah, this is rare for me, and I don't know if it qualifies as meta or whatever the fuck, but I found myself this morning thinking about Dean Winchester, and I wanted to write it out.
SUPERNATURAL has well-established in canon that Dean Winchester was told repeatedly to "take care of Sammy." The ultimate moment of this, of course, is when his father tells him that it's up to him to either save Sam or kill him.
Maybe this is why I find it painful to identify with Dean, and prefer to focus on Sam.
When I was a child, I was the oldest. My mother spent my entire childhood telling me to "take care of the little ones." The "little ones" were my two brothers and my sister. When I was a teenager, my father began drinking again (he'd been dry since just before I was born), and suddenly I was my mother's confidant. She told me intimate details of their life together and looked to me for sympathy and even guidance at times. At 40 she stopped driving, barely worked, and became a child in essence that I was supposed to take care of.
My father, meanwhile, lied to me, confused me, and told me that I was responsible for his problems because I "made him do things." That there was something evil in me that forced him to do bad things to me and others.
When I was in my thirties, I finally realized that I'd spent my entire life trying to take care of and fix my family. I was terrified of failing them, and felt like I did fail all the time. I was depressed and afraid.
I got over it. I went into therapy and got help to let go of responsibilities I should never have had in the first place.
So when I look at Dean, I cannot help but feel that his burden in life is incredibly unfair. He carries too much. From the time he was four, he's been expected to "take care of Sammy." Now he is quite literally been given the responsibility of deciding if Sam lives or dies.
While Sam clearly has a desperate need to find a way to save himself, he has re-enforced this to Dean. Demanding that Dean promise to kill him if he becomes something evil.
No one should ever have to bear those responsibilities. It is wrong that Dean has been given this.
I watch his character and see him become more brittle, covering his fear and pain with more cynicism and flippancy.
John (their father) and Sam expect too much of Dean. If he fails to save Sam, it will destroy him. The thing is, he can't save Sam. No one can "save" another person. Whether Sam turns evil is not up to Dean. It's not something he can prevent. And to be forced to think that he can, over and over, is too much for any man to take.
It breaks my heart for the character.
WP
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| Sunday, January 28th, 2007
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10:11 am - "Operation Homecoming" a documentary
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Last night I have the privilege of watching the documentary on the "Operation Homecoming" program.
To explain what this program is, this is from the website:
"In 2004, the NEA created Operation Homecoming to help U.S. troops and their families write about their wartime experiences. Through this program, some of America's most distinguished writers conducted workshops at military installations and contributed to educational resources to help the troops and their families share their stories. In addition to those works published in the anthology, all of the writing submitted by the troops will be preserved in an open, national government archive."
Our friend Joe Haldeman was one of the writers who was involved in the program. He's a Vietnam Vet. He was then asked to participate in the documentary, and the makers of the documentary sent him a copy.
The version we saw last night was 82 minutes, and will be released to art house theaters in the USA. If it comes to your city, I would recommend you see it.
There will be a 52 minute version shown on PBS on April 16th at 10 p.m.
This is one of the most powerful things I've ever watched. I cried, and anyone who knows me knows that I don't cry.
Check out this site about the program: http://www.nea.gov/national/homecoming/index.html
It's important for us to see this and understand that aside for all the politics and the posturing, there are men and women out there fighting, dying, and that those who survive must find a way to live with the memories. Hopefully this program helps.
WP
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| Saturday, December 16th, 2006
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12:53 pm - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRYSOTHEMIS!
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Spread the word! Today is the celebration of the birth of our beloved crysothemis!
You are talented and wonderful, and a fine, fine friend, Crys!
Love ya,
WP
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| Thursday, September 21st, 2006
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1:12 pm - Postcard advertising the play
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| Monday, September 4th, 2006
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9:29 am - THE PLAY! THE PLAY!
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The handsome young actor who is playing the male lead in DANCING WITH THE BAD MAN, has set up a thing at myspace about the play. It includes a slide show of photographs he and the female lead had shot of them on a beach. It's pretty amazing, and they are both very pretty.
He's very pretty. And there's nudity in the play. YES! NEKKID YOUNG MAN ON STAGE!
I know how to write, don't I? (grin)
Anyway - check it out:
www.myspace.com/dancingwiththebadman
WP
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| Tuesday, August 8th, 2006
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8:52 pm - Happy Birthday, kylielee1000!
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| Sunday, August 6th, 2006
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11:54 am - What we learned about the Wraith in Sateda....
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Clearly the Wraith see heat signatures - meaning more like infared spectrum than our vision.
So this means they don't see as well during the day - thus the tendency to raid at night.
Which also explains the guys with the face plates who look like they wouldn't be able to see. They probably use something other than their eyes to sense/see with - so that they can be more effective during the day.
'Cause remember - we usually see them in the daylight scenes.
And yeah, I've had it on in the background while I fold laundry.
WP
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| Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
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8:59 am - Happy Birthday!
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| Monday, April 3rd, 2006
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11:38 pm - GO, GATORS!
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Damn. That was one fun game to watch.
I was scared to start watching, for fear I'd jinx them since I hadn't seen any of the games previously.
Fortunately I was wrong, and they were amazing.
Cool beans.
WP
current mood:  thrilled
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| Friday, December 16th, 2005
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7:05 pm - It's crysothemis's Birthday!
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Happy Birthday!
I called her and sang.
Then I listened to Thing 2 giggle.
It was a delightful call.
And she doesn't sound a day over 29. (grin)
WP
current mood:  cheerful
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| Sunday, October 2nd, 2005
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11:50 pm - Gakked from JimPage
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I am the mother who told her lesbian daughter to invite her girlfriend over for dinner.
I am the father who punished his son for calling you a fag.
I am the preacher who told my congregation that love, not hate, is the definition of a true follower of God.
I am the girl who did not learn the meaning of "homosexual" until high school but never thought to question why two men might be kissing.
I am the woman who argues (quite loudly and vehemently) with the bigots who insist that you do not have the right to marry or raise children.
We are the high school class who agrees, unanimously, along with our teacher, that love should be all that matters.
If you agree, repost this. Do it. You don't have to be afraid. You can handle it. You're stronger than you think.
I am making a difference. Hate will not win.
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| Saturday, October 1st, 2005
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11:04 am - The lizard in the sink story....
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Just 'cos it amused me:
This morning we found a lizard in the kitchen sinks (we have those double sinks). We were trying to capture him to put him outside. It would have made a good Three Stooges episode.
There stood two adults against a lizard in a sink with a couple of plastic cups and Pat's cereal bowl. It took us about three minutes to catch the thing, and then it was just because he made the mistake of running into the plastic cup which had tipped over in the melee. All of us were breathing hard by the time he was captured.
I took him outside and let him go on the plants. He shit in the cup as a thank you for our efforts.
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| Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
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8:31 pm - Shakespeare!
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| Friday, August 19th, 2005
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7:15 pm - Friends Meme - Gakked from Gigi
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| Friday, July 8th, 2005
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4:04 pm - My Ideal Husband....
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awake (just up from a nap)