From the mixed up files of meredith44

Winter

meredith44 — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 18:49:32 GMT

You can tell you have had insanely cold temperatures in winter when you go out on your lunch break and go "It's so warm/nice out here!" ... and it is 22 degrees (-6C).

In my defense it is also sunny. :P

Day 10 - Weird dream ramblings

meredith44 — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 07:08:16 GMT

Again, sorry for not responding to comments and other people's entries. I'm going to have quite the marathon commenting session when I'm around to do so. I wouldn't usually post when I owe so many comments, but this is Day 10, and no way am I having to start the challenge over.

Still sick. If anything, I feel worse than before, probably due to stress and stuff. IDK. I did all of the stuff with my mother and then went to take a nap when I got home. I remember shutting off my alarm at 10:30 or so and then woke up now. As I am not braining, and it is almost 3am, you get the dream I woke up during just now instead of any actual "real" post.

Kit and I were watching Alias. I have no idea what season it was supposed to be. And we were watching in person, not over chat, because I called her over to watch one scene where I thought Jack and Vaughn looked alike and she yelled (not-seriously) at me because she didn't want Vaughn to be at all like Jack. :P For some reason Nikita from La Femme Nikita (the blonde one, aka the person in my icon) was there in the room with the two of them. And she was undercover and they were talking about some mission. Then Michael from Supernatural (not that I've really seen him on the show, so it might have been a generic archangel Michael) showed up and they were talking strategy.

Then, somehow I was watching the show from inside the show, and I was walking on the outside of the house where they were meeting, talking with the father of one of the kids I had last year. And it was early morning, and he was coming to pick up his kids, because apparently the house was an all-night daycare or something. And we got there and he was upset because his son was awake already. And we separated. And somehow I became invisible, as no one else acknowledged me.

I sneakily went down into the basement, where Nikita ended up torturing Vaughn for information. There was supposed to be something that they didn't have clearance for or something. And Nikita apologized to Vaughn for torturing him, but she said she had to. I don't know if the dream then crossed over into Harry Potter/Dresden Files/generic magic land or if it was an extension of Rambaldi or something, but somehow there was supposed to be a meeting and three tables randomly appeared. Nikita and Vaughn were at one. Jack and somebody (maybe Michael the archangel?) were at the other. And somebody that I don't know/remember magically appeared at a table across from them. (It was kinda like they were the prosecution and defense and the third table was the judge's bench, so maybe it was going to end up as a trial of some kind?) Nikita and Jack each pulled out these weird statues and set them on chairs next to them and the statues started growing and becoming alive.

And then I woke up. And realized I had to post, so didn't fall back into the dream to see how it played out. And I am kinda sad about that, because I sorta wanna know what on earth was going on there. :P

Here's hoping that I start feeling better soon and that I'll be around tomorrow night to respond to things and such. ~~OMG, if I don't start feeling better soon, IDK what I'll do. It has been two weeks, and I almost feel as bad as I did that first Thursday/Friday. With added pinkeye!~~

I hope everyone is doing well. :)

Day 9 - "Kit and Meg are to blame for this" ramblings (/really bad poetry)

meredith44 — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 04:05:11 GMT

So, I'm still sick. And now also exhausted. Work wasn't bad today, but as I didn't get home from the hospital until well after 3am and didn't get to sleep until almost 4am, it seemed longer than it was. And then I was at the hospital. So I'm not braining well at all right now.

Meaning I'm not doing any comment replying or post replying tonight, sorry. As I'd like for comments I make to actually make sense.

I wouldn't usually make a "real" post to my journal in this state, either. But I need to make some kind of post for the challenge. Kit told me to write poetry about kaiju, and Meg requested an ode to her toes, so... crack it is.

No one needs to read this. Really. I make no promises that any of it even makes sense. I'm sure it actually doesn't. So, yeah, just skip over it. Except Kit. And Meg. As they need to suffer the awfulness of this because they forced me to do it.

And warning for spoilers for Pacific Rim. Kinda. Better safe than sorry.

First, an acrostic...
Kaiju are typically considered monsters,
Alien weapons out to destroy and wreak havoc.
If you are weird, though,
Just like Kit and Meg,
Unaccountably you think they are cute.

Then a Cinquain...

Line 1: Noun (Two syllables)
Line 2: Description of Noun (Four syllables)
Line 3: Action (Six syllables)
Line 4: Feeling or Effect (Eight syllables)
Line 5: Synonym of the initial noun. (Two syllables)

(I, uh, maybe kinda cheated on "effect" and the second "noun". :P )

Kaiju
Destructive, fierce
Rising from the ocean
Causing much death and destruction
Cute pet

Then a Diamante poem...

The Diamante is a seven line poem, where the text forms the shape of a diamond.
Line 1: Noun or subject - one word
Line 2: Two Adjectives that describe line 1
Line 3: Three 'ing words that describe line 1
Line 4: Four nouns - the first two are connected with line 1; the last two are connected with line 7
Line 5: Three 'ing words that describe line 7
Line 6: Two adjectives that describe line 7
Line 7: Noun Synonym for the subject

Monster
Scary, ferocious
Intimidating, terrifying, horrifying
Nightmare, beast, clone, weapon
Fighting, destroying, conquering
Alien, cute?
Kaiju

And a bonus limerick ~~(as I couldn't sleep and it came to me. IDEK)~~
A kaiju emerged from the ocean,
And caused all kinds of commotion.
As it demolished the city,
Squishing things itty-bitty,
Kit/Meg screamed, "You have my eternal devotion!"

And now an Etheree about toes...

The poetry form, Etheree, consists of 10 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 syllables. Etheree can also be reversed and written 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Glimpse.
Caught there
on the edge
of my vision.
What is happening?
Is something moving beyond?
I worry that it's a threat.
A creature, a spirit, a beast.
I turn to look, in apprehension.
I needn't have worried. It was just my toes.

I don't know what time I'll be home from the hospital tomorrow. But hopefully it will be soon enough that I will have some time to write a real post and respond to everyone else. I love (LOVE) that everyone is posting. And that everyone is commenting to my posts. And I swear I will get to them soon. Really.

Day 7 - I hate being sick ramblings

meredith44 — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:34:24 GMT

I had so many plans for today after work. But I woke up with my eye glued shut. When I managed to get it open, it was goopy and rather red. Yay, pinkeye? (Image if anyone else is kinda grossed out, but kinda fascinated by these things as I am. But, yes, gross-looking eye at that link. You have been warned.) I did make it to work (last time I had pinkeye, they said it was fine for me to work, as long as I didn't touch my eye and/or washed my hands frequently. I don't know if my primary job wants me to work tomorrow with it. I have a message in with my supervisor. My supervisor last time didn't want me to work, but this one might.

Last time I had pinkeye, the doctor at the clinic had me wash it out with baby shampoo (as it is antibacterial but tear-free/supposedly painless) instead of antibiotic drops (presumably because those cost money, and this being the free clinic, they like to work around that if they can?), so I tried that this time. However, that image is after I have done so twice today. (Granted, it was also after I woke up from a nap, so theoretically, the nap, like nighttime sleep, could have made it worse?)

Anyway, this means I am wearing my glasses from 1997 (I had ones from 2005, but the earpiece broke off and I hate spending $300 on new glasses when I only wear them when I can't wear lenses) that are just enough off from my actual prescription that they give me headaches. (On top of the headaches/dizziness/etc. of my current virus THAT WON'T GO AWAY EVEN AFTER OVER A WEEK *sob*.) Plus, it means that my eye is filled with goop, so it won't focus. Obviously, both together makes being on the internet difficult.

So, you get this instead of a real entry. Because I really don't need to think or focus to whine about it. (I wouldn't have bothered to make an entry at all, except no way am I breaking my streak on Day 7 of the challenge!) Sorry for whining two days in a row. I'm going to try to respond to comments in my LJ as I hate being behind, but I might not make it. And I probably won't make it to replying to other people's entries.

Sigh... I hate being sick.

Day 5 - New season of television ramblings

meredith44 — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 03:12:27 GMT

I dropped a lot of shows last year (Once Upon a Time, Castle, Bones, NCIS, Grimm, Suburgatory, etc.) so I was really hoping there was going to be a lot of new television shows I'd want to watch this season, but, nope! It doesn't seem like there will be. Thus, my television viewing is going to be a bit sparse this year, I think.

Sundays
The Good Wife - This used to be one of my favorite shows, but I didn't like last season as much. I'm hoping that I'll like it a lot again this season. If for no other reason than it has a plethora of amazing female characters.

The Mentalist ? - I can't decide if I'm going to continue to watch this show or drop it. The Red John storyline has been dragged out way too long for me; long enough that I don't really care about it at all. And the characters aren't as interesting to me anymore, IDK why exactly.

Mondays
The Voice - I ended up stopping watching last season after the battle rounds, IDK why, but I'm going to try again this season. I do love the early episodes, at least.

Sleepy Hollow ? (New) - I dunno. I had thought early on that I'd want to watch it, but I didn't like what Matt Roush of TV Guide had to say about it, so I might not end up watching it. (My fall preview issue of Entertainment Weekly hasn't arrived yet, so it might change when I read their take?)

Hostages (New) - It reminds me of a book I read, and possibly could have potential, like 24.

The Blacklist (New) - I actually wasn't interested in this one at all, partially because it stars James Spader, whom I don't care for. However, it got a review in TV Guide that piqued my interest, so I'll at least give it a try.

Tuesdays
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (New) - When I first heard about this show, I was really excited. That excitement has waned a lot, but I'm still willing to give it a try and hope for the best.

NCIS: LA - I never would have thought that I'd be watching this after I stopped watching the original, but apparently that is the case.

Person of Interest - I marathoned a season and a half worth of this show partway through last year and decided I liked it. It's not my favorite show, and it has some convoluted moments that I don't care for, but I like it well enough.

Wednesdays
Arrow - This was never a show that I immediately raced to watch, it had some really ridiculous moments, and I dislike the main love interest character, but I'll keep watching. I do like Felicity and Diggle, and it has some fun moments. And fun is good.

Modern Family ? - I loved this show early on, but last season really didn't do it for me. I'm going to give it a try again this year, but I might drop it.

Nashville ? - This is another show that I'm just giving a few more episodes before I decide whether or not I'm dropping it. I disliked Scarlett immensely, and while I liked the music storylines and the Rayna/Juliette storylines, the rest really weren't for me. Especially in the last episodes.

Thursdays
Welcome to the Family ? (New) - This is another new show that I don't know if I'll end up watching. The premise seems not for me, but it has Mary McCormack, whom I love, so I want to at least give it a try for her.

Elementary - Easily one of my favorite shows last year. Maybe one of my favorites of the last few years. I'm very excited for its return!

Friday
Haven - I cannot tell you how excited I am to have this show back! It is another of my favorite shows. I love the characters and their dynamics. I really hope they can resolve what happened at the end of last year in a reasonable fashion.

So that is 10 definites and 5 maybes/going to see how the first episodes go. I used to watch like 30 shows at one point, so seeing my list getting down that low seems really, really, really odd to me. Oh well. Maybe I'll luck out and a show that I didn't think I'd like will end up being one I really enjoy. (Like Hannibal last year.)

Day 4 - Comics ramblings (And I /mean/ ramblings, sorry! :P )

meredith44 — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 05:16:29 GMT

When I was a kid, I adored Wonder Woman. I had the Wonder Woman underoos, I dressed up as Wonder Woman for Halloween (I totally wish I'd grabbed a picture of me as such. Maybe I'll add it when I go to my mother's tomorrow), and I watched every episode of the Lynda Carter television show when it reran when I was a kid. I also have always adored books. As such, I tried Wonder Woman comics at least twice, about when I was in fifth/sixth grade. However, I didn't care for them. It might have just been the issues I had access too, but I didn't care for the art style, as it was too jarring to me, and I didn't care for the story, as there just wasn't enough of it for me.

Fast forward to the Avengers movie. I really liked it and wanted to explore more in the universe. thewonderkitten suggested that I try comic books. I was a little wary, but ended up doing so, starting with Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. I liked the early pages, particularly one page that took a moment, and through the art, expanded it really well. I didn't end up loving the comic overall (I thought the story was a little rushed at the end), but I saw potential. And wanted to try more.

thewonderkitten suggested that I try Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon. I loved the ones he did (a lot of the banter was really good, which you'd expect from Whedon), and liked the next couple. And I was hooked. Although, instead of getting into Avengers, which is what I was originally intending to do, I was now into X-Men. Thankfully, there are a couple of libraries that have some titles around me. So I read some of the older series.

I have read Magneto Testament about Erik in the concentration camps in WW2. It wasn't what I would typically think of as a superhero comic book (it reminded me more of Maus), but I enjoyed it.

I then went through issue 150 of Grant Morrison's run of The New X-Men. (Apparently I need to get the last book, as it wasn't at the branch of the library where I got the first six books. I don't know how I didn't realize this until now. ~~I chalk it up to my confusion in how things are numbered and organized. :P~~) I liked it a lot overall; although there were some convoluted plotlines that confused me at times. But there were some interesting plot twists and I enjoyed the character interplay.

I then read New X-Men: Academy X and Childhood's End, volumes 1 & 2. I wasn't sure I would care for it, as it was focused mostly on characters that I didn't know yet, but I ended up liking it well enough. Apparently there are three more collections of it after what I've read and before...

X-Men Messiah Complex, which I read next. Apparently I went from issue 27 to 44 or something like that when I read this? This collection also included a number of other different issues from other series. I like that I could get it in that format, as I think I would have been confused and overwhelmed trying to figure out what issues were part of the event if I had had to find them singly. I think what I got out of that book most was that I'm interested in X-Force and will have to see if I can find it. The story was interesting, but I seem to recall that I thought the ending wasn't enough of an ending for me, if you know what I mean. I should probably try to see what the follow up to that was, as I would assume there was more to it, as it was from five years ago. ~~(But did I mention that trying to figure out comics is really confusing to me? :P )~~

I then read House of M, the main book, and I loved the basic premise. And the twist at the end. But it didn't feel fleshed out enough to me. I'm guessing that is because there are so many associated books with it, of all of the other worlds dealing with the events. I've read the New X-Men one. And I have the Wolverine one out. I want to try to get the others, but I'm limited in what my library offers.

Currently I've got a ton of Wolverine books out. ~~(Only because it was what the library I visited had. No commenting on my supposed crush on Logan, Kit!)~~ I printed out a list of the canon order of Wolverine titles, starting in the 1990's sometime. (It was 18 pages!) I then cross-referenced the books I had to the list to see what order I should read them in. This took forever! (Or, you know like an hour or so.) And then I ended up reading one (Wolverine: Back in Japan) out of order because it is the only copy the entire library system has and someone had put it on hold so I had to return it. It was decent, and I liked the characters of Amiko and Yukio (what little I saw of them) and am interested in reading more about them.

And I've also read Ultimate Comics Spider-Man volumes 1 and 2, which I really enjoyed. It was a fun read. I'm gonna get the third out from the library next time I head out there.

To the surprise of probably no one, my favorite character is Emma Frost. I want to read more about Magneto and his family, as they have potential (especially considering what I've seen in the cartoons that Kit has had me watch), but they haven't really been in too many of the books I've read. I also want more Daken (my library only had a couple of them), as I think he has potential to be a character I like reading about. There are a few characters that I'm not thrilled with (surprisingly, I'd consider Charles/Professor X to be one of them at this point, which I wouldn't have guessed considering the movies I've seen of the X-Men), but overall I think I've enjoyed what I've read so far and want to read more.

There are many other series I am interested in, both past and current. The problem is getting my hands on them, as I can't justify spending the money on them, so I am limited by what is available at my library. I might end up getting desperate when I've exhausted my library and buy some. Although part of the issue is figuring out which titles I'd want to buy and where I'd need to start them from and all of the logistics involved. Comics are a convoluted entity!

(So sorry for the TL;DR. It really is a ramble. You really only need to know that I read a lot of various X-men titles from the cut text.)

Day 2 - Book ramblings

meredith44 — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 01:57:13 GMT

So as some of you are aware, I don't tend to sleep much. Which means I tend to read a lot. In the last couple of weeks (maybe week and a half?) I've read The Memory Collector by Meg Gardiner, Phantom Evil and The Killing Edge by Heather Graham, Bones Are Forever by Kathy Reichs, and Hide by Lisa Gardner. All were reasonably interesting and perfectly fine ways to pass the time, but I probably wouldn't recommend any of them, really. ~~This is why I don't generally do book posts! :P~~

I'm currently working on hello, darkness by Sandra Brown, which I'd guess will be about the same, but then I next have Making History by Stephen Fry, which queer_theory recommended, so I'm looking forward to that one, if only as something different.

Recommended series

The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. It is a high fantasy novel. In this society, magic is used as parts of light, with each part of the spectrum having a particular quality to it. Most magic users are only adept at using one aspect of the spectrum. Some can use two. Even fewer can use three. One of the leaders of this society is the "prism", someone who can use all of the colors. The series is set in a tumultuous time, politically, so not only is the magic dealt with, but there are a lot of interesting political machinations/intrigue as well. I liked the way the society and the story were set up, and I loved most of the main characters. I devoured the first two, and I'm finding it really difficult to wait for the third.

The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. (I also read her Alpha and Omega series, but I didn't care for that one as much.) These series are urban fantasy set in a world where fairies revealed themselves to the general population, and then werewolves followed suit. There are other supernatural entities, such as vampires, but they are not yet revealed openly. The Mercy Thompson series is (surprise!) centered on Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter. It touches on other supernatural beings (such as when she was called upon to help solve murders in the fairy community) and on her dealings with the local wolf pack, headed by Alpha wolf Adam Hauptman. As with the Lightbringer series, I like the world set up and the plot, but I really like the characters.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I raced through all 14 of these in just a couple of weeks, so I cannot actually vouch for their quality, but they were a damned entertaining read. They are urban fantasy, in a world where the supernatural is not officially acknowledged, but where Harry Dresden has an ad in the yellow pages proclaiming himself as a wizard and where he is a consultant with the "special" division of the Chicago PD. There are some interesting twists in the stories, but again, it is the characters I like, particularly, in this case, Harry Dresden. I really enjoyed reading his wry humorous tone.

As a related aside, if anyone has any mystery, thriller, urban fantasy, or high fantasy books they'd like to recommend, I'm always on the lookout for new things to read! :)

Day 1 - RL ramblings

meredith44 — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 22:44:59 GMT

So, for universe_the, we have to post on 10 consecutive days. ~~If I do that, I will have surpassed my post total for all of last year, I think.~~ I'm going to ramble for today, but like others doing this challenge, if anyone has anything they want me to talk about (like top 5s or other random Tumblr memes), feel free to poke me with them.

Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes for my kitty. He was in very dire straits (the following week the vet looked at the lab results and marveled at how bad they were), but he pulled through. Now I have to keep him on prescription food (that costs more per day than I spend on myself for food!) for the rest of his life, but he should be okay.

School this year is going well. I have slightly older kids this year, and they are doing well with a lot of skills. I also love my co-teacher. So it seems that this year will be smoother than the last few have been. Sadly, however, I'm not really appreciating it, as I am working multiple jobs. My only scheduled day off from the start of August until the end of October was Labor Day. (I did get sick last week and call out one day, but considering I was absolutely miserable, I'm not sure I should count it. :P ) Fun times.

My sister is engaged. I like the guy a lot, but I'm so not looking forward to being in the wedding. I'm going to do it, because she wants me to and it is her day, but I wish I didn't have to.

I guess that's it for now. I'll do books and television and movies and stuff on other days. This was thrilling, I know. :P

My kitty

meredith44 — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 02:49:32 GMT

I know, I haven't updated in awhile. And I have things I could talk about, whether it is RL or television or whatever, but somehow I never get around to it.

This is basically just a plea for some good vibes. As one of my kitties, Eliot, was "off" when I woke up Friday morning, but we were short-staffed and I couldn't afford to lose a day of work, so I went in, instead of taking him to the vet right away. He got worse, so I got him to the first appointment today and it turns out that he had a urinary tract blockage. Which is what killed my other kitty, Midnight. He had the surgery ($500 that I really couldn't afford, but how do I not?) and he is home now, but he peed on my bed instead of in the litter box when I was babysitting tonight, and I think peeing in other places is not supposed to be a good thing. (But it wasn't bloody, and it was a decent amount, so maybe that is a good thing? IDK.)

Anyway, I'm really worried, as I can't handle losing one of my kitties right now, so if any of you get a spare second to send some good wishes his way, I would very much appreciate it.

I need happy things, so...

meredith44 — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:58:11 GMT

Happy Dyngus Day everyone!

(And no, it is not an April Fool's thing. It is an actual holiday. That my sister's fiancee got us into, as he is Polish-American. It is mostly just fun to say, though. :D )

Decisions, decisions

meredith44 — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:01:52 GMT

So, Angie talked me into playing mafia this round, but I can't decide who I want to be. As I have a handful of minutes before I have to leave for work, I figured I would enlist your help.

I first thought that I would be Dory. Because she is happy and fun and might be a good way to ease me back into mafia. But she doesn't do logic well and TL;DR analysis is totally beyond her, really. (Although that might be a good thing for my first game back?) And she tends to have limited interactions with people, although she does talk to everyone. Those re both good and bad. And I do have a fair number of gifs of her to use.

Then I saw the characters that people are playing and I thought maybe I'd be Nina. As she knows Kat (whom Heather is playing), and she is willing to flirt/have sex with anyone. But I'd have to get rid of her Alpha ability, as that obviously wouldn't work for mafia. (If it did, all she'd have to do is go around and ask each person if they were an assassin and she'd have the whole thing wrapped up. :P ) She has investigated before, so that is kinda a plus. However, I don't like Season 2 Nina as much as Season 1 Nina; although, she was getting back to it somewhat by the end of the season. And I don't have very many gifs of her.

So, thinking about the "willing to sex anyone up" I went back to Cara. My eternal standby. I like playing her, as she has an awesome attitude. And she could interact with most, even if she is calling them an idiot and rolling her eyes at them. And I do have gifs. But I've played her a ton, so IDK if I want to play her again.

Then, thinking about calling people idiots, I considered playing House again. It was fun to be bitter and cynical and not caring if people were killed as long as it brought him closer to a solution. And I do have gifs. However, mafia has been touchy about mood. At least the last time I played. So do I really want to risk offending people by playing House?

And finally, trying to think of someone who was nice, but interesting, and someone I hadn't played much, I came to Nikita (from La Femme Nikita, not the CW Nikita). I've only played her a couple of times. (And she died early every time, which, if the pattern holds, could be a blessing or a curse. :P ) She would be willing to talk and flirt with people, using an outward persona of a mission, I think. And she does investigate things and plan and think logically. But she is also an obscure character and IDK if I can do her justice, balancing the persona with the real her. I have a few gifs, I think, but they are on an external HD for the most part, and considering how temperamental my computer has been, I'm not 100% sure I can access them.

So, help?

View Poll: Mafia characters

If you come up with an awesomesauce character that I, for some reason, hadn't considered, please mention him/her. As I am fine with any of these characters, but none is pulling at me, like "you have to play this character!"

And now, off to work. :)

Faith in humanity

meredith44 — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 19:22:01 GMT

26 moments that restored faith in humanity this year, aka sometimes you need a reminder that people can do wonderful things.

Obviously there are many more moments like this that have happened, and if you have links to them, I would love to see them.

Random

meredith44 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:42:54 GMT

So, I was looking for Natasha video clips because my Avengers DVD does not arrive until Tuesday and I was trying to find her "voice". Somehow I ended up watching a bazillion (roughly) Avengers videos set to This is War. Which is actually a decent song for the movie, if, apparently, way over utilized. Anyone who is familiar with the song (or the TV_Realm challenge that used it as one way to sort characters) knows that there are several types mentioned in the song. And while I found it interesting how people classified the Avengers among those types (Natasha was civilian, victim, liar, and I think one more in the vids I saw, for example), I also found it frustrating. Partially this was due to some of the vids being made before the actual movie came out. Partially this was due to people having radically different views of the characters from me.

All is fine. People are allowed to view things whichever way they want.

However...
I can't get it out of my head now. The song is running through my head a lot (which happens to me; Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was once stuck in my head for months for no reason), and I keep debating how I would sort the characters. Even though I have absolutely no reason to care about that, as I am not planning on using it for any challenge or vidding the song or anything.

Make it stop? Please?

This message brought to you by Meredith's brain that has had little sleep the last few weeks, is crazy stressed with inspection and Parent/Teacher open house, and is fighting off a cold. You're welcome. :)

meredith44 — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:12:38 GMT

So, I could talk about how stressed my job is making me (the administration this week has made me want to pull my hair out... and it is only Tuesday *sigh) or how stressed I am about the city inspection of my house this week or how much fun I am having RPing or about the television I am watching or any of a million other "real" things.

Instead? I wanna share that the McDonalds down the street from me was offering free coffee. So I got some. Which, for anyone who knows how much fun I have going to sleep on a normal night will recognize for the absolutely ~~insane~~ awesome idea that it is. :D

Interesting word puzzle thingie

meredith44 — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 23:06:46 GMT

This was the Snopes question/answer of the day, and it interested me a lot...

There is a common English word that is nine letters long. Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word -- from nine letters right down to a single letter. What is the original word? And what are the words that it becomes after removing one letter at a time?

There are apparently several answers to this. I looked at the answers before trying to figure it out. If others want to do that they are: startling, stringier, strapping, scrapping, and splitting. If you include the "cheat" of having the first letter removed be the "s" of a plural noun, there is also: cleansers, splatters, drownings, wrappings, starvings, and trappings.

Gif Requests

meredith44 — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 05:22:50 GMT

Sorry I've been absent. In addition to RL work stuff (which I won't get into detail about, but I've almost quit my job several times), I also wrenched my back (such that sitting for longer than 5 minutes makes me want to chop off my leg). I know I say it all the time, but I really do intend on catching up! I've since stopped my second (and third) job, so I should have more free time now, hopefully.

Now, on to what I am really here for. I'm a member of femslash_land. (I recommend it for anyone that loves female characters, as for most of the challenges you can use whatever female characters you like. It's awesome!) Currently, I'm working on my big bang. I've decided to do gifs, because there can never be enough gifs of strong female characters.

And this is where I'd like input. I'm going to ignore the "big" fandoms/characters, like Legend of the Seeker and Battlestar Galactica for the most part (although I may gif Admiral Cain) as they tend to be already fairly well represented. I have a ton of other characters that I'd love to gif, but I figured I'd see if anyone had anything they really wanted to see.

So far, I've had a request from xdawnfirex for Kate from NCIS. (However, she didn't really have any specific scenes that she wanted to see, so if there are some that you would like to see, let me know.)

Does anyone else have any specific requests of characters/scenes that haven't really been gif'ed much? I have the source material for a lot of shows, and I'm sure I can find other material if I don't have it.

HI!

meredith44 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:05:55 GMT

Signs that you need a life outside of work/land comms/mafia games and/or more sleep...

1. You snooze your alarm for 4 hours (4 hours!!!)
2. During that 4 hours you have a dream that you are an innocent with at least 2-3 other innocents with you, being pursued by shadowy assassins, and you have to hide in deserted warehouses while trying to figure out who is hunting you. (In defense of mafias, the Rizzoli & Isles I watched before bed also had this theme.)

I had so many things to do this morning, and none of them happened. And it's not like snooze sleep is "real" sleep anyway, as I was awakened every 7 minutes for that 4 hours. *headdesk*

I looked at the calendar this morning and realized that from August 9th to September 11th, I had two days where I did not work at least 3 hours. (3 days a week it is 14 hours.) And both of them were me in bed with a stomach virus. Sigh...

Off to work. Again. I hope everyone is doing well. I keep thinking I'm gonna go through my flist and catch up. Hopefully it will actually happen this weekend, as I'm only babysitting on Saturday. I just felt the need to comment, as I feel like I've totally lost touch with a bunch of you.

Question for LFN people

meredith44 — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:02:33 GMT

So, I ended up joining scifiland. It turns out that La Femme Nikita is on the list of approved shows to use when writing/making graphics/whatever. Yay!

For my first task, I have to make a picspam of a favorite character/episode. I at first thought I'd do Madeline, as I adore her. Then I thought I might do Nikita, as she evolved so much over the course of the show and it would be interesting to highlight that. But I thought those picspams might be spoilery, as I'm making this for a general community. Then I thought I might pick a favorite episode, as that would be easier and potentially less spoilerific; however, I had a hard time choosing one. (Plus, it seems a lot of my favorite episodes would likely be spoiled by a picspam, so IDK.)

As there will probably be icons related to the picspam, and I know that some of you are still LFN fans (I have all of your meta saved, nell65, and will respond to it soon, hopefully), I figured I'd get your opinion. It will end up being at least 20 pictures, most of which I will turn into icons afterward.

This is for a general community. What do you think might draw people in and possibly get them interested in watching the show? Should I do one on Madeline? Should I do the many faces of Nikita? Should I pick an episode? Which one? War? Hard Landing? Nikita? It's really hard to balance interesting with non-spoilery.

There are so many choices I don't know what to do with myself! Help? Please?

Question for land comm people

meredith44 — Sun, 30 May 2010 07:02:22 GMT

I'm thinking of joining scifiland. I have, however, found that I do best when I know and like people on my team. (The Disney failure taught me that!) Thus, before I sign up and request a team, are any of you going to join, and if so, which team will you join?

meredith44 — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:57:10 GMT

I've been having a crappy couple of weeks. as Dana is moving out and our house has been filled with boxes, such that there is only a path from the front door to the back bedroom. It is really stressful. Plus, I've been working a ton of hours. However, one of the kids said something adorable this morning that made me laugh, so I felt the need to share it.

He brought in a stuffed Luigi doll this morning and was telling me all about it. Then, in all seriousness he said, "He keeps asking me if he is alive. I keep telling him he is just a doll."

This is why I like my job sometimes. :)

ARGH!!!

meredith44 — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:38:02 GMT

So, I babysat last night after work and the parents didn't want the kids going to bed, as they are traveling to Canada today and wanted them to sleep in the car. Consequently, I worked with kids from about 7:15am to 9:45pm. I was so drained when I got home!

Then, I finally allow myself to crash after midnight some time, I wake up at 7am, and I find out that caperland is doing an endurance challenge. Not just any endurance challenge, but icon pass it on.

(I'm going to seriously hurt you for suggesting that, kateshepard. I am a Mord'Sith. I have agiels. (I'm ~~half~~ kidding.))

Last time there was an endurance challenge over at legendland, I made almost 200 icons. (They weren't great by any stretch of the imagination, as 95% of them were made, uploaded, and posted in under 3 minutes.) I still haven't even cleaned them up so I can actually post them in a "real" icon post.

I'll do a real update at some point, but I saw this and just had to vent. mordsith_temple people will understand. Sorry to bug the people who are tired of land community posts from their f-lists.

I'm sure half my flist will be lamenting this...

meredith44 — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:36:13 GMT

I don't have Internet access at work. So when I make an effort to get online in the middle of the day, it is a fairly big deal.

This is not what I want to see when I do get online. Legend of the Seeker was not high art, but it was fun and engaging and had kickass female characters. Of course it couldn't find a home on "real" television.

*headdesk*

I don't even think I can process the news of its cancellation at the moment.

I'm going to go watch Chinese Burn a couple of times to get a dose of Kahlan and Cara and remember why I love the show. (If you follow me in that, be warned it has images through second season's Princess.) How can a show this awesome be no more?

Writer's Block: Another country

meredith44 — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 23:48:20 GMT

My two very first online friends are from Italy, and several others are from various countries. I love you (and my friends from the US) all, even if I have yet to meet any of you. My fandom/online experience has been amazing, and it is due to the people most of all.

Thanks everyone.

Land challenge pimping

meredith44 — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:49:39 GMT

Okay, I've been a bad friend. I haven't been commenting as much recently as I would like (I have multiple tabs open for future response, so if you get a response to an old post, that is why) and I haven't been posting. The reason? Land comms have eaten my brain. No, really. These suckers are crazy fun and addictive.

I know that a good portion of my f-list is already (well) familiar with this type of community, but for those who are not, land communities are fandom challenges. Yet, instead of a typical challenge, they are team based. Each community is centered on a fandom with three or four related teams that all do different types of challenges in hopes of winning a phase. Each phase lasts a few months.

These challenges are luck, games, graphics, writing, endurance, whatever. The best part about them, though, is that you are in them as a team. Sometimes this is obvious, like when you have to do crazy icon pass-it-on challenges where one person posts a pic, the next person makes an icon from the pic and then posts another pic. Or when the team works together to create picspams. Other times, it is more of an individual challenge but hints and help can be obtained from your teams.

They are super fun if you get the right bunch of people together. I may now belong to ~~five or~~ six of them. I won't pimp all of them today. Mostly because two of them are ending their current phases, so it is silly to pimp when no one can join.

The first I'm going to pimp is themiddleearth

JOIN themiddleearth!!!
It is (obviously) based on Lord of the Rings. However, I know next to nothing about the canon and am still having a blast. teammordor is awesome so far. We are already starting to band together and it looks like we will reign supreme. So come join us. (We have torture Tuesdays with all of the hobitses you could want! How can you resist that?)

If you do decide to join, tell them meredith44 sent you from teammordor

The other I'm going to pimp is a new one, caperland

JOIN caperland!!!
It is based on the fun crime shows Burn Notice, White Collar, and Leverage. It's new, so I can't vouch for how it will go, but the more members it has, the more fun it should be. Plus, the shows are crazy fun, so the comm should be too, hopefully! I'm team leader of team_burned, for Burn Notice, which should surprise precisely no one. *grin*

meredith44 — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:59:09 GMT

I'm supposed to be doing eighty million things (roughly) both for RL and fandom. And yet, what did I do? A quiz.

Your rainbow is strongly shaded brown and blue.

What is says about you: You are a deep thinking person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Back to ~~stalking~~ investigating for legendland. (Or making my In Plain Sight graphics for the month of mayhem or doing laundry or watching one of the 3 (!!!) episodes of Lost I need to watch or finishing next week's lesson plans or... *grin*)