the itty bitty bitchy birdie

ravenrants — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:50:39 GMT

Yeah, I'm pretty much done now. My primary DW account is the same name as this one. If any of you have DW accounts and you want me to friend them, please leave me a message here.

To anyone thinking about the switch and on the fence, you won't lose a pixel of your content. DW can mass-import all of your LJ content to your DW account and if you have any problems, they have the nicest support staff I've come across on the internet. They have all the "good" features LJ used to care about, and pretty much NONE of the crap that's happened in the last year (two years). I'm all for site evolution, but not at the expense of the users experience and not in spite of massive opposition.

Let the Russians have it, I'm done.

This will be my last message here. When I get home tonight I'll be turning off all my cross-posting settings and there's a good chance I'll actually be deleting my content and journals here because I just don't want them to have any of it. I'll miss anyone here that I can't find over there. You were all great. I'm sorry I'm not sticking it out with you.

But before I go all scorched-earth, I have tokens in this account. If there's anyone here who wants those tokens, who's staying and can actually use them, drop me a line here, they're yours. First come, first served.

So long and farewell.

ravenrants — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 05:04:29 GMT

The thing about Fantastic Fest is that it is very hard to work during it. I've pretty much written off trying to make the midnight screenings so I can come home and do some work before collapsing into bed so I can get up and into the office to make my 4hrs before heading back to the festival.

I am going to be dead by Thursday.

Also, I am now two for two for years in which I have celebrity encounters by almost running them over on my way to a screening. I fail at keeping my eyes open, I guess. (In my defense, though, Angela Bettis is freaking TINY.) Also worth noting, the guy who plays Will on Criminal Minds is fucking HOT in person. I'm not sure what film of his was screening, but he was here for it and DAMN.

My mind is mush and the dryer has stopped running so I can see if I have dry clothes to wear tomorrow, so I must away.

I have no idea what you all are doing, but hugs for you all anyway!

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this is not that meme everyone's doing

ravenrants — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:19:30 GMT

But I am going to give everyone one of my FAVORITE comfort food recipes. It is NOT haute-cuisine. It's just very versatile and I'll give some of my favorite options, but it's one of the go-to things I make when I'm just not feeling very motivated because I can make a lot of it and turn it into other things later.

See, I can make posts with happy things in them.

So, with that in mind, I bring you...

Bourbon Onions and Black Beans
(with choice of meat)

Ingredients:
(2) medium onions, yellow (or if you wanna be fancy, one yellow and one red, but NO SWEET Vidalia-types, this will be sweet enough)
(3) cloves garlic, minced
(2) tbsp butter
(2)-(3) Tbsp of bourbon (or whiskey) I usually have Bulleit Burbon on-hand so that's what I use.
Salt and pepper
Add'l seasoning to taste - I have a bottle of Cavender's Greek Seasoning, but you can also use a bay leaf and savory, or cumin, red pepper, and other Mexican-ish spices. Your choice of meat will have a big impact here. Generally, savory spices are going to be best to go with the sweet of the onions.
(1) can of black beans OR cook a cup and a half of black beans from scratch with a little ham or bacon to flavor
Choice of meat: Sausage (my usual choice) - 3-4 links of smoked, jalapeno, or kielbasa-style. The kinda you eat on buns at a cook-out, not for breakfast with your pancakes. (You can also take this Italian, but I... don't. The flavors just never really gelled for me with the onions and beans. Although now that I think about it, a white bean version with Italian sausage and differently-cooked onions could be interesting.)
Chicken - 2-3 skinned, boneless breasts, chopped into 1/2-in - 1 in cubes - your preference, but make sure they're uniform so they cook evenly
Ground Beef - This is GREAT if you're anticipating a more Mexican route. I've used a pre-packaged envelope of taco seasoning and this makes a great taco filler, spicy and a little sweet.

CHEATS: Ever get Papa John's? Ever have one of those garlic butter tubs leftover? Use that in place of the garlic and butter here. Hell, go nuts, use TWO. Also, the spicier the sausage, the less you have to season later.

Instructions:

Chop the damn onions. However you like. I usually do a thick julienne-style.

Put 'em in a pot over med-high heat. Add the butter, a pinch or two of salt. (If you're using the PJ cheat, your garlic will go in, too, if not - DO NOT ADD IT NOW, you'll burn it.)

Cook the onions to the edge of caramelization (a light-med brown).

When the onions are almost caramelized, deglaze the pan with the bourbon. Be generous, it will add a smokey flavor to the now-sweetened onions.

Add the garlic (if it wasn't in the butter) and your meat. Add your additional seasonings (except bay leaves or pre-packaged seasoning envelopes if you're using them, they should be added later with the beans and liquid).

Reduce heat to medium.

Cook the meat through. By the time you've done that, your onions will be completely caramelized and sweet perfection.

Open your can of beans and dump them in. Fill the can about half-way up with water to make sure you get all the bean-y goodness out and dump that in, too. If you're using fresh-made beans, you might want to use a bit of stock of some kind instead. This is where you add the bay leaves or seasoning packet if you're using them. More bourbon, too, if you've a mind, but not too much because you won't be cooking this long and you don't want that alcohol edge to the dish.

Cook down the liquid a bit, or until your flavors have melded the way you want them to. Taste often. Spoonfuls even.

Serving suggestions:

Over rice - a nutty brown or wild rice mix is great.

Open-face on toast - Sourdough is okay, but something thick to sop up all the juices is better. Best is after toasting, put some cheese on that bread and stick it under a broiler to melt, then pile on your spoonfuls of bean-y, onion-y goodness.

On a bun - no, really, on a bun with tomato, maybe some chopped green onion and cheese. Although if you think you're going for this application, cool the liquid WAY OUT or just skip adding any to being with. There's sloppy joes and then there's this mess.

In a bowl - if you put, like, two cups of stock in with the beans, you end up with a hearty stew-like soup. I've even added, oh, a few spoonfuls to a bowl of instant ramen noodles because I have no shame like that.

Vegetarian option:
Use vegetarian-friendly beans and seasoned, fried, tofu. Make sure the tofu has a good crispy edge and don't add it until after you've added the beans because you want it to pick up the flavor, but not fall to mush.

Vegan option:
I wouldn't. You might, but I wouldn't.

There you have it, go nuts.

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ravenrants — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:42:17 GMT

So let me tell you about this office move I'm in the middle of.

The heads of the company have been talking about moving for a long time. Which is a good thing, there wasn't enough space to begin with and because it was in a downtown space we were paying way too much for it. So moving was good. And now is pretty good because this is a slowtime for our company.

But oh, my heavens, this has been managed badly.

First off, a lot of us weren't told we were moving until the movers were at the office, taking a tally of how many crates they'd need to bring us and everyone just kind of smiled, nodded, and pointed them in the right directions. Instructions for how to pack didn't come until the day packing was supposed to begin. Due to circumstances beyond our control (there was another company doing a move and the building only had one loading/unloading dock) we lost hours of packing time and ended up staying way late to get it done.

As for me, in particular, who has a number of filing cabinets in her office, filled to overflowing this was really, really frustrating. The new space had a number of cabinets that had been left behind so we left my old ones behind. Only there were a few tense moments where no one was sure how many cabinets were there and the number kept changing, finally settling on a number that meant I would FINALLY have room for all the files I have to manage.

So the movers come amidst not one, not two, but three different e-mails regarding when we were supposed to be at the new office today (Saturday) to unpack so that we can work on Monday. (I still don't know exactly when we were supposed to be there, I just got there about 1:30ish.) Only none of us will have building access cards, only a few of us will get keys to our offices when we do arrive, and did I mention that no one really knows when we'll have phones? At least they figured out sometime on Friday that we could keep our old phone numbers, so that was good.

Anyway, I get to the new office and I'm actually pleased. They're going to knock out some walls so we'll have a large conference room and a couple of smaller ones, we have a nice-sized kitchen so people can sit together and eat (although there's no microwave or fridge yet, that's supposedly coming next week, too) and the offices for most people are really great. Everyone got new desks and chairs, there are storage rooms, it's just really nice.

And I'm not even upset about my office. It's always been a glorified file room and when I went in, i liked the way it was set up. Desk was in a place I could see the door at, cabinets lined the walls, they all matched so it didn't look like we'd assembled it off Craigslist (like my last office). For some reason there's a roll of carpet in the corner, but whatever. I start unpacking and my boss is helping. It's hot, because the A/C gets shut off at 1pm I guess, but we're gettin' it done. He's got newborn twins back home, so he'd come in early and so he left after a few of the filing cabinets were filled and the rest of the crates were arranged to make it easier for me to do the rest. Because he's a nice guy, he brought his fan over for me to use while I finished unpacking.

Or would have, if I'd been able to find a power chord.

See, when the COO made the pan to set up my office, he neglected to find out where there power outlets were and so they're all behind the filing cabinets. My desk is on the one wall completely devoid of power and internet.

Guess who gets to move everything, or run extension cables, or whatever they decide to do to fix this bright and early Monday morning? This girl. Guess who's going to have to work from home tomorrow so she doesn't miss her Monday deadlines because of this shit? This girl.

Dear, God, this move was planned poorly. You have no idea. This isn't even everything. I am so tired.

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random post is totally random

ravenrants — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 07:15:16 GMT

I feel like the worst comic fan ever. I just realized that Chris Claremont was at my LCS, I was ten minutes away, and I DIDN'T STOP IN.

/fails

Damn. I had in on my calendar and everything.

In other news, last night I was having dreams where I was the Slayer (or a Slayer, I guess) who just finished fending off a horde of zombies in this old Victorian mansion. I take that back, we started at the end of the final battle before the sun came up and the zombies... went away. I guess they burned easily or something. Anyway, I remember being VERY TIRED.

I had a friend/companion/lover(?) who was part or entirely faerie (actually now that I think about it, she was a very blonde Liv Tyler with wings) and I got called to some faerie dimension to go undercover and defeat an evil... something. I was not happy, I'd just finished killing a ton of zombies with my Scooby-squad. Which included Anya. But anyway, to prove my worth, I was told to kill my friend/companion/lover. I had a scepter of some kind that had magic killer-lasers and I zapped her without blinking an eye. Literally, I just took the magic stick and BAM! Fried faerie. Then she promptly reincarnated herself (with a different haircolor, her regular brown) and killed the evil something or other I was supposed to kill.

I just sat back and chilled. I'd been killing zombies, I didn't need that shit, apparently.

At some point, there was an emotional scene with the Spike-esque requisite vampire lover I had, but I don't remember that as well. It was right after the zombie thing and before the faerie thing, and we ended up cuddling because I needed to sleep. And then there was something else about little buttons that I wore on the tank top I put on to fight the evil... something. They had X-Men related things, I think one was a Jean Grey button.

In other OTHER news, my meds still give me really vivid and weird dreams. I can live with that.

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drive by random post

ravenrants — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 02:46:55 GMT

So. Trying out that blogging thing and attempting to keep it public and my more flaily-fandom things (RP, memes, random thoughts that flit that I can't muster a full post for) and RL private things private. To that end, I made a "public" twitter acct (aka re-purposed and cleaned out one I used for work once upon a time) to go with it and my Tumblr will feed to that.

It's all under construction (especially the blog) and I'll probably be tweaking it and moving older, applicable posts to it as "flash-backs" so there will be that. Otherwise, my goal is at least a post a week on anything that trips my fancy.

tldr: I moving pieces of my psyche. You can find them BLOG, TWITTER, and TUMBLR.

Yeah, I didn't have anything more important to say than that. Sorry.

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blah

ravenrants — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 02:02:45 GMT

I'm feeling like I want to get into more "regular" blogging. Like, actually writing articles instead of drive-by rantings, and I don't want to do that here. Mostly because I'd like to keep this my semi-secret, fandom, crack place. I have an old Wordpress site that I've been dicking with (originally conceived to be an online resume, but that... didn't work out), and I can port over some more of my more "public" posts from here and link to recaps from when I was a writer for TVOvermind.

But I wonder what I should I write. Go back to doing the occasional recaps? Toss up all my movie/comic/tv/book feels? Politics?

IDK - I guess I'm feeling unfulfilled with my writing and since I know I'm rubbish at regular fiction writing, smaller, article-type things might be better.

Ideas, thoughts, GTFO?

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Prometheus rising (and falling)

ravenrants — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:06:57 GMT

It's been awhile since I've done a full out brain-dump after a movie, but Prometheus, I think, deserves one.

I liked Prometheus. A lot, actually, which made its flaws all the more apparent when I was sitting in the dark of my local movie theatre. And honestly, when I go back and think about it, those flaws aren't really flaws, just bits and pieces of plot that belong in another movie. I'm going to give a hat-tip right here to MovieBob, over at The Escapist, because I watched his review tonight after seeing the movie and he's pretty much on the money when it comes to what's wrong with Ridley Scott's "comeback" piece.

See, there was a lot of hullabaloo and back and forth about whether or not Prometheus is or isn't a prequel to the Alien franchise; and obviously, that debate came out in favor of saying, yes, yes it is a prequel. I wish it hadn't. I really wish this was a movie that had managed to either excise all of the Alien references or just sail under the radar with no one knowing what it really was, because going to this movie, knowing what it is, you lose something. There's a lot of potential mystery and tension that just doesn't come to fruition because the audience already has some kind of awareness of what's happening. It's like watching a good horror movie with a friend that's already seen it and they keep tapping you on the shoulder and whispering, "Here, look, this is gonna be real good - wait for it." There are beats to the Alien movies, well-known beats, even though each movie manages to have it's own little twist on them. Sitting in the theatre you can't help but look at every little thing and go, "Yep. I know what that does. I know what that means."

We know, for example, as soon as the hapless crew removes their helmets, that it's a very bad idea. Someone's getting "face-hugged," it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Those little slithering things on the ground? They're going to be the culprits. We've been primed. Even people that haven't seen the Alien movies probably have some kind of pop-culture social awareness because it's seeped that far into our movie-going-DNA. That there's still any element of jump-factor in the act, speaks more to the talent of the filmmaker than of any brilliance in the script.

Admittedly, there is a kind of curious excitement in seeing the aliens in their prototype stages, as biological experiments instead of the more realized creatures we're used to. Although not entirely a new idea to the franchise, it's handled rather deftly here. That the aliens started as a DNA-altering virus that mutates whatever ingests it works for an audience that is much more savvy and comfortable that idea than audiences twenty, thirty years ago might have been. And there is an elegance in the evolutionary stages and the way they relate to the way each was gestated that I wish we'd had a little more time to explore. The fact that the movie didn't condescend to the audience, either, I liked. There was very little exposition to get in the way of the action, and with as much as they tried to cram into this movie, that was a relief.

BUT.

How much better would this movie been had it no relation to the Alien franchise whatsoever? We've all seen the power of horror movies based on the idea of isolation and the unknown. The Thing. The Blair Witch Project. The Andromeda Strain. All of these movies benefited greatly in the characters and the audience having few clues to lead them to a solution. We're forced, as an audience, to see the odds get longer and longer as the time gets shorter and shorter, and we have no idea how it all will end. That mounting pressure is missing here because, well, we know how it ends for the most part. There's a face-hugger, something pops out of someone's stomach, corporate greed rears its ugly head, and people gotta fight to survive. There's maybe one survivor, probably the skinny brunette running around in her underwear.

All of the direct Alien call-backs could have been re-designed or re-scripted with little to no effect on the overall plot, and from what I'm given to understand, that's what Scott tried to do as he made the movie. Would that he had been able to take it all away, because Prometheus, again, is a good movie at its core. It takes the heart of exploration, the duplicity of unknown agendas, and the horrors of what goes bump in the night and actually makes a good movie out of it. The cast sells it for the most part, the sets and designs are beautiful and yet still functional, and as a jaded horror fan, it still managed to both creep and gross me out. If only they hadn't had to tie it to something I'd already seen a dozen times before. If only I didn't know how the sequels all go.

Which is, I have to say, the tragic flaw inherent in any prequel. There's no mystery. Reboots, too, have the same difficulty. (Which might become a ranty post all its own in the near future - Spiderman, I'm lookin' at you, kid.)

So, at this point, it's far too late to say long story short, but I will conclude with this. Prometheus is a great movie. Go see it. It's got all the elements of great sci-fi and better-than-average horror. Just don't expect to be surprised.

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ravenrants — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:30:24 GMT

Last night's dream involved Alison Janney, William Shatner, Doctor Who, Dr. Seuss characters, a car chase, a haunted-looking hotel, and possibly cats.

I'm not 100% sure about the cats.

Apparently my psyche's been holding onto a few things because shit was CRAZY.

In other news, my Dad finally left this week so the house in mine again. Woo-Hoo! I love him, but that was a long-ass visit.

And this might be the strangest post I've written.

Um, topic... season finales? Supernatural, Grey's Anatomy, Hawaii 5-0, Castle, NCIS:LA (I missed original spice), others I might be forgetting...?
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saw avengers again

ravenrants — Sun, 13 May 2012 08:45:08 GMT

I still have all the feels.

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a letter.

ravenrants — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:07:24 GMT

Dear Symantec, owner of Norton Anti-Virus,

Regardless of how I feel about you burying and/or concealing an auto-renewal authorization in a TOS click-box, which, to be honest, is pretty shady to begin with, what really grinds my gears is that when the auto renewal comes up - a YEAR after purchase - you process it without a single notification. No e-mail saying, hey, it's time for your auto-renewal, we're about to charge you $75 on Monday. At which point, most people would either yawn and move on, or realize, hey - that's my auto insurance payment this month, perhaps I need to put that off.

Nope, you just let people log into their bank accounts to pay said insurance and find out their money isn't there anymore. And when they get customer service on the line, you tell them that it could take up to ten business days for the refund to go through.

Thanks, Symantec. Thanks a lot.

Sincerely, your former customer.

So. Anyone know any good and cheap anti-virus programs that are Vista-compatible?

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ravenrants — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:17:02 GMT

Dear Mom and Dad,

Let me start by saying I love you and I love it when you come to visit. But let's look at the track record:

The time before last time you came out, you came a WEEKEND early and didn't call beforehand. You made up for it by fixing my car.

Last time - you came hours early, which wasn't bad, except that I was at work and hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. You made up for that one by buying me enough food for a month.

This time, bless you, you called ahead, but you're still coming out a day early which screws up my PTO at work. Granted you're doing it to have more time to help me repaint my house, BUT, this was something I needed to know LAST WEEK.

Sigh,

Your Darling, Stressed-out Daughter.

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someday, i will get the fancy html and gifs for this

ravenrants — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:30:33 GMT

Trixa Iktomi

The trickster is about to have a few trying months. Ishiah will be leaving which is going to rip her up as he's her last human link to home (she'll be inheriting Salome, but she doesn't "talk" so...), and it's going to hit her exactly how much he's come to mean to her in place of having her actual family. I don't know exactly what the fall-out for that will be because I'm still stewing on it. Also, due to the Wild West plot changing everything her casino will be unfinished so she won't be able to open AND she'll be losing some of the novelty of having a casino since the's going to be one (or more) running during the plot.

She does love the Wild West, though. Coyote was one of her favorite forms.

And speaking of plots... Trixa is my Fear Plot pup and she's already started carrying around slightly more weapons than usual as her paranoia about the Auphe has started. She's only seeing eyes in the jungle out of the corner of her eyes, but she feels like she's being WATCHED and that's not cool. Come later in the year, she's going to be trigger-happy, fully paranoid and when it all goes to hell, there will be real-live Auphe on the island gunning for her and anyone close to her.

Rachel Grey

Rachel hasn't done a lot this month, mostly because I need to rest her up. I don't know that it will happen in April, it will depend on how some other things shake out, but I'm planning on canon-puncturing her - meaning she will find out that her best friend and her brother died protecting a brat that's possibly laying claim to a power that used to be hers. Her father's started acting more militant than Magneto, and a few other things that might require some communicating with other muns in-game. It... probably isn't going to go so well and I need to figure out exactly how unwell it's going to be.

Or I'm considering a time loop which may be equally traumatic, but for different reasons (and would require me to actually find the issue somewhere in my longboxes so I can remember exactly what happened).

Other than this, none of which is in stone, I don't have any significant plans for her. She's still failing at all things romantic, despite the fact that she let herself get picked up at a bar, but at this point it's probably not something I'm going to chase too heavily at the moment.

Edward

The radical cowgirl in the wild-wild-west. Someone is going to need to put a bell on her because horses and guns and haunted mines and seriously, I might EP her with Ein, chasing tumbleweeds down the road with a lasso just for the lulz.

Also, when applicable parties discover the existence of a Fayechester baby she is going to be thrown for a major loop. She's been aware of Dean as kind of like an orbiting moon around Faye - big, relevant, but not anything she needs to think about too hard because it's just there and... why does it matter? It hasn't changed her relationship with Faye at all. The baby will (at least in her mind) and it's going to trigger a general unsteadiness. She'll be extra clingy to some people, and others she might start ignoring entirely. I'm still sorting out the whos and the whys and letting the affected muns know, it's not them, it's the fourteen-year-year old with ZERO emotional coping skills and a lot of repressed abandonment issues.

Florence Vassey

Holy crap, has Florence had a month. I never thought my shy, broken-hearted chess player would become my loudest pup, but there you go. It's mostly because she's happier than she's been since her arrival and she's put Anatoly almost fully in her rear-view. She's still going to have those moments where she's fighting her own happiness, expecting for the bottom to drop out, but she has a new partner in Jack and she's trying really hard to "do it right this time."

The Wild West is going to involve a lot of eye-rolling, cursing at clothing and I don't know what else because she's one I'm completely playing by ear right now. It seems to be working okay.

...and I think that's all I have to say about that.

Phedre no Delaunay

Phedre’s someone else who’s more or less coasted this last month. There are fear-plot things with Nick that groundwork has been laid for, and I’m doing a thread with House that might change her relationship with him a little and I’m interested in seeing where that goes. She hasn’t had a lover since New Year’s and for her, that’s a REALLY LONG TIME and something she’s starting to consider changing - she’s just a little unsure how to manage that in this society, it’s something she’s never had to worry about.

She’ll probably react to the Wild West the same way she reacted to Victorian London, with curiosity and minor irritation at the change in clothing.

Fear Plot is going to do a number on her between Nick’s and Imriel’s fears, so I’m hesitant to toss her into anything major in the next few months, but if something comes up I’ll re-access.

Flynn

Flynn is going to be my go-to chill-out character for awhile. I don’t know that anyone’s Fear Plot is going to impact him directly but since he’s still in the process of meeting people that can change. I’ve noticed that tagging with him goes a little slower than with other pups, but I think that’s more me keeping on top of his language and the tense he speaks in than in any difficulty with the character. He’s digging his meditation, sunshine, and talking to locals that don’t hate him, think he’s a Messiah, or otherwise want him dead.

Future

I still have some pups I’m considering apping in the future, but everything’s on hold. I’m a little over-extended RP-wise and while none of my TR pups are on the chopping block, I am considering drops/changes in other games. If/when I do app I’m looking at possibly Laura Dannon from Brick, Carly Jones from House of Wax (2005), or possibly even Bobby Singer from Supernatural. There are pros and cons for each and God knows this list changes every few months, but these are the ones that I keep circling back to.

I’m also tempted to do a temp plot app for Esther from Orphan, because seriously, how fucked up would that be? Find a family, seduce the father, serious harm/maim/maybe kill someone. Then get killed herself. Good times. Good times.

Seriously, that’s it really. For TR at least.

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ravenrants — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:33:23 GMT

I'm coming off of a mini-manic episode, which was awesome because now I have a clean kitchen and I rearranged my office at work so it doesn't hurt my soul every time I go in there, but I've gotten a total of ten hours sleep in three days so it this catchall post goes off the rails THAT'S WHY. So here's a regurgitation from my last three working brain cells.

TV: During the wee hours of a recent morning, I got caught up on Supernatural and a few things hit me.

First: It's still got that new-old feel that I noticed way back where. That, wow, I actually remember why I loved this show so much feeling. Mostly because it hasn't been so bogged down in epic over-arching plots of Armageddon that made less and less sense as it dragged on.
Second: I fucking HATE the Leviathans. Just the whole idea of them. They're over-powered, they have no discernible reason for being and they have no easily recognizable mythological base (that I've noticed, they're so boring to me that I haven't bothered doing any serious Googling) which was at least something I could say about all the angels and demons. With biblical or at least mythological antagonists you at least have a basic idea of what's wanted, what's needed to stop them, and/or have some kind of way of fighting them. I'm all for a challenging opponent, but this is getting beyond ridiculous and at this point, if the Winchesters stop them I can't buy it. At all.
Third: While I'm not thrilled with the way Castiel was dealt with, I'm not entirely opposed to it because it keeps him in the bench. He was starting to annoy me in the way the Leviathans did - overpowered and directionless.
Forth: On a related note, I really don't like this Meg. There is something about that actresses voice that pushes all my buttons and any time she spoke it felt like I had changed channels somehow. I didn't even have that visceral a reaction to Bela, and she was a terribly written plot device instead of a character. Meg is coming off like a fifth-rate Ruby wanna-be which is a shame because when she was introduced she was AWESOME.
Fifth: I'm loving the idea of Ghost!Bobby. It's been played with a subtlety and nuance I was beginning to think the show couldn't pull off anymore. A year ago, we would have had an angsty comment and/or discussion about how the brothers miss him, and how awful it is he might become vengeful and blah, blah, blah... But just having little things happen, like books moving and falling, etc. and only one overt mention of it has been sublime.

TV2.0: I haven't watched Korra, and probably won't for awhile. I loved ATLA, and I'm sure I'll love Korra, but I can't work up the enthusiasm right now. That said, I like what I've seen/heard spoiler-wise.

Work: Work is actually going pretty well. I mentioned that my office is more organized, but on top of that, my boss and I have made some headway into the resistance we were facing with the changes we wanted to make. It looks like the new systems we wanted are going to be implemented and we might get approval to hire someone if not part-time, than full-time to help us. I still have major concerns with the MASSIVE up-swing we're going to have in a few months, but I am no longer fighting anxiety attacks over it.

RP: ...this is going to get its own post in the near future and it's probably going to be completely ridiculous, but it's way too major to get into here.

Writing: I've been itching to start writing regularly again. I don't know if it's going to be original, fandom, or maybe a few one-off recaps like I used to do for TVOvermind, but I'm open to suggestions. I was considering a series of, IDK, enthusiastic amateur recaps of things I'm not expert in, but kinda like. An outsider's perspective if you will although "outsider" would be a bit of a misnomer* because it would still be things that I have some knowledge of, just not, say, the knowledge of someone who actively reads the news about, or participates in fandom. I thought it might be interesting to see if that idea could sustain a new blog, but I run into the problem I had with TVOvermind in that my schedule and my mental health doesn't always allow for the most regular updating. That said, if anyone was interested in contributing to something like that, maybe I could get a few people together so I wouldn't feel like it was all on me and if it's friends, I won't feel bad if I have to e-mail one of them and be like, "This week isn't happening," and they wouldn't kill me.

And that's all I have today, kids. More later, okay?

*I am really out of it. I started at the screen for a full two minutes just trying to remember the word misnomer and almost typed misremember instead. WHICH ISN'T EVEN A WORD.

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Doing a doubletake on Doubletake

ravenrants — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:55:16 GMT

So let me tally up here. Here's what I didn't like:

Apparently we Fridged Georgia "off-panel."
We took Niko's Dad, who could have led to some really interesting character-building and world expansion, and made him a mustache-twirling villain that was pretty much just a retread of Promise's little girl - only without the telepathic mind-fuck.
Ishiah was completely MIA and Promise was mostly MIA (although I liked the part about the mummycats sneaking out to watch her and Niko have sex, it made me chuckle).
Georgia got Fridged.
The great gathering of the Pucks that was touted so prominently was over in the first third of the book and was never heard from again - wasted opportunity. And the Hob reveal was a non-issue, I'd already figured that much out a long time ago.
Georgia got Fridged.
It's okay to kidnap, rape, and force women to bear children if they're all monsters.
Cal getting the gates back via magic paste. I would have preferred his Auphe genes to do the heavy lifting on that, because the books keep talking about how the Auphe genes will eventually win out and using the paste was a deus ex we din't need in the machina.
Money - I get that monster-killing probably gets mad hazard-pay, but I liked the recurring theme that the brothers were broke and having to do things on the cheap. Oh, hey, we need C4, let's go shopping doesn't quite have the same urgency.
GEORGIA GOT FUCKING FRIDGED. (Can you tell this is the big one?) I don't care if it's been set up that she did something to Grimm before she died, she was callously killed in a flashback so we can amp the angst of Cal later on and make it some kind of noble sacrifice deal. From where I'm sitting, that's a Fridging, and while Georgia was never my favorite, she deserved better.

Here's what I did like:

Grimm in general. I like the idea of a more reasoning/rational Auphe and the foil he is for Cal. I don't like the method that's being used to carry out his plan AT ALL, but I can almost understand the rationale behind it and what it does to reveal his character and the urgency with which he needs to be dealt with.
The pucks in general - I liked the idea of the Panic and that Robin (of course) rigs the lottery whenever it happens, and I was tickled pink at the reaction to his monogamy and having to be sober for the whole thing, I'm just disappointed that a potential AWESOME B-plot of Robin getting called on it was either forgotten about or just tabled.
I like Cal being a more controlled monster, but still knowing that the monster can and will take over someday.
Based on Robin's reaction, I'm pretty sure that Ms. Charlatan, sorry, Charla Tae-Lynn, can turn into a dragon and might be Trixa's Mama. That she was hitting on Cal amused me to no end.
Brothers before souls. Although the number of times it was hammered into my head might have gotten a little weary.
While I still hate the idea that Georgia got Fridged, I am kinda curious to know what she did to Grimm before she went.

Those are the high and low points. I'm not really coherent enough to do a full review, but while I don't think it was as bad as Blackout, it certainly isn't my favorite. Of all Rob's Leandros books, it's probably the most uneven to me in terms of highs and lows, which considering the personal trials she's had in the last year is understandable and all the more unfortunate. IIRC, she managed to get another Trickster book out of her current deal so I'll wait for that before deciding if I'm "over" her particular brand of writing, but the last couple of Leandros books have underwhelmed me and I can't even read her other series - I got through Chimera and it was amusing, but excruciating all the same.

Maybe I should have waited to read it until I was in a better mood. All the little things in the world bug me like nothing else this week (and I have my suspicions why, but it's neither here nor there) and that's not the best headspace to be reading a book you're fannish about.
This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/214326.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

ravenrants — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:56:33 GMT

DAMN YOU TWITTER! I AM NOT OVER MY TWEET LIMIT FOR THE NIGHT.
okay, maybe i am, but still -

THE OSCARS ARE NOT DONE - HOW DARE YOU CUT ME OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited to add: Okay, maybe I was cut off for posts per hour, but STILL. Oscar night, cut us some slack, okay?

This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/213939.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

ravenrants — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:58:13 GMT

Things I need to do this week:

Laundry
Dishes
Clean the air filter
Pull together tax docs
Finish the audit at work
Maybe take a day off (Friday?)

Things I want to do this week:

Make my musebox
Write the Rachel/Franklin plot bunny that's been in my head since that meme
Write application
READ
Political black-out - I can't afford to get pissed off at anything right now, it's too draining
Plot out the thing I've been meaning to plot out since NaNo

What are the odds I get anything on the want list done? Pretty slim.

This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/212468.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Dear Senator/Congressman/woman

ravenrants — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:25:50 GMT

I'm writing today to express extreme concern over the bills proposed under the acronyms: SOPA/PIPA. While in theory, they seek to protect copyright holders from illegal distribution of their property, in reality they are badly-written, poorly researched, vague attempts to stem piracy by closing distribution venues that often have broken no laws, or have no way to viably protect themselves short of bankrupting themselves to hire moderators, or forcing their users to seek other avenues.

In short, it's closing the entire mall to thwart the shoplifters. And that's just bad business. Especially since the shoplifters, the pirates, are smart enough to go to another mall or another internet venue and set up shop.

All across the internet today, sites are going dark in protest. These are the people who, through no fault of their own, will find their sites diminished, attacked, or outright abolished with no due process or recourse if these bills pass.

Please, sir, I ask you to fight for creativity, for art, for fair use, satire, sarcasm, education, free speech, and critical critique, all of which could potentially be harmed by this bill should it pass.

Vote no on SOPA/PIPA.

Thanks

[Use this to contact your reps, use your own, but contact them and do it today. Wikipedia's blackout page can help you determine who that is.]

This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/212053.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

why do i follow political blogs on tumblr? why?

ravenrants — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:30:30 GMT

When I read something and several days later I'm still irritated about it, it's time to vent. So here goes. I was scanning my Tumblr dash and political blog that I follow (and have a love/hate relationship with, but that's a different issue) when a post came up that started with, "Personally, I never feel more superior than when I see someone carrying a copy of Atlas Shrugged." It also went on to add, "Her unlikely 21st-century resurrection is the work of much smaller, often almost invisible minds that cherry-pick the vast creaking structure of her oeuvre for their own ends, just as they cherry-pick the Bible or The Wealth of Nations." For a bonus, in-between that, there's this gem, "These are damaged children, people of arrested development drawn to an ugly philosophy that legitimizes narcissism and socially unacceptable behavior."

My first thought? You, person, are what's wrong with the political process.

First: Don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate for Rand's overall philosophy, BUT - summarily calling those who do "damaged children" is not going to win you any points. It's hot air and dehumanizes the opponent. It is judging and degrading and it pisses me off. It's everything I hate about modern US politicking because it's a waste of time. Calling them names is doing nothing to debunk their ideas or to offer a better alternative which might actually change some minds instead of encouraging people to dig their feet even further into ground in the face of the assault.

Second: ALL modern political movements and parties have cherry-picked their causes and philosophies. Very few people can point to a single philosophy and say - that's me. All the way. I'm a Democrat, a humanist, I have some socialist leanings and just a general feel that if everyone stopped worshiping the damn dollar and lusting after their next soundbite or fifteen minutes of fame and looked around for a minute, we might get some things done around here. But that's just me and a lifetime of picking and choosing what works for me, just like everyone else.

Third: Everyone should read some Rand. Everyone should read some Marx. Some Machiavelli, some Hitler, some Aristotle, some Wollstonecraft, some Hitchens, some Wilde... do I need to go on? Because I will. They should listen to some rap, some country, some metal. You listen and read these things so you can find out what you want to make your stand on. Pointing at a book and instantly believing that person is morally, intellectually, and politically inferior to you is the most juvenile and short-sighted thing I've ever heard. I know that was probably not the point of the person's post - they went on to make some good points about so-called Conservatives touting the works of a pro-choice feminist who opposed Vietnam - it's what they opened up with.

I have a copy of Atlas on my bookshelf. I'm in the process of reading it. Is it turning me into a ninny? No, but it's teaching me how the other side might think and that's going to make me stronger and better prepared when things really heat up.

This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/211344.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

blergh

ravenrants — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:22:46 GMT

Dear fever,

Please break before New Year's. I spent money on those tickets and I'd like to use them. Just for a little while. Please?

Thanks.

This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/210444.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Joining the herd?

ravenrants — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:30:35 GMT

So this is another test. I've had this DW accoung forever and LJ's latest douchebaggery is getting me to test it out again. I'm not saying that I'm moving over there for realsies, but... yeah. Making sure this works now and importing all my content.

Just in case.

Like you do.

So I'm ravenrants over there, too. Hi. Add me... I guess?

This entry was originally posted at http://ravenrants.dreamwidth.org/667.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Writer's Block: Bah Humbug Day!

ravenrants — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:41:28 GMT

Okay, Livejournal. You want it, you got it. This is just what I sent your generally unresponsive feedback department:

You are not Facebook.

At the behest of of who knows who, you are adding functionality that slows down your site, makes it almost impossible to use via mobile, and you're taking away functionality (subject lines, choosing icons by keywords) that people use every day. And worse, you're even doing it like Facebook does, automatically opting everyone in and saying maybe, in a year, we'll give you the option to go back - which frankly, is a dick move because you're making the gross assumption that after a year we'll be too used to working around your un-asked-for changes to jump through the twenty hoops you're going to put into reverting to the old type. Guess what? We won't worry about your hoops because we won't be here any more.

This is a permanent account. I also have several paid accounts, most with paid extra icon space. That, plus the tokens I buy for friends and fellow RP'ers means I'm spending hundreds of dollars on your site yearly. Multiply that by the number of people in the RP communities I belong to, and that is thousands, almost tens of thousands of dollars worth of paying customers that are affected by these changes.

As of today, several of the mods of those sites are discussing the possibility of moving to Dreamwidth because they don't have the time or knowledge to code custom comment pages just to get back to what we already had. Tens of thousands of dollars.

The RP and various writing communities have been your biggest supporters through all of this. We've stuck it out. Put up with outage after outage, comment notification delays, and the fact that every change made seems to push us further towards something we don't want. Articles with threaded conversations that run into the hundreds and thousands of comments RELY on subject lines to keep the discussions trackable, searchable, and for RPers - playable.

How long are you going treat the people that pay you thousands of dollars (tens of thousands of dollars) a year like ignorant children that have to be told what they like and how they should use your services?

ravenrants — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:43:15 GMT

I know I owe an update here about THINGS, but for now, a meme.

Leave a ship here that I know, any ship (canon or AU, rp, realized or unrealized), and I will tell you my opinion on:

who is the big spoon/little spoon
what is their favorite non-sexual activity
who uses all the hot water in the morning
what they order from take out
what is the most trivial thing they fight over
who does most of the cleaning
what has a season pass in their DVR
who controls the netflix queue
who calls up the super/landlord when the heat’s not working
who steals the blankets
who leaves their stuff around
who remembers to buy the milk
who remembers anniversaries

BAD Internet Laws Heading Your Way

ravenrants — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:04:46 GMT

I already tweeted this, but I want to spread it further. [EDIT: I CAN SPELL DAMMIT!]

Originally posted by write_light at BAD Internet Laws Heading Your Way

From the flist:

Spread the word, even you're not a US citizen, it is important for everyone!! It easy to do and it can change everything. More info by clicking on the banner.

Website Blocking

The government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.

Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users

It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.

Chaos for the Internet

Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn't be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.

Read this analysis from boing-boing.net

Get on the phone and call your representative. Express your disapproval. Tell him or her exactly how you feel, and that you don't support this. Tell your friends to call their representatives, their Congressperson, and complain. Mention that you are a registered voter that takes your civic responsibility seriously and that you will use that vote to express your feelings about this.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_60/Internet-Companies-Boost-Hill-Lobbying-210345-1.html?pos=olobh

“We support the bill’s stated goals — providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign ‘rogue’ websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting,” the Internet companies wrote in Tuesday’s letter. “Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action and technology mandates that would require monitoring of websites.” The chamber-led coalition in support of the bill includes Walmart, Eli Lilly & Co. and Netflix.

Google and other opponents of the legislation argue that restricting the Internet in the U.S. sets a bad international precedent and that the language defines infringing too broadly.

ravenrants — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 04:27:18 GMT

I'm going to rant about a few fandom things to get them off my chest. I'm aware that there are those on my f'list that may disagree - I love them for it, I just don't agree. I'm happy to debate, though.

Supernatural: I like that the more recent episodes have been less doom and gloom arc-focused and a little more angst and monster of the week. What I don't like is that it feels like a deliberate and intentional retread of Seasons One and Two. Dean's keeping a secret, there's things that ooze black out there hunting them and they're taking orders from a mysterious figure with a PLAN. While I like the freedom from being locked into the heaven/Armageddon stuff (including Castiel, but that's another rant), I wish they had picked different emotional chords to play with. This keeping secrets shit is OLD NEWS and the fact that Sam didn't call it before someone shoved it in his face bugged the shit out of me. And before anyone tries to play the Lucifer card, I don't buy that he's that distracted. And Sam walking because of the Kitsune? Yeah, it felt really contrived after all his talk about working things out and talking about things, not to mention the secrets he was keeping and not talking about earlier in the season. I get he cared for her, but this isn't the first time he's seen/had to face a choice like this. Her name was Madison, she was a werewolf and Sam pulled the trigger on her. My point is, they've learned these lessons already. It's like everyone suddenly has amnesia and I'm not thrilled about having to watch them make the same choices again and again.

Hunger Games: I should be excited as hell about this and I'm just not. The insipid nature of the current marketing materials aside, I can't buy into it. I hate the casting. Well, not entirely, I'm okay with the adults, I'm actually a little excited about Woody as Haymitch, but the kids, the Tributes? HAAATE.

Especially Jennifer Lawrence. I just don't get the love. I saw Winter's Bone and wasn't impressed - there's a difference between showing restrained emotion and appearing to have no emotion at all and she falls into the latter. I got the same wooden vibe when she was in X-Men: First Class, her face is just eerily expressionless to me and so when she does "show emotion" it barely registers. Maybe she'll surprise me, but if she restrains herself in HG the way she restrained herself in WB I'm going to have a hard time watching her. And the boys - I swear to God, if you put them in a line-up I still couldn't tell them apart. Except Peeta's the one with the dyed-blonde hair. Seriously, but the posters of Cato, Gale and Peeta together and they look like a casting summons for the latest CW teen drama, not individuals with distinct personalities and types. When it comes to the Arena scenes, I anticipate spending half my time just trying to tell everyone but Katniss and Rue apart.

Sanctuary: *sigh* Okay, I'm really glad they found a way to dispense with all the government oversight/fighting BS, and that they gave Helen a rational thing to do while waiting for her chance to rejoin the timeline. But I can't buy that she's found a way to finance the entire Sanctuary network, unless they mentioned that everything but Helen's chapter is down and I missed that somewhere. Also - didn't like the write-off of Kate. At all. It's like any female that's not Magnus has an expiration date and for a network that usually does a little better at crafting female roles (I'm thinking all the Stargate series and Eureka mainly - a little Warehouse 13, too) it's just depressing. Abby's barely more than just a girlfriend at this point and it's not like we're going to be seeing more of Henry's girl unless we feel the need for more pregnancy drama.

And just when I thought that we were free of the government BS, they make Abby the focal-point of it which only makes me dislike the character more and I wasn't fond of her in the first place.

Okay, rants done. Move along.