Memoirs of the Angst-Bitch

Yesterday was possibly the best Thanksgiving ever. I spent it away from my outside family, watching my father and my brother attempt to dance to Wii's version of "Eye of the Tiger," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and other terrible things. Then I ruined my brother's world by telling him what "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is really about. I so enjoyed being able to drive home without someone who was drunk, as usually happens at the family parties. I also enjoyed avoiding a day of relatives asking me why I'm not dating yet and when I'm going to get a "real" job. Also, the fact that they are probably all Tea Partiers now. But the food was delicious, although I miss our family's classic oyster stuffing. I did not dance, but I did pull a muscle in my side playing Wii tennis, continuing my tradition of injuring myself every time I touch the Wii.

Oh and I have a goodreads if you absolutely must know what I'm reading. I'm probably going to be reading "The Lost Hero" next in my queue, but feel free to make recommendations based on what I read and I'll looking into adding them.

Well, today was fail.

The most excitement I got out of it was reading about Stephen Colbert testifying in character before Congress and even managing to lay down an "OSNAP" moment on one of the self-righteous Reps. If you watch the whole thing, you'll see Colbert breaking character toward the end when he stressed that he is there because the immigrant workers have no voice and they need someone to speak for them:

"It seemed like one of the least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work but don't have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave. That's an interesting contradiction to me. And whatever you do for the least of my brothers -- and these seem like the least of our brothers right now.."

Pretty interesting stuff in any case. Also, in case anyone remembers, Elmo has also testified before Congress in character.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm developing a psychotic reaction to stink bugs. There was one in my gas cap today. MY GAS CAP. I can't even read outside anymore because if they land on my windshield or buzz overhead, I totally freak out. I actually drove to a restaurant to sit outside in its parking lot and read today because my office is too cold with its AC. Stupid bugs.

"Shadow's Edge" is holding me much better than the first book did. I think it's the lack of Durzo Blint and also my finally understanding the crazy mythology/macguffins that go into it. Except for the long-winded history of the ka-kakaris. That tends to cause fluctuations in my give-a-damn-o'meter. But I'm happy to have more of Jarl and Logan and Vi. Kylar is a better character in this so far as well, no longer annoying me with his random monologues. Though his scenes with Elene are like slow torture. I don't care about either of their sexual repression. Deal with it!

Oh and tonight, Gabi and I are going to go see "Legend of the Guardians!" Owls with armor and steel talons. Can you tell I'm excited?

... Why does my father think you can use German Chocolate cake in a trifle? Now, I have only a day to come up with his birthday cake.

In other news, I HAS MONEY AGAIN. \o/ And I didn't get bitten by anything bizarre last night. Granted, I slept on a naked mattress with only a blanket on top of it and no pillow covers. But no bites!

I also fear the ending of my book is going to be a major let-down.

Anyway, I want to play Birth by Sleep (even though I have to buy the friggin' system to do so and that will have to wait until Christmas... BURN IN HELL SQUARESOFT.) But I've kinda sorta mostly lost all interest in the Xion game, possibly because I think inserted characters FAIL. The question I have is whether playing Xion's game is absolutely essential to understanding the identity/name/soul clusterfuck that is Birth by Sleep. I read the wiki so I already know spoilers. Can I enjoy BBS on its own or do I have to grit my teeth and barrel through Days?

Here, have a bear doing yoga.

I had a fairly productive day. So I think we'll have a non-controversial topic this time.

ETA: Oh come on, Photobucket, THEY'RE NOT SHOWING ANYTHING. This can be seen on the racks at the GROCERY STORE. Get over yourselves.

ETA2: Since Photobucket apparently construes the showing of FREAKING SKIN with a violations of terms, I will just provide a link to the sexy NAKED pic of the True Blood stars.

Robert Gibbs, sometimes I wonder... But not quite as much as I wonder about Rangel.

So I've been reading about the Net Neutrality jazz and while I fully understand the concerns with it and find them legitimate and compelling, I must admit I have limited pity for those who worry the new argument means they'll have to pay extra to access popular sites on their mobile devices. What, no YouTube screening while standing in the grocery line? No Jersey Shore clips while at the bus stop? No playing Farmville at work? Your life is truly hard. :( This reminds me of the people who come to my office and ask if I have a smart phone recharger. Yeahhhh.

/end rant about overly expensive technology

In other news, I finally have a functioning BlueTooth so yay.

Someone at the WaPo described Emmett Till as a "civil rights activist" in an article today before changing it. I think that statement speaks for itself.

Random news links of the day:

In the wake of the JetBlue pilot we all want to be sometimes, have another example of a bold exit strategy and another reference to Farmville!"

Sharron Angle, aka lady who says gays shouldn't be allowed to adopt, accepts donations from gay-friendly companies.

Poor doggies. ;;

I feel all cultured. Gabi and I hit up both the Norman Rockwell exhibit and the Artful Animals at the African Art Museum. I got a hippo art figure, but Gabi did not because she does not love hippos. It's very tragic. We also learned the turtle is a royal animal. The Rockwell exhibit was great for the behind-the-scenes stories about each illustration and just the overall layout. Plus, they had root beer floats. I think we also hung out in the Presidents Gallery, where I embarrassed myself horribly by trying to identify the presidents to Gabi. I like how the caricature for Bush Senior was all-at-once Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and Bush Senior amid my guessing. I fail at my history. It was really obvious too.

We also hit up "Macbeth" at Capitol Fringe Festival, which was fun for the wrong-side-of-town Bohemian atmosphere but the play itself wasn't really that great a variation on "Macbeth." To be fair, it included a hot guy playing one of the Weird Sisters and he was usually shirtless and wearing dark eye make-up so my attention might have been a little unfocused. It also had an amazing MacDuff, a cool take on the Weird Sisters as puppet masters with the ghosts and awesome fight scenes done entirely through Capoeira. I want to go see another, but I might have to wait until next week.

I also showed Gabi "Hot Fuzz," which I think she enjoyed muchly.

As for our hilarious watching of Legend of the Legendary Heroes, which will hereafter be referred to as LLL (why an extra L? because I like to go one step beyond), it was cracktastical fun. The first episode was utter nonsense, where we tried to distinguish between the numerous pretty boys or theorize about why they were randomly going into monologues and flashbacks that were only more confusing than the rest of the story. I got the Slayers-ish vibe, but I'm not crazy about the lead female yet. Things were slightly more sane in the second episode, which is a major flashback about one of the leads, Sion. Sion is the tormented son of a nobleman and a peasant woman that despises the noble's corruption of society and wants to overthrow it and become king. Hmm, why is this familiar? But he is also terribly slashy with the other main, Ryner, so I'm not complaining. Ryner and his MAGICAL EYE POWERS definitely gives me Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass vibes. It's sad that as soon as the second episode ended, Gabi and I were disappointed that the third was not available. I think we might actually be watching this. I also get the feeling that if it was written better and had less clunky dialogue, it could be a really interesting show. It has the potential, but I'm not hoping or expecting much from LLL.

And now shall begin the Durarara marathon unto infinity to finish off the series.

Dammit Kushina arc. Now I have to catch up on Naruto. Seriously, though, this arc is really reawakening my interest in Kishimoto's storytelling. It's really touching. Initial interest sparked by this breathtaking fanart.

I have also decided that Gabi and I will be torturing ourselves with the hilariously-named The Legend of the Legendary Heroes of Legend (one of those legends may not be part of the actual title.) It makes me think high fantasy meets Geass. Yes, this is entirely based on the main's freaky eye power and his being voiced by FukuJun. Though there looks to be some slash potential and preview hinted at some nice darkness in the storyline. It will probably be fail, but I'm a Geass junkie so anything that can channel it for me earns at least my perusal.

I also want to break 3,000 on this damn Word Bubbles game. If only I didn't keep getting "pap." What the fuck are you supposed to do with pap once you get past the many iterations of "paper." Stupid game.

I have more political spazzery but I'll save that for another post.

I am also attempting some theology world-building for "Psychosis," being that I realized I have no fucking clue where the angels come from, what the magic is or what's the genealogy for half the cast. I also want to work better on Lucian and Tashira's living situation so that it's plausible and possibly better incorporate Lorelei into the story if it can be managed. I'm just running into a few bumps with her connection to Dominic and the threat of losing the important moment where Lucian and Dominic reconcile while Lucian is recovering at her house after a fight.

That means it's onto the meme!

( 30 Days of Writing Meme )

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

Lol, I just told Graham this story the other day. My first characters were descendants of Chibi-Usa. Yes, from Sailormoon. I don't remember much about them, except that they had their own talking male cat and such. I cared more about their children though. I shamelessly ripped off the Black Lady plot, only with twins. Basically, the girl twin goes nuts and the boy twin has to bring her back. Or was it the other way around? Well, there was a lot more violence and blood. I know the Silver Crystal became some scarily powerful sword. Hmm, I wonder what became of that sword...

Piggy-backing on this was the second part of the story, where the twins each meet up with the opposite sex member of these demon unicorn twins. The demon twins are warring against each other and each trying to win the other twins to their side. I bet anyone who's reading this no longer has any idea what I'm talking about. Anyway, both demon twins die at the end, although they are redeemed and remember that they love each other. D'aww. If this sounds familiar, you've probably guessed why.

Or if you want earlier, there's my Jack London-styled stories about a Samoyed (Sapphire) who has to return home to his owner and enters into a wolf pack, a boy and his pet tiger (Hunter) and some stray dog (Rogue) who owns his own city pack. As guessed from the reference, none of these animals talked. I wish I could remember more about them than just the basics. I bet I still have the story maps lying in my closet somewhere. I never throw anything away. Oh and waaaay back, there was the "Incredible Journey" rip-off about two dogs and a cheetah.

Finished "Hundred Thousand Kingdoms." I wasn't crazy about the ending, but that's because I think in order for it to really work, you had to feel something sincere for Yeine. I didn't. It's not that she was a bad character; it was just that she was so much a creature of fate and didn't have as much agency as the book seemed to promise. I am curious to see where the next book takes us. I would love to read "Name of the Wind" soon since the reviews call it THE BEST FANTASY BOOK OF THE DECADE, but I will probably end up reading more Temeraire since chances of a book I want actually being at my library when I want it are slim to none.

Anyways, I saw a writing meme and I so want in!

( 30 Days of Writing meme. )

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.

This is two questions so I will take each separately. As to my favorite writing project, that is without a doubt "Psychosis" because it gives me the chance to poke at my favorite trope in fiction: insanity. Most of the major characters in "Psychosis" suffer from some form of insanity, although some hide it better than others. Insanity can range from danger addiction to violent behavior to power obsession to inferiority complexes. "Psychosis" is all about exploring what makes a person the way they are, how it affects those around them and how such character flaws might be changed. It is meant to be a manic story, with character emotions in constant flux. But at its heart is the nature of human connection.

My favorite universe is the one for my unwritten angel story. I like it because I like fallen angels and wandering demons, caught amid a simple rural town with a nice coffee shop. I think most of the story takes place around this coffee shop, where the main characters enjoy eating lemon poppyseed muffins. I have no idea if I will ever start this one.

I will also add Gabi and mine's Geass vampire AUverse because it just keeps getting more and more amazing. We have since decided that V.V. and the rest of the cult are faeries and that C.C. is a kitsune who is vaguely related to Marianne, a former faerie who's been turned into a vampire. Good times.

So it's let's be angry on the Internet day. That's cool because I sure have something to be angry about. Like I said, I'm not going to comment on the McChrystal affair because what's done is done but what I am going to comment on is the utter ignorance people have toward basic journalism. I really believe there should be a journalistic literacy course in school the same way they are trying to institute financial literacy so that people know what to expect from a journalist. People who are blaming Rolling Stone for what happened to McChrystal don't understand journalism in the least. They also didn't read the article.

Anyone who did could see the reason Hastings wrote it was to present the Afganistan situation to a country that has largely forgotten about it. This is why he said he wasn't expecting a major blowup. Because he didn't think anyone would notice something written about the Afganistan war. Accusing Hastings of being responsible for McChrystal losing his job is insane. It is a journalist's job to report, and yes, Rolling Stone for all its Lady Gaga coverage does count as a journalistic publication. If people don't like the message, TOUGH SHIT. People saying that Hastings took remarks off record are also being ridiculous. I will accept that not everyone knows the concept of off-the-record and when to request something be taken off record and whether that request will even be honored or whether it has to be. But someone in that position knows. McChrystal has not made any comment expressing that statements were taken off the record.

Yes, a journalist is going to get in close with their subject. That's how a journalist gets the real story instead of a polished front someone puts on when they're being briefly interviewed. This is the idea behind long form journalism, which usually takes weeks and weeks of research. There is nothing wrong with this. If people don't want to be reported, don't agree to let a journalist into your war room after he/she has informed you that he/she is a journalist. It's that simple. You talk to a journalist, it's on the record unless you say otherwise. All journalists can do is ask people to tell them things; they have no way to extract it otherwise. Just an unspoken agreement that the person will tell their story and the journalist will report it. This is what separates them from fake journalists like the paparazzi. Be pissed at what happened, but don't you dare blame a journalist for doing his job!

I'm also unsure of what to think about the "Lavender" reporter who infiltrated a group for men struggling with same sex attraction under a guise so it could publicly out the priest attending it. Said priest has been a frequent attacker of homosexuality. While I understand Lavender's intentions of showing the priest's hypocrisy, I must question lying to get into a private support group where people are discussing personal issues. I have this belief that stooping to the level of the other side never results in a solution. It just makes us look worse in the eyes of those we are trying to convince. Yes, I know hard-core bigots are never going to be changed, but there are always the undecided. They are the ones who have the most pull, and they are the people who are often critical of stunts like this.

In other news, Celebritology tells me Robert Pattinson is distantly related to Vlad the Impaler. Who knew?

So "Alpha and Omega" is the new animated wolf feature due out. Unfortunately, it looks incredibly unfunny and commits one of the faux pas of wolf drawing. This was the same thing I constantly criticized the Wolf's Rain manga for: making wolves look like horses. Let's do some comparison via animated wolves, shall we?

Wolf via Wolf's Rain by BONES.

Wolf via Balto by Amblimation aka proto-Dreamworks.

Wolves via Beauty and the Beast by Disney.

Compare with our newest entrant: Wolf via Alpha and Omega by Crest Animation. Now I'm guessing that anyone who saw Toy Story 3 this weekend probably saw this trailer but just in case: Alpha and Omega Trailer.

I love wolf movies and pine for them the way others pine for dragons/vampires so I am a bit bummed that this trailer does not at all make me want to see the movie. It might still be good, but that animation is going to irk the hell out of me. They look like horses! Hell, one of them even looks like a sheep.

Ok, enough ranting. Have an amusing satire on the "homosexuality is against the bible" meme.

( This post is already too long so I have to put this under a cut. )

Maybe I'll do fun music video links later.