Some random shit
Um, hey! *waves*
I was talking to someone recently about my relationship to fandom, and my issues around being social and trying to keep fandom a low-pressure space for myself. It was good to put together some of those feelings!
So, in the spirit of trying to keep fandom a low-pressure space for myself, some random things:
1) I really loved this last episode of White Collar! OH MOZZIE. MOTHERFUCKING SHADOW PUPPETS. NEAL LOVES HIM SO MUCH THE TEARS IN HIS EYES THE TEEEAAARRSSS. OH MY GOOOOOODDD!!!! ♥____♥ The scene of Mozzie in the smoking jacket in the secret room made my heart swell with fondness. I'm always a sucker for a good conspiracy narrative, especially a historical conspiracy narrative. And it was super great to see Mozzie and Elizabeth interact again! And Mozzie and Peter! And I never tire of Peter and Neal dealing with each other re: Mozzie. I don't know, I'm really enjoying this season in general. Nice and light and maybe they're recycling the Peter/Neal trust stuff again, but what's interesting to me about this round is Peter's character growth. I still ♥ them a lot, just generally, so I'm good with just being along for the ride and enjoying the chemistry, as long as the writers don't do anything to actively piss me off. Which, not so far this season! \o/
2) This Avengers story made me cry on my lunch break the other day: Average Avengers Local Chapter 7 of New York City. I'm not reading a ton of Steve/Tony (yet, I'm sure!) and that dynamic was actually way secondary, for me, to the Steve Rogers character stuff. Sometimes I just ♥ that dude so much. *sigh* He pushes all my Always Strive To Be Your Best Self buttons so hard, and this is a nice earnest!Steve, without falling into an overly naive characterization. When I got to the list of blog entries from the various Average Avengers, I legit teared up. I don't know, that felt like a really nice kind of hippie, John-Lennon's-Imagine type of fantasy, in a way I can totally get behind. Like, what if we did all just strive to be our best selves all the time, and helped each other out, and, you know, practiced random acts of kindness, for justice? Right??? That wouldn't suck! Anyway. Oh, Steve Rogers. I can definitely get behind you as an earnest union-supporting kind of do-gooder.
3) If any of you have Fx network, you might want to check this guy out: W. Kamau Bell, a comic who appears to be the television protégé of Chris Rock, with Rock producing his news commentary/interview show on Fx called "Totally Biased." He's really smart and funny, but he's also kind of sweet and dorky in a way that I'm already crushing on. Also, he had Rachel Maddow on for an interview, and he completely fanboyed out. They were ADORABLE together.
4) Other things what I am watching: Lost Girl, Leverage, Daily Show and Colbert, Rachel Maddow (♥♥♥!!!), soon to be my Community season 3 dvds, like maybe this weekend. And, um, possibly two One Direction dvds that I bought. Also, some movies! Finally watched Shelter, 21 Jump St, Bridesmaids, and Attack the Block. And I loved them all in different ways!
5) Things what I am reading fanfiction-wise: Mostly Avengers right now. In the last couple weeks or so, lots of Clint/Phil, a fair amount of Steve/Tony, some Bruce and various people, some Steve and various people, some Natasha gen and friendship stories. But my tastes have already shifted some since I started reading, and I expect they will continue to shift around since this seems to be a fairly multi-pairing fandom for me. That's how it seems to work when I'm in a multi-pairing kind of place--I go through phases with different pairings and then back again, by mood. I'm also still reading some Sherlock, and I'm reading some One Direction, though I've mostly only read a small number of Harry/Louis stories. RPS canon is so rich and abundant that I sometimes don't find myself reading as much fic in those fandoms. I get my narrative fix from the interviews and gif sets and picpsams and fannish theories. I've been reading some Merlin again lately, and even some Harry Potter, in the category of "fandoms that just won't go away." I occasionally read some Eagle of the Ninth/The Eagle movie fic, and I read Community fic whenever there is any.
6) And related to how much fic I've been reading, I bought a Kindle! Thank you,
gblvr and
justacat, for talking to me about Kindles at the last Con.txt! After their super helpful explanations and advice about different options, I went with the basic Kindle with no ads. I couldn't be happier! Great for bus commutes, lunch breaks, and bedtime reading. I got a little clip-on light, and it works fine with my bedroom light off. Such a joy to be able to read fanfiction in bed, and really truly perfect for commutes.
7) The current drama in One Direction fandom is bumming me out, and I'm writing a defense of tinhatters/tinhatting in my head that may or may not make its way out of my head. Yes, a defense of tinhatters, and you guys all know I'm a pretty sane, rational person. *sigh* I've said it so many times before, but RPS is hard, yo.
8) Dudes, it is beyond past time for me to win the lottery, y/y/mfy??? Jobs are dumb, even if they don't actually massively suck. And besides, I'd fund the shit out of the OTW, and it would be paid accounts all around, and I'd spend at least 6 months just driving around the country visiting a bunch of you in my new super gas-efficient hybrid car. And then the next 6 months leaving a larger carbon footprint by flying around the world to visit the rest of you. That would be good times, right??? I'm buyin' some lottery tickets this weekend. I haven't paid the poor people's fantasy tax in a while.
9) Truly, I am 41. I've been thinking about how, with leaving my thirties, I have finally stopped internally feeling "young." I actually feel middle-aged, and I'm into it. But it's different! I guess I couldn't even really tell you what I mean by "young" and "middle-aged," not exactly, but I did identify with youth and youngness in a different way than I do now, up through my thirties--though I do still identify with youth and youngness, but in a more "solidarity" kind of way. Anyway, it's interesting.
10 is long) I kind of can't believe how hilarious Mitt Romney's campaign is. I mean, I really thought it couldn't get any better than the Republican primary, but it turns out Romney's campaign on its own is just as funny. Of course, both are utterly terrifying and appalling, as much as they are hilarious. But: funny! Lots of funny!
I think our whole country is traumatized from the Reagan through GW Bush era, with Clinton as a complacency-inducing "moderate" period in the middle, that really served to push the electable Democratic Party further to the right in the long-term, *sigh*, BUT. Obama is still the moderate, electable politician who gives me the most hope I've ever had that we can pull off this United States of America thing in a way that at least doesn't hasten our own self-destruction and the destruction of the world at large. And the meltdown of the Republican Party makes me start engaging in the mild form of magical thinking that involves moral notions of fated comeuppance, but the former preschool teacher in me is screaming LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES MOTHERFUCKERS, FEEL THEM, UNDERSTAND THEM, GET USED TO THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL NEVER STOP BITING YOU IN THE ASS. IT'S CALLED LEARNING AND BECOMING A GROWN-UP YOU ASSHOLES, SO PAY THE FUCK ATTENTION TO WHAT'S HAPPENING. Heh.
Seriously, though, none of this means I think that Obama is a shoe-in for the actual election. No, no, I'm way too cynical about the potential for huge sums of Republican money to influence an electorate that is so often uninformed in crucial ways because our media sucks, and also because we can't discount the effect of vote-suppression tactics by the Republican party that may not be effectively addressed and countered before the election. But I feel like even if Romney wins (which, whoah, we are fuuuuuucked, but), the Republican Party is currently experiencing the direct consequences of the political strategies they have intentionally and knowingly employed (with well-funded think tanks for their intellectuals and everything!) for decades, and that's not going to just go away if Romney wins. So, long-term hopeful, short-term tentatively hopeful.
It's such a pleasure to see a Democratic campaign, and Democrats more generally, being so effective and apparently motivated by principle, though. It's not right that it took the Democratic Party such a long, long time to step up and stand for something. I guess more recently they've probably been as shell-shocked from the GW Bush years as the rest of us. I expect more from my elected representatives, honestly, and at least they're getting their shit together now. Because, I mean, Harry Reid! Badass! And, really, who ever thought you could say that about Harry Reid?!
And that's 10 things, so I'm out. But I miss you guys! Hey!!!
[This entry was originally posted at http://arallara.dreamwidth.org/167938.html. For now, please comment in either journal, but I encourage you to use OpenID at Dreamwidth--it's super easy! What is an OpenID account?.]
I was talking to someone recently about my relationship to fandom, and my issues around being social and trying to keep fandom a low-pressure space for myself. It was good to put together some of those feelings!
So, in the spirit of trying to keep fandom a low-pressure space for myself, some random things:
1) I really loved this last episode of White Collar! OH MOZZIE. MOTHERFUCKING SHADOW PUPPETS. NEAL LOVES HIM SO MUCH THE TEARS IN HIS EYES THE TEEEAAARRSSS. OH MY GOOOOOODDD!!!! ♥____♥ The scene of Mozzie in the smoking jacket in the secret room made my heart swell with fondness. I'm always a sucker for a good conspiracy narrative, especially a historical conspiracy narrative. And it was super great to see Mozzie and Elizabeth interact again! And Mozzie and Peter! And I never tire of Peter and Neal dealing with each other re: Mozzie. I don't know, I'm really enjoying this season in general. Nice and light and maybe they're recycling the Peter/Neal trust stuff again, but what's interesting to me about this round is Peter's character growth. I still ♥ them a lot, just generally, so I'm good with just being along for the ride and enjoying the chemistry, as long as the writers don't do anything to actively piss me off. Which, not so far this season! \o/
2) This Avengers story made me cry on my lunch break the other day: Average Avengers Local Chapter 7 of New York City. I'm not reading a ton of Steve/Tony (yet, I'm sure!) and that dynamic was actually way secondary, for me, to the Steve Rogers character stuff. Sometimes I just ♥ that dude so much. *sigh* He pushes all my Always Strive To Be Your Best Self buttons so hard, and this is a nice earnest!Steve, without falling into an overly naive characterization. When I got to the list of blog entries from the various Average Avengers, I legit teared up. I don't know, that felt like a really nice kind of hippie, John-Lennon's-Imagine type of fantasy, in a way I can totally get behind. Like, what if we did all just strive to be our best selves all the time, and helped each other out, and, you know, practiced random acts of kindness, for justice? Right??? That wouldn't suck! Anyway. Oh, Steve Rogers. I can definitely get behind you as an earnest union-supporting kind of do-gooder.
3) If any of you have Fx network, you might want to check this guy out: W. Kamau Bell, a comic who appears to be the television protégé of Chris Rock, with Rock producing his news commentary/interview show on Fx called "Totally Biased." He's really smart and funny, but he's also kind of sweet and dorky in a way that I'm already crushing on. Also, he had Rachel Maddow on for an interview, and he completely fanboyed out. They were ADORABLE together.
4) Other things what I am watching: Lost Girl, Leverage, Daily Show and Colbert, Rachel Maddow (♥♥♥!!!), soon to be my Community season 3 dvds, like maybe this weekend. And, um, possibly two One Direction dvds that I bought. Also, some movies! Finally watched Shelter, 21 Jump St, Bridesmaids, and Attack the Block. And I loved them all in different ways!
5) Things what I am reading fanfiction-wise: Mostly Avengers right now. In the last couple weeks or so, lots of Clint/Phil, a fair amount of Steve/Tony, some Bruce and various people, some Steve and various people, some Natasha gen and friendship stories. But my tastes have already shifted some since I started reading, and I expect they will continue to shift around since this seems to be a fairly multi-pairing fandom for me. That's how it seems to work when I'm in a multi-pairing kind of place--I go through phases with different pairings and then back again, by mood. I'm also still reading some Sherlock, and I'm reading some One Direction, though I've mostly only read a small number of Harry/Louis stories. RPS canon is so rich and abundant that I sometimes don't find myself reading as much fic in those fandoms. I get my narrative fix from the interviews and gif sets and picpsams and fannish theories. I've been reading some Merlin again lately, and even some Harry Potter, in the category of "fandoms that just won't go away." I occasionally read some Eagle of the Ninth/The Eagle movie fic, and I read Community fic whenever there is any.
6) And related to how much fic I've been reading, I bought a Kindle! Thank you,
gblvr and
justacat, for talking to me about Kindles at the last Con.txt! After their super helpful explanations and advice about different options, I went with the basic Kindle with no ads. I couldn't be happier! Great for bus commutes, lunch breaks, and bedtime reading. I got a little clip-on light, and it works fine with my bedroom light off. Such a joy to be able to read fanfiction in bed, and really truly perfect for commutes.
7) The current drama in One Direction fandom is bumming me out, and I'm writing a defense of tinhatters/tinhatting in my head that may or may not make its way out of my head. Yes, a defense of tinhatters, and you guys all know I'm a pretty sane, rational person. *sigh* I've said it so many times before, but RPS is hard, yo.
8) Dudes, it is beyond past time for me to win the lottery, y/y/mfy??? Jobs are dumb, even if they don't actually massively suck. And besides, I'd fund the shit out of the OTW, and it would be paid accounts all around, and I'd spend at least 6 months just driving around the country visiting a bunch of you in my new super gas-efficient hybrid car. And then the next 6 months leaving a larger carbon footprint by flying around the world to visit the rest of you. That would be good times, right??? I'm buyin' some lottery tickets this weekend. I haven't paid the poor people's fantasy tax in a while.
9) Truly, I am 41. I've been thinking about how, with leaving my thirties, I have finally stopped internally feeling "young." I actually feel middle-aged, and I'm into it. But it's different! I guess I couldn't even really tell you what I mean by "young" and "middle-aged," not exactly, but I did identify with youth and youngness in a different way than I do now, up through my thirties--though I do still identify with youth and youngness, but in a more "solidarity" kind of way. Anyway, it's interesting.
10 is long) I kind of can't believe how hilarious Mitt Romney's campaign is. I mean, I really thought it couldn't get any better than the Republican primary, but it turns out Romney's campaign on its own is just as funny. Of course, both are utterly terrifying and appalling, as much as they are hilarious. But: funny! Lots of funny!
I think our whole country is traumatized from the Reagan through GW Bush era, with Clinton as a complacency-inducing "moderate" period in the middle, that really served to push the electable Democratic Party further to the right in the long-term, *sigh*, BUT. Obama is still the moderate, electable politician who gives me the most hope I've ever had that we can pull off this United States of America thing in a way that at least doesn't hasten our own self-destruction and the destruction of the world at large. And the meltdown of the Republican Party makes me start engaging in the mild form of magical thinking that involves moral notions of fated comeuppance, but the former preschool teacher in me is screaming LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES MOTHERFUCKERS, FEEL THEM, UNDERSTAND THEM, GET USED TO THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL NEVER STOP BITING YOU IN THE ASS. IT'S CALLED LEARNING AND BECOMING A GROWN-UP YOU ASSHOLES, SO PAY THE FUCK ATTENTION TO WHAT'S HAPPENING. Heh.
Seriously, though, none of this means I think that Obama is a shoe-in for the actual election. No, no, I'm way too cynical about the potential for huge sums of Republican money to influence an electorate that is so often uninformed in crucial ways because our media sucks, and also because we can't discount the effect of vote-suppression tactics by the Republican party that may not be effectively addressed and countered before the election. But I feel like even if Romney wins (which, whoah, we are fuuuuuucked, but), the Republican Party is currently experiencing the direct consequences of the political strategies they have intentionally and knowingly employed (with well-funded think tanks for their intellectuals and everything!) for decades, and that's not going to just go away if Romney wins. So, long-term hopeful, short-term tentatively hopeful.
It's such a pleasure to see a Democratic campaign, and Democrats more generally, being so effective and apparently motivated by principle, though. It's not right that it took the Democratic Party such a long, long time to step up and stand for something. I guess more recently they've probably been as shell-shocked from the GW Bush years as the rest of us. I expect more from my elected representatives, honestly, and at least they're getting their shit together now. Because, I mean, Harry Reid! Badass! And, really, who ever thought you could say that about Harry Reid?!
And that's 10 things, so I'm out. But I miss you guys! Hey!!!
[This entry was originally posted at http://arallara.dreamwidth.org/167938.html. For now, please comment in either journal, but I encourage you to use OpenID at Dreamwidth--it's super easy! What is an OpenID account?.]