Insert "Hump Day" pun here.

Well, the morning commute was no big deal (I'd guess about an inch of snowfall and the flakes falling were small, though kinda coarse), but I expect the evening commute to be worse with the whole freezing rain thing. Again, though, I have no expectations. I was glad to hear that Katie agreed with me that she honestly would not have been surprised if she woke up this morning to no snow.

I think a bouquet of black [or some approximation thereto] tulips would be fabulous, but honestly I've been happy with complete non-engagement with this Hallmark holiday.

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The femslash_today "love bites" porn battle was up to 3 pages already yesterday [it went live on Sunday], though I was unimpressed by the quality when I skimmed said pages.

There are a huge number of prompts. There are no BSC prompts, and in HP no McGonagall (or Tonks, now that I think of it) prompts. I disapprove.

Some of the prompts are really intriguing, though, and I may snag them for development into fuller ideas later.

Also, Eden in Heroes? Totally hadn't occurred to me until I saw her name in the prompts for that fandom that one could do really interesting stuff given her power. [I am feeling oddly squicky about writing Claire-porn. Though apparently not squicked enough, since I wrote Eden/Claire -- though it turns out I'd misread the prompt, which was actually Eden/Charlie. Oops.]

I also endorse the The "Imperfect Sex Is Not the End of the World" Challenge.

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Oh, speaking of VDay.

I am frustrated that something that is supposed to empowering etc. for women uses incorrect terminology for girly bits. I'm speaking, of course, of the Vagina Monologues.

To quote Wiki, In common speech, the term "vagina" is often used inaccurately to refer to the vulva or female genitals generally; strictly speaking, the vagina is a specific internal structure and the vulva is the exterior genitalia only.

I know I'm being a prescriptivist, but I like language being precise. I mean, if a perfectly good word already exists, why use a word that doesn't mean that?

This doesn't even touch my discomfort with that weird anthropomorphization of one's girly bits, which also (to my mind) has shades of defining one by one's bits.

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P.S. All y'alls who dislike LJ's VDay style know you can switch out of Horizon, right? [Yes, I know, some people actually like Horizon and that doesn't mean they should be forced to endure holiday decoration schemes. I am personally anti-pink, but what little I saw before I logged in this morning I actually didn't mind as much as I'd expected to given the outcry.]

Also, why did no one tell me there are new LJ gift options including a ripped-out heart and a black rose? [Oh, it didn't even show up on news until like 10:30am Pacific today. That would do it.]

Edit: Okay, I approve of the Google Doodle. /edit

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Looking ahead to other holidays:

Join IHOP to celebrate National Pancake Day (also known as Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday) on Tuesday, February 20, 2007. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., we'll give you one free short stack (three) of our famous buttermilk pancakes. All we ask is that you consider making a donation to support local children's hospitals through Children's Miracle Network, or other local charities.

[...]

There is a limit of one free short stack per guest. The offer is valid at participating restaurants for dine-in only while supplies last, and is not valid with any other offer, special, coupon or discount.

How do you know which restaurants are participating? 'Cause I was recently reminded that there is an IHOP in Harvard Square. Though I don't really like anyone's pancakes except my mom's sourdough anyway.

"(Some scientists say) That Pluto is a 'trans-Neptunian interloper' swept away by an unknown force"

I did some minor work on the Course Platform for one of FormerUnitHead's doctoral classes and he used the phrase "super-fantastic."  I also tweaked the citations 'cause the inconsistencies were making me twitchy.  I asked him, "Is there a citation format that you... use?" and he good-naturedly replied, "Are you implying that I might be a little inconsistent?"  I admitted that no one else was ever gonna care (though I told Alyssa and she shared my pain, as I knew she would) and he did say, "I'm sorry it bothers you."  He also said he would offer to drive me to the T but he was going in the opposite direction and had to get his daughter to her piano lesson (he'd taken her car 'cause she had no school and her car has four-wheel-drive).

Around 2:30 this afternoon our tech commented that it looked like it was turning to rain and said, "Rain is good, right?"  I very much disagreed, pointing out that it would freeze overnight.  What I had not considered was the mass of puddles it would cause, which was in fact the bane of my commute home.  (It was really windy when we left the building, but that quickly dissipated, and the rain was basically mist.)  I went by CAUMC and there were lights on inside but the door was locked, so rather than ring the bell I opted out of the possibility that bible study was happening and continued on my way home to check out my stairs.  By the time I got home the the bottoms of my pants were frozen.  That was interesting.

The stairs were moderately clear, but I'm not sure whether that was due to any shoveling effort or just the rain.  The shovel we have on the porch has a weird bend in it which I'm sure is some ergonomic thing, but I don't know how to use it, so it makes me feel incompetent and weak.  However, I got the stairs fairly well cleared off.

We are on to the second bag of de-icing crystals, and I noted it was already opened and was about half-full of a solid hunk of crystal.  Le sigh.  I had to do some grocery shopping anyway, and FoodMaster was of course out of de-icing stuff.  Hopefully tomorrow morning won't be too treacherous.

Damn, I forgot to look for Dramamine.  (I didn't see any at Brooks yesterday.)  Also, I hear the new AXM came out today.  Must pick that up at some point.

Wow, that was more weather-related content than you probably ever needed.

In other news, this post made me all sappy.

And yes, I committed porn.

Work tomorrow and then root canal commences a 4-day weekend.  Weirdness.