burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness

Created on 2002-04-01 17:23:50 (#513957), last updated 2009-08-18
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I hung out with Allie yesterday afternoon, and she asked me about WriterCon.  I said that one problem is that I've been really fandom adjacent in recent years.

I said that during the Fandom Roundtable, I found myself thinking, "Yes, so in fandom as in church, the stories we tell are so important," and I knew that what I really wanted to be talking about was Christianity.

I told Allie that it was weird, because when I'm in the "real world," I feel like fandom is where I live -- that the ways I engage with texts are so rooted in that, for example, and it's literally sometimes weird to me.

Allie said, "Fandom is where you come from, it's just not where you live right now."  So true.

On Friday, a friend of mine was saying that Burn Notice is on its third episode ("season," I corrected him) and hasn't been nominated for an Emmy.  I started talking about how I've learned that the Emmys are so ridiculous ... "Buffy didn't get an Emmy nom until its fifth season," and he laughed, and I said, "You mock," in this tone that implied I would fight him if he did, but he said, "No, you know all the lingo..."

[Addendum/Correction: It was actually nominated for "Hush," which was Season Four; I think I'd been thinking of "The Body" -- which did not get an Emmy nod.  And yes I know it got lots of noms for makeup and whatever, but I wasn't thinking of that at the time, because when people say Emmy noms they mean like writing/directing/acting.]

Though the past few weeks, my energy has been sapped by the weather and by loving people through their pain, so even church isn't necessarily where I live this days.

5:49:23 last night.  I think that may be a record for us.  Gotta love phones that you can plug in and charge while still talking on the phone.

I will likely be ded of omfgbbq packed schedule of programming, but it occurred to me that I could go to church on Sunday morning.  Ari found me a church (2mi from the hotel, but given -- among other things -- that it will be August, I think I will get a cab).

***

flight plan

Thursday, July 30
Sun Country flight #252 BOS-MSP
11:15am - 1:15pm
0 Stops
    Elapsed Time  3 hr 0 min
(arriving at Humphrey)

Monday, August 3
Sun Country flight #251 MSP-BOS
06:55 AM - 10:30 AM
0 Stops
    Elapsed Time  2 hr 35 min

***

I do not anticipate being on the internet while I'm out there, but if there's something you want me to read/respond to while I'm out there you can txt/call me and I'll borrow someone's laptop.  You can also call if you just need to talk to me.

If I die (WHICH WILL TOTALLY NOT HAPPEN), I have left Ari my relevant passwords and contact info for notifications and funeral planning.

I opted to take the #66 out to Amy even though it would take about the same amount of time as walk/Red Line/Green Line and I'd be more likely to get to read on the subway.  I did actually get to read a fair amount and I snagged a seat partway through.  I remember being awake at Coolidge Corner.  And then it was Malcolm X Boulevard and I wondered if this was too far.  And a couple stops later we were at Dudley Station.  Oops.  Almost immediately I saw a #14 bus to Heath St./Huntington pull in, so I hopped on that, saw a bit of scenic Roxbury, and then hopped on the E Line.

I picked up books for Ari, and a metric fuckton of alcohol for our party (housemate says now the only alcohol we need to buy for the party is some more rum).

On my way back on Longwood Ave., I saw an M2.  \o/  So I took that back to the Red Line, then got out at Davis, had dinner (outside) at Mr. Crepe with L. (who drove me home afterward), called Ari, and now I get to go to bed before midnight :D

***

( joy sadhana )

( gym )
Yup, having sufficiently distracting tv really helps.

vh1:
Beyoncé's "If I Were a Boy" is interesting (and points to her for correct use of the subjunctive!).
I am not a fan of Fall Out Boy's "I Don't Care."

I spent much of my workday today catching up.  And I will get to do that all over again on Wednesday.  Tuesday holiday = weird.  Though it means I have a real day to prepare for RED class, so I can't complain.  And extension school has no classes (though the b-school does have classes) so I can have coffee with L.

I went grocery shopping after work (I forgot some stuff on Saturday) and omg Shaw's has egg nog (and sparkling cider and Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes).  Hai, it is holiday season.

***
via maechi: FOX's midseason schedule.

On Friday, Feb. 13, FOX presents a thrilling new action-packed lineup featuring the return and time period premiere of TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and the highly anticipated series premiere of Joss Whedon's DOLLHOUSE (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

And more not-optimistic news about Dollhouse.  [Fox's scheduling guru claims the less-competitive Friday timeslot will give the show a chance to develop an audience.  I don't know how that plays into the logic of moving The Sarah Connor Chronicles, now in its second season, from Monday night to Friday night -- though I said since the fall schedule came out that putting SCC up against Heroes was a stupid idea for both networks, since the two shows had such similar target audiences. edit: Heh, Heroes' two-hour season premiere totally threw me and I failed to register that its usual timeslot is 9pm -- even though that's what it was in seasons past. /edit]  (I think the Dollhouse premise has so much potential for badness, so while I'll definitely be watching it, I am not saddened about the FOX curse this time around.)  Apparently Jonatha Brooke is doing the theme song? [via whedonesque]

In doing "blue drinks and dancing girls" planning ahead for WriterCon 2009, I GoogleMapped strip clubs around the Radisson.  My vote is for Augies Bourbon Street Cabaret.  (Other people should research dance clubs, since that was one of the acceptable interpretations of "dancing girls" last time.) Edit: *facepalm* I have a bad habit of forgetting that I have flisters who, y'know, have actual experience with Minneapolis. Please do chime in. /edit

secret_slasha signups are open.  I am undecided as to whether I want to play, in large part because I don't even know what I would request.  (You request two same-sex pairings and one "pair with any same-sex character" character.)

This morning at the gym I was chatting with Joy -- about baseball and Seven Sisters and stuff. I said we should have coffee sometime and she said yeah and took my email address. Everyone is so frakking busy (myself included). Lizzy from RED class and I are gonna have coffee at Crema Cafe this coming Tuesday, and Laurel and I agreed that we should hang out and talk religion sometime. Katie and I agree we should hang out more. I got a Starbucks card with $5 on it (promo giveaway outside the T Wednesday evening), which means I can try out the salted caramel hot chocolate Megan recommended.

Though I haven't been entirely unsocial. I mean, Katie and I did dinner+Target Tuesday of last week. [Sidebar: Housemate says Linens 'n' Things has gone bankrupt and is liquidating.] I phoned with Cat this evening, and tomorrow after volunteering at the CHPC flea market I'll be heading to JP to hang out with Laura Ruth and other UCC Somerville folk. And next weekend I'll be in Norwood.

muskratjamboree update: jadelennox and fox1013 have expressed interest in persuading me to go, and marginaliana has decided to try to go, which may may tip me into the Yes column. Registration opens Sat. Oct. 25, so I have a little time yet to make up my mind -- though then the next question would be rooming since even though it's local I should probably live at the con for maximum value (edit: apparently you can't book rooms until January, so that gives me a significant amount of time). My big issue is that my entire exposure to the Canadian Actor Mafia is Ellen Page in X-Men 3/Juno/The Tracey Fragments and a few RPS fics -- oh, and like two and a half episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Though I swear I do actually want to watch Wilby Wonderful and Hard Candy.

Also, note to self: Writercon 2009 tickets go on sale at noon EST on Oct. 30.

I keep forgetting to do final confirming steps for booking flights, but the first weekend in January I'll be in San Francisco. I'm planning to see sk8eeyore&drinkeroftea. Anyone else?

I woke up at 7:06 this morning.  Ideally I'm out of the house about ten minutes prior to that.  So in the interest of getting a shower and stuff, no gym for me today.  (Jonah and I were doing dinner at Veggie Planet between work and class, so after work wasn't a gym option.)

Veggie Planet = still tasty.  I got a tofu peanut curry rice dish.  And cinnamon apple tea.

And then we went to TeaLuxe and got their seasonal hot chocolate + chai.  (On the counter woman's recommendation, I got Tra Que Chai -- cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon.  He got Kashmiri Chai, which smelled very minty.)

While waiting to cross JFK St. back to the T, a woman informed us about a demonstration or something.  I didn't take a flyer, but as we began to cross the street she told us about how millions of children are being drugged and it's a hoax.  I said, "I would argue, but I have to go to class."  She said that she knew this was true because she took care of her five-and-a-half-year-old grandson and they wanted to medicate him and she proved that he didn't need it.  I said that while some children are medicated when they don't need it, that medication is arguably overprescribed, I don't think all children are overmedicated.  She said most are, millions of children -- and poor children, not children of the upper-middle-class.  (I appreciated that at least she had an eye toward the systemically disadvantaged and wasn't just complaining about yuppies who really wanted toys more than children and should never have been allowed to breed in the first place.)  So I fulfilled my day's quota of engaging strangers in discussion.  (Possibly I need a new tag for this?)

***

Class was wicked dull.  I literally pulled out my copy of James Fraser's Between Church and State to read partway through.

The prof talked about trade and stuff and how one factor is negotiating and how when you intensely demand something, the supplier can demand a very high price (hence why it's a bad idea to fall in love).  I wanted to say, "But as long as the buyer thinks the good is worth the price paid, then both sides are still gaining.  Yes you want to claim as much of the pie as possible, but as long as you're still within the ZOPA you're coming out ahead."  But I mean, he knew that -- we were talking about comparative advantage and stuff, and how specialization and trade make both parties better off even if one party gains more than the other party does.

He talked about free trade and Cuba and suggested that no one's really gaining from the trade sanctions and SmartStudent said, "You underestimate the importance of Florida in every election [...] Cuban expats."

Someone asked if the supply and demand curves ever actually look like curves rather than just straight lines.  The prof said yes, that this model is an oversimplification, said, "People are not straight."  And we all laughed, him included.  He rephrased it as, "People do not behave linearly all the time."

***

Jessie wrote:

I have these moments with pretty much anyone I know even reasonably well, but the more I know someone, the more I find myself picking out those things. Moments where I think "would X still be X if she didn't do this thing that I can't even quite describe?" (Would Elizabeth be Elizabeth without talking to strangers about Marx and religion on the T? Would Emi be Emi without the way she blows her nose in the morning?)

I thought of this when I got cc-ed on an email from Nicole to B:

I had forgotten the true extent of my dorkiness and find myself leaping out of bed every morning, though still overwhelmed (in a good way) with all the things I can learn in just one day... On that note, I also have some readings to send you/Sara that reminded me of MONV, and which might help frame the discussion next semester.

Yes, she is no longer working here and is still talking about helping improve B's course.  (I think one reason the both of us worked well together is that we're both crazy like that.)

***

soundingsea is talking about writercon 2009 again, and now that my summer is over I'm actually in the mindset to be excited about that.

Next year is totally going to be the year of long weekend trips.

Reconciling Ministries Network's 10th Convocation is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend (September 4-7, 2009) at the YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park, Colorado.

I feel confident that WriterCon will not be scheduled for Labor Day weekend, so yay for not having to choose between the queer Methodists and fandom.

I remain undecided as to muskratjamboree.  Last year I felt like I should go because it's local, but from who signed up it felt like it was gonna be DueSouthCon or something -- which is fine, but which has no appeal for me.  Hanging out with local fen would of course be cool, but I feel like I would be better served hanging out with them in other contexts.  And "a slash-oriented comm con" doesn't especially help sell me either.
    Muskrat Jamboree 2009! A multi-fandom, slash-oriented con! April 3rd and 4th, 2009!
    Registration will go live on October 25th, 2008 and will be limited to 140 people. The registration fee will be $80.00 US.

***

email forward from my mom:

MY LIVING WILL

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her, 'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

She got up, unplugged the Computer, and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch

***

I thought JennyO was kidding when she referred to Lindsay Lohan as a a baby queer, but apparently not.  (And from the same Jenpost, Ckat Aiken is probably officially gay.)