get me off this crazy thing

It's Sunday, which is traditionally the day of the week in which I get my butt out of bed far too early for a 9am riding lesson, but it rained Friday night here in SoCal and therefore the riding arenas are still crapola. So! I am back in bed and it feels WONDERFUL. (Although I did get up and got mostly dressed and had breakfast in anticipation before getting official word, but that's okay)

Cable was showing Rocky Horror Picture Show this morning. That's both rather wonderful and kind of wrong at the same time. That's a movie that belongs to the night.

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I have NOT started my hlh_shortcut story yet. WOE. I have been trying to decide what to write.... meep.

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I have done with the audio book of Northanger Abbey (love love love) and am now on Persuasion, read by Greta Scacchi and she's kind of amazing. In between I listened to Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which was very interesting and not at all what I expected.

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Last Sunday, to contrast with the slothness of this Sunday, I participated in my riding schools Halloween Fall horse show. I rode in all 4 adult Walk/Trot/Canter classes (Equitation/Pleasure, an Elimination Command class [ you have 3 strides to do what the judges says before elimination], and an Equitation Challenge class [half way through you swap horses])

I did pretty good, my horse Flip Flop (haha. okay, his real name is Flipside) was a little, um, excited, and he spooked during the Pleasure class, but we got 1st in the Command and Challenge, so that was pretty neat.

here are pictures! The last pic is of me on Arrow during the Challenge class, but he's a chestnut thoroughbred like Flipster so you can hardly tell.

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( cut for Halloween pics )

is that, to most in the social networking line of work, creating interconnected-ness is desirable, because it's all about being seen and stuff, catering to that insatiable vibe. Moar moar moar. Meaning, LJ is just riding the same wave everyone else on on the intarwebs is. Unfortunately, fandom swims upstream.

Personally, I just can't muster up the proper amount of indignation. Sadly, I think I'm too lazy. lol. Or maybe I'm too zen. All things, good and bad, eventually pass. It's all a matter of degree. (And, you know, it's like getting mad a snake for being a snake). I x-post from DW, and that's about all I can do.

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Burn Notice is a lot of fun, and I truly enjoy watching it. I've motored through season 1 and 2, just started season 3. As enjoyable as it is, however, I find that all the episodes rather blend together. The overall arc of Michael getting to the bottom of his burn notice is clear and I can follow that very well, but all the rest of it? The clients and the jobs and all that? Are entertaining but interchangeable. Not that this is a bad thing. It's the same with Leverage. Makes the show a candy snack, which is good. Especially when you actually have good actors and decent writing.

Also, they make Miami look so shiny.

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I checked out an audio book for Emma from the library and fell in love with it all over again. haha. It's so *delightful*. I own the Gweneth Paltrow film, but then had to netflix the Kate Beckingsale version, which has it's own charms, not least of which is Mark Strong as Mr. Knightley. (OMG LOVE). I have the most recent version waiting for me -- Romala Garai as Emma and Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley (JLM also played Edmund Bertrum in the theatrical Mansfield Park. I find JLM a bit too... pretty and delicate looking for my leading men, but we'll see).

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( I saw Inception )

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I recently finished listening to the audiobooks version of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which I highly recommend.

It's also about to be released as a film (sometime in Sept.) staring Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, and Andrew Garfield.

( Read more... )

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Incidentally, I just realized that Carey Mulligan played Kitty Bennet in the recent 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice. I mean, I knew Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow on DW for years now, and of course I know she's been very fortunate in her career of late, but I TOTALLY had no clue ALL THIS TIME that she was also Kitty Bennet. You guys, you don't understand how many times I have watched that film! LOTS. And I never put two and two together.

She was a tad plumper back then. Which is saying something because she's rail thin now.

This makes 2 Bennet sisters who have appeared on DW. The other is Miss Evangilista who was Mary Bennet. And interestingly enough, both were Moffat episodes.... hm. Of course, I seriously doubt Jenna Malone will appear on DW, and it'd be pretty surprising of Keira Knightley ever did.

So, I was gonna complain and whine, and groan, and point fingers and cry and stomp my feet, and wail, and generally have a pissy fit, but then I suddenly realized I didn't care (total lie, btw *g*) and I'm much more dignified than that (another lie) so I made a cup of tea and I'm going to watch an hour of Fry In America.

(ack! He just did a segment in Kentucky with Thoroughbred breeder Tom Van Meter. haha.)

(eta: aawww. Stephen is terrified of riding. *hugs him*)

Also, Lost in Austen is equal parts wonderful and ridiculous, with a good healthy dash of absurd thrown in. It's rather scandalous but I think I would love to read hot Amanda Price/Fitzwilliam Darcy porn. *facepalm*

I'm bored and I have a heap of work to do. So, for no reason other than it makes me happy, I feel like making a list of my top ten fannish loves, one for the men, and one for the women.

Men:

1. Duncan MacLeod (Highlander)
2. Methos (Highlander)
3. Roger Lococco (Wiseguy)
4. Tony Almeida (24)
5. Captain Jack Sparrow (PotC)
6. Fitzwilliam Darcy (P&P)
7. George Knightley (Emma)
8. Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey)
9. Jack Bauer (24)
10. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (ST: TNG)

*cough* Um, 2 Immortals, 2 Captains, 3 Regency Gentlemen, 3 Government Agents. What this says about me, I don't know and I'm scared to find out.

Women:

1. Elizabeth Bennet (P&P)
2. Elizabeth Swann (PotC)
3. Sydney Bristow (Alias)
4. Amanda (Highlander)
5. Michelle Dressler (24)
6. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)
7. Ozma (Oz Books)
8. Martha Jones (Doctor Who)
9. Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)
10. Donna Noble (Doctor Who)


yay, lists are comforting.

1) I'm being given an office! They're moving me tomorrow. I'm sort of excited. It's the worst office in the building, but it's an office. No windows. I need something lovely and bright to hang on the walls.

2) Aside from the office, I'm still pretty vague on the details of my new job, including actual job description and pay grade. It's not really anyone's fault, the move is happening before the job details could be fleshed out, and my new boss has a massive deadline this friday for this really big thing, so she hasn't had the time. One day I will be out of limbo.

3) I saw Richie Ryan's actor during my lunch hour today, walking with a determined grimace, looking for all the world like he had to go take someone's head and wasn't very pleased about it. lol. It's a good thing the encounter was super brief (I only walked past him) or I'm afraid I might have broken out into hysterical laughter.

4) There is something deeply amusing (and also very wrong) that I now find watching older episodes of 24 soothing and relaxing.

5) A co-worker of mine gave me Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to read. You guys, it's illustrated. Lizzy is an ass-kicking zombie killer. They refer to the zombies as "unmentionables". At one point (I've only read a few chapters) Mr. Bennet goes "Girls! Pentagram of Death!" and all 5 sisters form a pentagram holding out sharp knifes and kill all of the zombies that attack during the Meyrton Assembly dance scene.

At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn and said, "How pleasant it is to spend an evening this way! I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!"

"Spoken like one who has never known the ecstasy of holding a still-beating heart in her hand," said Darcy.

Miss Bingley--who was quite used to having her lack of combat training impugned--made no reply.

I have no words. Except LOVE. And also <3 <3 <3 Darcy <3 <3 <3.

ETA: I have to add this additional quote:

Do you prefer reading to cards?" said he; "that is rather singular."

"I prefer a great many things to cards, Mr. Hurst," said Elizabeth; "Not least of which is the sensation of a newly sharpened blade as it punctures the round belly of a man."

Mr. Hurst was silent for the remainder of the evening.

dude. I'm loving this book. It's a bit hastily done in parts, but it's brilliant otherwise.

I be watching TV and stuff. You know, I really enjoyed this past fall when I wasn't watching any broadcast/appointment TV at all; that was nice. I have such a love/hate relationship with my television, I cannot even tell you. Its this feeling that I'm chained to the whims of other people. :/ But *all* the shows I profess to watch returned from long hiatuses all at once. hrmph. Thank goodness Doctor Who is on hiatus. haha.


Stuff I'm watching, yay:

24: I'm high on the Jack/Tony love. Can't help it. We're only 5 hours in. Hold me? I forgot how hard it is to watch this show as it airs, waiting a whole week. I caved and started watching Day 1 again to get my fix, and omg Tony is so skinny and pissy, hee. Thankfully, I'm much less of a basketcase this season. Day 6 was painful, yo. With Day 7, I'm sure there are going to be some big blows -- I'm worried for all of them. ( TICKY-CLOCK SPOILERS )

BSG: Ah yes, Battlestar Galactica. I did watch Sometimes a Great Notion and then remembered how unrelentingly dark and dismal and bleak and lack-of-hope this show is. It makes 24 look like sunshine and rainbows and puppy dogs frolicking with unicorns in comparison. ( I AM THE FINAL CYLON )

Lost: ( Time Traveling Bunny Rabbits )

Merlin: OH! So *here's* where all the sunshine and puppy dogs and unicorns and fairytales went to, quite literally. :D :D I've read so many versions of the Arthurian Legend, and this one is just as amusing. I recall reading one version that had 3 sisters for Arthur -- Morgana, Morgaine, and Morgaise, all at once. And another (possibly the same version? can't remember now) where he married twice, to two different Gwens -- Gwenever and Gweneviere. Some that play with the notion that Merlin lives his life going backward in time, one where he was married quite young to Nimue, and others with more magic, some with no magic, etc etc. I'm still fond of that King Arthur film, though that was probably the least Arthurian version of the legend. ( And here I was looking for the sword in the stone. )

And a fannish round up isn't complete unless I talk a little bit about Highlander. Mother and I are still watching the DVDs. She's so much faster than I am, motoring right along and we're now on Season 5. I've forced her to wait to watch with me, because I want to be there when she watches the Horseman Arc. She already barreled through the end of S4, hrmph. So far, she likes Richie (oh dear...), has said Methos is cute and after watching Methos was like "oh he's more my type" (*facepalm*) although finds him a bit too cowardly (AHAHAHAHAAHAHA. *choke*), finds Duncan too broody (*snicker*) but still pretty to look at (well, duh... ), and kind of liked Cassandra (WHAT??). She still pronounced the "w" in "sword". Cracks me up.

I have to catch up on the Sarah Jane Adventures, and I'm very slowly watching Classic Doctor Who -- I'm still on the first Doctor, and just finished The Sensorites OMG, I love the Sensorites. When are they going to be on New Who?? They were hilarious.

I am NOT looking forward to the Torchwood mini-series. I'm debating whether to watch it at all. I may just thoroughly spoil myself and then decide after.

I just recently watched the new ITV version of Northanger Abbey and I adored it. Delightful! It's great to have a better version of that on film, finally. Catherine & Henry 4ever! The best part was the proposal -- one of the sweetest, loveliest, proposal scenes I've ever seen.

The ITV Sense & Sensibility was also rather well done -- not much can outshine the film of S&S, but this version had a great Elinor and a surprisingly lovely Edward. Also, this version has David Morrissey as Colonel Brandon -- NOTHING BAD THERE. He was great, lovely, gorgeous, and also, amusingly, far outshone the Willoughby they'd cast, who was kind of a ninny, in comparison, so it was hard to believe any red-blooded girl would choose that Willoughby over this Brandon. hah.

I also watched the ITV version of Mansfield Park which was, conversely, dreadful, despite Billie Piper being very sweet in it, and actually the Mary Crawford character was more interesting and nuanced than I had assumed it would be (she's usually portrayed in almost characiture-like two dimensions), but still, it sucked. Sigh. I wonder if there will ever be an adaptation of Mansfield Park that doesn't suck donkey balls. The theatrical film from a few years ago was so *immensely* out of character for Fanny, I can't really think of it as MP. The BBC version from the 80s is so dreadfully dull, it's like watching paint dry. bah.

I'm still rereading all of the Oz Books, and am almost done with the next batch of icons for The Marvelous Land of Oz, wheee. I'm rereading The Road to Oz right now, which I always loved although I can't help but find The Shaggy Man a bit creepy. I am bemoaning the lack of readily available fanfiction. I know there are tons of stuff published out there, but I don't have the kind of extra time and cash to hunt all that down. Also, I want fanfiction, the way it exists for all other fandoms, on the internet, with all sorts of pairings, and all sorts of ratings. I've read everything on the Yuletide archive, which is decidedly not enough. FF.net only has 17 stories. *pout*

ETA: I forgot Star Trek: The Next Generation -- I just watched Haven, with the first infamous meeting between Captain Picard and Luxana Troi. *g* HILARIOUS. Luxana Troi always made me uncomfortable because of the mother-embaresses-daughter thing, which was like my life growing up. *g* But, I think I'm going to like her a lot more this time around. Riker is a big nincompoop. Picard is gorgeous. Data is lovely. wheee!

I'm going to run out of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang quotes, at this rate.

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Of possible interest to some folks: France OKs three-strikes piracy effort

The French government has given the green light to the controversial "Internet and creation" law, which is designed to control online piracy.

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And fannish5! I never do these, but I liked this one.

Name 5 characters you didn't like at first, but eventually learned to love.


In no particular order:

1. Fanny Price (Mansfield Park, Jane Austen) -- In actually, it wasn't that I initially didn't like Fanny, although she rather embodies that sort of character who you feel you have to like only because she's so "good", but I didn't feel much love for the entire novel because it's the only one of Austen's books where I *doubted* that Fanny and Edmund were meant to be together (I rather think Edmund is a boob), not in the way the couples in her other novels are meant to be together. But, since then, I've truly begun to think it's one of Austen's better work, and come to appreciate Fanny for the tiny, dark, unpleasent bits in her character.

2. Severus Snape (Harry Potter, JKR) -- Abstractly I understood why HP fandom loves Snape so much, but I certainly didn't care for him until his character became complete with the final book. In the novels, Snape is infinitely fractured and broken and stubbornly mean with a bravery born from love that's a little amazing, with whatever redemption he may recieve never occuring in life. I loved that; and it broke my heart.

3. River Song (Doctor Who) -- I'm still trying to process what I feel about River Song, but I loved her for two reasons: ( spoilers! )

4. Linus Caldwell (Ocean's 11) -- I'm not sure why I have him here, but truly, I seriously didn't like Linus in the first film, but then by the third film I loved him. *shrug* Rather mirrors my disgruntled affection for Matt Damon. *g* bwah.

5. Tom Paris (Star Trek: Voyager) -- I always liked him, but I never ever thought I'd adore the character as much as I do now, starting off a Chakotay girl. I thought Tom Paris was just another blah character like all the others. I remember rolling my eyes over all of the Paris/Kim stories that kept multiplying liek bunnies. ahahaha. Acutally, I never did get into Paris/Kim all that much, but once I twigged to Chakotay/Paris, then I instantly loved him. heh. Sadly, Voyager was rather a gateway fandom for me; I fell fast and hard, but then never spent a lot of time there before moving off to Highlander, although I still, to this day, love the TV show ST: Voy so so much.

dsudis writes, So I was adding some new interests to my LJ profile (because I, uh... have some new interests. Yes.) and found myself feeling defensive every time I typed a female name, thinking, basically, FUCK YOU, SHE'S AWESOME, because I felt as if someone somewhere was going to be criticizing my love for them.

So, anyway, then I made a list of women who make me want to say FUCK YOU, SHE'S AWESOME. They are far from the only women who are awesome, or the only women people need to be told to step off of, but they are the top ten I feel that way about, right now, off the top of my head.

If you want to argue with me about the awesomeness of any of these women, I am afraid I will simply be referring you to the subject line. THAT IS ALL.


1. Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Astrid Peth, Sarah Jane Smith (Doctor Who)

I would list all of the Doctor's female companions, just on principal, even those I have yet to meet.

2. Tyra Collette, Lyla Garrity, Julie Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

All of the women on FNL are awesome, but I love these three in particular.

3. Jane Bennet, Fanny Price, Emma Woodhouse (Jane Austen)

Jane is routinely slagged against for being so sweet and good, and so is Fanny for being weak or too pius or something. Whatever, I love them both. And I love Emma, period. *g*

4. Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato (Torchwood)

I have *huge* issues with TW the series, but I really like these two women, and it feels great to be able to say that.

5. Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan

I hope and pray that both these women rise above their circumstances.

6. Anne Lindsey, Tessa Noel, Amanda Darrieux

Say what you will about Duncan MacLeod but he has a string of awesome girlfriends. *g*

7. Elizbeth Swann Turner (Pirates of the Caribbean)

I love Elizabeth Swann more than I can say.

8. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Star Trek: Voyager)

I never could understand why people dislike Janeway. I certainly don't share the sentiment.

9. Lana Lang (Smallville)

I stopped watching Smallville ages ago, but I always loved Lana.

10. JK Rowling

I deeply respect JKR as a woman and a fellow writer and I always get a little twitchy when I see criticism against her (as apposed to crit against her writing).

ETA: and one more...

11. Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Lavander Brown, Cho Chang, the Patel sisters, Luna Lovegood, Tonks

Look what was waiting for me in my inbox this morning!

Come to Love a Rose
Northanger Abbey
Henry Tilney/Catherine Moreland
written by the lovely mojavedragonfly as a New Years Resolution. FOR ME! *greedy smile*

:D :D :D

( cut for blathering )