 |



 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Somehow I keep getting behind on my shows. I think part of it is that D only watches about half of what I watch, so I'm used to watching On Demand anyway, but last fall when he was in school it was easier because I could catch up the next day while he was gone. Now that he's here most of the time I don't want to either abandon him to watch TV by himself or make him watch something he doesn't care about. So anyway, this morning I finally got caught up on Once Upon A Time, which he actually had been watching but bailed on mid-season because he's smarter than I am. I said I would stick it out to the end of the year just to see where it was going. And, ugh, but the Spike-ification of Regina is going to make me give it up, too. I thought this was going to be a show about the Charmings reclaiming their family and their kingdom, but no, it's yet another show where the heroes have to be stupid so the villain can stay around and ultimately be "redeemed" though some shallow plot-contrived act. Now I need to get caught up on Revenge, but it's also suffering from second-season syndrome. And I don't think it's a coincidence that both shows are all the worse for introducing stupid shadow organizations. It's like there's some kind of seminar on cliches that all writers go to but take away the wrong message from. Or it's like, "Here, watch Buffy from Season Four on and pay attention to everything that ruined the show." "Hey, those things are cool! I'm going to do them in my show, too!" Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: I'll fall with your knife--peter murphy
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |


 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Only three books in April. A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Requiem by Lauren Oliver I read Montmaray based on a rec of "if you loved I Capture the Castle" which is one of my all-time favorite books, and this did have that same kind of feel. I'm looking forward to checking out the next one. I loved Toby. I think it's because I'm the oldest of three girls that I always enjoy older brother characters. And I raced through the rest of the Delirium trilogy to see how it ended. I did think it was much better than the Matched books, but the ending still left me a little "eh". I just don't ever like endings. I was glad to see a rebellion that actually had people doing shit, though. And I knew ( spoilersCollapse )Tags: books 2013 Current Mood: blah Current Music: pretty in pink--psychedelic furs
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |

 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a dear friend who is married but still uses her middle name rather than her maiden name -- i.e., Eloise Adele Trumball, rather than Eloise Deaver Trumball. She swears she has never heard of this convention and that I must be making it up; her mother also doesn’t follow the practice.
I realize I have to let this go; I can’t force her to follow conventions she doesn’t believe in. I would like to know where the practice comes from, however.
GENTLE READER: Your friend might better ask the origin of using the birth name as a middle name, as her name and her mother’s followed the older convention.
The custom was for a lady to change her name upon marriage, not to add on to it. Miss Manners understands the wish of ladies to hold on to their original names as prompting their use as middle names, and often now not changing names at all. Yet the old-fashioned way also deserves respect, and no one should be subject to outside pressure on the choice.Thank you, Miss Manners. I'm one who kept my middle name and dropped my birth/maiden last name altogether when I got married, so I'm MyFirstName MyMiddleName D'sLastName. I've had women tell me I can't possibly be a feminist because I took my husband's name. I say they can't possibly be a feminist if they dare tear me down for making my own damn choice about what my name is. I'm not one of those people whose identity is tied up in my name, anyway. I use lots of different usernames all over the internet. My name is not my identity. My personality is my identity. My thoughts and words and actions are my identity. My name is just what you say so I know you're talking to me. Current Mood: thirsty Current Music: if only--the lightning seeds
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |


 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Because I'm nothing if not cheap, about a month ago I went around to websites for any local/chain restaurants to see if they offered free birthday treats if you signed up for their email list. A couple of them I already have member cards for, which is what gave me the idea. So I've scored: a free entree at Moes (with purchase of a drink) a free 6oz cup at Yogurt Mountain a free cookie at ChickfilA a free pastry at Panera a free beverage at Starbucks a free beverage at Dunkin Donuts (the heck? why not a donut??) a free Nibbler at Zaxbys a free bowl at Genghis Grill and a coupon for Red Lobster, who are even cheaper than me, apparently. Current Mood: grateful Current Music: swing swing--the all-american rejects
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |

 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
If there's one thing I hate about being a homeowner, it's yard work. We spent almost three hours out in the yard this afternoon. There's been so much rain this year that our backyard is like a marsh, but D didn't want to wait any longer, because it's only going to get hotter, so we were out there, stepping out of our shoes and making "glppshfft" sucking sounds as we tried to get around in the mud. Plus, all that water means bugs. Gnats just swarming everywhere. The most useless, insidious bugs. We have a gnat problem about ten months out of the year. I hate them. We worked on weeds, planted flowers, put out ten bags of mulch, trimmed the hedges, mowed the lawn.... D said that's it. We're done. Other than the occasional mow, we're not doing any other yard stuff this year. Get it all over with at once. I swear, I don't understand how people can actually enjoy gardening. Current Mood: exhausted Current Music: brokenhearted in birmingham--ingram hill
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |


 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Four books in March, plus four manga/comics. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple Delirium by Lauren Oliver Ramona's World by Beverly Clearly Replay by Ken Grimwood Dengeki Daisy v11 Stepping on Roses (Hadashi de Bara wo Fume) v9 Nothing But Loving YouArchie: The Married Life book 3 It was funny that while reading Bernadette they had Michelle reading it on Bunheads. I was like, "Yikes, I'm accidentally trendy!" But it was actually good, and while I do not like kids, I might if I had one like Bee. Come on, she has a Zune and loves Xanadu! That's my kind of kid. And so far, Delirium seems to be much better than Matched, so that's one rec out of fifty that's worked for me. I've ordered the next one, so we'll see how that goes. But I was super disappointed in the ending to Hadashi de bara wo fume, and D said he felt like it was rushed to get it finished. That is kinda how it felt. Like, let's introduce a plot twist, and then have that solve everything. Because really, I wanted to see Sumi ( cutCollapse ) I love Ueda's art style and humor, but man, this one ultimately didn't work for me like Tail of the Moon (Tsuki no Shippo) did. Geez, when Eisuke ends up looking like the most competent one, something went wrong. Tags: books 2013 Current Mood: sick Current Music: the shadow of love--the damned
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |

 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
I've been playing Sims for the first time in a few months. D got me Seasons for Christmas. My LukeSim died! He drowned in the pool. During a pool party. Kinda brought down the room. Ironically, he was my superstar athlete sim. I told D this, and he said maybe it was foul play! Was anyone else around? Well, yes, the pool was packed. It was the first time I've ever had a pool party where the sims actually got in the damn pool. Maybe someone held him under! Poor AniseSim is heartbroken now. They were eternally faithful! Now I'll have to find her another rich husband. Fortunately (?) AschSim has been hitting on her. Um, okay then. I'd say poor NataliaSim, but she's been bootycalling GuySim. Seriously, when you call him after midnight asking if he wants to "hang out", what else could that be? Definite BCI. My sims are just a bunch of dirty ducks. Tags: sims Current Mood: crushed Current Music: I'm not afraid of cancer, I'm just afraid of snakes
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |

 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Geez, this month/year is flying by. How is March almost over already? It's spring break for D's school district, so he was going to use the time to contact some other schools/districts in the area. Except he woke up sick on Saturday and has been down for the count all week. So his week "off" has been a total loss. He didn't get to do the networking he wanted to do, and he didn't get to enjoy not going to work. Poor baby. And I'm sucking at getting this chapter in order. I just can't write Tear. I love her, but she's the one dragging me down. I'm setting myself a goal of April 25th to have this chapter done. (If it seems arbitrary, it's right before we leave for our annual trip to Georgia, so that's why.) Also I'm considering going back to my Sofia fic, if this is the kind of stuff being posted to ff.net: midnight love by bea49 reviews is when two different people fall in love but one of them is vampire james and sofiaOnly nine fics on the site, and we've already got a vampire AU. I laughed and showed D and said, "Do I dare read it?" So I clicked on it, and it's basically just two run-on sentences disguised as two paragraphs. Yikes. I mean, I know this is a show aimed at preschoolers, but come on, I wrote better than that when I was five. Current Mood: frustrated Current Music: various disgraces--the blam
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |


 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Well, I do have about 1000 words of the next part of HF written, plus some scribbled in my notebook that hasn't been transferred yet (including an old bit with Nat that was supposed to go in the last chapter but didn't fit, so maybe I can repurpose it here). I am trying to give Tear, if not something to do in the subplot, then at least some bonding time with Nat and some depth to her relationship with Luke, since that's probably the main feedback I've gotten that I've completely agreed with--she needs to have presence somewhere in the story, she's the only one who really hasn't had a good scene. I have no idea how long this chapter is actually going to be, and I'm finally, I think, figuring out how I'm going to do it and have outlined some things, but the big problem now is that Jo's scene is going to end up pushed back yet again, and now I'm wondering if I should even do it, because I'm really running out of time, and I don't know if anyone really cares about Jo, anyway, except that she is important, because she's basically Guy's only family represented in this story. So there's that. I haven't been feeling well this week, either, plus we've been having work done on the house the last three days, and so I just can't seem to get into the headspace to actually put this stuff down on paper. Maybe tomorrow when D's at work I can just sit down with my notepad and do it. And I put aside my Sofia fic unfinished because I thought it was distracting me too much from this, which is what I really need to be working on right now, since it's been three months since my last update. But I want to get back to that, too, when this is done. Anyway. Tags: how far Current Mood: distressed Current Music: wander this world--jonny lang
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |

|
 |
|
 |