Dunmurderin's backup journal

Which is to say, GIP! Snow White from the cover of The Mermaid's Madness, all dressed up for Christmas.

It snowed last night. *cries*

More books I finished recently, this time reading for my dissertation.

( George Meredith, One of Our Conquerors )

( Janet Browne, Voyaging and The Power of Place )

( Anna K. Nardo, George Eliot’s Dialogue With John Milton )

Last night I dreamed that Peter Pan knocked up Wendy and they had twins.

Peter gave Wendy a fruit, and when she went to eat it, Tink magically goosed her, so that she swallowed it whole and came up pregnant with twins. (This happens surprisingly often in fairy tales.) And we know it was the fruit because the twins (one boy, one girl, named Nut and Berry) had skin the yellow-orange color of the fruit's flesh (yes, they were literally peach colored) and green hair and eyes like the fruit's skin. Oh, and also they were born in seed pods, which, you know, ouch.

And since part of my dream was a dream, and part of it was me reading the book, I woke up with passages like, "The twins grew quickly, so that in perhaps a year - or a bit more, or a bit less, for time is hard to reckon in Neverland - they were old enough to join the Lost Boys. And Berry ran as fast and laughed as loud and flew as high as any of the others, for Wendy had been quite unable to make a proper young lady of her (Wendy privately blamed Peter's influence)."

Then later the twins accidentally left Neverland (which was apparently in a giant beehive, IDEK), and as they grew up and lost their innocence and outgrew their clothes I suspect there would have been twincest, but I woke up before then.

Oddly, the whole dream was of the Disney style characters, even though Disney's Peter Pan is by far my least favorite (I prefer the character designs from Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates, where Peter actually looks like a little boy).

Someone should totally write this for me, of course.

For lack of anything else to brag about. *ducks* These taken from the new Birth by Sleep images.


Finally, a girl Keyblader! *cheers* (Kairi doesn't count, she's not playable.)


They look like they're having fun. XD


This one is my favorite.

Also, the DC council has voted to allow same-sex marriage in the district! YAY! *dances* On the other spectrum, a bunch of bishops-priests-and-whatnot have gotten together to make a Manhattan Declaration - just in case we'd forgotten that they still frown on that sort of thing. Here's the part that made me lol:

... the reason every civilization in history has defined marriage between men and women, is that society has a lot at stake in preserving continuity, in a wholesome way. It's quite clear that when men and women who have sex and make babies stay together. It's better for their children, and it's better that children grow up with their moms and dads -- and that's why societies have defined marriage, to protect making babies.

OH YOU WACKY FOLKS. Guys, I'm a history-degree dropout, and even I can come up with at least three reasons right off the bat why the above is a giant crock of bantha poodoo.

You guys, if this is the best the traditional-marriage crowd has to offer, I am no longer worried.

Well, the snow's finally stopped. *peers out of window* After listening to the weather people, I was expecting a few flakes mixed in with all the rain - certainly nothing that would stick. Final verdict? Six inches of fluffy white stuff, easy. (That despairing cry you hear is the county's public school students going 'It couldn't have held off until tomorrow?'.)

It was really nice watching it come down this morning, not that I had a lot of time to watch with work and all. Big fat fluffy snowflakes, perfect for playing in. It's basically what you think of when you imagine a white Christmas. *slightly less Grinchy*

So! In that spirit, have one of those all-I-want-for-Xmas meme things that have been making the rounds. A bit late, but as you will see, it doesn't matter all that much.

( The Rules, for those who have been living under a rock the past couple of weeks. )

My list:
1. A low-stress, preferably not-People-heavy (but I repeat myself) job that will pay me enough to live on. If it's a second job that I can fit in around my current gig, that's cool, but for preference I'd like to have a few afternoons/evenings free to write and chat.
2. A little apartment of my own. If it's warm, clean and all the appliances work, I'll be happy, even if it's only one room in a basement somewhere. (Actually, a basement would be perfect, 'cause that way I could stomp around doing DDR without bothering anyone below me.)
3. A gold chocobo. Less maintenance required than an airship, and I could ride him all around the world visiting everybody! ...Plus, y'know, choco. ^____^
4. A Keyblade. I got some darkness to fight off, yo.
5. A modern Transformers movie with a decent story. I hate to admit it, but yeah, Bay can't do a decent narrative to save his soul. And his portrayal of women makes Frank Miller look progressive.
6. Some brain rewiring, so I can a) get shed of this freaking depression, and b) quit procrastinating so damn much.
7. A little sense of self-worth, pursuant to the above.
8. A stronger heart, likewise.
9. Magic powers and/or Materia. I'm not picky what, although a Haste/Stop/Slow would be useful.
10. Some muscle, which is about as likely as the above.

...Why yes, that was a little passive-aggressive of me. x_x

( Ilona Andrews, Magic Bites )

( Cindy Pon, Silver Phoenix )

( Caroline Stevermer, When the King Comes Home )

Do you think people in Africa say 'when you hear hoofbeats, think zebras, not horses'?

From The Nation --

When the U.S. economy melted down on former President Bush's watch, it was a sobering moment.

Unfortunately, Ben Bernanke was not willing to sober up.

Instead of rejecting the fantasy that any financial institution could or should be imagined as "too big to fail," the chairman of the Federal Reserve determined that behemoth banks needed massive infusions of federal money so that they could grow even bigger.

Working with the Bush economic team that had rewarded the wealthiest Americans with tax cuts, traded away whole American industries and encourage speculation that would make a blackjack dealer wince, Bernanke's steered trillions of dollars in what were essentially free-money loans and other taxpayer-funded benefits to the flabbiest financial institutions in the world.

And if there was any doubt about where the Fed chair stood in the struggle between Wall Street and Main Street, Bernanke refused to reveal to American citizens or their elected representatives the names of the billionaire boys clubs that pocketed this welfare for the rich.

Bernanke was, and is, the face of everything that is wrong with the crony-capitalism model of "regulation" developed by the Fed under its previous chair, Ayn Rand acolyte Alan Greenspan.

President Barack Obama, who was elected on a promise to "change" the way Washington and Wall Street did business, instead hired Fed insiders like Tim Geithner as his economic aides and then nominated Bernanke to serve a second term as Fed chair.

The president's decision was ill-thought in the extreme.

Luckily, presidents are not kings. They can be checked and balanced by the Congress.

( More... )

Winterfox on LJ asked me to link to this post about a friend of hers who is facing eviction. This is what Winterfox says about it, since she explains the situation better than I can:

A friend of mine, shuju_the_red (http://shuju-the-red.livejournal.com/) is facing eviction if she can't gather $2,500 within a few days. She lives in the Philippines and this amount is very, very hefty for her; combined that with the fact that she had to bribe the police to get her mother out of a military camp not long ago--it cost her $10,000--she's severely hard-pressed to dredge up more money right now.

My own journal has limited exposure and I was hoping you might be willing to link to my friend's entry detailing Ju's circumstances, because every cent will help.

So, I've had Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days in my possession for a little over twenty-four hours now, and my left thumb is already threatening to shrivel up and drop off. Which probably means I'm Doing It Wrong, but eh, what else is new. ...I think I like this game. ^_^ (Xion is a badass.)

Also: I got these 5Q's from jlsigman a long time ago and am only now getting around to answering them. One step at a time. XD

( You know the drill. ) Question me or my headcast, at your pleasure.

I’m sorry to have been gone so long. Major health issues as well as writer’s block on the rants meant that I had little to post. While I think I’ll be posting more regularly again, I can’t promise it.

_____________________________________________________________________________

This rant brought to you by Magic Bites, an urban fantasy novel that I read recently and liked well enough—with the exception of one major irritant. I bet you can guess right now what it is.

( This is a temptation, yes, but there is a difference between feeling it and giving in to it )

Villain monologues irritate me for the same reason that idiot plots do: there’s no reason for them to exist, not when you have so many interesting tricks to avoid them.

bridgetmkennitt, you might want to not click the link until after you're done with your fic fest fics. :D

( Random ideas are pretty womancentric, really. )

So, cleaning out my purse for the first time in...a long time, I found two fic fragments, and I don't know if I ever typed them in/posted them, and in the case of the second, I can't remember which universe it was in, though it seems like something I should have talked about. (The first is clearly a sequel to the fic in which Angelo found Marcello in Pickham.)

So, behind the cut, ( two DQ8 snippets, and hopefully one of you can tell me where I was going with these... )

I think it's sad that I have to rely on other people to remember what the hell I've written, to be honest. But there you go.

20% off downloadable patterns! So I broke down and finally bought the pattern for the Bacchus Socks I've been eyeing forever. Now I just need to convert the pattern to magic loop, since that appears to be the only way I like to knit socks. And get a 2mm circular needle.

*trots out onstage carrying a pack of posterboard and a Sharpie*

*writes carefully, making the Sharpie go squeak*

Sign: "This is to let you all know that I am ill."

*tosses posterboard aside, making it go whumph on the stage; starts writing on the next one, squeaksqueak*

Sign: "My throat is very very sore and I cannot speak above a croak."

*whumph, squeaksqueaksqueak*

Sign: "I will be spending most of the day on the couch."

*whumph, squeaksqueaksqueak*

Sign: "If you are waiting for a ficlet or comment from me, rest assured..."

*whumph, squeaksqueaksqueak*

Sign: "...I will deliver; just not right now."

*whumph, squeaksqueaksqueak*

Sign: "Thanks for your patience."

*collects fallen posterboard, bows to audience, trots offstage*

Well, another Black Friday, and nobody's been trampled to death by crazed shoppers as far as I've heard. Of course, the day's not over yet. (...I've really turned into a misanthrope the last month or so, and it seems like the start of the holiday season has really exacerbated it. I'm kinda worried about this.)

Of course, I really can't complain. I'm no more immune to a few bucks off Stuff I Don't Really Need than the next person, I just indulge my inner rabid consumer on the Internet. Although it must be said that Amazon does not play fair in this regard: I went on the site to get some CDs for my mom, and it waved 358/2 Days with eight bucks off at me. With fifteen minutes left to snag it. Dear readers, there are many temptations I can resist, but that was just dirty tactics.

*sigh* Ah well. Ten days 'til pretty boys in black cloaks on my DS, so I guess I can deal.

Naturally, I requested Static Shock, and now I'm spreading the word in hopes this will reach someone who can actually write Static fic. :)

ETA: and it's over!
( Old text )

I now own a Philips MP3/video player*. So, does anyone know how I can get my various AVI files (and DVDs) into SMV format so I can take them places with me? Preferably a free way?

*And a pair of boots that are too narrow in the heel, so I'll have to return them. :(

Edit of SQUEE: I just realized I can now conveniently listen to podfics!