[meme] an attempt to prove that lj isn't dead
I would love to prove singlehandedly that lj isn't dead... but the overwhelming amount of unanswered comments in my inbox would beg to differ. This isn't about lj at all - this is about me needing a distraction because I am seriously losing it.
Meme from rosaxx50 :: Comment to this post, and I will list five things I associate with you. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your LJ (or just add a reply back to me). Other people (including me) can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.
My list: - LOST (of course), Dawnie Summers, Infinite, Gossip Girl, and Good taste in poetry. (Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing)
[Cut to protect your flists]LOST
In the middle of my second semester at uni, this really interesting thing happened to me - I found out that I could write academic papers on Buffy the Vampire Slayage. Well. Obviously this changed my life. And the girl who bestowed this information on me became my best school friend. Affectionately known on my blog as "my pagan friend" - I taught her how to knit and she now gifts me handspun yarn occasionally. The point of this story is that she eventually encouraged me to catch-up on LOST while it was in the middle of the fourth season? I can't remember the timeline exactly, all I remember is her saying: "Just wait for the boat people." Yeah.
So I mainlined the first four-ish seasons in about a month or two via abc's website. And then I was in-time. And that was a disaster. I almost quit the show every week. Mostly because I never bought into the later seasons' construction of Light! vs! Dark! It all seemed like bullshit to me. ((If you want further proof of my obsession with Brother, I wrote an essay on the Prodigal Son a few months back, which explains a lot of my LOST feelings.)) At the end of the day, I really really hate Jacob. So much. Which made the later seasons difficult to watch - it seemed as though the series was trying to force Jacob-love down my throat and I wasn't having it. However, as someone who literally believes in past lives, season six is my favorite thing to ever happen.
Also I ship Kate/Claire.
Darling pagan-friend then got me hooked into the IntroCast craze. ((An introcast is a certain kind of podcast in which an olbie (or two) leads a group of newbies through a television series for the first time. The first to start was Potentialcast which is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast.)) We were casually thinking that a BSG podcast would be fun to do - and then the next day someone started one. We immediately put dibs on LOST so that we wouldn't lose it to someone else.
We started recording at the beginning of last year and are currently finishing up season three. Our newbies are wonderful - Erin is a yoga instructor and Scott is very involved in local Cherokee events, etc. Which means that all four of us are coming to this series from a strongly alternative perspective (aka: decidedly not Judeo-Christian). It makes for a discussion session that I genuinely enjoy. Erin truthfully sees the Island (already) as a place/space that helps people move from one part of their journey to another. And Scott has lead some fascinating discussions on captivity narratives from a Native American perspective and his perspective on "White Rabbit" was awesome.
I'm disgustingly lucky, is what I'm saying. The kids don't spend hours talking about the "mysteries" of the Island - but would rather do character analysis and talk about literary techniques. It's so lovely.
Dawnie Summers
I don't even know how she became my favorite Buffyverse character. All I know is - that my sister is the love child of Michelle Trachtenburg and Claire Danes - so it's hard to watch Dawn cry or emote AT ALL without having deep sisterly empathy. Also - the very first piece of fanfic that I ever wrote, EVER, was the beginnings of my first Dawn-centric 'verse. It's amazing what fic can do for one's perspective on a character. She snuck up on me, really.
When it came time to pick a thesis-topic, I knew that I wanted to deal with fanfic in general - and at the time was most familiar (read: only really knew) with Buffy fandom. Originally I had intended on writing about Spuffy fanfic. But omg would that have been a hornet's nest of a research project! Dawn was "easier" in my estimations because significantly less fic has been written about her, and there's so much going on with Dawn in-canon that deals with writing, etc.
Also she is practically perfect in every way. The more I write about her, the more fascinated and in love with her I become.
If only I wasn't so terrified of my thesis-project and could actually give my adviser something substantial.
Infinite
Is a band with seven doofus members whom I love. I blame penny_lane_42 for all of it.
The dongsaengs: Lee Sungjong is the youngest. He's fierce and flawless. His gender construction is delightful and sexy (the boy pulls off drag in the most amazing way). Kim Myungsoo is half koala bear, half serial killer. His obsessive behavior is either endearing or frightening, depending upon who the object of his attraction is. He also has a one-sided love-affair with gravity. No one will love Kim Myungsoo more than gravity. Lee Sungyeol is beautiful, smart, honest, tall, passionate, ambitious... and has (arguably) the worst self-esteem in the group. He works too hard and is in danger of losing himself to his goals. He also loves porn.
Hoya (Lee Howon) is my middle-child of love. His bitch-face is epic, his snark is always just a little too biting, and he's the most phenomenal dancer. He was treated horribly by his parents/family and that's probably one reason for his prickly sense of humor. He never hides his affection/attraction for Sungjong. He's also incredibly sheltered and has said some ignorantly racist things in the past.
The hyung-line: Nam Woohyun is the idolest idol who ever idoled. He lives and breathes for his fangirls. His weight fluctuates - probably due to an unconfirmed eating disorder - and obsesses over his "chocolate abs" // pleasing his fangirls/ the female gaze. When Nam Woohyun says that he is jealous of his fangirls' loving anyone else - he's not joking. When he says that he loves you and that the only girlfriend he needs are his fans, he's serious. He's second in command. And ugh but his voice. Jang Dongwoo is an angel sent down from earth. Or crashed down. Depending. He's the caretaker of the group, emotionally; he constantly is grabbing people's butts, likes to cuddle, and tickle, and tease. His dancing puts only Hoya in his place. His rapping is always surprising (to me) because his baritone omg. He is tiny and wee and love. Kim Sunggyu is... a prickly, squishy grandpa rockstar dork. Drama queen, leader of the group, once a musician in a rockband - now the leader of a pop group. And he won't let you forget it. He says the most terrible things and probably needs a woman to take him in hand and make him cry. He is a pained introvert and sometimes will wander off to be alone, making him seem more prickly to the fans. He is my bias because he is the absolute worst.
There is no way to say that any of them work harder than each other. Woohyun works on his weight daily so that his fangirls can snap photos of his abs. Myungsoo lost weight and started losing hair when he was filming a drama and working on their comeback at the same time. Dongwoo lost a pants-size in weight during the Infinite H scheduling. Sunggyu gets more snarky and distant by the day. Sungyeol is always having health/injury issues (and has been losing too much weight lately it is quite scary). All of them throw everything they have into their work - they are all lovely.
Honestly, there just isn't enough room in a post like to this to say everything. I suggest Lauren's posts here here and here - also Alex just made this one, which focuses on the sound of Woohyun and that's always nice.
Gossip Girl
I'm not sure what to say about this - I started watching when it began and fell in love with Jenny Humphrey. (Anyone not in love with Jenny is wrong.) And then when she left - I lost interest. Over this summer, I started a re-watch, which got semi-postponed by a move and then when I saw on my flist that the series was ending, I mainlined to the end. Jenny is still my favorite character, with Blair as a close second.
I don't have a lot of strong feelings about it - but like with anything, if you love it and want to talk about it, I'll suddenly be full of opinions and loves and shipper feelings. I wish it was something I was more involved in.
Good taste in poetry (Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing)
Honestly? One of my Whedonistas posted that poem on facebook. Generally speaking, I leach on other people's poetry knowledge. I never had patience for it in a classroom setting - and as an English major therefore assumed that poetry wasn't my bag and left it alone, avoiding classes with a heavy poetry emphasis and even skipping the narrative poetry when I could get away with it. Which was often.
I keep telling myself that when I'm out of school, I'll give myself more space to learn and read more poetry, because I honestly love it all - outside of the classroom. Or... mostly just away from pretentious undergraduate English majors, mainly. Because I remember a time in my life when I loved poetry even from a school desk, but something happened along the way and I lost all desire to discuss poetry with people at all.
Lately, I've been wanting to really dissect fanmixes on the level of narrative poetry - actively looking at how the lyrics and sound are pulled together by fans to create a narrative. I think fanmixes are the most delightful art form - and one that I am not adept at. Even though they aren't strict poetry - fanmixes are in many ways not just a collection, but also an essay/argument given through sung-poetry to prove a point, provide a certain reading. It's an essay, a poem, a musical experience, and an emotional experience all at once. I think maybe allowing myself more time to think about poetry in an interactive, freeing space, will help me understand and read fanmixes in a deeper way.
Come play with me!
Also - how is everyone?!
Meme from rosaxx50 :: Comment to this post, and I will list five things I associate with you. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your LJ (or just add a reply back to me). Other people (including me) can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.
My list: - LOST (of course), Dawnie Summers, Infinite, Gossip Girl, and Good taste in poetry. (Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing)
[Cut to protect your flists]LOST
In the middle of my second semester at uni, this really interesting thing happened to me - I found out that I could write academic papers on Buffy the Vampire Slayage. Well. Obviously this changed my life. And the girl who bestowed this information on me became my best school friend. Affectionately known on my blog as "my pagan friend" - I taught her how to knit and she now gifts me handspun yarn occasionally. The point of this story is that she eventually encouraged me to catch-up on LOST while it was in the middle of the fourth season? I can't remember the timeline exactly, all I remember is her saying: "Just wait for the boat people." Yeah.
So I mainlined the first four-ish seasons in about a month or two via abc's website. And then I was in-time. And that was a disaster. I almost quit the show every week. Mostly because I never bought into the later seasons' construction of Light! vs! Dark! It all seemed like bullshit to me. ((If you want further proof of my obsession with Brother, I wrote an essay on the Prodigal Son a few months back, which explains a lot of my LOST feelings.)) At the end of the day, I really really hate Jacob. So much. Which made the later seasons difficult to watch - it seemed as though the series was trying to force Jacob-love down my throat and I wasn't having it. However, as someone who literally believes in past lives, season six is my favorite thing to ever happen.
Also I ship Kate/Claire.
Darling pagan-friend then got me hooked into the IntroCast craze. ((An introcast is a certain kind of podcast in which an olbie (or two) leads a group of newbies through a television series for the first time. The first to start was Potentialcast which is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast.)) We were casually thinking that a BSG podcast would be fun to do - and then the next day someone started one. We immediately put dibs on LOST so that we wouldn't lose it to someone else.
We started recording at the beginning of last year and are currently finishing up season three. Our newbies are wonderful - Erin is a yoga instructor and Scott is very involved in local Cherokee events, etc. Which means that all four of us are coming to this series from a strongly alternative perspective (aka: decidedly not Judeo-Christian). It makes for a discussion session that I genuinely enjoy. Erin truthfully sees the Island (already) as a place/space that helps people move from one part of their journey to another. And Scott has lead some fascinating discussions on captivity narratives from a Native American perspective and his perspective on "White Rabbit" was awesome.
I'm disgustingly lucky, is what I'm saying. The kids don't spend hours talking about the "mysteries" of the Island - but would rather do character analysis and talk about literary techniques. It's so lovely.
Dawnie Summers
I don't even know how she became my favorite Buffyverse character. All I know is - that my sister is the love child of Michelle Trachtenburg and Claire Danes - so it's hard to watch Dawn cry or emote AT ALL without having deep sisterly empathy. Also - the very first piece of fanfic that I ever wrote, EVER, was the beginnings of my first Dawn-centric 'verse. It's amazing what fic can do for one's perspective on a character. She snuck up on me, really.
When it came time to pick a thesis-topic, I knew that I wanted to deal with fanfic in general - and at the time was most familiar (read: only really knew) with Buffy fandom. Originally I had intended on writing about Spuffy fanfic. But omg would that have been a hornet's nest of a research project! Dawn was "easier" in my estimations because significantly less fic has been written about her, and there's so much going on with Dawn in-canon that deals with writing, etc.
Also she is practically perfect in every way. The more I write about her, the more fascinated and in love with her I become.
If only I wasn't so terrified of my thesis-project and could actually give my adviser something substantial.
Infinite
Is a band with seven doofus members whom I love. I blame penny_lane_42 for all of it.
The dongsaengs: Lee Sungjong is the youngest. He's fierce and flawless. His gender construction is delightful and sexy (the boy pulls off drag in the most amazing way). Kim Myungsoo is half koala bear, half serial killer. His obsessive behavior is either endearing or frightening, depending upon who the object of his attraction is. He also has a one-sided love-affair with gravity. No one will love Kim Myungsoo more than gravity. Lee Sungyeol is beautiful, smart, honest, tall, passionate, ambitious... and has (arguably) the worst self-esteem in the group. He works too hard and is in danger of losing himself to his goals. He also loves porn.
Hoya (Lee Howon) is my middle-child of love. His bitch-face is epic, his snark is always just a little too biting, and he's the most phenomenal dancer. He was treated horribly by his parents/family and that's probably one reason for his prickly sense of humor. He never hides his affection/attraction for Sungjong. He's also incredibly sheltered and has said some ignorantly racist things in the past.
The hyung-line: Nam Woohyun is the idolest idol who ever idoled. He lives and breathes for his fangirls. His weight fluctuates - probably due to an unconfirmed eating disorder - and obsesses over his "chocolate abs" // pleasing his fangirls/ the female gaze. When Nam Woohyun says that he is jealous of his fangirls' loving anyone else - he's not joking. When he says that he loves you and that the only girlfriend he needs are his fans, he's serious. He's second in command. And ugh but his voice. Jang Dongwoo is an angel sent down from earth. Or crashed down. Depending. He's the caretaker of the group, emotionally; he constantly is grabbing people's butts, likes to cuddle, and tickle, and tease. His dancing puts only Hoya in his place. His rapping is always surprising (to me) because his baritone omg. He is tiny and wee and love. Kim Sunggyu is... a prickly, squishy grandpa rockstar dork. Drama queen, leader of the group, once a musician in a rockband - now the leader of a pop group. And he won't let you forget it. He says the most terrible things and probably needs a woman to take him in hand and make him cry. He is a pained introvert and sometimes will wander off to be alone, making him seem more prickly to the fans. He is my bias because he is the absolute worst.
There is no way to say that any of them work harder than each other. Woohyun works on his weight daily so that his fangirls can snap photos of his abs. Myungsoo lost weight and started losing hair when he was filming a drama and working on their comeback at the same time. Dongwoo lost a pants-size in weight during the Infinite H scheduling. Sunggyu gets more snarky and distant by the day. Sungyeol is always having health/injury issues (and has been losing too much weight lately it is quite scary). All of them throw everything they have into their work - they are all lovely.
Honestly, there just isn't enough room in a post like to this to say everything. I suggest Lauren's posts here here and here - also Alex just made this one, which focuses on the sound of Woohyun and that's always nice.
Gossip Girl
I'm not sure what to say about this - I started watching when it began and fell in love with Jenny Humphrey. (Anyone not in love with Jenny is wrong.) And then when she left - I lost interest. Over this summer, I started a re-watch, which got semi-postponed by a move and then when I saw on my flist that the series was ending, I mainlined to the end. Jenny is still my favorite character, with Blair as a close second.
I don't have a lot of strong feelings about it - but like with anything, if you love it and want to talk about it, I'll suddenly be full of opinions and loves and shipper feelings. I wish it was something I was more involved in.
Good taste in poetry (Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing)
Honestly? One of my Whedonistas posted that poem on facebook. Generally speaking, I leach on other people's poetry knowledge. I never had patience for it in a classroom setting - and as an English major therefore assumed that poetry wasn't my bag and left it alone, avoiding classes with a heavy poetry emphasis and even skipping the narrative poetry when I could get away with it. Which was often.
I keep telling myself that when I'm out of school, I'll give myself more space to learn and read more poetry, because I honestly love it all - outside of the classroom. Or... mostly just away from pretentious undergraduate English majors, mainly. Because I remember a time in my life when I loved poetry even from a school desk, but something happened along the way and I lost all desire to discuss poetry with people at all.
Lately, I've been wanting to really dissect fanmixes on the level of narrative poetry - actively looking at how the lyrics and sound are pulled together by fans to create a narrative. I think fanmixes are the most delightful art form - and one that I am not adept at. Even though they aren't strict poetry - fanmixes are in many ways not just a collection, but also an essay/argument given through sung-poetry to prove a point, provide a certain reading. It's an essay, a poem, a musical experience, and an emotional experience all at once. I think maybe allowing myself more time to think about poetry in an interactive, freeing space, will help me understand and read fanmixes in a deeper way.
Come play with me!
Also - how is everyone?!