I am the Ladybug.
I have achieved my first ever mood theme. My old webhost has cracked down on the remote linking, and I was getting tired of the Buffy Park theme, which was a good reflection of my interests a few years ago but not so much anymore. The new theme is, to no one's surprise, all figure skating all the time. I think that's actually a good balance with other elements of my layout: I'm keeping the gorgeous Serenity header and my Kaylee default icon for the forseeable future, but I wanted something to reflect my new obsession. I really wasn't planning on it, but thanks to the surfeit of pinks and light blues in the shiny world of figure skating, the mood theme matches the rest of the layout pretty well.
On the off-chance that you're interested, you can see the whole thing in my brand new photobucket gallery. I can't imagine anyone would want to use a mood theme featuring my bizarre combination of favorite skaters (Johnny Weir, Tanith Belbin, Ben Agosto, Evan Lysacek, Irina Slutskaya, Stephane Lambiel, and Kimmie Meissner; there would have been Fumie Suguri but I couldn't find enough good pictures). Either way, I'd rather that people other than me don't use it. It's, I don't know, it's strangely personal, and a lot of the picture choices require context, obnoxious punning, and/or inside jokes to make sense.
In other news, I watched six hours of Deadwood yesterday. I have no idea what happened. Granted, I was working on the mood theme and IMing while I watched, but still. I think I'm going to have to watch the whole thing again and pay close attention, because wow, does this show seem rich and complicated. I don't know if I can get into it -- I've had two false starts as it is -- but my Ph.D. advisor insisted that I give it a third chance, and it might actually stick this time. I don't know.
My mom bought me Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace's newish collection of essays, and so I'm in a bit of Favorite Living Author glow. Unfortunately, his long essay on John McCain's 2000 Presidential campaign might be my undoing: it's possibly the most boring thing DFW has ever written (and I include Infinite Jest in that statement). But the other essays are fabulous, especially the one on Garner's Dictionary of Modern American Usage and the phenomenon of grammar snobbery, which is one of my favorite pieces of creative nonfiction ever. The essay on Tracy Austin's autobiography has some observations on the impossibility of translating athletic genius into prose that unified my cognitive theory obsession with my skating obsession. He writes about how 9/11 affected the small city of Bloomington, IL, in a way that resonated with me emotionally in a way that no piece on 9/11 has in a long time. And there is the promise of a great foodie essay on lobsters, which will be my prize for slogging through the McCain piece. Seriously, other than the one failed attempt at political writing, it's an awesome book, clever and astute and eclectic and full of footnotes, and you might want to wait until it goes into paperback if you're not a fan. But you should read it.
On the off-chance that you're interested, you can see the whole thing in my brand new photobucket gallery. I can't imagine anyone would want to use a mood theme featuring my bizarre combination of favorite skaters (Johnny Weir, Tanith Belbin, Ben Agosto, Evan Lysacek, Irina Slutskaya, Stephane Lambiel, and Kimmie Meissner; there would have been Fumie Suguri but I couldn't find enough good pictures). Either way, I'd rather that people other than me don't use it. It's, I don't know, it's strangely personal, and a lot of the picture choices require context, obnoxious punning, and/or inside jokes to make sense.
In other news, I watched six hours of Deadwood yesterday. I have no idea what happened. Granted, I was working on the mood theme and IMing while I watched, but still. I think I'm going to have to watch the whole thing again and pay close attention, because wow, does this show seem rich and complicated. I don't know if I can get into it -- I've had two false starts as it is -- but my Ph.D. advisor insisted that I give it a third chance, and it might actually stick this time. I don't know.
My mom bought me Consider the Lobster, David Foster Wallace's newish collection of essays, and so I'm in a bit of Favorite Living Author glow. Unfortunately, his long essay on John McCain's 2000 Presidential campaign might be my undoing: it's possibly the most boring thing DFW has ever written (and I include Infinite Jest in that statement). But the other essays are fabulous, especially the one on Garner's Dictionary of Modern American Usage and the phenomenon of grammar snobbery, which is one of my favorite pieces of creative nonfiction ever. The essay on Tracy Austin's autobiography has some observations on the impossibility of translating athletic genius into prose that unified my cognitive theory obsession with my skating obsession. He writes about how 9/11 affected the small city of Bloomington, IL, in a way that resonated with me emotionally in a way that no piece on 9/11 has in a long time. And there is the promise of a great foodie essay on lobsters, which will be my prize for slogging through the McCain piece. Seriously, other than the one failed attempt at political writing, it's an awesome book, clever and astute and eclectic and full of footnotes, and you might want to wait until it goes into paperback if you're not a fan. But you should read it.