things and stuff
So, they sent me home early from the new job because I completely lost my voice by twelve o'clock. I feel otherwise fine, but since my main job is calling people... yeah. Not much to do and apparently they don't want to pay me to sit around and drink tea and write fic.
That means I'm home with a few extra hours in my day. I'm trying to look at the bright side instead of the "Losing $40" side, which is not awesome. Like, I said, aside from the lack-of-voice and a persistant cough, I feel fine, so I thought I would update LJ and then maybe get a headstart on today's NaNo words.
WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO, INTERNET? Oh gee. Lots of things, I guess.
So, instead of rushing into the novel I want to write without taking the time to do the proper research, I decided to put that project on hold and spend the month working on 50k of my various WsiP. I know that's not strictly adherant to the rules of NaNo, but whatever. I do what I want. I've been making good progress with writing every day, but I haven't been as willy-nilly going through my open docs as I thought I would. I've mostly been writing the Not!OT3 kidfic AU, which is as surprising to me as anyone else. And also a bit frustrating, as it has MILES to go before I would even CONSIDER posting it, which means I probably won't come out of this month with any completed projects, unless I change tracks soon. (Which I might! After tonight's clean-up of Ianto's epic breakdown and the baby!fic I've been itching to write all along the way, I might be ready to move on.)
But I'm getting lots of words written. I don't know, guys, it just doesn't feel as important as when I was working on one project, in order. But, whatever, the point is to be writing, which I am.
***
I've also been watching a lot of movies. Here are some quick recaps for you:
I acquired a copy of Paranormal Activity 2 since I can't really afford to see it in theatres and was intrigued when people said the concept worked even better than the first did.
I think it did and it didn't. There wasn't as much speculation with this one, as we knew what was happening--the demon that had been haunting Katie and Kristi since they were kids was after them. I did think that the twist with the baby was interesting and, overall, I enjoyed it. Much like it's predecessor, it's not the best horror movie I've ever seen, but it is MILES better than most of the shit that gets labeled as "horror" these days. I jumped in quite a few places. I really loved the character of Ali, and I hope if they actually go through with making a third one, she gets to be the focus, because she was kind of awesome.
(And, hey, if the third one is as good as the first two, I would encourage it.)
***
So, I found a list of "The 20 Best Horror Films You've Never Seen." I found several lists, actually, but when I read through this one I noted that twelve or so film son the list that I had seen were all really good. I extended that into the assumption that the eight that I hadn't seen were probably also good. This was the first I watched from that last, and it was definitely awesome. When I told solsticezero that it was my first time seeing it, she chastised me heartily and I totally understand why. It's a great story, visually beautiful, and also incredibly sad. There are parts where you jump and parts that are scary and parts that make you want to hide under the blankets, but in the end, it's really just a sad, beautiful story about mothers and children. Really enjoyably, and if you haven't seen it, you definitely should.
***
The Children was the second movie on that list. It's a British zombie-esque movie that's a little gorier than I normally like my horror, but I can make allowances, as it's genuinely creepy, too. Imagine the rage virus with a longer incubation period. Now imagine it only targeting children. Now imagine that you are in a rural area with five kids and they've all been infected.
It wasn't super deep or meaningful, but it was jump-y and the motivations of some of the kids were interesting. Definitely glad I watched it and I did enjoy it, but it's not hopping to the top of my re-watch queue or anything.
***
And now for something completely different. I watched all of those on my own while Becca was out. Big Eden we watched together on Saturday night. I was just starting my period, so I was an emotional mess and she was getting over the plague, so we got some junk food and gin and settled in for the long haul. And, oh man, what a great movie. Pretty much we spent the entire time going, "WHY DON'T WE LIVE IN THAT TOWN?" Seriously, guys. The mayor plays the fiddle! Everyone's cool with the gays! Everyone looks out for each other! Tim DeKay kisses other men! Why isn't it a real place?
But it was a sweet movie that made me love everyone and everything. I wanted it to be possible for Henry to end up with Tim DeKay AND Pike, and then I liked the mayor too, so then I just wanted Henry and Tim DeKay to be cuddle buddies who still held hands and snuggled but boned other people. I feel like you need to make this happen, internet.
After Big Eden, we watched Frailty. I saw most of it on USA a few years ago and pretty much decided that it was a prequel to Supernatural but in a dark fucked up way. The plot of the movie is that there's this dude living in the heartland who tells his two sons that god spoke to him and asked him to kill demons. And the demons look like regular people. And may or may not BE regular people. It could just be that dad's crazy. WHO KNOWS?
Anyway, I mentioned the film to Becca and she expressed interest, so I DLed it and we watched it after Big Eden. I remember very little about it. I'd had a lot to drink and spent most of the movie slumped against Becca and giggling. Afterwards, we watched part of Big Eden again (we had to see DeKay's mantears again!) and then she put on an episode of Supernatural and reminded me that I promised to write SPN fic while drunk. So I did. Again, I spent most of the actual episode passed out on top of her, so I don't actually remember much except Asia and "Do these tacos taste funny to you?" But, whatever. That was our big Saturday. It was ridiculously awesome.
***
Sunday was chilly and I spent most of it alone on the couch watching movies and enjoying Gwen Day!, and I was not looking forward to leaving the house. Still, I dragged my ass out and took the train into the city and saw the Weepies. And I absolutely do not regret it.
The crowd was RIDIC. It was overrun by hipsters and I was so confused because I did not think that it was the sort of crowd that would enjoy The Weepies. I found a cache of middle-aged couples that I hung out with and tried to muddle out what was going on, but in the end, the crowd was awesome. There were no drunk obnoxious idiots. Everyone was polite and attentive. There was no pushing or shoving to get closer to the stage. With the exception of one dude who stood RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, blocking my view at the beginning of Greg Tannen's set, people were generally considerate. (That guy did eventually move, too.) Even when the show ended and everyone filed out, it was in a calm, orderly fashion. I was shocked!
Anyway, The Weepies are adorable, in case you were wondering. Steve's brother Greg opened for them, and his stories were super charming. His music wasn't bad either, and when I have money, I will consider purchasing some of it. The stage was ALSO adorable. I tried to get a good picture of the decorations, but it's hard to take good pictures of lights in a dark club on my shitty phone. Anyway, I want their stage lights for my room.
Set list:
Please Speak Well of Me
Hideaway
Can't Go Back
Made for Sunny Days
Orbiting
Riga Girls
Gotta Have You
Painting by Chagall
Hard to Please
Nobody Knows Me
Be My Thrill
Citywide Rodeo
Sing Me to Sleep
Hope Tomorrow
Antarctica
Unraveling
World Spins Madly On
Just Blue
Not a Lullabye
Encore:
When You Go Away
They told so many cute kid stories, omg. I can't even recall them all. And great stories in general. I love them so much. Their music makes me happy and they make me happy as a goofy, happy family that just happens to make awesome music.
What I can remember:
Pretty much they were just the cutest. I left very happy. I was so excited they played "Antarctica" and "Please Speak Well of Me" and "When You Go Away" and "Painting by Chagall" and, let's be honest, pretty much all of them. Also pleasantly surprised to hear an old school Deb song and an old school Steve song!
***
And, finally, The Walking Dead. Okay, it took us almost a week to watch the first episode and we still haven't watched the second episode. And I liked it, it's just... I wasn't super impressed?
Maybe I've seen too many zombie movies, but while I enjoyed it as it happened, I felt like it wasn't doing anything new with the genre. It was kind of generic. I could predict everything that was going to happen, and there wasn't anything particularly visually stunning or thought-provoking going on to make up for it. It really didn't help that the opening was so close to that of 28 Days Later, because that bit with Jim alone in the hospital and then alone in the city is masterful and this... wasn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly noteworthy.
I DON'T KNOW, GUYS. I mean, I didn't NOT like it, but after everyone was heaping on the praise, I guess I was expecting more from it. I'm not passing judgment yet because I know that was just the first episode but... yeah. Not as stunning as the internet led me to believe.
(Also, just to get this out of the way, the Lead Dude is going to get fucking tetanus from walking around a devastated city with no shoes on and also, I find it hard to believe there were no maggots on some of those dead bodies. I'M JUST SAYING. It's the little things.)
I was impressed by the zombies, however. I thought they looked realistic, without looking too gory. They looked like what zombies would look like in real life, which was cool and of note.
***
OKAY, I THINK THAT'S EVERYTHING. Tomorrow is Box Five's CD release party and I just got Who S5 in the mail, so I think I know what we're going to be doing for the rest of the weekend.
Also, fyi, I am not signing up for yuletide this year, and following the comms, I'm pretty glad about that. (But that has nothing to do with why I'm not signing up. I'm not signing up because last year, the year that A03 was supposed to make everything "better," every thing that possibly could have gone wrong to ruin my yuletide experience DID go wrong and the stress of getting another story done around the holidays is just not worth that to me.)
Anyway, in conclusion, I'm going to eat some cereal and drink some more tea.
That means I'm home with a few extra hours in my day. I'm trying to look at the bright side instead of the "Losing $40" side, which is not awesome. Like, I said, aside from the lack-of-voice and a persistant cough, I feel fine, so I thought I would update LJ and then maybe get a headstart on today's NaNo words.
WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO, INTERNET? Oh gee. Lots of things, I guess.
So, instead of rushing into the novel I want to write without taking the time to do the proper research, I decided to put that project on hold and spend the month working on 50k of my various WsiP. I know that's not strictly adherant to the rules of NaNo, but whatever. I do what I want. I've been making good progress with writing every day, but I haven't been as willy-nilly going through my open docs as I thought I would. I've mostly been writing the Not!OT3 kidfic AU, which is as surprising to me as anyone else. And also a bit frustrating, as it has MILES to go before I would even CONSIDER posting it, which means I probably won't come out of this month with any completed projects, unless I change tracks soon. (Which I might! After tonight's clean-up of Ianto's epic breakdown and the baby!fic I've been itching to write all along the way, I might be ready to move on.)
But I'm getting lots of words written. I don't know, guys, it just doesn't feel as important as when I was working on one project, in order. But, whatever, the point is to be writing, which I am.
***
I've also been watching a lot of movies. Here are some quick recaps for you:
I acquired a copy of Paranormal Activity 2 since I can't really afford to see it in theatres and was intrigued when people said the concept worked even better than the first did.
I think it did and it didn't. There wasn't as much speculation with this one, as we knew what was happening--the demon that had been haunting Katie and Kristi since they were kids was after them. I did think that the twist with the baby was interesting and, overall, I enjoyed it. Much like it's predecessor, it's not the best horror movie I've ever seen, but it is MILES better than most of the shit that gets labeled as "horror" these days. I jumped in quite a few places. I really loved the character of Ali, and I hope if they actually go through with making a third one, she gets to be the focus, because she was kind of awesome.
(And, hey, if the third one is as good as the first two, I would encourage it.)
***
So, I found a list of "The 20 Best Horror Films You've Never Seen." I found several lists, actually, but when I read through this one I noted that twelve or so film son the list that I had seen were all really good. I extended that into the assumption that the eight that I hadn't seen were probably also good. This was the first I watched from that last, and it was definitely awesome. When I told solsticezero that it was my first time seeing it, she chastised me heartily and I totally understand why. It's a great story, visually beautiful, and also incredibly sad. There are parts where you jump and parts that are scary and parts that make you want to hide under the blankets, but in the end, it's really just a sad, beautiful story about mothers and children. Really enjoyably, and if you haven't seen it, you definitely should.
***
The Children was the second movie on that list. It's a British zombie-esque movie that's a little gorier than I normally like my horror, but I can make allowances, as it's genuinely creepy, too. Imagine the rage virus with a longer incubation period. Now imagine it only targeting children. Now imagine that you are in a rural area with five kids and they've all been infected.
It wasn't super deep or meaningful, but it was jump-y and the motivations of some of the kids were interesting. Definitely glad I watched it and I did enjoy it, but it's not hopping to the top of my re-watch queue or anything.
***
And now for something completely different. I watched all of those on my own while Becca was out. Big Eden we watched together on Saturday night. I was just starting my period, so I was an emotional mess and she was getting over the plague, so we got some junk food and gin and settled in for the long haul. And, oh man, what a great movie. Pretty much we spent the entire time going, "WHY DON'T WE LIVE IN THAT TOWN?" Seriously, guys. The mayor plays the fiddle! Everyone's cool with the gays! Everyone looks out for each other! Tim DeKay kisses other men! Why isn't it a real place?
But it was a sweet movie that made me love everyone and everything. I wanted it to be possible for Henry to end up with Tim DeKay AND Pike, and then I liked the mayor too, so then I just wanted Henry and Tim DeKay to be cuddle buddies who still held hands and snuggled but boned other people. I feel like you need to make this happen, internet.
After Big Eden, we watched Frailty. I saw most of it on USA a few years ago and pretty much decided that it was a prequel to Supernatural but in a dark fucked up way. The plot of the movie is that there's this dude living in the heartland who tells his two sons that god spoke to him and asked him to kill demons. And the demons look like regular people. And may or may not BE regular people. It could just be that dad's crazy. WHO KNOWS?
Anyway, I mentioned the film to Becca and she expressed interest, so I DLed it and we watched it after Big Eden. I remember very little about it. I'd had a lot to drink and spent most of the movie slumped against Becca and giggling. Afterwards, we watched part of Big Eden again (we had to see DeKay's mantears again!) and then she put on an episode of Supernatural and reminded me that I promised to write SPN fic while drunk. So I did. Again, I spent most of the actual episode passed out on top of her, so I don't actually remember much except Asia and "Do these tacos taste funny to you?" But, whatever. That was our big Saturday. It was ridiculously awesome.
***
Sunday was chilly and I spent most of it alone on the couch watching movies and enjoying Gwen Day!, and I was not looking forward to leaving the house. Still, I dragged my ass out and took the train into the city and saw the Weepies. And I absolutely do not regret it.
The crowd was RIDIC. It was overrun by hipsters and I was so confused because I did not think that it was the sort of crowd that would enjoy The Weepies. I found a cache of middle-aged couples that I hung out with and tried to muddle out what was going on, but in the end, the crowd was awesome. There were no drunk obnoxious idiots. Everyone was polite and attentive. There was no pushing or shoving to get closer to the stage. With the exception of one dude who stood RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, blocking my view at the beginning of Greg Tannen's set, people were generally considerate. (That guy did eventually move, too.) Even when the show ended and everyone filed out, it was in a calm, orderly fashion. I was shocked!
Anyway, The Weepies are adorable, in case you were wondering. Steve's brother Greg opened for them, and his stories were super charming. His music wasn't bad either, and when I have money, I will consider purchasing some of it. The stage was ALSO adorable. I tried to get a good picture of the decorations, but it's hard to take good pictures of lights in a dark club on my shitty phone. Anyway, I want their stage lights for my room.
Set list:
Please Speak Well of Me
Hideaway
Can't Go Back
Made for Sunny Days
Orbiting
Riga Girls
Gotta Have You
Painting by Chagall
Hard to Please
Nobody Knows Me
Be My Thrill
Citywide Rodeo
Sing Me to Sleep
Hope Tomorrow
Antarctica
Unraveling
World Spins Madly On
Just Blue
Not a Lullabye
Encore:
When You Go Away
They told so many cute kid stories, omg. I can't even recall them all. And great stories in general. I love them so much. Their music makes me happy and they make me happy as a goofy, happy family that just happens to make awesome music.
What I can remember:
- They opened by saying the tour was for, "Our new record, Be My Thrill, which just came out, and also Hideaway, which is a record we made and then stayed in our house for four years."
- Also, later, when talking about kids, "Hideaway came out and then out came Theo. Then Be My Thrill came out and out came Alexander." I don't know why that was so hilarious, but it was. Also, I kind of awwwed when they talked about how they were afraid to tour when Theo was a baby because they were still in the overprotective wrapping-in-cotton-wool stage of parenting, but Alexander was six months old and they were just like, "Throw him in the tour bus. Let's get going."
- Steve told an adorably hilarious story about "Be My Thrill." Apparently, he and Deb had a big fight and he knew he was in the wrong but wouldn't back down and stormed out of the house to cool off and got depressed and angry and wrote a song about marriage and compromise and being stuck where you are and when he came back and played it for Deb, she was like, "I know this is an angry song, but if you just tweak it a little bit, I think it's really a love song." And knowing that, the song makes so much more sense.
- Deb talked about how when they moved to CA they lived in Pasadena for awhile and then moved to a sort of artist retreaty community in the woods. Which was nice and inspiring, but they they had Theo and it was a little small. Just when he was getting ready to crawl, Steve started seeing a lot of spiders around that he thought could be brown recluse spiders. (At this point, Steve interrupted to say, "If you don't know what those are, don't Google them! Googling spiders is THE WORST." Clearly Steve and I need to be BFF.) So they called some spider exterminator guy and he crawled under the house and came out and started talking to Steve about the spider problem and Steve started to freak out because there was a black widow just chilling on the dude's shoulder. And the dude saw it and kind of distractedly brushed it away and was like, "Yeah, your real problem isn't the brown recluse, it's the black widows that are living in a cluster right under your bedroom."
She ended with, "And then we moved to Hollywood." And then they played "Hope Tomorrow," which is about living in Hollywood. - Apparently, Theo likes his bunk on the tour bus so much that he fusses when they get the chance to stay in hotels on tour. Which is kind of ridiculously adorable to me.
- "We're ending with a lullabye that's called 'Not a Lullabye.' Because when you have kids, you learn that reverse psychology is very important."
Pretty much they were just the cutest. I left very happy. I was so excited they played "Antarctica" and "Please Speak Well of Me" and "When You Go Away" and "Painting by Chagall" and, let's be honest, pretty much all of them. Also pleasantly surprised to hear an old school Deb song and an old school Steve song!
***
And, finally, The Walking Dead. Okay, it took us almost a week to watch the first episode and we still haven't watched the second episode. And I liked it, it's just... I wasn't super impressed?
Maybe I've seen too many zombie movies, but while I enjoyed it as it happened, I felt like it wasn't doing anything new with the genre. It was kind of generic. I could predict everything that was going to happen, and there wasn't anything particularly visually stunning or thought-provoking going on to make up for it. It really didn't help that the opening was so close to that of 28 Days Later, because that bit with Jim alone in the hospital and then alone in the city is masterful and this... wasn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly noteworthy.
I DON'T KNOW, GUYS. I mean, I didn't NOT like it, but after everyone was heaping on the praise, I guess I was expecting more from it. I'm not passing judgment yet because I know that was just the first episode but... yeah. Not as stunning as the internet led me to believe.
(Also, just to get this out of the way, the Lead Dude is going to get fucking tetanus from walking around a devastated city with no shoes on and also, I find it hard to believe there were no maggots on some of those dead bodies. I'M JUST SAYING. It's the little things.)
I was impressed by the zombies, however. I thought they looked realistic, without looking too gory. They looked like what zombies would look like in real life, which was cool and of note.
***
OKAY, I THINK THAT'S EVERYTHING. Tomorrow is Box Five's CD release party and I just got Who S5 in the mail, so I think I know what we're going to be doing for the rest of the weekend.
Also, fyi, I am not signing up for yuletide this year, and following the comms, I'm pretty glad about that. (But that has nothing to do with why I'm not signing up. I'm not signing up because last year, the year that A03 was supposed to make everything "better," every thing that possibly could have gone wrong to ruin my yuletide experience DID go wrong and the stress of getting another story done around the holidays is just not worth that to me.)
Anyway, in conclusion, I'm going to eat some cereal and drink some more tea.