You are the star tonight
Four Confessions:
1. I totally cracked myself up at work today because - and I have no idea WHAT put this into my mind, even - I suddenly thought, "oh my god, imagine how Zack would react to FrogHat girl!"
2. I used to feel sorry for Jonno from the Rock - who is now their afternoon DJ, because he used to basically get picked on by the morning crew and was the butt (quite literally - one of their Do Stuff to Jonno Friday things once was tattooing a Rock FM logo on his ass) of their jokes and so on, but he is such a dick on his own show now that I'm actually really pleased that I got to see him duct-taped to a billboard a few years ago. (They did it down the end of the street uni was on, I went to have a look. It was pretty amusing, actually.)
3. I bought Abercrombie trackpants the other week. But! In my defence! They were on special to the point of costing no more than normal trackpants from anywhere, they look like they should last a good long while, they are GREEN (<3) and ohh my GOD soooooooo soft. Mmmm, brushed cotton with fuzzy lining. I like fuzzy things. :D
4. So, I was rewatching the Making of Pretty. Odd. the other day for the *koff*umptylotsth*koff* time, and only now do I realise that the guitar Rob Mathes is playing in the very very beginning bit? Is labelled "hollow bird". Flailing may have commenced. Oh BOYS.
Three Things That Made Me Flail:1
1. There's a Doctor Who reference in the Bad Day video. How did I not remember that?
2. MIKE MILLS PLAYING THE KEYTAR. You are all fired for not telling me about that, btw.
3. Stipey sitting on top of the basketball hoop in the All the Way To Reno vid. <3<3<3 (I kind of want an icon of that. Izzy? *looks hopeful and charming and prone to bribery if necessary*)
So, possibly obviously, I finally remembered to actually WATCH the In View DVD which I bought at Armageddon down in Welly. And it turns out I've apparently somehow never even SEEN half of these videos before. I remember the Bad Day one from the internets, obviously, and I remember the last time I saw All the Way to Reno - which, for the record, was in fucking *2001* in the foodcourt at West Towne in Madison when I was on my lunchbreak from Waldenbooks, and I do remember the Imitation of Life video (how could anyone forget that?!), albeit mostly from, again, 2001/2002 when I was watching it on the projector screen on the wall at Techspresso when I was in university and spending most of my time and money on internets-and-coffee and talking on AIM to LJ people. Ahhh, nostalgia. :D
And I had never seen At My Most Beautiful, apparently, and it fucking made me tear up. (Stupid REM being so awesome. *shakes fist*) And Stipey's What's the Frequency Kenneth dance which I have, of course, seen a lot (as well as live, and in people's icons as well over the years obv) which made me gleeface, and MIKE MILLS in general, and Biiiiiiiill and Peter Buck, zomg how are they so awesome? (Except mostly: &Miiiiiiiiiike; ...okay, so I have a weakness for bassists. This is not news. :D) But yes. That made my day very much more squeeful. I'll finish watching it tomorrow (it's functioning as exercise bribery right now).
It must also be said that after viewing the video for Electrolite I both flailspazzed like a madwoman and had my burning desire to someday, somehow talk to Ryan Ross about his musical influences turn up to eleven, because duuuuuuuuuuude. Someone back me up on that. I just. Dude. It's the vibe! /the Castle
One Thing About Work:
In Much Less Awesome news, Existing Co-Worker handed in his resignation today. He will be finishing exactly a year to the day that Previous Co-Worker left last year. For those of you who were around at the time, remember how long it took from when PCW left to when they hired ECW? FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS. Yeah.*whimpers and hopes to god history does not repeat exactly*
I am still way behind on email/lj in general/comments, but I did just glance sufficiently at my LJ to see that the wonderful and charming Ms Liz has tagged me, and since I have been semi-sucessful at Getting Shit Done tonight, I feel like blithering about memeishly.
1) How has LJ changed your life?
I kind of want to steal Liz's answer - it's changed so, so much. Most of the people I hang out with - on and offline, that is, too - are on LJ, and are often people I met because of LJ. I've got to go to a bunch of places, met dozens of amazing people, and had some of the most ridiculously amazing experiences because of LJ. I mean, just as a tiny slice for example, I: have got into shows for free, met bands, seen my friends on stage, seen previews of movies that weren't going to be out for another few months, lived on bacon and pasta and spinach and potatoes in a foreign country for five months, gone to cons, played slash pictionary with like eighty people, learned how to play guitar hero, tried on proper corsets, visited ghost towns, seen sand dunes hundreds of miles away from any ocean, the list goes on and on (and on...) :D
2) What do you do before bedtime?
Check my email, then go read until I realise how soon I have to get up, swear that the Night Guy (tm China) is totally fired and I will go to bed earlier the next day, turn off the light, realise I have no idea if I set my alarm, check that, and then lie there for about an hour (most nights) and try not to think about a) what I would rather be reading/writing/watching and b) all the billion things I have to do the next morning/day.
3) What are you going to have for dinner tonight?
We just had dinner - lamb chops and potatoes, and no greens because dad forgot to cook them (which I am okay with: I like my greens raw. Cooked just makes them limp and ugh, in my opinion.)
4) What is the ONE place you want to go to before you die if you had the money and the time?
HA! Meme failure, it didnt say it had to be a real place. \o/ Beta Colony. It would be fascinating. Also, warm. I like warm.
Also, I've been realising lately that I am really, really bad at visiting places these days - I tend to visit people (or, um, see concerts), and as far as I can recall, the last time I visited a place independant of it being mostly to hang with people? Was 1998. Er. But having said that, I would love to get out to the west coast of Ireland eventually - I've wanted to go to Galway since I was FIVE, and somehow I didn't manage to get my shit together when I was living in Dublin for almost half a year. (Having said that, it took so damn long to find a job that I was very poor for much of that time, so I give myself a bye on that.)
5) are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Ahahahahaaaa SUCH AN INTROVERT. Unless I am around good friends. At which point I tend to get very very chatty, and then realise later "oh god did I let anyone else talk?? /o\" Please all feel free to nudge me back to good manners as and when necessary, guys.
6) What do you do in your free time?
Generally read, either on the internets or paper; hang out with people; watch TV (generally in bulk, like a bunch of avis or a bunch of episodes from a season DVD box set); write; try to suck less at X-Box.
7) Do you trust easily?
Not really. I tend to trust people will do the right thing and get let down a fair bit on that, occasionally, though, which is irritating in the extreme (dear customer service failures of the past month, TALKING TO YOU GUYS HERE. *snarls at the Travelodge and the car rental place*). I am very wiggy about people in my personal space, although having said that, for some reason generally internet-based friends tend to fare better in terms of my being comfortable with snuggling/hugs/the like - I think it's very much a case of like recognising like, or something.
8) What personal belonging do you have with you everywhere you go?
Wallet, ID, usually cash, notebook, pen, inhaler, keys, phone, iPod. Generally: my giant Bag o' Crap.
9) Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed with OMGSOMUCHTODO. Hopefully taking things easy this weekend will help with that. Generally, I can't really complain at all.
10) What is your best quality?
I guess I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt? Or at the very least, I tend to find enthusiasm interesting, so basically if you are wildly passionate about, say, knitting small fuzzy creatures from Alpha Centauri? I am totally willing to be buttonholed and told about it. ...possibly this explains how I get into fandoms sometimes, though. I am also EASY. (PS Having said that, topics exempt from my interest ever: the TRAFFIC in Auckland. Cars in general. Seriously, if I never hear about either of those again? AWESOME.)
11) Is being tagged fun?
I am totally shallow and it does make me feel thought of and all "aww, someone remembered me sufficiently to pick me out in particular!" ..which of course is dangerous if you're having a low day and there is tagging of what feels like Everyone But You and then you get all "fine then, Y HALO THAR GARDEN, HOW ARE THE WORMS THIS EVENING?" but I try not to overexamine these things. :D
12) How do you see yourself?
Oh god, I don't know. Prone to ellipsis, easily distracted, BAD AT MONEY this week (don't ask. I am totally fine, just budgeted very short for the next two weeks. BECAUSE I CAN'T ADD, apparently.), occasionally good at my job, loyal to friends, completely in thrall to books and music at all times. I never know how to answer these types of questions. Possibly "bad at self-examination!" would cover a multitude of sins.
13) Do you prefer rain or snow?
RAIN. Snow is nice and pretty to look at, but as a lifestyle choice omfg the suck. I have no sense of balance so I fall over in it, I probably couldn't drive in it, and it's all scary and stuff. And I'm from New Zealand, so I am VERY ACCUSTOMED to rain. :D :D
14) What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
I adore Liz. Which I hope went without saying anyway. But, oh man, she's so much fun, and she's a wonderful friend who has done so much for me, and I have so, so many good memories of hanging out with her both in Boston and at con.txt, and seriously, I just have to think "Liz" and I find myself all grinny and missing her and wishing I could spend more time hanging out with her and just chilling. &Liz;
15) Poor but loved, or rich but hated?
Poor but loved. Being rich could probably distract you a helluva lot from being not-so-happy, but being hated sort of suggests either a really crappy person or a really crappy life, so... no thanks.
16) How many children do you want?
Is there a number less than zero? I honestly have no desire to have children. ...well, unless Bob Bryar is offering. And even then, I would prefer he do the actual pregnancy part. I'll just pay child support. :)
17) What's better; to give or to receive?
I love giving people things. I also love surprising people, and occasionally I possibly take that to extremes (although at least none of you have ever copped a fourteen layered present with a false bottom in it, just ask Nicole, I used to be MUCH WORSE), although obviously receiving (good!) things is fun too.
18) What do you feel about sex without love?
Generally my attitude to everything is "if it's safe and not hurting anyone, then go for it", so I wouldn't feel that it was worth judging anyone over. I suspect I would have difficulty doing it myself without things getting messy, though. (Although see above, re: Bob Bryar Exception.)
19) Would you have 100% safe sex with a stranger for $10,000,000?
...um. Crap. That's really a lot of money. I could, like, pay shit off and put people through university and also buy a fannish commune with that. I suspect the greater good would win out with a yes if the stranger is, you know, a girl. (Apparently I am REALLY RATHER QUEER these days. Shocking, right? *rueful grin*)
20) What would you name yourself if you'd been born the opposite gender?
My instinctive response was "Jeff", but I think that's an Eddie-reflex. As is "Steve". If I had been a boy I would probably have wound up with a traditional biblical name, so let's just go with "Adam" or "Peter" or "John".
1...so sue me. I wanted to leave that outside the cut tag. ;)
1. I totally cracked myself up at work today because - and I have no idea WHAT put this into my mind, even - I suddenly thought, "oh my god, imagine how Zack would react to FrogHat girl!"
2. I used to feel sorry for Jonno from the Rock - who is now their afternoon DJ, because he used to basically get picked on by the morning crew and was the butt (quite literally - one of their Do Stuff to Jonno Friday things once was tattooing a Rock FM logo on his ass) of their jokes and so on, but he is such a dick on his own show now that I'm actually really pleased that I got to see him duct-taped to a billboard a few years ago. (They did it down the end of the street uni was on, I went to have a look. It was pretty amusing, actually.)
3. I bought Abercrombie trackpants the other week. But! In my defence! They were on special to the point of costing no more than normal trackpants from anywhere, they look like they should last a good long while, they are GREEN (<3) and ohh my GOD soooooooo soft. Mmmm, brushed cotton with fuzzy lining. I like fuzzy things. :D
4. So, I was rewatching the Making of Pretty. Odd. the other day for the *koff*umptylotsth*koff* time, and only now do I realise that the guitar Rob Mathes is playing in the very very beginning bit? Is labelled "hollow bird". Flailing may have commenced. Oh BOYS.
Three Things That Made Me Flail:1
1. There's a Doctor Who reference in the Bad Day video. How did I not remember that?
2. MIKE MILLS PLAYING THE KEYTAR. You are all fired for not telling me about that, btw.
3. Stipey sitting on top of the basketball hoop in the All the Way To Reno vid. <3<3<3 (I kind of want an icon of that. Izzy? *looks hopeful and charming and prone to bribery if necessary*)
So, possibly obviously, I finally remembered to actually WATCH the In View DVD which I bought at Armageddon down in Welly. And it turns out I've apparently somehow never even SEEN half of these videos before. I remember the Bad Day one from the internets, obviously, and I remember the last time I saw All the Way to Reno - which, for the record, was in fucking *2001* in the foodcourt at West Towne in Madison when I was on my lunchbreak from Waldenbooks, and I do remember the Imitation of Life video (how could anyone forget that?!), albeit mostly from, again, 2001/2002 when I was watching it on the projector screen on the wall at Techspresso when I was in university and spending most of my time and money on internets-and-coffee and talking on AIM to LJ people. Ahhh, nostalgia. :D
And I had never seen At My Most Beautiful, apparently, and it fucking made me tear up. (Stupid REM being so awesome. *shakes fist*) And Stipey's What's the Frequency Kenneth dance which I have, of course, seen a lot (as well as live, and in people's icons as well over the years obv) which made me gleeface, and MIKE MILLS in general, and Biiiiiiiill and Peter Buck, zomg how are they so awesome? (Except mostly: &Miiiiiiiiiike; ...okay, so I have a weakness for bassists. This is not news. :D) But yes. That made my day very much more squeeful. I'll finish watching it tomorrow (it's functioning as exercise bribery right now).
It must also be said that after viewing the video for Electrolite I both flailspazzed like a madwoman and had my burning desire to someday, somehow talk to Ryan Ross about his musical influences turn up to eleven, because duuuuuuuuuuude. Someone back me up on that. I just. Dude. It's the vibe! /the Castle
One Thing About Work:
In Much Less Awesome news, Existing Co-Worker handed in his resignation today. He will be finishing exactly a year to the day that Previous Co-Worker left last year. For those of you who were around at the time, remember how long it took from when PCW left to when they hired ECW? FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS. Yeah.*whimpers and hopes to god history does not repeat exactly*
I am still way behind on email/lj in general/comments, but I did just glance sufficiently at my LJ to see that the wonderful and charming Ms Liz has tagged me, and since I have been semi-sucessful at Getting Shit Done tonight, I feel like blithering about memeishly.
1) How has LJ changed your life?
I kind of want to steal Liz's answer - it's changed so, so much. Most of the people I hang out with - on and offline, that is, too - are on LJ, and are often people I met because of LJ. I've got to go to a bunch of places, met dozens of amazing people, and had some of the most ridiculously amazing experiences because of LJ. I mean, just as a tiny slice for example, I: have got into shows for free, met bands, seen my friends on stage, seen previews of movies that weren't going to be out for another few months, lived on bacon and pasta and spinach and potatoes in a foreign country for five months, gone to cons, played slash pictionary with like eighty people, learned how to play guitar hero, tried on proper corsets, visited ghost towns, seen sand dunes hundreds of miles away from any ocean, the list goes on and on (and on...) :D
2) What do you do before bedtime?
Check my email, then go read until I realise how soon I have to get up, swear that the Night Guy (tm China) is totally fired and I will go to bed earlier the next day, turn off the light, realise I have no idea if I set my alarm, check that, and then lie there for about an hour (most nights) and try not to think about a) what I would rather be reading/writing/watching and b) all the billion things I have to do the next morning/day.
3) What are you going to have for dinner tonight?
We just had dinner - lamb chops and potatoes, and no greens because dad forgot to cook them (which I am okay with: I like my greens raw. Cooked just makes them limp and ugh, in my opinion.)
4) What is the ONE place you want to go to before you die if you had the money and the time?
HA! Meme failure, it didnt say it had to be a real place. \o/ Beta Colony. It would be fascinating. Also, warm. I like warm.
Also, I've been realising lately that I am really, really bad at visiting places these days - I tend to visit people (or, um, see concerts), and as far as I can recall, the last time I visited a place independant of it being mostly to hang with people? Was 1998. Er. But having said that, I would love to get out to the west coast of Ireland eventually - I've wanted to go to Galway since I was FIVE, and somehow I didn't manage to get my shit together when I was living in Dublin for almost half a year. (Having said that, it took so damn long to find a job that I was very poor for much of that time, so I give myself a bye on that.)
5) are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Ahahahahaaaa SUCH AN INTROVERT. Unless I am around good friends. At which point I tend to get very very chatty, and then realise later "oh god did I let anyone else talk?? /o\" Please all feel free to nudge me back to good manners as and when necessary, guys.
6) What do you do in your free time?
Generally read, either on the internets or paper; hang out with people; watch TV (generally in bulk, like a bunch of avis or a bunch of episodes from a season DVD box set); write; try to suck less at X-Box.
7) Do you trust easily?
Not really. I tend to trust people will do the right thing and get let down a fair bit on that, occasionally, though, which is irritating in the extreme (dear customer service failures of the past month, TALKING TO YOU GUYS HERE. *snarls at the Travelodge and the car rental place*). I am very wiggy about people in my personal space, although having said that, for some reason generally internet-based friends tend to fare better in terms of my being comfortable with snuggling/hugs/the like - I think it's very much a case of like recognising like, or something.
8) What personal belonging do you have with you everywhere you go?
Wallet, ID, usually cash, notebook, pen, inhaler, keys, phone, iPod. Generally: my giant Bag o' Crap.
9) Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed with OMGSOMUCHTODO. Hopefully taking things easy this weekend will help with that. Generally, I can't really complain at all.
10) What is your best quality?
I guess I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt? Or at the very least, I tend to find enthusiasm interesting, so basically if you are wildly passionate about, say, knitting small fuzzy creatures from Alpha Centauri? I am totally willing to be buttonholed and told about it. ...possibly this explains how I get into fandoms sometimes, though. I am also EASY. (PS Having said that, topics exempt from my interest ever: the TRAFFIC in Auckland. Cars in general. Seriously, if I never hear about either of those again? AWESOME.)
11) Is being tagged fun?
I am totally shallow and it does make me feel thought of and all "aww, someone remembered me sufficiently to pick me out in particular!" ..which of course is dangerous if you're having a low day and there is tagging of what feels like Everyone But You and then you get all "fine then, Y HALO THAR GARDEN, HOW ARE THE WORMS THIS EVENING?" but I try not to overexamine these things. :D
12) How do you see yourself?
Oh god, I don't know. Prone to ellipsis, easily distracted, BAD AT MONEY this week (don't ask. I am totally fine, just budgeted very short for the next two weeks. BECAUSE I CAN'T ADD, apparently.), occasionally good at my job, loyal to friends, completely in thrall to books and music at all times. I never know how to answer these types of questions. Possibly "bad at self-examination!" would cover a multitude of sins.
13) Do you prefer rain or snow?
RAIN. Snow is nice and pretty to look at, but as a lifestyle choice omfg the suck. I have no sense of balance so I fall over in it, I probably couldn't drive in it, and it's all scary and stuff. And I'm from New Zealand, so I am VERY ACCUSTOMED to rain. :D :D
14) What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
I adore Liz. Which I hope went without saying anyway. But, oh man, she's so much fun, and she's a wonderful friend who has done so much for me, and I have so, so many good memories of hanging out with her both in Boston and at con.txt, and seriously, I just have to think "Liz" and I find myself all grinny and missing her and wishing I could spend more time hanging out with her and just chilling. &Liz;
15) Poor but loved, or rich but hated?
Poor but loved. Being rich could probably distract you a helluva lot from being not-so-happy, but being hated sort of suggests either a really crappy person or a really crappy life, so... no thanks.
16) How many children do you want?
Is there a number less than zero? I honestly have no desire to have children. ...well, unless Bob Bryar is offering. And even then, I would prefer he do the actual pregnancy part. I'll just pay child support. :)
17) What's better; to give or to receive?
I love giving people things. I also love surprising people, and occasionally I possibly take that to extremes (although at least none of you have ever copped a fourteen layered present with a false bottom in it, just ask Nicole, I used to be MUCH WORSE), although obviously receiving (good!) things is fun too.
18) What do you feel about sex without love?
Generally my attitude to everything is "if it's safe and not hurting anyone, then go for it", so I wouldn't feel that it was worth judging anyone over. I suspect I would have difficulty doing it myself without things getting messy, though. (Although see above, re: Bob Bryar Exception.)
19) Would you have 100% safe sex with a stranger for $10,000,000?
...um. Crap. That's really a lot of money. I could, like, pay shit off and put people through university and also buy a fannish commune with that. I suspect the greater good would win out with a yes if the stranger is, you know, a girl. (Apparently I am REALLY RATHER QUEER these days. Shocking, right? *rueful grin*)
20) What would you name yourself if you'd been born the opposite gender?
My instinctive response was "Jeff", but I think that's an Eddie-reflex. As is "Steve". If I had been a boy I would probably have wound up with a traditional biblical name, so let's just go with "Adam" or "Peter" or "John".
1...so sue me. I wanted to leave that outside the cut tag. ;)