planning the revolution

There's no way that I wrote as much this year as I did last year, but I probably posted more often because of the drabble comms. Plus: I ficbarfed all over Yuletide. (I'm sure you're all grateful for that image.) I don't really know how to organise this? I guess by fandom. I don't really know why I'm thinking this through in-post, but there you have it.

( the fics. )

( the break-down. )

--

With thanks, as ever, to everyone who left feedback or shook pompoms. Nothing would get written if it wasn't for you.

This is one of my favourite adverts EVER.

--

Today I watched the latest episodes of The Unit and then some season 2 Spooks. I also spent the whole time talking to The Flatmate.

--

Russell Howard at 8pm! Am kind of ridiculously excited. (!!!!)

Dear Mad Men, way to be entirely depressing! Which is not to say that I didn't love it, because, well, OBVIOUSLY I did. Jane is entirely boring to me, though; I think it was the casting choice. It was nice to see Hildy, though, whom I adore. Please, show, continue to wreck me. I don't mind at all.

--

( True Blood, 1x04, Escape from Dragon House )

( Life, 2x01, Find Your Happy Place )

( Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2x04, Allison from Palmdale )

( Californication, 2x01, Slip of the Tongue )

( The Unit, 4x01, Sacrifice )

I've yet to see Dexter; am feeling pretty blahface about it, actually. I may have to store up a few episodes and watch them in one go. Even though I liked it last year, I only watched it on time because I was watching with T. And, well, not there any more.

--

I have new music, eee! Some unreleased Patty Griffin and Seth Lakeman's albums, whoop whoop. Folk at its best. And now: NCIS and Criminal Minds. It is a Good Day.

( NCIS, 6x01, Last Man Standing; 3x04, Silver War. )

( Criminal Minds, 4x01, Mayhem. )

( Bones, 4x05, The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond. )

( CSI: NY, 5x01, Veritas. )

--

Real Life is knitting and job-hunting, as per always, so more on that if there's more to report. The next thing that I have to look forward to is tonight's Mock the Week, whoop whoop!

So, apparently I haven't updated in 4-5 days? ...yeah. I was going to say that not much has happened in the interim but that's only half true. After I've finished this post I have a list of places to call up and apply to for jobs, so that at least is practical. The rest of the time has been comprised of knitting and watching The X-Files/various fandoms. Am eagerly awaiting the Weeds finale and the second Sarah Connor Chronicles episode. Watched Mad Men yesterday which continued to be brilliant and engaging, and entirely too short.

And then there was Sunday.

--

I really love this song. ampersand-hearts, yo.

--

This past week we had a Spanish national staying with us as part of The Sister's school's Spanish Exchange Program. She was a sweet girl, a little younger than The Sister, and the most I saw of her was when the two of them came back from school, and/or at the dining table. On Saturday The Rents took her to Lincoln where they went shopping and sight-seeing. On Sunday, however, I was cajoled into a trip to Leicester where we went to the Space Centre.

I actually love things like that, because the interactive stuff is always pretty cool, and astronomy was my area of Physics geekery. (I wanted quantum mechanics and chaos theory to be my area of Physics geekery but 1, they weren't on the syllabus and 2, I wasn't that great at Physics anyway. I'm pretty certain the only reason I passed the GCSE at all was SK.) Anyway. Space! Stars being born, stars dying! Planets! Gravity! There was a game where you had to hit lights on the wall as they appeared, a sort of reaction-gauge that I did better on than anticipated, and then things like how much would a can of baked beans weigh on different planets &c. &c. Smashing. There was also an auditorium show where they project onto a 360 degree screen, except it was a little disorientating with my glasses on, and without them on it lost focus and I kind of dozed? ...yeah.* But, no, it was still great. There was a gravity well thing that had me truly entranced - you roll a ball around the rim and the ball descends into the well, gradually accelerating until it's basically spinning on the spot just above the hole, and then disappears. IT WAS AMAZING.

Afterwards we went to see The Mother's youngest sister and her family, which was nice. Those kids are lolarious. We bought them an alien each which they loved. If I don't have a job by half-term they should be coming to stay.

Back to the girl. She seemed to have a fairly good time. She left yesterday morning. The Sister goes over to hers during the Autumn half-term break.

(*) This is the point at which I found this ad: make your dream come true ESCORTS NEEDED. OH BOY.

--

In other news, am trying to come up with funds for the trip to Aberdeen. Still can't pre-book the train (should be able to on Friday) so I still don't know how much I need to get together, but the long and short of it is that I'm probably going to have to sell my stuff. On the one hand this is a good thing because I own some things that I'm never going to use again. On the other hand, I'm still going through my X-Files collection, and selling that's probably the easiest way of getting the money I need. Am less frustrated about that as a possibility now than I was when I first worked it out, but am still a little sore about it. But, hey, the mantra is always the same, right? (Have been reading Hindu philosophy recently: materialism binds you to the earth and takes you further from enlightenment. I'm pretty certain enlightenment is a euphemism for god, which is ironic on many levels, but there you go. I'm not searching for enlightenment as of yet, but I figure with the recession and all, now might be the time to start?) (Seriously, I'm bullshitting, guys.) (Still: it's a very interesting text.) IN SHORT: sigh.

--

The knitting is going very well. I am knitting old plastic bags to make a new one. That's not going brilliantly because it started off as an experiment and is thus a mess. Will have to start again and actually think about things like size and colour. I might knit it in the round instead of making patches and joining them. Hmmmm. I also need to work out how to crochet because that looks like something that's right up my street.

The other project - the one I photographed - is a pink scarf. Hopefully. Again with experimentation (am making the pattern up as I go along). So far there's a section with a large chequered pattern, a section with a small chequered pattern, and a section with ribbing. So. Onwards, onwards. Likely it will change colour half-through because I have apparently used up all of this pink wool (that has been in the house since the 80s, no shit).

Last week I bought some gorgeous furry/multicoloured wool. Once I've finally worked out the stitches properly (I'm still having issues with the yarn over - not the actual stitch, but what to do when you meet it on the next row) I can get to it with that stuff. I'm tempted to pick up some more, too, because it was a pretty good price for wool.

In conclusion: still a dork.

--

Things that I have to share with y'all: a new duck (!) from razorxrosary which has angel wings and a halo (!!!!); a paper frog from twincy which arrived this morning; my failed attempts at knitting, whoop whoop! Magical times, y'all.

The Dad woke me up at some ungodly hour just to remind me to wake up at 6am. UGH. As it turns out, this is because The Mother told him to. I OWN AN ALARM CLOCK GTFO. That said, I woke up and got ready and trundled into D and spent the next couple of hours being cheery at some really depressing customers. One of the regulars was very sweet, but no-one else returned my jubilant smiles. Fuck it, next time I'll just scowl at you all. (Kd!)

Came home after 10am and then watched as the sky repeatedly fell down. Wow.

--

Natalie Merchant's Motherland has basically become my Ziva soundtrack. So many appropriate lyrics and sounds. Guh.

Have also rediscovered The Editors' The Back Room. iTunes shuffle has been good to me today.

--

Later I decided to make more muffins, and thus made the trek back into D to buy cream cheese, only to return home and find that there weren't enough eggs. Sigh. A job for tomorrow, huzzah.

--

I watched Mad Men! I'm trying to watch Saving Grace! I'll probably ditch that for The Middleman, though, because Ham Dewey's angst is tres tres painful.

--

Apparently we are leaving for wedding part ii on Thursday what what what?

--

Yes, I am using this icon again. I loves it is why.

--

eta: ♥

Currently I'm resisting the urge to talk at length about the end of Kill Ari, II (again) so instead you can read my immediate thoughts tomorrow morning when LoudTwitter delivers them for me. \o/ NCIS, how I hope I shall never tire of thee. ♥

--

STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING. RIGHT. NOW.

Thank you! Now make a trip to theseasaid, twincy's graphics/fic comm, and marvel, marvel with wide eyes at the treats on show. Fic! Icons! HAIKU! Smash and ing. (Especial joys include: Torchwood haiku and Lt/Dani Life fic.) Yayarms!

--

Do any of my US flisters still use Pandora.com? I got kicked off when they cut the service to the UK, but I've yet to find an adequate substitute (Last.fm tries really hard but isn't the same, really). If anyone could tell me what Pandora throws up in relation to The Be Good Tanya's Junkie Song, I'd be very grateful.

--

So, In Plain Sight turned out to be Just My Thing (obviously) despite the fact that it has the World's Most Boring Subplots and kind of overplays its hand sometimes. I kind of adore Marshall, though! And it'll do for now. Especially since Saving Grace starts up again next week. Pompoms, my dear folk, pom-fucking-poms.

Memes = procrastination. Guess the show/film!

( 15 shows. )

( 15 films. )

Guess away. Comments are screened. (Um. I have been doing this for an hour. I should probably do some real work now.)

fallapartagain! Tell me you have sappy, fluffy JAG recs? I know I never really got around to actually loving your fandom, but I have a yen, and I can remember Mac and Harm's faces, so. (Also, what's going on with Wreck of the Day?)

--

Does anyone have:

• (non-cest) Supernatural fic to rec me? Preferably featuring Daddy Winchester. Preferably not featuring character bashing. Anyone?
  
• Ziva gen NCIS fic of any kind? I've read most of the femslash out there, but I'm looking for some character pieces. For any of the characters, actually. Fornell fic, should such a thing exist, would be most welcome, too.
  
• Good Sheppard/Weir. Definitions of 'good' tend to equate anything that's like fic by mylittleredgirl and/or anr. I don't care if it's angst or fluff, it just needs to be well-written. I've stomached enough of the bad stuff for a while now, and I've reread my favourites. I need new stuff!
  
• Oh, actually, any Teyla gen pieces? Any Ronon gen pieces that are actually interesting? Lorne fic is also good, and wanted.
  
• Life fanfiction. So far I have read a couple of gen pieces and some Charlie/Reese, though that is not a pairing I believe in completely. Mostly I just want more gen, or more Ted.
  
• Standoff fanfiction. I read every single shitty piece at ff.net, and I found some stuff that was passable, too, but I haven't found but two pieces that I love, and there must be more out there.
  
• Friday Night Lights fanfiction of any kind. Stick to S1 stuff, though, because I'm not caught up just yet. Stuff involving Coach and Mrs Coach is especially welcome.
  
• CSI and/or CSI:NY fics. Gen for the former, or anything that doesn't involve Gil/Catherine; anything goes for the latter.
  
• SAVING GRACE FANFICTION. In fact, Saving Grace fans of any description should be pointed out to me. I can't be the only person watching this work of genius.

--

In return, I have some recs, yay.

» Selected Causes of Recurrent Hypochondria (DiNozzo Variant) by kageygirl (NCIS, DiNozzo/McGee)
In which DiNozzo thinks he's ill, and McGee refuses to indulge him. Rinse and repeat. A short piece, made of happies, and founded on excellent dialogue.

» Man, Interrupted by samdonne (Thoughtcrimes, gen, but involves femslash)
Oh. OH. This is wonderful. Even if you don't know the fandom, you should read this. (Basically, Brendan is an FBI Agent with a photographic memory; Freya is a telepath. Together, they solve crime. No, really.) It is layered, emotionally complex, and narratively tight. I love it, and have read it a handful of times now.

Freya hadn't wanted to read Brendan's mind when he talked about his mother, but Brendan thinks in vibrant, kinesthetic bursts, in eidetic renderings of exteroception that draw her in like whirlwinds, and before she could stop herself she'd seen a synesthetic Polaroid of starched hospital sheets and the bitter stench of Betadine solution; wreaths of pink Oriental lilies and Chinese witch hazel; a thirteen-year old boy in itchy black trousers standing stoically in front of a coffin, between the aunt who would take him in when his father refused to step up, and the quiet woman his mother had loved for the past six years. (Her name is Marie Hollaran. He still visits her, in her flower shop on Pennsylvania and 14th Street.)

Seriously, this one you read and revel in. It's lyrically beautiful in parts, and tragic in others. I really, really enjoyed it.

» Let Him Be Righteous Still by trollprincess (Supernatural, John)
In which the demons flee the oncoming storm.

Death's got no need to come for Willis Clayton, not since they made an appointment to meet some hundred and twenty-seven years ago and missed each other on the trail.

Written around a Johnny Cash lyric, this fic is a wonderful inversion of setting, and an enjoyable short story. I really like the narrative voice, and the story-telling vogue of it all. Non-SPNers should like this, too. All you really need to know is that John Winchester hunts demons, and trollprincess has a knack for storytelling.

--

edit: OH GOD. I just signed up for picfor1000. NOW SOMEONE ELSE MUST TOO. Otherwise my woe will be singular! lols, no, but seriously, it's a good challenge, and y'all should check it out.

So, yeah, I have a cold, but I'm doping up so the only thing that I really have to worry about (other than my temperature fucking over my taste buds) is a tickly throat. I've been sleeping for about 12 hours at a time, so I don't know how I'm going to get to the lecture on Monday morning. It's Robert Browning this week, but I haven't done the reading for that yet because I've been in the library working on my dissertation for which I can't actually access half the materials that I need, so I'm talking to someone about that on Monday, post-lecture #1. I have to meet with my supervisor on Thursday, so before then I have to have written a dissertation proposal, and on Tuesday I have my ExWrit seminar, so I have to have written this thing for then. It's supposed to be a critical piece, but it's also supposed to be something else. I don't really understand. I think we're supposed to try and play with the new sentence? It irks me a little because unlike the style, I don't actually think that constituent parts of a sentence are political, and thus it pains me to not be able to actually denote my subordinate clauses as subordinate clauses. I'm all about curbing comma use but clause separation is pretty fucking vital. I guess the idea is to open up language play, a la Gertrude Stein's On Poetry and Prose (so, prose poetry) but I really don't need this right now. (Hahaha, AND I have to read for Monday for that class, too.)

It's not like I'm not working, I am. But I feel like I'm not getting much done. I'm done working with Winterson's Weight and I'm about to move onto Pelevin's The Helmet of Horror but I'm floundering with my research, and I'm freaking out about that stupid proposal because it's taking up time I could be using to do something else.

--

I really liked this week's Private Practice. Charlotte King is an excellent character, and I also love Addison and Naomi's friendship. As for this week's Grey's Anatomy, there was a lot going on, and I don't think I can judge it until I see the next episode.

I also saw Criminal Minds (twincy, you're going to want to watch the first 5 minutes AT THE LEAST) which I loved. I mean, I didn't love that it read like fanfiction, but I loved the three guest actors (Marc Vann, Nicholas Brandon and Bailey Chase) and I loved all of the regular cast. ( spoilers )

This week's CSI: NY was excellent; unusually, I watched that straight after I watched NCIS (normally it's one of the last things I watch). I've yet to see last week's CSI let alone this week's; I haven't watched Bones or The Unit, or Dexter, although T and I watched the Weeds finale which was predictably wonderful. I watched Pushing Daisies last night before I went to sleep, and I find Emerson more and more delightful every week.

So, yeah, am fannishly behind, not that I care all that much. Am planning on watching Numb3rs and Women's Murder Club today, and then this evening T wants someone to watch SVU with so we're going to do that. We'll probably end up watching the CM repeat that's on afterwards, too.

--

Also: I want to get up to speed on Atlantis all of a sudden. Eek.

--

But really, the real question is: to what extent would Ziva be a necessary addition to the team had Kate not died? Could you kill Tony and have Ziva instead? Possibly. I don't think Ziva is subordinate to anyone, but I don't think she's just Kate's replacement. For one thing, she's important to Gibbs' arc in a specific, feminine way. But she's also important to Gibbs' arc in terms of Ari, and if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: Ari's ghost only dies when Ziva goes to Gibbs in Hiatus Part II.

We always think that Kate and Ziva are separate entities, that they exist apart. But they have to exist simultaneously (a) for reasons of reality and (b) for reasons of Ari. I don't think they're as mutually exclusive as portions of fandom would like for them to be.