Oh my, is Captain Jack ever charming. I might even find myself looking at fanfic for this show, which is saying a lot, since I have stubbornly resisted getting sucked in by any new fandoms since SV.

( What is spoiler courtesy for shows already broadcast in their country of origin and not likely to be aired in the US? )

I read exactly 50 books last year, if you include the 3 audio books I listened to while at the gym. I hope to read at least as many this year, partially by cutting back on web surfing.

My first book of 2007 is The Last of Her Kind by by Sigrid Nunez.

I forget where on the web I saw this book recommended. It might even have been here on my friends list. I enjoyed reading this book tremendously. I think one reason is that, while I was too young to really be aware of the political activism in the late 60's and early 70's, let alone participate, I find it fascinating to read about things that happened while I was growing up. This book is incredibly rich and has a wonderfully strong narrative voice. I highly recommend it.

Current Mood: tired

Tags:

books

I only made one resolution last year (more nookie) which I'm pleased to say I kept. This year I'll try a few more. (Repeating last years is a given).

In no particular order:

1. Read more books, fewer blogs

2. Eat less junk

3. Make time to listen to my kids regularly

4. Get my youngest fully weaned, potty trained and into his own room by December 2007.

I think these are the ones I am serious about. I'd like to post more often, but SV hasn't inspired much this season.

Can I make resolutions for AlMiles? 1: More clex, even if it's rifty angsty clex. 2: Clear, consistent character motivation. Number 2 is probably more important, but I don't think they are capable of it.

Happy New Year Everyone!

[Poll #873995]

Current Mood: hungry

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

A few weeks ago someone posted links to the deleted scenes from season 5. I didn't get them because we were in the middle of a computer upgrade and I fogot where they were. Does anyone know if they are still available?

Thanks!

( I found myself adding to my meagre interest list while doing this. )

But she's still called Batgirl.

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

I didn't know Tesla was so cool. He built a frog catching machine as a child.
(Hm, the link the test provides just gives the picture, not the bio. That's a shame.)

While I am firmly in favor of lumping Pluto with the soon-to-be more than 50 confirmed similar outer solar system objects, I found this hysterically funny.

On a related note, a poll:

[Poll #806720]

I loved Land of the Lost when I was young and felt sad when I learned that there is no such thing as a Brontosaurus. So I can sympathize with those who think Pluto should still be considered a regular planet. But the planet/dwarf planet distinction makes a lot more sense in light of what we are still learning about the solar system.

A quick question for those who have seen the movie: is it too violent for a 10 year old? How about an 8 year old?

( Pictures of my LJ Friends )

Try out this Meme

Brought to you by NardVille and BearPodcast.

I fell asleep with my toddler Thursday night so I had to avoid LJ all day yesterday.
( But now that I've seen it ... )

Current Mood: amused

My Tivo stopped just as ( spoiler )

( spoilers )

Current Mood: grumpy

LJ Interests meme results

angel:
This is probably out of date. And to be accurate, it should be Lindsey instead of Angel. Season 1 and 2 Lindsey. Later Lindsey not so much.
astronomy:
My profession, even though I've been bogged down in the technical end of things for the past several years.
buffy:
Also out of date. I never read the fanfic much and the show is off the air, but I'd love to get my hands on mp3s of Once More With Feeling.
chocolate:
Mmm. Especially dark chocolate. Truffles with coffee, hazelnut, orange or raspberry. No liquers.
figure skating:
I'm a little burned out on this what with the olympics and all. I still have lot on Tivo I haven't watched, but will probably get to in rerun season. I would love to see Kwan come back if she is healthy enough, but doubt she will be. I hope Weir gets his act together as I love his skating.
gardening:
I am limited in what I can grow due to deer, groundhogs and a toddler, but I like working on the garden bit by bit, even if it takes a few years to get everything set up the way I'd like it.
smallville:
Lex, Clex, Clark, Lionel back when his character had continuity and people remembered he was evil. I still watch the show but it is getting more painful. I love the fanfic and get a little sad when favorite authors get pulled away to shiny new fandoms.

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.

I saw some great stuff on TV last night. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (DVD) was lots of fun. I wasn't expecting a lot, but they really did a good job with it.

( Then there was Smallville ... )

Current Mood: chipper

Octavia Butler, MacArthur Foundation grant winner, Nebula winner, great science fiction writer died over the weekend. She was 58.

Kindred was my favorite of her books, but I enjoyed all of them, particularly the Xenogenesis series. She will be missed.

Am I the only one who disagrees with Roslin?

( spoilers )

Do to a screw up with our TIVO, we didn't record Justice league last night. Does anyone know where I can find a torrent for it?

ETA Never mind, found one.

Current Mood: disappointed

For once I agree with something Bo Kent said.

( cut for spoilers )

( Spoilers )

The Kansas supreme court just ruled that they can't have longer sentences for statutory rape involving same sex couples than for cases involving opposite sex couples. Matthew Limon, who had received a 17 year sentence instead of the 13-15 months he would have received for a heterosexual encounter, will likely be re-sentenced and/or released.

OB CLEX: I guess, since Clark is 18 (shouldn't he be 19 if he was 15 in the 1st season?) this doesn't change the situation between him and Lex

( Huh. I'm surprised I scored so high for tastefullness ... )

( What was this episode called? )

Serenity was good, but not great. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more or less if I had never seen the TV series? In a movie, there is less time for individual character development and the larger plot has to come to some closure. In the series, the larger plot carried over from episode to episode and could have taken years to resolve, but the fun was in the smaller escapades and character interactions. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had gotten to watched two previously unknown TV episodes rather than the movie. But if I had never seen Firefly, I might have enjoyed just getting to know the crew without missing the richness that was in the series.

( My favorite bit of meta )

( So, Smallville ... )

Clark, you're an astronomy buff. You know the difference between a galaxy and a solar system. At least when Blake's 7 made that mistake it made a good, if unintentional, sight gag.

Poor John Glover. Are you signed on throught year seven, too?

From Lisa Tuttle's The Mysteries a pretty good fantasy/mystery story:

...the baby is part of you. At first, she can't survive without you. And then, more and more, she can. Until, finally, she can't survive with you--everything you try to do for her is wrong--so you just have to let go, and stand back, and let them make their own mistakes and realize, maybe, they aren't mistakes, they're just somebody else's life.

( That was ... )

(Somebody must have used that subject header before.)

( Spoilers for Onyx )

I won't be able to watch Onyx until the kids are asleep, but I posted the following in

wednesday100, which reflects my feelings about it. I really hope it's not another Bound.

( Minor spoiler for Onyx )

Slate has an article on the history of breast enhancemen. The slide show is amusing, if a little bit scary.

I've been meaning to try a poll since I made this a paid account (and then stopped posting for ages). Pointless poll day provides the perfect excuse. Here it is:

[Poll #472604]

harriet_spy has a pointer to this site which has some very amusing comic covers. I found this one particularly interesting in light of Clark's reaction to the CoCK.

Or maybe Lois is crazy to react that way to discovering an alien stalker?

I set my VCR to tape until 9:01 and it's clock is correct and I still missed the last minute or two of Lost. Can someone tell me ( ... )

From now on I'm taping an extra ten minutes.

My vcr missed the last few minutes of Lost tonight. Can someone fill me in on what happened ( cut just in case )

Thanks

( May contain general Smallville spoilers, but not for any specific future episodes )

This is hilarious.

raelan points to a great interview with MR, scanned in at DTS:

http://www.devotedtosmallville.com/files/smallville/scans/cult-times-109-1.jpg
http://www.devotedtosmallville.com/files/smallville/scans/cult-times-109-2.jpg
http://www.devotedtosmallville.com/files/smallville/scans/cult-times-109-3.jpg

He mentions the clex and significant detail about his dressing habits.

I read some of the blow by blow on Peter David's blog, watched a few minutes of tv, then decided I'd rather watch this again.

I feel better now.

Pretty much everything I thought about this episode has been said by at least one other person, except possibly for this:

( Spoilers )

( Spoilers )

Current Mood: chipper

Bluebeard

Rating: G
Spoilers: Through Covenant
Disclaimer: Not mine, but I like to borrow them from time to time.
Notes: Thanks to Aelora for the beta and setting up the fairy tale challenge in the first place.
Summary: Behind closed doors.

( Bluebeard )

Current Mood: relieved

I hope to have my fairytale challenge fic ready for a beta by sometime tomorrow. The problem is, never having written anything much longer than a drabble, I don't have a beta. For this one I'm mostly looking for grammar and punctuation and the like. I doubt I will have time to any structural rewriting, but I would like to know if/where it is confusing or not working so I can fix it if I get a chance.

The fic will not be much over 1000 words.

Anyone interested?

I remember complaints that Clark never faced any repercussions for his crime spree in Metropolis. Recently I've wondered if this could part of a long term plan on the part of TPTB. Lex is quite likely to connect the events of that summer to the future Superman. If TBTB are going with the idea of Lex-as-Segit-who-thinks-he's-the-hero, then Lex's belief would be supported by the knowledge that Superman had acted criminally and gotten away with it. If they allow Lex to be suspicious that Clark is Superman, then he also has all the times Clark acted badly (Red and Rush), as well as the certainty that Clark is a liar, to add to his picture of a dangerous Superman. ( Cut for S4 spoiler ) The knowledge that the famous proponent of "Truth, Justice ... and other stuff" was a lying criminal would destroy any positive influence Clark or Superman could have on him. Instead it would reinforce his belief that he is acting heroically and that it's ok to break the rules.

Thoughts?

ETA: Spoiler free folks, if you're still reading, is that enough spoiler protection or is the implication of a spoiler relevent to this topic enough of a spoiler itself? Should I have cut-tagged the whole entry?

Has anyone else had trouble with icons not displaying? For the past few days I haven't seen any icons in my journal, my friends list, other journals or even my personal icon update page.

Did something break or did they change the behavior for free accounts? Or is it just me?

ETA: Since I just noticed it is Haiku day:

I see no icons here.
Letters only on the screen.
LJ broke again?

ETAA:

Galeon confused.
Refuses to load some pics.
Restart does the trick.

I also made one without the baby so you could see the ponytail:

But I spend so much time holding the baby these days that the first one is more realistic, even if portrait maker makes me look far too young to have a baby.

Peter David has an interesting theory about the cliffhanger in the Smallville season finale.

This had me giggling for a while. It made me think Bush was going to steal Pooh's honey.

I've been sitting on a ficlet for a few days, but I decide to use

dolimir's birthday as an occasion to post it. I have a vague feeling someone has already written something very similar, but haven't been able to find it. If it rings any bells, please let me know so I can give credit.

Happy birthday Dolimir!

The first time he wore the costume, Clark visited Lex Luthor. He landed in the penthouse garden a few yards away from where his former friend stood sipping water and watching the city below.

"You must be the 'Angel of Metropolis' everyone has been talking about." Lex said, turning to face him. "Hmm. The descriptions in the papers don't do you justice. Not quite this ... colorful".

Clark pulled his shoulders back and prepared to speak as Lex circled him, observing. Clark had had forgotten what it was like. The slow, confidant walk. The intense, focused stare. He was covered in blue spandex, but he felt completely naked.

"I've always preferred superheros in purple, but primary colors work for you." Lex stopped to take drink, his mouth lingering on the long neck of the blue bottle.

Clark had come to deliver a warning, but the words wouldn't come. Behind him, the wind gusted, blowing the cape between his legs like a soft caress.

Lex raised his eyebrows and his mouth turned up on the left side. His full body glance paused just below midpoint. "Is that one of your super - ah - attributes?"

The blood rushing to Clark's face relieved some of the cause of his embarrassment and he found his voice at last. "I'll be watching you, Luthor" he said quickly, and rose to the sky, ignoring the faint "... be watching you, too" as he flew away.

The second time Clark wore the costume it had an addition. The bright red shorts looked goofy. The concept reminded him of the girdles that old ladies wore. But the new material - strong enough to restrain a member of the Kryptonian race - was too stiff to wear under the suit.