The Bookstore

So: last night. On the border between drunk and tipsy, probably closer to tipsy but I wouldn't know. It was a small bottle, and I had maybe a third of it. Jen says I had 3-4 units, but I didn't work this out for myself and she had drunk about as much as me PLUS a pint of cider, so who knows, really. I went to bed at eleven.

I woke up at one, feeling writhingly nauseated. ( Probably a little TMI on sickness )

So on the one hand, drank part of a small bottle. On the other, felt like genuine illness, and took place after I was done being drunk, really (and whenever I've heard of/seen people sick from drinking, it hasn't been so protracted and it's been while they're really drunk), but two hours later seems way too early, to me, to be a hangover. Caroline says it was a hangover and I was really drunk, but she didn't see me last night and didn't listen to the whole story and anyway, she also says the American Revolution doesn't count as a war that Britain lost, so I don't put too much stock in what she says.

ETA: Shivering all over. Legs don't want to work. I think I'm just sick. Dammit, body, not this week!!

I have nothing to say except that I am the lightest lightweight to ever live.

Jen and I had a hilarious conversation about how James-Lily-Snape is completely and exactly like Robin-Marian-Guy, and I'm still not sure why it was so funny but as soon as I started explaining how Robin and James are both essentially good but treat everyone else terribly we both started laughing so hard. Also my idea for an AU (or a series of drabbles) where Regulus comes to Dumbledore for forgiveness and help instead of Snape, and becomes the Potions professor, I guess because no other positions are available? and hates Harryy because James "led Sirius astray" and messed everything up. IDK. It seemed rly amazing at the time but is now sort of pointless.

Over the last couple of days I reread "Death Before Dishonor", and it's not very good and OotP stuff would have made it ever angstier and better but it was quite amusing. Jen has sent me the link to an AU called "Fighting the Green" that I'm going to try out. She also told me all about the pre-prequel Star Wars books where Qui-Gonn was just ridiculously mean to Obi-Wan, I mean srsly. I almost want to read them because they sound so hideous.

I was supposed to pack today, but I went to High Street to get some last minute gifts for Mom and Gramma (because of Mother's Day) and now I am drunk so clearly packing must wait until tomorrow.

The end of Wideacre, plus thoughts.

( Hang down your head, Tom Dooley )

(part one)

If you like books about deeply horrible people and incest, then Wideacre (Philippa Gregory) is right up your alley.

( Cont'd, with lots of spoilers )

Doctor Who tomorrow. BTW I really liked it.

(part two)

Because sometimes I have to.

A post from Women in Politics that reprints an article that, in my opinion, brings up some really good points about how so much overt sexism is allowed against Hillary and her supporters than overt racism against Obama. (I am, of course, not saying that there is no racism against Obama: that would be stupid. But racism tends to get pointed out and reviled fairly quickly.) The WiP post attaches a list of links that make it clear that this sort of thing is not just happening on obscure blogs.

A post from MightyGodKing about how there's no sexism in the main media or most Obama supporters. He knows, because he's a guy. \o/ Bonus: people in the comments who immediately jump on the commenter who said she's been completely put off the Democratic Party because she has been "called a racist, a whore, a bitch, a wrinkled old woman afraid of black men, and more for supporting the candidate of my choice. The candidate of my choice has been threatened with violence, rape and murder — all in a humorous spirit, of course! She has been denigrated for her wrinkles and her arm flab."

>:(

ETA: I originally had "overt"s in there, but I took them out because I used the same word twice in a sentence. Then I decided to put them back.

EATA: Speaking of misogyny, ( spoilers for the latest ep of SPN )

Happy belated birthday, a_t_rain!

I should just make it my Thing to always be a day late.

Suddenly I have this massive urge to reread (don't laugh) Calico Captive (I SAID DON'T LAUGH).

So this morning I had my Gallia exam. It was at 9:30, which is incidentally the same time as my flight in exactly a week.

My thoughts while studying: well, I'm guaranteed a question about religion/sanctuary sites, and I translated 50 pages of French and wrote about nine pages on that so I don't need to study it. Let's go through my notes. Ooh, a list of what should be present in a state-level society - memorize that, there must be some way to get that in. Anyway, I love lists. Oh, god, I do not want to go through all of these notes, there's no way I'll remember all of these places. My professor really like Mont Beuvray. Let's make a page about Mont Beuvray and memorize it, because surely one question will involve taking a site and telling why it shows something. Okay, that's it for studying, it's way more than I ever do anyway.

Out of six questions, the two I wrote about were "what evidence of rituals do we have in Iron Age Gaul" and "what's a state-level society that can do war, right?" I used examples from Mont Beuvray all through that second one. I think I basically win at Iron Age Gaul, is what I'm saying, or at least at valuable study strategies.

While waiting to go in to that exam, I was talking to a girl in my class who said that the papers had been graded, so afterwards I went over to the Archaeology Basement and got it. My score is 70%, which is an A3, which is very possibly an A- ... which is what I always get on papers, actually, I think every paper I've written in the past three years has been an A-. Maybe I should try putting a bit more effort into it.

Anyway, my writing was all "excellent", most of the thing was "very good", and my use of sources was only "good" (because they were basically all from this one French periodical, look, it was 300 pages on sanctuary sites all over France). My use of graphics was "very poor" because I forgot to put any in. And he said that my translations showed him new evidence. And that does actually make the headaches worth it!

I got sunburned walking up and down Arthur's Seat yesterday. :( Hopefully all that extra vitamin B or whichever will help my simply terrible skin.

Is it just me, or is this "Hooray for Ross Jenkins!" thing kind of very sexist? Actually, I know it's not just me, because I've mentioned it with other people and they agreed.

I am practically hating Ross Jenkins on principle now. >:(

PS: This explains perfectly why I've found the last two seasons' episodes to have lots of amazing little character bits that I love but on the whole to be really meh.

Happy birthdays to sreya and ekwy!

Things accomplished today:
- Watched "The Young Visiters"
- Wrote ... 310 words of fic
- Watched "I'd Do Anything" results show, was unhappy that Sarah left
- Watched The Tudors 2x05, was v v v unhappy about Sir Thomas Moar
- Wrote up a page to memorize about Bibracte/Mont Beuvray, because my Gallia professor is really into that site and it will probably be a question on the final (there will be multiple questions, we choose two, and everyone's final paper topics will be included in some way)
- Returned book to library
- Chatted with Mom on Gmail!!

Tomorrow: hiking in Holyrood Park and thus feeling less like I am Wasting Edinburgh.

from harriet_wimsey

To make up for the fact that I just posted a meme, have a link to an amazing Bertie Wooster fic: Green Ice, by Adina

I feel like such a useless thing because the past three weeks have been spent doing virtually nothing. I sat in the park twice. Um. I go to Tesco nearly every day. I still have not managed to go to Mary King's Close or climb around in Holyrood Park, because I am a failure at Edinburgh.

( Doctor Who: Season Four )

I think I am overcoming my fault of putting things down and never picking them back up! Clearly, I am beginning to demonstrate the ability to leave this particular story and then return to it. Possibly because it's mocking and has a stupid plot. I think there will be three chapters remaining. I'm trying to figure out the least idiotic way of saying this, but I think the ridiculously contrived bits are just going to stay ridiculously contrived, otherwise this rather pointless fic would require too much real thought.

( Chapter Three )

Or at least so for one of my unlocked entries. ;)

http://sidewinder.livejournal.com/1095327.html

I don't want to respond there because I don't necessarily want to cause wank (maybe I'll do something later, I don't know), but I read the whole thing, and ffs.

"Ok someone else complaining about bad/lack of info in their fandom at FH, yet not wanting to help by correcting it or getting involved themselves, just ranting about it. Nothing new. *yawn*"

Isn't it common knowledge by now that nobody's allowed to edit anything on FH? If Michaela disagrees with it, she'll just ban you and set it back.

I pretty much just wanted to point out a very curious sequence of events which seems to suggest that the spur behind OTW was not just FanLib and/or Strikethrough...and that the idea of working with FanHistory and the people involved in it was never going to be seriously considered from the start. Nor was it simply the case of not hearing of the project before, either.

If that's even true, then I have to say it's probably because of the incredibly bad reputation FH has for being scarce on some subjects and ridiculously over-detailed on others. For example, my FFN pen name has a page there, despite the fact that I don't use it anywhere except FFN and that there's no connection with this or any of my other screen names, and on it are listed all of my fics, with the dates of their upload. Why the fuck would anyone care about that? I'm hardly a player in fandom. Even Wikipedia has notability standards, which most of the time I think are stupid, but there's obviously a use for them. Moreover, there are people of the same level of obscurity as me whose fics aren't listed there. Why? Because of something to do with the bot. If you're using a bot to create your wiki, then yur doin it rong.

Interesting that you hide behind anonymity.

No, it's not really interesting. Sometimes, people don't want to have their names associated with wank. And if you're so sure of your superiority in a matter, why can't you actually respond to a mouse? I never get that.

Intelligent women can really upset the other kind.

Wait, I thought we were talking about Michaela?

I love it! The blind panic when they realised their bad fanfic is still out there. So funny!

... I think that says it all, really. If your main concern is laughing at the people who'd rather not have their FFN stuff listed on your (shitty) site, then maybe you aren't paying attention to the fundamental problems with your wiki.

You guys have got me agreeing with ataniell93, and that hasn't happened in years. If I hadn't been convinced that FH was a vanity project meant to make Michaela Ecks known by all in fandom, I surely am now.

I am in a good mood nearly all of the time now. Part of it is very probably due to classes ending in March and not having to do anything I don't want, and another part is that it's all of a sudden warm enough for a sweater or even a shirt, and sunny, with no clouds. Right now I'm wearing one of my impractical-but-marked down tunics from Macys, which has ridiculous puffs at the end of the sleeves, above the elbows, and a very high waist, which I never got to wear at home last spring because the temperature seemed to go from sweater-cold (and the puffs won't fit under a sweater) to t-shirt weather (and then the material doesn't breathe enough). I keep looking at my neck and collarbones in the mirror, yes, I know, I'm the first to admit how vain I am.

But I just feel so. much. better about myself, physically, than I used to. Even going back to early high school, when I thought I was fat (HA) because I guess I developed a figure earlier than other girls in my class, who were still very thin and angular, although at the time I didn't feel bad about knowing I was fat - it was just, you know, an immutable fact and there was no point considering it. And then I went to college, where I of course gained the standard fifteen pounds, and gradually lost some of it and turned some into muscle. Et cetera. And when I first got to Scotland, I was doing a lot of sitting by myself and eating ... well, I don't remember what I was eating, but it probably wasn't very good because I wasn't used to shopping for more than bare essentials.

Now, however, I walk all the time - all the way around the park (about a mile and a half), or to Tesco (a little less than a mile there and back), generally both once a day, but sometimes I have to go elsewhere or I feel like going around the park again - and I just eat so much better. I tend to get Light Choices, because they're often on sale or cheaper, and the food here is more natural anyway. And it just feels better all around.

Also, I'm reading The Beauty Myth (slowly), and it does make me very angry nearly every time I pick it up - especially now that I'm on the section on anorexia and dieting - but it also makes me secretly glad that I'm an unsocialized wretch, because I've definitely missed some things by not hanging around with other people and not properly living in the present. And it's given me a more positive body image.

The only thing is, the humidity here is terrible for my skin. Good for my hair, but my skin is, at all times of the month, more broken out than any time at all at home.

PS: Last night, Jen and I had a small bottle of cheap, fizzy, rose Lambrusco, and I managed to get past the fizziness to actually like it. I'm fairly sure I was at least tipsy, and I slept really well until some stupid truck woke me up at six. \o/

theferrett = misogynist fuckwit.

It's not just that he thinks these stupid things, it's that when women say to him, "I find this kind of action intimidating and/or frightening," he doesn't believe them.

You know, it's really hard to discuss gender issues with any hope of understanding if every time a guy makes a statement he's accused of being a rapist or sympathizing with rapists. THEIR LIVES, SO HARD. ;_; (Although that was by a friend of his and not him, he basically says the same thing all over the place.)

Read the above links AT YOUR PERIL.

I declare this update is to be in three parts!

---
The fannish:

Feedback is not concrit unless it is constructive. Just because someone says, "This is concrit," does not make it so. The reason you can't get good concrit in HP fandom isn't mainly because people mistake their opinions for concrit, it's much more to do with nobody being allowed to say anything critical in fandom or else they are mean and rude. People do mistake their opinions for concrit, but what you do in that situation is politely say thanks and ignore them - you are allowed to ignore anyone you want. Just giving an impersonal, "Thanks for reading!" will either a) convince them that you listened and make them shut up or b) offend them enough (because you obviously aren't taking any of their help) that they will go away. In my opinion, concrit is okay on anything except giftfic, even things in contests or what have been "published" on your livejournal.
---

The RL:

I was keeping a pretty good diary of what we did over the first week, but I left off in Bath. I should finish that. Anyway, we went all around and had a really great time. More on some details later, plus pictures.

My mom is coming to see me on Monday! I don't remember how long she's staying, but it's going to be so good to see her. By now I really can't wait to get home. Last night I was even nostalgic for my gas oven. I just want to stop paying twice as much for everything!
---

The ridiculous or the political:

I still cannot get over "funny money". Funny money. Seriously.


(I wish I could pay $5 and get ten or twenty more icons, but anyway. I am not paying LJ any more money. And this is not a cry for someone to buy me a paid account again.)

Happy birthday, das_mervin!

PS I'm in London!

Happy birthday, enchantedteacup!


Also, I normally do not mention anything I'm writing as it seems to kill the urge to write, but I don't think this urge can be killed.

Torchwood.

Crossed ... with Howl's Moving Castle.

I'm not really sure where it came from.