[EDIT 2: OH MY FUCKING GOD. We'll try this ONE more time, and perhaps
we can get all the way through it without Gmail or LiveJournal being
whiny titty-babies.]

[EDIT: OH MY GOD. This is why I hate posting via Gmail. Let's try this
again, only this time I'll take out the spoiler that apparently borked
my code and was sitting out there for God and everyone to see. I'm
sorry about that, folks.]

I've gotten well out of the habit of posting to LJ, and I need to
remedy this. It's mostly due to the fact that I can't access LJ from
work at all, and when I get to my home computer in the evening I only
have time/energy to read my f-list before I go to bed. I miss being
part of the fannish conversation, though, so I'm resolved to post more
frequently, even if I have to do it by Gmail - once a day, if I can.

So, various things:

1. Torchwood Season 3 - Bah. Three-and-a-half episodes of epic
goodness, levels unheard-of in Torchwood history, followed by
one-and-a-half episodes of shark-jumping asshattery. I seriously wish
I hadn't watched the last episode at all; it was like following a
four-star meal with a package of stale powdered donuts.

1a. TorchwoodSpoilersFandomFail - Wow, way to be, fandom. Has it been
so long since we've had some massive fandom-wide event like this that
people have forgotten how to mind their spoiler Ps and Qs? Speaking as
one who is spoiler-allergic, here are some reminders: Mood Spoilers
are spoilers. Casting Spoilers are spoilers. And, as
others have said, combining your "sad [character]" icon with cut text
of "[character], no!" and "Mood: Crushed" is a pretty clear
declaration that something awful has happened to [character] - which,
for a series that will air in America in two weeks and is only
available to UK-folks and those with torrent access until then, is bad
fucking form.

2. True Blood Season 2 - So. Much. Love. I love everyone, but most
especially Eric and Hoyt. I am a Hoyt fangirl, and I'm not ashamed to
say it! I love Hoyt Fortenberry like a fat kid loves cake. They're
writing him to be completely adorable, and the actor, Jim Parrack,
plays him like the biggest sweetest love muffin you ever did see.
*besotted sigh* I would totally watch The Pam and Eric and Hoyt and
Jessica Hour.

3. Life in General - My life has gotten 100% weirder since A-Kon. I
have a girlfriend, JFal has a girlfriend, and more
than that can't be said in a public forum. Simply let the record show
that everyone involved is doing their best to keep things on an even
(balanced, fair) keel, and it seems to be working out pretty nicely.

4. I'm going to see Harry Potter and the Oh God Show More Snape
Pretty Please on Wednesday afternoon with my girl, and I can't
wait. =D

I blame the conversation I had at the club last night about small penises, because I had a dream that I gave Chris Pine a blowjob and he was disappointingly tiny. That is NOT. RIGHT.

THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE SEEN ALL YEAR, ASIDE FROM THE ACTUAL MOVIE: Star Trex XI vid to "We Go Together" from Grease.

I especially love the musical break in the middle that features the "Kirk hangs from various things" montage.

...continuing on from sauvagerie, who got the count up to eleventy-billion and fourteen.

TTD Tuesday:
Shop at dollar store for basket
Session with trainer - 11:00am
Drop off basket at R'son office
Doctor appointment - 1:30pm
Start packing clothes
Meet Roadies crew at Carrollton warehouse - 4:00 or 5:00pm (call to check)
Help load truck
Shower
Finish packing clothes (a.k.a. Give up and throw entire wardrobe into suitcases)
Pack toiletries, accessories, etc. (a.k.a. Give up and throw entire medicine cabinet and jewelry box into suitcases)
Pack snacks
Load boozamahol into cooler
Steal one beer, and DRINK IT
Watch 8 episodes of Dollhouse
Die of exhaustion

TTD Wednesday:
Load car with cooler, snacks, my suitcases, JFal's suitcase (he'll be traveling, it's complicated)
Drive to hotel - 9:30am
Move into hotel: cooler, snacks, boozamahol, suitcases, and all
Help set up ConOps office: 10:00am
Print out On-Site Volunteers table instructions

TTD Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday:
Lose mind and freak out as A-Kon(r) 20 progresses at full speed and with all guns blazing

TTD Monday:
Whimper quietly around hotel
Help take down ConOps office

TTD Tuesday:
Move out of hotel

TTD Wednesday:
Act like I'm going to empty suitcases, then sleep instead

TTD Thursday:
Return to office
Praise God for normal people who bathe regularly

...also known as the boringest posts ever posted. No help for it, though: this is the way my brain works.

TTD Monday:
Find missing box of duckies; failing this, all other plans are null and void, and must commit hara-kiri
Finish sorting laundry
Make packing list for A-Kon
Type instructions for On-Site Volunteers table; save on USB
Session with trainer - 1:00pm
Go to grocery store:
Snacks for A-Kon
Boozamahol for A-Kon
Misc. toiletries
Clean house:
Sweep/Roomba
Take out trash
Wipe down counters
Do dishes

TTD Tuesday:
Shop at dollar store for basket
Session with trainer - 11:00am
Drop off basket at R'son office
Doctor appointment - 1:30pm
Start packing clothes
Meet Roadies crew at Carrollton warehouse - 4:00 or 5:00pm (call to check)
Help load truck
Shower
Die of exhaustion

TTD Wednesday:
Finish packing clothes (a.k.a. Give up and throw entire wardrobe into suitcases)
Pack toiletries, accessories, etc. (a.k.a. Give up and throw entire medicine cabinet and jewelry box into suitcases)
Pack snacks
Load boozamahol into cooler
Load car with cooler, snacks, my suitcases, JFal's suitcase (he'll be traveling, it's complicated)
Drive to hotel - 9:30am
Move into hotel: cooler, snacks, boozamahol, suitcases, and all
Help set up ConOps office: 10:00am
Print out On-Site Volunteers table instructions

TTD Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday:
Lose mind and freak out as A-Kon(r) 20 progresses at full speed and with all guns blazing

TTD Monday:
Whimper quietly around hotel
Help take down ConOps office

TTD Tuesday:
Move out of hotel

TTD Wednesday:
Act like I'm going to empty suitcases, then sleep instead

TTD Thursday:
Return to office
Praise God for normal people who bathe regularly

There is this bird. That sits in a tree across the street from my house. And sings. All night long. Starting at about 12:30am. And it's a mockingbird. So it's not just one kind of singing. It's like those car alarms that cycle through all the possible varieties of annoying sound. Or a bird-song simulator of some kind. That is stuck in demo mode. And I'm about ready to buy me a BB gun. And start taking shots.

I left the office at 3:00pm today, and I don't have to go back in for 12 days. WHAT? How is this even possible?

I pulled a truly epic amount of work out of my ass over the last two days, trying to dot every i and cross every t. I'm actually only missing seven days of work, due to weekends and the holiday, but that's a long time to be out for someone who supports a full slate of needy, prima-donna executives. (I love them, but OH MY GOD they drive me crazy.) Now I can transition to supporting needy, prima-donna con attendees and Staff Heads! Heh.

Having just spent the last 45 minutes in traffic hell - populated by assholes, people who are assholes because they had too much to drink at office happy hour, people who are morons because they had too much to drink at office happy hour, and morons - I will now go be virtuous on the elliptical machine for 45 minutes. After that, I make no promises as to my virtue from now through June 3.

YOU GUYS. Chris Pine's birthday is two days before mine (five years later). You know what this means, right?

RIGHT! We are practically the same person! Soulmates, meant to be, etc. (Except for that whole I-Have-A-Husband thing. And also the He-Wouldn't-Know-Me-From-A-Hole-In-The-Ground thing. Whatever, those are trifles. *handwaves*) Nobody can understand an August Virgo better than another August Virgo, y'know.

This post brought to you by Jezebel's excellent continuing Chris Pine coverage. Further updates as events warrant.

Why is it that my brain only spits out little pieces of stories that absolutely must be written NOWRIGHTNOW when I'm about to go to bed? Does it have something to do with the lowering of my defenses in preparation for sleep? Or maybe it's the only time of day when distractions are minimized enough for my teeny-tiny writer-voice to be heard above the clatter. All I know is, there's the beginning of a new story saved in Notepad on my desktop, and it's time for bed.

(It's not even the pairing that's my favorite to read about in this re-booted ST fandom. Also, I'm pretty sure it's been done a thousand times already, both in the old school and the new school. Still...the bunny, it bites, and it does not let go.)

I keep meaning to post to LiveJournal and/or Dreamwidth, but then I have nothing to say...or, if I have something to say, I have no time to post. Conundrum. I'll post a list of things I'm doing, and hope it will pass for something interesting.

1. Star Trek was so very awesome and amazing. Haters to the left, mmkay? You and George R.R. Martin can go have a big hate party, but me and most of my friends will be over here loving on the sexy goodness. I EVEN LIKED THE LENS FLARES. SO THERE.

2. Work has been awful and stupid and exhausting for the last couple of weeks, but that particular brand of awfulness ended today. Now I can focus on all the other things I need to do around the office, including...

3. ...getting caught up on A-Kon stuff. Y'all, I'm so far behind, I haven't even scheduled my ConOps staff. BAD CONOPS ASSISTANT, NO BISCUIT.

4. I'm going on a cruise with jfalstaff and some members of The Women's Chorus of Dallas very soon. I'm very excited - A-Kon is a working vacation, but this is going to be a true vacation. Except for how I have to learn two new pieces rapidamente. Hm.

5. I've been working out with a trainer for a few weeks because I realized I'm entirely incapable of motivating myself to get to the gym. Having (pre-paid, not-cheap) appointments helps keep me on track, and she pushes me to go farther than I ever thought I could. I'm not, um, losing weight actually, but apparently I'm toning up somewhat. I've told her, if I'm working out with you every single evening I'm available to come to the gym, I'm not going to be doing this cardio you keep after me to do! Whatever. It's fun, I like my trainer, and she laughs at me. What more could you want?

And all the rest is just filler.

Oh, Kellan!

*swoons*

Why must I find your adorkable self so attractive?

While I was driving to work today, I saw a sign on the Tollway: "U.S. Sen. John
Cornyn, this exit." Although dismayed, I took the exit - because I
had to, to get to my office - and was further dismayed to see a sign
pointing to a building on my right indicating that Sen. Cornyn's
office was in that building. I was further dismayed because this
building is right next to my office building. Senator Cornyn,
the embodiment of everything that is wrong and hateful about the
farthest-right wing of the Republican party, has an office spitting
distance away from my building.

I don't know whether to vomit, stage a protest outside, or throw rocks
at his windows.

Concert with The Women's Chorus of Dallas tomorrow night. I have 1.5 solos, plus choreography and much stage business to remember. Dress rehearsal was tonight, followed (naturally) by nachos and margarita at Cantina Laredo. Headed off to bed now...think I'll watch a movie to go to sleep, since I finished my book last night.

(I really want to watch the ep of Supernatural I downloaded last night/this morning, but it will keep for a few more hours. When a concert is in the offing, sleep is more important than the Winchester boys. I KNOW, I can't believe I said that either.)

TTD Tomorrow:
9:30am Purchase & attach tying bits to head-thing
11:00am Appointment with TrainerJen
12:30pm Lunch
1:00pm Shower/start warm-up
2:00pm Pack bag for the day (contents noted below)
2:30pm Leave house
3:00pm Begin rehearsal with TWCD
3:30pm Record two tracks with TWCD for this season's CD
4:30pm Dinner Break
5:15pm Wrangle makeup and hair
6:00pm Call for concert
7:00pm TWCD Spring Concert, "Nomination"
9:30pm After-party at Ruggieri's
1:00am Collapse

I think I'm supposed to do stuff with my mom and great-aunt on Sunday, but I can't remember at the moment, and all of that can wait until I have brain space available. For now: SLEEP.

Bag to include: concert uniform; box of black knee-highs; shoes for concert; undergarments; deodorant; makeup; accessories (incl. green thing and head-thing); book; iPod; music binder; clothes & shoes for after-party

Dreamwidth account achieved! I don't know what the protocol is on thanking one's code-benefactor, so for the moment I will just say: Thank you! I will pay it forward as soon as I receive any codes to give out.

To all those I added while I was using my OpenID login, please forgive me adding you again. I'm sure there's a way I could have incorporated you into my Reading Page without going through the rigamarole again, but I have no idea what it might be.

(I need to go back skip=a bajillion in LJ to re-discover everyone's Dreamwidth names, because I know for a fact I'm missing people I had before.)

Next steps: figure out how to crosspost into LJ; import LJ archive.

ETA: Dreamwidth name is elina, same as on LJ.

Ugh, I can't stop reading about Nick Adenhart, the baseball player who was killed in a drunk-driving accident on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. The kid was 22 years old - just beginning his life, just beginning what looked to be a long and prosperous career in the Big Leagues. And now he and two of his friends - one a law student, the other a college cheerleader - have had their lives cut tragically short, and the passenger who survived is in critical condition.

...and if your first thought upon hearing the story was, "I wonder if the guy who hit them was drunk," you get a big gold star on your forehead. Not only was he apparently drunk, but he had a history of alcohol-related arrests, and was driving on a license that had been suspended due to DUI. Obviously his own bad choices are the direct cause of this tragedy, but I dearly wish we had a judicial system in America that had provisions for guys like this: non-violent repeat offenders who can't or won't a) get treatment for their addictions or b) learn to make better choices. I don't think someone should have to spend years in jail for public intox...I just wish there was some sort of "grey area" in the legal system that would either rehabilitate or better punish this type of person.

In other sad news, a dear friend lost his brother to drug addiction on Wednesday night. I'm uncertain whether it was suicide, overdose, or what, but his death is tragic for my friend's tight-knit family. He's doing the best he can, but that old PSA about "This is your brain on drugs...and this is what it does to your family" does not lie.

What can I talk about that's not terribly depressing? Hm, well, I'm going to Panoptikon tonight to help celebrate my best friend's girlfriend's birthday, so that should be fun. And I have a Dreamwidth account...er, kind of. I've used my OpenID thingy to create a profile under the name "elina", so please feel free to add me, or whatever it is you do over there. Or, drop me a line here with your Dreamwidth name, and I'll add you to my Reading Page, since that seems to be about all I can do so far.

Mostly I just want the opportunity to snag the name "elina" over there, the way I have with many other sites, because I'm an awful person and love out-maneuvering all those actual Elina's out there. (Leave it to me to pick one of the most popular names in Finland as my online handle.)

In closing, even those of us who don't celebrate Zombie-Jesus-Is-Arisen Day are happy to leave at 3:00pm when the office closes early.
\m/

I was going to post my Free Will Astrology horoscope by way of ending an inadvertant LJ-posting lull, but it's kind of, um, sexual this week, and I would feel weird being all, "Hi, hello, I missed you guys, and by the way here's what Rob Brezny has to say about my sex life!"

Ugh. Have you ever had one of those nights where things just don't come together? Where you're expecting the evening to be all Happy Fun Booze Times, and instead it's all Drive Everywhere And Never Really Find The Right Place To Be Times? Tonight was like that. It started with a happy hour celebrating the end of singlehood for a friend, which was indeed fun; but it was held at Dick's Last Resort, where the motto seems to be, "We're going to yell at you until you start having fun, and these watered-down, insanely expensive drinks are going to help!" I actually had to take a nap after that, I was so beaten down. Then it was off to hang out with the BFF, then an impromptu trip to Panoptikon. Sadly, I wasn't in the right headspace for any of these activities. It didn't help that there was a special event at Panop tonight, and I was severely underdressed (see above re: impromptu trip). The icing on the cake was that I couldn't even catch a buzz, no matter how many overpriced adult beverages I consumed - and yet, now I have a headache.

Time to turn this day in and request another one.

What has two thumbs and just won its first Bag of Crap? THIS GUY!

OH GOD, WOOT OFF.

How? How can it be over after next week? How is it possible that these characters we have loved, laughed at, leered at, loathed...LOVED* are going away in seven days? After next Friday night** they will vanish from our TV screens, their stories told, their lives unfolded. And it's killing me, because their story is our story. Okay, yes, we are not living on an interplanetary spaceship, fighting for our lives from moment to moment. I grant you that. But their stories are human stories - even the Cylons'. The lives Ronald D. Moore has written for them teach us about our lives: how we interact, how we hurt people we love, how we give up in the face of defeat...or hold on. And I am not ready to let that go, not yet. I want to spend hours, days, years watching Lee and Kara dance around each other. I want to mock Gaius forever and ever. I want to stand in awe of the ferocious badass-ness of Six for the rest of my life.

But RDM has decreed it shall not be so, and that is what fanfic is for.

( This week's episode )

In other news:

1. I am white, I recognize that I have white privilege, I try not to abuse that privilege, and I try to be aware of how my words and actions affect those around me who are non-white-privileged. Also, for the record: I have straight privilege because I am bisexual but married to a man; I have female privilege because I can play the "boobs" or the "tears" card as need be; and I have Southern Hippy Liberal Democrat privilege because I have grown up surrounded by dozens of different cultures and I was raised to treat everyone like members of one race - the human race.

N.B. If you do not know why I felt the above statement was necessary, google "Race Fail 09". Be prepared to sit a while.

2. I have a new car. She is a new 2008 Jetta - the dealer used her as a demo, so she's basically a floor model, which is how I could afford her. I required a combination of insurance settlement, gift from jfalstaff's mother (or, his deceased grandmother, really), a dip into savings, the deed to my soul, and the deed to my unborn children's souls to put together the down payment and the financing, but it is done, and she is in my driveway. My Babs***, she is beautiful, and I could not possibly love her more if I tried.

*Yes, I said it twice, and I meant it twice. LOVED. There, three times.

**Or Saturday morning, or whenever you watch it on your DVR...YMMV

***Named after JFal's aforementioned deceased grandmother, the same way I named my Saturn Ion after my own grandmother, since it was her inheritance that helped me buy that one.

Just talked to my insurance adjustor, and the other guy's insurance company has accepted liability for the accident, so they're going to pay my deductible, which means my settlement check is going to actually be enough to put down a respectable down payment on a new car!!

*twirls*