snow on the sahara

&$#$&*()^@#&@*^)#$*@&$^(#*&$^#(*&$^#(*&$^#)(*%&^#(*%&

*orders four hard contact lens plungers so this doesn't happen again*

So Otakon was good and all (aside from the horrendous drive back to New York) but I feel I need to address this first:



WHO THOUGHT PUTTING OTAKON TWO WEEKS AFTER EXPO AND A WEEK BEFORE COMIC-CON WAS A GOOD IDEA?

Just checked out the newest Otaku USA and wow...that is one poorly-made excuse for a magazine. Behind the times, too. It's a little late to be doing an article all about pre-Soul Society Bleach.

Someday I'll learn to art of making weekend update posts not halfway through the week. It was a fun weekend--I got to hang out and have dinner/unnecessary but yummy ice cream with lovediamond on Friday. Much Bleach chatter ensued. On Saturday morning, I drove down to join irenak for an afternoon at Wizard World Philadelphia. It was pretty fun--not really much panel stuff going on while we there, so we mostly just wandered around the dealers room, browsing for purchases and gaping at exhibitors' booths. (The Witchblade anime is JUST short of being actual hentai. Ick.) I picked up a couple of Alias trade paperbacks for $10 each, which made me happy. Also bought some licorice and fudge at Reading Market, most of which irenak's dog ate later, along with the plastic packaging. I didn't actually mind much, as I really don't need to be consuming a hunk of fudge. At home, we watched 6 eps of Dr. Who (I'm hooked) and talked all things fandom and fic. I always walk away from our weekends hanging out feeling really inspired to write, but there's never enough time. Then on Monday, I got to have lunch with the always delightful roserevolution, who was buying spiffy new outfits at Palisades for her spiffy new job.

So the weekend was good--the subject line of this post refers to the insomnia I had again last night. How long can this go on?! I was exhausted when I went to sleep at 1:30, slept for about an hour, then popped awake. Got a bit of fitful sleep, was awake again around 4 and got up to say good night/good morning to lovediamond on AIM at 5 AM. So the only really uninterrupted sleep i got was 5-8ish. I feel like a zombie today.

I'm going to cut out caffeine in the form of my beloved Lime Diet Cooke entirely in the evenings, but I don't even know if that's what's doing it. I've been having minor anxiety attacks about my breathing--I don't remember if I mentioned it here, but I'd gone to the doc for persistent chest tightness that could potentially be adult-onset asthma, could potentially be something else. Ironically, the tightness has gone drastically down since I got back from dialogue's wedding, so it's not like I even have anything to worry about. But I keep feeling like I need to take deep breaths--sort of like when yawning, except it's not yawning--until I stop thinking about it, then it pretty much goes away. So I'm thinking it has to be in my head. But knowing that doesn't DO anything about it. SIGH. In any case, I'm thinking it's a good idea to go to the walk-in x-ray place to get the chest scan the doctor referred me for just in case. It'll check out the asthma thing and if everything checks out all right on the scan, maybe I'll stop going mental. Ugh.

In happier news, I finally FINALLY have a title for Dead Ichigo, my big mclargehuge Bleach fic I've been working on for like a year. Should be able to start posting it in a couple weeks if hecatehatesthat keeps up with the awesome beta. YAYS. I am not awesome at titles on my best day, but this one took extra gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. hallowd was not wrong to refer to the brainstorming period as the "Iliad of Woe." utenatai, tenebris and hecatehatesthat all had a hand in molding the title. Lo, they rule.

Next weekend is Anime Expo, which kicks off my month of ASHALKJGDSADKHGJAGDSAD. sarcasticval and utenatai, I know how to hook up with you there, but banfennid, we need to sort stuff out. I'm not leaving California again without getting to hang with you. :) I don't know what our work schedule is for the con but we should know before we leave. I hope this time we don't have an emergency landing in fucking Denver again.

Okay, I have a question. Have any of you ever liked the sound of a song and felt torn because you despise the lyrics? I'm feeling that now. I've only heard it a couple of times on the radio, but I was digging the groove of Avril Lavigne's new single, "Girlfriend." (STFU, I know she's a poser, I happen to like poser music as well as stuff by really talented people. I also eat Taco Bell AND deliciously authentic Mexican food. You can have both.)

Then I saw the video last night while treadmilling at the gym, and I started paying attention to the lyrics. Close-captioning is so handy that way. Lyrics are here, but have an excerpt:

Don’t you know what I could do to make you feel alright?
Don’t pretend I think you know I’m damn precious
And Hell Yeah
I’m the motherfucking princess
I can tell you like me too and you know I’m right

These aren't that bad on their own. Spoiled and obnoxious, sure, but it's the video which really pisses me off. I suppose it's possible I didn't glance up for the first few seconds of it at the girlfriend in question killed Avril's puppy or something, but as far as I can tell, the plotty part of the video is about Avril and her friends being horrible, horrible bitches to this girl who did nothing to them. She gets hit by a mini-golf ball, falls into a pond full of sludge, and gets tricked into slamming into a port-a-potty which then falls over. The video ends with Avril congratulating herself for being such a cunt and wriggling on her boy, who I guess just abandons his unfortunate girlfriend.

What the fuck?! Look, I realize pop music is not exactly something you listen to to find role models, but since when did being a total bitch for some guy's holy cock become such a great thing? This song is basically a less skanky version of that Dontcha. Ugh, I fucking hate it. The girls in the video were SO obnoxious that I seriously thought it might be a parody until the end.

The worst part is I still really like the sound of the song. But fuck you, Avril, you're not getting a fucking dime from me for it.

Apparently when setting my alarm last night I also set my clock ahead an hour.

AT LEAST I WON'T BE LATE FOR WORK. Argh!

Bad: Coming home to discover the furnace has failed to kick on during the day
Good: Mr. Landlord comes over to fix it
Bad: It dies in the night again.

omgsocold

Can we agree to a moratorium on "I like slash as much as the next person, but why do people slash THIS pairing? It doesn't make sense because they seem so straight/there's an age difference/they have canon interests....etc" posts?

Wishful thinking, I know. And sometimes I even agree with the poster. But really--this kind of thing is getting so boring and most slash is based on subtext, which is more than a little bendy depending on who's interpreting it. So why bother?

Since Those Who Know Not Logic have recognized my tyrannical dominion over the fandom, it was suggested I upgrade. I am no longer fandom's queen, I am the TYRANT! I demand tithes, bitches!

Then again, apparently complaining about the fandom even a little bit means I'm just whiny and not a true fan and just a bad person, darn it, so maybe I should give up my position after all.

Nah.