RensReality 101

Might as well go fold laundry...

2012-03-30T16:36:40Z

All I want is to do today is sit around drinking coffee and reading Steve/Tony. Why isn't there more Steve/Tony?

I think Smallville and Stargate Atlantis utterly wrecked me for how this fanfic thing works. There may actually be more Lorne/Parrish stories than Steve/Tony ones. Again, why isn't there more Steve/Tony???

(yes, I know I could subsist on Steve/Bucky while waiting for more Steve/Tony but Bucky just breaks my heart so I read those sparingly)

Sigh.

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Breaking sabbatical...

2012-01-29T16:04:09Z

To complain about my ineptitude with Facebook. I have had a music blog for years and years. The latest incarnation of it I even did/do some of the coding on. I juggle multiple devices and accounts and aghhhhh...Why can't I figure out how the 'friends' thing for Facebook works?

See, I held off on Facebook for as long as I could but several of the bands I write/work ect post their new material on FB. I had to make an account to access it. So all it was going to do was be there so I could watch vids. I like pretty vids. Then a couple of people friended me and now I am totally lost. I see them as friends, they see me as a friend but they can't see each other...if that makes any sense at all.

It is possible I may have gone overboard with the privacy settings?

Also...why do none of my 'real world' friends have FB?

Continuing the theme - why is there so little Steve/Tony???? (avengers) Why is there not more Darcy? (gen or with almost anyone on the planet - I am not picky) Why are you all not writing more Avengers???

Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. Perhaps I've had a little too much coffee this morning. Sigh.

I am just gonna go move my office now. Yes, that sounds quiet and...yeah.

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I call this the hi I friended you post...

2011-06-30T03:40:02Z

Okay, here is the deal. I don't post much but I do like to read and comment. I have been having so much trouble reading on LJ I finally just went and starting subscribing to the DW counterparts of journals I like to read.

I don't have any circles or anything...You can subscribe back or not - all is cool. Like I said above, I don't post much and I don't lock anything down. I have a few more people to track down but now I can read everyone on my journal instead of hunting and pecking at lists of links.

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Is it a bad sign...

2010-12-16T03:33:12Z

when I log into my cPanel and get a "hello and welcome to" message from a different hosting provider than the one I am using?

Is it worse since my blog has been down all day and the normally awesome support peoples are nowhere to be found and some guy I haven't spoken with before keeps telling me it is a 'billing issue' and they are working on it?

Should I be looking for a new hosting provider?

Should I be looking for one, like, now?

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In need of vid recs...

2010-09-05T21:32:57Z

So this is the thing. I have a non-ish fan blog where I review music and occasionally books. I was on near hiatus for most of the summer due to the move and to get back in the swing of posting and reviewing I decided to post a video everyday. I am using a mix of concert footage, fan vids and pro music videos.

But there are so many to go through I am having trouble just viewing them. I really need some help.

The vids I can use need the following:

Must have been made withing the last three or (pushing it) four years. The music can be older as long as the vid was created within the timeframe. Artist vids or performance footage of new bands would be awesome. Any music genre is okay as long as the audio is clear and the video is interesting.

For fan made vids I need compositions that make sense whether a person watches the show or not. Something like this LoTR vid to It's My Life would be great. As long as a non-fan of the show or movie can still understand or enjoy the vid. I also need vids where it is okay to embed them in my post. I don't want to toss anything out into the big bad world without permission of the vidder.

Any fandom is fine and recs will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Okay this is uncomfortable...

2010-08-29T02:17:10Z

You all have to stop typing the words "Glenn Beck" (*cringes*) because every time I see them it causes me physical pain. Seriously.

I mean, I have politicians and public figures I dislike - Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, John Kerry, the Clintons...

Although it is not really fair to Hillary. Bill ate my 4H chicken (long story - upset nine year old me) and the seething chicken-killer-eater hate sometimes spills over on her.

And there are many, many others.

But "he who shall not be named"? Hurts me. I read the name and feel like, achy and unsettled and once in a while even a little queasy. The thing is, to me he feels like the guy who is super wonderful to date - for a while - then out of the blue he reaches over and slaps you for arguing with him. And yes, that is a terrible thing to say about the guy since I don't know him at all and it is never my reaction to someone having different political views but every time I see him or read his name, I get that wince of 'badbadbadbadbad'.

*goes off to research how to replace each instance of his name with 'jerkish evil wanna-be overlord' or something else more fitting*

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giving up and sending her to college instead...

2010-08-23T15:05:35Z

About a month ago we moved to North Carolina. We have been trying to get our 15 yr old daughter enrolled in high school for about three weeks now. Between paperwork and shot records and trying to find birth certificates and proof of residence paperwork and AGHHH...it is almost impossible. I enrolled myself in college with less time and fuss and I had scholarship things to sign and books and parking permit and....how can it possibly this complicated to put a kid in school???

Today they call wanting her transcript...again. Her former school has sent transcript and report card and test scores twice now. The new school even called me to let me know the paperwork was there the last time. Then suddenly, no paperwork.

The counselor reminds me we are running short on time. I did not give in to the urge to strangle her.

North Carolina peoples...is this normal?

Also, a quick question. When I finish a phone call and say good bye, the other person kind of hangs on the phone and it is just...kind of wierd. Am I missing a piece of phone etiquette?

*would like to see John Winchester enroll Dean and Sam in school here*

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No place for the weary kind...

2010-05-21T20:21:33Z

Once upon a time I had a Waylon and Johnny icon but I can't find it anywhere. I must have lost it in a crash.

We watched Crazy Heart a few nights ago and now I want someone to write Bad Blake/Tommy Sweet.

Pre-movie, post-movie, during. I am soooo not picky. I can't find anything which leads me to believe there is simply not enough fan fiction in the world. I want more.

Sigh. I think our upcoming move has finally broken my brain. I read (re-lurk) on journals of people that are also moving and everyone is so...calm. And organized. I hurt my er...hip? butt? back? (still have a nasty bruise and stil have no clue how it got there) a few days before the "guesser of how much truck room you need" guy came to survey so my husband was running around like mad trying to find everything. I was sort of hobbling behind him and pointing. I did a lot of pointing. So hopefully they have room for everything 'cause I have no clue if the guy got it all down.

Even though she doesn't deserve it -

*glares balefully at mecurtin and her finished move*

Three weeks left...I have given up sorting and am now scouring Ebay, thrift stores and antique shops for a lamp with a genie.

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Why I cannot use LJ anymore...

2010-04-23T18:37:45Z

Okay...that is it for me. I have tried to put up with all the crap LJ continues to dish out because there are journals and coms I read there and I haven't found them on DW but this is the last straw.

Hello Livejournal - - - If I want porn-ish ads on my blog I can go get them myself.

http://www.wordsmusicbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ljporn-190x240.png

You don't have to do it for me. Really. If I want to look at someone being fucked against a wall while wearing lace up stockings I can go find the image myself. And maybe choose not put it up on my open to all ages journal.

So this is the last post for me on Livejournal. I may even have it removed. I will have to move all the posts which I did not want to do but it might be worth it to cut off the ad revenue. (Yes, I am that pissed)

er...crossposted over to LJ

:Edited to add - I love DW - where Denise and Mark are content to let me hunt for my own porn - and have no intention of plastering ads all over my journal - porn-ish or otherwise... ;)

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Online organizer?

2010-04-01T13:48:26Z

I need an online version of an organizer. Calender, notes, to do, etc. I also need it to be private. Well, as private as you can get. I don't want my schedule or my notes viewable to the public. Free is good but I am willing to pay a little for something if free is not doable.

(Basically we are moving in a few months, my husband travels for work quite a bit and we want something online we can both update from anywhere, at anytime.)

A calendar is essential or I would just snag a journal here. (on DW)

Any ideas or suggestions?

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Is there a wormhole in my television...

2010-03-25T22:38:54Z

So my fannish endeavors have taken a backseat (or may be traveling in a car several yards behind) to THE MOVE.

(Yes, in my brain it is always THE MOVE')

I have managed to catch a few new shows and view some episodes of older shows I missed and have discovered I accidently slip into another dimension every time I turn on the tv. It is the only reasonable explanation.

Case in point - SPN. The show I am watching cannot possibly be the show everyone else it writing and talking about. Seriously, if I had seen it on network tv I wouldn't have made it past the pilot. Dean (in the pilot) is a sleazy jerk. He does get better as the season goes along and by episode 17 (I think that is where we are) I even like him a little. But there are still things I do not get.

1) Er...Sam is not a giant. I keep reading fics where he is this huge, towering thing and I don't get it. Maybe all the guys in my family are just freakishly tall but Sam looks mostly normal to me. And Dean is not tiny. Jensen's bio has him at 6'1 which is the same height as my husband. My husband never seems tiny. ;)

2) Uh...how to say this. I have read the Wincest (before I ever saw the show) I even recced a story once. (it was a good story) Having seen most of the first season I just don't get it. Maybe my slash goggles are defective but I don't see the slash at all.

3) Scarecrow was kind of awesome but Something Wicked made me glad our windows won't stay up by themselves. ;)

Everyone is drooling over White Collar but I watched the first two and half episodes and was just 'meh' about them. Same with some other new shows. Even shows I like seem less interesting. I love Alec, Elliot and Parker but the second season of Leverage was just not as good as the first.

Most disturbing is SG:U. I have hated it from episode one and only watched it because my husband really wanted to see it. The second half of the season started a few weeks ago and I told him this was the last episode I was sitting through. So, of course, it was the first episode I found interesting. I still don't like the characters and it is the only show where the thought of shipping - anyone- makes me kind of queasy. Okay, I like Eli..a little. And I like his new haircut. And I like Greer a little now that he isn't stuck being the 'scary angry black guy' from the Pilot. both he and Eli have cute smiles. But I am still not sure I can watch a show where I don't like most of the characters.

I need icons. Supernatural icons. And maybe a Greer or Eli icon. Maybe.

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This is a weather rant...

2010-01-05T19:45:25Z

I do not own a coat.

This hasn't been a problem for about the last ten years because I live far enough south that I don't NEED a coat. Until now. It is so cold I think I could happily wear one inside the house. Except, yes, I don't own a coat. And neither does anyone else in the family.

AGHHHHHHH!!!

It is supposed to SNOW on Thursday and not only do I not own a coat, I don't know where to go buy one. No one here sells anything heavier than a fleece jacket. Maybe up in Montgomery? Ordering one from Land's End seems like overkill.

I hate cold. I can't do laundry...the hot water in the bathroom froze...the cat's water dish froze...my feet hurt because, yes, even with two pair of socks they are still cold.

Did I mention just how much I hate cold?

I need an 'how much I hate cold' icon.

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Back from sabbatical...

2009-12-01T22:01:41Z

Okay, it is more like back from weeks of pacing the floors trying to work off nervous energy while we wait to find out just how much our life is going to change, but you all get the idea.

(There might have been some obsessive dusting, mopping and Oblivion playing during that time but I am admitting nothing)

It is changing a lot, btw. Sigh.

I used to be this 'fly by the seat of my pants' person...always ready for any change. While I still write that way, the rest of me seems to be rebelling against any major changes. When I sat down to begin going through boxes and drawers I realized this is the longest I have lived anywhere. We have been in this city for ten years and in our house for almost eight. I have never lived in one place for so long a stretch of time. I have always suffered from what my grandfather called 'the wanderlust' and moving has always been an adventure. This time around I am nervous and upset and kind of dreading the move.

Last time we moved we had one kid, healthy parents and we were moving to an area with family and friends. This time we have two kids, including a teenager, aging parents, (his have heart issues, my mom has RA) and are moving NORTH to a city we have never even visited.

(okay, technically North Carolina is not actually North, but you guys get snow...and seasons...I don't even own a coat)

Enough ranting. As I clean and pare down (where did all this stuff come from???) I am also cleaning out my computer files and links and I suspect I will drop my LJ fairly soon. I didn't mind using both but lately I can't even -read- the journals I like on LJ for the page-sized pop up ads that keep showing up. I have good blockers in place and they still show up. So my next thing is to hunt down everyone I like to read on LJ and either add them here, or cajole them into moving. ;)

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Taking a break...

2009-09-03T19:50:31Z

I am taking a break from fandom.

I had this big long post composed with explanations and refrigerator metaphors but what it all comes down to is this graphic  on alchemia .

This is not my fandom. Not what I want out of fandom, not what I can put up with from fandom. The graphic is bad enough, but the cheering in the comments afterward is even worse. As is the explanation for why it isn't really rape and is okay.   I also hear echoes of the very common 'but she deserved it' in the responses to any poster critical of the drawing. (he or they in this case)

This is appalling. This is not why I have a journal...or why I interact with fandom.

So I figure a break from it all is a good thing for me.

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I think this is my life...

2009-08-19T21:02:46Z

So I didn't mean to just disappear off the face of the planet. Our summer got very busy, then my in laws came for the 4th of July and brought the plague with them. (Seriously...it was a nightmare) Then I cleaned up after the plague and caught it again. Then the baby and I had a terrible cold and she kind of had an epic meltdown and refused to eat or sleep for a couple of weeks.

(drinking stuff was fine, she just wouldn't eat any solid food or sleep for more than a couple of hours and I nearly lost my mind from lack of sleep)

Just when everything was almost back to normal ----

The company my husband works for has been bought by another company. Oh joy. And we know nothing. Thousands of people waiting to see if they have a job or not...and nothing.

(I am not a big fan of objectivism and that just adds to the stress.)

Oh, I was wrong. We do know we can't touch our 401k until January. (thanks ever sooo much FDIC)

We actually aren't in as bad shape as most people. We own our house (no hefty mortgage) and we grow a lot of our own food. We have some savings so we can keep the lights on and the kids fed...but the not knowing is terrible. We can't make any decisions till we know what is going to happen and the new owners don't seem to be in a hurry to enlighten anyone.

Mainly we just don't want to relocate. We don't want to pull the teenager out of high school or try to sell our house in this market.

Aghhhhhhh...I hate not knowing.

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I did not just watch that...

2009-05-09T23:24:49Z

I have just watched the slashiest episode of television I have ever seen. It may be the slashiest episode ever made.

We have been watching a reshowing of a 2007 series called Moonight. It is a vampire show (oh stop groaning, no one sparkles) about (surprise, surprise) a vampire detective. Mick was turned in the 50's. I know, no way did he have hair that long in that era, even if he was a musician. The show is...kinda bad. The acting is all over the place and in the earliest episodes the writing is just awful.

Mick watches over Beth, and has this big booming epic love thing. He saved her as a child and kept watch over her (from afar) as she grew up. I know, the ick, it burns. The show is all about the, 'oh noes, we cannot consummate' because see, Mick has a tendency to bite when he...er..cough...finishes. (this is canon - see, guy vampires discuss these things with each other)

Mick's best friend is the very old (but ever eternally young) Josef. (I am almost sure he spells it that way-but don't quote me) Josef likes pretty women, preferably those that share his blood type and the show parades them around, scantily dressed, all the time.

Which makes this episode (Fated to Pretend) even more slashy.

( *attempts to cut for spoilers* )

Seriously, this was the slashiest thing I have ever seen on TV and I really wanna go watch it again.

:Edited to add the link to the video clip that no detective found for me. Both she and the clip are awesome.

Josef turns Mick (in technicolor)

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Like words on a chalk board...

2009-05-08T06:50:14Z

I don't want to know anymore. I just don't.

I read Ithiliana's post on Patricia Wrede's new book and I seriously do not want to know anymore.

Wild animals and magical beasts instead of...well, me. Joy.

Okay, I think an author should be able to tell the story they want to tell. I really do but, sheesh, why does it always have to make me either a magical creature, an exotic savage or erase me from history altogether?

And I really don't want to know.

Don't want to read, don't want to even think about it. I gave up on Tor long ago but in reading the thread I have added more authors to my 'will never read again' list. Again. It is like Racefail opened the floodgates and they just will not shut up.

I can't get away from it of course. It is there, I have to live with it, but I don't have to like it.

And I don't have to buy books from these people and support it.

Ithiliana has links to various discussions and the original post which is good because I will burn my own fingers off before I link to Tor again.

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Yes, I am still awake, why do ask...

2009-05-01T04:35:55Z

I have my shiny new paid account!

And no, I am not making embarrassing noises over all my icon space...really.

Along with my spiffy account I HAVE INVITE CODES!!!

If you want a dreamwidth code just leave me a note with your email.

(er, this will probably make more sense on LJ - sorry, sleep deprived)

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I am the Lizard Ki-er, Dork...

2009-04-23T21:20:05Z

No, I am not making a post just to use this awesome icon by Crys and totally appropriate post tag. Really.

I am making it to rec - The Ways of Earthlings - by lamardeuse.

Really, if he wasn't a man-eating lizard, he'd be the perfect boyfriend.
This only proves no one is safe from campy '80's TV.

(aghhh...I need more characters in my tag)

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It never hurts to actually give the post a title...

2009-04-23T18:00:18Z

It is a random sort of day.

I like Dreamwidth. I like how much easier everything is. Posting comments, editing and all sorts of stuff I know is easier from using it, but I don't have the coding background to explain why. Oh, and I like my 200 icons.

*takes a moment to dance around with her 200 icons*

I like my 'control room' page. It seems so streamlined and yet everything it there and right where I need it to be. It also feels like MY page, and not like someone else is letting me work in a corner of their office. (I always feel like someone is looking over my shoulder on the LJ page)

I am bothered by some of the 'we hate DW' comments, not because people don't like it, but because most of these comments come from people who haven't even tried it out. And many of the criticisms are unfair. Yes, the basic styles are not pretty. (hey, they aren't) DW is in Beta. They are not supposed to be pretty, they are supposed to be functional. Pretty comes later. Oh well.

Have fanfic!

Lung by vanitashaze. This is so very cool.

(Her personal item was a box of roller-ball Biros, point two cubic meters, 120 blue pens plus 5 free. It was either that or a framed picture of her ex-girlfriend. It was a new galaxy; she should have practical, useful things. She might have reconsidered had it been a picture of her ex-girlfriend's dog, who turned out to be much more personable than the ex-girlfriend.)
Go, shoo, read.

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Or sittin' in your easy chair...

2009-04-23T01:16:15Z

Okay, going to try the crossposting thing again.

Daily Lit -

"DailyLit sends books in installments via e-mail or RSS feed. We currently offer over 1000 classic and contemporary books available entirely for free or on a Pay-Per-Read basis (with sample installments available for free). You can read your installments wherever you receive e-mail/RSS feeds, including on your Blackberry and iPhone. Installments arrive in your Inbox according to the schedule you set (e.g. 7:00am every weekday). You can read each installment in under 5 minutes (most folks finish in 2-3 minutes), and, if you have more time to read, you can receive additional installments immediately on demand. Our titles include bestselling and award winning titles, from literary fiction and romance to language learning and science fiction."
I have been doing this for about a month with Andre Norton's Time Traders and I really love it. They also offer a poem a day for anyone wanting more poems to read for National Poetry Month.

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So take a picture...

2009-04-21T21:15:01Z

Aghhh...

Okay, apparently I didn't quite get the crossposting thing because it ATE my post. Sigh. Let's try this again.

This is my crosspost to test the er...crossposting feature.

I must have a picture/icon/screen cap of Mover Scott (Scott Durbin and yes he is the goofy one with the long hair) from the Imagination Movers wearing the faux fur-ish tarzan outfit from the Treasure of the Warehouse episiode or my life will be over. All life as we know it will be over AND THE UNIVERSE WILL IMPLODE!!!

Seriously, I need this.

Oh, and a wheelbarrow to cart around my black shame (ala lanning) would be nice as well.

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Sleepy and seeing things...

2009-04-20T07:53:34Z

There is a weird white bar above my topmost journal entry. Huh.

I really did have a post, I just got distracted by my sheppard icon.

I have subscribed to a few journals here but it never occurred to me to pop over and say, "hi, I snagged you." (I spend too much time on my wordpress blog where the customs are different)

Tomorrow, when I am awake, I will try and say hi to everyone I added.

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Journal entries as freeform jazz...

2009-04-19T17:18:12Z

I miss my free text box but I figure there will be a style with one eventually.

I need more icons. Lots more icons. Icons I would be willing to pay extra for.

If I had any invite codes I would ~~force them to take~~ kindly offer one to the Mckay/Sheppard LJ community before offering them to my friends.

Priorities, I has them.

I am repotting some herbs today and planting some tomatoes. I want to move the little mini garden out of my kitchen and on the backporch but I am worried if I try to move the lemon tree all the baby lemons will fall off. I think I am going to give it a try since I really need the space back.

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Ohhhh, new stuff...

2009-04-18T23:37:59Z

We spent the day at a crafts and music fair. Funnel cake was consumed. Wooden flutes and clay ocarinas were purchased.

Now I am playing around with some of the new stuff. I wish I was a better coder (okay, okay, a coder at all) but I am not so I have to content myself with swishing things around to see if they break. So if things look odd it is just me..er, swishing.

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