That which amuses the Cat

fairestcat @ 2008-08-10T15:20:00

2008-08-10T20:28:25Z

Thank you to everyone who's left comments on my last several posts. I will try to reply to them all when I have the wherewithal, but if I don't get around to it please know that it's because I am made of fail, not because I don't appreciate and treasure every one of you.

Add to the tally of the lost: 1 digital camera.

I hate that it's taking me this long to realize this stuff. The camera is one of the first things I should have looked for, and yet I only just now realized that it isn't where it is supposed to be.

I need to call the cops again and add the camera to the list they have, but I can't seem to find any of the paperwork for it so I can give a model/serial number. I'll have to call my father first. He originally bought the camera as a Christmas present a couple years ago and he probably still has the receipts and such and so can get that info out of Best Buy.

Motherfucking FUCK

2008-08-09T07:15:23Z

Turns out the bastards didn't just take my (broken) palm pilot off the floor of my room. They also went all the way into and across my bedroom and stole my big jewelry box off of my dresser.

Not a lot of what was in there was valuable.

They got my godmother's, mother's diamond ring. They got the turquoise cross that was the only thing I had that had belonged to my grandmother. They got the gold cross Lou and Ilona gave me for being maid of honor in their wedding and the gorgeous labradorite one Marna gave me a couple years ago. They got a lot of cheap, mismatched earrings of mostly sentimental value, a couple nice-ish bracelets and a bunch of other assorted jewelry.

And they got my sense of security worse than any of the rest of this has.

I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight.

fairestcat @ 2008-08-08T23:41:00

2008-08-09T05:01:33Z

Thank you all for all your hugs, etc. on the last post.

The nice cop has gone.

Tequila shots and group hugs have been had.

Most importantly, The cats are safe and had not gone out the giant hole in the screen, even though Dreadful was sitting in the open window.

(Comedy gold: watching Nelle and I attempt to maneuver two cats into the bathroom and then get ourselves back out while keeping the cats inside.)

There's not much the cops can do. Whoever it was didn't stay long and didn't leave any prints. The cash is a wash, but we'll get the laptop serial numbers to the cops tomorrow and also call around to pawn stores with the info. Also, we kind of think the cash saved Izzy's stuff. The thief took the time to unplug Nelle's laptop and put it away in her computer bag and then seems to have started to unplug the dvd players but stopped. Then they must have seen the cash and decided to grab it and split, because they don't appear to have even gone into Izzy's room, where her laptop and guitars remain untouched.

Really, it could have been much, much worse.

fairestcat @ 2008-08-08T22:27:00

2008-08-09T03:31:20Z

lovelokest and I just got home to discover that we have been robbed.

Whoever it was came in by tearing a screen on one of the living room windows and left by the front door, which was unlocked when we got home.

They took Nelle's laptop (and bag) and the $360 in rent money she had sitting on her bedside table. It doesn't look like they took anything else.

We called the cops immediately, they should be here soon. Will post more when we know more.

clings to internets

2008-08-08T03:26:21Z

I am writing this from my very own once again working computer!!! And it cost me nothing

ladybretagne left a comment on my last post to tell me that if I took my computer in to an Apple Store they would do a diagnostic for free, even on my ancient, so-far-out-of-warranty-it's-in-another-galaxy G4. And there is in fact an Apple Store here in Madison.

So, I made a 7:30 appointment at the genius bar and bipagan came over and drove to the mall with me and kept me company and listened to all my ridiculous flailing and kept me amused for the hour and a half that Kyle The Awesome Apple Store Guy was working on my computer.

And never once in that hour and a half did he even mention the suggestion that I should maybe buy a newer computer or upgrade in any way. And he didn't condescend to me either, or act like I was dumb. He just fixed my computer and sent me on my way.

Also, he couldn't get it to boot in safe mode or Unix single user mode or by any other method involving holding random keys down while starting up (all of which I tried multiple times) either, which made me feel rather a lot better about not being able to fix it on my own.

frets

2008-08-07T00:10:14Z

Yesterday at about 4:00 I restarted my computer.

Or at least I tried to.

It's not making it past the blue startup screen. It thinks and thinks and thinks, but it does not do. I attempted to reboot from an OSX install disk, but that too was unsuccessful.

I called the Mac Shop tonight (local Mac dealer/repair place). Got their voicemail even though they were still open. I didn't feel like calling over and over again, so I just left them a message. Hopefully I'll get a call back tomorrow.

I am very, very stressed right now and more than a little freaked out. I have no idea what it's going to cost me to get it fixed, or it's even fixable. I love my computer, but he's an older G4 and he's definitely showing his age.

Luckliy, most of my data is on my externals and I think I have a copy of my resume in one of my email accounts, I just have to track it down.

Think good thoughts for me???

*frets*

Bandom and the Fourth Wall Redux

2008-08-05T18:37:12Z

I was going to make another long post on Bandom* and the fourth wall, but then I realized that actually, at this point, it's actually a fairly short post.

There is no fourth wall anymore in Bandom.

They know about us. We know they know about us. We frequent some of the same portions of the internet. Some of them have livejournals. Some of them (I'm looking at you, Pete Wentz) make fanfic references all the time on stage, in their own blogs, everywhere. The lack of separation is even more evident in the baby bands like The Cab and Empires, where the band members know many fans by name, recognize and talk to them at show after show.

The only barrier left is the general consensus that it's tacky to talk about fic with the objects thereof. And that has nothing to do with maintaining some illusion of a fourth wall, that's just basic courtesy and not bringing up topics of conversation that may be awkward for all parties involved. (That said, I keep waiting for Pete Wentz or somebody to show up in the comments of someone's bandom meta post, at which point I'd happily talk "why slash" with them for as long as they wanted to.)

There have always been gaps in the fourth wall in both FPF and RPF fandoms: fans or reporters who've shown slash to actors; actors, writers and show-runners who've specifically mentioned fanfic and slash when discussing fans of themselves or their work. Fans who've crossed over from writing fic to writing actual episodes or official tie-in novels. I know from discussions I see elsewhere on lj that there are other currently-active RPF fandoms where the fourth wall has become somewhat porous, but in the majority of fandom at least the illusion of separation still remains.

The wall has crumbled. The illusion is shattered. And yet, very little has changed. We haven't gone underground. A few people have locked their journals, fic included, but no more than is normal in any RPF fandom. Communities aren't locking down left and right. There's no mass exodus, if what I see on my friendslist and friendsfriends is any judge, we're still one of the fastest growing fandoms on lj right now.

We're living in a brave new world, isn't it interesting how much it looks just like the old one.

* big B, exclusive definition

Hotel Night

2008-07-31T12:20:07Z

I was woken up this morning by my mother calling me and saying "I have Hushies!"

It seems the Hush Sound are staying at my mother's hotel.

She says she had a lovely conversation with Darren when he checked them in and that he was very surprised that she recognized his band's name.

I am bemused and amused.

Mild TMI and also VIVIDCON

2008-07-31T04:37:55Z

After two days in a row of mild, constant panic-attack, I was rather reassured this afternoon to discover that a lot of it was actually PMS. On the other hand, this means I'll probably have the worst cramps right in time for going to Warped on Saturday with olivia_circe. But on the bright side I know I won't have them at Vividcon \o/.

Speaking of which, the true purpose of this post: Vividcon rollcall!

If you're going to be there please leave me a comment letting me know and then please say hi at the con! I can be ridiculously shy about starting conversations. No really!

Not only will I be there, this year I'll have my GIRL with me too. Marna's in California right now, but she's swinging back thru Chicago on her way home and we're meeting up at the con. So yeah, if you see a couple of redheads constantly making googly eyes at each other? That's probably us. (see icon. And wow, that icon is over 4 years old now. That picture was taken the weekend we started dating. Huh.)

Also, this Vividcon will mark exactly two years since lovelokest and I met for the very first time, at Vividcon '06. It's funny. When we tell people we've only been friends for less than 2 years, they never believe us.

Fic! For me!

2008-07-24T01:39:58Z

So, back in May, I carpooled with olivia_circe down to see the HCT in Chicago. And on the way down I told her all about the awesome plotbunny that had taken over my brain that I knew I'd never manage to write.

And then when, a little while ago, she asked for ficlet prompts in her lj, I said, "hey, you remember that bunny of mine..."

And she did. And she wrote it. And it's the most awesome, perfect thing EVER. Pretty much exactly what I had in my head, only better!

Every Man by olivia_circe - MCR fic, PG, Basically Gen. - Girl!Gerard and the making of the Ghost of You video.

And now for a different type of Wiki news

2008-07-23T02:37:43Z

damned_colonial has set up the Geek Feminism Wiki, as a resource and information center for women in all types of geek communities to come together and share and document our experiences.

From the announcement post in her lj:

I set this up in response to the Open Source Boob Project stuff a couple of months back, because I saw people talking about common experiences shared by women at SF cons which sounded a lot like some of the things I'd experienced on geeky IRC channels, and, well, I figure we all have a lot in common and might benefit from getting our experiences down in one place and having something we can refer to next time something comes up.

About damn time

2008-07-22T18:52:12Z

I haev been waiting a long time for someone with more knowledge of it all to do this: Calling out Michaela Ecks/Laura Hale/PurplePopple/Partly_Bouncy

The purpose of this post is to call out somebody who actively seeks to harm other fans. She lies. She outs fans by connecting their real life identities with their fannish identities. She is trying to make money from a site which is billed as "history" and which contains lies, damn lies, and misinformation as well as the public outing of fans which, despite her claims, she will not remove if asked, not if the person asking fits her definition of an "influential" fan although many influential fans are *not* outed in the journal.

The Hush Sound (and The Cab) In Milwaukee, July 18, 2008

2008-07-19T07:01:15Z

OMG HUSHIES!!!

OK, who's going to the Chicago show??? lovelokest and olivia_circe and I will all be there.

I am SO fucking excited to be seeing them again. This was SUCH an amazing show.

Things I learned tonight:

- in the six months since I saw them on the Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour, Singer got hot. Who knew?

- Ian lost his "cape of shame" virginity tonight. This is because Ian skipped out on unloading to go see Dark Knight.

- the Cab continue to completely win me over live even as I'm kind of "meh" about their actual album. Stage presence FTW!

- Greta's nickname on this tour is "Rob Zombie."

- There's context for that, but I think it's better left standing on it's own.

- Bob likes Neil Young too much to play a Lynyrd Skynyrd song.

- Approximately 3 people in the audience got that reference.

- Maybe half the audience were at all familiar with "Back in the USSR"

- Hushies Karaoke is awesome even if even LESS of the audience knew "You Really Got a Hold On Me"

- The Hush Sound are a kind of obscenely pretty band. GUH.

- Greta has fanboys. They're kind of adorable and she handles them with aplomb.

- The Hushies are awesome and awesomely talented and I could listen to them forever! Oh wait, I already knew that.

And finally:

- if you see someone around you at a concert who you think might be a bandomer, writing "LJ?" on the palm of your hand in black sharpie is a BRILLIANT way to test this hypothesis. Of course managing to exchange usernames in writing rather than just shouting them at each other would also have been useful. *facepalms* Still, am totally going to attempt that method myself in the future.

hearts

2008-07-16T00:31:05Z

Thanks to meletor_et_al's trip to Warped in Orlando, and her giant picture heavy recap thereof, I now know that Adam Siska, like many an awesome bandom bass player before him*, has a cat.

A cat who is ON WARPED TOUR WITH HIS BAND this summer.

*dies* Oh, Sisky, how so awesome?

Look at how fluffy it is! And how scarily sedate for being on stage at a rock concert. Also, note the bright blue leash. Sisky's cat goes for WALKS.

Dear Bandom: Please to write Sisky's cat into all future fic about 2008 Warped Shenanigans!

That's it, I clearly need an Adam Siska icon. *opens photoshop*

*see also: Mikey Way, Alex Suarez and Jon Walker. Also Joe Troh who, while not a bass player, is clearly taking up the slack where Pete has fallen down on the job.

fairestcat @ 2008-07-10T23:22:00

2008-07-11T05:04:21Z

Uncontained wildfire in the Spokane Valley.

My mother just called me to let me know what was burning and to give me the tally of fire zone/evacuated zone/next in line for evacuation. There are people I care about a lot in all three of those categories right now. Not my immediate family, none of us live on that side of town at the moment, but close friends and people I've known my entire life, the type that aren't family but might as well be.

It's too early for this kind of thing. It's going to be a long, nasty summer.

fairestcat @ 2008-07-10T21:45:00

2008-07-11T02:49:02Z

Because I totally chickened out on putting my name into the last one, but actually I could kind of use the reassurance this week: tell me you love me?

In which Cat maybe actually finally makes it to an Empires show!

2008-07-08T11:50:49Z

Chicago Bandom folks:

If I take a half-day on Friday, I can take the bus down for the Empires show for less than $60, which is totally doable and not actually all that much more than I'd end up spending in gas and tolls anyway. And yes, I totally recognize the irony in paying considerably more to get to the concert than it'll cost to get into the concert itself.

Anybody willing to give me crash space for the night? I'd be out of your hair relatively early Saturday, since there's no way I can stay for the Sunday show without making someone up here pick me up at 1am, which would just be cruel.

In other news, I managed somehow to reset m alarm clock an hour later this morning, which led to me leaving a message for my work that I'd be late because izzybeth wasn't home yet. Right after which I looked at the clock on my computer, finally noticed that it did not match up with the clock on my alarm and it was in fact 6:30, not 7:30. I then called back to leave a second message revealing my level of fail.

*facepalms*

Seeing as how I'm completely dressed and don't need to be out the door for another 40 minutes, I'm now totally going to take my shoes off and go back to bed for another half hour.

And on the list of fannish shows I watch and never seem to post about...

2008-07-06T18:50:34Z

I usually watch Dr. Who with lovelokest, but she went out last night (I passed due to crazy brain issues), so ended up watching it by myself.

And when lovelokest got home, I informed her that she is NOT allowed to watch it alone.

So, there were parts that I loved truly, madly and deeply.

Sadly, they are currently all being overwhelmed by my OMG ANGRY at Donna's end.

I would rather, honestly, that she had died. It would have been a good death, a saving the world death. Forgetting it all and living a half-life of unrealized potential? IS NOT BETTER THAN A CLEAN DEATH, GODDAMMIT.

*seethes in RTD's general direction*

On this day...

2008-07-04T03:04:51Z

There's this meme going around my friendslist and I have no idea where it came from but it's rather fun so I thought I'd join in.

On this day in 2007 I was avoiding spoilers for the Dr. Who Season 3 finale and being frustrated by unhelpful spoiler cuts. Also, I see, being a complete failure at replying to comments, which is distressingly common for me.

On this day in 2006 I didn't post anything, but on July 1st I was flailing about the completely unexpected level of response to my post on the Slash Closet (hands down the most comments I've ever received on an lj post and I still get occasional comments on it) and when next I posted on June 5th I was still flailing about it. The 5th was a busy day. I also posted two posts worth of SGA kink recs and talked about how much I love commodorified in general and her fabulous post about het and slash and reading for subtext in particular.

On this day in 2005 I didn't post anything, but back on the 1st I was sharing music. Specifically, versions of Richard Shindell's "The Ballad of Mary Magdalen".

On this day in 2004 I was ~~complaining about work and getting ready to watch Stiff Upper Lips for the first time.~~ Actually, that was June 3, apparently I couldn't read a calendar last night. On July 3 in 2004 I was posting pictures from the FolkLife Festival and wearing almost the exact same outfit I am right now.

On this day in 2003 I didn't post, but on the 7th I made three posts about work, which is probably what I would have done if I had posted on the 3rd.

And on this day in 2002 I was a little over 4 months away from creating this journal.

I love my canon

2008-07-04T00:38:48Z

Dear Out Magazine,

Thank you for reminding me how awesome my fandom is twice in one week.

Please to remain the All Bandom All the Time Channel??

fannishly yours,

Cat

Dear Gabe Saporta,

OMG ILU and you should be all serious and thinky more often.

♥ x infinity.

flailingly yours,

Cat

In non-letter format (and what's up with that, I never do that??), thing I keep meaning to mention in case people don't know about it:

Out.com has an awesome blog, Popnography which is full of bandom-y goodness pretty much all the time. They're sort of in love with just about all the FBR bands and I totally recommend adding the syndicated feed to your friendslist.

OMG FLAIL

2008-07-02T04:28:14Z

I went to Best Buy on my lunch break and bought my very own shiny copy of The Black Parade is Dead CD/DVD set.

OMG SO AWESOME. So far I've listened to most of the CD in the car and watched one of the TWO live concerts.

I started with the Hoboken show because I would have just about KILLED to be able to get to that show and also because I will just about always choose the tiny venue performance over the giant festival one.

- I was watching a bunch of downloaded clips of early My Chem shows recently, and seeing the band now in the kind of tiny venue they'd already outgrown then makes for a really interesting contrast. You can tell at the beginning that they were all a little thrown by suddenly being back crowded on this tiny postage-stamp sized stage, but you can also tell that they were all having a fucking AWESOME time up there.

- OMG NOT ACTUALLY UNTITLED NEW SONG. Gerard's little speech about how the song totally has a name and it's totally awesome, but he's not telling the audience what it is because then people will bitch if they change it cracked me up. Oh, GERARD. I've had a bootleg version of the song on my computer for a while (not from this show) and really liked it from that, but this is (obviously) SUCH a better recording. The chorus is completely stuck in my head now and I really hope a studio version makes it onto something in the future, even if it's just as a B-side. Actually, both musically and thematically with regards to the lyrics it really fits well with the B-Sides off of The Black Parade, Heaven Help Us and My Way Home is Through You in particular.

- OK. Before Prison when Gerard walks back and kisses first Mikey and then Frank on the side of the head. OMG FLAIL. SO. MUCH. FLAIL. WHY IS THERE NOT MORE FRANK/GERARD/MIKEY OMG. *puts down slash goggles* Just... the casual displays of affection, the ridiculous degree to which they all so clearly ADORE each other and aren't afraid to show it is one of the things I love the most about My Chem.

- So, funny thing about Gerard saying that Bob "brings a gun to shows" just in case of requests for Our Lady of Sorrows, (which I'd heard about in people's concert reports, but somehow totally forgotten about). I was listening to Our Lady of Sorrows in the car on the way into work this morning and thinking that it really has a fairly awesome drum track, that is COMPLETELY UNLIKE any of the stuff Bob's done.

- I was looking forward to seeing the official recording of Cancer, because I adore the bootleg clip of it someone managed to get at the show. But actually? Visually? I think I like the bootleg clip better. I really like the cuts between color and b&w footage in the rest of the concert, but I think in that song it really detracts from the sense of intimacy, of this kind of perfect moment between Gerard and the audience that comes across so strongly in the bootleg clip.

- OMG *FLAIL*

Does anyone know if anyone's made an audio rip of the Hoboken show yet?? I'd love to have mp3s of these versions, and especially a good mp3 of the new song.

And finally a completely frivolous poll for everyone else who has the DVD already:

View Poll: The Hard Decisions in Life

And NOW I think I'm going to watch the Mexico show before bed!

OM NOM NOM NOM

2008-06-30T23:39:03Z

The one kitchen appliance I can never live without is my blender. I love making mixed drinks, especially margaritas, but what I love making even more are milkshakes. When I was growing up we had a big patch of Raspberry bushes on the edge of our garden and I'd make myself Raspberry milkshakes all summer long, it was glorious.

Tonight I do believe I have just managed, entirely by accident, to make the world's most perfect Strawberry Milkshakes.

My normal milkshake recipe is Vanilla Ice Cream, and fresh berries of choice in about a 2/1 ratio, a splash of milk and just enough sugar to counteract the tartness.

Last time I made milkshakes the honey container happened to be sitting next to the blender, so I decided on a whim to use that instead of sugar as my sweetener. I was VERY happy with the results. Tonight, I used honey again and used a bit of Rose's Lime Juice for my liquid because our milk had just barely gone off.

OMG BEST IDEA EVER.

SO GOOD.

I have achieved milkshake perfection.

This and That

2008-06-30T23:01:19Z

Friendslist still in flux. I've defriended some people and refriended some people and for once managed NOT to friend any shiny new people, which is what always seems to happen when I try to trim my friendslist down to an actual manageable level.

I did not put my name in the anonymous love meme for reasons that are too kind of embarrassingly emo. But I did leave a bunch of comments for people, because I adore you guys. And I even managed NOT to leave any comments along the lines of "OMG you're awesome, how do you put up with me??" Go me?

acari linked to LiveMocha, which is my new favorite shiny place to play. It's a free social networking site for learning languages. I am attempting to relearn French. I used to be... not fluent, but pretty decent at least, particularly at reading/writing it. I'm finding their set up and lesson plans really useful, and so far I'm re-picking up the vocab pretty quickly.

My car is spending its days parked on the street and I've only been ticketed once so far. I need to find the time this week to go get a street parking sticker for it, but I'm not sure when, it's end of month and we're understaffed this week, so taking the hour or so off is not ideal. In the meantime I'm driving izzybeth's car to and from work, because she is awesome and also she's home and asleep for most of the time I'm at work.

The lack of car of my own means that I once again am not sure I'll be able to make the upcoming Empires shows. I really want to make at least the show on the 11th. I'm pondering bus schedules, but taking a bus into Chicago on a Friday during rush our is really less than ideal. Anyway, if I do manage to get down there, anyone have a free couch/patch of floor I can crash on for the night. Friday night concert means I don't have to haul my ass back up to Madison right afterwards for once! \o/.

Oh look, she's squeeing about bandom again.

2008-06-30T02:15:58Z

Pete Wentz is on the cover of the latest Out magazine and I am reminded of exactly why Pete was one of the first things I fell in love with about Bandom.

*draws sparkly hearts around him* Pete Wentz is the very definition of a straight ally and a damn good one too.

The whole article is online at the above link and I totally recommend it to any non-bandom people who are curious about exactly why I (and so many others) have fallen so hard for this fandom.

Gerard Way at SVA Podcast

2008-06-25T01:59:40Z

I'm making my first effort in days to catch up on lj, comms and everything. I'm only just starting though, so for all I know this could be old news to everyone but me. But just in case it isn't and because finding it totally made MY night (and justified my decision to keep chemicalromance on my broadest comm filter)

A while ago Gerard Way did an alumni lecture at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. You can now download a podcast of the ENTIRE LECTURE for FREE from iTunes.

To get it direct from iTunes just search for "gerard way visual arts" in the iTunes store and it should be the only result.

Or, go the the iTunes U section, scroll down to "Find Education Program" and under "Universities and Colleges" choose "School of Visual Arts" and then it's in the "SVA Life" section under "Distinguished Alumni Lectures".

For those not in the US or who don't want to deal with iTunes, you can also download it here.

It's an hour and 8 minutes long.

\o/

*listens happily*