ravings of a sparrow

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Friends only - almost
Future dated entry. - Just so it always stays top - (unlike me) - for todays entries - crawl down a bit.

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OK - this journal isn't quite friends only. Just mostly. A lot of it is x-rated and I didn't want under 18s being able to read it - if you are over 19 and want to be on my flist comment please. But tell me how you know me & why you want to be friended - because I'm not really that keen on total strangers reading about my sex-life. If I do know you then you know all about me & what sort of person I am so I'm happy to let you read (or skim over the bits that make you blush) to your heart's content.

This "friends only" banner was made by

spikeface

Armistice day.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

Current Mood: sombre

Teeth
Days off work are dangerous. I get bored and start looking for mischief to do. So far nothing bad, only silliness. Monty Python has a lot to answer for!!

Had the day off to go to the dentist. Now I have to decide about this front tooth.

Can't make my mind up. Keep the real tooth - even though it's slightly broken - or let the dentist remove it and fit a crown.

Decisions, decisions.

My instinct is to say leave it. It's been broken since I was 15 and it doesn't look too bad so why mess with it. But she says she can put a crown in and it will look better.

But at the moment it's real tooth and let's face it, no matter what you call it a crown is a false tooth.

I don't know. I've got a week to decide...

Current Mood: mischievous

All animals are created equal; some are more equal than others
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Yeah, right.

Unless you're gay.

Shame on you Maine.

Current Mood: disappointed

Flamin' Computers
And bloody ISPs. And come to think of it bloody email. Technology's great when it works, isn't it?? But there's very little else that can bring on that instant-rage-and-ready-to-chuck-it-through-a-window feeling quite so easily.

I've been having email issues for a while. First I blamed Thunderbird. So I got rid of it. Problems continued. Then I blamed Yahoo. They did admit some fault but even after they sorted it the problems continued. Turns out it's my ISP. The routes they use are used by spammers, hackers & sundry other undesirables so a fair few places block anything. Which means half the time I don't get mail - or mail I send doesn't arrive - and I can't view some websites without using a cloak. I'm not happy with them at all. Contract renews in February. I think I'll look elsewhere.

And then to really make my technological hell worse - My laptop died. It's been a pretty good machine and lasted well, I got it in 2003 and it was second hand then, so I can't really grumble. Though it had a minuscule hard-drive and a laughably small amount of RAM by modern standards it served me faithfully. No, what I'm annoyed about is that it's holding chapters 2 & 3 hostage!!

I'm very careful about backing files up. I either back-up to cd and/or email myself every new chapter. I have multiple cd copies of various edits and versions of all my stories.

Except for my most recent one.

I hadn't backed up parts 2 & 3. I was intending to but hadn't got 'round to it. And now I can't get them. Yet. (I've got a couple of friends who might be able to work miracles for me, so all might not be lost. After all - anybody who can speak and understand that language, you know - the one with too many consonants - especially Ws and Ls - and not nearly enough vowels - has to be capable of miracles).

Current Mood: pissed off

pain
I wish folks would stop writing "amirite" in various yahoo or lj groups I follow. I keep (mentally) pronouncing it as a combination of a religious sect, a fossil sea-creature and a kind of rifle. Which completely side-tracks me from whatever point it is they were trying to get across. It doesn't help that I'm not over-fond of "Am I right??" as a fairly meaningless addition to a comment anyway.

Been watching the new series Flash Forward on TV. It's pretty complicated viewing. I don't watch much TV these days as with little-to-no short-term memory following anything is a job and a half. I'm ok with this show though - thanks to multi-channel tv. When you have 400+ channels of which about 200 are "entertainment" (hmm - does this mean that sport, documentary, news and music channels aren't entertaining??) you have a lot of hours to fill. So there are repeats of repeats of repeats. First showing of episode 5 is tonight, repeated tomorrow, then on Friday on a sister channel, then again on yet another sister channel on Sunday. By which time I've just about got it. And if by some chance I haven't then we have Virgin On Demand (no - not that sort of virgin... unfortunately) or the online i-player. And of course making written notes (as I do about movies since I'll be damned if I'm paying £6 a time to watch a movie four or five days running!!).

It's a lot of trouble to go to, so I tend to be very selective about my viewing these days. In fact Flash Forward is the only "entertainment" show I watch at the moment. When the new CSI and SVU seasons eventually get here I'll watch those but other than that - nope - takes too much effort. So far it's been pretty good. As long as it doesn't drag on too long or get too unbelievably stupid (as Lost seemed to) I think I'll stick with it.

Got a follow-up appointment with the consultant this Wednesday. Just to check how successful the latest op has been. Speaking from a strictly non-medical, but very aware of the subject, point of view I reckon it's been a resounding success. The pain is down to an intermittent dull ache. In other words - I'm still aware of the plate/site/break etc. and every so often in aches a bit, but I am no longer in constant, draining, interfering-with-daily-life, pain.

It's been so long since I went an hour (let alone a day) without pain that I'd forgotten what it feels like to not be in pain. It's amazing. It's... I don't know... the world is just a little bit brighter. You really don't appreciate the absence of pain until it's present all the time. And then when it's no longer present... fan-bloody-tastic.

grumpy
Feeling out-of-sorts today in an I'm as grumpy as hell for no discernible reason, sort of way.

It makes it difficult to think of anything. Mostly because it means all I want to do is grumble or rant.

Rant about politics. Ours in the UK, (BNP - GRRR!!!). Yours in the USA (too many grrs to mention but I'm starting to wonder if Obama's chief sin is "governing while black" because some of the comments I've read lately have left me gobsmacked). EU politics - specifically the Tories' links with such fascists as the Latvian party For Fatherland and Freedom. (These pillocks celebrate the Waffen SS for God's sake!!) Rants about the naivete of some of the Hollywood film community regarding a convicted criminal who is too far beneath my contempt to name.

Grumbles about the weather. The rain has been so heavy these past couple of days that we've been unable to work. No work = no pay.

Grumbles about the dentist. Check-up time. And yet another new dentist at the practice. Who looked at the (slightly) broken tooth at the centre of the top row. (Yes it's not brilliant, no it's not too bad really). And she saw pound signs (that's this symbol £ not a hash mark like this #), I know because I could see them in her eyes, whirling like the fruit on a one-armed-bandit. And she asked if I'd like it crowned. Every dentist I've ever had, since it was broken in my teens, has asked the same. And they've all been told it can't be crowned - the bone was damaged too badly - I just have to put up with it. And just like every previous one she insisted on taking an x-ray and making another appointment. She's going to be disappointed. She can't make any money from it. Especially not a few hundred for a crown. Ner-ner ner ner-ner.

See - told you. I'm dead grumpy. So I won't subject you to any more...*g* Hope your week is going better.

Current Mood: grumpy

WANT!!
WANT!! WANT!! WANT!!

OXFORD

I think I'm asking my family for Book Tokens for Christmas...

Current Mood: geeky

wtf google??
The new story I'm working on takes place partly in the Sahara, I spent some time there with the Berber in 19...erm let's just say a while back... and I wanted to use the correct terms (that they taught me) for some of the landscape (desert isn't just desert to a Saharan just as snow isn't just snow to Inuit) but first I wanted to check that casual readers could find the terms quickly. So I googled "reg, erg & fesh-fesh". Google asked did I mean "reg, erg & fresh fish". How the hell did it get fresh fish from fesh-fesh??

....................................

Researching Scipio - how is it that I've got over 40 books on the Empire, not including those that are illustrated books of military uniforms or biographies of just one person but I apparently have only one on the Republic?? ONE!!

Lord, I hope Google gets Scipio right. If it gets fresh fish from fesh-fesh God only knows what it's going to produce for me when I enquire about Scipio Africanus...

Though I probably already know more than I'd need for the story or for it to be believable to any casual reader, I still want to make sure what I'm about to do with the poor man's reputation is feasible and fits with what is known about his early history. Or if not fits exactly then at least doesn't have people leaping up (as I would) screaming, "No, no, no.He never did/wouldn't have done/couldn't have been within a thousand leagues of the place/was ten years dead by then" etc.

Current Mood: frustrated

Bunny Attack
Blimey - if I thought I was tired the other day it's nothing to how I feel now. Good tired though. Went to bed last night just after midnight. Read for an hour. Turned off the light and tried to sleep.

Couldn't.

About 2am the plot-bunnies hit.

I kept trying to ignore them.

Couldn't.

In the end I gave up, got up, came downstairs and wrote.

So there I was 3am and writing.

But I got a damn' good start on a story for the RAOB Hallowe'en invitational. I'd promised Steph a story a couple of months ago and I was getting worried because I had nothing. (This bloody weird block I've been getting!!) I shouldn't have worried, my subconscious was obviously busy.

Haven't finished it yet - about to go back to it (after finally getting about 4 hours sleep from 5am) but I know where it's going. It's not like my usual stuff. It's dark (ish).

I like it.

Sort of.

It's not good enough of course. Nothing ever is. But it'll do.

The worst part is that the plot required detailed research - on Scipio Africanus - and that kind of thing is so enticing, I could get lost for weeks in the research - with the plot-bunny gnawing at my brain, forcing me to spend sleepless nights writing - for the entire time.

Plot-bunnies are evil, evil things

Current Mood: creative

Recent stuff
Been to the pictures a couple of times this month.

Saw District 9 I don't think I'd actually use the word enjoyable about it but I did think it was pretty good. Thought-provoking would be a better term. It dragged a little in the middle but other than that is was compelling stuff. Obviously very political, with many references to apartheid, but equally it could stand as a tale about racism in general. Or homophobia. In fact any kind of prejudice, bigotry or treatment or difference or otherness as "less than". That habit humans can have of deciding that that which we don't understand is automatically inferior whilst completely ignoring the fact that if you treat people like scum for long enough then they will behave like scum.

I'd definitely recommend the film to anybody who likes their sci-fi with a message. However, if you're expecting (or are only interested in) the kind of rah-rah let's-kill-all-the-nasty-aliens-and-be-heroes Independence Day sort of over-the-top super-patriotic rhetoric, then this is not the film for you.

Also saw Inglourious Basterds. What a complete load of old tosh. Total rubbish. Hard to believe this is by the same bloke who made the brilliant Reservoir Dogs or the equally good Pulp Fiction (or for that matter Jackie Brown which, while not being quite as good, I like a lot). I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about seeing it, after the awful cods-wallop that was Death Proof but I thought I'd give it a chance. What a waste of seven quid. Tarantino is so far up his own arse that if he yawns you can see him hiding behind his teeth. (The kid says he's "pretentious" which I suppose amounts to the same thing, only more polite *g*).

.......................................................

Was re-reading Jane Fletcher's The World Celaeno Chose (more recent editions are called The Temple at Landfall - I think the original title was better though, since less than a third of the book takes place in the Temple but the whole of the book is very much concerned with the world and Celaeno...). I love the series. It's real. Not a feminist (boring & fake) utopia, but real people, with real failings. Human. They are noble & greedy & cowardly & brave - all the things people truly are - great stuff.

I've read each of them several times. I must have read this one at least 6, probably 8, times, and I've only just realised something. (How bloody unobservant can anyone be, I don't know if I've ever read or been involved in any discussion about them - don't remember it if I have). In the early part of the book mention is made of the smaller of the planet's two moons. Laurel. (The moons are mentioned - and named - in all the books). About halfway through the second, larger, moon is mentioned along with the smaller one. The larger is called Hardie.

This week - years after first reading any of the Celaeno books, the penny dropped.

Laurel and Hardie.

What was my IQ again??

In minus figures I think.

Current Mood: thick as a brick

Not that it's any of my ...
or anyone else's...business

but

Caster Semenya is a woman.

She's a fine athlete.

She ran an excellent race.

The media have behaved in a totally reprehensible manner.

Whoever complained and started this whole sorry affair deserved to be horsewhipped.

I feel so bloody sorry for her, all she was doing was competing in a sport she loved and now there's been a fucking witch-hunt that's probably blighted her life for good. The whole fucking world knows the results of a test she should never have been required to undergo. And they knew the result before she did. It's appalling. It stinks. They should be bloody-well ashamed of themselves.

I'm glad her community supports her. I hope they continue so to do.

I'm ashamed to be part of the human race.

Current Mood: annoyed

Instant Human. Just add coffee
I used to have a t-shirt with that on but it got ruined when they cut it off me in hospital after my bike crash. Yesterday I wished I still had it. It would have served as a warning to all who crossed my path.

It was August Bank Holiday yesterday so I didn't have to work. This meant I got a (very short) lie-in. When I did get up I went through the usual ritual. Put something on, zombie-shuffle downstairs and sleep-walk to the kitchen. Crack one eye open about half-way. Locate switch for coffee machine. Switch on. Wait for coffee to brew. Drink coffee. Drink more coffee. Join the land on the living.

Yesterday didn't follow the plan. I got as fair as the waiting part. Nothing happened. No coffee. Short period of mild hysteria followed. Much begging. "Please coffee machine, please don't die, please give me coffee." It still didn't work. Checked plug. Checked fuse. All electrics working perfectly. The horror of it all sank in.

The coffee machine was broken.

There was no coffee.

When this happens I usually go green and destroy shirts. (But never trousers - weird that.) The kid tried to placate me. "We'll nip out and get a new one." "I need coffee." "Don't worry, the shops are open later today, we can buy a better one." "Need coffee, NOW." "We have a jar of instant somewhere. That'll keep you going." "Instant?? Instant?! Ze does not stoop to the depravity of instant coffee." Funny how quickly pride takes a tumble when caffeine withdrawal kicks in. The shame of it, I drank instant.

And clock-watched.

"Is it time yet??" "No." "Is it time to go to the shop yet??" "No." "Is it.." "NO!!"

Four hours later I sat in the kitchen and cradled my new (and ridiculously expensive) Krups coffee machine. And had a coffee. Or three. Or four. The cats have finally come out from behind the cupboard (I only growled at them once, honest). And I'll pop back to Dingles later in the week and apologise to that poor shop assistant.

We bought a cafetiere as well - just in case. The kid wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. She said I made Cujo look like a kitten.

Perhaps I should think about cutting down. Perhaps twelve cups a day is too many.

Minor annoyance (not really a rant) and bits & bobs of language
I keep reading the expression "a metric ton" used to mean a lot.

No problem with it meaning a lot - it does.

However if it's metric it is not spelt ton. It is spelt tonne.

And a metric tonne weighs almost exactly the same as an Imperial ton, which in itself is almost exactly the same as an American ton. (there are a very minor differences at decimal point level but so low as to be insignificant unless you're a scientist measuring exact quantities of something).

So, if you're American, why not just say ton??

..................................................

I've complained before about the use of shined for things other than shoes, eg she shined the torch rather than she shone the torch. I've been told that's actually an acceptable usage in American even though it's wrong in English (note - I'm using English to mean British usage not the language per se.) Ok - though it hurts my head I'll accept its use in American writing.

Unfortunately it leads to words that hurt my eyes, my brain and my sense of what's right with the world.

Outshined. WTF?? She outshined her brother. No no no no no. Please tell me that isn't acceptable in America.

Pretty please.

.................................

Through various websites, groups, discussion pages etc. I've learned some things of the you-wouldn't-know-this-so-you'd-never-think-to-ask-about-it variety lately.

Apparently Americans don't take a bunch of grapes to people in hospital. I never knew that. It's so common here it would never have occurred to me to question it. Sure, we do occasionally take flowers too, but some hospitals don't like them and remove them from wards (especially at night - yes some people still believe that old wives' tale). But when someone I know is in hospital (and out of danger/not emergency admittance) my first thought on visiting would be to take a bunch of grapes. I'll have to remember that for my CSI stories - can't have them take Sara grapes...

Found several different words too... some of which I'm not sure how to pronounce yet...(English in parentheses)

Normalcy (normality). Oriented (orientated). Acclimate (acclimatise). Alternate (alternative - alternate to us means every other, as in "I go to the bank on alternate Wednesdays").

Then there's breadsticks. I spent ages reading about those in American stories and picturing UK type breadsticks. Crisp, biscuity, about 20-30cm long (10 to 12 inches) about 1cm wide (quarter to third of an inch) before reading that someone used one to make garlic bread. I googled. It turns out that American breadsticks are French bread - either a baguette or a baton. Another of those wouldn't-think-to-check moments.

So now I need to ask - I've seen this word written so many times in a way I consider to be wrong. But recently I've seen it used by a couple of writers I respect so I'm wondering if it's another of those acceptable in America things.

Put through the ringer. Spelt without the W. Over here that would be put through the wringer. Because it's based on the idea that you'd be wrung out as clothes are when put through an old-fashioned mangle aka a wringer. So is ringer acceptable American?? Do I need to drop the W?? Or is it simply wrongly spelt and it should be wringer??

mish-mash not a proper entry
Note to self - do not read stuff on fanfic dot net. Seriously. Stop doing it. You've told yourself to stop enough times. You've sworn never to go back again. Why do you torture yourself this way?? You've beaten your head onto the keyboard so often you have QWERTY backwards on your forehead.

I found two good stories there once (both SVU fandom) Well, two stories and a good prologue for a CSI fic that the author never continued. But everything else I've ever read in any of my many fandoms goes from almost adequate all the way down to run-away-screaming-now.

I just made the mistake of reading a Dr Who fic where Rose is nagging the Doctor to take her home quickly because she wants to celebrate July 4th with him and her family ::headdesk:: (damn I've just added UIOP to the QWERTY). Did they watch the damn' show?? Rose is English. The Doctor is a 900-years-old alien. Why the hell would they be celebrating July 4th?? In fact why would they even call it July 4th & not 4th July?? The misspelt author's note with Your going to be surprised by the end should have warned me. (I think the surprise was supposed to be that Rose is also a timelord. I'd kind of lost the will to live by then so didn't care enough to find out.)

I really must stay away from that place - there's a reason it's known as The Pit

On the other hand I found part one of what looks to be an excellent (and well researched) AU Murder in Suburbia story here on lj. I hope the author will post chapters regularly.

All I need to do is remember to surf lj comms instead of the pit. I know there's crap on lj too but the proportion of good against bad is significantly better here.

Found a good comm the other day - I wish I could spork fics this well. (Warning. Remove all liquids from your vicinity before reading) Badfic quotes. I actually did laugh out loud.

Also just found (on YouTube) a video of a scene from Spitting Image that I saw years ago and have remembered ever since. Powerful piece. Still relevant. Every Bomb You make

Current Mood: amused

100 things
Got tagged for this by

blkchrrybard - it's behind a cut cos it's bloody long.

It's 100 questions - most of which are probably of no interest to anybody - don't feel you have to look. Not tagging anybody to answer. Do so if you'd like.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: thirsty

Past Fortnight
I've been so busy doing stuff I haven't had time to blog about most of the stuff I've been doing. I thought about backdating the entries but I really couldn't be bothered to go through all that nonsense. So I thought I might as well just do a single post summary of the past fortnight.

So here it is... ( Read more... )

Been a bit of a day
You know the kind of day I mean. Nothing really big in the way of things, good or bad, happened but lots of annoying little things went wrong. Not important things (mostly) not tragic or awful. Just pain in the (choose your location) things.

I managed to stab myself in the thumb with a can-opener. An electric one at that. Don't ask how. I haven't a clue. It made a jagged cut and quite long. It bled like crazy. It would have to be after I'd changed out of my filthy, scruffy, work jeans and into a pair of light coloured chinos, in preparation for a trip to Sainsbury's, wouldn't it. I don't know how I'm going to get them clean. They look like I've taken up being a serial killer as a hobby.

Then there's the cat. One of them at any rate (the kid has 4 cats). This one got beaten up by the neighbourhood bully-cat. She got a rather nasty bite on her neck which has developed an abscess. My sister recommended a little bit of tea-tree oil in warm water as an anti-septic. So we tried that.

Did you know tea-tree oil is toxic to cats?? Nope, neither did we. We do now. Especially after having to clean cat-sick off my lap. (Clean pair of jeans since I'd put my blood-spattered chinos in the washing basket). One panic-stricken rush to the vet's later and said cat is resting comfortably. (The dose was low enough to just cause sickness - high doses can kill). Take note of this. Do NOT use tea-tree oil on a cat. Not even heavily diluted (it's ok on dogs though).

Then the DAB radio decided to start playing up. It lost all the stations and refused to tune in again; declaring that there was "no signal found". Just as we sat down to eat tea and catch up with the news.

After dinner the water-heater packed up - right as I started the washing-up (that's doing the dishes to American speakers). The pilot light sometimes goes out if the wind catches it just so. In order to restart it you have to dismantle a cupboard and lie on the floor beneath it, both arms outstretched with your head under the sink. Not easy. And there went my third pair of clean trousers. I give up. I'm staying in my underwear.

Tomorrow has got to be easier. Promise me it will be. We're going to see the new Harry Potter film after work. I'd like not to wind up wearing my popcorn or anything similar. Please. Pretty please.

Current Mood: sleepy

If monkeys can then why can't fanfic writers??

Rules
Back from my run and thinking about my post on fora. It occurred to me that saying I'm not good with rules might make anybody who knows me - especially if they've heard/seen my grammar rants or my plagiarism rants or seen my frustration with things like the Lucy Lawless list - think "What?? No rules?? You're joking??". So I figured I needed to clarify.

I'm not a rule-breaker. I'm a risk-taker.

I'm not obsessed with rules. I'm obsessed with order. They are different - trust me.

I like - no, I need order. My objections on the LL list to people who whine about the weather, the nasty things the boy in school/the video shop/the street said about them because of their Xena t-shirt, the tv show they saw last week that's completed unrelated to anything Lucy - without marking it OT or the people on those lists posting where are you from, what's your age, happy birthday/christmas/new year posts in breach of the rules - aren't because of the rules - they're because of the chaos. It disturbs the order.

I need order like I need air.

It's why the new ROC forum on her website is going to drive me crazy in a very short time (we only need one thread for Diamonds & Guns, dammit!!). And why I love the fora at TWoP. They minimise thread repetition there. If you have a post about Alex Cabot or the actress who plays her, no matter what that post is about, it goes in the existing Alex Cabot thread. If you want to compare ADAs you don't start a new Cabot vs Casey thread. You post it in the existing Cabot or Casey thread.

Order.

It's a beautiful thing.

Rules are just things that get in the way of order.

Current Mood: calm