Allronix1

Best book?
Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy (I've raved about them on my LJ before)

Worst Book:
"A Day No Pigs Would Die" -- total wallbanger that you are supposed to read for "enrichment" (Look, kids, it's depressing as hell, it must have artistic merit!) back in the 8th grade. Endless droning about farm poverty, kitchen sink realism, and the boy forced to butcher and eat his pet pig at the book's end, with some attempt at making it seem like some highly noble act.

Okay

I totally overdid it with the 80's cheese last night.

My TV, when it decides to work, has one of the little digital boxes on it, like it's supposed to have if you're not inclined for cable. One of the digital stations it managed to pick up was "This!," some third-rate movie channel.

Well, last night? Creamed corn au gratin in the form of some seriously wrong 80's B-flicks.

Solarbabies -- I've seen this one before in bits and pieces. Oh, wow. How 80's can you get? Even better -- low-budget 80's Australian sci-fi. Dialogue and delivery that was pitch perfect for the 9AM Saturday cartoons. Rollar-skating teenagers against evil adults and a plot that might make sense if you were stoned. Token chick and token black guy. Cute little kid. Mullets out the kazoo! Even better with synthesyzer music and a completely out of place Smokey Robinson song over the credits.

How bad is it to have a real soft spot of the "look" of 80's sci-fi, though? I was looking at the costuming and sets, and realizing that the era really liked sharp angles and bright colors. Now, it seems the good guys wear black, the bad guys wear black, and the color saturation's been cranked down 50% on everything.

The other flick, Night of the Comet, was meant to be bad, but it forgot its own plot about thirty minutes in. You're thinking "OK, it's two Valley Girls and a Latino trucker fighting off a zombie invasion," then it changes to "Ok, they got rescued, but what is up with the 'rescuers' trying to kill them?!" Then it's a "ok, escape the lab, grab the other survivors, but still no explanation as to what happened in the first place." Worth a VERY good snicker as the trucker is played by a young Robert Beltran.

I was assembling a writing desk while watching these cinematic masterpieces. My current one was literally falling apart. I was able to patch it, but it's not going to take heavy use. So, transfer TV and Playstation to old computer desk, and move computer to the new desk.

I also was able to donate platelets yesterday. Seeing the way people were driving on Wednesday? I'm betting they needed the donors.

I'm rather fond of Samhain and Beltane. On the first, you wish the old away, say good-bye to those who have passed...then go out trick or treating for the food bank or just dress in great costumes and watch MST3K grade horror movies.

Beltane? I can let both my religious and political freak flags fly. It's time for belting out The Internationalle and laying red roses on the home altar.

I visited my Aunt and Uncle for Thanksgiving.

We had Mythbusters instead of football, and since I've totally downgraded to pescatarian, I had ten shrimp instead of turkey. My plate was full of cranberry hash (not the gelled stuff, but cranberries and oranges ground in a Cuisinart), salad, and veggies.

Yes, I had a single slice of pie.

Tomorrow, I donate platelets and do a lot of sleeping. I'm not dumb enough to go anywhere near a store. I already got Yule presents, and shopping is annoying enough without making it a full contact sport. Besides, I blew my "fun money" until February with that gym pass.

Screw just one. Send me to Woodstock!

Yule shopping is COMPLETE!!

To computer_boy and crispengray



Thank you, guys, for the stuff on the jla_watchtower and dc_nation, and letting my crazy hippie (hippie_shifter) in on the fun. It doesn't hurt, Sam, that you and I could flirt shamelessly in or out of character.

HELL BLOODY NO!!! By the time they reach high school, they've either heard of or seen the concepts of anything a library could throw at them.

In high school, I'd read Das Kapital, a couple of Ayn Rands, the Bible, the Koran, Mein Kamph, books on voudun, cults, true crime, etc.

"There's too much attention top children in this country! Leave them alone! They're gonna be all right! They're smarter than you are!"
- George Carlin

Machine Empathy (examples: Kaylee on Firefly or Micah on Heroes) or Animal Communication (like my character on dc_nation, hippie_shifter)

OK. Mung beans? I picked up a bag because I hadn't tried them before. My mother and grandparents didn't intend to raise an adventurous eater, but they wound up with one. Partial credit (or blame) goes to my stepdad. Tom never learned how to cook. Navy food and sailor's salaries being what they are, he tended to hit the street food when he was in port.

So, I have this bag. What am I gonna do with it? Thank the Gods for the internet. No matter what weird shit you bring home from the Asian grocery or the Grocery Outlet, you bet someone's found a tasty way to use it.

Looks like a traditional way to serve the stuff is as a dessert soup. Oh, this gets better. Let's see...brown sugar? Check. Grated ginger? You bet. Mung beans? Here's the bag!

So, I follow the recipe (soak beans, cook beans on medium heat until tender, simmer with sugar and ginger, throw it in the blender and puree until you get a creamy, sweet soup). Not bad, but kinda plain. Then, I see the pulverized green tea (100% pure green tea - no sugar or fillers). I add that. Getting better, but still a little bitter. A little cinnamon and vanilla? NOW we're talking! The stuff can either be warm or cold, but I suspect it's better cold. It could also do really well with melon, bananas, or other sweet, mild-tasting fruit. Citrus flavors probably wouldn't go so well. Neither would durian.

Haunted? Depends. Are we dealing with a hostile poltergeist, or just the old lady who just wants to stay in her own home, and a little thing like her death doesn't matter? Chances are my current building is haunted already. A old man on the third floor who was here since the 70's passed away a couple months ago, steadfast in his wish to stay put. If we're dealing with something like the little old lady, then there are ways to negotiate.

The brutal murder part? I'd worry about the neighborhood's security. It's not the home of your dreams if the neighborhood has a big crime issue. I'd probably ask some members of the "coven" to see if cleaning the place out was a possibility.

In real life? Romantic chemistry is overrated, and "love at first sight" really isn't to be trusted.

Then again, I'm not so much cynical as I am pragmatic with a side order of being wary of people in general.

Are there any ships that you can either see as plausible (or are canon) that you aren't going to touch with a ten foot cattle prod or would need a few shots of your favorite intoxicant to get over the squick factor first? 

In other news -- yay, something is passing the hurdles, as much of a watered-down mess as it is.

I do tend to make friends with those having similar political beliefs, as I have very strong, left-wing ones. I'll piss people off with them, guaranteed. As one of my sparring partners on another board put it, "radical, but not unreasonable."

Religion? Not so much, but being an out and proud Pagan tends to preclude the fundies coming near anyway. Jesus was a great guy - the original hippie, the greatest social reformer of all time. But his fanclub is an entirely different matter.

I'd say there has to be something there that unites you. Otherwise, there's more arguing than not.

*knocks back tea*

*looks at her notes for "Filthy Lucre"*

*headdesk*

I'm in for it. I haven't run a plot for this com since we were still on JLA Watchtower. Mind you, I had the plot outline on backup for a while.

However, it looks like I'll be playing a canon character (Steve Dayton/Mento) with VERY little resources to go on. I'm usually pretty good with flying blind, but I never like it. Too easy to miscalculate.  And making it even better is how crack-tastic Doom Patrol is on its good days. 

The plumbers tore up my shower stall. We're talking entire panels of sheetrock gone. It'll take another couple days before the issue's fixed. The repair was much overdue, and it'll all be great when it's done. In the here and now, it kinda sucks.

Well, I hit the Tacoma Dome Gift Fair. It's the first "Yule Fair" of the season, and usually an excuse for me to cross multiple folks off my Yule list before Samhain even hits.

So, I managed to cover the twin and my brother in law. Manged to cover my aunt and my mom. Even managed to cover my half-sister and her little girl. Oh, and the family cats, too. That leaves Dad, Uncle Gene, Tom, Patti, Rachel, and Moon. Out of those, I already have some ideas as to what to pursue. Gene's always the hardest to shop for, as he's an engineer who's prepared for most anything.

In other news, my plumbing sprung a leak. So, there are plumbers coming in and out of the place. The cats are upset, the bathroom's pretty tore up, and it looks like I'll have to shower at M&G's for a couple days while renovations are in progress.

To the insurance cartel, RAPE is now a "pre existing condition."

Is there any lengths these bloodsucking, greedy bastards won't go to? Is our worship of "free enterprise" so goddamn blind that we'll allow this crap?

To the smartass kid at Safeway:

Yes, I know. Safeway's store brand frozen pizza is roughly the same price as the Boboli I'm picking up. However, there's a reason I'm picking that up and not your store brand. 

(I've an abundance of cheese and other pizza-type ingredients, but no crust. Plus, Safeway's brand pizzas have a very dull cheese option and no other veggie options)

Picked up a microwave to replace the one that was emitting blue sparks when I tried to nuke some mac and cheese. The light show's fun, but buring down such a lovely apartment would be a shame. Also picked up a printer to replace my old one, which won't work under Vista or Windows 7.

I have an appointment to donate platelets after work. I'll have to ask them about what the protocol is about donors and flu shots, as laws can vary by state, and I'd like to get at least the seasonal flu vaccine.

I think I will ask Patti if she wants to help me bake during her next visit. I want to use up the stuff I have in my pantry before doing a solid grocery run.

The answer would be "no." I've made no secret to my friends, family, and doctor that I would actually like to be sterilized. I'm very concerned with the limited resources of this planet, and believe few of our miseries - human and environmental - cannot be ameliorated by reducing our fertility.

I would certainly support them in adopting, fostering, or otherwise caring for the children who are already here and need parenting or support, but in good conscience I cannot add to the number.