Ramblin' On

OWLish

2009-10-17T23:46:04Z

it was funny enough to wade through all the advertising crap to get to it...

Yeesh.

2009-07-07T23:34:08Z

Iran is roiling with political protest.
A major offensive in Afghanistan is putting more US troops in danger than ever.
An area in China that's three times the size of Texas is convulsing with ethnic/religious violence.
Honduras just had a coup.
Obama is having historic meetings with Russian leaders to bring us out of the second cold war.
The pope wants to consolidate the global economy (like it's not, already).
Benin and Brazil are about to be flooded off the map.
Koalas are drinking from bikers' water bottles (and if that isn't a sign of the apocalypse... okay, at least it's REALLY rare).
And what do we get on the news?

Eight solid days of Michael Jackson.

RIDICULOUS. It's no wonder the rest of the world laughs at us as ignoramuses.

Contacts

2009-07-07T05:03:53Z

Hm, who knew. Just the other day (May 13th, in fact, as it's his birthday) I was wondering what ever happened to my brother Bobby. Then, hey, he contacted me. Through LJ. Guess I should update more than every six months, eh? And hey, his son Patrick, that angelic little blond toddler I remember, is all grown up and looking amazingly like my uncle Vince. And on his facebook photo, he's holding an angelic little blond toddler that looks a heck of a lot like he did over twenty years ago.

I am getting so. freaking. old.

Still, it's nice to make contact with family. A little unnerving, given that my family history has been anything but sunshine and roses, but really kind of nice. The strange thing? My nephew's living in the same town where I was offered a job in 1995. So we might have made contact then if I hadn't taken the job in Texas instead. See what happens when you try to avoid rainy weather and opt for sunshine? An extra decade and a half goes by before contact is once again made. Huh! The even stranger thing? My brother sounds so much like he did in 1986 that it's freaky. I can hear his voice in his email.

Little bemused now. Feeling hopeful and hesitant and happy all at the same time.
Bren, wandering away again

family

2009-06-24T02:33:20Z

Bobby - in case you haven't got your settings set up to alert you to responses, check you inbox - I sent a long rambling answer to your message, but I didn't send it to your email, I just responded to what you sent. Good to hear from you!

Six months later, she'd not dead, Jim.

2009-05-10T17:52:11Z

Clawing my way out of the black hole (not caused by Red Matter, but by brain matter), I wave at you. And burble.

New!Trek: The way Quinto inserted 'Fascinating' and Urban inserted "I'm a doctor not a..." and Pine didn't believe in no-win scenarios. I think they really got the casting right. Quinto gave me flashbacks to first season Spock, before the lid was clamped down. Pine may look nothing like Shatner, but he has Young and Restless written all over him (in a good way). Urban is eerily reminiscent of DeForrest Kelley, more in the way he moves than anything else (although the voice is GREAT). Saldana did her best, but she was a little weak in the roll - I like take-no-nonsense Uhura, but the actress didn't quite carry if off. Cho didn't quite sell me on Sulu, either. But overall, it worked well. The plot was an excellent way to reset the universe (and unlike most of the plot devices used in the different series, this one I actually bought). Spock Prime rocked... Nimoy tied it all together, both with the way his character 'birthed' the friendship of Kirk and McCoy but also with his gravitas and deep emotion simmering beneath the surface. That's another thing Quinto did well, bringing that conflict into his character. Bana was a more sympathetic psychotic villian than I expected, and the mis-timing of his revenge as the trigger of the universal reset (creating the alternate universe) was very well executed (pun intended).

Things that amused me: Pegg makes a better Scot than he does an Englishman. Saldana actually looks like her Barbie doll, and Pine looks more like his Ken doll than he does the Playmates doll that was actually created with his likeness. Yelchin was an adorable Chekov. I was a little afraid of seeing this movie, but wanted to give it a chance, and I'm glad I did. The best way to look at it is definitely not a re-imagining of the original series, but as literally an alternate dimension, a 'what if' that takes a single character (Kirk), radically changes one element of his backstory (the fate of his father) leading to a very different character. Following that Kirk, as he becomes a leader, and seeing how the other changes affect other characters (Spock's mother, Scotty's failed experiment), make it easy to see this as a different group, not just the same old group in younger bodies. I look forward to the next couple movies - I think this was a great start.

Wolverine: I can only assume that the critics who were disappointed were expecting the humor of Iron Man or the surface gloss of many 'hero' movies. They should have looked at the title. The movie was just what it should have been, considering the main character - grief and pain, followed by kicking ass, followed by a brief bit of happiness and even greater grief and pain, followed by major kicking ass, followed by extreme grief and pain, leading eventually to more kicking ass. It began where it should have, with revelation and heartbreak, and ended where it needed to, with amnesiac Wolverine heading off to cage fight in Canada until Rogue comes along to pull him into the XMen saga. The mini-mutants were well cast, Sabretooth was exceptional, Gambit ROCKED (need more Gambit!), and the story actually made sense. Jackman was incredible, not just with the insane body building (although that made my jaw drop a few times) but also in the tender moments, and the epiphanies, and the grief-pain-heartache. He really put his heart into this one, as well as his body, and that made the movie flow.

And hey, next week, Angels and Demons! I didn't see the first movie, because honestly the author is a hack, but this one has Ewan McGregor in a cassock. There's something about Scotsmen. Put 'em in a dress, be it a kilt or a cassock, and hoo-YAH. I'm there.

Book bits: just finished Carrie Fisher's autobiography (Wishful Drinking) that cheerfully illustrated that if you can't laugh at your pain, it will kill you. To balance that out, I've been delving into Aaron Elkins' Gideon Oliver books (just finished Little Tiny Teeth) - interesting to read about crime solving from the perspective of a forensics prof (the Skeleton Detective - snicker), plus it's set in Washington State, where I went to grad school the first time, and his plots are always twisty and interesting and well-researched. For fun, and because I'm in withdrawal, the BBC Dr Who and Torchwood books have been meeting my sexy immortals story needs. I have carefully hoarded two Jim Butcher novels and a graphic novel, so sometime soon I'm going to take a weekend and delve into Dresden's world again.

TV bits: Unexpected but true - I really like Callen and Sam on NCIS OSP. I'll watch it, because I like Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J make an outstanding partnership. On NBC, I can't believe they're dicking around with renewing Chuck - Leno has a lot to answer for, taking five hours of prime time away from scripted shows. I always did like Letterman better than Leno, and now I wouldn't watch Leno if they paid me. Over on CBS, the only reason I can think that they aren't moving on renewing Eleventh Hour is that some suit somewhere hates the show. It was the second best performer of the new dramas, and the first was Mentalist, which outperformed every other new show from all the outlets, so one would think that would be enough to get Eleventh Hour renewed. Darn it, I like that show! It doesn't even have the excuse ABC used when they canceled Pushing Daisies (the twits!), because it's a procedural with science elements, not quirky or daring or strange - just GOOD. Idiots.

I was looking forward to trundling out and seeing friends yesterday... then the 'dorks with tools' who call themselves plumbers who are 'working' (?) on the unit beside mine parked their truck directly in front of my garage and trapped me. Then they disappeared. For five hours. I tried calling my landlady, but she didn't answer her phone. By the time the jerks finally came back and moved their stupid truck, it was too late to go anywhere. Late last night I heard my landlady come by and retrieve the key... maybe she's tired of them, too. I hope. They've been tearing things up next door since September and are not even close to finishing. I'm just waiting for the fools to break a line or something under my living room, then I'll have to move so they can tear up this unit too. So freakin' tired of this.

Thank God for books and movies and tv or I'd be staring at the wall wondering where I could find some scotch. You may have noticed I didn't mention work... trying not to think about it. Augh.

Later, gators.

Wow!

2008-12-14T16:38:06Z

What a difference a new modem makes! It actually loads pictures without timing out! And it's less than a quarter the size of the last one! It's smaller than my little plug-in answering machine (that seldom actually works)!

Hmmm. Perhaps the miniaturization is a clue that my old modem was, well, pretty darned old.

And maybe I should look into a new little answering machine.

But first, I must find a floor lamp, because my kitchen light is on the blink (again). Given that my heater only works part of the time (and tries to gas me on a regular basis), my plumbing is more temperamental than a top ten diva, my oven only works when I open the broiler and blow on the tubes to make the gas ignite, my towel racks are falling off the wall, my shower leaks, my door and windows are leakier than an industrial sieve, my hard drive is close to death, I only have one jury-rigged telephone line supporting a modem, two telephones and an answering machine (splitters are my friend), and the last time I called to add a cable line, my landlady had to go to the company office with paperwork to approve the damned thing, I think I'll do my usual, and find a work-around. If I ask for anything to be fixed, my rent will go up. Can you tell I'm a little tired of things NOT WORKING?

Sigh. Thank you for anyone who had the kindness (or was bored enough) to read my vent. Feeling better now. Off to Target, Ikea, Lamps Plus or someplace to get some light so I'm not washing dishes in the dark (again).

Happy Sunday!

Hmmm, sorcery...

2008-12-08T18:17:24Z

grokked from tenaya :

Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Sorceror Control is the name of your game. You are a studied tactician and scientist and you seek a kingdom where things make sense, damn the morals, even if you have to create it. You are cold, calm and calculating.
Vampire
Cthulu Spawn
Demon
Werewolf
Incubus/Succubus
Ghost
Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

who am I? in Dewey, anyway

2008-12-04T19:08:32Z

Saw this, thought it was cute... wiling my lunch half-hour away...

brenda antrim's Dewey Decimal Section:

759 Historical, geographic & persons treatment

brenda antrim = 285441140893 = 285+441+140+893 = 1759

Class:
700 Arts & Recreation

Contains:
Architecture, drawing, painting, music, sports.

What it says about you:
You're creative and fun, and you're good at motivating the people around you. You're attracted to things that are visually interesting. Other people might not always understand your taste or style, but it's yours.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

or maybe

brenda antrim's Dewey Decimal Section:

082 Collections in English

brenda antrim's birthday: 1/19/1963 = 119+1963 = 2082

Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works

Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.

What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

My "own style" and "stubborn"... yeah, sounds like me... heh.

Stories and other things for which I'm thankful

2008-11-29T04:50:06Z

Sheesh, it's almost December already. How'd that happen?

Anyway, new story up at the Keep and the glacis journal. It's for the Mentalist, Cho/Jane, fun of the anti-insomnia sort. (nc17 slash, of course).

My modem's trying to die (have to turn it on and off a half dozen times before it actually connects) and my hard drive is about to die (sigh) so my email's been iffy and my brain's been drained by techie pain. Which, because I'm apparently a masochist, led me to think of all the things for which I give thanks. This, because I'm apparently a sadist too, led me to want to share them with anyone crazy enough to read my ramblings.

So. Things for which I shout THANK YOU in an internal silent mental sort of way:

My friends. Who still like me even when I turn hermit for months and pop up at odd hours burbling enthusiastically about nonsense. I have the most fascinating family of friends. I love you!

My cats. The reason I come home at night (and sometimes, the reason I go to work in the morning). Three very different bundles of furry fury who show me they love me in a myriad of ways, from head butts to whisker kisses to graciously puking on the carpet instead of in my shoes.

My job. A neighbor was recently laid off with one week's notice from a job she'd worked faithfully for 28 years. While I may sometimes bitch about the daily grind, I do enjoy my work, the people I work with and for, and the dual facts that I have tenure and a down-turned economy is job security for community college faculty.

My health. I can still work, talk, think, see, hear, feel, create, type, walk, breathe and teach. I need to lose weight, and various organs are grinding a little painfully, but the temple has not yet crumbled. Yay!

My past. While I may not have my Mom, or Dad, or any contact with surviving family (this is by choice), the memories of the good folks who loved me, supported me, kicked me in the butt when I needed it and hugged me often, give me the strength and pig-headedness to live and enjoy my life.

My faith. Yes, I have one, and it's not the majority in this country (or anywhere, really), but following the Path had given me a peace I couldn't have without it.

Fandom. Thousands of people, most of whom I've never met, that I already like. Bonding over pretty men doing slashy and/or angsty things (usually to one another). Fans keep me as sane as I get. Plus, fannish fabulousness was a big part of my thesis. Did I mention (as I seem to blurt to everyone I meet) that I finished my second Master's degree (in communication critical studies) and did my thesis on Stargate (specifically gender role displacement using Daniel as the focal point and how fans make meaning of his embodiment of the third gender)? Well, if I hadn't, I have now. (snicker)

My fellow vets, and all the active duty folk putting their lives on the line every day (and night) in the hell spots around the world. The economy wouldn't be tanking so badly if we weren't flushing billions of dollars down the toilet on undeclared wars on two fronts, and the waste of lives is incredible (military and civilian). My thoughts and prayers are with the service people and their families this Thanksgiving. Thank you. More than I can say. May the good Goddess grant you a homecoming sooner rather than later.

My freedom. So much could go wrong, and is, for so many people. I've got a life filled with blessings (see above for some of the greatest) and I am thankful for it every day I breathe.

And finally, Dreyer's coconut fruit bars and diet coke, because everybody has to have an addiction.

pain.

2008-07-31T02:42:55Z

another three hours in the dentist's chamber today - got a whole new definition of 'triple crown' - used to be a bridge was a fake tooth with wire hooks that connected it to the tooth on either side. Now it's a fake tooth - a crown - connected to TWO CROWNS on either side of it. Yes, they file down two perfectly good teeth and put crowns on them so the bridge is three crowns all connected in one piece. I guess it's a lot sturdier than the old way, but holy freakin' crucio-cows, man, OUCH.

My dentist said I was 'very good' - almost expected a lollipop. She has no idea the aspersions I cast, in the silence of my anguished brain, on her breeding, mating habits, professional competency and swimming depth in the gene pool; probably just as well given how many shots she had to give me (I don't numb well). I now have an amazingly ugly but quite functional temporary triple crown, awaiting the verdict on whether this procedure screwed up the nerves in the previously good teeth (if so, that's another root canal or two - gaaaaaaaaah), then the permanent triple crown in two weeks.

My gums feel like they've been through a meat grinder. My cats are wondering why I'm stoned on Advil and not talking to them.

If I were a horse, I'd be glue by now.

Tomorrow, the eye doctor!

God, I love "vacation." sniff.

what quake?

2008-07-29T19:47:33Z

Guess I'm a serious shopper after all. It's the beginning of my 'vacation' (or whatever you call unpaid time between work) and I'm off on a towel hunt (difficult to find the exact shade of green to match my shower curtain) when I go up to the counter and find the salesclerk looking like somebody ran over her dog.

I quickly ask her if she's okay and she says, "There was an earthquake!" I'm thinking it was in Japan or something and her family's been hurt, so I ask, "Where? When?" She looks at me like I'm an idiot and says "Right here! Just now!"

I find to my complete surprise that we just had a 5.8 earthquake (or 5.4, some debate in the news outlets). Seems the floor shook and the shelves swayed. The floor I was walking on and the shelves holding the towels I was examining... and I didn't notice.

Even funnier? When I got home, my cats, who usually start running up the walls BEFORE a temblor hits... slept through it.

Huh. Guess that towel-color-matching thang was really engrossing. (blink)

blink...

2008-01-12T01:46:48Z

okay, so i'm sitting here hashing out the outline for my thesis and realize i've been discussing how lacanian imaginary and freud's oedipal theory both assume the centrality of the masculine figure, and how that plays into butler's idea that having no words for a non-dichotomous sexual identity essentially erases any concept but male or female from the collective culture making it effectively impossible to conceptualize a third gender, especially in the english language with its heavily bipolar structure... when my audience meowed loudly at me and i realized i should probably feed my cats instead of brainstorming with them...

so maybe i'll go watch the new eps of moonlighting and numb3rs and stop thinking for a little while...

Good God, it's 2008 already

2008-01-05T03:55:01Z

How'd that happen?

Listening to the wind howl and the rain slash down (heh), hoping the lights don't go out. Am taking a month off to work intensely on my thesis, hope to defend come Spring. Last paper apparently went well (death and resurrection in SG-1) - lovely thesis chair suggested I tweak it for submission to the grad school journal, and present at the Spring scholarly competition - shocked the tar out of me, but hey, it was a lot of fun to write, so I'm game to go with it. Am currently bouncing like a ping pong ball between:
gender (Judith Butler, mainly)

philosophy (Foucault and Wittgenstein)

literary criticism (specifically scifi, but also storytelling in TV. recs: Reading Television by John Fiske and John Hartley; Quality Popular Television, edited by Mark Jancovich and James Lyons)

cultural studies (mainly tv emphasis. recs: Hop on Pop: the politics and pleasures of popular culture, edited by Jenkins, McPherson and Shattuc; The Wow Climax: tracing the emotional impact of popular culture by Henry Jenkins)

gay history (recs: Queering Teen Culture: All American Boys and Same-Sex Desire in Film and Television by Jeffery Dennis; Prime Time Closet: a history of gays and lesbians on TV by Stephen Tropiano; Gay TV and Straight America by Ron Becker)

fandom (recs: Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet, edited by Hellekson and Busse; The Adoring Audience: fan culture and popular media, edited by Lisa Lewis, Fan Cultures by Matt Hill, Theorizing Fandom: Fans, subculture and identity edited by Harris and Alexander)

and cybercommunity (recs: Virtual Culture: identity and communication in cybersociety edited by Steven Jones; Life on the Screen: identity in the age of the internet by Sherry Turkle; The World Wide Web and Contemporary Cultural Theory edited by Herman and Swiss - more for historical analysis since we're into web 2.0 now; Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide by Henry Jenkins, again)

Those are some that I've found most useful so far; have more to check out. Got a ton of journal articles (or at least it feels like it!) to put into the puzzle, but I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Now I just have to buckle down and start writing - funny thing one of my professors said awhile back -- you find yourself doing housework, or anything else, to put off the writing... and I love to write. But there are so many different pieces of the puzzle, and I want them ALL in there, and they won't all fit... Darned good thing I've got such a great thesis committee. Historians, a cultural studies person, a semiologist, a political economist; they'll keep me from running off madly in all directions.

Anyway, babbling done, lights are flickering - hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, and welcome to 2008!!

snicker

2007-11-16T05:47:46Z

while taking a break and trying to find a treat (it's TOUGH to find Thomas slash!) grokked this from somebody (matrixrefugee? i think) and had to share...

Which Dresden Files Character Are You?

Harry Dresden! You're a good man and a good wizard. You've had a lot of problems in your life, but you're making your way in the world, always ready to accept new challenges in order to help your friends whenever they need it. You're truly an inspiring individual. Just cut the pyromania down a bit.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Tried a couple times, because really some questions could go a few different ways (sex is a hobby, right?), and wavered between Harry and Thomas. Surprising no one.

On a happy side note, prospectus is now successfully defended, member on committee exchanged (I have a great committee -- all coming from different angles and giving me the most useful input), and thesis writing is set to begin next month, soon as my current seminar is complete. WooT!

Someday when my brain can switch between research and smut again, I'm going to write that Thomas/Ardeth Dresden/Mummy crossover... the brain boggles at the pretty.

With sorrow,

2007-06-14T18:41:37Z

respect, and great affection, I say goodbye to my friend, Lily. She was the glue that kept the group together. I will remember her full laugh that made her eyes sparkle, her funny cat stories, her Guy Fawkes parties, her Pros obsession, her ready affection. I will miss my friend.

brenantrim @ 2007-06-11T08:35:00

2007-06-11T15:37:39Z

grokked from tenaya

Which Stargate Atlantis character are you most like? Your Result: Col. John Sheppard Spunky, witty, brave, and surprisingly intelligent--these are all adjectives that describe John Sheppard. By being simmilar in personality to him, it means that you can do pretty much anything you set your mind to. You love adventure, na dyou know how to make people laugh.
Dr. Rodney McKay
Ronan Dex
Teyla Emmagen
Dr. Elizabeth Weir
Dr. Radek Zelenka
Dr. Carson Beckett
Which Stargate Atlantis character are you most like? Take More Quizzes

Lordy, I'm a slash pair all in my ownself! <snerf> And Carson's my favorite character... guess opposites are attractive after all...

brenantrim @ 2007-06-08T22:11:00

2007-06-09T05:32:14Z

Five things you never want to hear from your endodontist, as little wisps of smoke are drifting up from your mouth:

"... filling's pressing against the live nerve..."

"... lot of dead tissue irritating the live tissue..."

"That root's bleeding a lot! Still!"

"... severe inflammation..."

"Wow, these are really deep roots!"

All this while working on the very last molar in my jaw, which is starting to cramp from being held open so wide for so long with two hands and four instruments crammed into it... Then to tell me (quite cheerfully) that it was no wonder it throbbed so much, especially when I lay down, since there was a 'lot of bleeding inside the tooth' and he expected I'd been in 'severe pain' for awhile with it. Given that I nearly passed out just from the preliminary exam, when I got up to go from the X-ray chair to the Drilling chair (scaring the crap out of his nurse), this shouldn't have been a surprise. That cold stuff they use to see if you have a bad root is N*A*S*T*Y!

Now, blessedly pain free (although really, the four shots of jaw-numbing cocktail he jabbed me with helped right away with that - and man, are those big needles), scrips for pain and anti-inflammatory meds filled and dutifully taken, jaw feeling like I've been socked but with no more need to strap an ice pack to my face in order to try to sleep, I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY that I have dental insurance and a bloody good endodontist.

Even if I wish he would stop muttering scary things under his breath whilst trying to dislocate my jaw... er, do my root canal.

Next week, I get to go back and see if the molar next to it (root canal done in 1986) will have to have its crown pried off and the root canal redone. Lovely. They had to re-do the X rays four times to get this one pictured (so far back in the corner of my jaw I gagged every - damned - time). So glad I'm not working or writing this weekend. I plan to stay drugged all the way through it; that will take care of the inflammation and the stressed jaw/gums/angry tooth.

On an up note, I passed my candidacy interview, got all the profs I wanted on my prelim thesis committee (and the one I really wanted to lead it agreed!) and when my brain is less scrambled I'll begin on my prospectus. They liked my idea too (WOOT!). Entering the home stretch!

falling into bed now.

Hm, that figures...

2007-05-18T14:42:08Z

Home sick yesterday afternoon, woke up in time for season finales. Poor Lex. Yummy Dean. Yeah, I know why I watch...

So, once again Lex is betrayed by his wife -- only this time, instead of trying to murder him, his spouse whom he believes he loves and loves him fakes her own death (the mail truck was a little too convenient passing just as she supposedly got in her SUV) and frames Lex for it (and, of course, Clark and Lionel blame Lex for it). So, once again, Lex takes the fall for someone else's crime. I'm not a fan of men slapping women, but if I'd been Lex, and heard that drivel coming from her mouth ("You don't know how to love!" No, Pink Princess, he just keeps loving the wrong people) I'd've smacked her myself. Given Zod, Clark's constant lies, the threat of invasion exemplified by Zod's AI, Zod's thugs, and the Phantom Zone escapees -- not to mention how many people Clark has killed, batting nary an eyelash -- I don't blame Lex in the least for building an army. He's surrounded by people who betray him (his father, his wife), lie to him (Clark), and use him (the Kents, everybody else who gets close enough to try); his response is justified, not evil. He should tell them all to kiss off and run off to Gotham to hang out with Bats and bond over parent issues.

And Chloe? Sacrificing for Lois? Sweetie, we got the raw end of the deal there. Besides the fact that Chloe is usually smart, funny, sweet and will be missed, while Lois is none of those things, it will be very little time before Lois once again does something incredibly stupid against sound advice and gets herself in trouble, needing rescue -- so not only did Chloe waste her gift on an undeserving snot, but she's set Clark up for a lifetime of Lois-rescuing. Come to think on it, Clark should tell everyone to piss off too, and run off to Gotham with Lex. Maybe Lex and Bats could teach him something. Leaving Metropolis to Hypocritical Oliver and Waste of Space Lois.

Poor Lex. In a way, poor Clark. Poor Chloe. The rest of them can go hang.

Poor Dean! But what a great Dean ep. Sammy's saved, Dean's called on his self-hatred, and the Yellow Eyed Son of a Bitch is dead (yay, Dean and Dad!). Daddy Winchester FINALLY gave Dean a manly hand-clasp of approval, Sammy's pulling his own weight for a change, and Dean rocked. If Sammy taught Dean tolerance (think vampires) then Dean is teaching Sammy about sacrifice (and Dean certainly has practice there). Plus we have next season all set up, with lots of baddies to chase and Sammy's season-long arc to save Dean (nice switch-around!). Ah, good stuff.

SPN quizzy

2007-04-06T15:18:17Z

thanks to jinx37kat for this!

Your Supernatural adventure by mandatora

Username

Sexual Preference

Weapon of choice

You're

In a dark forest

Where you run into

You meet when

you attack him with your evil powers

He says

"What do you want for breakfast?"

He then takes you to

Your parents' place

Where you

play Scrabble

The next morning he

tells you that you look damn sexy in his shirt.

Possibilty of him calling you:

62%

Happy Friday

2007-04-06T14:46:51Z

to all! Any day we all make it to the end of the week in one piece is a good Friday.

Ever see a cat look horrified? It's hilarious. This morning post-shower-and-lotion I absently reached over to pat Danny-cat. She reared back like a scorpion facing a challenge and gave me the most horrified look -- whiskers straight out, ears straight up, lip curled, eyes the size of dinner plates, nose wrinkled... I could practically hear her say, "Mama! You STINK!"

So just for fun I ruffled the top of her head.

Cat-huffing is pretty damned funny, too.

On a side note, between car woes ($3895 for a PART? the warranty expired 2 weeks ago? Are they insane?), homework (couple very interesting seminars this quarter -- history of cold war era tv & film, and critical approaches to tv & film - plus I go up for candidacy in a month - prospectus fun - yeah, I'm insane), work (spring break next week! Yay! Finally time... for the doctor, the plumber, the veterinarian, the housecleaning, the (more) homework, the tax man...) Any friends who were wondering, no, not dead yet, just never home and seldom on-line for fun, only work. Or homework. Or the occasional dip into reading fan fiction at two in the morning when my body's asleep but my brain won't shut up. So, hello!

gack, off to the reference desk now (then setting up the book giveaway table, then sorting gift books, then working on topics pages...) -- bye!

burble

2007-02-13T16:12:26Z

surfacing to say woot! Four more classes (2 quarters) and my thesis to go -- one more year! Unless I decide to go for me PhD in which case someone should probably drug me, tie me up and stick me in a closet until the insanity passes...

On a fannish note, go Jason Isaacs! Not only did he get a positive Roush review for his new BBC America miniseries, but he was identified as Jason Isaacs from Showtime's Brotherhood rather than Jason Isaacs who played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film. Nice to see current projects getting pimped for him!

On a work note, SPring semester started, so between that and my own course work, I'm falling back into the deep end. *burble*
sinking back beneath the surface
Bren

Godspeed, Croc Hunter

2006-09-11T01:45:27Z

Steve Irwin was buried with dignity in a private ceremony yesterday. He changed the way I look at the world. The news reports say that psychologists warn his death will affect children the way the deaths of Princess Diana and John Kennedy affected adults. Well, it affects a lot of adults that way, too.

He was one of a kind. He lived as he died, doing what he loved to do, and he'll be sorely missed.

Have fun with the crocs and other critters up in the big wildlife reserve in the sky, Crikey-dude. You deserve it.

TGiSaturday

2006-09-10T04:05:39Z

Cool news out of Venice: Ben Affleck won the award for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. And all he had to do was play Superman to do it... okay, yeah, so he played a tortured soul who played Superman and didn't want to, and might have been murdered but was ruled a suicide, and 'Hollywoodland' is a mouthfull of a title, and I think if Adrian Brody wasn't in it I'd pay to see it at a movie theatre. Since Brody irritates me just be being on the screen, I'll rent in on DVD so I can FF the bits I don't want to watch. It also has Bob Hoskins in it, playing a bastard, so that's a plus.

In other weird news, Kenneth Branagh set the Magic Flute in World War I and had the Queen of the Night riding around on a tank in his latest adaptation of Shakespeare a la Mozart filtered through Branagh. That one should be fun. For his next mind-bender, he's taking Harold Pinter (Nobel winning writer), Michael Caine (who played the young stud in the original) and Jude Law (as the young stud, 'cause he's pretty AND can act), and remaking 'Sleuth.' Anyone who hasn't seen Sleuth (original version, with Olivier in the role Caine's going to take on now) Go. Rent. Watch. Amazing.

In the category of 'hope they end up at the head table together; the ensuing food fight would be epic': Bush, the Dixie Chicks, and Mike Moore are all at the Toronto Film Festival together. If anything can strain the legendary Canadian polite manners, this may be it. Somebody, bring in the handcuffs and gags! Or at least videotape it!

MFG (bless her pervy heart) led me back to the Prettiest Men on the Planet, the French Rugby Team, Stade Français. Dieux du Stade yearly calendars are pure black and white poetry caught on film; yes, they're naked, and yes, my God, they're gorgeous. Enough so that I navigate the French amazon.com site without knowing a word of French in order to buy them. To see why I drool, go to here or keyword search Dieux du Stade : Calendrier 2006 at http://www.amazon.fr/. Ahhhh. Mercy, me.

In the 'but there are so many better ones, so why, Why, WHY?' category, Pirates 2 (aka the Film that Needed Many Edits) is now third in history for box office take. Disproving the idiom that the middle of a trilogy is the hardest to sell, and proving that folks will pay to see anything that has Depp in eyeliner and Bloom brooding beautifully. I enjoyed the film, but I can't believe it's the third best in history (when best = most people paid to see it). Heck, for my money, it wasn't even the third best this year. Those would be, in order, X-Men 3, An Inconvenient Truth, and The Illusionist. I'd even watch Superman Returns again before I'd see Pirates 2 again. Much as I love the actors, the direction was... muddy to the point of inducing boredom. And if manic silliness is the selling point, Over the Hedge was more satisfying.

SG-1 was good last night. I like Vala. I adore Daniel. I'm glad tPtB are finally admitting just how delightfully gay Danny actually is. I wouldn't fight nearly that hard to disagree with a date with Vala. And the hug at the end? Wonderful. Absolutely platonic. Adorable, I tell ya! (and before anyone who isn't a slasher freaks, unlike some, I actually KNOW there's a difference between the actor and the character. Daniel's delightfully queer. Shanks isn't. So his lady wife doesn't need to kick my ass for saying it. That's why it's called 'a-c-t-i-n-g'). Which segues nicely into...

Why I LOVE Brad Pitt, even as I wonder about his taste in women: Brad says he won't marry Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped. He'll get married 'when everyone can.' Love this man. Soul as beautiful as his body.

Needed that. Bad week at work. Very tired. Feet and head hurt. But cats are healthy, the men are beautiful, Daniel's a dear, Ben's back and Brad's the MAN. So on balance, life is lovely.

In honor of Joyce

2006-09-06T05:57:57Z

Each year on my Mom's birthday, in remembrance, I light a beautiful glowing blue candle, the color of a robin's egg. The flame flickers inside, causing the butterflies painted on the outside to flicker, as if they were floating on a breeze. It was Mom's favorite candle. I put it in the window and I remember.

A close friend told me that as long as we remember our loved ones are never truly gone. So as the candle glows, I write a short piece in memory of Joyce. This year I went through my pictures and had a fantastic evening remembering things that happened years ago, and stories Mom told me. Then I took some of my favorites and wrote those memories down, creating a scrapbook page. If you'd like to see it, check out http://www.bantrim.net/Mom.htm and click on Memories (9/5/06).

I hope you enjoy it. I loved putting it together. This is my candle, honoring an incredible lady.

Love,
Bren

Thank you, Anonymous!

2006-09-03T00:12:37Z

Wow. Some nice person who didn't leave their name gifted me with two months of LJ time. Thank you, whoever you are, kind person! Now I will poke around and see what I can do with that. Very nice of you!