Because, honestly, I don't care. So nyeh.

Dear Brain,

Listen, today I told you we were going to do ALL THE THINGS. Please focus and stop getting distracted, OK? We've got work to do!

Love,
Me

Edited to add: GIP

I think $36 for a hotel room the night before a 9:15 a.m. flight is worth it, don't you? (Consider it's an almost two-hour drive to get to the airport, plus check-in...) That's the difference between a hotel and paying for parking.

Plans are coming together. So far it's EPCOT on Friday to meet up with jsciv and hopefully ashoemaker and cplpunishment, specifically to see IllumiNations. Saturday and Sunday will be Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios (not sure which will be which yet), with possibly dinner Saturday night at California Grill, and Monday will be the Magic Kingdom so I can become a pirate, thanks to my friend Ken. I'm sure there will be video...

Also, GIP. :)

It's a still of Steve Ward from Tough Love reacting to a particularly screwed up woman. I'd been meaning to do this one for a while, because I think it's suitable for any of my WTF entries. I do miss that show, although You're Cut Off is working for the moment. :)

Now that I have been appointed High Supreme Overlord¹ of all of the LJ communities I maintain, I shall now run MAD WITH POWER and delete them all, ruining all your lives and leaving everyone butthurt in my wake. PH3AR ME.

Er, actually, no. Stop panicking, people. Really.

First of all, if ownership is going to default to someone, it SHOULD default to the person who founded the community. That just makes sense. If I start a community, get some people to help me, and they then have the ability to kick me out and take over, that's pretty messed up (and I've seen it happen). If I start it, I should have control over it, including the ultimate right to delete it (and, really, if I haven't done it up to this point, I'm not going to, so calm down.) And if I leave a community and others are running it in my absence, then it's time for me to let it go (or at the very least promise I won't interfere with the day to day operations of the community until such time as it gets too bothersome to even have to appoint/delete new maintainers, at which time I *know* it's time for me to give it up).

Second of all, day to day, nothing's changed - if I'm there maintaining and moderating, then I'm still going to do it, and if I'm not, I'm not going to suddenly return and go mad with power, kick everyone out, and nuke the place (which some have suggested is going to happen to their communities - WTF?). You guys just keep on doing what you're doing - nothing's changed.

Third of all, the power to delete the community or promote/remove other maintainers hasn't changed - every maintainer had the ability to do this before, but now just one person does, and that one person has *always* had those powers. If you thought they were going to do it before and have had a problem with it, why did you leave them as a maintainer? All this means is that instead of that power being in the hands of many (which, to me, seems more of a potential problem then one person having that power), it'll be where it belongs - with the person who founded the community.

Fourthly, LJ is willing to work with you to fix problems. If your owner is AWOL, they either won't give ownership to them, or they'll work with you to give it to the right person. If the founder is still active and won't give up ownership to you, well tough beans - they're the ones that let you be a maintainer in the first place, so they should have the right to hire or fire you as they see fit. LJ needed a blanket tech fix and they had to do it retroactively (i.e., coming up with some kind of criteria for the software to do this across the board), so yes, there will be problems, but once they're fixed, things will be much better going forward.

All the butthurt "wah wah wah I've devoted my LIFE to this community and now it's being taken away from me wah wah wah" is just ridiculous. You're still a maintainer, you just don't have the power to flip the switch anymore. Cry moar - that should always go to the person who founded it. Doesn't that make sense? Am I wrong here?

And all the people coming up with either specific hypotheticals or such laser-focussed obscure situations that only pertain to them are being beyond reactionary. Yes, you have a special case that doesn't fit the rules. Good for you. So work with LJ and they'll help you out. In general, they're a good bunch of volunteers. And if things still don't swing the way you think they should? Go start your own community. (I wonder how much they'll argue that the maintainers they appoint should also have the same abilities as they do once they do?)

Anyway, a whole lot of tempest in a tiny, tiny teacup.

Edited to add: From the FAQ: "Maintainers cannot remove other maintainers, nor can they delete or rename the community. These abilities are reserved for the community owner." So maintainers can STILL ADD NEW MAINTAINERS. Even less has changed than I thought. Now that this is all coming out, the complaining is now "but if someone gets the title of owner it makes me feel UNLOVED" and similar such nonsense. WHATEVS. Move on.

Edited further to add: GIP, inspired by all this.

¹And by "High Supreme Overlord," I mean "owner."



P.S. Thanks to whoever sent me the lemur! :D

Things I Should Not Have Bought But Did:

A HUGE "SUPER mix" bag of Halloween candy, including Kit Kats, Heath bars, Milk Duds, Rolos, and Resse's Pieces. The Pieces will be donated to the community candy dish downstairs, but the rest are for MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and MEEEEEEEEEEEEE only (we'll be away over Halloween weekend, and we don't get any kids anyway, so it's more - in fact, ALL - for MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE).

Also, GIP.

DONE.

Also, GIP.

It's about time I made an icon of the Whatnot Q made of me for Christmas. Maybe this should be my new default icon? I really should make another video, too...

Irish, smirish...

I'm Scottish!

GIP as well. BASTARDS!

What would Miss Manners do?

Ganked from brak666:

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For when I'm feeling slashy. :P

I've always wanted an icon of Igor from Dork Tower uttering one of his catchphrases, which is exactly how I feel when I see something I so must desperately have. Hee!

I pledged money to Obama/Biden today, and am introducing a new icon to boot. :)

Just in case anyone was wondering where I stood on the issues. :)

Two more pieces of artwork I got at Pennsic. The first was a commission from a friend of akirashima's, a young budding artist (and very sweet girl) named Amy, who was taking commissions, and after I saw what she'd done for Derek and Lucien I liked it so I figured I'd do my part to support the arts:

( No worries - SFWCollapse )

The second was when I discovered Tobias was a budding artist himself and asked him to draw me something. What I got was a reenactment of me and Quincy at the San Diego Zoo when I discovered why I was the king of the white faced whistling ducks (ask if you want the whole story):

( SFW and funny, tooCollapse )

Plus, you know, GIP. Finally found a winged man graphic I liked for an icon (not that I don't have a ton of winged men pieces to choose from these days). Still need to come up with an art biz icon.

Stay tuned - I bought two more prints that should be arriving by mail soon!

Edited to add: Some of the replies are NSFW. Just so's ya know.

With thanks to the late great Liberace.

trevcuteboy inspired me to make my latest icon, posted herewith. It's the Fool from the Aquarian tarot deck, the first and only deck I own, and have owned for about 20 years now. I've always loved the artwork, and I've always gotten a kick out of tarot in general. The Fool, particularly, relates to me, for a few reasons, not the least of which is the description of the card (from aeclectic.net):

With all his worldly possessions in one small pack, the Fool travels he knows not where. So filled with visions and daydreams is he, that he doesn't see the cliff he is likely to fall over...

At #0, the Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

The Fool... almost always stands for the Querent alone, no one else. In standing for the Querent, the Fool represents a time of newness, a time when life has been "re-started" as it were. The person feels that they are back at Zero, whether that be in romantic affairs, or career, at their job or intellectual persuits. Far from being sad or frustrating, the Querent feels remarkably *free*, light hearted and refreshed, as if being given a second chance. They feel young and energized.

In addition, they likely have no idea where they're going or what they're going to do. But that doesn't matter. For the Fool, the most important thing is to just go out and enjoy the world. To see what there is to see and delight in all of it.

Unfortunately, in this childlike state the person is likely to be overly optimistic or naive. A Fool can be a Fool. This is the card likely to turn up when a Querent is thinking of investing his money in a new, "sure fire" business. Or when the Querent is sure that it's "love this time!" Like the Fool, they're so busy daydreaming of what might be that they're ignoring what is. They're about to fall right off a cliff. Time for them to listen to that watchful little dog, which might be a concerned friend, a wise tarot reader, or just their instincts.

As a card, the Fool ultimately stands for a new start. When it turns up the Querent might be about to make a move, not just to a new home, but new job, new life. There's more than just change, renewal, and a brand new beginning in the Fool, there's also movement, a fresh, exciting new time.

All of which describes a lot of turning points I recognized in my life (both at the time and in hindsight), and a lot of how I view life (for better or for worse) and always have.

The biggest significance, though, is that fact that the Fool has shown up in every single spread I've ever had read for me, usually inverted. I've only had less than a dozen readings because of this - in a way it totally freaks me out that it keeps cropping up, and in another I don't want to break the streak, as I really identify with him. (Of course others have said that the fact that he keeps coming back shows I'm in a rut, but I disagree - it seems to me he's telling me I'm on the right track and always have been.)

So there he is. I'll likely use him for deeper musings, or when I'm feeling like a fool. :)

drewan pointed to this entry about a newly adopted kitten by drood that, shall we say, gave me paws:

God, I’d completely forgotten how tiring kittens can be. It’s all bounce bounce bounce attack invisible dust on the floor claw her way up the drapes to the top drop down to the chair below run like crazy chase her tail bounce bounce pounce on the cat toy zip from the living room to the den and back again and hunker down and waggle her behind threateningly at Chloe before ending up back on the sofa.

Yep. It's been a loooooong time since I brought Bart home as a little kitten, but, although it made me laugh, it reminded me how much these two are gonna tear the place up.

Of course, we also just finished watching a little DVD the shelter provided about caring for cats, and the many cats they used made me remember how rewarding having a cat can be. SO KYOOT. Can't wait. :)

I'm going to call the shelter tomorrow to find out when they're headed to the vet's so we know when we're picking them up. I have a long shopping list of things I need to pick up, plus a few leftover items still at Mom's I'll get next weekend (and yes, they're going with us on the trip, which should be a hoot).

P.S. Need a cat icon.

P.P.S. Still taking name suggestions.

I got tagged by rvrjoe775 for the "LJ userpics explanation" meme, so here goes:

( Click me!Collapse )

If you want to play the rules are:

Comment on this post. I will choose seven userpics from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are using them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so others can play along.

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick 7 of your userpics.
2. Make a post (including this meme info) talking about the userpics I chose.
3. Other people can then comment on your post, and then you pick 7 for them, and so on.

• Derek got me to watch Reaper, and dammit, I liked it. Now to find room on the TiVo.
  
  
• LOVE this new job. Love. Really. With little red hearts and "<3"s everywhere.
  
  
• Any of my fannish friends want to help me with a project for my art biz?
  
  
• I can't find my old poll where I asked people to rate the various Doctor Who logos. Harumph. LJ needs a better search tool.
  
  
• I need a (preferably free) program to make animated GIFs.
  
  
• Conjecture is this weekend, and Gaylaxicon is next weekend. My how time flies.
  
  
• Found a faboo website of hot Asian men, including some of my missing files. Yay!

That's it.

Delete! Delete! Delete!

Been posting new icons lately, and wanted to share:

( A glimpse into my psyche...Collapse )

If there are any other ones you want to ask about, feel free and I'll post about them. People's icons fascinate me! :D

First, GIP. Why settle for the lesser evil?

Second, sorry, but I agree with Carter. I mean, how could you not recognize that under Bush's regime our international relations are at an all-time low?

Taking a page from missfran's LJ, I have a meme-type question, and a GIP to boot:

"This is a post for my friends that do not live/come from Philadelphia but have visited. What do you remember most about the city? What was the best bit? What was the worst?

And if you've never visited, what would you like to do if you did?"

:D

Been wanting to make this one for a while. Giving in to the dark side is fun! :P

Because the internets are serious business.

Hee! Was home going through pictures last weekend for my birthday and ran across this very old one:

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For all us grammar whores, I couldn't resist this "Get Fuzzy" strip, so I made it into an icon. Seriously, isn't that the reaction of anyone to whom you recommend using capital letters, proper punctuation and a less one-letter replacements for words than Prince ever did? Granted, the internet isn't always serious business, but come on...

Oh, and I found a handy little site for folks who aren't as adept as others at the graphic making:

http://co.ntagio.us/eljay/iconmaker/

Not only does it help you crop and size any picture, but you can add text and a border, and it uploads it for you, too. Very keen!

Got this one from sistercoyote:

In comments to this post, talk with your icons, and *only* your icons. Post early, post often, and respond to whomever you want. Just leave a dot or a dash in the comment field if LJ tells you you can't post a blank comment.

For when I'm feeling particularly geeky. I may change this when I get a better "my fandom" icon, but I've been wanting something for a while now so this'll do. :)

Have I mentioned how much I hate you all? Most especially magus_nascitur.

You know, for some reason, this one doesn't really seem to work quite the same:

Who else is love?

pseudomonas me scripsit anno 2005

More like "adventdragon is DEATH INCARNATE OH NOES!"

Ganked from nazcr:

Who else is love?

pseudomonas me scripsit anno 2005