{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Pen, Pencil & Poison","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/","description":"Pen, Pencil & Poison - LiveJournal.com","lastBuildDate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:16:08 GMT","generator":"LiveJournal \/ LiveJournal.com","copyright":"NOINDEX","image":{"url":"https:\/\/l-userpic.livejournal.com\/54388596\/5250702","title":"Pen, Pencil & Poison","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/","width":"100","height":"100"},"item":[{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/68458.html","pubDate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:16:08 GMT","title":"BPAL for sale or swap","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/68458.html","description":"
I can take all kinds of paypal. Covering the fees for cc-paypal would be wonderful ♥
Shipping to Eu $3, everywhere else $4.
If you're interested in swapping here's<\/a> my wishlist BUT I can only swap EU to Eu, due to Italy's overzealous customs.

Bottles

LEs and Unimpables:

Eustephanos (at shoulder) $ 15
Antiqued amber, frankincense, pomegranate, myrrh, rose absolute, and bois de rose.<\/i>

Temple Viper (full, cleanly tested once) $ 17
Temple Viper (oil a bit under 1\/2 label) $10
Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop.<\/i>

Faith (full, cleanly tested once) $ 17
Sugared Violets<\/i>
Hope (full, cleanly tested once) $ 17
Sugared Roses<\/i>

Perchta (only tested once, cleanly.) $ 15
Her scent is a blend of wild musk, snow, and alpine flora: Nigritella lithopolitanica, aconite, crocus, touch-me-not, edelweiss, Iris variegate, and violet.<\/i>

Midnight on the Midway (2\/3 of the label, darkened label, wand cap) $ 12
Sugared incense and night-blooming flowers<\/i>

Zarita (a couple of mm below label) $13
Soft, yet sociopathic: white carnation, iris, orange blossom, and sugared cream.<\/i>

The Pefumed Garden (a bit below the label) $ 10
Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk.<\/i>

The Head of Holofernes (about 1\/5) $ 4
Dried blood, boiled wine, leather, galbanum, onycha, tonka bean, and pomegranate.<\/i>

GC

Marie (minus 1 decant) $10
A blend of sinuous violet and elegant tea rose: the chosen scent of France's Demigoddess of Debauch: Marie Antoinette.<\/i>

Tweedledee (minus 1 decant) $10
Ridiculous! Kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom.<\/i>

The Hesperides (well below label) $6
Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple.<\/i>

IMPS

Some have taped down or slightly stained labels. Ask me if you're worried about it.

Les& Unimpables (oil level vary: at least 75% full) -3 $

Marianne
The Grindhouse
Dionysia
White Chocolate and Sugared Violets
Dark Chocolate and Pepper Smoked Caramel
Fearful Pleasure
Torture Queen (about 50% full, $ 1,5)
Pepper (a bit less than 75%, $2)


Lab Fresh GCs -2 $

Wilde
Tavern of Hell
Florence
Saturnalia (x2)
Violet Ray

GCs (oil level vary: at least 75% full) -1,5 $

Follow Me Boy
Hymn
Sacred Whore of Babylon
Silentium Amoris (a bit less than 75%, $1)
Medea (a bit less than 75%, $1)

Take all GC imps for $ 15.

Freebies, various oil levels, just ask :D

The ecstasy of St. Theresa
Rose Red
Gingerbread Poppet
Violet Ray
Penny Dreadful
Possets: Eve
Possets: The Scent of Angels
Blooddrop: Madame Pompidou
Woobie: Warm & Cozy
Wicked Cosmetics: Goddess
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/68458.html?view=comments#comments","category":"bpal"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/68210.html","pubDate":"Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:14:29 GMT","title":"Bpal Wishlist","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/68210.html","description":"

Italics=most coveted

5 mls:
Snake Charmer<\/i> (I'll take everything: partials, full bottles, imps)
Nocturne (partial preferred)

imps (LEs & Unimpables):

Boomslang
Fairy Market<\/i>
Signor Dildo
Jerusalem Cherry Infused Honey
Yew Berry Infused Honey
Door

Imps (GC):

Arcana
Brusque Violet
Croquet
Dana O'Shee
Dormouse
Embalming Fluid
Frumious Bandersnatch
Kubla Khan
Jabberwocki
Juliet
I Died For Beauty
Le Serpent Qui Danse
Maiden
March Hare
Mouse's Long and Sad Tale
Plunder
Rosalind
Snake Oil<\/i>
Sybaris
The Dormouse
The Raven
The Wings of Azrael
Veil
Verdandi
Yvaine


BPTP
Goblin of Yuletide Present Spray (full, pertials, decants)
Oceans of Love Million of Kisses Bath Oil (full, partials, decants)

<\/a><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/68210.html?view=comments#comments","category":"bpal"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/67254.html","pubDate":"Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:50:24 GMT","title":"Hello and Goodbye","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/67254.html","description":"Tell me before I waltz out of your life
Before turning my back on the past
Forgive my impertinent behavior
But how long do you think this pantomime can last?<\/i>

It's been so long since my last post, it's strange to write here again.

A lot has been happening, both real-life related and internet realted: at first it was university, then the 7th HP book was coming out and I stayed away for fear of being spoiled, then LJ started being a bitch about fandom *again*. I decided to take a step back and see if things were going to calm down a bit, like they did after the first strikethrough.

They didn't.

The simple truth is that at the moment I have more than enough angst in my RL, I don't need to stay around for LJ drama.
I don't need to feel targeted for what I enjoy reading and the pictures I like to drool on. I don't need to fret about whether reccing a fic or a piece of fanart is going to get me TOSsed or not. I don't enjoy being called a pedophile, being told that my fav fandom is basically about child porn (!!) or that we're all a bunch of undesirables.
At the moment I have to juggle my studies, a grandmother that will most likely have to be officially declared insane (come si dir\u00e0 in inglese incapace di intendere e di volere?) in order to force her to accept any kind of help, take her meds etc, a grandfather who's been bedridden for over a year and will be for the rest of his life and a mother who's slowly going crazy trying to deal with the two of them and taking me and my father along for the ride.
I seriously don't need this kind of shit.

So I've decided to move shop, I'm inkaddict<\/a> over at insane journal. I still don't know what to do with my graphics, I'll probably keep them at <\/a>ink_swirls<\/b><\/a><\/span> for now.

I'll still use this LJ to keep up with the f-list, and if I'll manage to get semagic to work I'll post everything that isn't fandom related in both journals. That will teach me not to start working on a rec list when this kind of shit's going around -__-'

Love
K","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/67254.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/66362.html","pubDate":"Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:14:55 GMT","title":"Burble.","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/66362.html","description":"Apparently the aching back and crappy mood were just the beginning, I managed to catch the flue in fucking June. How depressing is that? Other than that I'm spending my days reading fics and doing nothing, so life is good.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/66362.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65939.html","pubDate":"Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:44:49 GMT","title":"Fanmix- Harry Potter (h\/d)- Fools Rush In","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65939.html","description":"

\"\"

Hehe, it's music day!

I rented Marie Antoinette the other day, and fell in love with the soundtrack all over again. One song in particular got struck in my mind: \"Fools Rush In\". I kept thinking how perfect it is for Harry, and how well it fits my view of the whole H\/D...thing. I've been wanting to try my hand at a real fanmix for a while, and this was the perfect excuse :)
15 songs (.mp3 and .m4a), zipped.
With a wallpaper to go with it, 'cause I like the cover art and wanted to use it.
PS If you're interested in a particular song just ask and I'l upload it separatedly.

So open up your heart and let this fool rush in<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65939.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65697.html","pubDate":"Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:33:49 GMT","title":"Soundtracks","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65697.html","description":"Uploading these for a comm and some RL friends, feel free to take ^_^

Marie Antoinette -> Here<\/a>
Blood Diamond -> 1<\/a> 2<\/a>
Everything is Illuminated -> Here<\/a>
Romeo and Juliet (10th anniversry edition) -> Here<\/a>
Shrek 3 -> Here<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65697.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65470.html","pubDate":"Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:43:13 GMT","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65470.html","description":"


I am Oriole Tourmaline Morningcloud<\/b>, the gifted youngest daughter of a gifted fabulously wealthy mixed-blood family. I am short and skinny, with dark blond hair cut short and spiked up with gel and luminous silver-grey eyes, possessing a cheerful personality and a keen mind. I'm a fourth-year Slytherin<\/b>, excelling in Charms and barely scraping by in Herbology. In my spare time, I like to read comic books about Marvin, the Mad Muggle, and when I graduate from Hogwarts, I want to be a journalist for the Daily Prophet.

Who are you<\/b> at Hogwarts?<\/a><\/center><\/div>

o_0 this thing is absolutely terrifying, it's like...the Mary Sue Generator of Doom!","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65470.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65060.html","pubDate":"Mon, 04 Jun 2007 22:50:40 GMT","title":"This Bird Only Sings When She's Unhappy","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65060.html","description":"\"\"

A little tribute to one of my favourite authors -those of you who know her works won't be surprised by my love for this snarky, tragic, intelligent, incredibly modern woman. 
(1893-1967)

FRUSTRATION
<\/strong>If I had a shiny gun,
I could have a world of fun
Speeding bullets through the brains
Of the folk who give me pains;

Or had I some poison gas,
I could make the moments pass
Bumping off a number of
People whom I do not love

<\/font>But I have no lethal weapon-
Thus does Fate our pleasure step on!
So they still are quick and well
Who should be, by rights, in hell.<\/font>

A VERY SHORT SONG<\/font><\/strong>
Once, when I was young and true,
Someone left me sad-
Broke my brittle heart in two;
And that is very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,
Love is but a curse.
Once there was a heart I broke;
And that, I think, is worse

<\/font>BRIC-a-BRAC
<\/strong>Little things that no one needs --
Little things to joke about --
Little landscapes, done in beads.
Little morals, woven out,
Little wreaths of gilded grass,
Little brigs of whittled oak
Bottled painfully in glass;
These are made by lonely folk.

Lonely folk have lines of days
Long and faltering and thin;
Therefore -- little wax bouquets,
Prayers cut upon a pin,
Little maps of pinkish lands,
Little charts of curly seas,
Little plats of linen strands,
Little verses, such as these.

<\/font>COMMENT
<\/strong>Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania.

<\/font>DILEMMA
<\/strong>If I were mild, and I were sweet,
And laid my heart before your feet,
And took my dearest thoughts to you,
And hailed your easy lies as true;
Were I to murmur \"Yes,\" and then
\"How true, my dear,\" and \"Yes,\" again,
And wear my eyes discreetly down,
And tremble whitely at your frown,
And keep my words unquestioning
My love, you'd run like anything!

Should I be frail, and I be mad,
And share my heart with every lad,
But beat my head against the floor
What times you wandered past my door;
Were I to doubt, and I to sneer,
And shriek \"Farewell!\" and still be here,
And break your joy, and quench your trust-
I should not see you for the dust! 

<\/font>EXPERIENCE
<\/strong>Some men break your heart in two,
Some men fawn and flatter,
Some men never look at you;
And that cleans up the matter. 

<\/font>FROM A LETTER FROM LESBIA
<\/strong>... So, praise the gods, Catullus is away!
And let me tend you this advice, my dear:
Take any lover that you will, or may,
Except a poet. All of them are queer.

It's just the same- a quarrel or a kiss
Is but a tune to play upon his pipe.
He's always hymning that or wailing this;
Myself, I much prefer the business type.

That thing he wrote, the time the sparrow died-
(Oh, most unpleasant- gloomy, tedious words!)
I called it sweet, and made believe I cried;
The stupid fool! I've always hated birds.... 

GENERAL REVIEW OF THE SEX SITUATION<\/strong>
Woman wants monogamy;
Man delights in novelty.
Love is woman's moon and sun;
Man has other forms of fun.
Woman lives but in her lord;
Count to ten, and man is bored.
With this the gist and sum of it,
What earthly good can come of it? 

<\/font>EARTHSIDE
<\/strong>Half across the world from me
Lie the lands I'll never see-
I, whose longing lives and dies
Where a ship has sailed away;
I, that never close my eyes
But to look upon Cathay.

Things I may not know nor tell
Wait, where older waters swell;
Ways that flowered at Sappho's tread,
Winds that sighed in Homer's strings,
Vibrant with the singing dead,
Golden with the dust of wings.

Under deeper skies than mine,
Quiet valleys dip and shine.
Where their tender grasses heal
Ancient scars of trench and tomb
I shall never walk: nor kneel
Where the bones of poets bloom.

If I seek a lovelier part,
Where I travel goes my heart;
Where I stray my thought must go;
With me wanders my desire.
Best to sit and watch the snow,
Turn the lock, and poke the fire.

<\/font>INTERVIW
<\/strong>The ladies men admire, I've heard,
Would shudder at a wicked word.
Their candle gives a single light;
They'd rather stay at home at night.
They do not keep awake till three,
Nor read erotic poetry.
They never sanction the impure,
Nor recognize an overture.
They shrink from powders and from paints ...
So far, I've had no complaints.

<\/font>LULLABY
<\/strong>Sleep, pretty lady, the night is enfolding you;
Drift, and so lightly, on crystalline streams.
Wrapped in its perfumes, the darkness is holding you;
Starlight bespangles the way of your dreams.
Chorus the nightingales, wistfully amorous;
Blessedly quiet, the blare of the day.
All the sweet hours may your visions be glamorous-
Sleep, pretty lady, as long as you may.

Sleep, pretty lady, the night shall be still for you;
Silvered and silent, it watches you rest.
Each little breeze, in its eagerness, will for you
Murmur the melodies ancient and blest.
So in the midnight does happiness capture us;
Morning is dim with another day's tears.
Give yourself sweetly to images rapturous-
Sleep, pretty lady, a couple of years.

Sleep, pretty lady, the world awaits day with you;
Girlish and golden, the slender young moon.
Grant the fond darkness its mystical way with you;
Morning returns to us ever too soon.
Roses unfold, in their loveliness, all for you;
Blossom the lilies for hope of your glance.
When you're awake, all the men go and fall for you-
Sleep, pretty lady, and give me a chance.

<\/font>MEN
<\/strong>They hail you as their morning star
Because you are the way you are.
If you return the sentiment,
They'll try to make you different;
And once they have you, safe and sound,
They want to change you all around.
Your moods and ways they put a curse on;
They'd make of you another person.
They cannot let you go your gait;
They influence and educate.
They'd alter all that they admired.
They make me sick, they make me tired

NEITHER BLOODY NOR BOWED<\/strong>
They say of me, and so they should,
It's doubtful if I come to good.
I see acquaintances and friends
Accumulating dividends,
And making enviable names
In science, art, and parlor games.
But I, despite expert advice,
Keep doing things I think are nice,
And though to good I never come-
Inseparable my nose and thumb!

<\/font>OBSERVATION
<\/strong>If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

PARTIAL COMFORT<\/strong>
Whose love is given over-well
Shall look on Helen's face in hell,
Whilst those whose love is thin and wise
May view John Knox in Paradise

<\/font>RESUME
<\/strong>Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

<\/font>SOCIAL NOTE
<\/strong>Lady, lady, should you meet
One whose ways are all discreet,
One who murmurs that his wife
Is the lodestar of his life,
One who keeps assuring you
That he never was untrue,
Never loved another one . . .
Lady, lady, better run! 

<\/font>TEMPS PERDU
<\/strong>I never may turn the loop of a road
Where sudden, ahead, the sea is Iying,
But my heart drags down with an ancient load-
My heart, that a second before was flying.

I never behold the quivering rain-
And sweeter the rain than a lover to me-
But my heart is wild in my breast with pain;
My heart, that was tapping contentedly.

There's never a rose spreads new at my door
Nor a strange bird crosses the moon at night
But I know I have known its beauty before,
And a terrible sorrow along with the sight.

The look of a laurel tree birthed for May
Or a sycamore bared for a new November
Is as old and as sad as my furtherest day-
What is it, what is it, I almost remember? 

<\/font>UNFORTUNATE COINCIDENCE
<\/strong>By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying -
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying. 

<\/font>VERSE FOR A CERTAIN DOG
<\/strong>Such glorious faith as fills your limpid eyes,
Dear little friend of mine, I never knew.
All-innocent are you, and yet all-wise.
(For Heaven's sake, stop worrying that shoe!)
You look about, and all you see is fair;
This mighty globe was made for you alone.
Of all the thunderous ages, you're the heir.
(Get off the pillow with that dirty bone!)

A skeptic world you face with steady gaze;
High in young pride you hold your noble head,
Gayly you meet the rush of roaring days.
(Must you eat puppy biscuit on the bed?)
Lancelike your courage, gleaming swift and strong,
Yours the white rapture of a winged soul,
Yours is a spirit like a Mayday song.
(God help you, if you break the goldfish bowl!)

\"Whatever is, is good\" - your gracious creed.
You wear your joy of living like a crown.
Love lights your simplest act, your every deed.
(Drop it, I tell you- put that kitten down!)
You are God's kindliest gift of all - a friend.
Your shining loyalty unflecked by doubt,
You ask but leave to follow to the end.
(Couldn't you wait until I took you out?) 

<\/font>WAIL
<\/strong>Love has gone a-rocketing.
That is not the worst;
I could do without the thing,
And not be the first.

Joy has gone the way it came.
That is nothing new;
I could get along the same, --
Many people do.

Dig for me the narrow bed,
Now I am bereft.
All my pretty hates are dead,
And what have I left?<\/font>
<\/font><\/div>
<\/font>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65060.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65009.html","pubDate":"Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:07:17 GMT","title":"All's well...","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65009.html","description":"Lj has apologised, journals are being restored, all is well in our little kingdom :)
I'm still a bit freaked out that something like this could happen, but I have to admit it ended far better than I could have hoped.

It's funny, I used to dream of having free time, and now that I do I'm at a loss. I feel drained, and can't seem to do a single useful thing.
And my back aches like a sonofabitch ._.
So to cheer myself up (and since I had a tub of sour cream dangerously close to expiration in the fridge) I made *drumrolls*
Quadruple Chocolate Cake.
Yes, quadruple. I have no shame.


200g plain flour
1\/2 tsp bicarb of soda
50g cocoa
275g caster sugar
175g butter
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used acqua di fiori d'arancio)
80ml sour cream
125ml boiling water
175g chocolate chips

for the syrup:
1 tsp cocoa
125ml water
100g caster sugar
25g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a loaf tin (21 x 11cm and 7.5cm deep).

Put the flour, bicarb, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream into a food processor, and blitzs until it's a smooth, satiny brown batter. Process again while pouring the boiling water slowly into the mixture. Turn off the processor, and stir in the chocolate chips.

(If you're not using a food process, cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs, followed by the dry ingredients, then the sour cream and vanilla, then beat in the water.)

Pour the batter into the loaf tin, and bake for an hour. When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle, and a skewer should come out fairly clean.

Just before the cake comes out of the oven, put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water and sugar into a small saucepan, and boil for five minutes. What you want is a reduced liquid, a syrup.

When you've taken the cake out of the oven, pierce a few times with a skewer, and pour the syrup as evenly as possible over the cake. Let the cake become completely cold, then slip it out of its tin, removing the paper, and place it on your serving plate. Get your chocolate, and slice thin slivers off the block with a heavy knife, until you've got enough to cover the top of the cake. If required, spoon a little extra syrup so that the chocolate will stick to the surface.

And there you have it. Delicious in thick slices with cream or yoghurt.
Nigella's recipe, as usual.
<\/a>

Also, has any of you seen \"Benny and Joon\"? I stumbled upon it a couple of days ago, and since it starred Johnny Depp I gave it a chance. It's funny, well acted and Depp is great as this eccentric crazy guy who models himself after Buster Keaton.
A scene in particular got stuck in my head: Benny looking at his dead goldfish, feeling like crap and wondering how is he going to take care of his mentally ill sister if he can't even keep a fish alive.
Nothing much per se, but it keeps reminding me of a...golfish accident that happened when I was little.
I had managed to keep one of those goldfishes that you win at carnivals alive for almost a year -I was about 7 at the time, and it was something like a record- then one day my mother boiled it. Literally. She messed up while changing the water -_-'

It went something like this:

little wee me: Uh, mom? Why's the fish floating like that? Is she dead?
mom: Don't be ridiculous, it was perfectly fine 2 minutes ago!
lwm: *pokes fish* If you say so. And why's the water so hot?
mom: *finally turns around*...fuck. I think I've boiled the fish. Omg, now you're traumatized, aren't you? You'll need therapy! You'll hate me for the rest of your life! I'm a fish-boiling monster!
lwm: I don't hate you. Do you think we can eat her? Are goldfishes edible?
mom: *stares in horror*

And the worst part is, I didn't even make this up. Needless to say we didn't eat Dindina (the fish), she was buried in th garden.
...sometimes I give myself the creeps.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/65009.html?view=comments#comments","category":"ricette"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/64622.html","pubDate":"Wed, 30 May 2007 11:16:55 GMT","title":"DeleteGate Rant","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/64622.html","description":"FIRST OF ALL: let me make clear that I do *not* in any way shape or form advocate child-abuse, pedophilia, rape and all that jazz. In fact I have some really not nice ideas of what should be done to people who do. Just to be clear.

I had a post already written in my mind on POTC AWE, something along the lines of \"all that this movie deserves is a short drop and a sudden stop\", and then I woke this morning to THIS<\/a> crazyness, and all thoughts of pirates and mistreated commodores flew right out of my head.

Long story short: yesterday a bunch of RPG journals and fiction communities (most of those I know about were HP related, but that's probably because I'm in that fandom) and even a discussion community focusing on Nabokov's Lolita (!!) found themselves deleted or suspended by the LJ abuse team.
People of course went crazy trying to understand what the fuck was happening, and what they've been able to gather is this: based on their interest lists those comms were reported to the abuse team. The incriminating interests included:
child abuse, human sacrifice, kidnapping, killing, murder, paedophiles, paedophilia, rape, and beating people up - from RPG journals that clearly stated that not only were they fictional, but the character was a bad person and they did not want to hear from anyone who felt otherwise.

incest and rape - from a fic comm

shota - this is a name

loli, lolita - from a fashion journal. These are Japanese fashion terms.

List thanks to this post<\/a>
<\/blockquote>

*Keep in mind that these are all third (or fourth or sixth) hand informations. See these<\/a> two<\/a> posts for more info*

Apparently a group called Warriors for Innocence [hxxp:\/\/www.warriorsforinnocence.org\/2007\/05\/devastation-of-child-molestation-and.html hxxp->http, because I'm in no mood to find out if it's true or just paranoia that they're keeping tabs on posts that link to them. Or her. Or whatever] dedicated to track down online predators has been pressuring [hxxp:\/\/www.warriorsforinnocence.org\/2007\/05\/livejournal-and-six-apart-its-time-to.html hxxp->http] LJ and Six Apart to suspend\/delete the journal of potential predators.
A noble and worthy cause, right? Right.
*AT LEAST* untill you do your homework first. There are plenty of support communities for rape or child abuse survivors in lj, and obviouly each of them has the terms in their interest. Do they deserve to be targeted too? Of course not. Do fashion communities focusing on the gothic-lolita style deserve to be? Is discussing Nabokov advocating incest? More to the point, is writing FICTIONAL stories on those topics wrong?
Again, of course not.
Nor it is a crime, because, you know, IT'S ALL FICTIONAL.
I used to look at disclaimers on some (non-porn) mangas published in Italy and wonder why on earth they felt the need to put in writing that each character was of age (!) and, more to the point, that their characters were just that, characters, ink on paper, not real people.
Now I know why they did, because people are, generally speaking, ignorant.
Of course the above mentioned group denies to have been involved in reporting any fandom-related community t LJ, but...something's not adding up. Because someone did report these communities -bunches of totally unrelated communities- and of course Lj and Six Apart did the only possible thing to protect themselves and permanently suspended them. Lj has actually been quite good to concerned owners.
Now, I'm not a fan of rape, incest or abuse stories, but I have read some. Mostly they were stories that treated these topics seriously, dealing with consequences and trauma, not stories meant to titillate.
In some fandoms, like HP, most characters are underage, so a lot of fanfiction features underage sex, be it het or slash. Nothing wrong with that in my book, especially since for underage I mean mostly 16\/17. 15-14 is a stretch, make them younger and it's Chan. Chan does bother me, but as long as you warn for it so that I don't stumble into it unaware, I don't have anything against it. Since IT'S NOT REAL.
And in some fandoms incest is a big part of shipping (Supernatural wincest, anyone?). It has never bothered me, not like some Malfoycest stories floating around the HP fandom, because -aloha, two consenting, fictional, not real characters, what's there to be bothered about??

It should be noted that the DeleteGate did bring down some communities actually encouraging pedophilia (hurray! I feel dirty knowing I shared blog space with that scum), you'll find lists in the very first post I linked to. But one has to wonder how much more effective Warrior's for Innocence's efforts could have been had they not:
-advertised their intentions in their blog, thus giving actual predators -who are interested in keeping tabs of that kind of sites, something unsuspectiong Nabokov fans tend not to do- the heads up to purge their interest lists.
-begun a witch hunt on lj, thus pissing off bloggers who, under different circumsatnces, would have been more than glad to see child-molesters' journals shut down, and more than ready to help in their efforts.

I guess this rants boils down to: it is so difficult for people to understand the defference between fiction and fact? And were were their parents when they should have been sitting with them in front of their TV, computer or books explaining why it's ok for Batman to jump from roof to roof killing villains right and left but they should not try it at home?
Just my two cents.
And no, I'm not going to lock this post, or lj-cut it. Sorry if it messes up your friends page.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/64622.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/64322.html","pubDate":"Tue, 29 May 2007 11:32:13 GMT","title":"Shamelessly stolen from hotcoals","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/64322.html","description":"IF YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. You are obviously on my flist, so let me know with whom I'm friends!

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favourite Movie:
5. Favourite Song or Album:
6. Favourite Band\/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and\/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favourite memory of us?
14. What is your favourite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd\/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarky) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best\/favourite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it'll entertain me!)
28. Will you repost this so i can fill it out for you? (it's okay if you don't).","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/64322.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63509.html","pubDate":"Tue, 22 May 2007 13:34:40 GMT","title":"Jazz Mix Vol. 2","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63509.html","description":"

\"\"<\/center>

Since the first mix was quite a success and there were so many songs I love that I couldn't fit into it I bring to you...
All That Jazz..2!

I know a whoopee spot, where the gin is cold, but the piano's hot...<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63509.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63338.html","pubDate":"Mon, 21 May 2007 09:21:57 GMT","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63338.html","description":"Argh Argh Argh.

Sorry for disappearing yet again and leaving a bunch of comments hanging, but my deadline for the thesis is the 25 *points at calendar, crying*.

I'm working like crazy trying to finish it & I'm dead on my feet. I need hugs.

PS Thanks <\/a>oops_pig<\/b><\/a><\/span> for listening to my whine and cheering me up :D

*goes to have her meltdown in the quiet of her room*","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63338.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63195.html","pubDate":"Wed, 16 May 2007 20:03:40 GMT","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63195.html","description":"
<\/td> You scored as wine<\/b>. you are mature and up class, and only like the best of things.

wine<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>83%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

rum<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>67%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

daiquaries<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>54%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

absinthe<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>50%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

beer<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>50%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

whiskey<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>50%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

champagne<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>42%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

vodka<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>29%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

bourbon<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>25%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

midori<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>21%<\/font><\/td><\/tr><\/td><\/tr><\/table>
what alcoholic drink are you (pictures)<\/a>
created with QuizFarm.com<\/a><\/font><\/table>


<\/td> You scored as Strong Egoism<\/b>. Your life is very much guided by the concept of Egoism<\/b>: You work primarily to promote your own interests.



\u201cI swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.\u201d

\u201cI am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows.\u201d

--Ayn Rand



More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page...<\/a>

Strong Egoism<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>85%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Hedonism<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>80%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Existentialism<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>70%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Justice (Fairness)<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>65%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Apathy<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>50%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Utilitarianism<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>45%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Kantianism<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>40%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Nihilism<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>20%<\/font><\/td><\/tr>

Divine Command<\/font><\/p><\/td>

<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/td>0%<\/font><\/td><\/tr><\/td><\/tr><\/table>
What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03)<\/a>
created with QuizFarm.com<\/a><\/font><\/table>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/63195.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62851.html","pubDate":"Mon, 14 May 2007 10:56:04 GMT","title":"The Comicon Report","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62851.html","description":"I went to Torino Comix yesterday, with the usual suspects (Lu&Arm, Simo and Rico)and spent a much needed 4 hours talking about books, mangas, the horror that is Stone's Alexander and most of all *not* thinking about the thesis of doom. Almost.

The Comicon in itself was a bit of a letdown since this year they were holding it with the Fiera del Libro (a book exposition) which of course took up most of the space - trust me <\/a>blueocean80<\/b><\/a><\/span>, you didn't miss anything. At least there were the usual cosplayers, always good for a laugh :p

I did find something I'm very happy about, a collection of poems by R. Kipling illustrated by Hugo Pratt<\/a><\/b> which will be the perfect birthday gift for my father, and with two whole days to spare befeore the birthday! That must be my new record ^.^

The Corto Maltese<\/a> series is the best known work of Pratt<\/a>, an old love of my dad, and it's been one of the first comix I ever read, along with Tex<\/a> (another of dad's favs), Asterix<\/a>, Andy Capp<\/a>, and Mafalda<\/a> (all lovingly collected by my mother).
What can I say? Comics love runs in the family :)

I know I'm incredibly lucky in this respect, my parents have passed down their appreciation for good books and movies without much worries about how old I was or bullshit about not being able to understand or being traumatized. They always let me make my own choices in reading and show-watching matters, explained that what you read in books and see on television *is not real* and should not scare me -nor should I try it at home- and left it at that. They introduced me to some of the books and movies that are still in my top tens, and never once said that I should \"stop buying that crap\" when I started collecting mangas, or reading Anne Rice, or even shonen ai<\/a>.
Lol, I still remember my father reading one of the first shounen ai I bought by accident (our bathroom is like alibrary, and every book left in there is fair game) and saying something like \"I don't like the drawings, but how does it ends? It'a cliffahanger!\" It was Kizuna<\/a>, and I wanted to hug him *a lot*, especially considering how bloody sexually explicit *that* particular homoerotic manga is.
...and then of course there was that time when my mother walked in during the one flippin' lesbian scene in Queer as Folk, and things went pretty much the same way ^\/\/^
Yup, have I told you lately how much I love my parents? That would be a whole lot.

PS Since I refused to leave the comicon witouth some little presents for myself and I'm almost as Nana<\/a> obsessed as Lu I also splurged on this<\/a> strap for my cell phone and this<\/a> strange combination of bracelet and watch. I love them ♥","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62851.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62470.html","pubDate":"Mon, 14 May 2007 09:43:47 GMT","title":"Mary Renault For Simo (and anyone who's interested ;)","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62470.html","description":"Ciao Simo! con un po' di ritardo ma ci sono, con un carico di e-books :) Il formato \u00e8 un semplice .rtf, lo leggi in world.

All right, back to english! I'm uploading some more Mary Renault titles, (the rest is here<\/a> if you're interested, the links should still be working) for a RL friend, I can't believe I just discovered she reads Mary too ^-^ But then she *does* have a pretty fabulous taste in books --like the Eymerich series, by Valerio Evangelisti, which is just mindblowing and features one of the hottest anti-heroes I've ever seen, one of those guys you hate to love, but love all the same. If you haven't read it you should. Like, right now.

The Alexander Trilogy<\/b>

Fire form Heaven: Info<\/a> : Download<\/a>
The Persian Boy: Info<\/a> : Download<\/a>
Funeral games: Info<\/a> : Download<\/a>

The King Must Die:<\/b> Info<\/a> : Download<\/a>

The Bull From the Sea:<\/b> Info<\/a> : Download<\/a>

Enjoy!","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62470.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62435.html","pubDate":"Sat, 12 May 2007 13:27:39 GMT","title":"Blueocean, Alexander and Mother's Day","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62435.html","description":"I met <\/a>blueocean80<\/b><\/a><\/span> yesterday ^.^
I was kind of nervous, you know, never met someone I'd only known through the 'net before, and it wasn't something I would have seen myself doing just a couple of years ago (being kind of paranoid and scared shitless from all the horrible \"Met Her Murderer On The Net\" stories that were going around :p ).

It was nice, and fun, and I felt extremely ridiculous e-mailing her and asking \"How am I going to recognize you??\". Lol.

***

Since I didn't have time to get (nor cook, which is what I usually do) my mother anything for Mother's Day I made her something in PS. It's the thought that counts, right?




<\/a>

It turned out better than I had hoped, I even managed to print it so that it folds neatly into a card, and tied it with a bit of red ribbon. Am proud of myself. Feel like a Very Good Daughter.

***

I uploaded Brokeback Mountain for a friend (the short story). The link is HERE<\/a> if you're interested. It's moving, heartbreaking and beautiful. Go read *now* if you still haven't! Marsh!

***

OmgOmgSqueeAndDoubleSquee!!!

My copy of \"Alexander's Lovers\" by A.M. Chugg has arrived this morning ♥ and it has the biggest juiciest chapter on Hephaistion<\/a> you can imagine.
The poor sod must be one of the most underrated men of all ancient history* so it's nice seeing someone giving him his due. Or at least not trying to soothe macho men everywhere writing that -why no, there was no way those two were lovers, they were just beeing a tad *greek*, you know? And even if they were Hephaistion was just a good-for-nothing manipulative bastard who used Alexander because he wanted power. And to be made a divine hero after his death. See? Not gay at all!-

Uh, would someone please explain to me *why* it is easier to make a man who conquered half of the fucking world<\/a> a blind idiot than bisexual? Or, more accurately, someone who lived centuries befor Christ and whose sexuality was not defined in the same terms as ours? Couldn't they be at least very close friends without someone feeling the need to put bloody disclaim labels EVERYWHERE??
\/end rant

Of course I won't have the time to read it untill I finish the thesis of doom, but I wan't let some minor detail keep me from squeeing. So. SQUEEEE!


*\"Hephaistion who? Oh, you mean Alexander's bitch\". Or even worse- \"Ooohhh, the broody guy with tons of eyeliner played by Jared Leto! *fangirls*\". Not that Jared and his sad, sad baby blues didn't make me want to hug him and kick Alexander (and Oliver Stone) in the shins, but that's beside the point.

EDIT: Just stopped chatting with <\/a>oops_pig<\/b><\/a><\/span> on Lj talk, it works even better than MSN :)) I've missed chatting more than I thought.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62435.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62200.html","pubDate":"Fri, 11 May 2007 08:35:16 GMT","title":"LJ Talk","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62200.html","description":"I just finished installing LJ Talk :D

And I'm meeting <\/a>blueocean80<\/b><\/a><\/span> this afternoon, after I see my prof.

Life is good.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/62200.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61941.html","pubDate":"Thu, 10 May 2007 13:21:04 GMT","title":"The Voicestra","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61941.html","description":"Went to see Bobby McFerrin Yesterday. Laughed all through the show. Suspecting that man of having at least four lungs and eight vocal cords. No way he could play* Blackbird and the Aranjuez Concert just with his voice and not an instrument in sight without at least 4 lungs.
Btw, he's the one that sings don't worry, be happy. Rings a bell?

The last time we should have gone to see him was in 2001, but then 11 september happened and he cancelled, of course. No tragedies this time, thank God.

'M dead on my feet, see you tomorrow.

*Yup, play. I refuse to use the term sing, because believe me, he *plays* with his voice, in every sense of the word.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61941.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61417.html","pubDate":"Tue, 08 May 2007 14:58:57 GMT","title":"And all that jazz...","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61417.html","description":"

Yesterday meme made me want to share some of my favourite jazz song, so here's the mix. Choosing was a bitch, too many good songs, to little space. *Sniff*

All that jazz<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61417.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61123.html","pubDate":"Mon, 07 May 2007 20:03:57 GMT","title":"Good Ol' Interest Meme","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61123.html","description":"Comment and I'll choose 3 of your interests for you to elaborate on in your journal<\/em> 

<\/a>capracotta<\/b><\/a><\/span>  asked me about : camel, jazz and slash.

CAMEL:
I'm a one cigarette kind of <\/font>girl.
I started smoking in my second year of high school, just as my father was quitting. Maybe it was the lack of second hand smoke? Anyway<\/font>  <\/font>Camel was my first brand, and I'm still happily addicted to it. I average a packet a day, and I can't see myself quitting anytime soon.
Oh well, at least I don't drink.
Much.
And don't do drugs.
Almost.

PS Did you know Camels were Hamigway's brand? Or so my english teacher said, while discussing my High-School mini-thesis.  Yup, it's an Italian thing, we have to turn in a paper about a random topic which should connect at least 3 of our subjects, and sit an exam before we graduate high-school. It's a farce, and it sucks. A lot.
My paper was titled \"War through literature: journalists and writers in the spanish civil war\".

JAZZ
<\/font>It's the music that I grew up with, it's the only music that makes me want to dance, it' the one I most love to sing and humm at odd -and usually embarassing-moments.
It's something that I share with my father. It's the reason I started playing the saxophone.
Its lyrics make me laugh 
--If  old hymns you like, if bare limbs you like, if Mae West you like...or me undressed you like--
cry
--love that's fresh and still unspoilt, love that's only slightly soiled, love for sale--
love
--the way you wear your hat, the way you sing off key, the memory of all that, no no they can't take that away from me--

There's a jazz song for every major moment of my life, there are friends I found through it, there are singers and players that have seen me change and grow, faithful and comforting.
And of course Jazz is tied tighly with some of the most notable cultural revolutions of the last century, be they musical, social, racial or literary.
I took a course on American literature in my second year of uni and I still remember with delight the lesson about the beat generation: our professor had invited one of the teacher's fron the Jazz Center (where I was taking my sax lessons) to give a lecture and play for us. There was half of Palazzo Nuovo pressing at our classroom doors, and I had this huge silly grin on my face that just wouldn't go away.

SLASH
Most of my <\/font><\/font>flist knows all about me and my slash obsession. In fact, if you're here there's a good chance you're into slash too.
But since I didn't see anything even remotely fandom<\/a> related in <\/a>capracotta<\/b><\/a><\/span>'s interests It's probably better to start at the beginning, and that would be fanfiction<\/a>. 
Feel free to skip if you already know it all :)

You see, when someone really really loves a show\/book\/band they start obsessing about it. Writing stories with their favourite characters in a vain attempt to get their fix when the show is on break, for example. They develop secondary character, roleplay, rpg, make up alternative universes and try to fill the holes in the plotlines.
And they ship<\/a>, they ship like crazy.
\nOften they ship like rabid fangirls who ought to be put down, to tell you the thruth (see shipwars and fandomwank<\/a>).

\nMost people ship for *the* canon<\/a> couple, the one with whose UST -unresolved sexual tension- the show's been teasing us. You remember Mulder and Scully? That was UST.
\nBut of course there are other ships, in that case some shipped Scully\/Skinner, for example.

\nAnd then there's us, the slashers<\/a>.
\nThe ones who believed Mulder should have jumped Krycek.
\nAnd Harry Potter should just wrap Ginny in a red bow, send her off to Voldemort and marrily shag Draco.\n

\nWhy, you may ask? Do we believe that everyone is gay? Do we *wish* to turn everyone gay?
\nNope.
\nMostly, we do it because it's hot.
\nShallow, I know, but it's the reason tons of lesbian porn are produced every year for a male audience, and no one ever complained.
\nSlash is usually written by women for women, with a few exceptions, and, while a fair share of it *is* little more than porn most stories are not at all about sex.
\nSome of it is funny, some moving, some tragic, some fluffy, some turns out better than the text\/tv show that inspired it, like <\/a>sarahtales<\/b><\/a>

Alexander the Great<\/a> fandom or Queer as Folk<\/a>. Sometimes male characters are just more developed in the shows than the female ones, like in Starsky & Hutch or Star Trek (aka the fandom that started it all).
\nOr the female characters could be developed into giant pains in the ass, like Cameron from Dr. House, or the already mentioned Ginny in Harry Potter.
Sometimes it is curiosity, sometimes the fascination of an idea that's still more or less considered taboo.
\nMe? I'm in it for all of the above.
\nI discovered it through mangas, when Kappa Edizioni started talking of publishing shonen ai<\/a> titles in Italy, was curious, got on the internet, was hooked. Thus I discovered LJ, made friends with fellow slashers and improved my english dramatically in my quest to read even more fics.

\n\nAnd she lived happily everafter with her slash addiction.<\/font><\/font><\/font>","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/61123.html?view=comments#comments","category":"meme"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60760.html","pubDate":"Sun, 06 May 2007 09:16:43 GMT","title":"Lemon Cupcakes","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60760.html","description":"Yesterday was a good day. I needed to relax, unwind and just talk bullshit for a while and A&L were there to help, which was even better. Thay stayed for lunch, and the afternoon passed so quickly I'm still wondering where the hours went. I've been missing them.
Anyway, the point of this post is not to be maudling and all sing Auld Lang Syne togheter, but to share a great recipe I discovered :)
Yesterday I made a batch of the infamous chocolate-cherry muffins<\/a>, and a batch of lemon fairy cakes, a modified version of Nigella's recipe. They were a hit, quick to make and when all is done you're left with just a couple of things to wash, which is even better.
Give it a try!


LEMON FAIRY CAKES<\/b>

.125g unsalted butter, softened
.125g caster sugar
.2 large eggs
.125g self-raising flour
.half teaspoon vanilla extract
(better yet, acqua di fiori d'arancio)
.2 tablespoons milk
.2 lemons, zest.
.1 1\/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
For frosting
.1 third of softened butter
.2 thirds of cream cheese,(philadelphia or similar)
.caster sugar
.lemon juice
.candied orange peels for decoration

.12-bun muffin tin lined with 12 muffin papers


Preheat the oven to 180\u00baC\/gas mark 6.

Put all the ingredients except for the milk and lemon joice in the processor and then blitz till smooth. Add first the lemon and then the milk, pulsing to make for a soft, dropping consistency.
I know it looks as if you'll never make this scant mixture fit 12 bun cases, but you will, so just spoon and scrape the stuff in, trying to fill each case equally.

Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fairy cakes are cooked and golden on top.
Let them cool.

Stir the chees and butter with a wooden spoon till soft and smooth, add abut a teaspoon of lemon juice and the sugar, not too much since the cakes are pretty sweet on their own. The frosting should be a bit more sour than sweet. Spread on the cakes, top with orange peels.

NB:
The original recipe used royal icing, which looks much better but it's far too sweet and hard to work well with these spongy, already quite sweet cakes. I wanted a softer icing, with a slightly sour taste to balance out the sweetness. It worked quite well ^_^

Makes 12

Original Recipe from Nigella.com<\/a>.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60760.html?view=comments#comments","category":"ricette"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60611.html","pubDate":"Thu, 03 May 2007 16:30:48 GMT","title":"Jane Austen Love","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60611.html","description":"Again, uploaded for a community, sharing with the flist. Completely legal, btw, no copyrights on Jane's works, ask Project Gutenberg<\/a> ^__^

First some info on dear snarky Jane: here<\/a>

And now the goodies! All .txt

Northanger Abbey<\/a>
INFO<\/a>
COVER<\/a>
-----
Persuasion<\/a>
INFO<\/a>
COVER<\/a>
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Emma<\/a>
INFO<\/a>
COVER<\/a>
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Mansfield Park<\/a>
INFO<\/a>
COVER<\/a>
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Pride and Prejudice<\/a>
INFO<\/a>
COVER<\/a>
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Sense and Sensibility<\/a>
INFO<\/a>
COVER<\/a>

And here's something interesting if, like me, you love the concept of e-books but find spending hours reading a .txt or .html file slightly depressing: yBook<\/a>, the paperback emulator! It's a nice free program, pretty easy to use and for now it seems to be working quite well.

Developer's description:

I wrote this ebook reading software to provide a 'paper book' experience on the computer screen: For a start, you get two pages side-by-side instead of just one page in the middle of the screen. (Although I have just added a single-page mode which should suit tablet PCs in portrait mode) Next, the pages turn when you click them, just like a real book. Finally, you can also select a textured background to make the pages look like real paper. yBook will read html files, text files, rtf files and pdb\/prc files (Palm document format).<\/blockquote>

Suggestion: a right-click will give you some options for settings and navigation that aren't shown in the menu.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60611.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60356.html","pubDate":"Wed, 02 May 2007 17:39:05 GMT","title":"Today I bought myself a gift :)","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60356.html","description":"It was raining, and I was feeling down, and I just couldn't help myself, I swear!

...and it's useful, to spaek multiple languages is important today!
*grins sheepishly*

Anyway, a copy of Japanese in MangaLand<\/a> is now in my possession, and after about 5 years of blabbing about it I may finally learn to say \"Got Yaoi?\" in Japanese. Whoopy!

AND I paid it less than the Amazon price, which in itself is a Miracle since usually books and music are more expansive here in Italy than in the States ^__^

The black emptiness of my wallet won't keep me from squeeing at my wonderful find: a japanese self-study book based on *doublesquee* mangas!
The 30 lessons look clear and to the point, each of them divided in a part of theory, one of manga-based examples, one of vocabulary and one of exercises.
A plus is that you actually learn to speak (or at least read and write) current Japanese, not the strange languages they often teach you in classes, where every englishman seems to talk like Shakespeare and every Italian like Leopardi.
I'm afraid I'll need some other form of help with the 2000 commonly used Kanji (chinese ideograms from the 2\/6 century regularly used in Japanese) which you have to learn by heart and which are, sadly but understandably, not all listed in the book. Can't wait to graduate to the 2 volume! *bounces happily up and down*

Wish me luck, people!","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60356.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60129.html","pubDate":"Tue, 01 May 2007 10:44:56 GMT","title":"Goodbye to Berlin","author":"inkaddict","link":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60129.html","description":"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.<\/b>

I've finally finished reading Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, and I'm completely disappointed. You know the saying \"don't judge a book by its movie\"? Well, in this case the opposite is true. One of Isherwood's short stories inspired Cabret<\/a>.

Now, before I go on you should know that Cabaret is one of the movies which most influenced my life. Just saying that it was directed by the ever-cynical Bob Fosse, won 8 oscars and had an incredible cast -Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Gray- should be enough to make it worth watching but Cabaret is much more than the sum of its part. It is one of those lucky masterpieces where everything falls in place, the acting, the script, the colors, the songs, the mood.

The story is quite simple in itself: young batty girl with uncaring father and a tendency to belive her own lies (Sally) makes a living singing at the KitKat club, a 4rth rate cabaret in Berlin around 1931, while fancying herself a femme fatale and dreaming big dreams of stardoom. Enter brian -young, naive, sexually cunfused english student who's charmed by her eccentricities and here's our love story. The ups and down are underlined by the musical numbers -no silly \"and then everyone burst into song\" for Fosse, everything happens on the KitKat's stage: dark, decadent and slighltly repulsive. Add Very-Arian-Baron-With-Lots-of-Money (Max), betrayal, a baby, the nazis, a couple of angsty, lovestruck jews and an abortion and you've pretty much summed it up.

What you cannot describe so simply is the mood of the movie, the love and empathy for each character, the chilling casuality through which the raising of the Nazis is seen, the incredible modern way in which this musical almost 35 years old deals with themes like abortion, homosexuality, willing loss of freedom to deranged extremists who have the only attraction of offering purpouse to a country that was poor, desperate and adrift. Sounds familiar?

It also contains what are probaly my favourite dialogue lines ever:

Brian: Screw maximilian!
Sally: I do.
Brain, laughing: So do I.

I remember seeing it for the first time when I was about 13, after my mother finally managed to find a copy at a local library.
Can you imagine the effect of these lines on a confused teen who was starting to realize she found breasts as exciting as pecs? Knowing that her parents obviously thought it was ok, just a thing of life like anything else? Seeing the bisexual character for once portrayed as the innocent, honorable, healthy one while the het girl was a money chasing, emotionally unstable tramp?
A while ago someone on the flist said she liked the no-fuss casual way I talked about my sexuality. For that I have this film -and my parents obviously, to thank.

Well, very little of this can be found in Isherwood's book, gay literature milestone that it is considered. Sally is there, in essence, and it sets the tone for Fosse's ironic, distant look on the political climate and the \"divinely decadent\" Berlin lifestyle, but little else is there.
No Max, not in any way that counts except for being drained of his money, no love story...a whole lot of none. The 2 gay characters we meet, in another short story, are respectively a neurotic, and more than slightly pathetic, englishman and an equally pathetic, vain, annoying, ignorant, amoral german teen. Who, by the way, is not even *that* gay, he's mostly a beautiful idiot who turns tricks for money -male and females alike.
While the film *had a reason* for everything it showed Isherwood's stories soon turn into a collection of improbable, histerical characters. What inspires fascinated revulsion onscreen just annoys me on the page. It feels as if Isherwood shared Sally's love for gratuit shocking statements, and I've never beeen particularly fond of that attitude, thank you very much.

Now, I realize that just the existence of homosexual characters that are not simply perverted monserts but people with which we are allowed to sypathize makes this a revolutionary book, having been written in 1939. Great. Good for him.
Trouble is, while I may be interested in a book for its groundbreaking role in gay culture, I surely wont reread it anytme soon.
*cuddles her copy of Cabaret protectively*

<\/a>

EDIT: All right, I realize I may have been slightly harsher than necessary. Whitout having seen the movie first the book may not have seemed so worthless. Not my fault it can't withstand the competition.","comments":"https:\/\/inkaddict.livejournal.com\/60129.html?view=comments#comments"}]}}