I despise conservative Republicans.
I have strong prejudices against fundamentalist or fanatical religious groups...and I'm not overly fond of fanatics of anything else.
My job sucks.
I love Kelly.
I continue to mock myself with the fancy I can get published.
Money? What's that?
I hate my job.
Thank you, that is all."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:19951","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/19951.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=19951"}}],"title":"What would Jesus do?","published":"2002-04-22T10:45:19Z","updated":"2002-04-22T10:45:19Z","content":"I'm laughing and almost crying.
These are the sort of people I talk about when I slam religious folks, these are the ones who give Christians a bad name. I will call them zealots...and I think Jesus said, \"Beware the zealots.\"
I hope I can use that term to separate the bad from the good.
There was a rally here in OC. A victims rights group was staging a protest outside a Church to continue to put pressure on the Church to cast out molesters.
Agree or disagree, these people were in no way insulting the parishoners themselves or accusing them of complicity in the crime.
It was different on the otherside, apparently. As they went in to worship, these zealots shouted obscenities at the protesters.
One man, upon encountering a woman who claims she was molested as a child, was quoted as saying, \"I bet you enjoyed it, didn't you?\"
Isn't it funny how these people (zealots, not good Christians) go to Church, they listen, they chant and they look down their moral noses at everyone else.
And the moment their spiritual purity- their higher moral fiber - is tested, they turn into the mean, hateful, base human beings they claim to not be, that they claim thir religion shields them from becoming?"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:19648","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/19648.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=19648"}}],"title":"Reflecting on \"Panic Room\" \u00e2\u201c spoilers ahead\u00e2\u00a6","published":"2002-04-01T11:17:56Z","updated":"2002-04-01T11:17:56Z","content":"This movie was a bizarre hash of heist flicks and Home Alone. I am really curious what drew Foster and Whittaker to this movie. Like them or hate them, they tend to choose movies for the uniqueness of the script.
This movie was by the numbers start to finish.
You have the Funny Crook, the Good-Guy Crook and the Looney Crook. The Looney kills the Funny to clear the way for the predictable conflict between himself and Good-Guy.
Problems I had with this movie\u00e2\u00a6
When they finally get their neighbor's attention with the flashlight, why do they turn it off? How is it they reasoned their voices could be heard across a street, in a storm and through the guy's window?
When the cops come to her door, she knows<\/i> the crooks cannot hear her. Why does she not explain the situation to them? Having cops nearby seemed like a good idea to me.
(The movie gets points for having one of the cops actually realize something's wrong, but it's still in the red.)
Finally, the sledgehammer\u00e2\u00a6a sledgehammer is a very heavy piece of metal on the end of the stick. If you can lift it and swing it, you create momentum. The impact of that hunk of metal on a human skull will most likely induce death, possibly coma\u00e2\u00a6at least unconsciousness.
How the hell did the guy get up 2 seconds later? How was he able to walk? How was he able to perpetuate his assault?
Oh, and what is it with Directors and their fetish for having large sums of money flying through the air? What possessed Burnham (Good-Guy) to pull the bonds out of his jacket?
Movie gets a C, barely."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:19262","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/19262.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=19262"}}],"title":"catching up","published":"2002-03-22T16:13:01Z","updated":"2002-03-22T16:13:01Z","content":"Well, I've been terribly remiss in writing about something very important that has taken place. I apologize, as I'm sure you're all very curious what I think.
Well, to be honest, \"Devil's Due\" getting a Hall of Fame award is a little shocking.
Why are you all staring at me? You thought I was going to talk about something else?
DD is a story I am glad to be associated with and yet have never felt entirely comfortable around. It was never written for public consumption. Had I known it would be viewed by so many for so long...well, I would have put more than a single weekend into it.
It was written for friends, people whose buttons I know how to push. That a lot of scenes were written purely for shock value is obvious. People have said I went too far, and they were right...they just didn't know I had done so deliberately.
DD was what gave me identity in the community, and notoriety. It put me in a select group of horror writers, which was odd since I've never been a horror writer.
Other works followed, none of which had the same impact. Odd, really, since those were the stories I put real heart into. I wonder if I am a better writer when I'm not trying.
Kelly would (and has) sternly tell me that I don't promote my work...which is valid, but I never promoted DD either.
I start to feel like the Star Trek stars, wanting recognition for other things I've done and resenting the story that has branded me.
But then I remind myself that if I gave people some enjoyment with anything I wrote, that's good enough. DD was the first of its kind. I suppose that is why it stands out.
The rough spot comes when I remember that I was a ghost-writer for half of it. The beginning was mine, but most all of the death and violence were ideas given to me by Kielle.
So, I suppose what I'm saying is that I'm not really connected to the story, especially not after all this time, but I can sit back and admire it for what it is.
It took a small fan-ficdom by storm. It tossed people out of their ruts and made them realize their heroes were vulnerable. It made them cry, it made them angry...it made them sick.
It affected people, which is the highest honor a story can achieve.
So, congratulations on your award, \"Devil's Due.\"
You earned it."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:19111","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/19111.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=19111"}}],"title":"The answer at last!","published":"2002-03-15T15:41:53Z","updated":"2002-03-15T15:41:53Z","content":"This from Mr. Cranky, in is review for \"Resident Evil.\"
\"I don't know for sure, but isn't bringing your infant to a film like 'Resident Evil' proof you're not a fit parent? The theaters should just hire social service workers as ushers so they can transfer these kids into state custody on the spot.\"
I think this law should be enacted.
Oh, and why isn't this day over yet?"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:18807","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/18807.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=18807"}}],"title":"oh dear...","published":"2002-03-14T13:16:50Z","updated":"2002-03-14T13:16:50Z","content":"Why am I looking forward to karaoke? What terrible new dementia has been visited upon me that I actually enjoy this?
I guess the part of me that has grown agitated with myself for falling back on old habits - aka isolating myself - sees this as a good way to force myself to be social.
Not too sure. I do know that having skipped it last week I'm greatly looking forward to Fri night so I can get my fix."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:18654","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/18654.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=18654"}}],"title":"da hell?","published":"2002-03-11T08:37:41Z","updated":"2002-03-11T08:37:41Z","content":"I got nominated for a Creative License???
I haven't written anything in like 3 years. How the Hell did this happen?
Um, er, well...thanks, whoever..."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:18196","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/18196.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=18196"}}],"title":"Dad update","published":"2002-02-27T09:23:58Z","updated":"2002-02-27T09:23:58Z","content":"So, it looks like he really might be dancing with the Reaper this time, and I'm sitting here at work pretending it doesn't bother me, because there's no reason for it to bother me, but he could go at any moment or he might make a miraculous recovery and I don't know which I'd prefer and I don't know if I don't know which I'd prefer because preferring the one I think I prefer makes me a bad person or if I may still have some lingering feelings of guilt over all this and it's making my head hurt trying to figure it all at."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:17725","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/17725.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=17725"}}],"title":"Police, I need to report an attack...","published":"2002-02-14T09:16:42Z","updated":"2002-02-14T09:16:42Z","content":"So I spent most of yesterday in a brain-chemical-imbalanced stupor, hating just about everything about me, my job and especially my writing. I knew it was just the brain soup going bad, but that only made it worse - I dislike the idea of being victim to my body's weaknesses.
Anyway, I was gonna turn in early, rest up and get to work early so I could get home early. I decided to do a thing or two on the book before bed, just poking at it to accentuate my misery. I was in such a funk, I doubted I could even do any transcribing.
And then, astoundingly, I was attacked by my muse. The scene on paper came alive and I found myself typing frantically, adapting what I had written and adding improvements fluidly.
9:30, 9:45...10...
I finally managed to kick her off around 10:30, but even then she kept me up past midnight, whispering in my ear.
I feel so violated. :)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:17209","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/17209.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=17209"}}],"title":"Gots to aks a question","published":"2002-02-13T09:10:46Z","updated":"2002-02-13T09:10:46Z","content":"I am heavily sunk into writing mode, and as I try to evaluate my work realistically, a question keeps plaguing me.
What is good writing?
The answer is different for everybody (darn this individualism anyhow)
So I want to know what it is that makes you guys like a story?"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:16933","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/16933.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=16933"}}],"title":"Still think discrimination against gays is a myth?","published":"2002-02-11T08:51:25Z","updated":"2002-02-11T08:51:25Z","content":"excerpt from article by Anne Rostow
\"A three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals has upheld a criminal sodomy conviction, and a 17-year prison sentence, for a teen-age boy who had consensual oral sex with another boy of nearly 15.
Under Kansas law, heterosexual teens who are under 19 and within four years of each other's age are not prosecuted under the same statutes that govern adult statutory rape. Instead, they are given a lighter sentence under a provision called the \"Romeo and Juliet\" law. That law, however, applies exclusively to heterosexual teens, and it did not cover the case of Matthew Limon.\"
Burn the world. Burn it all."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:16685","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/16685.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=16685"}}],"title":"purely hypothetical","published":"2002-02-08T10:34:15Z","updated":"2002-02-08T10:34:15Z","content":"Since Matt has raised the Boy Scouts issue again, I've been chewing on it a little, and while I still support the Supreme Court decision, a disturbing question came to mind. I thought I'd toss it out there for all you thinkers and see what you come up with.
If the Boy Scouts decided they would no longer admit blacks, would the Government be allowed to intervene by the high court?
I don't mean what they should decide, I mean what you think they would decide. No right or wrong answer, just a brain teaser."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:16455","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/16455.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=16455"}}],"title":"What is wrong with this picture?","published":"2002-02-07T10:51:10Z","updated":"2002-02-07T10:51:10Z","content":"Christine Pelton, high school teacher in Kansas, has just resigned in disgust, and I don\u00e2\u2122t blame her. She caught several of her students cheating on a critical report, one that was worth 50% of their grade.
They plagiarized material off the Internet. Can you imagine anything so half-ass? Cut and paste a few documents and hand it in as your report?
Well, she had warned them that cheating would not be tolerated. So, she flunked them.
Did their parents:
A)ground them into oblivion
B)ask the teacher to accept a redone report, even if it meant having points docked for being late
C)all of the above
D)none of the above
Answer is D. They did what any thin-blooded, whiney American would do. They complained! As anyone knows (and their kids certainly do now) when anything doesn\u00e2\u2122t go your way, throw a hissy fit until someone gives you what you want.
One of the parent\u00e2\u2122s was quoted as saying, \"My daughter did not plagiarize. She just didn\u00e2\u2122t know how much of the research material to rewrite.\"
da Hell?
And the School Board agreed with them<\/i>. Can you believe it? They over-rode Ms. Pelton, usurped her authority and undermined every ounce of respect her students had for her.
The best part is she told the cheaters why she\u00e2\u2122d done it; that in college, such actions might get them expelled so it was best to not get into the habit.
To which one of them replies (according to her) \"Nah, my parents will get me out of that too.\"
?????
What is wrong with people? What ever happened to \u00e2\u0153do the crime, do the time\u00e2? Aren\u00e2\u2122t there supposed<\/i> to be consequences for rule-breakers?
One of her fellow teachers said something along the lines of, \"Think of how much harder this makes it for those who don\u00e2\u2122t cheat, how they have to compete with cheaters to get into college.\" Important words that the freaking school board needs to consider.
This blows. Many of her colleagues are apparently resigning as well over this idiocy. If I were a parent of a student there, I would pull them out so fast it would make the school board\u00e2\u2122s head spin.
Cheaters never prosper...well, sometimes\u00e2\u00a6okay, most of the time...
...in the U.S.A"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:16351","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/16351.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=16351"}}],"title":"Back in play?","published":"2002-02-05T13:44:23Z","updated":"2002-02-05T13:44:23Z","content":"Somewhere around 1991\/1992, a thought struck me: Why not combine my two favorite things into one? A fantasy story about a rock band that gets yanked into another world.
I jotted down a few brief notes; names of characters, their basic personalities (based on numerous stories of real-life musicians) a villain\u00e2\u2122s name and what he was. The idea appealed to me because it allowed me to explore the complex (and oftentimes tragic) lives of musicians in a setting that I am versed in.
I then carefully tucked the notes away, because I was busy with Laersyn\u00e2\u2122s book.
Flash forward to 1995, I had reached a point of utter frustration with Laersyn\u00e2\u2122s story \u00e2\u201c the entire original plot was garbage, I couldn\u00e2\u2122t come up with a better one and I was bored to tears with the thing. Laersyn is very dear to me, though, so I decided to set the book aside before I really began to hate it.
I decided to bring out the \u00e2\u0153Lost Souls\u00e2 and see what kind of story it wanted to be. I decided to do research, as in, actually asking questions of somebody in the know. I hoped a roady for Savatage would be nice enough to entertain my inane queries.
I got Johnny Lee Middleton, the bassist, instead.
I say that less to brag and more to establish one of the most important reasons I\u00e2\u2122ve been obsessed with making this work my finest ever.
I finished the 1st book, all 160,000 words of it, about 2 years later. Within it was some of my finest characterization, my greatest word-smithing, my strongest plot twists.
And after leaving it and coming back to it a few months later, I realized it had fallen way short of my expectations. That was crushing. I was totally burned out. I gave up for a while.
A year later, I started brainstorming story-patches. It was at once harder and easier than any rewrite I\u00e2\u2122d ever attempted. Harder because there was a lot of material that had to be saved, so the basic plot had to remain intact. Easier because there was not as much work to do as there was with the Laersyn rewrite.
I threw myself into it with gusto. I replaced 2 or 3 chapters with incredible material, plotted out a dozen improvements and found ways to trim fat.
Then computer failures hit. I lost all of my rewritten chapters and many of my notes. That sent my shaky confidence and questionable determination into a tail-spin. For months afterward, even looking at the work made me want to cry.
It was 2001 when I had finally shunted off enough stress, made enough time and regained my love of writing enough to make another go. It was my finally accepting I write better by hand than on screen that really boosted my efforts.
Now it seems I\u00e2\u2122m just about done. It\u00e2\u2122s all in notebooks, so I have no idea if I\u00e2\u2122ve created too much and will need to cut it down. I wrote it out of sequence, almost like a dozen short stories, so I don\u00e2\u2122t have any idea how well it will mesh together.
But the scariest thing of all is that finishing it means I\u00e2\u2122ve got to make another push at getting published. Given my lack of success so far, I\u00e2\u2122m extremely uneasy. I always took those rejection letters too hard, and as close as this book is too my heart\u00e2\u00a6well, I see rough waters ahead.
I won\u00e2\u2122t concede the fight without even throwing a punch, though. Who knows? Kelly\u00e2\u2122s brought tons of good luck to my life so far, maybe there\u00e2\u2122s just enough good karma left?"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:16018","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/16018.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=16018"}}],"title":"arrrghh","published":"2002-02-04T15:50:29Z","updated":"2002-02-04T15:50:29Z","content":"Beginning of the month...means 8 hours of solid Excel work, prepping spreadsheets and reports. This has got to be one of the lower planes of hell."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:15774","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/15774.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=15774"}}],"title":"damn it","published":"2002-02-01T10:59:15Z","updated":"2002-02-01T10:59:15Z","content":"For anyone who might not have been reading this journal since the early days, my views on abortion are that I am firmly Pro-life, but that is my choice, and I think everyone has the right to make that choice for themselves. So I am also Pro-choice.
Our bastard of a President, der Fuhrer Bush, is far more clever than I gave him credit for. I don't think he's bright enough to be dangerous himself, but he's bright enough to surround himself with dangerously clever advisors.
He is bent on a quest of weasling every bit of power he can out of his position, and using it to further the ends of those freaking fascists known as conservatives.
Yes, that's what I call them. They want everyone to act like them, think like them, believe like them...to homogenize humanity in their image...and they'll use force of law to do it.
Bush has been subtly shoving his agenda forward, and it has taken an awful turn. He has used his executive authority to classify a fetus as a child from the point of conception.
He just made himself mightier than the Supreme Court.
I'd like to think someone will shoot this down, but my faith in our legislators has been severely tarnished.
\"Oh, but it's just to get women prenatal care. How could you have a problem with that?\"
Clever. Very clever. Anyone who stands in opposition to this will be branded a child-killer, instead of a defendent of the U.S. Constitution.
There are other ways to accomplish this. He could have easily passed a law giving women easy access to prenatal care. He chose to do it this way because he knew the damage it would do to Roe v. Wade.
I wonder what's next. Prayer in schools? Bible study in junior high? Banning the sale of condoms?
Or maybe I just won't be legally allowed to write things like this anymore."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:15370","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/15370.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=15370"}}],"title":"weekend","published":"2002-01-28T14:40:18Z","updated":"2002-01-28T14:40:18Z","content":"Saw 2 very odd but worthwhile films on video - a sort of Ian McKellan fest. \"Apt Pupil\" was just plain disturbing. Though I'll happily stare at Brad Renfro any day, this movie was way too dark for sight-seeing. No one to root for in this little flick.
\"Gods and Monsters\" was lighter, but it had some dark imagery too. While I can stare and Brendan Fraser all day long, the idea of McKellan lusting after him was way too reminiscent of my Dad chasing young women for me to find amusing. Greta performances though.
Oh, and I sang. Like, in front of people. I'll put modesty aside for a moment and say, honestly, I know I can sing. I did a very difficult solo in a show once.
But having developed the habit of hiding in the shadows over the years has made it more challenging to step under a spotlight.
But I did it. I made myself do it. I chose Pearl Jam's \"Black\" because I felt it was the one I could do most reliably.
The only thing that made me nervous was not knowing how well I could take my cues. Kelly kept telling me horror stories of not being able to hear yourself. Oh, and that I wasn't 100% certain of the lyrics. But that was what the prompter was for.
Well, things started badly. The song started with the faded vocals at the beginning of the song, which I was not expecting. I faked that, badly.
Then came the lyrics I knew. At that point, I took command. The nifty thing about being so rigidly in control of your emotions is being able to push aside fear.
At a couple of points, I hit lyrics that didn't match anything I knew. Next time, I'll do better.
But, on the whole, I rocked. There's one note that needs to be held for like 10 seconds. You have to know it's coming so you know when to breathe. That's the magic trick.
I held it. The room went wild.
Go me!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:15211","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/15211.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=15211"}}],"title":"bwahahahahahaa!","published":"2002-01-25T13:15:43Z","updated":"2002-01-25T13:15:43Z","content":"KJ has been assimilated. I now have a total of five players in my game. Two newbies and one sorta newbie. And it's coming together beautifully! I cannot believe how lucky I got on the characters that were created. I have a real cross-section of the society I've created.
I am so excited! The first game went very well...even if it was slow...it was all about getting the group to click. And boy did it. I had a really good time, and I think the others did too.
And, to end the debate, KJ is all that. :)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:14612","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/14612.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=14612"}}],"title":"da hell?","published":"2002-01-24T12:01:42Z","updated":"2002-01-24T12:01:42Z","content":"To show I have no tolerance for irrational people on any side of an issue, even if their on my side, I thought I'd post this. I found this review for \"Emperor's New Groove\" on IMDB, cut and pasted it whole so I can't be accused of taking it out of context.
\"Let's face it people, Disney completely lost it on this one. The movie was very poorly written. The contemporary atmosphere in a historical setting was too much of a rip-off of any time travel film. Some of it's \"jokes\" were so lame I could barf. Then the writers took two shots at gay people. It's people like that I can't stand at all. And this was a family film, so they were trying to preach hate to children. May I ask why? Just because they have a different sexuality than the writers? Think about it sometime. Anywho, the animation wasn't too good either. Disney is supposed to have a reputation for constantly changing the art of animation, yet they have to use the techniques used in the Scooby-Doo shows back in the 80's.\"
Now, I've seen this movie a half-dozen times or so. I adore it. I consider myself more than sympathetic to gay issues. That said.
What the f***?
I can't recall a single gay joke. There was a near-mouth-to-mouth gag...but come on! First of all, their freaking out about it can be interpreted many ways and 2nd...it's a joke about how squicky guys get about the gay thing, not gays themselves.
But I don't even know if that's what this guy was talking about. He claims there were two incidents. I can't even imagine a 2nd.
Like it or hate it, but accusing it of something so false is as absurd as the people who protested Disney did not have enough black voice actors in \"Lion King.\"
I hate people."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:14459","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/14459.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=14459"}}],"title":"Here I shall try to answer the KJ","published":"2002-01-23T16:11:46Z","updated":"2002-01-23T16:11:46Z","content":"Because I fear
![](\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/userinfo_v8.png?v=17080&v=916.1\")
<\/a>skaya<\/b><\/a><\/span>'s wrath if I fail her, and because I have been pondering this of late, I'll respond to her question about how I get into writing mode.I have discovered, very strangely, that I cannot really write at the keyboard. I'm not sure why, but I need a pen in my hand. Maybe it's because I'm tactile and I need to feel the words form...I dunno, but at the keyboard I can barely put a sentence together.
As to the process itself, it either happens or it won't. I can want to write and find nothing within me. I'm getting better at summoning it on command, though. It involves getting comfortable on the couch, Dr. Pepper and possibly chashews.
I spend time away from the paper sketching out scenes in my head, so that when it is time to write, all I need is the first sentence.
Then the magic happens. One word follows another, turning into sentences and paragraphs and, in the end, a story. I try not to overthink it, because down that path leads writer's block.
When I transcribe onto computer, that's the editing process. I can fix the sentences that aren't quite right, add and subtract phrases and polish it until it makes some sort of sense.
Not sure if that's an answer, but without getting mystical, that's the best I can do."},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:laersyn:13993","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/13993.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/laersyn.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=13993"}}],"title":"Ugh...","published":"2002-01-22T11:13:06Z","updated":"2002-01-22T11:13:06Z","content":"There is only one thing worse than waking up with a migraine...and that's waking up knowing you're heading for a migraine and there's nothing you can do about it.
I woke up at 4AM with every muscle in my shoulders and neck tensing up. I tried and tried to readjust, but it wasn't a sleep-position thing, it was a pre-migraine thing.
At this point I have two choices; ignore it and get what sleep I can and deal with the Monster once it has fully coalesced, or take medicine that is so full of caffeine it will force me out of bed and rob me of 2 hrs of sleep I really need.
Well, left with two bad choices, I took the one that would at least leave me rested if miserable. So, here I am, muscles still seized up, head hurting, stomach churning, medicine making me jittery...
But at least I don't use my condition to make excuses. I'm here, at my post."}]}