In case you missed the announcement, Remix/Redux 13 is happening! I'm not sure exactly when, since I'm not running it, but I have been assured that a timeline will appear soonish. It also needs a name, since apparently there can't just be a banner of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus yelling, "Thirteen!" while waving their swords around. (I really should do a Rome rewatch.) So if you have an idea, drop it in the comments of that post.

*

My period arrived yesterday, and unlike last time, where it was two weeks late and barely noticeable, this time it's 9 days early and heavy. WTF? I don't understand how that even works. But if you look at the chart of my cycle for the past 18 months or so, it's just huge zigzags between over 40 or under 21 days, with the occasionally regular 30 day cycle in there just to make things confusing. I, of course, am ready to be done with the whole megillah, but apparently I can't just flip a switch to make that happen. Poor design, body! What the hell!?

Of course, that probably explains why I cried so much this time through Band of Brothers. I'm not saying I don't usually cry, because that'd be a lie, but I cried a lot more than usual this time. But it seemed fitting to rewatch while I was reading about it. Ugh, I don't understand how it took so long for Damian Lewis to become a star after this performance. He's just so fucking amazing in it.

I guess that plan to catch up on Mr. Robot didn't happen. *snerk* It's just less taxing sometimes to watch things I'm already familiar with, even if they're emotionally draining.

*

I'm trying to finish something to post on my birthday - my plans for the day have fallen through due to reasons beyond my control that I can't be mad about (or, well, I can be mad/upset, but not for myself) - so maybe I'll be able to finish this story. I'm excited about the idea of it existing, even if writing it has never proved as fun as I'd hoped. Sigh. Writing is the worst hobby.

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/855388.html. people have commented there.

= Remix 2014 signups are open!

= had another family meeting today, to discuss the disposition of the house once my dad is moved into my sister's, and to clear up some other stuff, so that was productive. It's going to be a busy few weeks, but hopefully it will all get done. Then we went to my sister's for cake, since today is her birthday.

= while we were doing the family meeting and stuff, my brother and I found our grandparents' passports from the 1930s, and a bunch of other old pictures my dad had squirreled away. so cool.

= Mo Ryan on why you should watch Enlisted. I also really like the idea of making a donation to the Wounded Warrior project and having the acknowledgements sent to Kevin Reilly was a way to show support of the show. That way, even if the show doesn't get renewed, something good comes of it.

= I feel like I should have a fifth thing, but I don't. Maybe I will just go to bed early. Ugh, Sunday nights are the worst.

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/648918.html. people have commented there.

» Yesterday my period arrived just before I left work to take my two hour commute to the island. Sigh.

» Today, the underwire in my bra popped and tried to kill me. Sigh.

» REMIX! Looks like signups are opening soon!

» From the AV Club: The Full Boyle: Guys who don’t hear “no” just aren’t funny anymore: The day of the Nice Guy is over by Genevieve Valentine. I really liked this essay, and when I read it yesterday, the comments were still mostly weighted towards non-sucky, though I wouldn't wade into them now.

» The NY Mets and Dylan O'Brien discuss the possibility of him throwing out the first ball at a game sometime this season, since he is a long-suffering Mets fan. amberlynne has already informed me that if this happens, we are going. I am okay with that. I am unfortunately familiar with the existential futility of being a Mets fan.

» I've been looking at reviews of Cap 2, and I have to say, I think most of them - even the reviews that are positive - seem to have missed the ENTIRE EMOTIONAL POINT of the movie, which is ALL STEVE'S BUCKY FEELS. I don't think you need to ship them to get that, but maybe you do.

» I texted this bit of culinary brilliance to my niece and her immediate response was "Genius! Let's do it!" so I will report back when we have tested it out.

» Yesterday at work, we were informed that they'd be paying us for the week we were furloughed last summer. An extra paycheck! \o/ I might complain about NNP sometimes, because I really am kind of underemployed there, but they do try to treat us well.

» Earlier, I cleared out all the books and some clothes in my bedroom here. We're on the way now towards getting my dad moved into my sister's and selling this house, but good lord, there is a lot of stuff to go through. Three less bags of books and one less bag of clothes now though.

» Let's end on a more upbeat note: also from AV Club: Elegance meets feistiness in the Astaire-Rogers musicals by Gwen Ihnat, which is great because it includes clips of the dances she's writing about.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/648664.html. people have commented there.

a. Dear JKR, please stop talking. I don't see how Ron/Hermione is your biggest regret when you killed Sirius with a CURTAIN, didn't actually make Dumbledore gay in the text, and also gave us Remus/Tonks, the most unconvincing romance you wrote, which is really saying something. no love, me.

b. Remix Redux 2014 is a go. Please direct all questions to laurificus on that post, as she's the one in charge now.

c. CAPTAIN AMERICA/WINTER SOLDIER TRAILER TODAY. I AM EXCITE. *flings self into the sun* IS IT APRIL YET?

HOW ABOUT NOW?

d. Also, the game, but since I like both teams, I don't really have a strong rooting interest, I just want the game to be exciting. Since I have an early meeting tomorrow morning, I'm heading home this afternoon, so I'll be on a train for most of the pregame shenanigans, which is probably for the best. And I have a coupon for ordering in, so I am not even going to worry about cooking dinner.

e. meme time:

from a variety of folk on the old flist/dash:

Put a number in the comments and I'll answer accordingly. The mission for those of us who answer the questions, should we accept it, is to stay positive about our writing and ourselves, but to also be fair about our shortcomings.

1. Of the fic you’ve written, of which are you most proud?
2. Favorite tense
3. Favorite POV
4. What are some themes you love writing about?
5. What inspires you to write?
6. Thoughts on critique
7. Create a character on the spot... NOW! yeah, that's not happening. Let's make it, I'll come up with a crossover if you give me two fandoms.
8. Is there a character you love writing for the most? The least? Why?
9. A passage from a WIP
10. What are your strengths in writing?
11. What are your weaknesses in writing?
12. Anything else that you want to know... (otherwise known as Fill in the Blank)

f. Since it just came up on iTunes, I'll throw this out there - someone should do a Bucky/Natasha vid to "She's the One."

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/636781.html. people have commented there.

Ladies and gentlemen, cats and kittens, may I present to you:

Remix/Redux 10: X Marks the Spot

The Archive is open. 215 stories in 126 fandoms from Avatar: The Last Airbender to Young Avengers, and many more in between.

The best way to navigate the collection is via the fandoms tag list; you can also find the remix of your story by using the works list, where you can filter by fandom, pairing, and character. (As far as we can tell, everyone who turned in a story has a story; if you can't find yours, please let us know.)

Read. Love. Send feedback, even though the authors will remain anonymous until next Sunday, April 29th. Speculate on who remixed whom. Thank your remixer for taking the time and effort to remix your story.

Unless you've turned off email notifications to comments, you should receive comments on your remix to your email inbox and your AO3 inbox, which is reachable from the sidebar on your AO3 dashboard.

If you feel the need to reply ASAP to your feedback, please do so anonymously. We went through a lot of work to make this anonymous, and I don't want that blown the first day.

Thanks, guys! I hope you had fun!

Thank you especially to laurificus, who did most of the hard work this year.

Thanks and love to all the pinch hitters, for helping out above and beyond the call of duty. I owe you guys, and I appreciate your willingness to help out more than you can ever know.

As you can see, a number of you are getting more than one remix, because, oh happy day, some of the original remixers came through in the end as well. Be happy. *g* We figured nobody'd mind having more fic to read. *g*

And again, remember to acknowledge your remixer ASAP!

Let us know if there are any glitches or thingies not working right, via email at remixredux [at] gmail [dot] com.

Remix Madness will go live tomorrow evening, sometime after 6 pm EDT, so keep an eye out for that, as well (feel free to keep uploading stories up until that point).

Have fun and thank you all for participating.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/457364.html. people have commented there.

Last night was full of fangirls - first I met up with mousapelli and midnitemaraud_r for dinner and then when that was done, I joined up with a bunch of SPN fangirls over at Veselka. It was a fun night! And it kept my mind off both the Rangers (though I was receiving text updates all evening) and remix. Ugh. My stomach is not happy with me right now.

136 stories are in! I am confident everything will work out! It always does. After the deadline passes tonight, we'll default the people who didn't turn in a story and tomorrow morning there will be a bunch of pinch hits going out, I'm sure, so keep your eyes peeled.

Also, I just posted to remixers_lounge about this, but please make sure that if you have already uploaded your story, that you have also clicked the box that says "Remix Redux 10 assignment [your remixee's name here]" in the "Does this fulfill a challenge assignment box" because otherwise, even if you fill in the collection and the remixee's name under recipient, it doesn't appear as a completed assignment on our assignment management page, so there is the danger that you could get defaulted after the deadline, even if you've already posted. So please check and make sure you've clicked that box.

If you have questions, please contact the mods at [email protected]. (Please don't PM the mods. or comment on this post! We like to keep all the questions and answers in one place if possible.)

I thought tonight's episode of The Good Wife was good, but I probably need to rewatch, since I was preoccupied with remixy stuff.

Anyway, here is today's poem:

I Am Not the Hand
by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

A brunch of Bellinis and crab omelettes is how I love
to wake up in NYC. A peachy buzz in the morning

always stamps out what you don't want to remember.
Dogs in this town always seem a little wigged-out:

all this concrete and barely anywhere to really go.
Their eyes bulge at this travesty. This sharp crunch

of salad smells like water, like rain. A dog can smell
scent particles for up to a year. If I were to show up now,

the dog I once owned with my ex-boyfriend might lick
my hand Hello. But all real trace of me is washed

from that dog's sweet coconut-head. I am not the hand
that first lifted his star-shaped paw for Shake. I am not

the hand pointing my index finger into a gun: Bang-bang
you're dead. And why did I ever teach him that? I couldn't

even imagine him ever taken from us, even begged M
to have the dog stuffed so it could always sit near

my fireplace. M's father buried his beloved farm dog
wrapped in a bag of his very favorite kibble. It seemed

to smile. The bag, I mean. I'm starting to forget. Little things,
like jacks lost down a drain. What tea you like. Your favorite

boots. What was that farm dog's name? I know he had
a purple tongue. When I try to remember these things,

I can feel my tongue hang a little from the corner
of my mouth. Of course: Bang-bang, I'm dead too.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/454986.html. people have commented there.

Holy crap, this has been a day. I was at work by 7:45 am and in a meeting until 11 am. And then I had to relive the meeting by writing the minutes. *claws face off* And then there was all the other work.

And then I came home and did the matching for remix. There were some weird glitches which made it impossible to do before this evening (well, if I hadn't been frantic at work, I could have done it during the day, but that didn't happen), but it's all done now. Thank jebus.

I don't think anybody got the person they had last year, but sometimes it happens in those fandoms where very few people sign up, or when someone keeps signing up with the same fandom as their only eligible choice. *hands* (please direct all questions either to the post on remixers_lounge or to the remix gmail.)

Now comes the writing part. Heh.

*

So KORRA has a release date! April 14! The day before remixes are due! And taxes. Busy weekend!

I am exhausted and I have a board meeting tomorrow. It is time to throw myself into the waiting comfort of my bed.

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/444200.html. people have commented there.

Remix Redux 10: X Marks the Spot!

Signups are open!

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/441484.html. people have commented there.

It's that time of year again! Remix polling time:

your input is requested.

*

I was half-asleep last night while I watched Fringe but ( spoilersCollapse )

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/433034.html. people have commented there.

Ladies and gentlemen, cats and kittens, may I present to you:



The Archive is open. 283 stories in 132 fandoms from Angel to Yami No Matsuei, and many more in between.

The best way to navigate the collection is via the fandoms tag list; you can also find the remix of your story by using the works list, where you can filter by fandom, pairing, and character. (As far as we can tell, everyone who turned in a story has a story; if you can't find yours, please let me know.)

Read. Love. Send feedback, even though the authors will remain anonymous until next Sunday, May 7th. Speculate on who remixed whom. Thank your remixer for taking the time and effort to remix your story.

Unless you've turned off email notifications to comments, you should receive comments on your remix to your email inbox and your AO3 inbox, which is reachable from the sidebar on your AO3 dashboard.

If you feel the need to reply ASAP to your feedback, please do so anonymously. We went through a lot of work to make this anonymous, and I don't want that blown the first day.

Thanks, guys! I hope you had fun!

Thank you especially to laurificus, who did most of the hard work this year, and also to snacky, who held my hand a lot as the process went on, and also did some modding herself.

Thanks and love to all the pinch hitters, for helping out above and beyond the call of duty. I owe you guys, and I appreciate your willingness to help out more than you can ever know.

As you can see, a number of you are getting more than one remix, because, oh happy day, some of the original remixers came through in the end as well. Be happy. *g* We figured nobody'd mind having more fic to read. *g*

And again, remember to acknowledge your remixer ASAP!

Let us know if there are any glitches or thingies not working right, via email at remixredux [at] gmail [dot] com.

Remix Madness will go live tomorrow evening, sometime after 6 pm EDT, so keep an eye out for that, as well (feel free to keep uploading stories up until that point).

Have fun and thank you all for participating.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/318512.html. people have commented there.

Remix Madness 2011: Click here for the details!

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/317084.html. people have commented there.

Assignments have all been sent out!

Any questions about or issues with your assignment should be directed to remixredux @ gmail.com.

If you haven't received an email, you can check your dashboard at AO3 - on the lefthand sidebar, there's a link called "My Assignments," which should have the information. Or you can go to the challenge profile page and click on the "Your Assignment" link in the lefthand sidebar to see it.

Remember, stories are due by 11:59 pm EDT on April 23.

Have fun!

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/300751.html. people have commented there.

Remix Redux 2011: Love Potion No. 9

Signups are open!

What you need to know:

Deadlines and minimums

Date for signups closing: March 19

Date for stories due: April 23

Date archive opens: May 1

Date author names are revealed: May 8

there are some changes this year - most importantly, there will be no extensions - so please read carefully!

( The deetsCollapse )

~*~

This year's qualifying fandoms:
( the listCollapse )

~*~

Please direct all questions to the post in remixers_lounge.

~*~

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/296837.html. people have commented there.

There is still time to convince your friends to comment and tell us what fandoms they're eligible in that aren't on the list for remix! Narnia! Fringe! Castle! Big Bang Theory! Sanctuary! The Losers! Hikaru no Go! Prince of Tennis! Dark Angel! We need to see that there are people who would be eligible in those fandoms who would like to participate, so if a bunch of people comment saying so for a particular fandom, we're more likely to add it.

Go tell your friends!

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/286337.html. people have commented there.

Remix time has come again! In our ninth glorious year! (Huh. Maybe we should call it Remix Redux 9: The Glorious Ninth. I was also thinking about 9 Lives, though right now we're kind of settled on Love Potion No. 9. Still need a banner of some sort, so let me know if you're interested in making one!) I just need to make it to ten and then I'm quitting. *takes deep even breaths*

Anyway. The time has come the mods have said to speak of qualifying fandoms.

We're adding in Glee and Inception and H50 and Sherlock BBC, but we want to know if we should also add Big Bang Theory, Castle, Fringe and/or Narnia.

And if there are fandoms you'd like to see added that list, you need to comment, and more importantly, you need to convince your friends to comment. But only if you actually intend to participate and you actually qualify! (We're happy you'd like to see certain fandoms added, but it doesn't actually help us gauge whether there would be enough people with stories to remix if we get a bunch of people who say, "I don't qualify but I'd love to remix it!" Finding people to remix in a specific fandom is rarely as difficult as finding people who have a selection of stories to be remixed. I feel like I explain this every year, but I'm not sure everybody gets it. To give you a specific example, I would love to remix in Ocean's 11 or Dark Angel! I even qualify in both of those fandoms! But the number of other people who qualify in them who actually sign up is... minimal, so they are not useful as qualifying fandoms, because they don't provide a large pool of matching candidates.)

See, what happens is, a bunch of people get all enthused and "Yes! Add my fandom! We will come to you in droves to play in Remix!" and then three people sign up, two drop out, and we have to find a pinch hitter for the third. It's not optimal, for anybody.

Anyway. If you would and could participate if your fandom were on the list, and you are eligible in that fandom, you should comment, and get other people to comment. Because while there's no hard and fast rule, we need to see some show of enthusiasm for the fandom and also willingness to actually sign up if it gets added.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/284857.html. people have commented there.

Remix reveals just went live, so everyone can edit in their betas' names in, respond to their feedback, and repost their stories.

And now I can claim the three remixes I wrote:

The Things They Carried (The He Ain't Heavy Remix)
Supernatural; Sam/Dean; pg; 2,150 words
Sam keeps finding Dean in unexpected places.
remix of The Things They Carried by lunabee34

Fear as an Aphrodisiac (The Horizontal Mambo Mix)
Supernatural; Dean/Ellen; adult; 2,860 words
It's not fear of rejection that makes Ellen hesitate.
Remix of Fear as an Aphrodisiac by inkandchocolate

So let it out and let it in (The 3x Mega Mix)
Supernatural; Sam and Dean; pg; spoilers through 5.22; 2,300 words
Three times Sam's caught Dean singing.
Remix of So let it out and let it in by ariadnes_string

This is the first year I wrote in only one fandom, and also that I kept all the original titles. And I used the same basic remix technique all three times. Which is a story for when I have more time to blather.

Only one person guessed what I wrote, or at least, only one told me about it, so congratulations to soundingsea for picking up on one of my many obvious tells. *snerk*

I'll be reposting and doing commentary over the next few days, as usual, but I wanted to say that I really am happy with how all three stories turned out, though I am exceptionally amused that once again, my SPN het got more comments than my wincest. Maybe because that wincest was exceptionally gen this time around, which is also kind of hilarious to me.

I'd also like to heap copious thanks and praise on laurificus and angelgazing for all the work they did in dealing with the participants, so I didn't have to. That's the hardest part for me, and they've shouldered it with grace and aplomb. Also, using AO3 made all the backend administrative stuff so much easier, so thanks to the folks at AO3, as well. And thanks to everyone who participated. We couldn't have Remix if nobody wanted to play.

Anyway. I have to go get ready for a family bbq/birthday party (x2! Two nieces with the same birthday!), so later, taters.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/175143.html. people have commented there.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, may I present to you:

Remix...Redux 8: Magic 8 Ball

The Remix...Redux 8 Archive is open. 283 stories in many, many fandoms from American Idol RPF to X-Men, and many more in between.

The best way to navigate the collection is via the fandoms tag list; you can also find the remix of your story by using the works list, where you can filter by fandom, pairing, and character. (As far as I can tell, everyone who turned in a story has a story; if you can't find yours, please let me know.)

Read. Love. Send feedback, even though the authors will remain anonymous until next Sunday, May 30th. Speculate on who remixed whom. Thank your remixer for taking the time and effort to remix your story.

Unless you've turned off email notifications to comments, you should receive comments on your remix to your email inbox and your AO3 inbox, which is reachable from the sidebar on your AO3 dashboard.

If you feel the need to reply ASAP to your feedback, please do so anonymously. We went through a lot of work to make this anonymous, and I don't want that blown the first day.

Thanks, guys! I hope you had fun!

Thank you especially to my fellow mods, who did most of the hard work this year:

laurificus and angelgazing. ♥♥♥♥♥

Thanks and love to all the pinch hitters, for helping out above and beyond the call of duty. I owe you guys, and I appreciate your willingness to help out more than you can ever know. We couldn't do Remix without you. ♥♥♥

As you can see, a number of you are getting more than one remix, because, oh happy day, some of the original remixers came through in the end as well. Be happy. *g* I figured nobody'd mind having more fic to read.

And again, remember to acknowledge your remixer ASAP!

Thanks so much to the Archive of Our Own coders and everyone who was involved in making sure that we had all the things we needed. Remix isn't a gift exchange ficathon, so it has some unusual needs, but the AO3 came through on all of them, every time we asked. ♥♥♥

If there are any glitches or technical thingies not working right, please put in a support ticket at AO3. If your problem is related to the story you received, contact us via email at remixredux [at] gmail [dot] com.

Have fun and thank you all for participating.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/172718.html. people have commented there.

I posted this in remixers_lounge, but perhaps some people didn't see it, so I'm reposting it here:

I know we said that we'd prefer you to post your complete but unbetaed stories tonight if at all possible, and then do your editing during the week, but posting incomplete stories that don't meet the word count to get around missing the deadline isn't kosher. Please don't do it. Because we can see your word counts, even if we can't see your stories. Nobody wants us to go back to moderating submissions, right?

Thanks.

*

What the fuck is WRONG with people posting "stories" that have, like 50 words in them? DON'T DO THAT! EMAIL FOR AN EXTENSION! WE'RE STILL GOING TO COUNT YOU AS DEFAULTING IF YOU HAVEN'T CONTACTED US AND DON'T HAVE A STORY OF AT LEAST 1000 WORDS POSTED TONIGHT.

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/170360.html. people have commented there.

Remix assignments have been sent out! Check out this post for the deets! And please direct all questions there or to the remix gmail.

I didn't say this there, but I will say it here - the ONLY thing we match on is fandom, so please don't write in to tell us you only write slash/het/gen/character B/pairing X because that is absolutely not taken into account by the matching code, which has only fandoms to go on in remix (with the AO3, there are options to match by all those things, but we do not use them). Part of the challenge is that you could get anything within the fandoms you list.

Also, and this is just my opinion, having written something like 30 (33? 34? I lose track) remixes, it can be a lot easier to remix a story written by someone who doesn't see canon the same way you do, because it gives you an obvious way to go. Remember, the point is to write the story as you would have written it, had you had the idea yourself. Your remixee has already written the story as she would have written it (or, maybe not, but it's a done deal now).

Also also, if you're really freaked by the pairing(s), you can always make it gen.

Here endeth the lesson.

***

I don't understand the point of writing a dear remixer letter, except to let the person know if there is fic located in various places not listed in the assignment email, but...

Dear remixer,

I'm sorry. Someone gets stuck with me every year and this year, you drew the short straw. Good luck with that!

xoxo,

me

***

R. and I went to see Date Night tonight and it had a couple of laugh out loud moments, a couple of smaller funny things, but mostly it was Tina Fey and Steve Carell being sort of sweet and Mark Wahlberg being shirtless.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/156639.html. people have commented there.

Important remix schedule change announcement.

Please comment on that post if you have questions.

***

Really good interview with David Simon in this week's New York magazine: Pugnacious D (thanks to alethia for the link):

Why create drama, not documentary?

He writes a long note back. "We know more about what Huey Long represented and the emptiness at the core of American political culture from reading Robert Penn Warren than from contemporary journalistic accounts of Long’s reign. We know more about human pride, purpose, and obsession from Moby-Dick than from any contemporaneous account of the Nantucket whaler that was actually struck and sunk by a whale in the nineteenth-century incident on which Melville based his book. And we know how much of an affront the Spanish Civil War was to the human spirit when we stare at Picasso’s Guernica than when we read a more deliberate, fact-based account. I am not comparing anything I’ve done to any of the above; please, please do not presume that because I cite someone else’s art, I claim anything similar for anything I’ve done. But I cite the above because it makes the answer to your question obvious: Picasso said art is the lie that allows us to see the truth. That is it exactly."

***

Yesterday I had a moment at work (more like an hour, since it happened right before my boss went to lunch and I had to wait anxiously for her return) where I was convinced that I had royally screwed the pooch. She'd already told me I need to be better at following up on a particular thing (which, suffice it to say, given the arcane and esoteric processes of our finance department, I didn't realize was not actually moving ahead), and then she was like, "Why wasn't this paid for?!" and I was like, "I... have never seen that before in my life. I have no paperwork and no email and no information whatsoever." I sent her an email that basically said that and then hurried myself over to the AP people and was like, "WTF? HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS BEFORE?" and they were like, "Oh, it was paid on April 1."

So, you know, whew. And also, my boss was like, "If you didn't have the paperwork, how could you have processed it?" so it was fine, but man, I had a painful hour of anxiety.

So I bought an ice cream maker. I don't even know. It has pretty good reviews, and I've wanted one, and now that I have a place to put it... I mean, it's ICE CREAM. As long as it works, how can that be bad? Apparently it doesn't even require salt. Or hand cranking. (What? The last ice cream maker I used required both of those things. Needless to say, I didn't make ice cream very often.) Shut up.

If it arrives tomorrow, as it is supposed to, there could be ice cream this weekend! In my new pink bowls!

So if you have a good ice cream or sherbet recipe, you should share.

***

I have to say, this season of Criminal Minds hasn't been thrilling me. The Foyet episodes were pretty strong, but overall I have been kind of meh. Last night's episode, which also served as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off with Forrest Whitaker, continued that streak, but there were a couple of things I did like about it. ( spoilersCollapse )

Speaking of which, I would love to see Veronica Mars with the BAU. Can you imagine her response to Hotch? Man, it makes me sad sometimes, when I think of what a fantastic character Rob Thomas had, and what a perfect first season of television, and then it all fell apart. I want to see Veronica crossed over into everything - Veronica as Peter Burke's probie; she can hook up with Cruz! They can roll their eyes forever at Neal. Or Veronica as a Middlerecruit! (or on the trail of a supervillain when she comes across the Middleman and Wendy!) Veronica and Kalinda teaming up as fiercely intelligent yet ethically challenged lady detectives! You know they would pwn all of Chicago, and then the WORLD if they got together. And I am always happy to read (and write) Dean/Veronica, because the sharp edges! The banter! The conflicting baggage! The ways Dean's coding as feminine and his performative masculinity rubs up against Veronica's coding as masculine and her performative femininity! And did I mention the banter? And the hotness?

You should totally be writing all of these for me.

Speaking of Dean, I heard "Stop Your Sobbing" by the Pretenders this morning and surely there is a Dean vid to that? If not, there should be. I would laugh and laugh.

And today's poem, which also seems fitting since it's new SPN day:

on the difference between dead girls and ghosts

Both dead girls and ghosts already have your number. But a dead girl won't call you. A ghost doesn't have to call.

The ghost is soul lingerie. You can see right through her. She slips through your fingers.

The dead girl is all bawdy. A dead girl is real. Heavy. Sooner or later, no matter how strong you are, your arms will tire, and you will have to let go. And the dead girl will say, I told you so.

You have to try hard, work harder, scrub and pray and do all sorts of things to get rid of a ghost (depending on, of course, who she is and why she's there).

Dead girls leave you. They've already left. Dead girls are past tense. You had good times. You made time. The time of your life. Once upon a time.

Ghosts are timeless. A ghost can be right here right now. But with dead girls, the biological clock is always ticking.

Science may try and assert that there's no such thing as ghosts. That may be true. However, sooner or later, half of the global population will be dead girls. Or already is.

The most important difference between dead girls and ghosts -- perhaps the only one you need to know -- is this: The dead girl still has a heart.

~Daphne Gottlieb
From Kissing Dead Girls.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/153439.html. people have commented there.

this first part is xposted from remixers_lounge:

Signups are officially closed.

We've got 280 people this year! Woo!

If you're one of the people who volunteered to help with eligibility checks, emails should start going out later today with lists of names for you to check, so keep an eye on your inbox. (The email will be from the remixredux gmail account.)

You can still join the pinch hitters mailing list so that when those drop out emails come in (and you know they will), you can write a remix, even if you haven't signed up for this year's challenge. (Or, for those of you who are participating, a second remix.) (Otoh, if you do drop out, it's unlikely that we will assign you a pinch hit, even if you volunteer for it.)

Remember, if you need to bail, do it early, and don't forget to let us know!

We hope to have all the assignments out by April 8th, so you'll be hearing from us soon.

***

I do not like April Fools Day, but I do like that it is now National Poetry Month (in the US), which means I can spam you with poetry and not feel like I need to apologize for it. (sometimes I wonder if this is how my dad felt on Sunday afternoons when he tried to instill "culture" in us and we wanted no part of it, especially if it involved opera.)

I think this year I'm going to mix in some stuff I've posted in the past along with some stuff I've never posted before. I have a file in Word that's 275 pages long, and that's just stuff I've never posted (along with a second, 150 page file, of stuff I've posted already, not to mention separate national poetry month files, and yes, I realize I may have a problem), and I also have a tag in my delicious for poetry journals and such, and I also harvest poems from various LJ comms, so I'll try not to make it all Richard Siken all the time or anything. *snerk*

ANYWAY. A poem for today:

It is Easy to Wake Up in Someone Else's Poem

the way prodigies awake in paintings
of sunflowers and lily ponds.

But we do not wear the skin of geniuses,
sometimes I lose the checkbook for days

or the note with the phone message
I jotted down while eating egg rice,

using head and eye gestures
to tell my toddler not to slide pennies

in the CD player, to take
the Venetian beads off the cat.

These are my daily poems, life falling
around me on scrap paper—my sister cries

because her new English cottage is without
its antique lightning rod, my other sister

gleeful her doublewide came furnished.
God sets us in boats and pushes us onto the lake

of perspective. It's easy to ignore the narrator
while he rests on shore in a white flannel robe

forgetting we will wake from the page,
that our tuxedos are only black ink, white paper.

~Kelli Russell Agodon

***

Work is getting busier. I may take tomorrow off in spite of that. I already have Monday off, but man, my weekends are not long enough, especially when they're filled with family crap and I have no time to get my own stuff done.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/149762.html. people have commented there.

I keep writing posts in my head, but they are full of carping that people love things I loathe with a vengeance and would like to see wiped from the face of the earth, and upsetting a bunch of people, while it might give me some brief satisfaction in the moment (and I do admire a well-phrased, pithy rant), would just make me feel shitty over the long-term, so mostly I have been been writing those posts in my head and finding no relief from them.

Possibly I might be less cranky if I could write fic, but as much as I really want to, I kind of hate every wip I have, or rather, I hate that I have no idea what to DO with all of them. I mean, I guess I know vaguely where they're supposed to go, but meh. it is not thrilling me. I was hoping to get some writing done today, and I did, but it was all work-related. Yay for getting a project off my desk. But writing about the impact of the looming HHC budget cuts on HIV prevention programs just doesn't have the same zing as, well, almost anything fictional (it's also a lot more depressing than any fiction I write). On the upside, the boss liked it and thought it was well-written and concise. I was thinking this morning on my commute how much I miss writing Mal. Could there be Firefly fic in my future? Possibly. I would just like to write something someday soon. Meh.

***

I had a pulled pork sandwich for lunch today, on a very soft potato roll, and oh man, it was good. The roll had absorbed all the sauce and the whole thing was moist and tasty. I call the whole thing a success, even if washing that pot is going to scar me for life. Or at least require a good long soak in hot soapy water (for the pot, I mean, though I would also like a good long soak in hot, soapy water, preferably with good looking young men to scrub my back and rub my feet, but the odds are not in my favor).

***

218 people signed up for remix! We still need people who qualify in Sherlock Holmes, if you know of any. And I'll try tonight to start getting out the eligibility checklists to people who said they'd help with that, so keep an eye out.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/148598.html. people have commented there.

If you write (have written) in one (or more!) of these fandoms*, Remix needs you!

***

New SPN tonight! I didn't get nearly as much writing done during the hiatus as I'd have liked, but since that seems to be the case for me all the time with writing now, I guess I'm just going to have to deal with it. I need to carve out more time for that, but it's hard when there's so much other stuff that needs doing. I just have so many wsip and ideas I want to write! Wah! My life, so hard!

***

So last night in my BSG rewatch, I made it through the Pegasus arc, and that's where things start to go really wrong with season 2. Lee's metaphorical lake of manpain will never stop being hilarious and annoying.**

Also, the first indications of Lee/Dee show up, and ugh, I like Dee and well, up until then, I'd liked Lee, but talk about poor writing choices. Ugh. The whole quadrangle thing of s3 was just gross. I also watched Scar, mostly for the awesome Kara/Kat business, and the Kara-Helo BFF scenes (♥), and the ending where Kara recites the names of the dead pilots always makes me tear up, but man, this is also where they start hammering the Kara/Anders, and I like Anders (way more than I like Lee, to be honest), but that was also not handled very well. (Otoh, I have to give Lee props for being dead on balls accurate about Kara - it's not the dead guys she can't handle; also, for all that I don't actually ship them, that scene is hot.) (I think part of the issue with Lee/Dee isn't just Kara and later, the icky adultery; it's because I really loved Billy and felt like he totally got shafted for no discernible reason except that the actor was leaving the show. Billy! ♥)

I also really like the Kara/Cain interaction, even if the whole evil lesbian thing pisses me off. Michelle Forbes is awesome! And as always, I ♥ Starbuck.

The back half of s2 is really kind of meh, with the exception of Downloaded, which is awesome.

***

It will be April soon (!!), which means National Poetry month, which means I post a poem every day. To get you used to that, have a poem:

VI (Something Long Forgotten)

Something long forgotten comes into her.
Some days she thinks the afterbirth still drags

behind her, her breasts hard with milk. She clears
a place, setting stones for a garden. Now

all that was buried comes back. Earth bursting
with memory. And each flower drawing her face

inside its face. The legs of spring scissored
open. And the heaving. When it gets so bad

she wants to die, she tries to remember.
To get past the nostalgia for submission,

past surrender, law, altar, the rape
of the divine. Spring scissors inside her.

The marching, the soldiers, children with guns,
something long forgotten comes into her.

~Anne Marie Macari

--
* ( click for list of needy fandomsCollapse )

** Dear Lee,

When the world has ended in a nuclear holocaust and you are on the run from a genocidal enemy who would like to wipe the remnants of your species off the face of the universe, your moral crises are of no more consequence or weight than anyone else's, just because you are the admiral's son. I understand your life sucks hard, but so does everyone else's in the fleet. IJS.

yours, with a stiff upper lip,

me

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/146998.html. people have commented there.

It's Remix time, which means that I'm even more frazzled and prone to not answering comments/emails etc. than usual, and will be until, um, May? Well, no, I'm okay from once the assignments are out to about a week before the deadline. Then things get crazy until the stories go live.

We've* made some changes this year, which will hopefully make things easier for everyone involved (though mostly for me) - doing the signup form, the matching, and the assignment emails all through AO3 should make things so much less difficult. I mean, we used to send out the assignment emails by hand, one at a time, and while all the instruction info remained the same, we had to c&p each email address and actual assignment into the body of it (the worst was the year I had two participants with the same name and I sent them each other's assignments; luckily I caught it right after I hit send).

We've also added a pinch hit mailing list, so we can hand out pinch hits the way yuletide does. You don't have to participate in remix proper to sign up to pinch hit, so if you're interested but you don't qualify, or you're protective of your own stories but don't mind messing around with other people's, or whatever, you should sign up.

We also - and probably I should have mentioned this first? - distilled the FAQ down into rules, so you can skip the long wordy version and just read the slightly shorter, punchier version, especially if you've played before and are really only interested in the rule changes and this year's deadlines.

The specific instructions for the signup form are contained in the FAQ and on the form itself, but also in the step-by-step guide to filling out the signup form. With screencaps to illustrate what we're talking about.

We are a professional-looking operation here, is what I'm saying. *g*

And this morning, I put up the post asking for volunteers to help check participants' eligibility; in a perfect world, nobody who wasn't eligible in a particular fandom would sign up saying they were, but since this is not a perfect world, and the directions are complex, and also, sometimes people think they're going to finish that last ficlet or drabble in time so why not just sign up now?, we do need to check to make sure everybody qualifies, because otherwise we get emails after the assignments go out that say things like, "My remixee said she qualified in Smallville but she only has three drabbles and I don't know any of her other fandoms!" and that is bad. We want to avoid that if at all possible. It makes me cranky, it makes the remixer cranky, and when I email the remixee, I'm betting it makes her cranky, too. And believe me, you don't want to make me cranky. You don't want your name associated in my head with those kinds of shenanigans, either, because my crankiness is legendary and spans eons.

You can edit your signup until the signup period closes (3/31), and one of us will be in touch with you if we have a question.

I think that's all the remix news that's fit to print. The signups have been open since about 5 pm last evening and there are already 98 people signed up. I'm a little scared of that, but you know, come on in, the water's fine.

And now for something completely different, my copy of Megan Whelan Turner's Conspiracy of Kings has shipped! Yay!

--
*this is actually not the royal we - angelgazing and laurificus were both heavily involved in the process, and they're the ones answering most of the questions, mostly because their reserves of patience are far more generous than my teeny-tiny shallow allotment of that particular virtue, but also because they helped revise the FAQ and the rules and are as familiar with them as I am.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/145936.html. people have commented there.

We Invented the Remix...Redux 8: Magic 8 Ball

( Click here for the scoopCollapse )

Disclaimer: The management, meaning me, is not responsible for whatever is done to your story. If you can't handle the idea of someone else mucking around with your babies, don't sign up.

Disclaimer 2: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners and/or copyright holders. These fan-written works of fiction intend no copyright infringement. All fiction about real people is, in fact, fiction, and thus, not true nor intended to be taken as true.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to astolat and her merry band of coders for making it possible to host the challenge on the Archive of Our Own, to delurker for the awesome banner, to everyone who's helped in one way or another over the years, and to the originators of the challenge, who let me run with their idea. Thanks also to my co-mods, devildoll, angelgazing, laurificus, and mousapelli for their help and support.

PS: If someone would like to make an icon for the collection that matches delurker's awesome banner, or features the Magic 8 Ball or the phrase "All signs point to yes," that'd be awesome.

~*~

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/145881.html. people have commented there.

My fellow fangirls and fanboys, the time has come to give the draft Remix signup form a test run.

You will have to sign into the test archive with your AO3 account in order to help us test the signup form.

✪ The FAQ

✪ The Rules

✪ The signup form.

Helping us test it is not a commitment to participate in Remix. If the form starts running slow, that is a sign that there are enough people testing it, so please don't keep trying.

If you have questions about the FAQ or the rules, which have changed a little this year, or about the signup form, please let us know here.

Thanks.

~*~

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/142645.html. people have commented there.

Wow, Saturday is over. How did that happen?

I've spent the last eight hours or so updating the Remix FAQ and then watching as astolat fixes problems with the signup form. Before it opens live (in a couple of weeks, hopefully), we'll be opening it up to testing, so you'll be hearing about that soonish - doing a dry run of signing up, I mean. So the AO3 folks can fix any issues before it goes live for real, and we can finetune the FAQ to handle any issues that come up in the test run. And also there are still some other issues that have to be resolved that are particular to Remix and its matching complications.

Remix has a very ... I don't know that it's complicated? I guess it's complicated and also exceptionally LONG for a FAQ and set of rules, but that is mainly because as things have come up over the years, we've added them in to clarify.

I know - I know this from my years of meeting planning if not from 7 years of running remix and various other challenges - people don't read. It doesn't matter how often you shove the instructions at them, they don't read. I've done it myself, to my embarrassment.

So we just keep adding stuff to the rules/FAQ, so even if people don't read it (and we know they don't), we can point to it and say, "Well, see here in the FAQ, it says no, you can't do that." It's the polite version of RTFF, I guess. Which I would suggest everyone do, but I know how futile that is.

This year I've done a 'bullet points' version for people who don't want to wade through the whole thing, and it's still ridiculously long, but I think it covers all the pertinent points. Especially as there are some changes this year.

One thing I would definitely recommend is watching remixers_lounge, or at least checking in fairly regularly, as it is where all Remix-related announcements will be made this year.

I'm really tired. I think PMS is doing a number on me this month - I think my fever the other night was totally PMS-related. It wouldn't be the first time it's given me a faux illness that disappeared as soon as my period showed up. Meh. I'm so glad I have Monday off.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/140523.html. people have commented there.

So Remix signups will probably open in about 7-10 days, for those of you hoping to write enough 100+ and/or 500+ word stories to qualify in a newer fandom (White Collar, Sherlock Holmes, etc.).

What I'm looking for now is someone willing to make a banner - something with a Magic 8 Ball motif, preferably in a black/white/blue color scheme. If anyone's interested, drop me a comment, or send me a link to whatever you've made. I guess we won't need icons this year, as it looks like AO3 is going to work out (at least from the testing I've done so far).

I still haven't got nearly everything I want to move over to AO3 moved, but I'm working on it.

***

I got a King Arthur Flour catalog in the mail, and dear god, it's baking porn. I find myself wide-eyed and wanting with every page. Mini-muffin pans, silicon baking cups, fancy colored sugars and Callebaut chocolate pearls... *whimpers*

I just spent a ridiculous amount of money on a new laptop (which has shipped btw! Estimated delivery date: 3/4); I can't afford a baking stone and a new set of gratuitous mixing bowls. I still need to buy a cast iron frying pan.

Speaking of, I am thinking of trying to make polenta tomorrow, and then frying it up to take for lunch during the week. Anyone have any tips or tricks for making good polenta?

Also, I asked my mom to track down my Aunt Jean's sfinci recipe (not sfinci di San Giuseppe, and not anything with yeast, though they also used to make zeppole with a yeast dough), because I thought I'd posted here in my LJ and I can't find it, and I kind of have a craving, and so far she's come up empty. This makes me sad, because I'm not sure I could replicate it. I mean, I know it's flour, sugar, eggs, (milk?), vanilla, but I don't know the proportions. I can picture the piece of paper it's written on, in my sister's handwriting. Sigh. I'll have to look myself the next time I go out there.

***

I was productive earlier this afternoon:

unfitforsociety has been updated for February 2010 with 40 recs in 14 fandoms (including crossovers):

* 18 Supernatural
* 6 Star Trek Reboot
* 3 White Collar
* 2 Middleman
* 2 crossovers
* 1 each Firefly, Harry Potter, Iron Man, Big Bang Theory, Bones, Bourne Identity, Chuck, Leverage, and Sports Night

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/137543.html. people have commented there.

I made bread again yesterday! Well, I made the dough on Friday night and just baked up a loaf yesterday morning, but it worked! I am 2 for 2 so far with this recipe! Though this time I tried shaping it like a sandwich loaf instead, as the point is to get bread for sandwiches. Which means that I didn't heat the pan in the oven like the recipe says, but I did let it rest on the back of the stove top, so it did heat up somewhat while the oven was heating. Either way, it worked.

( this is totally my beautiful loafCollapse )

Possibly I, uh, splurged this morning when I got an email from Amazon saying Le Creuset stuff was on sale, and bought a second loaf pan (that wasn't even on sale! and the one I have is perfectly good. I am just weak and spendthrift.) as well as um, a couple other things that I don't really need but are so pretty! *facepalm* (that last one is the one that's on sale)

There went the last of my Christmas gift certificates. Sigh. My new cabinet better arrive soon, because I don't have space for all this stuff at the moment.

Then last evening, for dinner, I made risotto in my big giant frying pan.

( big giant frying pan, itty bitty stoveCollapse )

It was very tasty, even if I didn't bother to leave the house yesterday to get wine to sub in for one of the cups of stock. I'll probably reheat some for dinner tonight, and maybe tomorrow I will attempt to make riceballs with it. I dunno. That could be messy. We'll see what I feel like.

For dessert, I had one of the mascarpone brownies I made Thursday night (OM NOM NOM SO GOOD). Everything I ate yesterday, I made myself, which pleases me, given that not so long ago I was living on takeout and the occasional frozen dinner.

***

You may not have seen it, as I posted during the middle of the night, but Remix/Redux 8 is coming soon:

We Invented the Remix...Redux 8: The Magic 8 Ball says TRY AGAIN LATER.

If you're interested in participating, I'd strongly suggest watching remixers_lounge because that's where all the official announcements are going to be made. Please direct all questions to that entry.

It's possible all answers from mods will be framed as Magic 8 ball responses. ALL SIGNS POINT TO YES is what I'm saying.

***

Happy New Year to those who are celebrating!

How is it already five o'clock? Where did this day go? Luckily, I have tomorrow off.

*happy sigh*

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/132527.html. people have commented there.

Given all the wank swirling right now about the Yuletide move to AO3 (which I just lost an hour of my life reading about), I suppose I should announce right now that when the functionality of the collections portion of AO3 is sorted more thoroughly, I plan to not only run Remix on AO3, but also to move the old archives over there.

(Note: It may not happen this year. It may not even be me running it at that point, but I'm pretty sure it will happen.)

The old database is old and as some of you know, because you've emailed me when it happens, it sometimes breaks and I don't know how to fix it. I don't even have the admin password for it. Instead of having to frantically email poor moirarogers when that happens, I would like to be able to let the AO3 coders handle any problems that crop up. (This will also include moving the archive from the very first Remix/Redux, and backing up the ones which have been hosted on LJ.)

Why am I planning on doing this? Because while Remix isn't the size of Yuletide, it is probably the second-largest (after Yuletide) multifandom anonyfest for LJ-based fandom. There are regularly between 250 and 300 people involved (factoring in pinch hitters who don't officially sign up), and at least 50 fandoms each year. So it's big, and the old database is creaky, and while the LJ setup has worked pretty well, considering, it also requires unlocking by hand every story when the archive goes live, moderator involvement in making sure tags are uniform, people who neglect to put their names on when the author reveals happen, and various other things that cause a lot of work for me and the folks who help me. I am fundamentally lazy, and I have less time these days for fannish stuff, so making the minutiae of administration easier gets two big thumbs up from me.

What does this mean for your old remixes? As with yuletide, I prefer that people orphan their stories rather than delete them - and just fyi, 'orphaning' means only removing your name at AO3. You can still claim your stories anywhere else you've archived them, since they are in fact, your stories - but I don't feel the need to necessarily ban folks who delete their stories from AO3 from participating, mostly because if the ficathon is being hosted there, it seems unlikely those people will want to participate anyway.

Since I'm not actually going to delete any of the old locations, your stories will still live there, at least until such time as either the database breaks irrevocably or girlinthetrilby gives up the illuminatedtext.com domain or I let unfitorsociety.net lapse.

I do not want to discuss anyone's issues with OTW or AO3 in this post. I will freeze or screen or delete or ban as I see fit if people try to bring their grudgewank to my LJ.

While I am friends with any number of OTW board members and AO3 coders/tag wranglers/etc., I am not personally involved with the organization or the running of the archive, and I really don't care what your feelings are about either of them. I understand that people have fundamental philosophical differences with OTW, and while I respect the sane fans who do, this is not about that.

This is about the possibility that AO3 will make running Remix exponentially easier for me, and that is what I care about, because I have been thisclose to giving it up for the past two years, and was considering not running it at all this year (2010), but I love Remix and I know there are other people who want its existence to continue (with the possible inclusion of the original popslash remix, since I think last year was the last year it was being run), and the possible functionality of AO3 for anonymous challenges gives me hope that at some point, the workload can be eased.

I'm sure there are issues I've not yet considered, and we'll address those when they come up, but for now, this is my plan for Remix.

--
*And just FYI - if you google Remix/Redux (or Remix Redux), the first five links are to LJ journals or communities associated with the ficathon, so I'm not sure how there could be more visibility with a move to AO3.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/114130.html. people have commented there.