{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Divers Alarums","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/","description":"Divers Alarums - LiveJournal.com","lastBuildDate":"Mon, 06 May 2019 02:59:52 GMT","generator":"LiveJournal \/ LiveJournal.com","copyright":"NOINDEX","image":{"url":"https:\/\/l-userpic.livejournal.com\/95913192\/776902","title":"Divers Alarums","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/","width":"100","height":"100"},"item":[{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691634.html","pubDate":"Mon, 06 May 2019 02:59:52 GMT","title":"Avengers: Endgame","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691634.html","description":"(x-posted to tumblr, pillowfort)

I’m not mad at the movie per se<\/em>; I’m mad about the narrative construct employed by pretty much any movie\/show\/insert-form-of-storytelling-here that the death of one or more main characters (especially The Grand Sacrifice For All Humanity) is the only<\/strong> option in a high-stakes situation––anything else, and the payoff is just not enough, somehow.<\/strong> There is no closure without death? That’s a pretty terrible position for storytellers to take.

This is so baked into our collective consciousness that no one stops to think about it and ask, “Well, but… do you mean there’s no other way<\/strong> to bring this story to a satisfying conclusion? Like, none? If no one dies, then the story isn’t satisfying?”

Everyone went into Endgame<\/em> expecting at least one death of one of Our Heroes, if not more. We expected<\/strong> it because of this pervasive-yet-provably-unfounded narrative cliché, and I don’t think that’s how narrative creators should be approaching storytelling. I think it’s time for a radical change in how we conclude entertainments (re: provably unfounded--see final paragraph of post).

Honestly, from now on, if a storyteller says anything along the lines of “If none of the main characters die, there’s no emotional payoff,” I am going to stop engaging with that storyteller’s works immediately.

You know what would be a huge emotional payoff? Seeing the characters we love–-have loved for ten years-–fighting the good fight, and emerging victorious. Joy is a huge emotional payoff.<\/strong> But we seem unable to question this central tenet of our storytelling, and it leads a lot of writers to purposely write toward crappy endings.

I’m not saying narratives should never include the death of a major character. I love me a heroic sacrifice! But if every high-stakes story means Someone Has To Die, that means that we, both writers and audience, are unconsciously locked into this pattern and blinded to any others such that writers start writing with killing off beloved characters as the goal because now it's the rules, and it doesn’t have to be. The fact that we all “knew” that someone “had” to die, and we “knew” it for, if we’re being honest, even before Infinity War<\/em>–-I think that’s bad for us. I really do think it’s bad for us.

If anyone ever says that a happily ever after ending in which all of the main characters live isn’t narratively or emotionally satisfying, they have likely absorbed that idea from society's disdain for romance novels and “chick flicks,” which as we know must be objectively terrible because women like them. So here’s what you do. Point that person at the nearest hard-ass, backwards-ballcap-wearing, swole Chicago Cubs fandude, and ask them about the 2016 World Series. Was it gratifying? Did our heroes fight the good fight and emerge victorious? Did everyone go ape-shit? Did we hold a parade? Was it a spectacular, emotion-filled conclusion to a hundred-year-long story?

DID ANYONE ON THE TEAM DIE?

NO? <\/strong>

Joy is a huge emotional payoff.<\/strong>\n\nThis is cross-posted to livejournal, but I will only be reading comments at dreamwidth. Sorry!\n\n(This post was crossposted from https:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/662972.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691634.html?view=comments#comments","category":["i have no idea how to make my tags appea","avengers","that's an incredibly stupid 'feature' to","endgame"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691391.html","pubDate":"Wed, 05 Dec 2018 18:56:31 GMT","title":"Wow, I ... need to buy a paid account again","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691391.html","description":"I'm only allowed to use 10 of my ... more-than-ten icons.

If I buy the 200-icon account, will all of my old posts that now just show my default icon go back to the icon I used when I originally posted them?

Also yeah, hi, I'm back. Whatever, Tumblr.

I'm also under this name... everywhere else. If you are somewhere else and you search for "tzikeh" and it doesn't come up, I'm not there.

(Also hahahaha my icons sure show the exact time-frame I stopped using DW. Looks like it was right around second season of Downton Abbey<\/em>.

Now comes the part where I start hunting down all my Tumblr-mutuals and such, and add them to my flist.

(aaaa I haven't used the term "flist" in forever....)

Can't even remember how to use tags here. Comma-separated?\n\nComment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.\n\n(This post was crossposted from https:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/662680.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691391.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691157.html","pubDate":"Fri, 04 Jul 2014 17:07:44 GMT","title":"HAPPY BUSTABILITY DAY!","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691157.html","description":"IT'S TIME FOR HOT DOGS AND FIREWORKS AND SONGS ABOUT BEING OBNOXIOUS AND DISLIKED<\/strong> -- in other words, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AM<\/span>ER<\/span>IC<\/span>A<\/span>!<\/span>

We are a TERRIBLE FUCKIN' COUNTRY but man, I still love this movie, in the same way I love The West Wing<\/em>. It makes me feel super-patriotic and joyful about the country I wish<\/em> I lived in.

I'm posting a whole bunch of 1776<\/em> stuff at my tumblr<\/a>.\n\nComment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.\n\n(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/662509.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/691157.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690700.html","pubDate":"Sun, 29 Jun 2014 16:17:52 GMT","title":"I'm back! Kind of!","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690700.html","description":"So, hey, all!

I really want to come back to journaling, but I have no idea if the fact that my journals have been mostly empty for *cough* years means that most of you aren't here anymore.

If you're still reading, please just drop a comment? You don't have to be profound or anything - \"Hey\" will do. :)

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/662186.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690700.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690547.html","pubDate":"Wed, 19 Mar 2014 23:08:37 GMT","title":"NOW AND AGAIN COMING TO DVD","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690547.html","description":"Now and Again<\/em> is coming to DVD this summer, according to one VERY large retailer! TVShows on DVD<\/a> has got the heads-up info.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?



ETA:<\/strong> Pre-order at Amazon.<\/a>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/661888.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690547.html?view=comments#comments","category":"now and again"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690300.html","pubDate":"Sat, 11 Jan 2014 23:16:03 GMT","title":"So... yeah...","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690300.html","description":"I'm not really *here* here, but I've been struggling with this stupid computer for two days and I just need someone to help me before I set my hair on fire.

Please help me burn video files from the computer to play on a standard DVD.

Take note - this is on a Mac. Any solutions for Windows won\u2019t help me.

What I want to do:<\/strong>

Burn a video file to a DVD-R so that it is playable on a plain old standard DVD player.

What I have:<\/strong>

Three .mp4 files, around 600 MB each, and three .mkv files, around 1.7 GB each

A MACINTOSH COMPUTER (MacBook Pro with SuperDrive)

OS X Mavericks 10.9.1

Handbrake 0.9.9
FfmpegX 0.0.9y-L r2
MPEG Streamclip 1.9.3b8 beta
QuickTime Player 10.3
VLC 2.1.2
iMovie 10.0.1
iDVD 7.1.2
Burn 2.5.1
Toast Titanium 10.0

What I DON\u2019T have:<\/strong>

money to buy any other software.

The problem:

While I have managed to burn two playable DVDs from one of the .mp4s (once with Burn and once with Toast), the video, which is widescreen format, ends up in 4:3 on the DVD, and I don\u2019t know why.

When I tried to convert an .mp4 file to \u201cDVD\u201d using FfmpegX, I let the conversion run overnight, and it was only 33% finished by morning.

What am I doing wrong? Does anyone have a simple solution?

Um... hi!

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/661651.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/690300.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689985.html","pubDate":"Sun, 25 Nov 2012 00:22:03 GMT","title":"Les Miserables","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689985.html","description":"
<\/center>

\"The first-ever screening of Tom Hooper's Les Misérables<\/em> received a rapturous standing ovation<\/strong> on Friday afternoon in New York.\"—Huffington Post<\/a>

\"Each musical number was followed by raucous applause<\/strong> with the principal cast taking the stage to a standing ovation at the end of the film.\"—Collider<\/a>

\"Twitter proclaimed rapturous, ecstatic acclaim for Les Misérables<\/em>. Apparently the crowd went nuts, on their feet, in tears.<\/strong>\"—Awards Daily<\/a>

\"Les Mis<\/em> brings screening audience to tears and becomes instant Oscar contender.\"<\/strong>—The Examiner<\/a>

\"Judging from a raucously well-received New York screening of Les Misérables<\/em> on Friday afternooon, the most exciting aspect of the 2013 Oscar race will be a contest between the precision of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln<\/em> and the passion of Tom Hooper's epic musical.... Hugh Jackman<\/strong>, who anchors the film as the ex-con Jean Valjean, and [Anne] Hathaway<\/strong>, who plays the doomed grisette Fantine, are shoo-ins for Best Actor and Supporting Actress nominations.<\/strong>\"—Movieline<\/a>

****************************<\/center>

Official Site<\/a>

Official teaser trailer<\/a>

Official international trailer<\/a>

Hooper made the decision to record the entire thing \"live\"—the actors sang while filming, rather than recording songs beforehand, and then lip-syncing on set.

Behind-the-scenes featurette: the actors talk about singing live while filming, and how it can make an enormous difference in a performance.<\/a>

****************************<\/center>

I saw Les Misérables<\/em> with Colm Wilkinson, both in the West End and on Broadway, in my teens. I also saw Phantom of the Opera<\/em> with Michael Crawford, both in the West End and on Broadway. If you'd asked me then which movie I'd have been more excited for, it would have been Phantom,<\/em> without question. When they finally made Phantom<\/em> into a movie (I was in my mid-thirties), the trailer turned me off. I thought \"Wow, that's gonna suck.\" And I wasn't wrong.

This?

It doesn't premiere here for 30 days yet.

I'm already in line, motherfuckers. I'm already in line.

<\/center>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/661442.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689985.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689842.html","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:54:01 GMT","title":"Time, Amok","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689842.html","description":"\u201cThe first Star Trek episode aired closer in time to the ratification of the 19th Amendment\u2014guaranteeing women in the US the right to vote\u2014than to today.\u201d (xkcd<\/a>)

Fuck you, space-time continuum. Stop messing with my head.

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/661166.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689842.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689614.html","pubDate":"Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:52:01 GMT","title":"I CAN'T WITH WHITE COLLAR WHAT IS THIS","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689614.html","description":"DEAR WHITE COLLAR YOU ARE DRUNK

YOU ARE WRITING NC-17 FANFICTION OF YOURSELF

NOT THAT THIS IS PARTICULARLY NEW

BUT THIS IS A LEVEL I DID NOT EXPECT

WHAT IS THIS I DON\u2019T EVEN

ELIZABETH I LOVE YOU

THIS SHOW IS SO FUCKING DRUNK RIGHT NOW

AND THEN AFTER NEAL TOOK THAT SIP OF WINE EVERYONE HAD SEX WITH EVERYONE

I EXPECT TO SEE THOSE STORIES PRONTO

LET'S GO FANDOM<\/strong>

ALL OF THE WRITERS WERE DRUNK WEREN\u2019T THEY

ALL OF THE WRITERS

ALL OF THEM

ALL

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/660958.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689614.html?view=comments#comments","category":["bring on the porn","show:white collar"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689154.html","pubDate":"Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:13:59 GMT","title":"Dear Breaking Bad:","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689154.html","description":"No.

Sincerely,
Me.

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/660546.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689154.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689092.html","pubDate":"Sun, 22 Jul 2012 22:12:59 GMT","title":"My love for Hugh Bonneville knows no bounds","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689092.html","description":"

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/660303.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/689092.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688665.html","pubDate":"Thu, 05 Jul 2012 19:27:55 GMT","title":"I'd get a really good Data plan, too","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688665.html","description":"
I want an iPhone, a lot, and don't\/can't have one right now, but omg once I get one, I am so going to do this:



Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/660090.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688665.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688391.html","pubDate":"Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:08:50 GMT","title":"What's the best way to advertise\/sell a whole bunch of books, CDs, and DVDs?","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688391.html","description":"
My friends J & P are downsizing from a very large house, and they've packed up over two decades of books, CDs, and DVDs to sell. Since they're ridiculously busy, they've made me a kind of estate agent: my job is to sell all this stuff, and then give them the cash (though I get a cut for doing the work, which is awesome). There's a wide range of quality and value -- some of the DVD cases are kind of battered; others are still sealed in the original plastic. Some of the books are ratty paperbacks; some are first-edition hardcovers.

My current plan is to build an Excel workbook that I can use to keep track of of everything that will be available, along with ISBN numbers for the books, release dates for the DVDs (and notes if it's a special edition, box set, blah blah), among other things. Then online research into fair prices for each of the items so that I know what to advertise as price (or what to expect from auction).

The problem is that there are so many options<\/strong> for how to sell this kind of stuff, and I'm at a bit of a loss to choose the best way (or ways) to do this. There's craigslist, ebay, and amazon, plus advertising the stuff on my dreamwidth, livejournal, and tumblr accounts (and then putting a link to those announcements on twitter). There are probably more I'm not thinking of, or don't even know about.

I have never sold anything on ebay, so my lack of familiarity with it is an automatic barrier to doing this easily, but if it's the best option for some of the items, I should probably look into it. But my understanding is that there are all kinds of fees and other details that make it sound like it's more trouble than it would be worth.

MY QUESTION:

Those of you who have done things like this--what do you suggest? What kind of success have you had in the past with the aforementioned venues for selling used stuff? What kind of bad experiences have you had? Do you have other ideas for me?

(Obviously I'll be making the Excel workbook available for download once it's finished for perusal by anyone who might be interested, so watch this space....)

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/659834.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688391.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688190.html","pubDate":"Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:26:58 GMT","title":"\"Don\u2019t underestimate how much antagonism there is toward women.\"","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688190.html","description":"In memory of Nora Ephron, here is a selection from her commencement speech to Wellesley's class of 1996. Take note of how what women in America were up against sixteen years ago<\/strong> was merely an appetizer for how bad it is now.
I\u2019m very conscious of how easy it is to let people down on a day like this, because I remember my own graduation from Wellesley very, very well, I am sorry to say. The speaker was Santha Rama Rau who was a woman writer, and I was going to be a woman writer. And in fact, I had spent four years at Wellesley going to lectures by women writers hoping that I would be the beneficiary of some terrific secret \u2014 which I never was. And now here I was at graduation, under these very trees, absolutely terrified. Something was over. Something safe and protected. And something else was about to begin. I was heading off to New York and I was sure that I would live there forever and never meet anyone and end up dying one of those New York deaths where no one even notices you\u2019re missing until the smell drifts into the hallway weeks later. And I sat here thinking, \u201cO.K., Santha, this is my last chance for a really terrific secret, lay it on me,\u201d and she spoke about the need to place friendship over love of country, which I must tell you had never crossed my mind one way or the other.

\u2026 My class went to college in the era when you got a masters degrees in teaching because it was \u201csomething to fall back on\u201d in the worst case scenario, the worst case scenario being that no one married you and you actually had to go to work. As this same classmate said at our reunion, \u201cOur education was a dress rehearsal for a life we never led.\u201d Isn\u2019t that the saddest line? We weren\u2019t meant to have futures, we were meant to marry them. We weren\u2019t\u2019 meant to have politics, or careers that mattered, or opinions, or lives; we were meant to marry them. If you wanted to be an architect, you married an architect. Non Ministrare sed Ministrari \u2014 you know the old joke, not to be ministers but to be ministers\u2019 wives.

I\u2019ve written about my years at Wellesley, and I don\u2019t want to repeat myself any more than is necessary. But I do want to retell one anecdote from the piece I did about my 10th Wellesley reunion. I\u2019ll tell it a little differently for those of you who read it. Which was that, during my junior year, when I was engaged for a very short period of time, I thought I might transfer to Barnard my senior year. I went to see my class dean and she said to me, \u201cLet me give you some advice. You\u2019ve worked so hard at Wellesley, when you marry, take a year off. Devote yourself to your husband and your marriage.\u201d Of course it was stunning piece of advice to give me because I\u2019d always intended to work after college. My mother was a career woman, and all of us, her four daughters, grew up understanding that the question, \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d was as valid for girls as for boys. Take a year off being a wife. I always wondered what I was supposed to do in that year. Iron? I repeated the story for years, as proof that Wellesley wanted its graduates to be merely housewives. But I turned out to be wrong, because years later I met another Wellesley graduate who had been as hell-bent on domesticity as I had been on a career. And she had gone to the same dean with the same problem, and the dean had said to her, \u201cDon\u2019t have children right away. Take a year to work.\u201d And so I saw that what Wellesley wanted was for us to avoid the extremes. To be instead, that thing in the middle. A lady. We were to take the fabulous education we had received here and use it to preside at dinner table or at a committee meeting, and when two people disagreed we would be intelligent enough to step in and point out the remarkable similarities between their two opposing positions. We were to spend our lives making nice.

\u2026 Why am I telling you this? It was a long time ago, right? Things have changed, haven\u2019t they? Yes, they have. But I mention it because I want to remind you of the undertow, of the specific gravity. American society has a remarkable ability to resist change, or to take whatever change has taken place and attempt to make it go away. Things are different for you than they were for us. Just the fact that you chose to come to a single-sex college makes you smarter than we were \u2014 we came because it\u2019s what you did in those days \u2014 and the college you are graduating from is a very different place. All sorts of things caused Wellesley to change, but it did change, and today it\u2019s a place that understands its obligations to women in today\u2019s world. The women\u2019s movement has made a huge difference, too, particularly for young women like you. There are women doctors and women lawyers. There are anchorwomen, although most of them are blonde. But at the same time, the pay differential between men and women has barely changed. In my business, the movie business, there are many more women directors, but it\u2019s just as hard to make a movie about women as it ever was, and look at the parts the Oscar-nominated actresses played this year: hooker, hooker, hooker, hooker, and nun. It\u2019s 1996, and you are graduating from Wellesley in the Year of the Wonderbra. The Wonderbra is not a step forward for women. Nothing that hurts that much is a step forward for women.

What I\u2019m saying is, don\u2019t delude yourself that the powerful cultural values that wrecked the lives of so many of my classmates have vanished from the earth. Don\u2019t let the New York Times article about the brilliant success of Wellesley graduates in the business world fool you \u2014 there\u2019s still a glass ceiling. Don\u2019t let the number of women in the work force trick you \u2014 there are still lots of magazines devoted almost exclusively to making perfect casseroles and turning various things into tents.

Don\u2019t underestimate how much antagonism there is toward women and how many people wish we could turn the clock back. One of the things people always say to you if you get upset is, don\u2019t take it personally, but listen hard to what\u2019s going on and, please, I beg you, take it personally. Understand: every attack on Hillary Clinton for not knowing her place is an attack on you. Underneath almost all those attacks are the words: get back, get back to where you once belonged. When Elizabeth Dole pretends that she isn\u2019t serious about her career, that is an attack on you. The acquittal of O.J. Simpson is an attack on you. Any move to limit abortion rights is an attack on you \u2014 whether or not you believe in abortion. The fact that Clarence Thomas is sitting on the Supreme Court today is an attack on you.

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. Because you don\u2019t have the alibi my class had \u2014 this is one of the great achievements and mixed blessings you inherit: unlike us, you can\u2019t say nobody told you there were other options. Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead. Twenty-five years from now, you won\u2019t have as easy a time making excuses as my class did. You won\u2019t be able to blame the deans, or the culture, or anyone else: you will have no one to blame but yourselves. Whoa.

\u2026 Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women. Thank you. Good luck. The first act of your life is over. Welcome to the best years of your lives.<\/blockquote><\/a>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/659701.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/688190.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687920.html","pubDate":"Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:17:14 GMT","title":"For sale: All of Farscape on DVD plus The Peacekeeper Wars","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687920.html","description":"
PACKED with commentaries, documentaries, deleted scenes, blooper reels, and other special features, this is the complete series plus the final movie miniseries. It's all original packaging and includes everything that was originally inside the DVD cases--in other words, they're in the same condition that they would be if you bought them in a store or ordered them from Amazon.

$55 plus shipping!

If you're interested, drop me a line at tzikeh ! thechicagoloop ? net.<\/strike>

SOLD!<\/strong>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/659224.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687920.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687735.html","pubDate":"Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:24:54 GMT","title":"Matt Bomer in \"Magic Mike\"","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687735.html","description":"
So, have you guys seen any of the gifs folks have made from scenes in the trailers?





<\/a>

Well. This will be... something.

To paraphrase Dan Rydell, it's hard not to notice that the man's body was put together by a technichian very close to God.

o.O<\/strong><\/font>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/659180.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687735.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687455.html","pubDate":"Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:40:41 GMT","title":"Going against God's will -- it isn't just for gay people anymore!","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687455.html","description":"NJ Doctor Would Reportedly Rather Let Patient Die Than Treat Him For \u2018Gay Disease\u2019<\/strong>

New Jersey doctor refuses to treat gay patient for HIV, says \u201cThis is what he gets for going against God\u2019s will\u201d<\/a>

...

Doc, while you are a religious person, I\u2019m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you haven\u2019t bothered to read Your Rulebook. I\u2019m not a religious person, but it just so happens that I\u2019ve read it, cover to cover, and more than once.

If it turns out that you\u2019re right about The Contents of Your Rulebook (that you probably haven\u2019t read), I fear you are going to be in for an epic<\/strong> shock when you find out what neighborhood you\u2019re slated to spend eternity in after you die.

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/658943.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687455.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687127.html","pubDate":"Fri, 04 May 2012 21:05:04 GMT","title":"GET IT FOR ME","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687127.html","description":"OMG I don't care if it isn't yet available - I want it so badly.




<VerucaSalt>GIVE IT TO ME NOW<\/a><\/VerucaSalt>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/658651.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/687127.html?view=comments#comments","category":"life on mars"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686962.html","pubDate":"Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:08:39 GMT","title":"I thought we were friends, Fringe.","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686962.html","description":"Why you gotta break my heart, Fringe?

Why you gotta do me this way?




Fuck you, Fringe.

Just... fuck you.

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/658204.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686962.html?view=comments#comments","category":"fringe"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686829.html","pubDate":"Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:54:03 GMT","title":"Louis vs Rick: the story of a man who taught his cat to use instant messaging","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686829.html","description":"1:45 PM<\/strong>

Louis:<\/strong> rick
Louis:<\/strong> rick
Louis:<\/strong> rick
Louis:<\/strong> rick

2:22 PM<\/strong>

Louis:<\/strong> rick

Rick:<\/strong> Sorry Lou I was away. It's chaos over here, so what do you need?

Louis:<\/strong> i need you to come home its thanksgiving

Rick:<\/strong> Yeah I'm sorry about that, it's a work crisis, I have to be here.

Louis:<\/strong> im having a crisis too

Rick:<\/strong> Seriously? I need you to be serious. What is it?

Louis:<\/strong> my bowl is full of cat food
Louis:<\/strong> my bowl is full of cat food on thanksgiving

Rick:<\/strong> I don't have time for this now, Lou. If I get out of here at a reasonable hour I'll pick up something special from the deli and you can have some.

Louis:<\/strong> ill believe that when i see it

3:01 PM<\/strong>

Louis:<\/strong> rick
Louis:<\/strong> rick
Louis:<\/strong> rick

Rick:<\/strong> WHAT

Louis:<\/strong> hey how do you make those big letters

Rick:<\/strong> Shift key.

Louis:<\/strong> shift wtf is shift

Rick:<\/strong> Look at the keyboard, one left and one right. You hold them down and push a letter and it makes it big.

Louis:<\/strong> AAAAAZ?\"??\"
Louis:<\/strong> the two at once thing isnt really working for me

Rick:<\/strong> Yeah. Well, there's the caps lock too.

Louis:<\/strong> whats that

Rick:<\/strong> Never mind. I have to go.

Louis:<\/strong> oh
Louis:<\/strong> OH
Louis:<\/strong> OH MY GOD

Rick:<\/strong> Christ.

Louis:<\/strong> RICK
Louis:<\/strong> RICK
Louis:<\/strong> RICK
Louis:<\/strong> RICK
Louis:<\/strong> RICK

Rick:<\/strong> WHAT

Louis:<\/strong> THIS IS AMAZING
Louis:<\/strong> WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE

Rick:<\/strong> Well, it's not really.. I mean, you can use it for certain things, but usually people don't use it because it looks like yelling.

Louis:<\/strong> I KNOW ITS PERFECT
Louis:<\/strong> CAPS LOCK IS HOW I FEEL INSIDE RICK
Louis:<\/strong> ALL THE TIME

View other battles here.<\/a>

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/657946.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686829.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686447.html","pubDate":"Mon, 02 Apr 2012 02:12:42 GMT","title":"OH MY GOD TRAILER FOR THE NEWSROOM","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686447.html","description":"
You guys I am SO excited I can't even.



Aaron Sorkin I have missed your dialog on my tv SO MUH-HUH-HUCH. And you've always<\/strong> belonged on HBO.

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/657780.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686447.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686286.html","pubDate":"Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:54:47 GMT","title":"This is just more evidence to support my hypothesis that duh.","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686286.html","description":"
This card is on today's PostSecret blog.<\/a>



Whoever you are\u2026 it doesn\u2019t have to be a secret anymore.

We\u2019re here for you.

You are not alone.

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/657511.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/686286.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685729.html","pubDate":"Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:03:33 GMT","title":"how to convert fanfiction that lives on lj or dw into Kindle, Nook, and other e-reader formats","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685729.html","description":"We all know that Archive of our Own<\/a> can automatically convert any fanfiction hosted there into various different formats (mobi, epub, pdf, html). That is but one reason that AO3 is so freakin\u2019 awesome.

Unfortunately, there is no such option for fanfiction that\u2019s hosted at livejournal or dreamwidth.

However, there is an easy (and free!) method to do so at Instapaper!<\/a>

First, go get a free account at Instapaper. You will automatically get a bookmark called \u201cread later.\u201d (I installed it on my toolbar and renamed it \u201csaved to instapaper.\u201d)

Now, the main purpose of Instapaper is simply to bookmark stuff you\u2019ve found online that you really want to read, but don\u2019t have the time or inclination once you first come across it. Clicking on the \u201cread later\u201d bookmark will save the article to your instapaper account. When you want to read it, go to your account and click it.

On your account page, to the right, you will see \"FOLDERS.\" You want to create a folder named whatever the piece of fiction is named. (Actually you could name is FRED if you want, but whatever.) Move the piece of fanfiction to that folder. Then, open the folder, so that the only thing displayed in the main screen is that story.

Once you have the piece of fanfiction saved to the folder, go ahead and click the format you want to download it as (\u201cPrintable,\u201d \u201cKindle,\u201d or \u201cePub\u201d), and blam: it downloads the story, in the chosen format, to your computer. Sync your ereader, and there it is. (Kindle 3 users can also have it emailed directly to their Kindle.) Once you\u2019ve done that, click \u201carchive\u201d or \u201cdelete\u201d on the article (piece of fanfiction), and you\u2019re done.

But what if the story is multiple chapters in multiple entries?<\/strong>

No problem\u2014it just takes a little longer.

Make a folder at Instapaper for the story, just like you would for a single-chapter story.

Go to each lj entry of the story, and save each one to your Instapaper account. Make sure you get them all.

Go to your Instapaper account.

There\u2019s a \u201cmove\u201d link under each saved entry. \u201cMove\u201d each part of the story to the folder you\u2019ve created. This is the part where you want to be careful: you have to move the last chapter FIRST, then the second-to-last chapter, etc.<\/strong> This saves them the last chapter at the bottom, etc., and the first chapter will be at the top.

Select the folder. You should see all of the chapters listed.

Click on the format you want to download.

Done.

If this doesn't work for you (it's possible I've missed out a step just by dint of having done it so often that I haven't simplified it enough), let me know and I can walk you through it.

Enjoy!

(N.B.: This probably works at other fanfiction archives, but I haven\u2019t personally tested it, so I can\u2019t say for certain.)

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/657346.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685729.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685414.html","pubDate":"Sat, 10 Mar 2012 02:36:44 GMT","title":"Lord of the Rings extended edition behind-the-scenes question","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685414.html","description":"
I distinctly remember Bernard Hill talking about how the armorers etched symbols and such on the *inside* of his breastplate--something that no one who went to the movie would see, but he would. I have looked through the \"costume\" behind the scenes thing, and the \"WETA\" behind the scenes thing on the appendices disks for Fellowship, and I can't imagine where else it might live.

Anyone out there have the super-geek mojo to remember where it is?

Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/657069.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685414.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685236.html","pubDate":"Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:24:00 GMT","title":"Cannot. Stop. Laughing.","author":"tzikeh","link":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685236.html","description":"
I find this way, way<\/strong> funnier than it actually is.



Comment at livejournal; comment at dreamwidth; it's all good.

(This post was crossposted from http:\/\/tzikeh.dreamwidth.org\/656868.html<\/a>. \"commenthave commented there.)<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/tzikeh.livejournal.com\/685236.html?view=comments#comments"}]}}