I've been locking things more and more recently, so in case you want to friend me here are some things you might want to know!


( Facts about the common (or garden) Ish, updated as necessary. )


That's all for now. Friend away!

mood: chill(ed). music: The Venus In Furs- 2HB Tags the common ish, the ol' flist, very important information

If you hate the taste of wine
Why do you drink it till you're blind?
And if you swear that there's no truth and who cares
How come you say it like you're right?
Why are you scared to dream of God
When it's salvation that you want?
You see stars that are clear have been dead for years
But the idea just lives on.

Comments are screened. IP logging is off.

Tell me something. A memory, a secret, something that's been bothering you, your favourite song. Anything you like.

music: Bright Eyes- We Are Nowhere And It's Now Tags beauty is all around us

( So I got a tattoo today! )

Little Brother and I went to the comic book shop afterwards. I bought a beautifully obnoxious Umbrella Academy coffee mug (the bottom says "thank you for the coffee"! I couldn't NOT buy it) and a set of Serenity action figures. Jayne is currently sitting on top of a small stack of Discworld books, menacing Shakespeare. Then we both decided to buy parasols, because we are pritty pritty ladies. Apparently. (Comic Shop Guy called Little Brother "she," probably because of his flowing locks. He was a little disheartened by it, but then I told him that androgyny is a sign of a well-balanced psyche and if other people don't get that that's their problem, not his, and I think it cheered him up a little.) I also had a tremendously edifying conversation with a shop clerk about the wisdom of majoring in Philosophy. Luckily I'm not.

That shop sells Nietzsche wristwatches. I don't know how to feel about that.

All in all, today was an A+ day. Now I'm going to go make tea in my obnoxious coffee mug and listen to the new Spinnerette album. Has anyone else heard it? It's pretty much the most fuckable record I've heard so far this year.

mood: :))))))) music: Spinnerette- Sex Bomb Tags blatant capitalism my friends!, body modification, brother, genderqueer, neil gaiman, omfg tattoo!, pictures, the common ish

Thumbs down: Panic (kinda) broke up. D:

Thumbs up: The Jennifer's Body trailer is up and it looks AWESOME. :D

Conclusion: :D:

mood: conflicted! music: The Slits- Typical Girls Tags bandom, life rocks sometimes, life sucks sometimes, links, movies, panic at the fucking disco what the shit

(Please note that if you think this is a personal attack: it ain't. I promise.)

Re: warnings:

I don't have a hell of a lot of experience with fic that actually requires warnings- I never write it, and I rarely read it. I have very few triggers, and I don't expect to see many of those I do have in fic. And things like character death and violence don't bother me particularly. Rape, however, is a whole other ball game. impertinence wrote a post on the subject that explains why better than I ever could. Warning: Very explicit discussion of sexual assault and the nature, anatomy, cause & effect of triggers. Is itself triggery. If a story features one scene in which a person is hacked to death with a chainsaw and eaten and another is raped, I wouldn't expect a warning for the former, but it'd be great to have one for the latter.

Because the thing about getting hacked to death with a chainsaw and eaten is that it doesn't happen to one in four people.

Asking a writer to post warnings with their fic does not detract from their ~artistic integrity. It's not like anyone's asking you to go back and cut that scene entirely, or even say "this happens to so-and-so on page twenty when he goes to such-and-such." Nobody's asking you to be a babysitter. Nobody's asking you to be specific. Nobody's asking you to change the way you write. All you have to say is "warning for non-con." That's it. It takes ten seconds and helps people not get triggered by an unexpected rape scene and spend the next few hours freaking out and feeling like shit. Why the fuck wouldn't you do that? Why the fuck are we even still talking about this?

It's just... it's not fucking hard, and it helps. That's all.

mood: just sayin'. Tags bandom, links, ridiculous fanfictionality, wank, writing

Grumpy Coworker: I've figured it out.
Ish: ?
Grumpy Coworker: You're either extremely positive, very subtly sarcastic, or retarded.

I feel like I should put that on a business card or something.

mood: two out of three ain't bad. music: The Starting Line- Best Of Me Tags conversations, life rocks sometimes, quotes, the common ish, work

I listened to Battle For The Sun today and, well, I don't think I've disliked a Placebo album this much since Sleeping With Ghosts. ( Blah blah blah, I got opinions! )

mood: :|||||||||||||| music: Placebo- Devil In The Details Tags bands, brian molko, damn the man!, music, placebo, reviews

Hey, flist! You were our only friend Wanna know what I love?

( My room, that's what! )

In other news, Chaz Bono is transitioning! Aww. Trans visibility ftw.

I just had this random memory of sitting around a camp fire with Little Brother and Little Sister when I was thirteen or fourteen. I was telling them ghost stories, and then when I ran out of those I started telling them stories about Tudor England and the Endless instead. I do not know what this says about me as a person, other than that I probably should have gotten out more when I was a teenager.

Also:

THE TESTIMONIALS OF AWESOME MEME! // ME!!

mood: dory. not hunky, though. music: The Von Bondies- We Are The Underground Tags celebrity gossip is my crack, jersey house, links, memes, news, picspam, the common ish, trans

So today I got up at six, like you do, because I'd switched my Monday shift with someone who needed Sunday off and I am a Nice Person. At least when I get paid for it. I was in a pretty good mood, despite the whole morning thing- God, mornings are so unholy I want to KILL THEM WITH FIRE- and despite the fact that one of the cats threw up on my bed. I put on my headphones, walked up the hill to work, and promptly came face to face with the dude whose shift I supposedly took. He smiled sheepishly and waved.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked.

He wasn't.

Apparently the boss hadn't bothered to switch us and also hadn't bothered to tell me about it. Which didn't piss me off as much as you'd think, because it meant I got to go back home and spent the rest of the day chillin' with a cup of tea and reading Momo (which is just about as kickass as apiphile said). Also it means I get to keep my lip ring in all day. One of these days I'm gonna make a tl;dr poast all about why that fucking metal circle is so important to me and it'll be GLORIOUS and everybody will probably just click past it. I know I would.

Anyway. Hi! I haven't been around much in the past little while, and I probably still won't be around much in the next couple of weeks, and maybe even all summer, but whatever, today is an exception! What's up? Why is everybody talking about the Death of Glitter Bandom? Why does everybody still think that Josh Homme is attractive when he clearly looks like a giant baby?

( Links and etc for your edutainment and learnjoyment. )

I get paid soon! This is inordinately pleasing to me, on account of it has been months since I've had any kind of disposable income and have roughly eighty frillion albums to buy. Hazards of Love, you will be MINE.

(Also? I never said anything about this, so while I'm here: Transfolks are not abominable snowmen! Transphobes, however, clearly are. Some people just need to grow the fucking fuck up.)

mood: lazy like a mf. music: The Indelicates- We Hate The Kids Tags bandom, eddie izzard, i hates teh monies, life rocks sometimes, life sucks sometimes, links, lists o' crap, really hot people, trans, video, work

You know, if you'd told me four years ago that two of my favourite people in the world would not only end up collaborating and being besties but dating, I probably would have laughed. And then asked if I could share whatever drugs you were taking.

Funny ol' world, innit?

mood: well, whaddya know. music: Colin May- Beautiful World Tags ... wait what, links, neil gaiman, the dresden dolls

When my little sister heard about the upcoming FOBlink-182 tourvaganza, she got very big-eyed and said:

"I want to go to that concert. More than anything in the world."

"Huh," I said, intrigued. "Do you want it even more than, say, world peace?"

She nodded solemnly.

"You do know that makes you a bad person, right?" I asked.

"No!" she replied, shaking her head. "Because that concert will make world peace happen."

I love you, Little Sister.

Guyssssss it was so WARM today! So warm there were kids out playing on the street all day! So warm I got to lie out on my back deck and absorb the sunshine like a furry purry kitty! So warm I didn't even put on socks! (I pretty much always wear socks- brightly-patterned knee socks, for preference- so this is a big deal.) I've got my window wide open and I can hear frogs somewhere out there and it is SUMMER FUCK YEAH FINALLY. \o/

I mean, it snowed again a few days ago, but whatever. SUMMER.

I have been feeling kind of ridiculously optimistic about things lately. This is partially due to FUCK YEAH SUMMER, but also because I have decided to spend this summer Being Productive, and so far I'm doing pretty well! I've been writing and practicing bass and working like a motherfucker and it feels really good to be busy because I think I've been kind of doing nothing for a while. Even during the school year.

I've also been reading a lot, which I choose to count as Being Productive because, um, reading is good for the brainmeats? I dunno. Here are some of the books I've read, complete with pocket-sized reviews!

( Books, books, books. )

I'm currently reading Out by Natsuo Kirino (delightfully creepy and full of social commentary) and The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir (interesting, but it's really easy to tell she usually writes nonfiction- her style is kind of clumsy and she can never seem to decide whose head she wants to be in). Books are fab.

mood: a little tired. music: The Lonely Island- I'm On A Boat Tags books books books, conversations, family, fucking fall out boy, life rocks sometimes, quotes, reviews, summer, why don't i have a blink tag?

Bandit Lee. Bandit Lee. Her name is Bandit Lee and she is gonna be a superhero and wear a cape and mask and fight crime and fly around in an invisible jet and she will never, ever be normal, EVER.

♥_♥

I am losing childfree street cred by the minute here. FTR: I still don't want babies! I just wanna get all starry-eyed over everyone else's.

mood: Bandit Lee! music: Radiohead- House Of Cards Tags bandom, gerard way: lesbian feminist, lyn-z can kick the whole world's ass, squee!

Fairies Come In Brown, by kittikattie. An original fic about a fairy who leaves her glamour behind.

Read it. It's awesome.

mood: :D music: U2- With Or Without You Tags links, racism, stories, w00t!, writing

Guysssssssssssss I am so sick it isn't even funny. My nose is stuffy and my throat is sore and my stomach hurts and I've got all these weirdass pains in my joints and I THINK I HAVE THE PLAGUE. :(

( To make myself feel better I am posting pictures of hot awesome people. Commentary is minimal due to aforementioned plague. )


Confession time: Sometimes I feel bad about making these picspams. Because they are full of ladies! And as a feminist, I disapprove of objectifying the ladies, but as a person who is into ladies, I fully approve of ladies being hot and awesome. It is an ethical conundrum, let me tell you.



An ethical conundrum that is solved by Christina Hendricks being ridiculously hot.

mood: :( music: Suede- Animal Nitrate Tags picspam, pretty ladies, really hot people, sick, whingeing

- Hung out with redheaded_itch a whole, whole lot.

- Met said redhead's roommate, xcarex, who is tiny and delightful.

- Was reunited with two youngest cats, Jack and Spaghetti. They have gotten much bigger. I know because they woke me up every morning by stepping on my face, bless them.

- Bought purple pants. (This was an accident.)

- Recast 13 Going On 30. (This was also an accident. But is it really so wrong to think of Pete Wentz bonding with a teenager in an elevator? Especially if the teenager is Singer?)

- Had an Embarrassing Moment at the sex shop up the road.

Sex Shop Dude: Blah blah blah let me tell you all about comic books AND ALSO we have a sale on today, how about that!
Ish: Oh, yeah, dude, just slip that plug right on in there OH MY GOD I SHOULD NEVER TALK EVER.

- Attended an Arty Film Screening. Particularly enjoyed Ghostvase, which was a parody of cheesy 70s sci fi and included Carnivorous Space Moths. Also liked the one about the dolls who killed people.

- Got drunk with a bunch of students and learned, for the umpteenth time, that the quickest way to an art kid's heart is to tell them that visual arts programs require way more work than any other program in the world, ever. Also met a cute girl!

- Shortly afterward, had a surreal encounter with an equally drunk dude who I christened Mr. Badtouch for his apparent inability to keep his hands to himself. WHAT IS/WAS WRONG WITH YOU, MR. BADTOUCH, NO YOUR HAND DOES NOT GO THERE. >:(

- Ate the best cupcake in the history of time. Seriously. Nothing will ever taste better to me than that cupcake. It had pink frosting and everything.

- Met up with ceildh_night on the Commons to get ice cream and lie in the sun. May have gotten slightly sunburned. Damn Anglo-Saxon skin.

- Spent way too much hanging out in the Paper Chase, my favourite cafe in the history of time, drinking tea and reading Alice Walker books.

- Listened to three songs over and over: Aside, Sharpshooter! Sharpshooter!, and Love This Town.

All in all, it was a pretty good time! And now it is summer, and I am... still unemployed, how about that. But I have been jobhunting like a motherfucker and fully intend to use the next three months to my advantage. I am going to read! And write! And hopefully make many monies! And formulate some kind of Life Plan and start putting my clothes away right after I wash them instead of two weeks later when I've run out of flat surfaces to put them on and generally be productive!

I am currently reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, so I'm ahead already if you think about it.

Oh, yeah, and remember how I was all siiiiiiiigh disappointed about not being able to finish BBB? Well, now there is bandgirlsbang! And I signed up! It is gonna be awesome and I will finish it if it kills me.

So haaaaay, everybody, what have you all been up to?

(I dreamed the other night that Bert McCracken showed up on my doorstep with a kitten. Dreams just do not get any more adorable than that.)

mood: levelled out. music: The Used- I Caught Fire Tags bandom, conversations, dreams, halifax is my homeboy, holidays, life rocks sometimes, lists o' crap, quotes, ridiculous fanfictionality, stupid things i do, the common ish, the used i guess, uploads, wordy wordy blah, y halo thar internets!

This post explains why I like Dollhouse better than I ever could.

In Dollhouse, he's giving [masculinity] deeper and more sustained focus than ever, and is more willing than ever to implicate masculinity: in parallel to the story of how the dolls work to reclaim their personhood, there's the story of the people who take it away from them on a day-to-day basis, and how they justify their actions.

They tell themselves they're protecting the dolls. They tell themselves that they're doing the dolls a favor, by taking away the responsibilities of personhood. They tell themselves they're doing society a favor by keeping the dolls' services available. They tell themselves that the best way to fix the system is to work within the system. They tell themselves that the dolls aren't really people, so none of it matters. Sometimes, they don't have to tell themselves anything: they just like the thrill of being in charge.

And, in the comments (which are really pretty damn good):

Ballard is the perfect depiction of the "rescue fetishist" transferred to the Dollhouse universe: The man who sees sex workers, but wants to "take us away from all this". Who wants to save us so that we don't have to do this job anymore... except for the bit where he still expects the rescued whore to act grateful and sexually available, and remain in "work mode" for HIM once he's "saved her".

The dream sequence that opened one ep where Echo thanks Bollard for saving her by pulling him down on the couch and making out with him is seriously textbook Captain Save-a-Ho fantasy.

YES OMG THAT. We've seen from the beginning that Ballard's preoccupation with Caroline isn't exactly healthy or normal. He wants to save her, but that's not all he wants: he wants to save her for him. He may think, at least initially, that his intentions are good, but then so do Adele and Dr. Saunders and Boyd and Topher and pretty much everyone involved. They all have some excuse handy to frame human trafficking as okay, even noble, just like Ballard has an excuse to put Caroline's pictures on his wall and explain away his creepy white knight complex. ( Spoilers for tonight's episode. )

Next week: Ish tells everybody about hir feminist reading of Almost Famous. (Surprisingly, it has very little to do with Zooey Deschanel!)

mood: full of thinky thoughts. music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Hysteric Tags damn the man!, dollhouse, fandom, feminism, joss, let me tell you internet!, links, sexism, shows, television

Ever notice how every time someone posts something on a blog or a gossip site about Beth Ditto, no matter what the actual subject of the article is- her music, her fashion sense, her queer advocacy, her whatever- the comments are chock-full of "lol ew fat chick"? Sometimes they're openly hostile, but way too often they have this gentle, condescending tone like the poster is just so concerned about her, because it's just not healthy to be fat, Dr. Phil said so, that Beth Ditto should just eat a carrot stick (or at least have the decency to wear sackcloth and ashes) and stop talking so gosh-darn much, you know?

Fuck that.

In response to this, I have put together a picspam called "Beth Ditto is hotter than you" and would like to cordially invite all haters to SUCK MY LEFT ONE.

( Observe! )

Conclusion: Beth Ditto is hotter than you. And Perez Hilton. Also, suck my left one.

mood: seriously, she is. music: The Golden Dogs- Construction Worker Tags body image, feminism, i have belly fat (and i like it!), picspam, pretty ladies, really hot people

( It's a bit long. )

I love how half of that list is comprised of books I feel guilty for not reading yet and the other of books I'll feel guilty for reading.

Anyway, what else should I read this summer, flist? Rec me things!

What I like: Non-shitty genre fiction, comics that do not involve superheroes (exceptions can be made if said superheroes refuse to be called superheroes, a la Runaways, or are retired, a la Watchmen), fucked up kid books, fiction that is actually interesting and not just about people trying to decide whether or not to have affairs and/or regretting that decision for twenty years afterwards, non-fiction that is about society and feminism and how badly human beings are screwing things up, biographies and memoirs about people who did things and weren't just child actors or fallen political figures, alien invasions of any kind, YA lit, books about teenagers saving the world from some impending threat (bonus points if said teenagers are also in a band and if said threat is undead in nature), historical fiction that isn't by Philippa Gregory because I find her books to be incredibly problematic and sexist (not to mention poorly written), and anything with pretty pretty illustrations.

What I don't like: Bodice-rippers, fantasy that tries to be Tolkien (partly because it's derivative, partly because I don't like Tolkien), sci fi that takes itself too seriously, fiction that tries to tackle Important Issues in a way that is clearly more about winning awards than actually saying anything, excessive irony, authors who assume their readers are stupid, gratuitous and poorly-written sex scenes, books that have "A Novel" included in the title (we KNOW it's a novel, it's IN THE FICTION SECTION), books that are thinly-veiled dramatizations of the author's own experiences (either write fiction or suck it up and call it a memoir, Christ), queer lit that is all about coming out, The Life of Pi, Canadian fiction that dwells excessively on incest, national identity, and how much it sucks to live in a small town (Margaret Laurence, you may sit down), anything that ends in someone's issues magically disappearing through the power of True Love, and Dave Eggers. FUCK YOU, DAVE EGGERS.

mood: a little off. music: Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position Tags books books books, lists o' crap, rec me bitches!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

I finally have my flight booked- I'm leaving for Halifax on the 26th of April to sleep on my sister's couch and breathe up all her oxygen for a week. If anybody in the area wants to chill or shenanigate or organize some kind of hootenanny let me know and we will make plans! Tasty, delicious plans that may or may not involve beer.

*is excited*

mood: psyched. music: David Bowie- Queen Bitch Tags halifax is my homeboy, the common ish, very important information