{ split subject }

new in projectjulie:
• mandysbitch asks me: Who the F**K Are You? in an elaborate interview about my fannish orientation, wherein you can learn more than you ever wanted to know about fictocriticism, girlslash goggles, and doppelcest...
• Laura and Tory have smokin' hot sex: the sequel! plus, one week till part three (which I might have accidentally written a complete 2000+ word draft of in a single afternoon -- who are you and what have you done with julie!?).
• an ultimately rather perfunctory meta post about gender and femslash that's been on my list for quite a while but for some unknown reason got written today.

as enamored as I am of OTP 2.0, I secretly love how the sheer size of bsg_femslash's Kara/Laura tag gives the statistical lie to our talk of this being an ensemble rather than OTP-based fandom. 81 uses, with Laura/Tory, Laura/Maya, and Laura/Six tied for second-place pairing with 15 or 16. take that, Starbuck!

and it makes me reminisce about how we got here. yeah, for a minute we were all aflutter about the prospect of becoming a Major Femslash Fandom, and maybe in the end that didn't materialize. but it will always be *my* major femslash fandom, top to bottom, start to closed canon (the point when I finish passing the torch, or whenever I complete the season 4 fic that I really hope I won't be compelled to write). in the beginning (through mid-2005, we're talking) there were the trailblazers, like meeshy who created the comm and yahoogroup and minerva_fan who introduced us to our OTP and others who've been faithful supporters all along (jennyo, tellitslant, sheepfairy, ariestess and shatterpath). in the middle, there were my people (including thenewhope, queen wrangler of femslashers), who called ourselves the Quorum of Five, which has since largely disintegrated in ways that I mourn, and in other ways deepened into friendships that are no longer necessarily or primarily about BSG femslash.

and then a funny thing happened: I don't know where these folks came from or how they got here, but all of a sudden there was this whole new generation of baby BSG femslashers around! and they pimped and betaed and squeed at and sometimes fell in love with each other, and really built a community. it makes me all flaily-happy, so I'm going to attempt to introduce you. ( Read more... )

if this made you too feel all warm and fuzzy inside, consider writing something for the Season Three Battle or helping del.icio.us the masterlist...

as a footnote, I wish I'd done a similar catalogue of SVU fandom back in the day (or did I? I know I made heathers chronicle me the oral history, pre-2004). it was my glorious first LJ fandom, and left a hole in my heart when it met its untimely demise. R.I.P. Olivia Benson! it dawned on me, recently, that I need to disabuse myself of my notions of being a femslash fandom BNF expert. ralst has taken livejournal by storm, more power to her, and I have the utmost respect for the work she's put into passion_perfect, turning it into an empire unto itself and the engine behind the static archive. P&P has picked up where SVU left off (partly by dissipating and partly by veering off into more obscure shows), not with all the same people but with all the delightful snark. that's gotta be the mainstream of femslash, insofar as there is one, and I'm not participating in the comm even as a lurker. it's so obviously not ME -- not the fandoms, not the writing style, not the approach. I guess I'm at peace with being what theholyinnocent calls a pretentious twat? it just worries me, with this dissertation, that the things that make a lot of femslash meaningful are alien to me (though I can, you know, understand them, just not organically -- and I still love a good lesbian romance novel, for the record, it's just that I never read them anymore).

and finally, you guys! BEST. SEQUEL. EVER. seriously, I squealed like a little girl during the preview at The Invasion. I might spontaneously combust when the movie comes out! (I was an Elizabethan fangirl first.)

i. I've fallen of the bottom of my flist a distressing number of times recently (never by more than a matter of hours). I think (hope) it's back under control for good now. but I missed some March posts, with no way of knowing which ones. *flails*

plus my web sites are down -- hopefully back up soon, hopefully with all files intact, long story. but this means my comments are bouncing at present, so if you've replied to me somewhere other than projectjulie in the past two days or so, give a holler.


ii. but there's a silver lining: mazily introduced me to the wonders of Firefox 2.0 -- particularly its ability to restore any number of tabs after quitting or crashing -- so my trademark Lost Tabs Crises, at least, are a thing of the past! I was a die-hard Safari holdout for years, but I tell you, Firefox 2.0 changed my life (_plasticity_ pointed out that lately I've been saying, "omg I just discovered something that changed my life!" on a regular basis; most of these somethings exist inside my computer). I'll never look back.

in this random screencap of a occasion when all the letters in my menus inexplicably turned upside-down, you can also see how pretty and PINK my Firefox is:


favorite extensions include del.icio.us complete (of the many del.icio.us tools, this seems to be the only one with support for multiple accounts), livejournal addons, the googlebar, and Zotero (thanks jennyo). holler if you have any tips to share, including Greasemonkey or Stylish scripts, which I haven't had much time to pick through (short of prettifying del.icio.us, which is a relief).

meanwhile, in another life-changing technological event, I've converted my public calendar to google. you can subscribe via google, iCal, or RSS. this is yet another way to keep track of me as I'm living bicoastally for the next two years.


iii. the Mary McDonnell obsession waxes and wanes in intensity, and perhaps it's better for all parties concerned if I just leave it be (in such public, publlished fora). she reported that she talked about *us* a lot in the EW interview, but nothing explicit made it through the edit; anyway, beerbad already pulled the most spectacular quote that only makes me crave Mary/Katee all the more.

meanwhile there are more pictures from our finale. and a friend asked me what my callsign is, and while I style myself more as Tory a civilian member of the presidential administration, I think the hypothetical answer is obvious [highlight: Cupcake]. want to suggest/guess?? I have decreed that _plasticity_'s callsign is Bookworm.


iv. pene and unwinding and I asked a question: Who are your single favorite TV characters of all time, male and female? female would be very difficult for me, with my excessive loves, except that there's Laura Roslin so it's obvious. and I thought male would be equally difficult for opposite reasons (I can barely even SEE boys on TV), except that there's Captain Jack (runners up = House, Richard Smith-Jones, and everyone on Arrested Development). I can totally see Captain Jack! (as I realized when I started gushing to jarrow [since it's flocked: you forgot (Captain) Jack Harkness, from Torchwood. I totally pick him! someone should start a Jackathon, seriously. and I mean that as a ficathon, but it's appropriate that it sounds so dirty... I can't imagine that you haven't *heard* about Torchwood, given the way fandom is. but in case you haven't: it's a Doctor Who spinoff run by the genius behind UK QAF, and every character is canonically bisexual. it's like the anti-BSG. I love it shamelessly. Captain Jack is totally omnisexual (he's from the future or something, my Whoverse knowledge is kinda spotty) and played by this totally gay actor who recently got gay married. you would LOVE this Jack... also he wears suspenders for no apparent reason! and is extremely talented at standing! and he's in love with Doctor Who, and keeps his severed hand in a jar (of course there is porn about this)! ...wow, I am sounding really not gay right now. the chicks rock too! they make out with aliens!]).


v. contrarily, can anyone explain SVU 8x16: On a Very Special SVU to me?!? it was as if they inserted a single episode of a serial drama from some crack-addled parallel universe into our regularly scheduled procedural! and I'm not even talking about the soapy sludge of emo that comprised the storyline -- my aversion to Olivia/Elliot aside, it just didn't make sense! the ep seemed to be referencing nonexistent events that happened before and afterward! there was no narrative closure! happyhop and I literally started the next one because we wanted to find out what happened, and lo and behold Olivia and Elliot are still inexplicably partners despite Cragen et al having just conclusively determined that this is a terrible idea! *flaily flail*


vi. oh, television. I really could talk endlessly about television (I watch it almost exclusively in bed on my iPod, these days -- I have a growing archive of seasons of stuff ripped if you want some). my catalogue (it got too long for links in the sidebar) will have to suffice for commentary. plus, randomly:

• R.I.P. Rome. not that I didn't love Atia, gratuitous toplessness, and many other things about this show, but apparently Servillia (or Servillia vs. Atia, at least) was the heart of my investment, because I couldn't bring myself to care much after she was gone.
• I watched Farscape season 1 again (mostly with my eyes closed, for which it turns out to be especially inappropriate, so I'm not sure what will become of my plan to continue until the bitter end). I'm finding Chiana much hotter this time around (no idea why). I'll NEVER get tired of the way Aeryn's leather creaks when she moves. but Zhaan is still my girl.
• the ensemble cast of child actors on Freaks & Geeks is stunningly talented. predictably, I want Lindsey/Kim slash.
• my mom (who, keep in mind, was the one who took me to Stratford every year as a child) and all her friends are watching Slings & Arrows, now! it's adorable. she forwards me emails like:

TWO YEARS in two days! ------------That's right: 2 years in 2 days: [person] and I sat down and watched the entire two year run of SLINGS AND ARROWS IN TWO DAYS! --and in the process we laughed until our sides ached (and sometimes teared up too). What a wonderful gift you gave us in the form of that recommendation. STOP RIGHT NOW AND PUSH THE FORWARD BUTTON, so that Julie will not only be witness to this note of thanks and praise, but will think to put us on our 'NOT TO BE MISSED LIST" of similar rare but wonderful entertainments.


vii. giantessmess is interviewing me for an article:

( gold star girlslasher )


viii. Photo Booth is dangerous for narcissists (like me).

( four pictures of me )

ix. I talk about Camp MCM all the time (our basement office, pictured above). but the the deliriously wacky collegiality that's spatialized there is just hard to describe. a video is worth a thousand words. late one night, poojapooja had an OCD moment and spontaneously decided to clean up my haircut using _plasticity_'s swiss army knife, and this activity was so patently absurd that we had to fire up the webcam:



this is, srsly, the worst YouTube video ever posted. except for how it's AWESOME. all evidence to the contrary, my own YT account is still quasi-professional, so I tricked poojapooja into posting it chez elle because it's just too incriminating in its utter banality (otherwise it would have ended up private, and that's no fun). also there were about four more minutes where we invented a new hairstyle and cackled a lot, but I accidentally erased the second file, so the world will never know the full extent of our genius.


x. exhibited here in some small measure is our favorite pastime: thinking up utterly frivolous theoretical rubrics. _plasticity_ came up with the concept of a "personal economy" -- basically the single currency through which all the input/output of one's life can be translated. we entertain ourselves by trying to figure them out for everyone we know. his is books. poojapooja's is treats. mine is girls(lash).

I was all technologically inspired by my discussions with new media folks yesterday. does anyone want to go in on a TXTmob with me? it's basically the same as a yahoogroup-like email list, but using txt messages to/from your phone rather than emails. we could use it just to chat or for some particular purpose (ideas? fandom??). we could dump the messages into an lj to archive them (or not). I suppose I don't have any particular goal in mind (yet), but I'm interested in experiencing the system. alternately, does anybody belong to any TXTmobs that I might like to join? (the reason that I don't txt more is that the interface on my cellie is awful -- sending pix is much less hassle.)

MT was also telling us about collaboratively authoring his forthcoming book. they used a wiki, and he says "in the end I couldn't point to a single paragraph and say whether she or I wrote it." I've never written collaboratively, but I've always been fascinated by the phenomenon (I like to imagine Deleuze and Guattari sitting at a desk together, cackling maniacally). those of you who collaborate: how does it work? I've heard reports of a certain division of labor: one person writes the plot, another the smut, for example. or there's round-robin style -- like this comment porn I read today, and on a grander scale in RPGs (as far as I understand them). do any of you have ways to intertwine even further? (I'm wildly curious about the mind-melding MO of punkensab)

more importantly, would anybody be interested in participating in an experimental collaborative-fanfic-authoring wiki?? has this or anything like it ever been done before? I don't know how realistic this is, considering how little time I have to write -- but part of me wonders if I'd write more if I were posting/contributing bits and pieces of things, without the pressure of producing finished works (even drabbles). I envision running MediaWIki (unless somebody has a better idea -- it looks pretty easy to install), with pages categorized by contributing author, fandom/pairing, finished/WIP/stub/bunny (etc.) for easy indexing. fics that were declared finished (there would have to be some protocol for this -- perhaps a parallel lj comm, since wikis aren't a good architecture for discussion) could be posted elsewhere too, with all non-anonymous authors credited (though a prerequisite for this process would of course be a less-than-robust investment in one's own author-function -- I suppose the first page would have to be ground rules). is this just another one of my pipe dreams? I don't want to set it up unless 5 or 10 people are interested in playing with it (but this doesn't mean you have to write with me -- you could invite whoever you like to write whatever you like).

*

and LJ/fandom/miscellany:

• G is writing a brilliant psychoanalytic paper about representations of female masochism in film, and we all want to help her out, right? she's including Secretary (yay!) and some weird French movie about a girl who cuts herself. is there anything else? I seem to recall that when Secretary came out, there was much discussion of an earlier (80's?) film about a kinky couple -- I even watched it, but I can't remember the name or anything else about it. it was not a very positive portrayal: the relationship was creepy and sort of abusive. what was it?? I believe I was thinking of 9+1/2 Weeks -- thanks aqua_blurr!

• wallowing in South of Nowhere has me happier than a pig in shit. I picked _southofnowhere out fairly randomly from among several fan comms. no new ep yet, but the promos (vid and stills seen there) are PORN *drools* -- also joined southof_fic and spencerashley (Spashley! *squishes*). icon from _sonicons, and media (redundantly) from southof_eps.

• SVU is really so tiresome. Casey and Liz were soooooo slashy and I could only go "euw! euw!" -- I may have finally found the pairing that is too wrong even for me (though I think I have asked quasiradiant to write it in the past -- somehow it's not as squicky without the visual) O.o

• in solidarity with the boyslashers among you, I capped the recent GAY on Nip/Tuck. this show is so gay that it has to actually poke fun at its own gayness! and speaking of gayness, who wants to write me Lynette/Nina, huh? -- it must be done.

• 100 icons! and I adore each and every one. whatever shall I do?? it's the multifannishness that kills me -- there are now 13 TV shows (Bad Girls, Battlestar Galactica, Desperate Housewives, The L Word, SVU, X-Files, CSI, Farscape, The O.C., South of Nowhere, Weeds, Voyager, West Wing) and 5 other fandoms (Harry Potter, D.E.B.S., Wicked, Avenue Q, Mary Poppins, Olsens) represented among my icons, oy -- and of course that's not even comprehensive.

• buy this!! New York based Graphic Designer Matthew Powell and Photographer Matthew Baker are pleased to announce the release of their new collaborative project, Bedside Companions, a sexy 2006 pin-up calendar benefiting God's Love We Deliver and GMHC. Inspired by the work of 1940's pin-up artists, the calendar's theme captures the coy sensuality of yesteryear, though instead of pin-up girls, they've updated the style using fourteen drag queens…and added in a message promoting the fact that safer sex is really sexy. (via girlynyc2000)

1. current notes for my online identity/community lecture:
it's coming after a week on surveillance, where we'll be discussing Foucault's panopticon, Virilio's doomsday scenarios, and the pathology of camgirls. so my plan is to begin with a critique of the pessimism of these perspectives, which identify important phenomena but color them with regressive clutching at disintegrated stabilities like "real," "private," etc. I do want to assign Cyborg Manifesto, though it's not related directly to the topic at hand, because I adore it and I want the kids to read it. so I'll then outline the article as an alternative politics that proposes new possibilities for agency and connection/affinity from within a system of publicity and surveillance. via a nod to the broader field of cyborg theory, I'll segue (possibly using museumfreak's "we're all cyborgs here" icon, if she doesn't mind) to the ways online identity/community in particular can be understood through this lens. I'm not sure how good my summary of this will be since I don't know any of this material -- help/references would be appreciated. I'll take livejournal as a sort of case study, possibly walking them through BSG fandom as an example of the forms of centralized/decentralized networking and community that this technological architecture can provide a platform for (with the bonus of canonical cyborgs). since in the following class we'll be looking at some of the erasures and breakdowns of this model (e.g. wank, racism), I may close by touching on some of the ways that lj is far from utopian (e.g. ljdrama).

I don't have to assign them a second article, but if you can think of one that would complement Haraway, but is perhaps more specific to online community/livejournal, I'd be much obliged. my one stipulation is that it be critical theory rather than social science/ethnography oriented (i.e. not like this article) -- I think this work can be tremendously interesting and useful, but it isn't disciplinarily appropriate to the class. I'm planning to look through these at some point for fodder, but I'm not optimistic. (and I was poking around delicious, and noticed that ao, femslash, and svu are among the few tags listed as related to livejournal -- HEE!)

alternately, I could give the students various non-academic articles/meta/sites -- and this, dear flist, is mostly what I'm here to beg for your suggestions about, in your far vaster wisdom and experience. do you have links for me, pretty please? actually, in going through my memories, I found a whole bunch -- but I'd welcome more or just your input on how you'd frame this. there's plenty of material about the LJ/Six Apart merger, but I think I'd rather go in the direction of collective practices rather than of the question of how they interface with an techno-economic system. I could discuss Bloggers Need Not Apply but that's more about identity/privacy and not community. musings about lj by fans / how lj has changed fandom could make up a big part of it -- yet again I owe a great debt to cathexys for being such an intrepid archivist. coffeejunkii, do you still have the list of links you gave your students? -- I lost them. this isn't a lecture about fandom, though -- it takes up lj and specifically fandom as one permutation of the topic of online identity/community.

2. I was admonished for not blogging legs and eggs. hello, my name is projectjulie, and I LOVE STRIPPERS. also, the 3 first-year girls, who were excellent sports -- if not quite as deliriously drooling as I. the breakfast buffet left much to be desired, but was more than made up for by the legs portion of the event. (except for one, who wouldn't even look at us) the strippers were all totally sweet and HOT and got a kick out of us being there. our favorite insisted, with delightful enthusiasm, on going down the line and rubbing her breasts over each of our faces. bliss! and the conversations were fascinating -- one stripper said that most women who come in are scoping out a potential workplace or dragged in by men and tend not to engage, but another said that women customers are more able to have fun and interact (vs. the men who just sit there all stoic and predatory).

3. I wrote Cainslash (which is spoilery for Battlestar Galactica 2x10). why can't I just write fic all the time?? I have so many drabble ideas that I don't know what to do with myself. I cooked up an alphabet soup challenge so I can live vicariously through others -- any and all pimpage would be much appreciated. and aeonian is my WHORE at ficsforcharity, which leaves me just beside myself with joy. I'm all about the delegation of kinks and bunnies, yes.*

4. and now I bring you a mid-semester update on my TV-viewing habits -- because after all, TV is my LIFE. now with LJ communities!

the lineup
• dear lord, Bad Girls! I rather hate that I (and my ilk) are so predictable, but I was instantly head over heels for it. lesbians in prison = GUH TO THE NTH POWER. ergo I have adopted this popular sparklebunny icon, which is apropos. if you like dykes, run, don't walk, to netflix or tvtorrents or digital cable -- I'll bet you favors of your choice that you'll be hooked after approximately 2 eps.** if you're a girlslash writer, consider watching it to be a personal favor to me. so yes, I'm joining the mass exodus from SVU to badgirlsslash (fic) and the_pottingshed (drabbles) -- and I should really catch up on your writings there! (there's also badgirls_tv, but I'm concerned about spoilers, as the brits are up to season 7 -- don't spoil me!!)
• speaking of the devil, I'm pretty zen about the state of SVU.*** is it just me, or did Olivia's hair get rather shorter in the second ep and then go all shaggy again? the shorter I thought was bearable. meanwhile, the snarky meta (thank you, ob_fangrrl!) makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. and it was always a crap show whose primary pleasure beyond eye candy consisted in deconstructing its reactionary sexual politics, and that hasn't changed (count on svu_cort, though it's been quiet of late). mini rant: I love how gay men's sexuality is TV-friendly because it can be spectacularized as dangerous, edgy, and criminal, whereas lesbian sexuality is all about womyn rubbing gently up against one another in a frenzy of nurturing female bonding, and thus is clearly an inappropriate subject for TV drama. *fumes* I'm subbed to (and sporadically reading) svu100, lawandorderfic, casey_olivia (I'm unapologetic), and svu_rpf for fic, and taking over olivia_mariska_ is a pet project.
• ( and the rest )

it was supposed to rain all weekend (hurricane Ophelia hit the Atlantic coast last thursday). instead, it was absurdly sunny and gorgeous and warm (with cooler nights).

this is to say (if the allegory is too subtle) that Dark Odyssey is a magical place.

there's a temptation to say something gushingly utopian about it, but it's not a space I want to idealize. issues of race and class and gender oppression don't disappear with sexual openness, and they're present at DO in palpable ways. along with the more mundane dose of clueless straight men (no offense) and bad boundaries and (more passively) people whose kinks and practices I don't particularly relate to -- the usual challenges of a pansexual (vs. a queer) environment. nonetheless, I was very conscious of how DO, as a community, is able to set aside in one fell swoop a crushing weight of disciplinarity that circumscribes our bodies and subjectivities under patriarchy. I know that sounds polemical, but I absolutely mean it. the honesty, generosity, validation that appear when you take away socially regulated ideas of what is public and private, what bodies are supposed to look like and do and feel, is profound. I had many moments last weekend where someone would say /do something that's completely nonsensical or inappropriate by RL standards, and I'd laugh and think "only at Dark Odyssey!" I mean, it's a life that looks absolutely bizarre from the outside -- except that I feel powerfully and instinctively that it's RL that's bizarre in comparison, that DO is the way the world *should* be. I know that most people (even most of the enlightened ones) aren't ready to be exposed to this sort of immersion, because it is intense and alien -- but it still makes me sad that *everyone* doesn't get to have this experience.

I am wildly inspired on every level of my being. I really reconnected with the fact that my alternative sexuality is the core of both my political and intellectual work, was reminded that in this very media-focused department it's easy to get drawn away from that (it's unfortunate I don't have an advisor who's a hard core queer theorist -- but one can't have *everything* in a grad program). so I'm recommitted to finding a coherent way to link online fandom (my presumed diss topic) to the broader questions of sexual politics in a mediated culture. this is not as distant as it may sound -- a lot of the issues I'm interested in are particular to the internet's reconfiguration of public/private and to sexuality as a basis for community and action, neither of which is foreign to fandom. but in my undergrad thesis I relied on a naive optimism about fandom as a political practice, so I'm going to have to find a more complex and extended route through this nexus. I even came up with a netart project I want to do with wetheaudience.org yesterday -- but I was sleep deprived and it may be stupid, so it's sekrit until I get a chance to think it through. just, DO made me feel like a superheroine, like I'm brilliant and beautiful and absolutely invincible. I'm behind now and have way too much on my plate, but instead of being stressed I'm energized and determined and have so much to SAY.

and also wonderful people, old and new. the best way I've come up with to describe DO is that it's a family reunion -- for my leather family! and I met butterflywing...

*

in non-DO news, cabenson wins the PRIZE of her choice (I'm assuming this will involve naked ladies) because she generously sent me the S.1 DVDs of Bad Girls! thanks CB -- I can't wait to watch them!! and I've promised to get them on bittorrent sometime soon (as soon as I work out my own ongoing DVD-burning problems).

also, I was emailed a new mindmap for some reason -- and I'm all encircled by my SVU girls! is it based on comment volume or amount of mutual friends, I wonder?

( mindmap )

1. after one day of worrisome procrastination (sunday), I finished my conference paper without precipitating a crisis or visiting great suffering upon myself.

this is a milestone. *pats self on back*

I'm not particularly happy with it, and I've given it to some folks to look over in hopes of revising it before the big day (give a holler if you're willing to be one of them) -- but at least I've got something presentable (it's only a few minutes over the time limit, too).

more abstracts to write now, asap, but conferences are fun so this is of the YAY.

2. giantessmess and I have decided to effect a silent takeover of the otherwise defunct fan community olivia_mariska_ (entitled "Olivia Benson/Mariska Hargitay") for Olivia/Mariska slash. write some! post it! crackfic is part of this complete breakfast...

and, apparently my life will not be complete until I see Bad Girls? and it doesn't seem I can download it. soooo, I gotta vicariously netflix it sometime, I guess, or borrow it. (which reminds me I'm also supposed to borrow Firefly.)

3. I seem to have successfully kicked my compulsion to read EVERY Victoria's Secret catalog that shows up in my mailbox (1-2 per WEEK -- the poor trees). I love my salads (though my tendency to eat out on campus is a definite hurdle in my campaign of healthy eating). I went to the obgyn and dumped my therapist and signed up for a real live YOGA class. life feels under control and that is unimaginably good.

4. The Daily Bread, my neighborhood independent cafe, has apparently closed, leaving the Starbucks around the corner as the only study site in Wayland Square. le sigh. I feel guilty -- DB was only open till 4 (mostly a lunch place), so I didn't make it there all the time. but I had my beloved writing routine during finals: DB from 12-4 (including one of their delicious sandwiches), then Starbucks from 4-I couldn't stand it anymore. on the bright side, there's a new "Italian cafe experience" open on Thayer st., which has real espresso and yummy panninis and most importantly homemade GELATO. may not be the best place to study but at least it's open lateish (unlike all other cafes on campus except for Tea Luxe and the other Starbucks).

5. photo meme: due to a lack of inspiration, phoneposting is now taking REQUESTS. comment with anything in my Providence life that you'd like to see with your very own eyes, and me and my cameraphone will do our best to oblige.

doppelganger slash meta

*

in honor, of theholyinnocent, aeonian, and me, here it is:
MAULITA: Chronology of a No-Good, Very Bad Pairing

• theholyinnocent, who is a self-described smart-ass, wrote an Oliva/Maureen soap opera. I egged her on. (see my memories for the rest of the soap saga)
• I took the joke seriously [still gotta rewrite that last line]
• aeonian took it one/two steps further (note her link to a mention of Abbie/Maureen in heathers' story)
• theholyinnocent wrote the tour de force
eta: and then I bribed giantessmess into writing about the aftermath

and that's how slippery slopes work, folks. did I miss anything?

eta2: and giantessmess has pointed me toward whole new vistas of Maulita! I'm very impressed by the discussion on TwoP (that being the beginning of the original and probably most extensive thread). I'm inspired to contribute, to elaborate further on why I sail the good ship Maulita, in a way I wasn't when I was just talking to those who already live inside my brain. but not inspired enough to actually write up that post -- so I'll leave you with the words of others, and these fics by skalaney which are linked therein: Sensory Overload / Similar Features

also, I'm mildly a-squee over the possibilities of Olivia/Kathy (is this what they mean when they write "Olivia/CK"? oh yeah, "Chemistryless!Kathy" :P), but that's another post...

*

and in honor of my conversation with the snobbishly literate theholyinnocent yesterday about "books I should read before I die," I'm doing this meme. since my days as a future english major I have gone off literature almost entirely, but thanks to my bookish formative years and typically canonical education, I don't think I did too bad.

Supposedly 101 books you "should" read. Bolded the ones I have read. Italicized the ones a) I've read part of (usually because I was assigned them in school) b) where I've read a different book by the same author c) where I've at least seen the play performed and d) where I think I've read at least part of them, if I recall, but maybe it's just that I saw the movie.

( Read more... )

1. I'm leaving for my three-week trip to europe on wednesday! so no cameraphone posts for the duration. email, don't call, if you need to get in touch. unless it's an emergency, in which case you can call my cellie for my mom's special number, or reach me at this hotel from July 5-15. I'll try to update ye olde eljay when I can (with pictures, even).

2. I haven't even thought about starting my conference paper, heh. I'm now planning to write it in the two weeks after I get back (which would still leave august "free"). the program for the trip itself, then, is to complete both my major fanfic projects: the BSG story (which is due july 1, eep) and the Janeway story. if I actually accomplish that, I should be in reasonable shape for the rest of the summer (which, in addition to the paper, involves perhaps three shorter things in RPFS and DH [not, I imagine, my anticipated magnum opus metafic], possibly indexing whkc's book, small revisions to another paper, and work on my tattoo -- plus seeing a whole gaggle of friends and a trip to michigan/canada/grandparents). so iamsab is beta-ing BSG, but I wouldn't mind a second reader, especially since I may need a quick turnaround to meet the deadline. any takers? it's Boomer - five things, girlslash. mandysbitch, can you look at Janeway when the time comes?

3. regarding SVU 6x19, my tekserve buddy reports that "Yeah, Law and Order did that shoot—in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY WHEN WE HAD CUSTOMERS AND WERE ALL TRYING TO WORK. It was a total circus, as you can imagine." hee! if only I were still working there -- I would have been mere feet from Olivia Mariska!!! I'll have to watch the scene again and look for people I know :) eta: they're everywhere! (including at least two hot dykes who work there -- see if you can spot them) CAPS

4. oooh, I'm on google scholar! my mind is boggled -- how does it know what's an academic paper??

5. ( some things I want )

it's really not an exaggeration to say that livejournal has changed my life.

I understand that I'm expected to do a sort of year-in-review thingy. for consistency's sake, I have chosen the non-flocked, non-picturepost entry that was closest to the 11th of each month.

if you really want to know what's been going on in my life in recent months, you could alternately go here, where I keep posts of note.

( 11 first lines )

well, that was edifying. I'd love to read all the vintage journal to dig up more gems... but I'm off to long island!

(just, dude, I'm catching up on the end of SVU's season, and I can't believe I didn't run across any squeeeeeeeage about "Let me be very clear Detective Benson, I'd be more inclined to have an affair with YOU" -- !!!!! seriously, the TV is talking to US. here, have some screencaps of our Bensonator's new giiiiirlfriend -- what was her name?)

( I do love a woman in uniform )

meeting virtual friends v. 2.0

eeeeeee, I met kellychambliss and boadicea for the first time! it was glorious. (mandysbitch, how jealous are you?! we talked about you...) well, I already knew they are brilliant, but also they are just delightful and gorgeous and my total RL OTP. there is something about fandom people that warms the cockles of my little heart.

I forced them (along with everyone else I've been to talking to lately) to discuss my

meta bunny

(if there is such a thing. I have one that just won't die.)

Being a West Wing and SVU fan has been difficult lately. Having two shows in S.6 (aka the SeasonofDoooooooom!) simultaneously does not bode well for my sanity. I am far more consumed with my anger than I should be (when Voyager got crappy in S.6 I took it in stride, you know? the contrived C/7 subplot didn't make me feel like I needed to storm the castle -- perhaps because the J/7 OTP is so obviously untouchable). Basically, all I have managed to do is confuse myself, so I have no brilliant conclusions to offer you here. But I'd like to collect my thoughts. Here's what I know:

( Faith Based Initiative [spoilers] )

( Olivia and Serena [spoilers] )

What do you think -- why are we so upset when the heterosexuality of characters like CJ and Olivia is asserted??

( the audience is watching you )