Literally the funniest thing I have read about the Heated Rivalry tv show so far (thanks to the Rec Center newsletter last Friday):
"With Hockey RPF the fanfic was for the romance and the sex, the things canon didn't provide. But in Heated Rivalry canon does provide. So logic dictates that the fanfic is there to make them actually play hockey." - (from bluesky)
It's not just me who wants more hockey in the hockey romance!
(Heated Rivalry is still not legally available in the UK; HBO Max is launching in the UK in March, hopefully it'll include the show when it does.)
Meanwhile my Rick Riordan reading adventure has come to the end of the 10 (ten!) books I bought on Kindle a decade ago for no reason I now remember, so I have been wrangling the local libraries to get more. I'm officially off sick today with this stupid cough, and resting / reading a lot.
- I could be reading through the large pile of library Riordans ... but no
- I could be reading one of the other four library books I have out that are due back this week ... but no
- I could read one of the several books I already bought in December ... but no
- I could go wild and watch the episodes-so-far of Percy Jackson on Disney+ (challenge my inability to watch anything by myself!) ... but no
- I am actually reading a modern AU fanfic of Much Ado About Nothing and vaguely wondering about challenging my inability to watch anything by myself with the Tennant/Tate production
As you wish.
Don't think for one second that you can come down here, flash a badge and make me nervous.
None more black.
YOU DIRTY BIRD!
I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve.
You can't handle the truth.
I'll have what she's having.
Give me a big bag of that effin' pig feed and ten pounds of that bitchly cow corn.
Inconceivable!
You gotta ask me nicely.
I'm your number one fan.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Too much. There's too much fucking perspective.
Almost nothing has happened today, but that gives me a chance to talk about everything else that happened yesterday, hopefully before I forget.
I woke up and actually managed to get the train and tram to lift club. The last couple times I'd tried to make it there on public transport hadn't worked out, so it was nice to be able to make it. Especially because it's the last one of the year! At the end I gave George a hug that he said was so good it changed his life. "I'm a very enthusiastic hugger!" he said. "People aren't usually able to meet my energy!" But I guess I did. I love George, even if he does put me on a pedestal a little bit sometimes.
I got a lift home, with had the usual good chats with my pal D. I went right to Teddy's house to walk him, because our usual evening-walk had been swapped to morning walk this once. So this was not only the day that his human, Graham, was having his knee operation, he was having it as we were walking! I let Teddy lead me around the neighborhood for as long as I could but I had a big list of things to do so had to drag him home eventually. I had a good catch-up with Sylvia -- her sister was there, who is so effusive about how much of a help my household has been, aww -- but did have to scurry home so I could have a shower and be on to the next thing.
The next thing was D and I going most of the way to Liverpool to help a relative of V's who's cleaning out his mum's house. We've done this a few times and it's nearly done now. He'd saved me some apple-shaped dishes that I'd coveted the first time but left there; when I was looking through photos of the year for something parent-suitable I saw the photo of these dishes that I'd sent V in order to squee about them, and I was really sad that I hadn't taken them after all. I didn't expect them to have been put to one side for me but since they were I figured it was a sign and eagerly brought them home. They were greeted when I got here by
angelofthenorth who recognized them immediately and has a couple herself. It was nice to feel so validated in that decision!
D and I spent a long time at the recycling center, separating stuff out into the appropriate bins. I was stymied by what to do with all the food: all the half-finished bags and jars that a well-stocked home cook had -- the jars all labeled neatly and everything. It was sad to have to get rid of it all. In the process I cut my finger on a bit of broken glass and had to ask the staff for first aid: one employee shouted to another in the scousest accent I've ever heard: "Alex! This man needs to wash his hands! He's got an injury!" They also gave me a little wound-cleaning wet wipe and a band-aid so it was okay.
I got home and needed a nap because we were going out again that evening. To see Karkasaurus and Petrol Bastard, which was such fun even if there was so much dry ice I could taste it and it felt like I was in beginning-of-horror-movie levels of fog. And like I said D got his Loop earplug stuck in his ear, but V got it out today so that's worked out okay. We ran into a number of people that we know there, from different things -- sign of a good gig -- and might have been led astray for a completely extraneous pint afterwards, by this person and her girlfriend and their Welsh friend. Said person continues to be delightfully tactile around me in a way that usually doesn't get to happen absent some romantic or sexual interest, and it's utterly delightful.
And then we left them to their reckless ways and got an uber home just before midnight which is why I didn't have time to talk about all of this in yesterday's blog post!
I did well to be feeling as okay as I am today; I think the fact that I continue to get insomnia when I'm drunk, which at least means I can drink water while I'm awake, keeps the hangovers from being as bad as I've been led to expect in my forties!
After the (amazing!) support act Karkasaurus, we went back to the bar and the first thing D said was "I have got to improve my cardiovascular fitness." (I wasn't expecting this at all, so I burst out laughing.)
His ear plug came apart when he tried to take it out, and it's still stuck in his ear. I got to put a teaspoon of olive oil in his ear now that he's in bed, which might help it find its way out. Protecting your hearing is important, but what a nuisance this is!



The Dwarfie Stane, Orkney
A song that someone showed you:
I'm going to go with one that I saw one of my favorite reactors, Roscoe, react to this morning, "Save Me" by BTS. (He actually reacted to it some time ago, but there's a "Roscoe reacts to BTS video marathon going on and I dropped in just in time to see the music video from their early days, and to listen to the song.)
The tune has an extremely catchy hook, and I'm impressed by the fact that both the camera operator(s?) and the group members were working on ground that was partly shifting sand and still managing to both sing and dance (with some pretty complicated choreography) during a number of single-shot camera works.
I didn't enter Kpop via BTS, the way so many people, including those I've met through the Couch Crew discord community, did. I enjoy their music when I hear it, but I'm not Army (the name of BTS's fandom). Despite that, I can appreciate a well-written tune and some smart choreography, even when it's obvious the group and the producers didn't have much money which with to work. So here you go.*
* I thought about using "Spring Day," which was part of the reaction marathon, but it's pretty intense, with regard to its subject, and I didn't want to put that into the post.
Also, here's a link to Day 13 which in itself has a link to the previous 12 meme answers.
I have finally put in my I-90 application for a renewal of my Green Card into to Citizenship and Immigration, along with the $415 it costs to start the process. That's a lot of money I could do a lot of things with, but I need to remain legal in this second country of mine, so one bites the bullet when one has to. Sigh.
I'm happy, though; I'd been putting this off because for some reason I had convinced myself that it was going to be a lot more difficult than it was. Somehow, I geared myself up enough to tackle the job and - surprise - it wasn't all that difficult. There are further things that I'll probably have to do; get my picture taken again, since the picture on my current card was taken a decade ago, and possibly have some biometric information taken. I don't know if all of that will involve further money heading the goverrnment's way, but I wouldn't be surprised.
The one thing that truly disgusted me when I went to the CIS home page on the .gov website: up at the top, in very gaudy gold, was an advertisement for That Man's credit card. I fucking kid you not. I have no words.
Still, I did what I'd been putting off. I adulted! Huzzah!
I don't know how many people in my Dreamwidth circles are from OG science fiction fandom; those who are there may know this. Other people, especially those who aren't familiar with OG science fiction/fantasy fandom, will undoubtedly not be aware that the world lost an amazing man last night/the early hours of this morning.
Arthur Hlavaty, one of the most brilliant people it was my honor to know and communicate with, died unexpectedly, leaving his spouse Bernadette Bosky and co-husband Kevin Marony bereft. Even though Arthur was 83 and had been in poor health following a broken hip many months ago, no one expected him to leave this circle of the world so soon. He was Supergee on LJ and on Dreamwidth, where he should still be, dammit.
I am fairly certain that I have known, or at least known of, Arthur since the mid-1990s Usenet days of rec.arts.sf.fandom. When he responded to anything I posted, I was proud of having said something worthy of his notice. I once wrote a defense of good politicians/government officials that he acknowledged might have moved the needle slightly from his mostly cynical view of both. I was quietly over the moon at that immense praise. He was kind, wry, gentle about much of life and merciless about fools. He was very deaf, and thought that popular music ceased being good after about 1966. I occasionally twigged him about that, and he was able to reply in kind. Bob and I were lucky enough to have a meal with Arthur around 2002 during a Minicon. He was as impressive in person as he was on the printed page or pixel.
He was a ... well, the best description of Arthur comes from Arthur himself, although this is also useful. His personal zines Nice Distinctions and Derogatory Reference were two I always was happy to receive in the mail and I treasure his occasional letters to me. Oddly, or sadly, enough, I dug up a Nice Distinctions from my files about three days ago so that I could find Arthur's Bernadette's and Kevin's physical address. I mailed my holiday card to the three of them last night. Less than 12 hours later, he died.
I cried out this afternoon when I read Bernadette's announcement. The world is darker today.
I was so tired after work I had a nap. Didn't notice D texting to say dinner is ready. He came upstairs to see how I was doing...and now is asleep himself.
Life itself is rather weird, but I've had several days of weirdity beyond the usual. Here's at least one or two of them.
( Read more... )