I've written and re-written this post a number of times, trying to remove the rage, hurt and anger emotions I've been experiencing since this debate started.

There have been people who have shocked and disgusted me by what they've said, from calling rape/abuse survivors "privileged" to outright insulting someone who bared her soul to explain that the issue regarding warnings is far different from being inconvenienced by clicking on a light-fluffy-bunny fic and encountering instead a bunny-fluffy-light fic. [Warning: Very explicit discussion of sexual assault and the nature, anatomy, cause & effect of triggers. Is itself triggery.]

So in response, I've attempted to pick out the most representative among the anti-warning/I warn only for X/warnings are fine, except when they're not comments, and answer them as unemotionally as possible . . . ( Read more... )

When we first found Tigger, he looked like a drowned rat. And even after getting him back from the vet, he was still scraggly looking. I don't want to get my hopes up too high, as he's still got a long way to go, but we have noticed some improvement. His coat is nice and shiny, and he's actually attempting to groom himself.

There's now a really handsome, though still shy, cat coming out -- which makes me even madder that so many people in this day and age still think animals are disposable.

. . . and they don't have to do anything with fandom.

I am so sad and angry at the moment.

Someone abandoned another kitten near the farm recently, and this one didn't luck out the way that the previous stray and her kittens did.

We saw him skulking around the horse barn on Saturday morning, dragging his hind legs behind him. He disappeared in the hay fields for a time. Eventually, I located him sound asleep, probably with exhaustion and fear, but he was inaccessible. (And because of the area, there's a very real possibility of rabies; so, we couldn't take the chance of just grabbing him and hoping for the best.)

I put out a Have-a-Heart trap with some cat food in it, and hoped that he would enter it. He must have done it either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, as I found him Sunday afternoon patiently waiting for rescue.

This little guy is an absolute love bug. As hungry as he was, he couldn't wait to tell us with vocal purring how grateful he was for rescuing him. We fixed him up a space in a large cage out in the garage (until checked for FeLV or FIV, we couldn't bring him into the house with the other cats), gave him a litter box and food, a warm blanket, and plenty of lovin'.

We got him a vet appointment this morning, and prepared for the worst. The good news was that he doesn't have FeLV or FIV. The bad news, however, is extremely depressing. The little guy was apparently hit by a car, which, according to the vet, shattered his back leg up at the hip. So, because of its location, it can't be treated by amputation, surgical pins or a cast.

As he is mobile and in relatively good spirits, we're going to do what's known as "benign neglect". Bring him back home, make him comfortable in an area where we can limit his movements (probably an extremely large dog crate), give him lots of TLC, and see how he progresses. From what we can judge, for about four to six months, he's pretty independent, but he'll be a special needs kitty. (As of this point, he is quite capable of feeding himself and using a litter box. So, it may just be his ability to be an especially mobile kitten/cat that will be impaired.) Of course, if things take a turn for the worse, we'll let him cross the Rainbow Bridge.

I'm just so sad over the little guy, and so mad that humans abandon hundreds of dogs and cats on a regular basis, and that so many of them wind up like this little fellow.

These are the days that make you doubt that we live in a benign universe.

Well, it looks like FanFiction.net is acting up again. So, what's new?

It seems that fic is now randomly appearing as centered.

And, unfortunately, I can't even fix two of my stories because I can't remember either the e-mail address or password for that account. (And it wouldn't help anyway as the e-mail server no longer exists either.)

Aaaargggh!

Well, I just confirmed my hotel reservations for Media*West.

Didn't realize that the Holiday Inn Lansing-South is now the Causeway Bay Hotel. (Of course, there's neither a causeway nor bay anywhere near Cedar Street.) So, it took me awhile to find the phone number for the hotel; this was one time when the internet wasn't much of a help, as it kept coming up with the wrong information.

I'd heard some folks complaining that they didn't get a room at the hotel this year, and that the hotel is under construction, with some parts of it closed off. Whether that's true or just gossip, I don't know. While the Day's Inn isn't the greatest, we'd stayed there in the past when we couldn't get a room, and at least it's got a microwave and a much larger refrigerator in the room. It's within walking distance during daylight -- I wouldn't recommend walking under that overpass in the dark, though -- and only about a two-minute drive from the con.

Since Hummingbird's is still apparently in the hotel, one can hope that Richard (the restaurant manager) is still there. He always tried to do well by the con.

I'm still somewhat ambivalent about attending this year. Maybe I'll feel more enthused as the date gets closer.

Despite all the rhetoric, the truth is, we're in a global depression that will likely get worse before it begins to get better.

As I struggle to return to the workforce following my own long-term illness, I can consider myself one of the lucky ones: I have a roof over my head and am able to pay my bills. But many aren't that fortunate.

Every day, there's a family losing their home, a child going hungry, or a pet being turned into a shelter (or worse abandoned). And every day, it's getting a little worse for someone else.

That's why I'd like to ask fandom to take a long, hard look at itself.

We in fandom do have a tendency to spend our money on silly things -- from bubble-gum cards to DVDs to fan magazines to replica robots. Some of us, of late, have had to tighten our belts and make the hard decision of whether our latest indulgence is really necessary.

For those who can still afford their newest fannish extravagance, would you also be willing to make a similar gift to your local food bank or animal shelter? Both are hurting badly -- and so many are closing -- your gift might help keep them going in this time of need.

And for those of us on a tight budget, we can still do our part. For example, switching to two meatless days a week, the money saved could be used to buy a case of soup or a bag of pet food. That gift might help any number of people or pets.

As fandom likes to refer to itself as a gift economy, it's time for it to be willing to truly put those words into real-world actions.

When the first posts started to appear on Metafandom concerning Dreamwidth, I was intrigued. Being curious (and totally outside the loop as far as most things fannish), I read with interest those posts discussing this revolution in online social networking.

( So, what have I learned: )

So far, I've only found two layouts that are remotely appealing to me.

This one by passing-girl comes closest to the clean, simplistic style I'm looking for. I'm presently trying to tweak colours and postioning. (My CSS fail, let me show you it.)

The second by grrliz, while not really what I want, is passable, and I've been using it for the past year or so. At this point, it's kind of boring, though; a little colour would be nice.

A clean, simple layout -- without a lot of garish, superfluous crap -- that's easy for me and any guests to navigate. Sadly, I have no CSS-fu.

I know next to nothing about Windows, except that it's probably the most insecure OS on the planet. Over the last year, I've come to loathe it, as I've had to help friends remove viruses, trojans, keyloggers, malware and spyware that they inadvertently downloaded on their computers.

For the Luddites among them: ( Read more . . .  )

I really had no intention of discussing Dreamwidth here, until at least after the open beta testing of 30 April and some of its results.

So, to limit the discussion, my only real question has to do with the Open Source nature of the project. Is Dreamwidth's being developed under Open Source really all that different from LiveJournal making its code available for use to other sites like DeadJournal, LostJournal, InsaneJournal, JournalFen, and the now-defunct GreatestJournal and LiveGerbil? Isn't the LiveJournal code, in effect, free for use and open for adaptation as well? Or have I missed something?

Now, on to the real reason for this post: ( Read more . . . )

I hate, loathe and despise American Idol and its ill-spawned progeny. It represents the epitome of the dumbing down of American television and the adulation of glitz (and not even quality glitz) over substance.

While it's still founded on the same principle (i.e. The Gong Show meets Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour), the UK's Britain's Got Talent is by far the better programme. On it, when talent is found it is recognized and respected, no matter its package. And this is driven home with the recent stand-out performance of contestant Susan Boyle.

If you haven't had an opportunity to catch Ms. Boyle's singing yet on YouTube, definitely find yourself a free ten minutes to watch her. And while there, check out another Britain's Got Talent discovery, Paul Potts.

Two people with enormous talent who wouldn't have been given the opportunity in an American culture obsessed with nip, tuck and botox.

I hate, hate, hate having tonsillitis.

My pædiatrician refused to remove my tonsils when I was little, and as an adult it's major surgery (and mega-bucks) to have them removed. So, I go from mild sore throat to inflamed sore throat to uncomfortable cold to bronchitis to hacking cough before recovery. It's in the bronchitis/hacking cough phase now, which means little sleep and trying to catch my breath after every coughing jag.

And my COBRA has expired; so, I can't even go to a doctor for antibiotics. (And under no circumstances will I take Cipro even if I could go; that stuff ruined my vision.)

At any rate, at least Spring will arrive -- and a lot sooner before we'll ever see socialised medicine in this country.

As I stated in this post, I don't often post to LJ. Like Mr. Ed, I don't talk unless I have something to say.

That's why it's surprising to learn that LJ has a "Nudge" button. For only $9.99 For just the cost of a PM, you, too, can bug your friends list members and beg them to post about their most recent cup of chai or what their early morning commute was like. Gee, how much fun!

LJ, if you really want to compete with the twits at Twitter, this isn't the way to go about it.

It's amazing (at least to me) that so many LJ communities have membership requirements demanding that applicants have a significant comment-to-post ratio and a substantial posting history within their own journals, otherwise face being rejected for failing to meet their arbitrary criteria.

Considering the amount of crap minutia some people post to their journals, is someone really less of a participatory netizen for not posting until they feel they have something worthwhile to say? Or should their flist be treated to daily updates about their morning Dunkin' Donuts ritual just to raise their posting history count?

I enjoy fandom and its various offshoots. But there's a lot of information out there to read and digest, and much of it of greater value and far more importance than discussing the latest fannish kerfluffle.

So, while my comment-to-post ratio and my journal posting history are very low, I do remain comforted by the aphorism: Better to be thought a fool, then to hit post and prove it.

As stated elsewhere, I love crossovers -- well, at least good ones. Among spin-offs, continuing series under a new name or with new actors, and very special episodes, there is precedent for them within the source material.

So, I was musing the other day about a comment I made at Fanfic Rants about several totally different series on different networks that were all inter-related based on canon. If one ignores the final episode of St. Elsewhere, which TV show canon actually crosses the most universes?

( Read more . . . )

Based on my viewing preferences, which tend to skew toward much older comedy and drama programmes, I'm not the audience that Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Family Guy are trying to attract.

( Read more . . .  )