Truly. Deeply. Madly

With all its free Kindle editions of classic books that Amazon is offering right now, there are a whole bunch I'd really like to snag whilst they are on offer.

Trouble is, I have an e reader, not a kindle. Moreover, I do not WANT a kindle, as I want to actually OWN the material for which I pay, not have Amazon able to decide to just delete it from the cloud and take it away some day. Also, I do not want a kindle because I do not want to support proprietary tech platforms designed by corporations with intent to become publishers -- that way lies tyranny, thanks.

So my question is this: How easy / hard / bloody unlikely / really a stupid idea IS it to read a kindle edition on a device which is not, in fact, a kindle at all?

Oh, Internet Oracle Which Knoweth All, Or At Least Hath A Pretty Good Idea Of Whence To Look It All Up -- tell me pretty please?

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* I am not going to Birka. I might be the only one of my local friends who isn't, but there you have it. I'm going to stay home, man the SACVAP hotline, harass the kitties, and do laundry instead. I'll leave the light on for y'all, I suppose.

* I am ridiculously in the mood to paint right now. This is possibly due to my having tripped and fallen headlong into A.C. Moore's clearance sale, and accidentally buying several new brushes. However, as I am also really and truly *trying* to focus on getting Tempus Fugitive underway, taking the time to transfer, stretch paper, and do all the masking is not really a sound use of my time. That's my muse for you -- I guarantee, if I were under commission for a painting, I'd be much more in the mood to write. That's just how that contrary little cock rolls, I'm afraid.

* I took Shotput (my desktop) to the Geeks yesterday. One of them plugged him in, started him up, and punched a few buttons before saying that in his opinion, Shotty had only fixed himself, and alarmed me in the process. He updated the video card, and another system or two, but said that otherwise, he checked out. So I took him home again. Plugged him in, hooked him up (by myself, unguided this morning, and yes, I am quite proud of myself for managing that, thanks,) only to find myself confronted with blackscreen/whiteletters again, while it declared that there was a Problem With One Of The Discs. *Sigh* So I am declaring weekly backups to be the mode from here on in to the moment my dear Shotput decides to eat himself, whenever that may be. (Bets on that being two days after expiration of warranty?)

* Against all my previous protestations, I am making another wedding dress. I swore I'd never do another after Tim and Kitty were married, and mostly it was because hers turned out so amazingly beautiful that I knew I could never repeat, or improve upon the creation. However, my dear WitchSister has asked, and I'm doing it. So now begins the sloper-design, the trim selection, and the assembling of the Gorgeous Fabrics toward the end of creating a dress she can wear once in her lifetime, and never regret. But, y'know, no pressure or anything.

* Yesterday's snow is sublimating into mist in the warm, wet air. It's very witchy outside; grey and damp, and rimed with stubborn white. Furry and vague about the edges, and pattering with water in drops and clumps from the eaves. A very poetic sort of day, but not one in which to forget one's vitamin D supplements, really.

* Dominus and I are struggling with housing issues for Boskone weekend. We both Really Want to Go, but with the hotel sold out, and us not in a position to get tickets comped (which is usually how we afford Arisia,) we're beginning to suspect we might have to make a day trip out of it in order to avoid crushing our budget under an unexpected hotel fee. This would be tough, given that one of the events I need to be there for; (the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading,) doesn't begin until 8. That would put us getting home sometime athwart midnight on Sunday morning, which... well, it's doable, but hardly conducive to a good con experience. Especially given that two of the folks we're really going to see, (omnisti and s00j,) will almost certainly be scheduled to the wall on Saturday, and unable to spare more than a passing hug. It also means no staying for Filk. At all. Filk would start WAY too late for us to make it back home alive without sleep before leaving. Ah well. No more grumbling. It'll either work, or it won't. Nobody dies if we can't go.

* All of the Faithful have got the Shoggoths. At the same time. The snot is EPIC, y'all! Also, I seem to have a minor Shoggoth invasion going on as well. Not too unmanageable, but I will admit that things are seeming a lot more... drippy in my head of late. Perhaps a minor exorcism and tea will sort them out. If not, I'll have to see about sacrificing a nice roast chicken to the cause; Elder Soup, y'know?

* Umm... nope. I got nothing else.
You?

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We're less than a month into 2012, and already I am Not A Fan.

Already this year, we've been hit with two highly suspect 'collection agency' issues, both for accounts we can prove that we've closed, but one of which seems to be through another company with the same name as the company I paid off -- indicating that they probably pulled a successful fraud on me back in the day, and are now going to cash in despite everything.

And then there's BofA, who did not close our account when we told them to, and have been using a loophole to rack up fees against us -- without notification, because they did not update our goddamned address when we told them to, and so all the notices have been going to the old house! We've called and told them to stop, that we meant it when we closed the account, and yet they're STILL trying to rack fees up, despite the 'under investigation' status of the account.
(and please, for the love of Ponies, do not preach at me about How We Did It Wrong here. We followed all of their directions as listed, and that should have been that, if BofA weren't a fucking psycho of a corporate citizen. This is not the time to condescend, my lovelies.)

And now, today, my desktop won't boot. Get's stuck in a loop between the inspiron startup screen, and the windows startup screen, and can't get out again. Now it happens that we've still got a warranty upon which we can fall back, but it's just another indication that the machine itself is not long for this world, and will probably eat itself irreparably before too long, and we can't afford to replace it. Dominus is next in line for a new machine, and has been waiting something like two years to replace the last one he had. It is, quite simply, not my turn, and I am not keen to jump the queue.

(On the good side, at least I found my iPod.)

Ok. That's enough griping. Time for me to go and see if I can scrape some order out of the chaos. Or wordcount, at least.

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No wordcount for today -- not because I didn't write, but because I didn't keep track of it. I had a visit from the dream faeries last night, and I spent today scrambling down what they sent me, and trying to knit it down to something resembling a conclusion. It's not there yet. But it's angling toward it, I think.

I spent too much time online today. That will want making up tomorrow.

I spent not enough time exercising today. I hand-waved all my push up reminders, did not go to yoga class, and instead of reading on the treadmill for an hour, I knit and watched The Mothman Prophecies this evening. The only saving grace was that I did not eat particularly egregiously. Nor did I particularly abuse caffeine. (For once.)

I have weighed out and split the skeins of yarn I got for my next two pair of socks, and because I never seem to learn, I have cast on the dark turquoise pair that are to be for my mother. She'll hate them, but she'll have a good time complaining about how they don't fit her, at least. And that the hell; it'll keep my hands from creating chaos whilst idle, at least.

Oh! And the gremlins have returned my iPod at last. It was in my knitting bag, where Dominus and I had both searched for it repeatedly already. I'm not complaining -- at least it's back, and intact! *Slaps vein with two fingers.*

So that's today.
Tomorrow will involve more words on TF, more exercise, more water, and more world dominion! Erm. I mean, more... fluffy kitties.
We could all use more Michael Fassbender holding fluffy kitties, right?
Right.

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The Breakfast
* Starbucks is doing better food now than they used to.
* They still don't quite know what to do when I order my coffee exactly how I want it... in English.

The Costume
* Again, no costume -- this was by design, as I knew I'd be spending three hours in a car come the evening. I made do with Representative Hopkins' coat yet again, and it held me just fine.

Collaborating Couples
* Dominus and I are, apparently, fully capable of holding down a full hour and fifteen minutes of this panel without a single other collaborating couple showing up.
* A whole lot of this topic wound down to; 'put the couplehood before the project' when all was said and sifted.
* And other soundbytes would be; 'Decide who's taking point, and who gets final say,' and 'don't take tactical and artistic disagreements too personally' and 'don't ragequit; take strategic breaks from the project when it gets stressful, but spend those breaks doing couple things.'

Setting as Character
* This was a really fun panel, and I'd been looking forward to it all convention long. It did not disappoint in the least. Erik Amundsen is a great mod, and he brought a lot of talk to the table.
* I never get quite enough time to just sit and talk with Greer Gilman, no matter how many panels we pass through over the years. She made me see Caliban in entirely a new light, and y'all KNOW how much I love that kind of thing!
* Yes, Hogwarts was mentioned, and we did conclude that the castle WAS, in fact, a She.

The Purchasing
* We'd just time enough to swing through the dealer's room and snag the swag we'd been eyeing over the weekend. Dominus got the RIGHT sort of pith helmet for his Dragoon's uniform, as well as his cat's eye cufflinks.
* I got... books. You're shocked, I know. Looking most forward to the new Jo Walton one, Among Others. Also, I was gifted with a creepycool one-eyed leather journal cover, just big enough to carry in my purse. Because my man knows me, that's why.
* I did not get any garments or jewelry this time out, though I was sorely tempted by a sarcenet crop jacket. Alas, it did not suit me quite ENOUGH to justify the expense.
* We did get props from the boothster who sold us the pith helmet when we for outed ourselves as Victorian Recreation costumers and NOT Steampunks. She seemed almost relieved to find folks that knew the difference, and offered to help track down some of Dominus' missing uniform furniture if we went out to her website.

Mainstream Fiction for Fen
* Next time you're on any such panel, dear, DO please ask someone in the audience to take notes for the benefit of those who won't remember half the suggestions once they get home!
* Note To Self: figure out what you were scribbling notes on for that panel, and find them before you completely forget everything you'd meant to look up when you got home!
* *That* fan, like *That* anybody, has a whole lot to do with a person's sense of entitlement. When a person cares far more for what they want to do and say and get and see than they care for the rights, comforts, or cares of those around them, they become *That* fan. This includes fans who raise their hands for a question and then proceed to monologue for five minutes so that the mod must either surrender the panel, or else shut them down.
* I have no idea how *That* fan did not get outright offended when I shut her down. I was pretty tired; I'm sure I couldn't have been all THAT tactful.

The Drive Home
* Nothing to report, Captain. Except...
* Where the HELL's my iPod got to, y'all? It was plugged into the car and playing when we pulled into the house, but somehow between that moment, and our getting all the gear schlepped in, it's gone and pisadeered. Have you any idea how hard it is for me to live without my Bete Noire? She IS a first world problem, but she's MY first world problem, and I want her BACK!!!

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Dear Sir,

I understand you are currently considering opening an investigation into the actions of Wall Street, and its impact on the current economic crisis. Given that I consider myself personally invested in the outcome of such an investigation, I believe it's fair for me to tender my impressions to you, the elected leader of our People.

What the Wall Street profiteers have done to the economy of this country is nothing short of treasonous. They have deliberately undercut the value of every single real property in which humans can trade, and made traditional ownership a game of Three-Card-Monty.

They deserve the kind of treatment that's been handed out to the protesters who have sought to hold them accountable for their crimes, not to be given immunity from the consequences of their actions. They deserve jail time, they deserve criminal records, they deserve the kind of uncertainty their profiteering has inflicted on all those who are unlucky enough to have consciences in this nation, and to play by the rules as written. They do not deserve golden parachutes and billion dollar hoards squirreled away in foreign banks. They do not deserve to be protected from the consequences of their actions by the very Government which they have so carelessly undermined.

Renew our faith in your Presidency, Sir. Make good on the grass roots who came through to put you in office -- protect OUR interests for once, and prove that you care about us. Renew our faith in the idea that enemies of the people do get punished for the full extent of their crimes -- even if they happen to be white, male, and wealthy. Prove to us that real citizens' rights matter to you more than corporate citizens' profit margins.

Don't let us down, Sir. We know the GOP won't even bother with such an investigation -- They have made their allegiances clear here, and they do not stand with the citizens who have actual heartbeats. You are our only hope for justice or reparation in this matter. You're our only hope for the prohibitions that made it impossible in the 30's to be put back into place... for a generation, at least, until people forget, again, why they were passed to begin with.

You're counting on us this November, Sir.
We're counting on you right now.
Don't let us down.

Sincerely,
Catt Kingsgrave

((Move-On Petition to President Obama, requesting investigation into Wall Street and Big Bank fraud))

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The Breakfast
* The buffet breakfast is, in fact, very pricy. That said, it's hands down the best buffet breakfast I have ever encountered, bar none. It wanted only an omelet bar to make it perfection, but even so it was pretty gorramn amazing. Blintzes, cold cuts, hot food line, a selection of smoothies, yogurt, fresh fruit... yeah. All the Good Things.
* Except for the Starbucks coffee they served. It had been scorched in the brewing, and left to sit too long, and so it was acidic and bitter, and just all out nasty.
* Luckily, we still had our Coffee Fairy in the room, ready and willing to brew properly.

The Costume
* I didn't bother. Between sore feet from the day before, and total lack of sleep the night before, I just did not have the humor for ruffles and flounces. Instead, I just grabbed the colonial coat I'd made for my character in 1776, and threw that on over my jeans and t shirt.
* Dominus, however, did go in costume. He wore his new sharkskin grey suit with a rich plum shirt, and a tie in jewel tones of plum, orange, and sapphire. He was terrifyingly hot, really. Especially given that one of his panels -- the one on city design, -- took place in a boardroom, and the other panelists made him sit in the CEO's spot.

The Backup Project table
* When one is trying out a new crochet pattern, and one has put it aside for several weeks, picking it back up again when one is manning a public interaction table? Not such a good plan.
* It keeps on surprising me how many people stop, and genuinely have to ask what the project is all about -- even with the flyer sitting right there on the table.
* It also keeps on surprising me how few of them decline to take the challenge on, once it's explained to them. Now, whether they actually follow through? Who knows. But they at least give it a moment's thought, which before, they might not have done at all.

Use Your Words: Dialogue, Prose, and Tone
* This one was great -- Our panel was made up of prose writers, poets, scriptwriters, and actors. This spread of experiences was probably the best possible way to approach this topic, and I'm glad I got to participate.
* Harlan Ellison's public behavior continues to be a pretty universal joke-butt in the convention circuit. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, really.

Midafternoon slump
* There is no point in even trying to recall how I filled my time on Sunday. Fatigue poisons were entirely in command at that point, and I was rather a zombie through most all of it. I think Sunday was when we managed finally to see the art show and dealer's room.
* Both Dominus and I need to get our ducks into a row earlier next year with regard to the art show. Several of the entries were photography, and I've still got a few thousand gorramn prints to move out of my way -- If I don't display those, I might as well just burn the damned things.
* Cufflinks are beginning to be easier to find, but still not quite as ubiquitous as they ought to be, given the steampunk craze going on now.
* Sky blue cat-eye cufflinks set in bronze however? Really quite sharp.

The Reading
* I'd been shoehorned in at the last minute, due to computer fail and attention fail, and so I tried to go last, in hopes of giving the other two readers plenty of time for their stuff. This did not actually work out as well as expected.
* Having no shame whatsoever is a benefit when one is trying to shill up a crowd from the lobby/atrium, and get butts into seats for one's reading. Also, being willing to stop strangers and tell them where to go...
* I did not watch faces when I was reading from One Saved to the Sea, but I got chuckles at the right spots, and I didn't hear anybody leave in the middle, so I'm pretty sure it went over well.
* Must, as soon as I get a release date on it, get cracking on the marketing for One Saved. At least a couple of the audience made a point of asking that I let them know when they could get the whole thing properly.

The Evening
* scifantasy had a good idea, sending me to my room to get some sleep. I really should have taken it. That would have been smart.
* That said, I did get some more time to hang out and chat with slipjig while I was supposed to be sleeping.
* Also, I ate. Something. At some point. Not sure I recall exactly what, but I must have done, or I'd have been far more bitchy, and possibly have eaten a free-range toddler.
* I didn't accidentally eat a free-range toddler and forget about it, did I?

Fan Ettiquette: How Not to Be *That* Fan
* This turned out to be more of a campfire kind of setting than a proper panel, as we had barely any audience at all until about halfway through.
* Panelists consisted of radio personalities, professional tv/film actor, and me, with a toe in just about every angle of fandom, plus rape counseling cred.
* Audience members included management staff, caterers, con-staff, security staff, and at least one who came ready to admit to having been *that* fan, but got better.
* Even on a panel like this, I still wound up having to countermand a bit of rape apologism, when the topic of women cosplaying Mistique or Poison Ivy came up, and the suggestion was aired (from the panelist, no less,) that they should have to expect trouble if they chose to wear such outfits. I like to think I didn't crush any toes when I was putting that stinker out, but I was so tired by then that I cannot really tell.

No Sh*t, There I Was: Oral Storytelling
* Apparently I will not skip panels when I'm the mod. Not even when I'm running on fumes, and the panelists are not only better-than-competent, but probably ready to do it unmoderated and have a blast. Stubborn, me.
* Third wind = lifesaver!
* hotspurre, whom I asked to crash the panel when I wasn't sure anyone was going to show up that late on a Sunday, is a great panelist on topics like this, and he should be on Arisia Programming next year.
* Panel lineup: Three Scadian bards, a novelist, a classically trained radio host, and me. All showed up -- a miracle! Even better, we were outnumbered by our audience too, who not only listened, but asked questions and engaged in the answers.
* Apparently it's no trouble at all to fill an hour and a quarter with shop-talk when you get this many performers in one place.
* Having nobody to whom we needed to yield the room afterward, all the storytellers agreed to take stage and give a short example of their craft for afters. I told the story of Jim Hammel nutting himself on the carved figurehead of Eagle's Crossing when he tried to leapfrog it while running naked around the fairesite and howling at the full moon. It seemed to go over well.

The sleeping
* Lunesta makes up for a multitude of sins. Without it, I'd have been TOO exhausted to sleep, and would probably have spent Monday either chewing on the limbs of those unwise enough to come into reach, or else randomly bursting into tears.
* That said? The bed was still too damned soft.

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The Costume
* When will you remember that you must finish messing with your boots BEFORE you get laced into your corset, you silly bint?
* When using batshit-slick satin for a cravat, you really must double knot it at your throat, or else you WILL be messing with it all through your first panel.
* Put bustle-gussets in the back of your brown waistcoat, so it will lie straight at your sides, you ninny!
* And next time you make a whole new gown for a convention, MAKE SURE SOMEONE WITH A CAMERA SEES YOU, AND RECORDS THE DAMNED EVENT!!! No pics, so the red-and-brown ensemble might as well never have happened. Alas...
* However? Much and vast Hat-Love this day. It was, in fact, very stimulating being my hat.

The Breakfast
* The green room staff didn't put a lot of effort into breakfast foods. As I understand it, they were dumped into place at the last minute, and so had to do a lot of improvising in order to feed us at all. Still, it couldn't help but be a disappointment.
* That said, mashed-up hard boiled eggs with a dollop of mustard, and some salt and pepper made a halfway decent refuelling stop.
* A chunk of styrofoam from the side of the cup is virtually impossible to find by sight alone when it's been mixed into the mashed-up eggs and mustard one is eating for breakfast. Luckily, texture and mouthfeel of styrofoam are TOTALLY DIFFERENT to mashed-up eggs and mustard.
* Having a roommate who's willing to make GOOD coffee in the room so we don't have to drink Starbucks swill is a really Good Thing, in my book.

Character Building
* One of the best things about Arisia is how many disciplines of character creating artists show up to speak on these sorts of panels. This one had traditional authors, as well as game designers, and improv actors, and screenplay writers on.

Magickal Traditions: A Review
* It will never not be fun spooling string theory and quantum mechanics into a discussion of the supernatural. Never. Ahh, I love the smell of cooked brains in the morning... Smells like Theoretical Physics, and ectoplasm!
* I hadn't realized before this panel just how much of my Priesthood is caught up in providing and creating Temple Space. It seems to be a Thing with me though; I create the place where witchkin feel they can come, and bring their magic with them. Odd how that escaped my notice all this time.

Sexual Harassment and Assault in Fandom
* No matter how many times, year after year, we hold this panel, there always is something new to talk about. Some new way to say it so that people who didn't get what we were saying before Get It Now.
* No matter how many times, year after year, we hold this panel, there are always a lot of people who come to hear it. And they are NOT always the same faces.
* Somehow there's always a creeper who comes to the panel too. Someone who seems to be there in order to suss out the competition to his hunting ground. Ick.
* This year was the first time we had egregious Culture Fail though, in the form of TransFail from someone in the audience recounting a personal story that they probably never thought twice about. I was still trying to get my tongue wrapped around the proper means to call 'foul' when onebrightroad spoke up, far more tolerantly and kindly than I was gearing up to do, and set the girl straight.
* For the record; claiming to be a Transwoman in order to turn off a creepy guy who won't leave you alone at a club is a Bad Idea on several levels. First, it puts you MORE at risk for a far MORE violent attack than the creepy guy might have tried on you before -- think Brandon Teena. And second, treating any marginalized population as a convenience to get you out of trouble is not something you make a joke out of in public later. It's not something to be done lightly at all, and while I will allow that assault victims may do whatever they feel necessary to survive the attack, someone flirting with you in a club is Not The Same. And it's probably not a solid reason to make use of, and make a joke of people who go through a hell of a lot of expense, angst, disillusionment, and trauma to try and feel comfortable in their own skins. Transpeople are not jokes, and they are neither convenient excuses, nor handy masks to slip on when it suits you. They are real people who are raped and murdered in higher numbers than just about any other population demographic. Educate yourself before even considering such a thing, please, and I think you'll find pretty quickly that you don't want to play that way.

The Dinner
* Scheduling meals for in-between-times is the way to go.
* The pub makes excellent mac n cheese.
* Trying to get into the only restaurant right at prime dinner hour is NOT the way to go.


Mud and Blood: The Grittier Side of Fantasy
* Whoa, did I ever have the wrong idea of what this panel was about! I went in thinking we'd talk about how the past was just NOT a sanitary place. Instead, we spent the time defining Dark Fantasy. Which I could roll with, but talk about an abrupt change of headspace!
* Genevieve Iseult Eldridge is probably the only person I know who can pull off cosplaying the lead from Sucker Punch. I'm jus' sayin...
* For me, what makes the difference between Dark Fantasy and Torture Porn In A Fantasy Setting, is that the Dystopian element resolves in some way or other over the arc of the story. If things are just as bleak, or worse, at the end of the story, then it's not Dark Fantasy in my book, it's Torture Porn In A Fantasy Setting, and I have no use for it. If I want to see Torture Porn, I can watch FoxNews and get far more than anybody should be able to stomach.

The Parties, part 2
* That was the night that the lights went out on Barfleet... (Unless it was Sunday. Was it Sunday? I so can't remember...)

The Not-Sleeping
* Note To Self; no, you don't like using your sleeping pills for two nights running. I get that. Narcotics are nothing to trifle with. HOWEVER! Spending six hours on a too-soft bed, in a too-warm room with three other people SLEEPING at you does not render you a Smiling Sunbeam for your jam-packed day of panel shenanigains the next day. In fact, it makes you rather psychotic. Just Take The Damned Pills!
* Also; never, EVER forget to bring advil or tylenol to a convention again. EVER!

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So the Mob rose up and told the Emperor, "You can fuck with the bread, man, but don't you DARE fuck with the circuses!"

And what I want now, is to speak to each of these lawmakers, and lay an alternate anti-piracy strategy out for them. Instead of laying traps for the footsoldiers, why don't they try taking a crack at the Generals who made it all possible? If they care so much about the economic impact of piracy, then start at the source -- focus their attention on bringing to justice the corporations which designed, released, marketed, and profited from the pirating software, and since they are 'citizens' now by US law, or as good as, put THEM in jail for stealing from ... themselves.

See how long the lobbying lasts once lawmakers start asking who REALLY profits from the pirating shell game, because the same corporate 'citizens' who are now gnashing their teeth over the failure of SOPA/PIPA were the ones responsible for the pirating software to begin with. And if they didn't want it used like that, why the hell did they put it out at all?

Unless entrapment was the goal all along.

Of course, if I had the attention of all those lawmakers I really think I'd bring up other topics before this censorship debacle -- the latest end-run around posse comitatus and due process being major contender for first in the cue, -- but I suspect the Mob would be too busy playing Angry Birds to back me up on any of that...

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The Drive
* It's just not possible to get out before noon on Leaving Day. Especially when Dominus schedules a haircut into the bargain.
* Whiteout driving in the Catskills will make you late to your first panel of the day.
* Raol Julia as Mack the Knife is kind of awesome.

Corsets, Hoops, & Other Undergarments
* Must find a source for metal crate-strapping. That stuff looks BRILL for hooping material!
* Very few costumers out here seem to be conversant in pillow-bustles. For no good reason I can fathom. Perhaps because they're too easy?
* I might be more interested in the connections between sociopolitical history and fashion than any other costumer in my area. (Note to self; I will not bore the audience, I will not bore the audience, I will not bore the audience, even if the connection between the corset as we currently know it, and the French Revolution IS inseparable...)
* It really is worthwhile to try and make it to your costuming panels IN COSTUME. I couldn't this time, and I really felt it affected my cachet badly.

The Exiled Character
* I love listening to Bob Khun speak. The man's an audiobook reader for a reason!
* Sonya Taaffe has an aMAZing memory for character's names and book titles. I think we were all in more than a little awe of her.

The Partying (Pretty sure that was Friday night... I think...)
* scifantasy can echolocate room parties, even if they're not the ones we'd thought we were looking for. It's like his mutant power or something, really. I stand in some awe here -- if you need a con party to attend, he'll be the one to dowse it out for you.
* The homebrew mead in the Viking Party was a little on the sweet side, but awesome all the same. And more alcoholic than it tasted. But wa-hey! No sulphides to make my dose swell glosed.

The Filking
* Hanging out in the lobby and tunebanging with slipjig is one of the highlights of the con, and I mean to see it happens more often if possible.
* I have a surprising breadth of repertoire, even when I leave most of my books upstairs in the room. I know more songs than I think I know. Who knew?

The Rooming
* Next time, discuss bed allotment with roommates up front, especially if you do care which bed you get.
* Also, for the good of all, remember which side of the bed you actually do sleep on! Dominus' epic snoring is no good for anybody, really.

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What HE said.

Also: SPORFLE!!



(Grr... Argh!)

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So.

( I'm beginning to think the only reason Mandala House has not burned to the ground around us already might be pure loyalty on her part... )

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Yerp! It's that time of year again -- the time when Catt can do little more than sew, pack, fret, and talk about her panel schedule!

So let's get the schedule out of the way, shall we?

Friday:
5:30 -- Corsets, Hoops, & Other Undergarments: That'll be as it says on the label, I'm pretty sure. For myself, I'll be bringing scans, and a Very Fluffy Bustle. I'll leave the corsets to other folks this time.
7:00 -- The Exiled Character: Again, what it says on the tin. Only they've writ me in as the Moderator for this panel, so you never know what I'll get up to once the power goes to my head. (Note to self: have div-head look up the word 'moderation' in dictionary AFTER the con! Also, no bodies!)

I'll be doing lots of hanging out on Friday, seeing as how I'm not scheduled to the wall this time. So; wanna hook up?* Drop me a comment. Also, there will most likely be filking that night. BeCAUSE; that's why!

Saturday:
11:30 am -- Character Building: This is in the writing track, so y'all can expect to hear me espousing the virtues of Stanislavsky Character Writing Method. I'm just like that.
1:00 pm -- Magickal Traditions: A Review: I'll be there representing the 'Make Shite Up' tradition...
5:30 pm -- Sexual Harassment and Assault in Fandom: We'll be going over what it is, what it looks like when it presents itself in fandom, and what to do about it, whether you're the target, or a bystander. Or a perpetrator.
10:00 pm -- Mud and Blood: The Grittier Side of Fantasy: This will be where I express what an utterly FILTHY place the past was.

Again, probably there will be filking. But there might also be dancing, or possibly hooking up/hanging out in the bar, depending on DJ, bartender, and potential flirt-targets.

Sunday:
12:pm - 2:pm -- I'll be manning the Back Up Project table. For those of you who don't know what the Back Up Project is, come find me at the table, and I'll explain it.
2:30 pm -- Use Your Words: Dialogoue, Prose, and Tone: Another writer's craft panel. And again, pretty much what it sounds like on the label. No sparse prose for me, thank you!
7:00 pm -- READING! I'll be doing a selection from One Saved To The Sea, which will be coming out from Circlet Press sometime this coming year. Spring. I'm going to say it'll be out in the Spring. I'll let you know if I'm mistaken.
10:00 pm -- Fan Etiquette: How Not to Be *That* Fan: We know him, we fear him, and sometimes, despite the best of our intentions, we are him. Come hear us discuss the field identification notes for *That* Fan. I predict highlarious and slightly skeevy stories.
11:30 pm -- "No Sh*t, There I Was!": Oral Storytelling: Who in the world put this panel so late? Ah well. Assuming the panelists and/or audience shows up, we'll have a good time anyhow.

No filking for me on Sunday night, I fear. Instead, I expect there will be sleep, because I have a panel to be at on...

Monday:
10:00 am -- Collaborating Couples: Working with the one you fuck, and not killing them. Yeah, it's about that.
11:30 am -- Setting as Character: From Hogwarts, to the House, there are fantastic places that drive the plot as much as any characters within them. There will be a quiz afterward, to see who can correctly spell Gormenghast.
2:30 pm -- Mainstream Fiction for Fen: Again, they're giving me the Button! The Shiny! Red! CANDYLIKE! BUTTON!!!

After that, I go home.
MWAHkisses!

Now, the rules:
* If you're going to touch me, arm, shoulder, waist, or anywhere, make sure and get my attention first. This will make it less likely that I'll swing on you in alarm. My purse is heavy, my elbows sharp, and I get hypervigilant in crowded public situations. I will be sorry I hit you afterward, but I'm sure we'd both rather you didn't get hit at all.
* I like flirting. It's fun, and I'm quite good at it. However, I do not do hookups. At all. I will flirt like a pub-wench, but that does not mean I'm going to get naked with you, or, in fact, with anyone whom I do not know quite well. If we have amazing chemistry, then I'll really enjoy getting to know you, and going on several dates before the topic of pantslessness will even be set onto the table. I am bi, poly, and kinky, but I am NOT easy.
* If I'm brusque, snappish, or rude to you, please just call my attention to it, and ask what I meant before getting hurt, if at all possible. I might be having a sugar crash, I might be quietly freaking out about too many people and not enough space, and I might just be having a case of Sagittarius hoof-in-mouth disease, and not have realized whereon I trod. It happens. I would far rather set something like that straight at once than have to circle back through a months-old welter of hurt feelings to figure out what happened.
* If you want to sing with me, have a drink with me, hang out with me, or fansquee with me, by all means do so! That's what cons are for.
* It's ok if you step on my train. Everybody does it. No, really. Everybody.
* Yes, you may take pictures of me when I'm in the halls in costume, or when I'm sitting on a panel. No, you may NOT take pictures of me when I'm eating, or drinking, or making out with someone. Please be courteous with your cameras.

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1305352.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Take a moment with me for a little thought exercize; Imagine, for just a little while, how different our world would be if sex was not 'dirty'. If it never had been. If, at no time in our physical or social evolution, had anybody bought into the idea that sex was anything more than just sex -- no mythology, no power transfer, no shame, no glorification, just sex. Could there even BE rape culture if sex meant nothing more than its own act to us as a species?

Imagine how much would be different. Would you even recognize the laws? The clothing? The music? The architecture? Anything at all?

Thanks to olivetree for dropping this notion across my bow. It's really kind of fascinating to imagine it.

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1305101.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

</tr>

Read on	Title	Author	Genre	Pages	Stars
December 9	One Corpse Too Many	Ellis Peters	Historical Mystery	Audio	***
December 5	The Victorian Underworld	Donald Thomas	Historical Reference	346	*****

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1305029.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

No, really; I began my very first foray into blogging exactly ten years ago today, on the urging of my girlfriend, Amy. She'd told me about this shiny new thing called LiveJournal, and given that I knew I would be leaving Texas for New York within three months, it seemed to me like it would be a great way to keep in touch.

Wow, the things that have changed since then...

jenna_thorn was my gateway drug into HP fandom by way of sending me links to hysterically funny and hawt HP/Discworld crossovers, and then amanuensis1 really drove me into the clinic by mentioning the holiday fic-trade that sort of began them all for HP fandom, Merry Smutmas.

I have met friends over the past ten years online, and have lost them. I have been given astonishing amounts of trust, and loyalty, and have been betrayed and played for a fool at other times. I have been celebrated, derided, slandered, fangirled, and most importantly of all, I have been taught by this amazing community of folks I've met on LJ, and its later iterations of IJ and DW. You have induced growth in me for which the Catt of ten years ago would never have realized a need.

And for that, and also ten years of absolutely amMAZing smut, I celebrate you.

Slainte, LJ, and all its clones.
Thanks for changing my life!

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1304320.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

A Brat and his Git
By Catt Kingsgrave, with sincerest apologies to filkertom, who wrote A Boy and His Frog with much nobler intentions than this, I'm sure...

Life is unfair, so you told me,
You always thought I didn't know.
Everyone else saw their Savior
You saw right through the whole show.

You'd say, "Our new celebrity, Potter;
The hero too spoiled to believe,
Is a toffee-nosed brat" -- a cheap shot, I suppose,
But who else saw me for just me?

What can I brew without you there to fight with?
Who else will keep me in line?
Nobody else knew how fragile the light was
Nobody else saw the signs.

You could never just do the expected,
You perverse, contradictory shit,
But you kept me alive so that goodness could thrive;
Snape and Harry, a Brat and his Git.

T'ween the Dark Lord and you, I never quite knew
Which of you I hated the more;
Sure, he tried to kill and possess me,
But you made me scrub the lab floor.

Then came Quirrel both Malfoys and Umbridge,
Bellatrix, the Carrows, and more.
But yours is the voice that still haunts me,
And I'd tell you 'shut up'... but what for?

No one can snark quite like you did, you bastard,
No one could glare with such spite.
Nothing could make you a sweetheart,
But sweet on you wouldn't seem right.

I can't just let it be over,
I won't have it ending this way,
So I'll bend all the rules and I'll fight it,
And, I think I know just what you'll say:

"Potter, you imbecile, how dare you alter
The fabrics of death, fate, and time?
Impudent brat, who asked you to meddle?
My death was at least fully mine!"

But I figure life owes you one better
Than 'death via Voldemort's pet,'
And you'll snarl, but you'll cope, and forgive me, I hope
So take that,
You greasy bat;
Now come back to your Brat.



It writes itself. It really, really does!

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1304286.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

First, here's the tune -- I'm sure you're all familiar with the first few bars...


( And now here's the words )

So yeah... that one snuck up on me in the shower this morning. I had to run to the keyboard and nail it down before it got away.

Also? It's not the last (or the worst) filk you'll get from me today. You have been warned...

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1303877.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

(Edit:) I've gotten some advice on which I am following up now. At first pass though, it's looking a bit whimsical and dodgy.)

So I have a problem. One for which I suspect I also need a lawyer. Trouble is, I'm not sure what kind of lawyer I should be looking for, as it involves debt, credit, and the issue of proving or disproving debt status.

The short form? A magazine company attempted to defraud me in 2008. I caught them, refused payment, and threatened them with lawsuit based on their fraud. They backed down and offered me a buy-out on the contract as a compromise, given that they could not provide me with a transcript of my supposed agreement to their terms (during which their agent openly lied to me.) I took it. At that point, I was given an account code to go along with my canceled checque, the name and number of the agent who authorized it, and a promise that they would henceforth come out... no more. They did not, however, send me any kind of documentation as to the quit claim.

This year, I hear from a collections agency on that debt from the fraudulent magazine company. I predict there will be a fight over this, and with the economy being as it is, and the company's history of fraudulent dealings with me, I am worried that they will play extremely dirty.

So what kind of a lawyer should I be looking for to back me up on this, oh Wise, and Generous Internet? Who do I need in my corner here, and what kind of armament should I ask for?

This entry was originally posted at http://cluegirl.dreamwidth.org/1303727.html. Please comment there using OpenID.