I say sometimes I don't read much these days (at least pro fic), but what that really means is that I go a long time without reading anything new and then read three novels in a week. All these novels are also by folks with LJs - I'm not sure if that's coincidence or simply a sign of the growing mainstreamness of LJ. Spoilers for all the listed works under the cuts, obviously.

( Havemercy )

( Shadows Return )

( Dust )

( Doctor Who 4.13 )

You know what's weird? Orchestral arrangements of Dropkick Murphys songs.

This post brought to you by the Boston Pops and their performance of Shipping Up To Boston.

ETA: OMG helicopter, you have been circling over this area for like 6 hours now. Please please go away.

ETA2: Okay, I have now encountered that song three times in three different forms (orchestral, original, and original with drunken singalong) in just over three hours. (Other drunken singalong choices have been Dragonsta Din Tei and Smashmouth's Allstar.)

Okay, there are three possibilites for what I'm hearing:
1. I am hearing the music from two different parties.
2. Whoever's running the music at whatever party this is has chosen to play Sandstorm and Soulja Boy back to back.
3. There exists a mashup of the two.

At work today, I discovered that Harvard has lent us a copy of one of the Twilight books. I did not die laughing, but it was close. We had a couple more of those incidents that make me wonder why people keep lending us books, too - this past week has not been good for our competence scores. On the bright sides, a couple of those books in limbo got returned?

I was over by MGH during rush hour today. Now, I admit that the intersection by Longfellow Bridge and Cambridge Street and Storrow Drive is a tad complex, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't take 20 staties to direct traffic, even accounting for the holiday weekend and the road closures. I don't think of that area as touristy, but either I was wrong or we are reaching critical tourist saturation, because there were a fair number of them wandering about. On one occasion, I had to model how Boston residents cross streets - ie, by stepping out into moving traffic. (That was a perfectly clear signal! The driver made eye contact and slowed up a bit! But you hesitated, and so he shrugged and kept going!) Staying too long in Boston and then going places where drivers don't stop is hazardous to my health, I suspect.

I have a book and ice cream sandwiches, so I'm going to go deal with those and possibly attempt to get my Thoughts on Yaoi Gabe in some sort of order.

Okay, so I work in a basement, so I don't see the weather. It occurs to me that this is supposed to be one of the classic complaints of office workers, how they have no windows and never see the sun, but I actually didn't notice until recently. I mean, if you asked me, I would have known that there are in fact no windows down there, but that was just a thing. But then I realized that in the past two weeks, Boston has had three epic thunderstorms, and I have missed two of them. I really like thunderstorms. I have a giant window and I just want to sit in it and watch the rain.

On the other hand, if I can't see the rain, I can't be worrying that I left the window open. (Actually, the window is open, so I'd be worrying that it's raining in. Note to self: move books away from window.)

I was reading up on what happens in Boston to celebrate the Fourth, and apparently people camp out all day to get good spots to see the fireworks. On my run today, I passed generators set up along Mem Drive (and, okay, I don't really know what they're for, but that's my guess) and I could see portapotties lined up by the dozen on the other side of the river. I don't know why I'm surprised to learn that Boston considers this holiday SRS BZNS, but I am.

( So, I've had TBPID in my possession for almost 30 hours now and I still haven't watched it. )

1. Back in the day, the library I work at asked for social security numbers in order to issue library cards to people with no affiliation to the school. A few years ago, we stopped asking. Various governmental agencies that ask for cards on behalf of their employees send still us them.

2. The CIA has a library. Like several of the libraries we do business with, they prefer not to receive packages via US Mail. Instead of a simple "Send by UPS" on their request (as most do), they send an explanation of just why they don't want books via USPS, and what the better options are, and I don't even know what else because it got cut off the forms I was working with today.

3. The Library of Congress has suspended our borrowing privileges. My coworkers' response to this makes me think it happens on a semi-regular basis.

Today after work I went to Walgreens, CVS, Star Market, Border's, and Best Buy. *collapses on LJ* I didn't even know the Border's near me had a CD section (it's L shaped, and I'd never made it to the far end of the L, since SF/F is near the front). They didn't have TBPID, so I headed over to Best Buy, which did, even if it took me three tries to find it. I grabbed Whisper War as long as I was there, since it was on display and I realized that I hadn't actually paid money for it until that point. (That's basically my normal pattern with music - I hear it, decide that I like it, decide I should buy it, let time pass, let more time pass, eventually buy it. I bought Fever probably 18 months after first hearing it. /o\)

I haven't watched TBPID! yet. I'm kind of interested in doing a viewing party thing - sadly, virtual, but it'd still be cool to do a viewing/squee-as-we-go sort of thing. (I am trying out this 'participating in fandom' thing.) I'm generally around from 8pm to 3am EST, but not Friday because I have to do the fireworks thing, and it would be better if someone else organized it, especially the technical bits.

You know, I really do like my job. And I like that they gave me more hours. I just wish someone had realized that the amount of things that need doing and that I know how to do is less than the time they've asked me to come in.

I went running today - before I went, I looked at the temperature and decided 85 is too hot to wear an extra layer, so I nixed the tshirt. I'm going to regret this if I end up with sunburn over half my torso, but the breeze on my back felt really nice. Speaking of which, I need a new running hairstyle. The current one is just a simple ponytail, but the lateral motion involved in running means the tail swings from side to side, creating giant snarls where the hair hangs against my back. Not cool.

Technically speaking, TBPID! is in stores tomorrow, right? So I should try to figure out what near me is likely to have so I can grab it after work. Most of my music buying happens in Minnesota, so I don't have a good sense of what's going to have what.

Lately, whenever I walk into some of the common areas on the floor where I live, I am struck by this overwhelming sense of 'no, seriously, what?' So I am sharing.

( Cut for pictures and my continued confusion. )

Some people take in stray kittens. We take in stray electronics.

Went had pastries with the geek boy today - we got along fairly well, which was nice. Also, I didn't get lost at all in Harvard Square, which, if you've ever heard my horror stories about Harvard Square, is remarkable. On the way home, I grabbed a copy of Havemercy, continuing the trends of authors with LJs, and even remembered my membership card this time. (I had my whole purse, that probably helped.)

I got woken up at 6am today by the fire alarm. /o\ Worlds of fail. Actually, in two years of living here, this would probably count only as the fourth most annoying fire alarm. Maybe fifth. Being woken up that early on a Saturday sucks, but the thing is, almost everyone was asleep, so we stood around blearily together, and the ones that were awake had the sense to be quiet. (Going to bed early on a weekend night, being woken up by the fire alarm three hours later only to discover that there was a party that night and most of the people in the meeting spot are inebriated, loud, and still dancing - well, let's just say it's a good thing I can't kill people with my brain.) After it was over and I went back to sleep, I had a dream where the courtyard in front of my building was lit with red light and there was a pair of wolves prowling around. This is clearly Gerard's fault, Y/N?

Right. Off to watch Doctor Who and read Havemercy.

Right, so bandom seems to be in a really loving mood lately (not like that, you perverts), and so I've added my name to the love meme over at strobelighted, and you should too so I can flail all over you.

ETA: OH MY GOD RAY TORO WHAT

I achieved my mission of adulthood today! In case anyone really was waiting for the update. It took me a minute and a half of time on the phone, during which I spoke only to robots. For a sense of scale (or how lazy I am, or how much I hate the phone, take your pick), I have had this needing-to-be-activated card since Thanksgiving, and only bothered getting it activated because my current card expires at the end of the month. By which I mean on Tuesday. I'm actually impressed I didn't wait til Monday to call.

At work today, one of my coworkers was wearing manpris. And he kind of made it work. I am not okay with being okay with manpris.

Speaking of my coworkers, as I was leaving, I walked past the new girl's desk (she's newer than I am, but also an actual employee as opposed to a student worker. I am sometimes sad that she is learning tasks that I don't get to, until I remember that one of things she has to do is answer phones. Then I feel better.) and saw over her shoulder that she was on LJ. And it was a comment page with at least one icon I recognized. (Luckily, not from fandom, from the b0st0n community, because I don't think I could deal with that much crossing of the streams.)

Speaking of LJ and RL intersecting, the book I got yesterday? Its author not only thanks her LJ friends, but gives her username, so I shall have to add otterdance (Lynn Flewelling) to the list of authors on whose LJs I creepily lurk.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a geek boy for ice cream. We met online, and don't really know each other yet. It's either going to be awesome or a terrible terrible idea.

Saw via LJ that the latest book in a series I'd been reading was out. Had not previously realized that there was going to be a latest book. Discovered via Border's website that the location nearest me had a copy. Decided to go to bookstore. Decided to not take wallet, just cash/credit card/ID. Walked to bus stop to wait for bus to mall. While waiting, realized that the bus stop is directly in front of the university bookstore, which sells real books as well as textbooks. Had totally forgotten about the existence of this store. Found book, checked out, realized that membership/discount card was still in wallet in my room. Wondered what on earth made my parents think I could live on my own.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventures in adulthood, 'Trying to Activate a New Credit Card,' or next week's episode, 'Attempting to Schedule a Doctor's Appointment.'

Also, a new icon. That makes two icons for me to choose from every time I post! From xkcd, as you may have guessed, and an excellent summation of not only my thoughts on the natural sciences but also my general obliviousness. Someone said that this comic (by which I don't mean xkcd as a whole, but this one in particular - what does one call the unit of a webcomic? A strip? An issue?) remind her of me, which is made all the more amusing (to me, at least) because I'm pretty sure she's never heard my Thoughts on Biology.

Disclaimer for all those who like biology: My Thoughts on Biology are the kind of thing one says when, at dinner with a group of friends studying several different subjects, the bio major hands you the check with instructions to figure out how much every one owes, remembering to include the tip. Such Thoughts might include liberal use of the word 'psuedoscience.'

Question the First! My brother has to be in Boston for a few days at some point this summer, to do orientation and registration. Is that standard procedure for colleges, to require a separate trip for that stuff? I didn't have to, but the strangeness with which my school approaches all facets of student life has made me wary of generalizing my experiences.

Question the Second! On a scale of 'whatever' to 'get to a doctor, now!', where does tingling in the extremities fall? (Bonus information: only one hand, only in a few fingers in that hand, only a couple of times in the last few months but lasting til the next morning, and on the side that houses the funkier of my shoulders. (Bonus bonus information: The shoulder thing is a remainder of my high school swimming days, never checked out or rehabbed (bad me, I know), probably an overuse injury, probably damage to the rotator cuff, currently doesn't impact my daily life unless I try to lie on my back with my arms stretched out over my head, in which case it serves as a reminder that man, I really should have gotten this looked at years ago. The conventional wisdom that swimming is easy on the joints? Does not apply to completive swimmers, even if I was never varsity.)

Question the Third! I was really sure there was a third question, but now there isn't. Lists should have three items, though.

...holy fucking shit. The weather just went from 'overcast, threatening rain, thunder in the distance' to 'gusts of wind, sheets of rain, and hail' in about 60 seconds. I'm so glad I looked at the radar map and decided to wait til later to go running.

In other news, work was full of incompetence today. Two or three separate packages arrived addressed to us but intended for some other school. (Our response is 'Well, let's just mail this on to Brown, I guess.') Also, someone in the main library opened mail intended for us, and rather than doing any number of logical things with it, put it in with the books that get mailed back to where they came from. This is not a good way to make sure patrons get the books they ordered through ILL. In fact, it's an excellent way to make sure that they get mailed back to wherever they just came from.

You know how sometimes people on your friends list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when are they working THERE? Since when are they dating HIM/HER? since when???" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

( Read more... )

Whenever I stop posting on LJ for a while, I feel like I need to make a suitably dramatic re-entrance, or at least an explanation of where I've been, or a summary of all the cool things I've done, so I continue to not-post while I think of what such a thing should be, and the cycle continues. So I won't. I was away for a while, and then I was back but not posting, and now I am posting again.

I might at some point tell you about my brother's graduation, especially if my mom sends me the pictures, as well as the adventures my mother and I had shopping for things to wear to graduation. Other pictures that I should probably post sometime include my continuing adventures in night photography with a crappy point and shoot and no tripod, the lightening photo I managed to catch tonight, or the illustrated essay on why my hair reminds me that women's bodies are still sometimes considered public objects of discourse.

( I started talking about my summer job and how I get to mail things to New Zealand, but then it all kind of devolved into a mass of insecurity and fail, and at that point, a cut tag is basically an act of public decency, much like wearing pants is. )

Change of topics! I got my Hush Sounds ticket in the mail today, which made me grin. Are there plans? (No, of course there are not plans yet, because this is bandom, but there will be plans, I'm sure.) I'm just throwing all this out there while I'm thinking about it. Anyways, my ticket claims doors are at 6. I work til 4 (unless I leave early, which is very doable), and it'll take me 20 minutes to get from work to the venue, 30 if I stop home to change. I suspect a number of you will be arriving from NYC and thus I don't know how well preshow meetups will work (I am recalling a number of phone calls at the Cobra show along the lines of 'we're not there yet, but we will be!', but that was for a 1pm show and this is for 6, so perhaps there will be plenty of time to hang out in advance. Then again, fangirls.) (Also, for those of you that might need to know such things, I am remarkably local to the venue, should you need local guidance on matters not involving restaurants (I can do grocery stores, but I don't eat out much) or driving and parking (I have no car). I suspect that those two things are most of what people might want to know and thus that my local knowledge is not at all helpful, but if there are other things you might need to know about in the locality of the venue, I would be glad to make gestures towards answers.)

I kind of want to go on an adventure this summer. Not something in particular, just celebrating living on my own with hardly any regular commitments. Problem is, I am bad at knowing what that should be. If you happen to be looking for a co-adventurer in Boston, lemme know.

And it's now past 3am, so I should post this so I can regret it in the morning. (I regret all posts written after 3am. Some people are chatty drunks, I apparently am I chatty night owl.) (Not the parentheses, though. I never regret the abuse of parentheses.)

Hi, I'm not really here and I'm still behind on reading my flist and answering comments and email and basically everything, and at some point I will have to tell you about the fiasco that was my flight to Minneapolis (teaser: I lost my boarding pass three times), but. ( I just watched <i>Eastern Promises</i>, and I was looking for a quick reality check. )

Can the weather stay like this always? It's 60 degrees out and it rained earlier, and when I went running it was overcast with mist on the river and fog over downtown. In short, perfect. (And, yes, I know this means I should move to San Francisco or the Pacific Northwest, but those places don't have real winter.)

Also, I'm going out of town on Thursday night and getting back on Monday evening (or perhaps I am going home on Thursday and leaving again on Monday - I'm not sure exactly where I call home at this point). My brother's graduating from high school, and besides my family gets twitchy if they don't see me in person every few months. While I certainly have internet access at home, the whole point of being there is to spend time with family, so I will probably won't be around much for the next while. Don't break the internet while I'm gone.

I'm sorry, CSS Zen Garden, but your div structure is wrong wrong wrong. Seriously, why did you think it would be a good idea to do that? The #preamble should be part of the #supportingText, not part of the #pageHeader And the #footer is also in the wrong place - it shouldn't be part of #supportingText at all. It makes no fucking sense, and half the designs in the garden ignore the implied structure and go with the one that makes sense. Also, replacing header text with images surely cannot be good practice. Isn't that an accessibility issue?

In conclusion: wrong wrong wrong.

1. The Empires songs that I have been listening to on repeat today: Modern Love and Midnight Land

2. Today at work I learned how to mail books to the entire US, not just New England. Still haven't mailed anything to Harvard, though. (Trufax: the shelves of materials that need to be returned are labeled 'BLC', 'non-BLC', 'Harvard', and 'Limbo'. This amuses me to no end.) They promise me that eventually I will do something besides mail books.

3. I did some digital housekeeping - both the email address and the IM name listed in my profile have changed. Of course, through the magic of email forwarding and Pidgin, respectively, this means precisely nothing from my end. Still, you might want to update things on your end.