Ravings of the Semi-Lucid

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( Do you want to date my avatar? )

THIS JUST IN:

Foucault is a confusing man.

Continuing this puddle of sithspit.

Story or Series Title: Cruel Trick of Fate
Fandom: Lord of the Jedi
CulpritAuthor's Name: TDWidow
Full Names: Obi-Wan Kenobi (aka Hyarion), Aragorn son of Arathorn
Full Species: Edain
Hair Color (Include Adjectives): Like in canon, I presume
Eye Color (Include Adjectives): Like in canon, I presume
Unusual Markings/Colorations: I presume they both have scars from the battles they've been in.
Special Possessions: Aragorn has a uterus
Annoying Origin: Unknown, Arathorn II and Gilraen
Annoying Connections to Canon Characters: Claim to be two of them, are Mara Skywalker's parents.
Annoying Special Abilities: In addition to the mpreg, there's the matter of Obi-Wan taking Arwen's place in Aragorn's heart
Other Annoying Traits: 0o9iuihjnbhgh6tftrfcc dxfdre4

( Getting his bearings )

( Enter Gandalf )

Shakespeare's Landlord (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 1) Charlene Harris

2/5.
Lily is the main character in the book series. In the first book she finds someone placing a dead body near her house when she is out on her nightly, comforting walks. She doesnt want to bring attention to herself so she anonymously makes a call to the cheif of police who lives close by. Throughout this novel she finds herself trying to figure out who the murderer is while cleaning her many clients homes.She chose this job to keep to herself. She cant put her finger on the case but knows it must be solved for her to ever feel comfortable in her small town again. Of course a book like this needs some romance. She finds herself involved with her instructor. Lily has learned how to protect herself because of her unforgetful past. She cant seem to put it behind her. Someone in her small town is letting her know they know about her past as well by trying to spook her. Through out the book Lily is trying to understand her liking of Marshall, find the town killer, and make sure her past remains hidden.

I was impressed with this book after I was about 75% through it. (Not sure about page number due to reading it on the kindle.) I had started it and was a little down about the plot but then it started getting better. I would have probably given the book a 3 if it hadnt taken me so long to get to a part I really enjoyed. Once I did though, I was on edge. I have already read 2 more books of this series and am on my fourth. I will post another review tomorrow on book 2.

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Despite the fact that tomorrow at work looks hideous (and let's not even get into the entertaining afternoon of consulting we had to do today with no ability to take payment, view records or even be able to tell who was coming in because the computer server upstairs made a lifestyle choice to become the silicon-chip equivalent of a charcoal briquette), I'm pretty much stuck somewhere between OMGSQUEEEEEEEEEE and the RL equivalent of :D

Because of this.

GUYS. I know that Muse are entirely and completely ridiculous, I really DO (and so do they, one often suspects). I KNOW that being one of those, uh, intense people at the gig is really kind of sad (and also faintly creepy). AND I know that being this emotionally invested in the prospect of live music is really not stable and I shouldn't be AND YET.

I've spent the whole evening grinning at NOTHING and occasionally giggling because, GUYS. MY FAVOURITEST BAND EVER IN THE HISTORY OF MY EARS AND I AM SEEING THEM LIVE TWICE. OMGSQUEE!

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Linkspam from my Twitter feed. Feel free to follow me.

( A round-up of today's news and interesting things. )

As always, the code: (v) = video; (a) = audio; (f) = flash; NSFW = not safe for work, may contain nudity

Shipped automagically.

I like you, don't get wrong, although you do have a tendency to annoy me at times.  However,  this is something I've been wanting to bring up for a while and while I can't really call you out to your face, I've finally decided to at least say something because it's been driving me up the wall.  Yes we play some of the same characters and our characterization of them are markedly different and while I may not be perfect, I'm a damn sight more IC than you are.  The characters in question are respectively.
A) emotionally cold and calculating. He doesn't do public displays of affection and he's certainly not going to change his mode of speaking to someone because it /hurts/ their feelings he calls them the same name he has for over a decade.  You have to /read/ between the lines here.  He's never been someone who really deals well with pointless social chatter.

B) reserved as hell. He has occasional lapses but for the most part, he doesn't let himself be swayed by emotion.  He chooses his words and actions carefully and he follows orders,  whether he agrees with said orders or not.  He was trained to do his job by a man who wouldn't tolerate half the outbursts I've seen you make icly. 

I've even shown your profile to people who are in the fandom and don't know you personally and the reactions have pretty much confirmed that you can't handle this character in a remotely ic way,  but you're always right so it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

So glad I'm not playing with you anymore.

Can we just get over this mush and on to business? We have a universe to save, an alternate dimension to prevent.

I think there's a reason my possible marysue character is turning evil. Just cause you "good side" people have too many love affairs.

This is just irritating the bejesus out of me, and the fact that the villian character I am supposed to co-conspire with is absent EVERY TIME I have available net.

Doesn't help that my computer crashed this week. Just makes me more mad.

[[duly note: this RP comm IS NOT on LJ - maybe that's why it sucks]]

These guys served?

61. Kushiel's Dart - Jacqueline Carey - 816 pages (7.5/10)

Firstly, I must say I absolutely hate these covers. Her mark looks like a giant tramp stamp. It doesn't even look like a real tattoo--it looks like a peel on sticker you'd get from a machine for a quarter, honestly.

Secondly, I re-read this for the first time since I was 15. All I can say is: wow, I can't believe I read this kinky stuff when I was so young! This novel tells the story of Phedre no'Delaunay, a girl sold off as a whore from a young, tender age to the god (of love) Naamah's service. Luckily, she is fostered first by the Night Court and then by a handsome and mysterious man alongside a fair boy and becomes a learned and multi-talented courtesan, among other things.

Phedre has been marked from birth with both an unlucky name and an unlucky scarlet mote in her eye. The scarlet mote represents Kushiel's Dart, meaning she's been struck by the god to be very kinky, horny, and submissive. This makes her a one-of-a-kind commodity among the rich sadists of Terre D'Ange (Land of Angels), a near-medieval France.

The setting was quite interesting. There is the nearly French Terre D'ange, the Nordic Skaldi, the Scottish Alba, the Roman Tiberius, among others. The reader ends up seeing several of these lands throughout the course of the novel. The varying religions and politics were engaging enough to keep me interested.

In general, the writing is fairly good, but the prose can be much wordier than it need me. Over and over Phedre says things like "although how this happened, I cannot say" or "I did not learn it then, but I learned of it later." Just explain at the beginning that this is your "memory" and it's imperfect, and leave it at that! Phedre also weeps frequently and usually has sex with most of the men she meets.

Overall, it's an entertaining enough novel and worth reading if erotic fantasy is your cup of tea.


If you like my reviews, this journal is full of reviews of books I read, some films and tv shows I watch, gadget reviews, occasional looks into what it's like being an ex-pat American in Scotland...feel free to add me as a friend if that sounds vaguely interesting to you!

Oh dear gawd! There I was, trying to find stuff the hard way, give up and check online and lo! one just had to press the Tab key and 'things' are suddenly apparent.


Obviously, my Diablo days were WAY too long ago.

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This is an old one, but still annoying. It happened to my best friend on her RPing board (which we are now trying to revamp and revive, so that may have been what reminded me) and just made us both boggle. I'm typing this out with her on the phone.

( In which I abuse brackets a lot. )Because of all this drama right in it's opening days (and the copious pornage) the board never really got off the ground. Cynic ended up getting really put off the board and it all just died. That said, we're actually trying to get it back up again, revamping the backstory (and adding a wiki to it, if I have my way) and just making it better than before and a lot more coherent. Hopefully it'll work out this time.

And we're not telling them about it either.

Pretty straight forward; I'm DISO on bottles of Tokyo Stomp. My swap page is over this-a-way; worst comes to worst, I also have PayPal, and would be willing to pay for them, but I'm looking first and foremost to swap atm.

Not even sock-puppeting this one. All that needs to be said can be said just by copy-and-pasting the question I just got from an applicant.

"Does the writing sample have to be something I wrote?"

Thanks everybody. G'night. Be sure to lock up on your way out.

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2009/11/evangelicals-and-immigration.html

On the one hand, you've got your religious evangelicals. They're born-again Christians who go to church twice every Sunday, read their daily devotions, try not to say "geez" because that's almost just as bad as swearing, feel guilty that they haven't done more to witness to you because they genuinely don't want you to go to Hell, and they just really Lord they just really just pray, Lord, all the time that, Lord, Jesus would just really just guide their daily lives.

We're talking about Ned Flanders. Nice folks. I like them a lot. I mean, I wouldn't want them designing the science curriculum for my kids' school, and I almost never vote for the same people they vote for, but those things aren't these folks' main focus. They're mainly about serving Jesus as their personal Lord and savior and trying to get others to do the same.

On the other hand, you've got your political evangelicals. On paper, these people look very similar to the Ned Flanders types. The difference is what they regard as paramount, as most important. For your political evangelicals, who you vote for and what is taught in science class is all that really matters. They may go to the same church as Ned, and they may attend just as often, but when push comes to shove that religious stuff isn't nearly as important to them as the pride and power of politics.

For a quick and easy illustration of the difference between these two groups, ask either one about immigration policy.

For religious evangelicals, immigration is looked at through the lens of two centuries of the missionary movement. Immigration, they believe, brings the mission field home. The categories of documented and undocumented are irrelevant in this view. The only categories that matter are saved and unsaved. Unsaved immigrants are a field white unto harvest. And saved immigrants are brothers and sisters in Christ. The former should be considered the focus of evangelism, the latter of fellowship.

Hence the existence, dating back to the 19th century, of evangelical "home mission societies" which have long helped to settle refugees and newly arrived immigrants, helping them find housing and learn the language and customs of their new home. And the existence, also, of ethnic immigrant congregations -- often called "missionary" churches -- sharing facilities with established English-speaking congregations.

This piece in today's Chicago Tribune nicely captures the attitude toward immigration that arises from a primarily religious evangelicalism.

The discussion within Wheaton Chinese Alliance Church reflects a shift among the nation's evangelical community as more pastors push for comprehensive immigration reform. In recent years, many influential evangelical leaders have moved from silent opposition to outspoken support for immigration reform, citing biblical foundations and Christian duty to care for strangers.

Last month, the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents about 45,000 U.S. churches, called on the Obama administration to establish a process by which undocumented immigrants could earn legal status. NAE President Leith Anderson said the group recognized the surging number of immigrants, mainly Latino and Asian, filling evangelical churches. ...

Matthew Soerens, immigration counselor at World Relief DuPage and co-author of the book Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate, said the stronger support for reform is due to the realization that immigrants are changing the face of the American evangelical church.

"We see this as a biblical issue grounded in the Scriptures, and primary to what we believe," Soerens said. "But what is also true is the demographics of our country is changing with immigration, and evangelical leaders realize that the fastest growth they are experiencing is among immigrant congregations."

Two of the largest evangelical churches in the area, Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington and Wheaton Bible Church in West Chicago, now have Spanish-speaking congregations and support immigration reform. ...

That's interesting. Here in America, "evangelical Christian" almost unfailingly also means "Republican," and the Republican Party is adamantly opposed to the sort of liberalized immigration reform being endorsed by these religious evangelicals.

That conflict hasn't gone unnoticed by the political evangelicals. Professional douchebag Mark Tooley -- whose job as president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy is to politicize American Christianity for the benefit of the right-wing foundations that fund IRD -- denounced the religious evangelicals at the NAE and elsewhere for failing to adhere to a strict Lou-Dobbs, xenophobic, Tea Party chauvinist, barbarians-at-the-gate party line scapegoating of immigrants.

"Several NAE members have denied endorsing the immigration resolution. Did the stance actually emerge from NAE's constituency? Or was it simply 'handed down from on-high' by NAE elites?

"This controversy is not only about immigration policy ... It is also about NAE's increasing politicization and elitism, a dangerous trajectory veering towards irrelevancy and pioneered by the National Council of Churches."

The NAE's position on immigration arises directly and organically from its religious perspective. Tooley's position on immigration arises directly and inevitably from his partisan politics. How they each respond is a function of what each regards as most important -- what drives them and shapes their identity.

For the Ned-Flanders types, that essential identity has to do with their Christian piety. That's why religious evangelicals are such nice people and why they make excellent next-door neighbors.

For the Mark-Tooley types, that essential identity has to do with their anything-to-win grasping after partisan power. That's why political evangelicals are such despicable assholes.

http://io9.com/5402497/the-apocalypse-comes-early-for-joss-whedons-dollhouse

I'm going to go buy quesadilla ingredients now. ANGRILY.

So, I stopped by Fred Meyer today, which is our local Meijer/Walmart/super grocery store type thing. As I was walking in, I was a bit astonished to see a huge line of people going outside the doors and nearly wrapping around the building. It's a bit early, but since my brother and I had just been discussing holiday deals, I figured there must be some new game or incredibly amazing bargain that had people standing out there with their kids and grandparents.

Then, the harried cashier ringing up my popcorn and hairspray set me straight: the store's pharmacy was administering vaccines for swine flu--or, H1N1 as we're supposed to call it now. First off, I didn't even know those shots were out there for public consumption. I thought they were still just for medical practitioners and whatnot. But it turns out Fred Meyer had a limited supply, and the buzz in the store was that they were for the high risk groups only: children, pregnant women, elderly, etc.

A check to King County's public health page shows that I'm apparently behind the times because a lot of pharmacies are giving them out. And, it sounds like more than high risk groups can get them. Fred Meyer would allegedly do it for anyone over the age of 13 (or under 3 with a prescription). I confess, this is the first time I really witnessed the anxiety around swine flu up close and personal--well, aside from everyone in Canada carrying their own bottles of hand sanitizer.

The first time I heard of H1N1 was on my way back from the RT con, sitting in the Houston airport with Mark and Caroline Henry. There, a TV news show informed us that airplanes and Texas were dangerous spots. Oh, irony. As time has gone on, I seem to keep hearing about more and more people who know someone who had it and who got over it. I only talked to someone myself who caught it (hi Sophia!) for the first time a couple weeks ago. She'd had it for a week and then was back to work and recovering nicely.

So, I'm not sure how I feel about it all now. Any disease branded an epidemic is a scary thing, particularly when the deaths from it get all sorts of attention. I'm not sure I'm going to run out and get my vaccine, though, at least while the supply is still small. I may do it when it's easier and more available, even though I am a raging hypochondriac. But I just have to assume I'm in the lowest risk group because people of my age and health status do have greater resistance--so I'm not sure I feel right about taking a shot away from a pregnant woman or child if I've already got some defense. I'm also pretty arrogant (and perhaps I'll regret the hubris of this post later when swine flu throws a kink in my deadlines) about my immune system. I never get 'regular' flu shots. I haven't had the flu since I was a kid, and I was born with a natural immunity to chicken pox. Again, maybe this attitude will come back to haunt me, so I should knock on wood or throw salt over my shoulder. Don't taunt fate.

In the meantime, I'll close with a special tip from our friends at Bakon Vodka. On their website, they have a recipe for a drink called Swine Flu Shot consisting of bacon vodka, Jagermeister, and Goldschlager. I hope they share it with the CDC.

( This would be useful... )

Because people are posting cool things today.

Why the war on drugs is futile, and what we should be doing instead. This is basically what I have been saying for years about drugs, prostitution, and abortion. In order to protect the people who are being exploited/hurt, these things need to be regulated. Call me a pragmatist.

I believe, morally, that women (and men, for that matter) should have the right to do what they want with their bodies. Just for the record. But the pragmatic argument is a good one, IMNSHO.

As for drugs, I think that, in order to be consistent, either all narcotics (including alcohol and cigarettes) should be banned, or none of them. I don't think there is a qualitative difference between heroin and alcohol - it's a matter of degree. So make it all legal, and then it can all be properly regulated. This is a fabulous article.

For something a little lighter, How to Survive a Stephen King novel. Courtesy of bardiphouka. Rather entertaining.

And, for something even lighter, some narrative analysis of Buffy. There are some spoilers. Quite a fun read though.

And for the 'Yay!' portion, Emma Thompson's name has officially been removed fomr that damn petition. YAY for Emma! I can now buy her work again!


Happy Thursday, everyone. :)

Evan felt his legs getting heavier, just now.

It was really weird how he suddenly really hungover. Or just injured as all hell.

Oh, shit...here it co --

As fast as he could, Evan ducked around a corner and checked to see if it was deserted. Finding no one at the moment, he sunk to the floor, allowing the seizure to roll over him, knowing there was nothing he could do.

His friends' lives, all normal, all beautiful without him there to fuck it all up...Lenny, not afraid, not used and abused by -- Tommy, now an upstanding valedictorian instead of a sociopath who hated his guts for loving... Kayleigh leaning up to kiss a stranger...Mom, remarried to -- Chuck, oddly...Thumper, the same, it seemed. He wasn't there before, of course...

Evan felt himself still, his breath rushing into his lungs, and brought a shaking hand up to wipe at his nose. It came away bloody but he simply wiped his nose on his sleeve and sat, finally not giving a damn. It didn't matter if he rushed anyway, nothing was going to change here, right? Being dead was the only thing that didn't change.

"It's okay," he told himself quietly, feeling the exhaustion he used to force himself to ignore taking over. "I can sleep now. And it doesn't matter because I know who and what I am."

And then there was sleep.

Mun: I'm personally subscribing to this theory about Evan's paternal family's hereditary condition, being the severe temporal lobe epilepsy part, also called schizoform epilepsy and epiliptoform schizophrenia. Do with it as we all will. Evan is experiencing an aura, followed by what is known as the post-seizure ictal state.

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Hello, all.  I'm still continuing to sell off all my BPALz as I look for steady employment.  I have feedback on bpal.org under username OneTheyCallLuna.  I ship within two business days with delivery confirmation in the U.S. for $2.50.  I accept international sales for an additional one dollar postage.  All oils have been cleanly tested and stored strictly in a dark and cool location.  All purchases come with free BPAL samples, and sometimes tea and treats as well, if available.  Thanks! :)

5 MLs:

Candy Butcher.  At Label.  $28 - PENDING

Three Witches 05. Lab Full. $24 - PENDING

Perilous Parlor.  Full to Shoulder. $20

Thirteen Feb. 09.  Lab Full. $20

Lilith Victoria.  Lab Full. $19

Couple Consulting an Enpon.  Lab Full. $18

Lurid Library.  At Shoulder.  $18

Pickled Imp.  Lab Full. $18

Melainis.  Lab Full.  $18.

Thirteen Mar. 09.  Lab Full. $15

Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal.  Lab Full. $15

Western Diamondback.  Just Below Label.  $14

Garden Path with Chickens.  At Label.  $10 - PENDING

Old Moon.  At Shoulder. $10

Green Tree Viper. 1/2.  $8 - PENDING

Glitter Resurrected.  1/2.  $6.

Thalassa. 1/2. $5 - PENDING

( Decants and Imps... )

I have a strained tendon in my right-hand ring finger, and I am trying to give it a chance to recover, "a chance" being to my mind a week or ten days, though I suspect a doctor would suggest more. Peter had this injury back in the spring and it took about three months to heal, but he's like me.

( A failed 5.11, falling, and fear. )

I have two full bottles up for sale. Both have been tested once cleanly and have wand caps.

Berry Moon 2009 - $15.00
Black Butterfly Moon - $15.00

$3.50 S&H

:-)

Oh my goodness! I must be a truly fortunate little snowflake indeed, because our (current) favourite 27-year-old pubescent, melssexysecret personally sent little old me my very own private message! To my own inbox and everything! It reads:

I find is apalling and insulting you say I am trans prejudice. I am currently working with the transcedning boundaries conference, I'm studying to be a gender therapist and I work hard to advocate trans rights.

also Pansexuality, or omnisexuality[1] is a sexual orientation characterized by the potential for aesthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire towards people, regardless of their gender identity or biological sex. Some pansexuals suggest that they are gender-blind; that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others

therefor includes transgender, bigender, adrogynous, gender queer, etc etc

Well, that told me.

Thanks much!

Time to do some stash clearing! Click here for Teggy's BPAL bottles sales. Thanks for looking!

Updates and a bit of a rant!

Was attempting to read really old novel by Nora Roberts (reprinted in 2009 in Forever) where the hero was a third baseman for some LA-based team with the same name as the LA hockey team. In any case, he was described as being 6'1", 160...and hitting 37 HR per season. Um, no. I know ballplayers were smaller in 1983, but still umno. Also his other attributes, physical and otherwise, called to mind Eric Byrnes, and I wasn't going to read an entire novel about a skinny Byrnes getting it on in 1983.

hello!

i was looking in the memories for a book list for pre-teens/tweens (zines would be fine as well). the only one i found was from a suspended user/journal so i wasn't able to see the entry. if you all could recommend some books/zines, i would really appreciate it. (looking for a friend of mine's 13yr old sister)

These thoughts were something I've been intending to put down for a while, but never got around to. I was reminded of it today when epi_lj got an email he is quite excited over -- a new product announcement from the place he buys his synthesizer modules from. They didn't tell him what the new product was -- just that there was going to be a new product soon. He is very excited about it, but my first reaction was that it was a mean thing for the company to do. This highlights our differences in handling surprises, I think, which is the subject of this post.

( Surprise! )

Man, writing out stuff like this makes me feel high-maintenance. :P But I know it's not likely to come up otherwise until someone actually inadvertently stumbles into one of my buttons (which, I think, are rather few, all told).

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I would just like you all to know that is now clear to me why I'm a switch.

I haven't examined myself enough.

If I spent more time examining my needs and wants and desires, I would become a dominant or submissive and finally be fully myself.


I'm so happy to have found this out.

Around Hogwarts were some brightly colored posters (and yes, there are some faint pawprints on there again).

They said:

It's that time of year again! Time for a Secret Santa! That's when you sign up, get a person's name, then secretly give this person a gift! I hope all of you have fun!

Signups are until November 26th, and owls will go out November 27th.


[[OOC: Include your email with every character you sign up, this is both so that I can contact you and can avoid two characters from the same mun exchanging gifts. If your character secretly signs up a different character, please note that you have the mun's permission to do so.]]

I am doing some writing on what it means to practice Radical welcome, and I was curious as to your thoughts on these questions...

Do you think there is a difference between hospitality and welcome in a congregation? 

Can these words can be interchangeable?

What is the boundary for welcoming?

1. For the love of Christ, just make a crack comm!

2. We are not your puppets, stop trying to control us so damn much.

3. All y'all need, like. Some weed or some Valium or a yoga class or some shit.

4. Stop banning players arbitrarily because they're complaining about how inactive you guys are. Makes you seem a weeeeee bit paranoid.

5. This is pretendy funtiems. Stop stopping our fun. It just makes you guys douchebags.

At first you weren't around, now you're strangling us all. WTF gives? I love the game, but plz to be stopping your bullshit.

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Dear RP Partner I've Been Trying My Damnedest to Ignore,

Stop making all your female characters so over-sexualized no matter how OOC it is for them. Please, I beg you. Not every woman you play has to be a sex symbol because more often than not, they are so very very far from it. People have tried to correct you both gently and not-so-gently but you refuse to listen to them and it makes me rage a good deal. So for the sake of my blood pressure, either kindly realize that not all women need to be over-sexed or stop playing female characters all-together.

I Regret Giving You My Phone Number Everyday,
Kat

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Melainis, Faizia, Samhain '09, Virgo, Velvet Cthulu and L'Heure Vert bottles for sale plus other bottles and many LE decants
( Read more... )

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I'm a lurker mostly...so hopefully I'm doing this right! Let me know if not!

( A sale under the cut )

this one is about 5 foot tall, so do you wanna risk yours against it? :-)

"... and Jason sans les Argonauts."




... okay, so it was funnier in context.