i'm a pixel here, myself

a. Everyone and his sister knows about the election and how I feel about it. But to be quite blunt, if you're a registered California voter and voted (or will vote) YES on Prop 8, get the fuck off my friendslist and don't come back. I am so fucking scared that this thing is going to pass, you guys. So scared.

b. [Were The World Mine] is basically the best thing I've seen all day.

c. Climbing = ow, my fingertips. Counterintuitive, but true.

d. Dear popoffacork writer: I like stories. Tell me a story with a pairing and you'll win my heart. <3 (aka I'm not hard to please!)

You all got porn on your televisions. I? Got a roomful of disgruntled thirtysomething straight men and some really old sheet music. NOT A FAIR TRADE, WORLD.

...and that's all I'm going to say about that.

***

Apparently my background check cleared, because they want to know if I can start on Monday instead of Wednesday. I have to decide whether or not I want to -- I'm not hurting for cash, and the extra two days would be nice to finish up the things around the house I thought I'd get done by now. But on the other hand, the first few days are all going to be orientation and setup and whatnot anyway, so wouldn't I like to get that all out of the way? Decisions, decisions.

Dropped off my car this afternoon for oil change and service, and expected to have it back by tonight, but apparently they're keeping it overnight? Without telling me. Hmm. I did say I was flexible on pickup time. I wonder if they interpreted that to mean pickup "day" as well?

The time has come for me to just buckle down and do the matchups for remixredux. After I get some sleep.

Happy (?) Daylight Savings Time, everybody. That's why the timestamp on this makes it look like I'm up way the hell too late. Which... okay, I am. But I blame the government!

Actually, I blame Zodiac. That movie had some freaking *creepy* moments. I'd talk more about it, but I'm not film-student-y enough to know how to articulate why it was amazing and simultaneously unsatisfying. The best I can come up with is: I've been conditioned to expect a certain category of endings from movies like this, and this one... doesn't have one of those. Ultimately, it feels like the last 45 minutes are missing. So I can appreciate the artistry of the movie (and man, is it well-made, on all fronts), but as *entertainment*, it doesn't win. It doesn't lose, because the ~160 minute runtime doesn't feel like any time at all, but it just ain't there for me. Would I see it again? Maybe. Probably not. But it's an amazing film.

Got 80% of my to-do list for the weekend done. This is progress! Of course, tomorrow's the time-consuming 20%: writing and responding to email, grocery shopping, vacuuming. And then maybe making something awesome for dinner, which I haven't done in quite some time.

I went with A to watch the Oscars with a friend of mine from high school and his girlfriend (and a random friend of his who works for some entertainment thingy in LA and was liveblogging; there may be quotes by me somewhere on the internet about how Penelope Cruz's dress looked like a muppet). Mostly enjoyable, only a few horrible speeches, and of course the requisite clapping for the dead people (sigh. nobody ever gets that it's just bad taste). The real downside: not having seen most of the movies. Heh.

I had a couple of unpopular opinions to share, and this being Livejournal, of course I'm going to share them here, because I like you all so much. :) And because I like you even more, I'm going to ( cut-tag them )

Back to work tomorrow :-|

The doctor looked at my face, said "it's an infection!" and gave me antibiotics all in under 20 minutes. I think this is a record for any treatment I've gotten at Kaiser. So, uh. W00t? Here's hoping I start seeing improvement soon.

Spoke with the HR lady at the place I've been applying to, she sent me a 3-hour test, and I took it and sent it back. It was mostly pretty easy, except I kept trying to do things you can't do (at least, not easily) in Excel, which was what they had the thing formatted in. If I'd had it in my statistical package... But that's not something I can deal with. Excel can bite me, and now I wait to find out whether or not my analysis is enough for them. With any luck, I'll have an interview next week.

Downloaded and watched the first two episodes of Top Design today because I was bored and not in a SPN mood... I don't think I'll keep watching it. It was okay, and I love watching home decorating shows, but... something's missing. And Todd Oldham is no Heidi Klum, let me tell you. I cannot WAIT for PR s4 to start.

When I got home from rehearsal, I was in a really weird mood and started craving things: first tortillas and cheddar, then chocolate. Eventually I whipped up a batch of microwave fudge just so I'd have the chance to lick the bowl and spoon. I guess I know what my friends are getting for dessert tomorrow...

Results of the lyrics quiz: Most people only got one or two; theotherej got three. Nobody guessed any of ( these )

Oh, irony, why have you struck again? I generally prefer writing during, you know, *sane* hours, not this getting-inspired-at-midnight thing. ::types furiously:: Fortunately, when I emailed our timesheet person to tell her that I'd submitted my hours for December electronically, I told her I wasn't feeling well (which, okay, this morning I could barely get out of bed because my back muscles hurt so much) and I put in for tomorrow as a sick day too, citing that I "wouldn't know". So I get to stay home tomorrow and hopefully finish my story and clean the apartment and cook for my party. The moral of this story is that sometimes doing exercises you haven't done in months is good, in that you get to stay home from work. Nevermind the bad part, which is that I'm *still* in pain and I've felt like a fat lump all day. ::swears off food forever and ever amen::

E leaves Saturday. I leave Monday. And Amazon still won't process my order. @$#&!

Also: I have downloaded The Queen, which I have heard is v.v. good, and I would like to put it on my iPod for plane viewing, but it is in some weird VCD format and iSquint has told me the frame rate is no good. Which is weird, because VLC plays it just fine on my PC. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm kind of hoping to avoid another piece of software, but if that's the answer, that's the answer.

Good morning, flist! I have realized that I no longer post on weekends. I'm not entirely sure why this is. Perhaps I've gotten lazy; perhaps the boy has trained me that weekends are for weekending, not spending time with my computer; perhaps I am simply so embroiled in my video game campaign that I haven't had anything to write about (ZOMG Final Fantasy XII comes out TOMORROW!). But whatever. Today I write to you about awesome.

When I was in high school, there was a book. I'm not sure the initial date of publication, but it was 1996 or 1997. I don't even remember who recommended it to me, though I suspect it was my librarian or my then-best-friend S. But I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I finished it almost instantly and longed for the not-yet-written sequels. That book was The Golden Compass. I was deliriously happy when its sequels The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass were released, the final book not until I was in college. I read them and continue to re-read them and they remain on my list of top books of all time. And they're now the basis for a series of movies. Well, okay, maybe not a full series, but I know they're titling the first one His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, which leads me to believe it's not the only one. The script is written by Tom Stoppard based on Pullman's book, so I've no doubt it will be amazing. Behind the cut is the first still I have seen of the movie, a scene near the beginning of The Golden Compass, with Lyra and Mrs. Coulter in the Master of Jordan's residence. It makes me so thrilled: first, that the movies are being *made*, and second, that the movie Lyra fits well enough with my mental picture of her. Anyway, ( click )

God, I am SO FREAKING EXCITED for this movie, and it doesn't come out until probably Christmas of next year. Woe!

I'm just going to have to suck it up and deal with the fact that I will never get to see Supernatural when it airs. Why Thursday, CW? Why the *one* day I can't watch? At least the torrents go up pretty fast. Y'all may have noticed that I've gone pretty silent on episode reactions -- it's because it just doesn't have the same impact as posting immediately post-show, when everybody's all giddy (or heartbroken!) and in the mood to talk Winchesters.

Work continues to kick my ass in new and exciting ways (sideways! diagonally! in the back of a Volkswagen!) and my boss is a demanding little dweeb. There, I said it. I kind of want to beat him up (from across the country) and take his lunch money.

Two highly-recommended pieces of software:
[Firefox 2.0] and [IE Tab], a Firefox add-on that lets you render pages in IE.

IE Tab enables you to keep two separate instances of Gmail open at once, since one uses an IE cookie and one uses a Firefox cookie. Also, it lets you see how pages render in IE, for those of you web designers who are hardcore Firefox enthusiasts.

Lastly, gacked from mcee: ( holy freakin' god, people )
askhakfghafhgajhg

Things that are not-so-endearing about working at a place where office guidelines are, shall we say, less-than-strict: I went to talk to a coworker about some technical issues he's having, and his roommate was asleep on the floor of my coworker's office, his face covered with a hoodie.

Project Runway finale tonight! I'm so excited I could crap. Instead of breathlessly refreshing web pages hoping to find out the winner, I will be having dinner with apetslife. I think this is a much more preferable way to spend an evening (though I wouldn't mind a [txt] with the winner's name and whether or not a certain finalist is DQ'd...)

Work has been alternately boring and frenetic. I suppose it's too much to ask for projects not to come in waves, yes?

On one of my self-induced five-minute breaks today, I found ( these higher-res Green Arrow shots )

So this morning I was thinking about what day of the month it is (I'm not sure why, actually), and I was all "hmm, it's Thursday the 12th... that means tomorrow is Friday the 13th! Wow." And then I started thinking about Wincon and how perfect it is that it starts on Friday the 13th, and then I went "doofus, you're the last one to realize this. Nan probably planned it that way from the BEGINNING." Clearly, I've been paying attention. CLEARLY. Y'all, I am so so happy to see everyone's "EEE, WINCON!" posts. Even though I can't go, I want to hear ALL ABOUT IT and see lots of pictures and live vicariously. I expect full reports.

It's Thursday, but my a cappella group has auditions AGAIN, so I will miss yet another ep of Supernatural -- I'm not good at this watching-when-it-airs thing, am I? At least SPN fans are wonderfully rabid in their torrenting. I also need to download last night's Project Runway -- the Tim visits are the best part of the whole series, in my opinion, and this is a group I'm anxious to see him visit!

The knife in the title of this post is for me to throw at my boss, who seems to be asking for things I'm not sure I know how to do. AWESOME. Here's hoping your collective day goes as well as mine seems to be.

Here, have some ( pretty )

So apparently I was all chatty last week and the week before -- and this week I have two measley posts. I think it's because of the show starting back up (TOMORROW, eep). Since I won't be able to watch the premiere tomorrow night (a cappella rehearsal) and maybe not Friday or Saturday (a cappella concert and the boy, respectively), I may be forced to wait until Sunday night to join in the revelry, and that always dampens my glee a bit. I mean, have you noticed that when something new comes out there's a flurry of "WHEEEEE!" from ye olde flist, and then... nothing? And the reviews/discussion/whatever that comes after is often prefaced by "so I know everybody's seen this, but..." and it feels less exciting. Well. I hope that's not what happens for me, you know?

Also: I have not read/seen/talked about spoilers. If any of you spoil me, I will be very, very upset. Please, for the love of all that is holy, use cut-tags. I know you all will, but this is your friendly neighborhood reminder-man, trying to make sure he picks up where he left off, not knowing anything more.

In other news, work is kind of kicking my ass. There was a looooooong stretch in there where I was bored out of my skull; now I'm terrified of making deadlines. Isn't that always the case? Also, Election Day is six weeks from yesterday. I follow a number of somewhat-left-of-center political blogs (because I apparently like knowing about all the shit that goes on in the government) and am kind of biting my nails over the results. We shall see! The only thing I will demand of you in re: the election is that you vote, if you are allowed to do so. Find out who your candidates are, read their positions, read their rhetoric, and vote. Please. Our country has one of the lowest voter-turnout rates among the world's democracies (well, okay, democratic republic in our case) and that's *shameful*.

Here, have some ( candy )

So I saw that ( pirate movie )

Yeah, I want to see the next one. Good thing we've only got a year to wait, right? And damn, the theme song won't leave my head.

This has certainly been an interesting weekend so far.

For those that missed it, I posted [With This Ring], a Jsquared weddingfic (no, really; just go read it if you're in doubt, or at least read the apologia at the top) last night.

Friday was FRE's "birthday" (hers was last week, but she got sick so she "postponed" it), so we all went out to dinner, which was nice. Yesterday was a v.v. full day, in which I met and had lunch with dopplegl (AWESOME), went to see An Inconvenient Truth (AWESOME and depressing and encouraging all at once; go see it!), and then had FRE and her boyfriend over for dinner. We made pizza and calzones from scratch, and used the first of my crop of basil and oregano that I've been growing on my porch. It, too, was AWESOME, and I now have two leftover calzones for lunches during the week. \o/

Today, I will be running around like a headless chicken trying to do all the things I won't be able to do this coming week. Why won't I be able to do them? Because it's hell week #2! Rehearsals Monday through Wednesday, shows Thursday through Saturday. And I have to sing a performance check before rehearsal on Monday, meaning I have to leave work early and spend another hour at the Symphony. FUN. Except that it's NOT. So, for those keeping track, that's something like 18 hours actually *at* the symphony hall this week, plus another 18 or so in transit. Yes, I'm going to die. Someone please have the decency to remember me to the fannish community.

And now I go to do my myriad errands and an insane amount of cooking, so that I have insta-dinner when I get home from work and have to dash right off to the train.

I saw X3 and ( put my thoughts behind a cut ). So who's writing me Ben Foster/Shawn Ashmore slash?

And now since it's after midnight and I have rehearsal in the city at 10am (WTF, symphony? ::ragefist OMG::), I'm going to sleep. Maybe I'll have more to say tomorrow.

ALSO. I posted all twenty-eight prompt responses in the past three entries; go check them out!

I'm singing a concert in six hours. A Requiem, hence the entry title. ( concert zen )

My porn is broken. I'm trying to write loving-but-not-schmoopy Jsquared porn and it's not working at ALL. Even the pictures aren't helping -- everything that comes out feels like a giant cliché. How do you constantly-writing-porn people do it? Keep it different and interesting, I mean.

ETA: [Step Up] looks to be terrible, but they've set it in Baltimore (AHAHAHAHAHAHA) and Channing Tatum is on the hot side...

Hey wow, rehearsal was PAINFUL. It wasn't so much that the piece is difficult as that our director made us go over and over the really high stuff. Ouch. The alto soloist, however, turns out to be a SFSC member. *I* was amused.

In other news, is there *anyone* in the world who doesn't watch Grey's Anatomy? Even my roommate and his girlfriend watch it. I don't mind it per se -- except in the sense that I don't like medical shows -- but tonight it's pissing me off because I can barely go through the living room without whispers of "shhh!" And yeah, reading all y'alls spoilers, I'm not surprised I'm getting that reaction.

There are a few things I could do now, but it's hot. Maybe I'll take a cool shower first.

Good morning, campers! It's sunny and gorgeous outside, just as it has been for the past several weeks, but I'm stuck in here, crunching numbers. Or rather, waiting for the numbers to be crunched. ::glares at slow analysis software::

There's an [X-Men 3 trailer] that someone posted to YouTube; I'm not sure if this is posted anywhere else yet, though it probably is. I couldn't watch it all the way through; too much of the mutant = gay parallel is there, and it makes me queasy. I'm sure I'll go see it in the theater, but getting all of it packed into that trailer is a bit much.

So Danny did a Jensen picspam yesterday and said she was gonna do a Jared one. But I got impatient and since I like looking at pretty pictures of pretty boys, have a ( Jared picspam! )

Tomorrow kicks off a week in which I have one night free. ONE. Two rehearsals, two performances, one night free, and a day of what amounts to community service next Saturday because friends of mine are helping out. ::headdesk:: Wake me when it's over? (yes, this means the next part of highschoolery will be delayed. I've been extremely busy!)

To get away from the apartment full of Roommate J's coworkers, FRE and I went to see Stick It, which was fun and heartwarming as it should have been, but ( spoilers ). Overall: not as funny as Bring It On, and not nearly gay enough.

Then FRE and I went to Old Navy where I got some new shorts and some "nice" t-shirts for work (and oh god, why are their new cargo shorts so stupid? I had to get some because I'm now addicted to cargo pockets, but the new ones suck!), and then FRE gave me some tomato plants she bought (at a dollar apiece!) so I'll have tomatoes this summer in addition to my basil and rosemary. I may also try oregano, but I've had a devil of a time finding oregano seeds. I love growing herbs (nothing beats fresh herbs in bread), and the weather here is just perfect for it -- I hope the tomatoes do well, too.

Now it's 8:30 and the roommate is playing video games and planning to go out soon, so I'll be able to take over the TV. Until then I will answer email and comments, and possibly write some. When did I become such a busy person? I feel like I used to lay around and do nothing all day!