sylvia_bond | Entries tagged with life and everything

So over on pinkraygun.com, my five-parter piece on fans in fandom has been being posted regularly on Tuesdays. The last part posts this Thursday, right before SPN comes back from hiatus.

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One of the things I do every week is I read Roger Ebert and his movie reviews. I read pretty much everything he writes. Some of it I skim, if I’m in a hurry or if it’s about politics, which I find a little dreary. Most of the time I read all of his movie reviews, and then his blog, and I read the articles done by other reviewers on his blog, but mostly I just read Ebert.

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This is my first entry in my new DreamWidth account!

I love the idea that there's such a thing as a wolf moon......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090109/sc_space/saturdaynightspecialbiggestfullmoonof2009

If skies are clear Saturday, go out at sunset and look for the giant moon rising in the east. It will be the biggest and brightest one of 2009,
sure to wow even seasoned observers.

Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days.

But the orbit is not a perfect circle. One portion is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to our planet than the farthest part, so the moon's apparent size in the sky changes. Saturday night (Jan. 10) the moon will be at perigee, the closest point to us on this orbit.

It will appear about 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during 2009, according to NASA. (A similar setup occurred in December, making that month's full moon the largest of 2008.)

Tides will be higher, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because they occur when the moon is at or near perigee. (The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.)

This month's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon from Native American folklore. The full moon's of each month are named. January's is also known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon.

So, on November 24 of this year, I unplugged my cable. And how’s it going, you ask?

I’m still struggling with not being able to just sit down and find something mindless to watch, but, I think the end results will be worth it. While I miss the History Channel like crazy, I do not miss the reality shows that were getting stupider and stupider. The Amazing Race seemed like it might be fun, but really. I get enough of that kind of reality when I’m late for a plane. Sometimes I do sit down, and spin through my ginormous collection of about, oh 15 selections, and YES, sometimes I’ll watch something for five minutes before realizing I have no idea what it is or what it’s about. And then I’ll turn the TV off. It’s a hard habit to break.

Here’s what I’ve found that’s cool though. Last Sunday, I cooked. Now, I do that a lot acutally, cook on Sunday to make rice and stuff for the rest of the week, but normally, I’m thinking, well, I’ll get down to the TV (which is in the basement) and get all ready and…and then I remember. I’m on MY schedule now. I don’t have to rush. I’ve got tons of DVDs and movies I can instantly watch on Netflix. I have books to read - I’m way over my head with stuff I can do, without having to race to match the network’s schedule. Isn’t that nice?

I go to bed now when I’m tired and when it’s time, NOT when the show is over.

I’ve stopped looking at the clock while writing because it doesn’t matter what time it is.

I’ve cleaned out three closets (yes, three) with the extra time I’ve found.

I wrote an article reviewing The Watchmen comic book/graphic novel, and was finally able to finish it up. I’ve started a new project about fanfic and fanwriters for PRG. I’m trying to determine whether I want to focus on a) writing more fanfic, b) writing more articles, c) writing on that novel of mine, d) making songvids. I’m pretty sure that I’d have time for ALL of these if I was more disciplined with my time.

I barely look at the TV anymore. I’m sure it feels lonely.

Going to Escapade!!! I've only got to pack, now, as everything else is in order. I intend to wear my bottle opener around my neck, on account of last year, I didn't have one, and had to spend the weekend opening the durn things on the windowsill. After a while that hurt, so. This year, I'm prepared.

Then, just sos you know, the great novel experiment is sadly over. I ended up drinking more coffee than I did working on the novel, and got inspired for fanfiction instead of "serious" fiction, alas, and wrote on that instead. Plus my characters got stubborn and didn't want to play it my way anymore. They were reluctant, dragging their heels at every opportunity and saying inappropriate things, not just to me, but to each other. I had to call several time outs towards the end there. My plan is to revise my outline and see what sort of ideas I can pick up to keep the characters in line. Who knew that they would be such a handful???

Plus, on a sadder but not so sad note, I have a temp job that starts Tuesday after I get back from Escapade. I'm glad, said Pollyanna, because I will have income. I'm sad because it's not my dream job. Had several interviews at several places, but at the last minute, they hired somebody else who had more of what they wanted. Meh. Their loss.

Current Mood: ecstatic

I just spend time, real honest to god time, fixing my tags. They're all much more simpler now. It was very gratifying, and pretty much the only mundane task I could think of to keep my mind off the new episode tonight. I'm not counting down the hours, no, not me. I'm thinking I'll do the dishes, clean out the fridge, and then go to the store for something nice to eat whilst watching. Maybe even, in honor of the occasion, some nice merlot. (Mer-LOT, as I like to pronounce it.)

Other than that, I've still (STILL) not got a job. :::sigh::: Still looking for "technical writer wanted." AND I have a cold.

Looking forward to tonight, I can tell you!

Yeah. Been away. Went to Ogallala to take pictures of the area for

big_pinkand her new fanfic, where the boys eat bad pizza, drink bad coffee, and risk blizzards and boring landscapes to investigate mysterious deaths. What fun that was! Being on a roadtrip in cold weather was no fun, but we slept well, and the justification for that extra candy bar was well founded.

Back in the saddle now, looking for jobs, working on fanfic, writing articles. Laundry? Today does not look good. Tomorrow does not either.

Based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, PLEASE acknowledge their copyright. BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:

Father went to college -- Not sure for how long.
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent - Dr. Seuss!
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 -- I had ice skating lessons, skiiing lessons, and trombone lessons.
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively -- Well, no.
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 - Gosh no!
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs - Lord no.
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs - I'm still working on student loans.
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp -- Went to Camp Fire Girls camp. Camp Hitaga in Iowa. It was a blast both times. I'm not sure how we afforded it, but we did.
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 - Handmedowns to the max. I was the youngest of four.
There was original art in your house when you were a child - One my grandfather painted, and the other one, I don't remember who it was by.
You and your family lived in a single family house -- We lived in base housing till I was 10. Sometimes that was an apartment, sometimes it was a house.
Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home - The day they sold that house, my childhood home, I bawled my eyes out.
You had your own room as a child. - When sisters started getting married, I got my own room. I think I was 15.
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 - My dad was in the Air Force, so when he got stationed in Germany, we flew there. I was about five when we went over, 8 when we came back.
Went on a cruise with your family - We all went on a Disney cruise a few years back.
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up - While in Germany, especially. We went to all the museums, art galleries, went to the ballet and the opera, old castles, beer houses, Octoberfest. We were overloaded with it.
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family -- Not for a minute. Especially after my dad got out of the Air Force and money was tight. The whole "don't touch the GD thermostat!" That house was drafty, I tell you. It was cold in winter.

Current Mood: creative

I swiped this from

apgeeksout who swiped it from unhobbityhobbit and because it seemed like fun!

Here it is, ten things you might not know about me. Well, 11, because I always overdo.

1. I sing when I'm happy. Not well, but I sing. I like to sing when I cook, especially.

2. I love to go out to breakfast. There's something very decadent about someone else making me french toast. I like it best with loads of butter and cinnamon and sugar.

3. I sleep better when I've written that day. I sleep even better when I've written fiction.

4. Until I was 12, people thought I was a boy. This is in part due to my mother's insistence that I have a pixie haircut. I played it up until I couldn't anymore, and I can tell you for certain that boys are treated differently than girls.

5. I am allergic to cats and house dust.

6. I once bought a house built in 1902. It was only 1,200 square feet. I had siding and insulation and new windows put on. Then, I had to caulk the entire thing (by hand), and then paint it and the garage and the outbuilding. Then I couldn't stand to look at it any more, because all it said to me was "work," so I sold it.

7. I am writing a novel. It's not going very well because the fanfiction is coming much easier.

8. I am the youngest of four girls. And no matter how old I get, no matter that I'm a card-carrying, mortgage-paying adult, I am always referred to as Baby.

9. One of my favorite things to do is take roadtrips. I love to drive long distances and sing with the windows down. I recently went through AZ and NM and they have the straightest roads in the country.

10. One of my hobbies (besides fandom) is reading about the Revolutionary War, and in particular anything George Washington did or said. He had a hard row to hoe, that one.

11. I once went on a sail training voyage. You know, where you learn to sail one of those three-masted vessels? I took a ship out of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. In a fit of enthusiasm, I signed on for five weeks. I managed cold showers, storms at sea, cold bisquits for breakfast, and callouses on my hands and feet. I wore my tuque nonstop. But when the septic tank exploded into the hold, I kind of wanted to get off. Only there was no port. I had to wait. Oh joy. Got off at Newport. Ate lobster. Went home.

Current Music: Harry Belefonte Christmas Music

Dig that Jared guy. He could sway me to be a Sam girl if I wasn’t already so devoted to Dean, and he doesn’t even know it! Here’s a post about my visit to Vancouver, and my supernatural encounters. Read the rest of this entry....

Current Mood: awake

I was asked what made me cry watching Supernatural. Lots of people mentioned the closing scene in Heart, and I agree, and wanted to share how it affected me enough to make me an SPN fan. Here's the story:

I loved the tear at the end of Heart from Dean, which is what got me
into SPN. Before then...well, I had resisted SPN like a drunk on the
wagon, not wanting to fall off. ( click here to read the rest of the story )

Current Mood: creative

Fandom is such a wonderful community. I am not sure whether it's because of the nature of the material we work with or because we are the kind of people who are cool to be with. I mean, can you imagine (considering the former) someone who collects stamps saying to someone they just met, "Oh, my GOD, you have the Gettysburg # 2 Upsidedown stamp! Well, I have the Baccus Superpurple 3 cent one that you've never seen, let me give it to you." Stamp collectors aren't like that, are they? Don't know. And, consdering the latter, are they cool to be with? Not sure.

Anyway, it's been a long road since I was in fandom. I took several years off to delve into Dark Shadows fandom, and what a wonderful time I had there. My frustrations with that fandom mainly had to do with the lack of sharing and the lack of creativity. Oh sure, people did stuff, but it was very isolated, and we as a fandom were, apparently, mostly interested in the actors who came to the festivals. Fine and good, and very exciting, at first. I sure did love watching fan's faces when they met thus and such actor for the first time.

But I am glad to be back where I can talk about people having sex with one another without getting shushed!

Current Mood: content

I'm just home from Escapade where I was assured that Live Journal, otherwise known as that nice LJ lady, is a most crucial aspect of being involved in fandom. In the before time, we depended on snail mail and the phone, and then, the internet came and all was brightness. I'm not sure how to go about this, but all the fans I talked to made it sound like a lot of fun! So. This is it. So far.