thatmadgirl

I've been thinking a lot about vidding lately, because first, the truly excellent @cee_m has been showing me a lot of them, and second, because I've been thinking about how they fit into some research a labmate is doing into collaboration. And of course, there's the DMCA exemption stuff coming up again.

So for anyone who cares, I thought I would share one of my favorites that I've stumbled across recently. It was made by affablyevil, for the television show Supernatural, and was originally posted here. Music is Florence + the Machine's "Cosmic Love", which is one of my favorite songs.



This vid says something about the source material that I couldn't get across just by telling you. And it has some really amazing musicality, too.

I have a hundred ideas for vids I'd love to make in my head, but sadly it's a time commitment I just don't have right now. :(

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So it's official: I'm on staff for the YA Lit track at DragonCon.

You're probably thinking "but Casey how can you fit another hat onto your very busy head!" Well, you make time for awesome things. And since I am already involved in the bookclub and already spend most of my DC time with these girls anyway, it's not exactly going to be a big change/extra work.

I think I'm going to pitch the idea of starting a blog, though. With a half dozen or so very knowledgeable and excitable people reading a new book each month, I think our ramblings and reviews might be well received by the world at large.

Last month we went old school and read The Eyes of the Dragon. I actually liked it quite a lot, in the same way I liked Dark Tower despite not being a Stephen King fan generally.

I am about halfway through Across the Universe right now and cannot put it down. I didn't realize how itchy I've been for good YA scifi. It almost makes me want to scrap the much-neglected urban fantasy/law novel and write some cyberpunky YA inspired by all the technology stuff I'm reading for my qualifying exams.

(Which, by the way, is why you might not see a lot of me in the next two months. Quals are mid-March.)

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Reading my Livejournal friends-list again is giving me a major guilt complex over the state of my fiction writing. Maybe I should concentrate on short stories for a while instead of The Long-Anticipated And Still Not Close to Finished novel, because then I'd feel like I'm actually accomplishing/finishing something.

Especially since writing time is going to be even more diminished this semester due to qualifying exams.

In other news, I'm on Day 3 of being snowed in. Yes, I'm sure everyone up north is laughing their asses off at us down here, the whole city shutting down just because of a little snow... well, snow and ICY PATCHES OF DEATH. You do have to take into account that the city of Atlanta (oh sorry, Hothlanta) has approximately eight snow trucks. My own little 2-wheel-drive car have been unable to drive out of my neighborhood since Sunday. (Also, where do they get the people to interview for these news articles? I'm not sure which is my favorite part, the guy talking about having to get to McDonald's for a sausage biscuit, or the rationing of SpaghettiO's. And I swear, mroctober if you say a word about Chik-Fil-A I'm never letting you sleep on my couch again.)

I have, however, gone on a bit of a cleaning spree. See icon.

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So technically my new school semester started today. (Campus was closed - and tomorrow as well - due to the "snowpocalypse" in Atlanta but that isn't relevant to this story.) I did however manage to meet three personal World of Warcraft goals though, which is nice considering that my play time will drop off a bit now.

This is going to be boring/confusing for anyone who doesn't play, so scroll on past or just click for the pretty picture at the end.

First, ding 85 (new level cap) on my main! (And when I say "main", seriously, because my next highest level character is level 30.)

( Screenshot or it didn't happen. )

Second, I got the "Ambassador" title after getting exalted reputation with 5 home cities. This has gotten massively easier since the institution of city tabards to award rep in dungeons.

And third, related to the last on a bit, I got an albino drake, which is the reward for collecting 50 mounts. I have never had a mount drop and I don't PVP, so my mounts are all reputation grinds, which in this case was those five home cities plus the guys in Nagrand that sell Talbuks (which are the prettiest land mounts ever IMO). I don't think I will ever have the patience to do the Netherwing rep grind, so this is a good consolation prize. I like the way it looks a lot, and I was just sick of riding the bronze drake that everyone and their mom has.

( Pretty! )

In theory I guess I'm gearing for heroics now, but it will probably be slow going.

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Last semester we had a discussion in my lab's seminar about hobbies (deciding, among other things, whether Farmville is a hobby or a game), and I realized that, besides writing (which for me seems like less of a hobby now that I take it seriously), I don't really have any.

Problem solved! Largely because I've been inspired by a good friend of mine who has been making jewelry for a while and soon will be selling her work on Etsy, I'm trying my hand at beading. This probably seems odd for someone who wears so little jewelry, but it's really more the aesthetic creativity for me - I like picking out beads and making patterns based on things that inspire me. And even though it seems a little silly at this point based on the quality of things I am making (not great yet!), I'm naming my pieces. I'm also finding that stringing beads is very zen.

Anyway, this is the first thing I've made that I'm quite proud of it. It was a gift from my grandmother, and as I was making it I was thinking of her wearing it to church and how it could catch the light from the stained glass windows. Hence the title - "Sparkle from the Back Pew." Materials are cat's eye amethyst and crystazzi crystals (though now that I know what to buy and am not limited to craft stores I'll probably start working with swarovski) on memory wire (which is great for my grandmother because she doesn't have to clasp it). Larger pictures here and here.



Also my friend's jewelry LJ where you can see some of her pretty amazing stuff is buniquebeads.

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I did not sign up for Yuletide this year, though I have done it once in the past (during law school, which was probably why I wrote a very meta story about copyright). But around Christmas when all of the prompts submitted opened up for anyone who wanted to write additional stories, I was having fun just reading through them... and saw that someone had requested a story about the Old Spice guy from the commercials, and in that same request, a story that incorporated Texts from Last Night. It was an idea that I just couldn't get out of my head, so I sat down and wrote something, which was a LOT of fun.

And the response has been pretty amazing, just like the last time I did Yuletide. I know that this many people have certainly never read anything original I've written/published. I could get used to this kind of praise. :)

Texts From Your Shower (686 words) by madgirl
Fandom: Old Spice Guy (Commercials), Texts From Last Night, TV Commercials
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary:

(555):
Hello, Ladies.
Good night (1 bajillion) Bad night (0)

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I'm playing a bit of World of Warcraft for the first time in a while, lured back by the shiny of the expansion after taking a break to study for the bar. Though I don't have the time to play enough to be a serious WoW-er, it is still a lot of fun and I enjoy it a lot more than most console games - probably because of the social aspect. And I've been lucky enough to find a guild that is happy to have me tagging along even though I'll probably never be raiding.

Anyway, thanks to spending a bit of time leveling archaeology, I now have this title:



Considering what I've heard about how time consuming the archaeology grind is, I have a feeling I might get actual tenure before I'm a full professor in-game. (And I haven't even gotten my PhD yet!)

P.S. I'm not sure how well this posting-to-dreamwidth thing is going to work, since this is the second time I've forgotten and posted to LJ first.

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I have spent some time in the past few days reading Yuletide stories - mostly from recommendations from other people since I don't have the energy to search through too much myself. But of what I've read, these were my favorites. And they're all very accessible in that they're based on things that most people are familiar with - very "un-fanction-y" fanfiction, really. No naughty bits, even! That's one of the reasons I like Yuletide, it tends to bring out great little conceptual jewels.

Goodnight Room
Fandom: Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Bunny (Goodnight Moon)
Summary: Bunnies ... in ... SPAAAAAAAACE!

This one seems to be the star of this year's Yuletide (though it hasn't quite gone viral yet like last year's NPR+zombies), and well deserved. I would hold it up as an awesome example of remix because it's a genius original science fiction story, but it requires knowledge of the source material for you to really get why it's genius. Though do not read this if you're reading Goodnight Moon to your kids and are worried about being seriously creeped out by it forever after.

The Roommate of +10 Confusion
Fandom: FoxTrot, Calvin & Hobbes
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: There must be some scientifically sound way for Jason Fox to be able to quantify his new college roommate, but he hasn't found one yet that fits. Especially when he factors in the stuffed tiger.

This one just makes so much sense.

No Reservations: Narnia
Fandom: Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations RPF, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary: I’m crammed into a burrow so small that my knees are up around my ears and the boom mike keeps slamming into my head, inhaling the potent scent of toffee-apple brandy and trying to drink a talking mouse under the table.

The title sums up the concept, and the concept is what makes it brilliant. I actually haven't seen much of No Reservations but my understanding from the comments is that the narration is pretty spot-on, too.

Guns 'n' Neuroses
Fandom: Frasier, Supernatural
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary: Niles and Frasier, hunters of the supernatural.

It's not really so much a crossover as a pastiche. But it really makes a lot of sense, yes? Judging from the books I've read lately (see: Rob Thurman and Sara Rees Brennen and Jim Butcher), it's what brothers do, hunting demons together.

The Game Is a Lie
Fandom: Portal (Video Game)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary: GLaDOS: the artificial intelligence that cried wolf.

The best part about this one is that it cites a philosophy paper at the end.

Just Another Day In The Secret Base
Fandom: Disney Princesses Superheroes - kruegan, Disney Princesses
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: It's just another day in the secret base, and PrincessForce are dealing with internal conflicts, an intruder, a prince in need of rescue and a misplaced rabbit.

This is particularly interesting because the "fandom" that it's based on is actually a piece of fan art itself - Disney princesses as super heroes. Which clearly is a brilliant idea, and there were a good half dozen stories inspired by it but of those I read this was my favorite.

Feminism First Thing In the Morning
Fandom: Feminist Hulk (Twitter), Batman - Fandom, Old Spice Guy (Commercials)
Rating: Not Rated
Summary: Batman Smells... like Evelyn & Crabtree.

As if it's not bizarre enough to write stories based on a TV commercial, there are stories based on a Twitter feed. Or in this case, both. (There are several more Feminist Hulk stories, though.) The punchline on this one made me laugh.

Gamol-léac
Fandom: Old Spice Guy (Commercials), Beowulf
Rating: General Audiences
Summary: After Beowulf's death, the men of Geatland meet a strange and powerful warrior.

Speaking of TV commercials... it's the Old Spice guy. In Beowulf. In perfect meter.

In closing, I will say that, yes, I wrote something. Not for the fest itself, because I knew I wouldn't have time for a full length story around finals, but for Yuletide Madness. I'm sure no one will be able to figure out what it is, but I'll let you know once authors are revealed.

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It has come to my attention that it is a simple task to cross-post between Livejournal and Dreamwidth. Largely because it seems like much of the OTW crowd is on DW, I'm going to try that out and see how it goes. Even if my friends-list there is empty.

You have 0 friends. Sad!

After this, there will be a post of my favorite Yuletide stories, which have been waiting open in tabs for just such an occasion.

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Happy Christmas, all!

I would like to make a New Years Resolution to start writing in this LJ again. Even though my life now consists largely of boring (to everyone else) academic things, there is always the occasional intelligent thought about pop culture that I should probably refrain from spamming Facebook with...

I have a feeling that most of the people who read this are no longer around, but if you are, hello!