A Small Thing To See

8:33pm: Fanfic: Deja Vu All Over Again! G-Rated
Someone on TV Tropes mentioned this, so I dug around, and here it is where people can see it!

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
by Scott K. Jamison
Ranma 1/2 and its associated characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

( Peggy Sue! Peggy Sue! P-p-p-p-Peggy Sue! )

4:36pm: Casstoon!
I wrote a reaction to the Wonder Woman bit in DC Universe #0, and the events in the comics of the last year, which has been done up as a Casstoon.

http://superdickery.110mb.com/viewtopic.php?p=9863#p9863

In other news, a CVS pharmacy has opened today a couple of blocks away. I'd have preferred a grocery store, but I'll take what I can get. I was the third customer in, as I had trouble getting out of bed. Got a lot of "can I help you" since, well, there just weren't enough shoppers in yet to occupy the employees.

12:51am: Free Comic Book Day
So, Free Comic Book Day.

Having been burned last year, I took the precaution of arriving at the Source (they have the biggest selection in town) early on.

In addition to the usual free pop and cake, everyone got an Iron Man Heroclix figure. And of course, some free comics (an edited bag for the kiddies.)

( Let's look at the swag! )

8:11pm: Overused Fanfic Plots and Themes
If you've ever clicked on my "Fanfic Page" link, you may have seen an article on overused themes in fanfic (focusing on Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon.) To quote that article:

"While it's certainly not true that every possible plot twist or
character twitch has already been used up, some have been more heavily
mined than others in fanfiction. Some of them have been done so often
(and so often badly) that the experienced reader, upon seeing someone
attempting to 'reinvent the wheel', can only sigh and think 'here we go
again.'

"Thus this list, which hopes to cover the most commonly overused
themes and scenes, not to forbid their reuse, but to let the beginning
writer know what has already been done, and done well."

That article is, naturally, years out of date.

So...please comment with a fandom, one of the overused themes or plots from the fanfic for it, why you feel it's over-used, and (most importantly) a fanfic that you think does the particular theme/plot/twist well.

Thanks in advance!

5:49am: Big Meeting
Target had its annual Financial Services Department meeting yesterday.

So naturally, it rained pretty hard.

This year, it was at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which is larger than the State Theater, but not nearly as charming. We got snack bags (too crowded seating to actually do any serious snacking) and the usual swag package. This year, it was a miniature Target shopping basket, a slighty fancified pen, a moleskin notebook, and a pair of Bullseye dolls with shirts labelled "Hello" and "Good Buy."

The meeting itself was streamlined--Since our group got there early, I got a decent seat, and sat waiting nearly as long as the meeting itself took. It was the usual upbeat "we did really well last year and are working on ways to make this year better" message.

Still raining when we came out.

Coming back to the TFS building, management provided free bag lunches--I took egg salad. Got back to my desk to discover that due to the streamlining, they'd changed my work schedule while I was away--instead of having a half hour to relax, I needed to sign in immediately.

10:54pm: quick update
Tax forms mailed, turned out I broke more or less even.

Went to see "The Forbidden Kingdom." Li and Chan good as always, though Chan is really showing his age. Pretty soon he's going to have to play ancient masters. I was a bit annoyed that the protagonist kid wasn't a bit more "genre savvy", considering he's supposed to be a huge fan of wuxia.

Finally got around to sewing the suspender buttons on my new work khakis. It's not so much hard as time-consuming and annoying. I need a seamstress.

Otherwise, things are as usual. Looking very much forward to the upcoming opening of a CVS Pharmacy in my neighborhood, though I'd have preferred the grocery store to have finally gotten its remodeling clearance.

6:56pm: Podcastle
I'd like to quickly recommend a new podcast, Podcastle.

It's from the same people who bring you Escapepod (SF stories) and Pseudopod (horror stories), but is intended to give us quality readings of fantasy stories. The first story was Peter S. Beagle's "Come, Lady Death." A woman invites Death to her fancy ball. Since it's not horror, there isn't a mountain of corpses at the end, though whether it ends happily is another question.

Check it out at http://www.podcastle.org !

6:29pm: Anime Detour 2008
Yeah, I've misplaced my program, so this will be non-linear and may be revised as my memory kicks in.

( Kind )

That weekend, one of my nieces had First Communion and her birthday is in the same timeframe (maybe related?) so I had sent her a package with a couple of cards and a knitted "alien sock monkey" I'd gotten at Minicon. She's named the monkey "Paul Nitto."

4:17pm: Back from Minicon!
Yes, I am back safely.

( Long, )

6:54pm: Light's back on!
Finally. Unfortunately, it only goes to show how far I have to go in cleaning this place.

I'm off to Minicon this weekend, hope to see a few of you there.

9:10am: Billy vs. Snakeman time!
I need lots of extra Stamina today, so please click on my referral link. And remember, if you sign up for the game from this link and make it to your first promotion, I get extra ninja powers! Thanks in advance!



Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!



Hope all of you are as well as can be expected.

9:14pm: miscellany
My CD drive was making funny noises and not recognizing that there were CDs in it. So I got me a new media drive that plays DVDs and supposedly will burn CDs as well. Unfortunately, in the process of installing it I managed to break the mouse connection plug, so it was back to the store to get one of those.

I see that LJ no longer allows the creation of new Basic (no ads) accounts. As it happens, I have a couple of old role-playing accounts gathering dust. So if you know of a person who does not have any LJ account, and would like to get one so they can join their friends here, let me know and we'll see what can be arranged. (I won't state my opinion on the action, as it matches most of the population.)

And it's vacation time!

Edit to add: Yesterday, while out getting the mouse connector, I had lunch at one of those all-you-can-eat buffet places. At one point, the manager walked through and stopped at the table next to mine. He asked if anything were wrong, as one of the discarded dishes was full of food, and nearly untouched. It turned out that the customer, a full-grown man in a business suit, had heaped large helpings of items clearly marked on the buffet with words like "spicy", "curry" and "jalapeno" on to his plate, without considering that such foods might, you know, cause a slight burning sensation when eaten. After that party left, the manager bitterly complained about the waste.

I went light on my second plate to make sure I could finish everything I took.


And it looks like this weekend is not a good time for people without kids to visit the Mall of America, as it's the grand reopening of their amusement park under the new Nickelodeon theme.

9:42pm: weekend
Went to see "10,000 B.C." It's okay for what it is--completely made up, with no relation to actual history, anthropology or palenotology.

My Netflix movie for the weekend is "The Revenger's Tragedy" with Christopher Eccleston. It's a Jacobean tragedy dolled up as being "20 minutes in the future." Basic plot: The Duke of Liverpool is refused sex by a woman, so he poisons her and nearly her entire wedding party (save the ones who didn't get around to drinking their champagne, for whatever reason. The groom, Vindici, returns after a decade to take bloody vengeance. The dialogue takes some getting used to, as some of it is directly from the original, while other bits are updated to the setting. Interesting, and violent, though.

8:54pm: Update
I went to the family's February birthday bash weekend before last. It was a bit smaller than usual. My oldest niece got a surprise shift at her part-time job (and you know how obnoxious those jobs can be about trying to get out of surprise shifts), and my nephew, while in the state, was only fetching his wife and had to head right back to the Army base he's now stationed at.

Dad seemed to like the new handkerchieves I got him. Mom tells me his old ones were down to the polyester threads. Everyone else got stuff from the clearance sale at Borders (except my nephew, who still hasn't got his new address to anyone.)

You've probably already heard that Gary Gygax died. Dungeons and Dragons was in a lot of ways what gave me what little social life I had in college and beyond for a long time. True, I moved on to other RPGs, but D&D will always have a place in my heart, and EGG was a big part of that.

In lighter news, the Minnesota Pioneer Press (fka the Saint Paul Pioneer Press) ran this piece on Monday: http://www.twincities.com/ci_8431591?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com&nclick_check=1

11:57pm: random bit
The other day I happened to notice a paperback romance novel on a co-worker's desk. It had the title "The Unlikeliest of Mommies."

"So," I ask my coworker, "that's an interesting title. Did Mommy happen to be a man before the operation?"

Coworker shook her head.

"She's actually an alien robot catgirl?"

"No."

"I have it! She's actually the daughter of the family, come back in time to raise herself!"

Coworker snorted. "She's an auto mechanic."

I was shocked. "That's supposed to be *unlikely*? Is this a reprint from the Seventies, the last time I can imagine such a thing being at all edgy?"

Coworker shrugged. "I don't write 'em, I just read them."

9:26pm: A Valentine, sort of
I got a thank you letter from a customer today! It was faxed yesterday, so I guess you could call it a Valentine.

Sadly, these are rare in our department; I've gotten two in eight years.

9:15pm: Meme time!
My production numbers were way up last month, so in theory I will be employed at least until mid-March, when the numbers for February hit.

And this meme was taken from indigoskynet; follow it back.

Name five series (presumably television), without looking at the questions below the cut:

1. Ranma 1/2
2. Star Trek: The Original Series
3. Legion of Super-Heroes (new cartoon version)
4. Death Note
5. Babylon 5

( Questions to follow--warning, spoilers and triggery stuff )

6:48am: Voted
I think people are really, really desperate for a change this time.

I had to stand in line from 6:30 to 7:45 just to register to vote. By that time I wasn't feeling at all good, so I had to skip the actual caucusing part--not that there was any room to sit or stand there anyway. I'm so glad the caucus was just a block away this year so I was able to make it home before collapsing.

9:01pm: more
Well, my socks finally arrived (but they didn't actually ship until a week after I ordered them--I suspect my calling in jolted something loose.) It does feel considerably better wearing these than the worn out ones. (And better than I remember the original ones when they were new, actually.) But at $80 a pop, I'd better hope not to lose my insurance.

If Saturday counts for my January production, and the phone work is rated 1-for-1 as management keeps claiming, I should barely squeak through. If either is not the case, well....

Spent too much money at the Borders closing sale. Some of these items are going to be used as birthday presents for the next few months.

I am registered for AnimeDetour, and should be able to afford to send a check to Minicon this Friday. I'm going to try reserving a room for Minicon and hope for the best, because I really appreciated being able to sleep at ConVergence. Anime Detour shouldn't be as much of a problem due to the better public transportation situation, and the all-night anime rooms.

Still have not heard anything on when downtown's wi-fi will finally be in my area.

How's by you?

6:20pm: update
So very cold.

The recent cold snap has settled into my lower back, sending twinges through it whenever I move. Ibuprofen helps some, but not enough.

My support stockings are about completely worn out, and I need to get new ones because my circulation has not improved markedly.

Went to see "Cloverfield" Friday night--I won't spoil it for you folks, but will say that if you're easily nauseated by shaky camera work, blurring, or blinking flashes of light, this is not the movie for you. I was surprised to realize that I hadn't been in the Block E movie theater since October, when they switched movie house chains to Kerasota.

The Block E Borders is closing, so 25% off everything, and likely to be deeper discounts by the end (theoretically 2/1/8.) This is not good for Block E, as Borders was pretty much their anchor retailer. Also closing downtown is Crate and Barrel--haven't been there in over a decade, but still not happy news.

I splurged on "Bender's Big Score", the new Futurama movie. Lots of nostalgic fun.

Still very cold.

11:02pm: Help me become the Ninja King!
EDIT: The attempt is over, but if you want to click, go ahead.

Tomorrow, 1/15/8, I'm trying to make Sannin rank in the Billy vs. Snakeman game, which requires you to be the #1 player of the day. One way of increasing my chances is to have lots and lots of Stamina, and I gain 5 Stamina for each hit on my link from an individual IP.

So Click on through on the "play" link. Invite your friends to do the same! Plus, if any of you actually sign up for the free game, and pursue it long enough to become Chuunin, I get cool prizes. (Yes, it's a pyramid scheme.)

Thanks in advance!



Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

7:35am: Happy New Year!
It is now 2008 where I am. My keys are not missing.

Yay!

8:09pm: Another piece of the past gone.
When I first came down to the Twin Cities yea these many years ago, one of my first jobs was as an attendant at a full-service Shell gas station on Hennepin Avenue. I landed the job through family connections--the manager went to the same church as my aunt. Unfortunately, gas station attendant wasn't one of my aptitude areas, so I was soon laid off (the station switching to primarily self-service.) Some years later, the station closed, and the area was converted to a parking lot, with the former station providing indoor parking for a couple of favored customers, and shelter for the attendant.

As it happens, the bus I take to Target every morning left from that corner. Yesterday, I noticed that the former station was being approached by heavy machinery, which began smashing the building to bits. It was about halfway down when my bus came. By this morning, even the rubble had been cleared. I guess they just needed more parking spaces.

In more pleasing news, I got a note from the Texas school I'd donated "non-fiction science books" to through the LJ Donorschoose.org program. Evidently the project was finally fully funded, and the kids were thrilled by their new books on physics and chemistry.

Work was okay for the little there was this week, but it got really backed up so I was saddled primarily with the slow going. I'll do some overtime tomorrow to fix that.

8:47pm: Back at the apartment
Made it back to the cities with little difficulty. Surprisingly, even though the bus was packed solid, it was pretty much on time, and remained so all the way south.

Hotmail doesn't seem to be up at the moment, so this is also to let the folks know I made it okay.

Hope everyone had a decent holiday, and can look forward to 2008.

7:47am: Merry Christmas!
And Happy Holidays to all.

I'm up in Sandstone for the holiday, visiting the family.

The present opening ceremony was actually Sunday, as neither of my siblings was able to get more time off. So all the little ones had fun, and the grownups mostly did.

I gave the younger nieces Japanese calendars with anime pictures, having carefully written down the US holidays and family events in English so they'll actually be useful. Older niece got the last of the Harry Potter books (next year I'll have to be more creative), and nephew received a book on the Duluth Eskimos, Minnesota's first professional football team.

For my sister and her fella, I gave a gift card to Brit's, a local pseudo-pub. (I know they buy tickets to Orchestra Hall events, which are across the street from there.) My brother received a DVD of the new Hogfather movie (I hadn't realized it would also be on TV this weekend) and his wife a Nancy Drew-related book. Mom got the Annotated Pride & Prejudice, and Dad a Guideposts 2008 devotional reader.

I received presents as well, of course. A couple of shirts (one with a stormtrooper helmet design), socks, a snowman ornament in a tiny pail, a throw pillow and comforter, ruby chai--and from Secret Santa, a couple of aviation pulp reprints.

Hope your season goes well,
SKJAM!