There will be pie

Happy Memorial Day, LJ! I still think it’s weird that a holiday meant to honor fallen soldiers has turned into a outdoorsy, grillout, party-time, official kickoff of summertime day. But I like it!

Speaking of summer, whoa! We went from a Friday so cold and rainy that I was wearing sweats to blast furnace heat. But I like that too.

Random post gets random:

–I am filling in a gap in my geekiness by watching Doctor Who this weekend. Which I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode of. I started with Season Five, not sure why. Enjoying it very much so far, although I don’t yet see why it inspires such intense devoted fannishness. I like the creepy angels A LOT, but the Daleks seem a bit lame.

–I caught an episode of Batman The Brave and The Bold the other day (another thing I’d never seen before) in which Batman defeated the villain by singing. The Batman. Singing. I haven’t quite recovered from this.

–Since I’m being random about entertainment, if you like robots (and if you don’t, I’m keeping a close infrared eye on you), tonight on the Science channel, Grant Imahara is hosting Killer Robots; RoboGames 2011

I hope you’re all enjoying a great day. Soon I will be eating way too many hot dogs, and then . . . . THIS:

Wordless Wednesday–My New Geeky, I mean GeekiEST T-shirt

Friday Things, Only 3 This Time

Hiya, LJ! Here I am on a Friday evening, no, actually I think you could say Friday night. But I’m going to try and squeeze in my things.

1 — Even though I enjoy Twitter — I like it! — I do not love it. Do you know why? Can you guess? It’s because so much of it is self-promotey. At least 50% of it isn’t people just being themselves, (gushing about what they love, whining about what makes them cranky, talking to each other): it’s that marketing/networking stuffs that I am not a fan of. SO boring.

2 — And this brings me to why I LOVE tumblr. (Although I’ve only been on it for about two weeks.) It’s people posting about what they love and what makes them cranky. You don’t even know who they are. It’s the most refreshing internets thing I’ve ever participated in. Reading and commenting on blogs, chatting via LJ, conversing on message boards (or Usenet, remember Usenet?) — all these things drain me as much as they invigorate and entertain. But tumblr is all refreshment.

3 — I have been reading a LOT of comics lately. And wow! They can be so compelling — every novelist or aspiring novelist should read a few. And I am going to write a post just about the comics I’ve been reading soon. But in the meantime, I’d like to point you to this new comic, NONPLAYER, by Nate Simpson:

If you are interested in children’s lit., you will love the art, because it is breathtaking and evocative. If you play RPGs, (looks at stina_leicht and mtlawson) you will get a huge kick out of the story as well as reveling in the amazing art. There’s only one issue so far, so I can’t comment on the storytelling too much, but this first issue is intriguing and fun. I’m hooked. The first printing sold out quickly, but the second will be available on May 11.

A meme for you and Beware Flo, the Progressive Lady

I think perhaps Progressive Insurance is a nefarious company. Because look who I saw on an episode of Angel!

Yes, it’s Flo. Working for Wolfram and Hart! As the head of Files and Records.

In other goofy news, here’s a meme I saw on tumblr:

“Go look at your blog. Find the last fandom related thing you posted. The characters in that post are now your teammates in the zombie apocalypse. HOW FRAKKED ARE YOU?”

I think my last fandom related thing I posted would be the picture of my desk. So I have Chewbacca, Padme Amidala, Dr. McCoy, Spock, Aragorn, Elrond, Samwise, Lurtz, R2D2, Han Solo, Scotty, Wolverine and a Dragon with me. Not to mention Marvin the Martian and the Tasmanian Devil.

Safe as houses.

As long as I don’t buy any insurance from Progressive.

No, I don’t have 5 things for Friday

I never have five things! I’m not even going to try this time. But I have . . . three things? Prolly doesn’t matter too much since I’m posting late on Friday evening. When all the rest of you are OUT, right? Living the Party?

1– Whenever there’s horrific news like that out of Japan today, I feel like what’s the point of posting. Do you? LiveJournal and Twitter and making goofy jokes and talking about geeky observations seem . . . not pointless, but like something I shouldn’t do at such a time.

2– Speaking of geeky observations, I recently (also finally) watched The Hurt Locker (which is AWESOME! What a compelling story and characters. Sergeant James is exactly my main character cup of tea) and then a few nights later, an episode from the first season of Angel, because my son had recently asked if he could watch the series. And the episode was Somnambulist and I was all wait! What? Isn’t that the actor from The Hurt Locker?! And it was!

3– I’ve been making an effort lately to curtail how much reading I do online. Because even though everyone is kinda interesting to me and many, many articles and such appeal for various reasons, most internet writing is mediocre. Sure, much of it amuses, or gives me some other kind of pleasure, like “Huh! who knew?!” but the prose itself . . . I picked up one of my collections of E.B. White’s essays the other day and his writing walloped me upside the head. It is SO much better than a lot of what I spend my time reading. So I’m making an effort to seek out some of the greatest writing more regularly.

My first Wordless Wednesday–serious, arty photo ahoy!

More stuff I’ve enjoyed lately

Hey there, LJ! I see I am still struggling to post to you as much as I would like. I have a better idea of why that is– for one thing, (as I already knew and have even mentioned here, probably more than once, heh) I tend to withdraw when faced with any kind of problem or struggle. And even though I’m currently feeling much happier on the emo front, I’ve been challenged by the latest revision notes from my agent. In a good way! But a very consuming one, time-consuming and thought-consuming.

Here are some things I’ve enjoyed lately, in between pondering, listening, reading/re-reading, note-taking and muttering to myself.

The website http://www.geekosystem.com/ I check it almost daily, and there is always at least one fascinating post. Fascinating! Every day! How many sites can say that? Look at this one about very very realistic and creepy robots. Seriously, click and take a look. You will be amazed and astonished and creeped the creep out.

GUNN’S GOLDEN RULES!

If you love Tim Gunn, or even just like him warmly, you will enjoy this book. A hugely fun, witty, heartwarming and also sometimes poignant book. I checked it out from the Liberry, but have to buy a copy of my very own.

Do you remember sarahcross? Ha! I kid. Although she is NEVER around here anymore. Maybe because she was busy branching off from writing deeply entertaining YA novels to write a Wolverine comic! Which I got my very own copy of last week:

That’s the variant cover, btw. I feel secure in saying hers has to be the sweetest Wolverine story evah.

So now the Geek Moms have a blog!

I’ve long been an on and off reader of the Geek Dad blog over on Wired.com. (On and off because as you’ve seen me whine and moan, there are just TOO MANY things to read and it’s getting worser every day.)

And the “off again” made me miss the fact that they’ve added a Geek Mom blog. About time!

In random Mom-ly news, I just made a pan of brownies. No, not from scratch. I make pie from scratch but brownies and cake are mixes all the way. Except this box of mix is one of those intensely annoying stunted ones! Which I didn’t notice because the box is the same color as the mix I usually buy. But this FREAK box of mix only fills an eight by eight inch pan! Who wants to make such a weenie pan of brownies or lemon bars or anything?! Who, LJ, tell me, WHO?!

Ooooo, it’s October!

I love this month! It’s one of my favorites.

And it’s Friday — another favorite! Plus also, you know that Five Things on Friday . . . is it a meme? Or standing LJ tradition? Anyhoodle — Five Things, I haz them.

ONE! I’ve changed my user name back to dotificus. Tip of the hat to musesfool who gave me that nick. Although the full nick is The Maleficent Dotificus. I think it was megthelegend who dubbed me the Mighty. And I’m feeling both Mighty and more Maleficent lately.

Two-dles: I have one of those Despair Inc. Thinkgeek calendars and laughed out loud at the motto for October. The picture is a self-portrait by Van Gogh and the demotivational quote is CREATIVITY — Helps Artists Die Young, Miserable, and Penniless — So Their Art Can Have Meaning to the Old, Satisfied, and Obscenely Rich.

Three! — If it doesn’t rain this weekend — Go AWAY rain — I shall convey all three of my childers to the Renaissance Faire. Yes, a RennFaire. Yes, I love them. Shut up.

FORE!!! — Speaking of loving things like RennFaires, I am excited and noivous about attending World Fantasy Con at the end of this month.

Five, look! I have Five of these things! — I don’t know if you can tell it from this post, but I am feeling moar myself than EVAR. And it feels so made of awesome. Be afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Do you think there are too many people on the internet?

BECAUSE I DO. I feel like whoa, what happened, where did all of you come from!? This place has changed in a big way during the couple of years or so that I was only checking in periodically. (By “this place” I mean the whole online experience, not just LJ.)

Five years ago, or so, it felt smaller. More manageable. Not that I’ve ever been able to manage it very well– I’m too interested in everything and everyone. But it gave me the illusion a short while back that I could keep up. And ten years or more ago, it felt really small. Like only very geeky people, or maybe geeky isn’t the word, but a very particular group of people were participating in a significant way. For example, I would encounter folks from message boards also over on Usenet. Or writers in comments on a blog on yet another message board. Like living in a small town.

But now, whenever I jump online to skim or even when I sit down with more than an hour free to really catch up, I’m continually stunned by how MUCH there is. And there’s no hope of keeping up. I end up doing more quick reading, and a lot less commenting and conversing, which gives me a sad.

And I’m not even on Facebook– which seems to have drawn more non-internetty people online than anything.

Is Google getting stoopider?

I already know that despite their “don’t be evil” motto, they’ve been getting eviller. But are you finding the search function more annoying? I hate the way it pulls up a bunch of stuff Google thinks I might be looking for, even on Advanced Search, when I try to tell it quite specifically what I am and amn’t looking for! Advanced Search used to be such a great weed wacker, but now it seems like it doesn’t even pay attention to what I’ve entered.

I can still usually find things, but feel I have to wade through way more interwebs flotsam than I used to.

Bleah! I say.

My kids crack me up

If any of those that read me are on the fence about having children of their own, I cannot stress enough the entertainment value they bring to your life. This is not something you hear often–at least no one told me–and there’s not a chapter about it in those What to Expect books.

First, my seven-year old daughter—we were having breakfast outside and I was wearing this threadless t-shirt:

And she said, “RIP Daphne and Fred. [RIP S + F + D is painted on the front of the Mystery Machine]. . . Yeah, they wouldn’t make it. If there were vampires and zombies and an apocalypse, Daphne would be all [she mimes looking into a handheld compact mirror] ‘I wonder if the zombies think I look pretty?’”

And the other day, my 11 year old son made a poster. It’s a pyramid with a huge eye embedded in the top. He drew a banner at the bottom of the pyramid with the motto “Fornit Some Fornus” written on it (because his judgment-lacking mother lets him read Stephen King.) But my favorite part is that at the very bottom of the page he’s written a motto he created, about Life.

“You have 1 life to do whatever you want. Why waste it being normal?”

Threadless is having a big sale

This weekend! $10 tees! So if you want awesome shirts like the user pic on this post (one of my fave shirts to wear to the gym) or this one:

Head on over there!

Oh internets, don’t ever change

This is why I love you so.

Have you seen the most triumphant Sad Keanu meme, that’s making the rounds? Where people are taking a pic of Keanu looking blue and putting it in various other pics, with often awesome results? I’m particularly fond of the construction and anime versions.

Plus, WHOA — I had no idea he was such a standup, decent person.

Random Thursday iz random

First– there’s a new Project Runway tonight? I had no idea. I haven’t seen a word about it anywhere. Weird. Or maybe I missed words about it somewhere. I’m still in a thick muddled fog many days of late. But yay for new Project Runway. I guess. I didn’t actually finish season six. I don’t know if it was me or them, but it palled after several weeks. I blame LA. But this new one is back in New York, woo! And La Nina and the Duchess are back as judges– WHEW. So I’ll definitely be watching again. After I look up which channel is the Lifetime one.

It’s quite a TV-licious week. Three hours of Chuck, which was almost as fun as ever, and a totally fun Leverage last night, and tonight James Franco on 30 Rock, which I can’t wait for.

Since I am acksherlly here, typing on the Post an Entry page, what else? Hmmm .. . Did I tell you my brother was given an iPod Touch because he’s a professor? Do you Professor type peoples know about this? He was buying a new Mac and when the salesperson found out he’s a Prof. at the Univ. of Michigan, he said, oh, that means you get a free iPod Touch. As soon as he told me, I squealed and said, ooo! Let me see! Let me play with it! And GET THIS . . . . My brother has NO APPS on his iPod Touch. NOT EVEN SOME OF THE FREE ONES. I think he should give it to me. Don’t you?