Your Glass Dildo Buying History on Etsy Is Right Below Your Resume in Google - seriously. No, seriously. Etsy's done a Facebook and my God. I am so glad I do not a.) have an account there (I think?) and b.) did not buy any glass dildos if I had.

The de-privatization is apparently opt-out, so if you have an account, please to be going to check it. Real names are apparently visible, as is feedback history. Please read the article if you have an account and are concerned with privacy on etsy.

We need a Web Privacy newsletter for this kind of thing. Who's willing to start one? I'm getting nervous, no lie. I don't think I've used my real name in many accounts, but honestly, now I'm not sure.

Up at Unfunny Business:

It's Saturday Night And SPN fandom Brings the Unfunny

I'm doing this as a meta link and non-flocked, not only because it's at UFB, but because I don't think by any definition this is simply a fanwank. I've been reading this since--er, pretty much since I got home this afternoon from the zoo and I'll be honest; this isn't just a single fandom-specific issue, it's one that I think affects pretty much all of fandom.

Originally posted to Wank Report here.

Then when you're done, read This is bri, from silly to pissed off in 30 seconds flat by brihana25, who possibly has written one of the most eloquent posts on the subject I've read. I'm going to say this is a must-read as well; this is brilliant, and she's brilliant for writing it.

FWIW, at least to me, the con-comm's actions here are incredibly reassuring to me as someone who goes to cons, as a fangirl, and as a woman. So personally, thank you.

I'm going to quote morgandawn's post on this, originally posted here:

As brihana25 put it...."I refuse to let internet fandom change the values that I hold in the real world.."

If you or someone you bring to one of my events (public or private) causes a woman to feel uncomfortable or threatened, you will not be invited again. Nor will I stand quietly by and allow people, however well meaning, blame those who complained or imply that they are whores, sluts or liars. If it is my party, it is my judgment call, right or wrong. Blaming the people who filed the complaint only creates a culture that silences and shames victims. So when it comes to the safety of women, I would rather act than do nothing. And that's my line in the sand.

Go read now.

ETA: All of journalfen is being very robust. Like, really robust.

ALTERNATE LINK:

It's Saturday Night And SPN fandom Brings the Unfunny at DW. Go!

ETA the Last, Please

This thread is frozen and anyone wanting to practice Rape Culture 101 fail needs to do it somewhere else; not like RL and the rest of the internet aren't there for you, so I feel comfortable practicing sanity here. I apologize to anyone who had to read that and were forced to respond; it's not an excuse, but I didn't watch these threads nearly as carefully as I should have and I'm sorry anyone had to deal with that in my LJ. Thank you for responding. You didn't have to be polite; in the future, feel free to flame if I am not there fast enough and make it a party.

Next person to fail rape culture goes to insta-ban. Just so we're all clear.

Comm rec, found on my dwlist posted by hillarytamar, which some people on my flist and dwlist might be interested in and might not have seen yet:

disabled_rage, moderated by hillarytamar. I'm going to paste part of the bio directly:

This is a community for all of us with disabilities to rage about the overwhelming ableist bullshit in the world around us. It's a place to vent our anger and frustration with the inaccessibility, the condescension, the ignorance, the mistreatment – in short, the rage-making things we're forced to fight every day.

This is a rage community. We like anger. We think it's healthy and happy to be angry. Rage is most effective when it stays more or less on target, though, and to that end, the comm has a few guidelines:....

Introductory post is here.

Membership is open to people with disabilities and non-disabled allies both. Comm profile has guidelines posted. Also on the profile is a list of five related communities that may also be of interest.

...yes, I am catching up on my flist, my dwlist, and I cleaned my room. Um. Some. And bagged an entire bag of clothes for donation. And have new underwear! Okay, TMI. This may be a frequent posting week.

Part A

Is Grumpy Old Fic Queen by zvi on DW, in which Zvi speaks on original fic in slash archives and kind of encapsulates the awesome that is fanfiction:

I like fanfiction because it is fanfiction. Because, even if someone fails to get across in their 374 word meditation on how the light falls in character X's hair, I can go to Wikipedia and discover (a) why anyone in the world gives a damn about character X and (b) by hair the author meant swirling id vortex about to swallow all of existence, unless character C does something about it.

The rest of the entry is about original fic in fanfiction archives and makes some good points about why that's odd. I've never had any strong feelings either way, but I agree with why she doesn't care for it. I mean, I read a lot of fanfiction, but I also read a lot of fiction that is not fanfiction (or pretends it's not fanfiction, which always amuses me in a variety of ways). They are different in what expectations I bring to them (my standards for loving professional work have changed dramatically), and not just because of the word derivative being involved either; this is the only place that it's perfectly acceptable to write second person pov future perfect and people that don't have PhD's in literature think it's freaking awesome.

I actually have this entire thing on why fanfiction satisfies the part of me that loves literary risk-taking even when it fails; I might think they did it badly, but I seriously love anyone who sits down, pops out their word processing program of choice, and says, "Let us shuck the bonds of literary convention like whoa. With porn." Baby, go for it. Double second person pov sex with no gerunds in non-chronological order? Bring it.

Part B:

It's that time again; I need new writing music.

After nearly a month of searching, I have seven songs that I keep listening to because I don't actually like them--wait for it!--but I know that I will. I don't know why I will--something will click, basically--but it's the uneasy knowledge that right now they are the equivalent of nails on chalkboard and suddenly one day I will turn them on and they will work. It can take years--I'm serious, I've bought songs on the future expectation I will love them, which is why I have stories written to songs made in like, 1998 or before--but they will and I'll be grateful later.

Recent Examples of Song Bought on Expectation That Became Awesome For No Reason:

Say When, The Fray - second fastest turnover, three weeks. I hated it when I bought the album. Then it came up on rotation and boom. There.
Enough for Now, The Fray - fastest turnover, three hours. I hated it so much I almost removed it from my playlists altogether. Then I got distracted, it came up on rotation, boom. We're done.
Don't Cry Out, Shiny Toy Guns - sixteen days. See above.
In My Head, Jason Derulo - months of listening to it on the radio, hated it, loved his first single. See above.
Hum Hallelujah, Fall Out Boy - ...like, years? I heard it I don't know when and could not get into it. Then I was reading bandslash and turned it on for background music and boom.
I cannot talk about my musical relationship with My Chemical Romance, but let's just say I never had a moment where I doubted myself as much as the horrified realization I couldn't edit fic without it. It works best when in conjunction with Lady Gaga's Paparazzi and any cover of any Cyndi Lauper song. I think the beat and mood change like, does something, IDK.

Recent Acquisitions That Are Not There Yet:

I Don't Want to Be, Gavin DeGraw - I have no idea, but I was listening to the iTunes sample and going, whatever, then the chorus--did something. I don't know what. But there you go.
Closer to You, The Wallflowers - my long-lost ex-roommate lived and died on them and Counting Crows. I was very much not impressed. Then it came up in iTunes Genius and. Yeah. God, I hate this song. And yet. I won't, eventually.
Closer, Ne-Yo - actually, this one has an explanation. It's on Dance Dance Revolution 3 and for some reason, I know it will work for something. I just don't know what yet.
Breakeven, the Script - I heard it on the radio and tried to change the channel, so you know, I went to listen to it again. Basically, if I loathe it the first time I hear it, that's also a good indicator there's something there.
You and Me, Dave Matthews Band - I don't hate this. I like having it on background. I just don't feel anything specific except every once in a while, I hear something and go, oh, that. Then it's gone. Whatever.
I'll Run, The Cab - God. No idea. I just know okay?
Nutshell, Alice in Chains - ....I kind of think the intro is what keeps making me listen grimly.
Also on this list: Tantric, Course of Nature, and Parachute, who I ended up buying the album in a fit of insomnia because there is something there.

*pokes playlist* The Cab thing really is getting to me.

PSA: Fandomnews and Laura Hale by cofax7 with an update here. cofax7 outlines why being involved with LH's projects is um, she didn't say skeevy, but I will because seriously. Skeevy. Along with links as to why her projects and methods are problematic (read: skeevy).

Read, review, joy. How is it only Wednesday?

Huh. You know, I really want to do an Unpopular Fannish opinion meme, but most of it right now would be about a.) Merlin b.) Star Trek Reboot c.) Torchwood, and d.) miscellaneous. The problem isn't wanting to do one--it's that right now, I want to be offensive about it, filled with absolute statements sprinkled with the word douche in liberal measure.

Which is a problem, as like right now, I have like thirty things on my list, and only like, five of them on a normal day even break my irritation zone.

So, instead, a meta rec: Major Fannish Events by thefourthvine, which is spoilery for everything ever and awesome. This is her question.

What is the big fannish event you wish you could have seen? (Seen the live reaction to, anyway.) But even more important, to help me in my fantasizing - what are the big fannish events you'll never forget? What were they like to live through?

Spoilery. For. Everything. And so freaking awesome.

On rape and men (Oh yes, I'm going there) by cereta on rape, culture, and being That Guy.

Reading both the essay and comments is the profound type of uncomfortable that always accompanies the moments that you see yourself.

I can't tell a story that hasn't been told a hundred times, and that's a story in itself--there's something I can't describe in the sheer mundanity of reading and saying, yes, yes, yes, that's me, that was me, that could have been me, that was my friend, my sister, my mother. It shouldn't be this common to be reminded how much I'm defined by what I carry between my legs.

There should be a difference between being an object and a woman; they aren't synonymous. Most days, I try to forget it's common to confuse the two. Usually, I can't.

Just because I was thinking on the differences (though more facetiously), linking this.

The Moving Pixel Writes by jonquil on how argument works on the web.

I'm in bed with "flu-like symptoms" and am waiting for the doctor's office to be open so I can call. Meantime, here's some stuff that's been percolating in the back of my mind. This is based on my isolated corner of the Web, namely LiveJournals and political bloggers, as well as experience with a lot of other bulletin boards, mailing lists, USENET groups, and so on dating back to 1983. Your Web may vary -- which is part of the point.

And now, back to work. I am not fond of having all this work when there is meaningful discussion out there, let me tell you.

(I wonder if we could get an lj-fandom specific version? I think just for one section entitled "You Want to Sue For What Again? Really? Because seriously.)

A couple of Several posts I ran across regarding the outing of coffeeandink and assorted context to current discussions.

Shorter Kathryn Cramer by zvi_likes_tv gathers summary, argument, denoucement, and brilliance into a brick to beat the hell out of ignorance. Also a ton of good links and context to what's been going on.

Shetterly & Cramer: Once More, With Failing by vito_excalibur, which I am recommending for being both incredibly good and funny and very, very true. Basically, anyone who starts out with xkcd is already in a winning position, and she makes some interesting points about the shift of media and book culture and also some great links.

Cultural Appropriation and SF/F: Once More, With Apathy by shewhohashope on conversational redirections, internet pseudonymity, and basically everything. Also, links.

Also for those that have been thinking of the implications of Cramer and Shetterly's blatant outing of an dissenting voice as a form of punishment and silencing opposition, PSA: Protecting Your Pseudonymity by tacky_tramp has some practical advice.

I know that a post about You and Your Online Life and Times went around last year around this time, so if I can remember what it was and where I saw it, I'll post that too. I could swear it was astolat that posted it, but my memory is not what sane people call good unless it relates to obscure fic about Clark's penis (God, that I could forget).

Yes, the antibiotics are indeed kicking in, and I have a lot of reading to catch up on here.

ETA: par_avion found the post by astolat about the outing with more practical tips for pseudonym protection.

tnh: the fail years by chopchica

I don't know but I can make an educated guess how many people here have been reading along with the cultural appropriation and race debates going around LJ. For context, rydra_wong has a fantastic collection of links here.

Up until now, I could squint and kind of see how the defenders of tnh were seeing the situation. And to be honest, considering how often I've lost my temper online and said things I regret, I wanted to believe it wasn't--well, what it is to be honest. It's not a hotheaded reaction or--I mean, I fail this one, too. I don't know what to call concentrated malice dressed in self-righteous hypocricy.

This post isn't defensible. The comments aren't defensible. There's nothing that can justify the level of malice expressed there from what I've read over the last week in rydra_wong's links.

See link to chopchica's post for more, please.

I probably shouldn't post about this, but . . . by linaerys regarding the Merlin fandom in response to thingswithwings post on Merlin (linked in entry).

( nothing interesting )

For those interested, truepenny just finished her reviews of dS seasons one and two and is about to start season three. Which I, for one, am trying not to hyperventilate over, because I love her grasp of both character arc and mytharc. As the season one reviews were fantastic and season two were extremely thoughtful and you know, I'm a junkie. Like this is a surprise.

Tag for Due South reviews.

I'd read them all so as to be ready to start when she posts for Burning Down the House (Jesus, why couldn't it be today????).

Also, she uses pararealism, surrealism, and contrarealism sometimes in the same paragraph! I honestly don't know how I avoided a vocabulary high. Perhaps I have one now.

You know, it wouldn't hurt to watch the eps before each review at all, I think. *mulls*

So today, I thought, ahh, fandom will have a nice wind down and start mocking something that doesn't cause us all rage blackouts and whatnot. Which is true and false.

Law and Order: London (gakked from tzikeh)

No, really.

Law and Order: London

What would that Law & Order "clonk-clonk" noise (see video) sound like with a British accent?

We'll find out this fall when the Dick Wolf-produced legal franchise heads overseas with ITV's Law and Order: London.

Okay. Martha from Dr. Who and Apollo from BSG in Law and Order. I have no idea how I am going to wait for the premiere and not have some kind of cognitive break. I also start a countdown on the first LAO/Dr. Who crossover, which even if it's bad, is going to be awesome. It just is.

Jensenvention (gakked from--well, a lot of places)

It took several reads, a google cache search, and two people to explain to me what I was reading.

Explanation here. And an explanation of Jensenvention here. I think I worked it out. Never said I was all that great at deductive reasoning.

Here's what I got: correct me if I'm wrong.

So there is a website, Jensenvention. It is satire regarding Jensen Ackles life and career. It got a C&D and was shut down. some people are upset.

Hmm. Google cache of FAQ. (PS HIGHLIGHT THE PAGE TO READ)

Syne and Internet Business

For those curious, synecdochic posted Internet Business Numbers for the Layperson.

So, thanks to several simultaneous issues going around, there are a number of people who are pointing at various internet properties that "fandom" uses and trying to place a valuation on them: how much money they're bringing in, what their operating costs are, and how much 'profit' they're making. I don't want to link to any of those conversations, because (IMO) every one that I've seen has some serious flaws in their methodology, either by overestimating income or underestimating costs, leading to vastly-inflated figures (for cost, income, or profit) being bandied about, and I don't want to perpetuate them. What I do want to do is talk a little bit about methodology, about how to make a estimation of the economics of an Internet property, and more importantly, how to spot grossly inflated numbers when they're slung around in an argument.

Some enlightening and nicely non-technical explanations of income, profit, overhead, and other--stuff. Did I mention I have not and never wanted to be a businessperson? Yeah. But if I can understand it, anyone can.

And with that, I am going to read something in porn. Maybe with handcuffs. It just depends.

So it's not over, or at least, not yet. As we are--wait, let me quote this--right. A unique marketing opportunity.

liviapenn talks here about partly bouncy's ultimate motive for being an asshat--to wit, selling her wiki.

Quote from partly bouncy:

Had a great big chat with the major Fan History sysops regarding Fan History and its potential and if they'd be comfortable if I ever sold it, etc. The people who are the sysops pretty much realize that, for some of that, I'm sitting on a really nice, pretty comprehensive market research tool. That doesn't even begin to get into various other things I have compiled, like lists of LiveJournal communities that you can advertise your in fandom material on, contact lists, private demographic studies I've done, polling data, etc. The potential there for using that from a marketing perspective at fandom is nice. (It is why Fan History does NOT have a GNLU license and why our privacy policy is rather vague.)

*thoughtful* Well. I am glad her sysops were also awesome with this when she told them about it.

Read these now:

Dejana and Ithiliana on invasions of fannish privacy.

Most Hated Books in glitterandlube's livejournal. I'm feeling a strong sense of solidarity atm, because dear God am I tired about being told about meaningful books and blah blah blah.

Here's why: in the greater scheme of things, it's rare that in fiction, meaningful trumps entertaining for me personally. I don't often go out, stare at the fiction section, and think to myself, I need a course of philosophical thought. Let me find something fictional to act allegorically on this. No. I'll get out my fucking Plato like a normal person. It's also why I love CS Lewis up to the last book (and I like the last book, just I hate Narnia ending, and he took off the kid gloves too hard and too fast near the end).

(I also love the fact freaking Bacchus is in there. You cannot hate anyone who has the god of wine and sex showing up at Creation. That's kickass. The after party of Narnia Creation must have been for the record books, people. Bacchus. Oh Lewis. Sometimes.)

(I'm also still confused by the misogynist argument about Susan in that one. I don't argue that women in Lewis' books weren't exactly treated with the care of the men, but even when I was twelve, I read Susan's defection as worldliness and narcissism and materialism, not sexuality.)

ETA: Link fixed. *sighs* That's what I get for having a thousand tabs open of SPN spoilers.

Interesującą Kobietę's story is an illustration that history is never just history. It's a living, breathing creature that informs who we are as individuals and a society far more than you'd think is possible.

There's a story here she has to tell.

Well. Okay. Still in the meta link phase of my fannish development while trying to write a blowjob between two assassins. One this time:

Don't Be That Guy by synedochic - I'll quote below because summarizing won't cut it.

And I pulled that together, and I thought about a dear friend of mine, who is -- genuinely and with all sincerity -- one of the Good Guys, someone who understands the fact that he has straight white male privilege even if he doesn't always spot it in action in the wild. We were talking about privilege (in another context, before this blew up), and he said something I found really sad -- not that it makes me sad about him, but sad about the society -- which was (paraphrased) that he knows he has this privilege and he doesn't want to fumble around and make things worse for people by accidentally displaying it. So he stays out of those conversations, because he doesn't want to impose and make people uncomfortable. Which I think is an admirable attitude, really (because, you know, not making things worse is a pretty good starting point). But he's scared that he's going to accidentally be That Guy, and he says that he knows some of the things that would make him into That Guy but not all of them, and he really, really, really doesn't want to trip over one of the others.

But all of this input came together, and I think I'm finally ready to take a stab at this. I'm going to try to articulate the concept of That Guy, as I see it. Disclaimers and my epic longwindedness behind the cut.

It's--well, amazing at articulating a lot of what's hard to articulate; how do you explain a feeling or an instinct, quantify an exchange you know felt wrong and aren't sure why? It's hard to do.

Anyway. I'm still thinking about it; it's good stuff.

ETA: (this happens *every time* I post a link. I find another one!)

When You Take The Fun Out, They're Just Bags - I am going to express my glee in quotes:

I gotta say this about nerds. They're ingenious little bastards. Out of the core raw ingredients of desperation, fetishism, and limited worldview, they are able to create completely new and innovative areas of Dumb. They are the MacGyvers of stupidity. They are, quite literally, idiot savants.

The only way it could possibly be more awesome is if the word 'veritable' was placed before McGyvers. And that's just because I like the word veritable and feel strongly we should use it more. Read it all.

Okay, so not last link, but I really loved this one:

A Straight Geek Male's Guide to Interaction with Females by timjr -- I liked a lot.

And bonus in the comments that made me laugh:

Hmm, I had been thinking about writing such a post. Now I can be lazy and just link it far and wide across the land, spreading it to our less enlightened brethren, who still live in darkness and filth.

And darkness caused by filth.

Seriously, guys, deodorant is cheap. I shouldn't be so much higher on the ol' attractiveness scale just because I follow basic hygiene.
--vampirehunter85, on hygeine, here

ETA: (I'm like a junkie)

"sex-positive". what a loaded term by synedochic -- fantastically informative, insightful, and explanatory for those, like me, who were geeky and yet managed to not stumble over geek culture all that much in the real world. And other stuff. I am explaining it badly. Go read.

Okay now. Is it just me, or--I have to admit, I'm almost grateful for this mess. In the last three days I've learned a *lot* and more importantly, learned how very much I actually don't know (which is far, far more). I'd say it's embarrassing, but I'm too excited at the wealth of information being basically handed to me as a gift to even go there. Some of this is primer level stuff, some of it is far above my current understanding, and none of it beyond what I can learn. So you know, thank you internetz. The responses have been awesome.

To do a final roundup of the Boob Idiocy, because as of now, I will use the words open source in relation to this over my dead body (and breasts), Unfunny Business at Journalfen has a really good roundup of a variety of the links.

Separately, Scalzi's blog has an interesting commentary (a year ago, I didn't even recognize his name; now I can pick his name out of a line-up and quote lines from his blog. I find this funny on a variety of levels) here.

( because irritation contributes to dry skin )

ETA: Also adding The Right of Making Available by rivkat, which hands down is one of my favorite responses yet.

Drive by meta rec, originally linked off my flist.

Repeat to Yourself, It's Just a Show by popfantastic:

Teaser:

But I am suggesting that talking about social and cultural issues in fandom educates me about how to understand, explore, and respond to them in other contexts. And I'm grateful to those who put in the mental and emotional energy to carry on these conversations, which are often frustrating at best and devastating at worst. So to say that it doesn't "do anything" or "accomplish anything" (in the offline world, in relation to "real-life" events) to talk about racism or misogyny in TV shows is not only beside the point, but also factually incorrect, at least as applied to this fangirl.

I'm still curious how much crossover there is between my RL and OL. RL does affect OL big time, but I've never actively tried to quantify what I bring from OL to RL either. Possibly because my fandom life is better documented, so to speak. I'm not sure if it's even quantifiable, to be honest, but I know it's there. I just don't know to what extent.

Anyway, fascinating post, and some of the comments are equally interesting.

Admin Post from the mods of daily_deviant.

Short version: removal of term, reversal of earlier stance, etc.

ETA: the below cut was more than I thought it would be. So it's less mod-actions at this point and more the concept of kink defintion.

( hmm )

A fantastic post on the origin of the word miscegenation and the world that surrounded both its inception and the laws that used it.

What surprises me vaguely is I remember that being a vocabulary word in high school history class, specifically related to the proliferation of the law after the Civil War.

A link list of posts on the subject. For those who ignored their flist until, er, a few hours ago? witchqueen posts here about her email exchange with daily_deviant regarding the use of miscegenation for their prompt. It's interesting reading.

( below cut thing )

I'm going through a depressing country music phase, where I want to listen to breakup and death songs. My music tastes are almost constantly at odds with what I want to read. Lemme tell you, anytime the rotation includes one song about murder, two Johnny Cash, and this? There's something odd going on with the playlist.

Currently on the rotation--What Hurts the Most, Rascal Flatts. The video is wrenching as hell.

Work

I had an interview on Friday. It was kind of bad, in that way that bad romantic comedies are bad. They told me one, but teh calendar said two. I assumed that meant they'd changed it--it was Friday, people go to a late lunch. It's the state. It happens. But no, it was one, leading me to run desperately to my computer and print out the calender function off Outlook and shoving it into the interviewer's cubicle with a desperate expression. So the interview went off at two, and the question and answer portion was fine. I'm good with those.

Then came the practical.

I want to give you an image. Let's go with a Stargate image, because hey, it's my lj, I can do that whether it's relatable or not.

You are given a series of copies of something in indistinct patterns written in Ancient and told to creat a spreadsheet from all twenty something pages. Some of the time they black out the name and claim number, sometimes not. Those two things are the only parts of the entire damn thing you understand. MBI number? Account? (Okay, I know what account is). A dizzying variety of acronyms. Some things that refer to money. Some--you have no idea. There are dates. You look at them like they're nuts.

It's STAR and STAR+ and Medicaid related, in case you're curious. You're probably not. Unless you work the programs, I cannot imagine a more boring topic of conversation. God, you should hear our jokes. Even I sometimes shudder in horror when I realize I'm laughing hysterically when someone makes a Medicaid/Medicare misnamed acronym joke. On the other hand, if you work with the implementation, you find yourself feverishly interested in the monthly policy updates, changes to providers, and being deeply and personally invested in whether or not you need prior authorization for non-generic medication.

Okay, what I said above would be very funny to one of us. You see why I don't really talk about my job much anymore.

Anyway, the pay is nice. The fact I'll be doing something new is nice. I had a horrific moment of comprehension today when I broke into my boss' office to reorganize all the personnel files that are about six months to ten months behind, or basically stopped being updated since I was his admin. I am that bored. The height of entertainment....

Wait. I was talking about the interview.

Well, the best part was, we had forty-five to do the spreadsheet (were they *fucking with me*?), the questionaire, and a letter that--God, okay, a letter to a clinic's owning company explaining why we wont' cover something. No, really. I have this--weird and strange need to--do the hardest thing first. I did the questionnaire really fast, but the spreadsheet fascinated me. I had never seen so many sheets of paper in legitimate English composed of such nonsense. Contextually, they were rejections of billing due to third party insurers--I can see people's eyes glazing already, but seriously, this is the height of chic social chat at the office--but mostly, they were long rows of acronyms with monetary value assigned. I read through it all in horror, worked out I was looking in the face of hell, and went back and looked for commonalities.

I'm good at pattern recognition--this is why I interview well for the state. I can usually figure out what they're looking for by paying attention to the wording of questions. This is why I was a good caseworker. That's all pattern recognition in policy. The problem was, it's pattern recognition of a foreign language. And some of the commonalities--like name and claim number--were blacked out on some and not others. I pulled everything that appeared on every sheet, named it something that sounded like I knew what I was talking about, and set up the spreadsheet. I was half way done when my interviewer came over at the thirty minute mark and asked if I would be willing to do the rest on Monday.

I almost laughed. Sure, I said, because seriously, it's not like I'd figure this out without a character map even if I had the whole weekend. I did hte rest today. Didn't finish the provider letter. Didnt' really care. I wasn't qualified for this job when they asked me to interview. No, really. So that I got the interview at all was a surprise. Mostly, I tend to rest a lot of my value on the fact that I'm always good at my job. This isn't bragging. This is boredom. If I'm not good at it, the days pass a lot longer than they should. Being good is being given a lot to do, and look at that, five comes fast.

Work II

Short version--in 2005, the state sold off a lot of their social services to a private contractor, Accenture, better known under another name as the people who worked with Enron. No. I'm not kidding. I kind of want to cry, but this is typical of the current administration, so whatever. This included caseworker jobs. I was one of those, and changed jobs before they could start pink-slipping us. Well, as predicted, they made a mess of it. A huge mess of the CHIP program, the Medicaids, the--well, name it, they fucked it up royally. Tuesday last week, my mom called me while I was resting my feet in Millennium Park to tell me that the contract had been severed.

I won't try to explain my glee. It's hard to describe without going into strange, surreal comparisons to the Rapture, but suffice to say, there's a level of joy going on here that defies description. It's like--I don't know. I'm ombudsman--I know the level of fuck-upedness going on in the state due to both Accenture and the fact that the state, in prep for the rollout, started pink-slipping like crazy and we lost the best and brightest of our caseworking staff. The tenured. The ones that knew policy backward, forward, and sideways. The ones that coudl do the work. Leavingn the entire state with underqualified trainees in temp positions--so we weren't getting, in some cases, the best people. We were hiring people who knew how to read. Maybe.

Just suffice to say--I am very pleased with the universe.

Fandom

I had this thoughtful topic on gen, slash, and het, but I'm still overthinking my instinctive response to the treatment of non-canon slash and non-canon het unequally, which was hostile. I'm less comfortable with diametrically opposing points of view than I really thought I was. Over-emotional reactions to stories, sure, I know I go places there, but that at least makes sense to me--it's *fic* and the point of fic is emotional engagement. A sudden hostility to a meta surprises me. I got over it quickly, because above and beyond that, it was interesting and thoughtful and brought up some questions I've been asking myself on the blurry lines between slash, het, gen, and the canon that rules them all.

Here abyssinia4077 talks about het, slash, gen, and labeling stories.

A part of this the way I set up my flist; I keep myself fairly isolated from things that really annoy me, so I'm unused to being highly annoyed unless I'm linked or someone points it out to me. A part of me does wonder if we lost something in switching to lj and being able to, in essence, pick our mailinglist mates, instead of having to deal with the annoying people daily and building up a certain level of tolerance for it. Or it could be just me; I'm getting more fixed in what I'm willing to deal with and what I'll blow off because I just am not willing to listen today. Etc. Etc. Etc. Which is a sign of either creeping intolerance or sheer laziness. I'm not sure which. I think I prefer the laziness.

( interpretations of canon, etc )

Singing along to Buffy the Musical soundtrack. God. It's so good that no one is close enough to have their ears start to bleed.

Still incoherent. But luckily, svmadelyn is not.

GO HERE RIGHT NOW OR YOU WILL SO REGRET IT.

This? Is wibble worthy.

Also, linzeems says everything I want to say and then some here. Wow. Yes. And yes again and again and OMG again.

I am going to be high on this for *days*.