picked a handful of violets in my name

Musktrat Jamboree!

2013-03-24T23:58:55Z

( Thursday )

( Friday )

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

Until next time, my dears! :D

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Not dead.

2012-06-14T17:33:23Z

I just got eaten alive by Avengers fandom after the first time I saw the movie (and seeing it twice more hasn't helped). I have been spending all my free time reading fic on the AO3, or on tumblr because it takes zero brain cells to operate.

Therefore, I haven't checked my dreamroll in a month. If I missed anything important, please point it out to me? :]

I've been on vacation for the past week, first in Maryland with my boyfriend and his family, now in Virginia with my cousins, and starting tomorrow, back in Maryland for con_txt. ~~(Speaking of Con.txt, does anyone have space in their hotel room for me to crash?? *so not on top of things right now*)~~ Resolved: hotel room and roommate acquired.

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-08-30T19:56:00

2011-08-31T00:30:16Z

pinesandmaples: Resist temptation

Hurricane Katrina is not an opening line. It is never an appropriate way to start a conversation with a New Orleanean.

To update, belatedly, about Irene: I am really kind of shocked we didn't lose power. Very uneventful hurricane here in JP.

Conclusion: Doctor Who is not my new fandom. It is my new entertainment candy. (Conclusion drawn after noticing my total lack of interest in reading other people's reaction posts.)

That said, I think this leaves me adrift, fannishly. Actually I think at this point fandom is my fandom.

I've been kind of hiding out for a few weeks. Minor depressive downswing, I guess - I'm not sure I would even have noticed it (or, you know, experienced it) except that I've been so bad about taking my meds lately. Only really seems to have affected my social - I haven't been updating as much, have skipped loads of munches, etc. And it doesn't help that my semi-guaranteed social time (Battletech) hasn't happened for a few weeks because our GM burnt out.

Pleased to report that the Mirena seems to have finally stopped the bleeding portion of my period. I am still experiencing the early-warning cramps (which I only developed this past year-ish) but as those seem to be decreasing in severity I can hope they'll cease, too.

This leaves me with an unopened DivaCup, size 1 (won in the Muskrat Jamboree raffle back in April). Anybody want it?

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-06-18T12:30:00

2011-06-18T16:31:30Z

helens78: I didn't really want to post this, but, well. I think I have to.

"PROMPT REQUESTS SWEET FRIENDSHIP OR G-RATED ROMANCE; FILL IS SET IN BDSM CLUB."

I get the whole "want one thing from a prompt, get something radically different" thing, and I understand that FYFF macros are frequently sarcastic or ironic. In this case, though, it's by no means the joke premise that I'm objecting to. It's the wording of the joke itself.

It's a joke, but it's one that, intentionally or no, highlights and reinforces a lot of stereotypes about BDSM -- none of them good. It's kink-shaming, and it's full of negative ideas I can't just let stand without saying something.

thingswithwings: some thoughts on manpain. um. many thoughts on manpain, actually.

I started writing some vidder's notes for that vid about manpain that I made, and they just got longer and longer, and more and more speculative and meta-y, and eventually I had to give up on making them notes and make them into their own separate post about manpain. So, for those who are interested in my opinion on manpain, here it is! For those who just want to watch the vid, I have neatly cordoned this meta off from the vid so that you don't have to care about it. It's almost unforgivably long, so do feel free to skip.

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-05-29T21:19:00

2011-05-30T01:22:36Z

Recently

Went to a few yard sales (and the Kinky Tea and Tag Sale yesterday, where I spent most of my time socializing, and Boomerangs today, where I found a fantastic knife block for $2, which has made Ellie pretty happy). It turns out that yard sales make an effective carrot for getting me up relatively early on the weekends, and also getting me out of the house. Unfortunately, I walked 3.7 miles yesterday and 1.9 miles today, wearing flip flops for the first time since last year. Oops.

Links

( science, kink and fanfic, Dreamwidth stuff, mental illness )

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-05-15T21:01:00

2011-05-16T01:01:49Z

21 Days of Dreamwidth

21. What's your favorite thing about Dreamwidth?

The community. :) (I mean, the features are great, don't get me wrong! But the people...)

Links

multikinkmemes! There's a bandom post, hint hint.

littlebutfierce is hosting a love meme. I has a thread. Will monitor the post for other people's threads, too.

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going to see My Chemical Romance again, brb!

2011-05-09T15:30:36Z

21 Days for Dreamwidth

( a few more )

Links

azurelunatic: I exist, and I exist in many universes. (Yet another rant about queer erasure)

Silence = Death. If fictional people are silenced by their authors, then fuck yeah, we're marching right the fuck in and giving them voices.

Plans

Get on plane. Change planes in New York. Maybe briefly meet up with Kajsa in Baltimore. Get self + suitcase to the Haus of Fangirl in MD.

comments

giant robots in space

2011-05-04T00:10:01Z

Recently

Capture the flag didn't happen; no one from the Camberville side showed up, so the four JP residents (well, three plus Daly, who is probably on our side anyway, regardless of where he actually lives) got ice cream and hung out at Cid's house instead.

I got recruited into a BattleTech game. Daly taught me how to play on Saturday and my first session with the group was Monday. (Daly severely underestimated our ability to defend a base. And we discovered a loophole for artillery - if every spotter is -1 to hit a target and we have ten mechs peering over the wall... "hey Cid, the pilot's got brown eyes, are you aiming for the left one or the right one?") I fielded three mechs (all of mine, none from the communal pool) and actually managed to keep track of all of them! Although I think I'm going to have to get my own miniatures, because keeping track of which vaguely similar grey plastic mechs are mine (and which one goes with which sheet) is going to drive me nuts. And because I am me, they will be painted to suit my tastes and will therefore not look anything like they're supposed to.

Biggest news, though: I got into Simmons, after an eon of waiting for a decision. No info on financial aid yet, but I have wonderful parents who will put me through grad school regardless.

21 Days of Dreamwidth

( I missed a few. )

Links

( three links )

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-04-30T11:48:00

2011-04-30T15:52:18Z

21 Days of Dreamwidth

5. How about when you're not on the computer?

Work. Concerts. Etc. My offline social life is mainly arranged over the internet, although I do have random encounters with some of my friends on the Orange Line (the benefits of going to the same school and living in the same area).

6. What do you wish people who read your journal knew about you?

... you people probably know more about me that anyone except maybe my sister and my boyfriend.

Links

( kink, ad-supported devices, mental illness and medication, filk, reproductive rights )

Plans

Capture the flag, followed by ice cream. Everybody cheer for JP! We are going to destroy Camberville.

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vid show for my boyfriend

2011-04-19T16:18:37Z

( Backstory )

Here is, reconstructed as well as I could manage, Vids I Showed My Boyfriend As Part Of My Attempts To Explain Transformational Fandom:

( with helpful links )

I am working on a Vids 201 playlist as well. Suggestions welcome.

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-04-19T11:07:00

2011-04-19T15:43:06Z

Notes

I already have a few ideas of things to post. If there are things you would like me to post about, then prompt me. (No guarantees, since I will be offline for 5+ days, but I will try.)

Questions meme!

( Long-overdue )

Links

( 2 links: Portal fanart and criticism of rape culture )

Plans

Finish up my semester (my last semester of undergrad omfg), MCR concert, Capture the Flag in Franklin Park, play party.

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-04-10T11:18:00

2011-04-10T15:28:44Z

Ellie has found a new grocery store, which is good because it's closer and has better produce, but bad because it's not near anything else (that we know of). (Seriously, we switch grocery stores basically every year. At our old place, we went to the one in walking distance. The first year we lived in JP, we needed a T-accessible supermarket. After Ellie got a car, we started going to South Bay because there were other stores (like Home Depot) nearby. Then we switched allegiance to Dedham - Home Depot along the way, BJ's down the road.)

forthwritten: fanfiction and my younger self

And so, when we were about 16 or 17, one of my friends discovered fanfiction in general and slash fiction in particular. In a way, we used it as a silent, secret rebellion, swapping these stories underground (no, really; our common room was in a basement). It fascinated me. Here were stories about people who presented as female one day and male the next, who loved people of their gender, who negotiated sex, who didn't have happily-ever-afters but who had to talk and argue and reconfigure their friendship. The screen did not coyly fade to black and the story often did not end with sex; instead, there were morning-afters and misunderstandings and confusion that had to be resolved. The people had agency and were active participants and, as the_shoshanna notes, sex did not fundamentally change them.

denise: dw_suggestions: A User's Guide

So, you want to learn more about the dw_suggestions process! This entry will be made the "sticky entry" in the dw_suggestions community (replacing the existing one, which was starting to show its age) to serve as an introduction to the Suggestions process, Dreamwidth development, and just what the heck people should be keeping in mind while they're discussing things here.

dw_maintenance: New imports temporarily stopped; import queue paused

We are therefore temporarily pausing the existing import jobs until the traffic clears up some and we are able to further modify the importer so that it is even less of a load on LJ. We are also temporarily stopping the ability to queue new imports, so that once we bring the import queue back up, it will give the queue the chance to clear a bit. (Also, we'd like to minimize the impact on LJ.)

Now to assemble a Powerpoint for tomorrow's mini-lecture on Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, and Teh Famous Rivalry!!!! (Wondering whether it would be cool to play an aria and make the class guess which of them is singing it...)

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sofiaviolet @ 2011-04-08T20:50:00

2011-04-09T00:53:38Z

Oof. Spend 30-ish hours finishing a paper and being at work, and you wind up with 50 open tabs after you skip 120 entries back. (Back when I was primarily reading on LJ, I would have had to skip farther back but I wouldn't have needed to open as many tabs.)

internets

Dreamwidth invite code, free for the taking, or check dw_codesharing.

Warning: the queue for the importer is really backed up right now because so many people want to import and because LJ doesn't have the resources to give the import tool what it's asking for. If you can wait to import, please do.

What to do with Dreamwidth: a list of tutorials and information

Follow Friday

leverage_flashfic! The Leverage panel at Muskrat Jamboree wanted a flashfic comm and I volunteered to run it. No one has posted fic yet, but I am soliciting prompts.

ao3some, which may win for best comm name.

lj_refugees

dw_community_promo is hosting a communities-only version of Follow Friday.

Links

melannen: Love & Marriage

One thing I love in a good SF story is ways of doing love, marriage, and romance that don't buy in to our society's idea of love+romance+sex+monogamy all on one single person as the only way to do it.

denise: (no subject)

I've seen people wondering why imports are taking so @)#$(*& long. This might help shed some light:

synecdochic: LiveJournal's DDoS and Russian Politics

So, people who grumble about "the Russians" taking over LJ should remember that in Russia, LiveJournal isn't just the top blogging platform, it's the blogging platform. It is Russia's free press. It is the tool being used to fight corruption and advance the cause of democracy. And, more practically to LJ users, the Russian-speaking sector of LJ is the reason LJ is still there at all.

helens78: Vote Ticky!

I am in favor of tickys because tickys are a form of communication. They can help engender community and relationships in a way that can enhance comments rather than replacing them or taking away from them. When someone isn't commenting, it's impossible to know if it's because they're lost for words, aren't on a platform suitable for lengthy comments (how many users read the site from smartphones now?), don't have a lot of spoons, have to conserve typing time... or aren't reading and don't care. Seeing people's names crop up repeatedly in tickys helps us discover who out there is giving us their time and attention, and can be a greatly-appreciated form of support, even or especially in times when hearing many individual comments -- and feeling obliged to respond to each of them -- can feel overwhelming.

EDIT: dw_maintenance: LiveJournal slowdowns/DDoS affecting importer, crossposts

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9 links

2011-04-06T03:26:31Z

( Read more... )

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Muskrat Jamboree: con report

2011-04-04T01:15:45Z

( Read more... )

comments

To do over the next few weeks

2011-03-30T01:52:55Z

Pack for Muskrat Jamboree

Attend MJ

Write capstone paper

Create 30-45 minute presentation for music seminar

Edit capstone paper

Write a few more blog entries for The Networked Society

Write two short papers for TNS

Write paper for music seminar

Possibly make Shiny Thing(s) to try and give to MCR after one of their shows

Go and see MCR a bunch of times

Remember to take my meds consistently (essential if all of the above is to get done, get done well, and get done on time)

And here are a few links for today:
( Read more... )

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You ate my sandwich!

2011-01-24T15:53:54Z

It is really cold in Boston today. And the entire MBTA died. (Well, the bus system seemed to be in good working order. It got me to campus, at any rate.)

I've mostly been going to class, decluttering, and being ill. Sinus infection. Which would have been fine if I had been sick and then got over it, but noooo. At least at this point I can breathe through my nose again.

( Here are some links that are kind of old, since I fell off the face of the earth between compiling them and updating my freaking journal )

And finally, the subject line... when Ellie and I were getting groceries on Saturday, I decided I would bring my lunch two days this week (Monday, when I have a break between classes, and Wednesday, when I have a break between work and class), and I decided I would bring ham and cheese sandwiches and salad. So we got bread and ham and I insisted (correctly) that we still had an unopened, unexpired package of Swiss cheese at home.

We were so desperately hungry when we got home that we tore into the lunch supplies. But there was still ham and cheese enough to make one more sandwich, which I could then eat on Monday, after which I would take myself to the store and replenish the supplies.

But she ate my sandwich! :( I slept really late yesterday, and when I woke up, she had forgotten that the whole reason we had the ham and bread in the first place was so I could have lunches, and she had eaten my sandwich.

So I'm so hungry my stomach is trying to digest itself and there's still ten minutes before the fast food joints in the student center open for lunch.

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link backlog

2011-01-05T00:46:56Z

Actual update soon, I hope.

( 8 links )

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sofiaviolet @ 2010-10-08T19:53:00

2010-10-08T23:55:32Z

Follow Friday

Links

"genitals as signifiers": when birth is a "social emergency"
What I really wanted to share with you in this post, though, is several paragraphs from the first chapter of Part Two in which Karkazis describes the way myriad ways in which children born with no immediately apparent sex identity are experienced as a matter of "social urgency" by their parents and the medical community. I realize it's kinda academic and somewhat heavy on the specialized terminology. But I think she's packing some pretty important stuff into these paragraphs (pp. 95-97). Reading this narrative, I just felt an overwhelming sadness in my chest for these tiny persons whose very being is somehow construed as problematic -- who cannot be incorporated into the human community, it seems -- because they lack a clear "girl" or "boy" box in which to be situated.
staranise: Automated bingo cards, get 'em while they're hot
This is just the first draft. I want to add to it--and I would be thrilled if other people wanted to add to it. This program was a fannish endeavour, if fandom itself is a fandom; I wanted to create something that would help other fans do what they love.
yvi: Flattr
Basically, it's a micropayments system to everyone on the internet who participates - you determine a certain amount of money you want to spend every month, pre-load your account, click on however many Flattr buttons on the web you want to, and at the end of the month, that money is devided between the pages you clicked for.

So I went and signed up for it: (I'd love to see a Dreamwidth feature that accomplishes this with points. I do it manually sometimes, but it's hard to remember.)

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sofiaviolet @ 2010-09-16T21:07:00

2010-09-17T01:16:21Z

Recently

Post office seems to be holding everything Ellie and I receive from outside the United States. "Pissed off" is putting it lightly, especially since I pretty much have to leave work early to make it to our local post office before it closes.

Work has been kind of meh this week. And Cory hasn't been online much for the past few days. And Ellie is too spoonless to cook. And the temperature dropped kind of suddenly. Many things contributing to my overall bleh right now. I am looking forward to the weekend.

ETA: Cory is back online. Much cheered by this. :)

As for MCR: thanks for finally giving us some real news, fuckers. And the album does sound like something I'd like. But I will forever be sad that we won't get Black Dragon Fighting Society.

sofiaviolet @ 2010-09-10T19:21:00

2010-09-10T23:23:27Z

Recently

I bought more fiber! Only a few batts, though, and none of them were very expensive. Still need to learn ALL the steps for knitting projects, not just the part in the middle.

And I was chattering about Dreamwidth to Cory, and he started asking questions, and now I think I may have recruited his entire D&D group. Or at least him, for the purpose of a D&D blog. I foresee some unofficial Support work in my future...

Follow Friday

britcoms
Anything and everything relating to British comedies is welcome there (reviews, news, favourite clips, fanfiction, discussions about actors' other projects, and anything else I've forgotton to mention). The only no-no is filesharing of full-length, commercially available episodes; otherwise, join in and have fun!
aslinterpreters

fleecefiberyarn

Links

Disabled Feminists: Normalising Accessibility
Having accessibility notes does not create universal access. But it’s certainly a step in the right direction, of getting people to think beyond ‘special treatment‘ by positioning accessibility as something broadly relevant to most people, and something of equal importance as ‘who, what, where, when, why, and how.’ Which, for many of us, it is.
melannen: (no subject) [poll]
When I am talking about the novels, animated series, comics, web extras, role-playing games, audio dramas, and so on that are authorized by a particular fandom's owners but are not part of main canon, I call them:
emceeaich: Stay Alive
Many of our friends, family, and loved-ones who don't are constantly told, implicitly and explicitly, that they have no value, and ending one's life can be alluring. Fighting injustice is part of preventing suicide.
foxfirefey in lj_refugees: PayPal conduit offer
Somebody's comment on the last post made me feel like I should make an offer to be a PayPal conduit for people who can't pay Dreamwidth in other ways. I'll do this for at least two weeks from the date of this post.

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85 minutes of bleach later

2010-09-08T23:36:06Z

Recently

I can haz purple hair! No pictures yet because I am lazy, but it does not suck. (The purple streak does fade rather quickly to nearly black as you move away from my scalp, but given how many times it had been dyed before these shenanigans, I can't say I'm surprised.)

Have been approved to take another week off work, sometime between mid October and Thanksgiving (has to be before Thanksgiving because $winterholiday retail season is likely to constrain the amount of time C. has for me). Now to find a suitably cheap plane ticket. On the one hand, yay I get to see my boyfriend again! On the other... and then I won't see him until some time in 2011.

Links

( 9 links )

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just links today

2010-08-28T21:17:33Z

Links

( 10 links )

Plans

Scissor Sisters concert with Ellie.

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Long post is really fucking long.

2010-08-24T02:52:25Z

Notes

Not dead! Back in Boston since Saturday, and already caught up on things!

Recently

Just finished eating half the curry I made tonight; the other half is in the fridge. I am going to bring it to work tomorrow. Leftovers for lunch - it's almost like I'm a real grown-up!

Ellie and I went to the mall yesterday. We were supposed to get clothes for her. Instead, we got clothes for me. /o\ On the other hand, Hello Kitty rain boots in grown-up sizes, fuck yes.

I continue to experiment with purple hair. Attempt 3 (dark purple over failed single-process bleach-and-purple) is the best yet but still not quite right.

Grand Forks

( Spent nearly every waking moment with C., got to see my family, consumed much media. Was not really online. )

Relationship Stuff

( :D! )

We're planning more visits, and I convinced C. to install Skype. But I think my journal will stop being All About My Boyfriend now; he'll show up from time to time along with other important people in my life.

Memery

From Ask Me Anything:

Looking back, are you comfortable with the way you reacted when your sister came out to you?

Not really. :( I could have done more. I am especially disappointed with how little help I was to her in 2006/2007, her last year of high school, while she was trying to figure things out. True, I didn't have nearly as much knowledge of gender and trans* issues then, but I probably still could have been more supportive than I actually was.

But as far as her actual coming-out? I think I did okay then, although I didn't adjust to name-and-pronouns as fast as I would have liked, even if there is a specific reason for it (trying not to out her to Mom and Dad before she had the chance to tell them herself).

Links

( 10 links )

Plans

Figure out Netflix. Buy more $5 vermouth for cooking.

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sofiaviolet @ 2010-08-16T17:15:00

2010-08-16T21:15:22Z

Recently

While I am still theoretically AFK, C. is playing video games so I'm online. Heh.

We've watched The Guild, Dr. Horrible (again), and Stranger Than Fiction. Yesterday, we saw Scott Pilgrim (and I suspect we might wind up seeing it again). Plus, you know, hanging out and stuff. :)

Scott Pilgrim

( So apparently I'm Ramona Flowers. (Not a review, may contain very basic spoilers.) )

Links

( 4 links )

Plans

C. and I are getting dinner with some more of his friends tonight. I still need to call my relatives and make plans with them.

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