Friday, February 02, 2001
Here's something I don't get. I've been making an effort to write more feedback. But looking over my sent file, I realized that several authors never responded to my letters. Now I know we all get lots of email, slash lists being what they are, but every story I read has a note on it asking for feedback. Isn't it just polite to respond back? A short little, hey, thanks, glad you liked it would be nice.
Now this is certainly an exception to the rule. Most of the time I do get a response. But these particular authors that never responded are pretty well-known within their respective fandoms, so I'm just wondering why they have so many fans if they don't respond to feedback? Is there something wrong with my feedback? Do they get so much feedback they just can't keep up? I doubt that last one, because most of the authors I know complain about the lack of feedback.
I know I have forgotten to write someone back in personal email before. Who hasn't? But if someone sent me a gushing email telling me how much they loved my story, I think I'd remember to write them back. It certainly makes me hesitate to ever write them again, no matter how much I love their stories.
thus spake xen at 1:13 PM |
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Thursday, February 01, 2001
I quit watching ER for a long time, almost the entire last two seasons. Mainly because I had quit my job as a patient care tech at a hospital, due to extreme burnout and didn't want to be reminded of it. It's not a fun job, but I enjoyed it for most of the three years I did it. It's a rush sometimes. It's also a very emotionally draining job, and after my son was born, I didn't have emotional reserves to spare. But recently I've started watching ER reruns on TNT, and gotten completely addicted to it again. I watch it just about every day, sometimes 3 times, and on Thursday 4 times. But I've never been interested in the slash.
Don't get me wrong, Carter makes a great BSO, he's beautiful, and so is Benton. But I just can't see them together. They have a wonderfully complex relationship, with lots of yummy layers. But Benton is just so straight, and not just about sex, about everything.
I know there are lots of people out there who love this pairing and will disagree with me. But I've reached a new level in my slash hobby, I think. When I first discovered slash I went through a honeymoon period. I wanted to slash any two hot guys, whether there was any subtext there or not. But now I need my subtext. I need long significant looks, and unnecessary physical contact. I need sparks. I need tension that seems to have no obvious cause. Jim and Blair have sparks, Fraser and RayK have freaking firecrackers. But Carter and Benton: I don't see any subtext there. I see two guys who obviously care about and respect each other, and would probably do anything for each other, but I don't see them swapping spit.
thus spake xen at 10:58 AM |
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Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Okay, ouch. Now I remember why I quit drinking. I'm 28 years old, I spent 4 very wild years in college, I should have learned my lesson by now. It sure was a lot easier to drink when I was 19. And more fun.
Woo-boy, sure are a lot people with their knickers in a knot over Francesca's newest Sentinel story. I've only read it once, and the sexual contact between manJim and boyBlair was just ambiguous enough to not squick me. I'm siding with the camp that thinks it was all in Jim's head and Blair didn't know what was going on. I thought it was pretty funny actually, because the first thought that hit me was that she was poking fun at all the underage Blair stories out there. I remember thinking she couldn't just write a 15 year old underage Blair story, she just had to make him 10, that's gonna piss some people off. It is a bit disturbing, but it's supposed to be! She's also poking fun at the whole Jim-and-Blair-were-destined-to-be-together-schtick which is so overdone in this fandom. I remember Francesca saying on Prospect-L that after all the praise heaped upon her writing that she's been waiting for the backlash to hit. Well, I guess she got her wish <g> Although I think that her choice of subject matter, both in "Fire" and "Yellow Roses" which dealt with abortion, was intentionally trying to stir up some controversy. I personally think this is a good thing, and it sure makes for interesting reading over at Prospect-L.
thus spake xen at 1:01 PM |
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Tuesday, January 30, 2001
Have I mentioned how much I love the word 'cunt'? I do. I mean it just rolls off the tongue. Say it with me...CUNT. A short, guttural, anglo-saxon kind of word 'cunt'. I'm reclaiming the word 'cunt'.
I'm a bit sloshed tonight. Not a good thing, to be drunk and blogging at the same time, but that's what you get sometimes. I just watched Hard Core Logo again. My grandmother called me right in the middle of my drunken HCL watching, I have no idea what I said to her. I hope I didn't say 'cunt' in the course of our conversation, but who knows. I'm sure I'll hear about it if I did.
Say it again...CUNT
I'm smoking again. I blame Shrift for sending me HCL. I can't watch HCL and not smoke. How can any ex-smoker watch HCL and not want to smoke. It's been four years, and I picked up the habit again like its been four days. My lungs want it like a junkie begging for just one more fix. It's not Shrift's fault, I know this. But after four years of preaching about how easy it was to quit, it's easier to blame someone else. It's so easy to frame a broken habit...and so much harder to admit you never were really cured.
I smelled some Scotch the other day, and was immediately assaulted with a sense memory of my mother...makes me wonder what my son will remember about me. Will he remember his mother when he smells Bacardi and pot?
Marlboro lights in a box...it just rolls off the tongue...
thus spake xen at 9:10 PM |
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Monday, January 29, 2001
It looks like the Due South archive has found a home, thank god. I'm assuming since Merry Lynne is taking over it will be on squidge.org, which is wonderful. I hate to think of all the stories that would have been lost forever if it wasn't for squidge.org. I haven't gotten through all of the RayK stories yet, so I'm a happy camper now.
I don't want to spoil it for my blogger buds, but good god Queer As Folk had some hot sex scenes last night...drool. I had to rewind it and watch it again immediately.
thus spake xen at 10:41 AM |
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Sunday, January 28, 2001
I am the biggest dumbass that has ever lived. I don't deserve to call myself a geek anymore.
When my monitor blew up, I borrowed my buddy Pam's, and when I hooked it up, of course it didn't like the old settings, and I had to reboot in safe mode just to get it to work. In safe mode it set itself to only display in 16 colors. I never messed with it 'cause I didn't wanna screw it up again. I finally got sick and tired of looking at this crappy display and set it to display in true color 24 bit...and whaddya know...it fucking WORKED.
If I wasn't so happy, I think I'd be bawling.
thus spake xen at 7:10 PM |
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