odditycollector

Dear laptop computing device,

Well maybe I WANT to run 12* Adobe programs, MS Office, 5 instances of Chrome, 2 IDEs, 47 Firefox tabs, and a movie. YOURS IS NOT TO HAVE OPINIONS ON THIS.

Yours in distraction,
Karen

*exaggeration, obv. Plus I tallied Dreamweaver twice.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a fangirl in possession of an extra pair of canvas shoes, must be in want of something to do with them.

(I'm not sure how I keep accidentally ending up with extraneous shoes, but I suppose there are worse curses.)

( This is incredibly silly. )
 

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I'm sure we have all heard that proverb before, and fair enough.

But I was just now pliar-ing a broken zipper back together, and then remembering how satisfied I was, at seventeen, after buying my first ratchet screwdriver* so I could fix my dorm furniture, and I think this one is maybe *more* important:

If you have your own tools, everything looks like a problem *you* can fix.

*as well as other examples of "tool" in the sense of "knowledge-skillset", but who needs a 25 year retrospective of times I've made my day a little easier.

I have gotten into the alcohol again. Would you like to know why "I love you, (wo)man"? Ask me specifically, I would be more than pleased to provide.

Primarily, though, I am curious. I know what it is like for me to have gotten into the alcohol, but what about you? (This is often an awkward subject in RL conversations. I do not understand why. Even when I have not gotten into the alcohol. We are all adults responsible humans here.) If you prefer to ignore these sorts of questions though, for any reason, please do.

Me? My typing skills are shot (if this is readable, thank Firefox's spellcheck), and I suspect the same of my hand eye coordination. I am unsure if my eyesight is more blurry, less focused or simply less essential. Are my decision making abilities likewise compromised? Probably. But I've never gone after anyone I wasn't attracted to when sober, nor accepted a driver who has toasted with me. Rules, at least, are solid if I determine them so.

My tactile and kinesiologic senses are much, much more primary and/or interesting. Stretching or dancing or the tactile information from a variety of objects is exceedingly pleasant*. Auditory info, usually important, often becomes an annoying distraction. (Unless urgent. Call my name, I will hear you.) Not sure about smell or taste. I am picky/allergic/easily offended at the worst of times. Do I blink as often? I'm not sure, but when I pay attention, it burns. My hair improves in my opinion; my skin tone does the opposite.

No doubt I embarrass myself. I make bad jokes, but when do I ever stop?

But that is me. I hate to assume universality without corroboration. What is it like for you, a few shots of alcohol in?

*Which is to say, I may fall over, but I'd enjoy it far more.

Due to circumstances that I don't really want to get into at the moment (shopping, okay, it is a challenge) I found myself the confused owner of a pair of white canvas shoes. I have forever been distrustful of white shoes. What could you do with them?

( Well. This! )

Okay, I distinctly remember putting my laptop down wrong last night and driving the power jack in (again). So I've been paranoid about unplugging it this morning, and gathering files to copy in case something goes terribly wrong while I've got it open...

Except looking at it now, either I didn't do nearly as much damage as I thought... or it *never happened*. And thinking about it, the stuff all over my floor which was why I put the laptop down sideways in the first place? Magically gone. Though I am pretty sure I'm not infested by fairies.

So my best guess: Sometime last night, probably while I was sleeping, my brain hallucinated the whole thing! I have been (slightly, it is an easy fix) stressed all morning for *no actual reason*.

I rarely, rarely remember my dreams, which is fine with me, as the whole concept seems *weird*. But I'm curious, those who have a varied, exciting, and recalled unconscious life, are you less or more likely to be thrown by something like this? Is there an easy way to tell which memories aren't real, even if they are something that could have actually happened?

A few months ago, my reworked Legion of Super-heroes issues were spotlighted in a lecture by Francesca Coppa. The talk - titled Things We Don't Have In The Future...and How Fan Arts Can Help - was required viewing for first year students at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.



(If the embedded file gives you trouble: Streaming on Blip.tv.)

My work's featured from about 15 minutes to 20 minutes in, but it's worth watching the whole thing. Plus lots of it is vids!

There's a very interesting bit (to me) when she moves from the animated Legion pic I recoloured to the original, and there is a audible sigh or gasp from the audience. *That* is why I use photoshop so often to make my point; it is almost impossible to recreate that "Oh!" moment with text, as human beings are extremely good at filtering out arguments they don't agree with. But images get sent to your brain with little red alert flags: what does this mean is it important is it a bear?

I do have a couple issues with the details (about me). Firstly, you might take away that *I* was around in the 1950's and 60's, but this is not the case! You guys, I am not secretly a grandmother here, although "70 year old woman learns Photoshop for great justice!" would have been a pretty awesome story.

And more importantly, I have problems with the context in which she uses "albino" as a descriptor. This actually turned into a several paragraph rant, which I'll probably post in the near future. But the short version: she is either using "albino" as a synonym for "pale white person" which, no; or she is honestly reading the character as having albinism and suggesting erasing that is a pretty cool thing I managed, which again, no; and PS, in a formal situation, "woman with albinism" is better.

At least she's using it as an adjective rather than a noun? But in a lecture celebrating how fans are working against the racism or sexism or homophobia in their culture, that little moment of Fail was pretty annoying.

That is the short version (with most of the How Dare You Impugn My Honour excised).

But other than that momentary lapse, it's a pretty interesting introduction to fan arts as conversation. Worth your time, even the bits that aren't about me!
 

I've decided to start using twitter.

Because the thing is, I don't like twitter. I don't see the point. I don't like the idea of getting constantly barraged with text-message blurbs. I don't think anything of note can be explained in 140 chars or less. Notifications, maybe. Conversations? Not so much.

But... what if that's just a failure of imagination?

So, I am odditycollector on twitter. If you have one, let me know. I will follow you.

Today's A Softer World is pretty amazing, you guys.

Also!

I have a few unallocated hours tomorrow. What WIP should I spend them on?

[Poll #1444161]

I guess if you have a suggestion you can tell it to me in the comments, but it will have to be a really amazing suggestion for me to take notice! And WIPs not on that list are probably not there for a reason (Like, yeah, there is one page left for the Really Depressing GO Fic, but there has been one page left for *years*, and most of the pages that do exist are full of procrastinating from getting there anyway.)

 
"I just stabbed myself with a soldering iron!" sounds like a totally impressive honourable injury.

...Unless it was off at the time. And you were just using it to pry apart a USB drive casing anyway. And a not incidental amount of blood went *into* the drive.

Oh yeah, I have *skills*.