Confessions of a Middle-Aged FanGirl

I can't be the only one who occasionally checks out people's rec sites to see if any of my own stories are listed.

(Just nod and smile, folks. :-)

But y'know, sometimes not finding my stuff on a rec list is a good thing. I was going through one recently and I was never so glad to NOT see myself there. I still can't believe *anyone* would have recced some of those. They were... not good. They weren't even the "coulda used a beta, but the *story* is worth the effort" types. I've seen some of those that once I got over the lack of a decent copyedit, I still got sucked into an excellent plot and terrific characterization.

But these?

ARGH!

Sometimes not finding yourself recced can be a good thing.

Donald P. Bellasario has been around Hollywood for a long time now. I gotta say, though, I tend to like the formula he uses for his shows. Magnum, Quantum Leap (his personal favorite) and NCIS all have a bunch of very cool things in common. I gotta admit to being a sucker for the Thomases and Tonys of the world. Smart asses who see no valid reason to bother "growing up", but when the chips are down, you learn real fast that there's a solid core of competence, loyalty, courage, responsibility, caring and honor inside. I'd have to see Magnum again (it's been years), but Weatherly does a great job, IMO, of letting us see the edges of the facade. Seems like I remember the same from Magnum.

I gotta admit to laughing like a hyena when it hit me that Ducky told his stories to corpses the same way Higgins told them to 'the lads' when no living human could put up with it any more. :-) (But then I did the same thing when Kate blithely stated that little girls tend to not be slobs - um... what little girls does *she* know? :-)

Al, in QL, kinda filled this same role, but the nature of the set up made it more difficult to *see* it. Instead, we got to hear all about his womanizing and the problems he'd get himself into... and yet, at the heart of it all was loss and duty and honor (remember Beth?).

ETA: Oh! And I forgot to mention. If you watch the opening credits you'll see a woman's name (last name Watson, I can't remember her first name at the moment) as some sort of muckity-muck. She's his daughter. Sounds like she might be able to carry on when he's gone... and it may be one of the reasons the women in this are written better than usual. :-)
Having been a Navy brat, the military threads running through the shows feels very familiar and natural. (I swear, Gibbs reminds me far too much of my father at that age. I *really* do sympathize with his team. ;-)

At any rate, the man's got a solid body of work to his name and it's worth checking out if you haven't already. Someone (Sallye?) said they'd only seen one NCIS which was a remake of a Stargate episode. I saw that one and I see what you mean (though they both reminded me of a Twilight Zone ep ;-). Give it another shot. Really. Just remember, DPB doesn't write women much better than the Stargate guys did. (Except for Abby. I *know* quite a few Abbys. ;-) She's by far the most interesting female character I've ever seen in one of his shows. Abby *rocks*! :-)

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Lo! Who is that, stalking out of the terrain! It is Tejas, hands clutching a reflective halberd! She bellows thunderously: "Hail the blood-letting! I desecrate until Satan himself emerges from the pit to thank me!!"

Find out! Enter username: Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

I rather like that one. ;-)

I need a new clock radio. The one I have is 12 years old (I bought it when my ex and I split) and cost $12. All in all, it's been a perfectly serviceable little clock radio, but it's a tad worse for wear.

Now, one of the reasons I keep things until they're on their last legs is that I like to get my money's worth from them. This also means that I tend to at least *try* and buy quality. It doesn't hurt that I really do detest spending money on stuff - stuff should be there and work forever, y'know? ;-) That way I don't have to think about it. :-) Any time I don't have to think about mundane crap, I keep keep my oh-so-superior-Aquarian mind on more ethereal subjects like... well... men. :-) And their butts. Shoulders. Pecs...

*gazes off into space and starts to drool*

But I digress.

So... I ordered an iPod.

Yeah, yeah, no comments from the peanut gallery. There's method to my madness. Not only did I buy an iPod, but I got an iHome to go with it. The same one my kid has, actually. She's been very happy with it and it produces good sound. So, I should be getting them soon.

Oh. And I also got one of those cables so I can plug it into the jack in the car's audio system.

What?

Don't look at me like that.

Oh, hush.

A while back, *someone* *somewhere* had a discussion on their LJ that ended up with a thread on teen sex education. I remember participating (as this is something I feel very passionate about) and IIRC, I wrote up a really good comment that made all sorts of lovely points... but I can't find a copy of it anywhere. *sniff*

Anyone remember this thread? I know a bunch of us share folks on our flists. I *think* I might have gotten to it *from* one of your LJs rather than it being *on* one of your LJs.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

I took a break from doing housework earlier and started flipping channels. I ended up on a NCIS marathon on USA.

Just what I need. Another show to obsess over.

Don't worry, though, SG-1 is still my OTF. :-) I sincerely doubt I'll get so sucked in I'll be writing fic for it. Given that it took more than 7 seasons before I started with SG-1, I think I'm safe. :-):-)

Don't you just hate it when you realize that you've been doing something *really* stupid?

I buy catfood in 20 pound bags (feeding the strays along with my own, y'know). When one is empty, I roll it up very tightly and stick it in the trash. Sometimes, if the can's close to full, it won't fit and so I have a spot in the kitchen to stick it until someone makes a run to the dumpster.

Today, I've been going through clutter and throwing *tons* of crap away. I went to grab another trash bag and nearly tripped over one of the three rolled up bags waiting (oh, so patiently, I might add ;-) for their trip to their final resting place.

I picked up the one I tripped over, looked at it, looked at the box of trash bags, looked at the large rolled up *bag* in my hand and smacked myself upside the head.

Now, at least when they go to the dumpster, they'll be carrying out a useful purpose.

I think we should start one. I have recently earned the right to wear a tinfoil hat and so I began researching proper designs. Fortunately, Wiki has a lovely article with some educational links on it.

One of them takes you to a delightful theme song for the new organization. I've Got My Tinfoil Hat On is a lovely song from the League of Lady Conspiracists, sung by the incomparable Miss Spankhurst, and one we should be singing to our erstwhile masters while we block their mind control rays.

I am, however, leery of the Personal EMF Shielding Devices site. It smacks of Big Brother trying to get to us.

I think I'll stick with Reynold's Wrap. If it's good enough for Miss Spankhurst, it's good enough for me.

( Words of Beauty/Love/Life )

Quickly!

Hurry!

No time, no time, no time. The words run through my head on endless loop. I can't stop them. My hands fly through their task without any thought except that I have to be quick. Jack once told me my life might some day depend on being able to do things quickly. In the dark, in the rain, bleeding, under fire, on the run. My teammates lives might depend on how quickly I can do something.

Yes!

Almost there!

"DONE!"

"Damn!"

"Carter, don't be a sore loser."

"Dinner's Daniel's choice tonight."

Nobody makes coffee quicker than I can.

I see the face in the mirror, but feel no connection. The people here try to tell me who I am.

Linguist.

Archeologist

Anthropologist

Diplomat.

Soldier.

Teammate.

Friend.

Some feel familiar, comforting. Others terrifying, alien. They're descriptions, nouns - describing what someone does, but not who someone is.

Daniel Jackson.

It's less honest than Arrom, for I have never felt more naked in my… short life than I do among these people who look at me with such desperate longing. I don't know how to be Daniel Jackson.

"Who am I?"

I stare at the reflection wishing someone, anyone, would answer.

Just thought I'd get that out.

And no, this is not an April Fool's "joke".

This is an interesting idea. There's a comm, fanficdvdcomm for requesting and/or posting DVD style commentaries on fanfic. Authors toss their hat in the ring to either provide "commentary" on a requested fic or to allow others to produce commentaries on their fics. I remember someone on my flist mentioning having had this done to one of their stories, but I can't remember who it was or who did the commentary. I wanted to go read it since I joined the comm.

Should be interesting to see what comes of it.

Did you know slash writers are all tools of the patriarchy?

This twit has delusions of scholardom.

I think she's just got delusions.

(Oh! And slash stories generally end with the man 'going straight' at the end and getting married to a woman. Just thought everyone should know. I guess I'm a failure of a slash writer. Not to mention a failure of a Radical Feminist. Dear me, whatever shall I do?)

I've got CSI reruns on tv right now and the coroner guy (can't remember his name) just said something that ticks me off.

"Childhood is getting shorter and shorter and whose fault is that?"

( I don't think that word means what you think it does. )

ETA: cut added

Ever run into a fic that looks like it's going to hit just about every button you've got only to read it and when it's all over you realize it *just* *missed*? I hate that. It's like having incredibly comfortable sneakers, those warm cushiony socks but there's a teeny-tiny fold near your big toe. It's not bad enough to stop what you're doing and fix it, but it's a low level irritant for the rest of the day.

*sigh*

What really bites is that I'm finding it harder and harder to find good J/D out there. It's either wimpy as all hell or so OOC as to be ludicrous (but not enough to be considered parody). Lots of the old reliables seem to have either slowed down writing so much they might as well not be writing at all or are shifting to other pairings or even other fandoms.

*sigh*

I guess it would be better if I were interested in those other pairings (or fandoms), but I'm really not. I've given a few a try and the occasional story works for me as a one-shot, but doesn't sell the pairing to me. Even good gen seems to be MIA. I managed to do my own Daniel, Sam friendship (with a teeny side order of implied slash) fic thingy, but there's only so many of those I can read before I get bored (and that seems to be where most of the genners are hanging out at the moment - which may well be an inaccurate assessment on my part). Even well-written Good!Sam just isn't compelling enough to hold my interest.

Yes, I know, I'm whining.

Pass the cheese, please.

*sigh*

There are a couple of new entries over on rageofangels_tv. The best new info is that Chris Judge said in an interview that they're likely going to go before the camera in June of this year! YAY! And they're looking for a Fall or Winter release date for the 2 hour movie. There's also a one hour pilot that'll be shot and there's "network" interest. :-)

Run over and see what's been reported! That's assuming you're not already a member of or watching the comm.

(Hey! Why AREN'T you a member of or watching the comm?? HMMMMM??? :-)

Something delightfully twisted rose out of the comments to my Grammar Squick entry and crawled out into chattycatsmeow's LJ to die. Fortunately, I think, she saved it.

Habitual is sheer crack of the best sort, though you probably do risk eternal damnation by reading it... thank goodness I don't believe in hell. ;-)

Jack's subconscious is a very scary place, but I'm not sure Daniel's is any better. :-)

If ye wish not t'be spoiled, ye best be turnin' t'starboard, argh! :-)

( Ark of Truth Spoilers HO! (Seriously. There are honkin' huge spoilers under this cut.) )

I haven't been able to watch Ark yet. GGGRRR!!

The DVD player in the livingroom is currently out of commission for the simple reason that we can't find the blinkin' remote. I have resisted buying another one because I know it's around here somewhere and I'm just like that. :-)

So, my kid has a DVD player in her room (I have no idea how we ended up with two, IIRC, it was a gift and the person didn't know we already had one). But she's also in bed asleep, so that's out.

No problem, right? I'll just pull out my laptop from work and use it, right?

WRONG!

This is a temp machine (my regular machine died and I haven't gotten a new one yet). So, while I was ticked that I forgot to download a decoder while I was at work, and on broadband, no sweat. I'll just download it while I do other things, right?

*sigh*

It doesn't work.

I'm thinking tomorrow I will be buying a new remote and to hell with the old one. I'm sure as soon as I get the new one functioning, the old one will turn up anyway. *sigh*