LizardLaugh

Meme stolen from simons_flower:

( most popular books people aren't reading )

Yeah, yeah, I don't post for months and then post a meme. Whatever. I did find this list very fascinating. All of these books can be fit into one of three catagories:

1. Classic literature
2. Recent bestseller
3. Really, really long

All are books people who are well read should have, well, read. Or at least pretend to have read.

Deathly Hallows thoughts...

( SPOILERS, DUH )

( Everything is a spoiler, y0 )

Are there any out there? Any plans?

*is all alone*

*will end up picking up book at Wal*Mart*

ixchelmala rousted my lazy ass out of bed with the news. I am excited, and for the first time, maybe a little sad. The sadness usually doesn't sink in until AFTER I've devoured the new book. And then it's not all THAT sad because there is all of the mad theorizing afterwards. This time... while there will be crazy squeeing and discussion and all of that, it's THE END.

The end.

I've been thinking here lately of what to do with my LJ, if anything. I read my friends list maybe once every couple of weeks. I never update. I have no plans to delete it, though there is a lot I may friends lock just in the interest of hiding the most embarassing instances of my lameness. I've thought about deleting all of my fanfiction, but it's all over the place and I'd never find it all again. I go back and read it and I hate it all. HATE. But then I just get sick every time I think about how I destroyed all of the stuff I wrote in high school. It was absolutely horrible, too horrible to exist -- or so I thought at the time. The crappy poetry, the lame sci-fi novel... as horrible as it was, it was mine. And now I can never look back and see how far I've come.

I really want a personal journal/blog, but I don't know if this journal will be it. In a way I feel like this chapter in my life is complete and everything associated with it is part of a completely different person. Yet, this place, this experience, this community played a huge role in making me that different person. There are people here I will cherish for the rest of my life. I will never, ever regret being childishly obsessed with the adventures of a boy wizard and his friends.

So it stays.

And maybe I'll update and maybe I won't. Surely as the release of Book Seven Deathly Hallows approaches I'll be here, squeeing and theorizing as always. For a time.

Hahahaha

Speak up, oh giver of poo. :)

Nothing to make you feel completely irrelevant like checking out that Joule thinger and seeing just how many people have defriended you. Some of whom were people you really, really liked.

Damn.

To be fair though, I haven't exactly been active in the Potter fandom in the last year or so (and most of my flist comes from there). It's just funny how things change, people change, priorities change, life changes.

I think a big part of my involvement in HP stemmed from trying to escape something, a situation, a dissatisfaction with my life. I really like my life now. And while part of me is all boo hoo, I guess I'm not a BNF anymore (if I ever was), part me of is happy this was all here for me when I needed it.

I've got a hankering right now for post-HBP fic dealing with Snape and Draco's flight/hiding and/or confronting angry!Harry after, well, you know.

Really looking for good characterizations first and foremost, consistant with/extrapolated from HBP canon. Not real particular about ship (if any), though Snape shipped with students really does hit my squick button.

Something to post about that combines my current interest in astrology, my obsession with Harry Potter and my constant, driving need to needlessly categorize things.

Some people may disagree with these placements. JKR said Gryffindor=Fire, Slytherin=Water, Hufflepuff=Earth, Ravenclaw=Air. And I agree... sorta. There are certain signs I can see going two different directions. Others are, well, obvious, no question. But I just can't see Capricorn as anything BUT Slytherin, earth sign or not. Sagittarians are more pen than sword and therefore more Ravenclaw than Gryffindor.

Note: YES, I know there are those who will say 'but I'm Slytherin Virgo!!'. I am making the placements based on the signs' stereotypical traits. I'm a Ravenclaw Taurus. Go figure.

Aries: The hat says Gryffindor before it touches your hot little head. (canon Aries: Weasley Twins)

Taurus: The hat has to think about it, because the down to earthness is so very Hufflepuff yet... the stubborness, the hardheadedness is so very, very Gryffindor. Oh, and then there is the ego. And the laziness. Gryffindor it is, but Hufflepuff is highly tempting. (canon Taurus: Pomona Sprout)

Gemini: While there is a strong temptation to sort this air sign into Ravenclaw, the charm, the smarm, the schmooze has the Hat deciding Slytherin. (canon Gemini: Draco)

Cancer: Water sign, yes. Crabby, yes. Has some Slytherin tendencies, for sure. But... the mothering, smothering, passive-agressive tendencies say dysfunctional Hufflepuff to me. (canon Cancer: Dudley)

Leo: Gryffindor, duh. Lessee... Harry, Neville, Percy and Ginny are all Leos. Only Ginny truly strikes me as a Leo, however. Harry has got to be a Scorpio rising. Neville has got to be a Virgo rising. Percy has to be a Capricorn rising.

Virgo: Hufflepuff=loyal and hardworking. Virgo=loyal and hardingworking. Virgo=Hufflepuff, QED. (canon Virgo:Hermione)

Libra: Can go either way. Just joking. Ravenclaw. (canon Libras: Flitwick and McGonagall)

Scorpio: Slytherin. Duh. (canon Scorpios: Molly Weasley, Angelina Johnson)

Sagittarius: Fire sign, I know, but Ravenclaw without a doubt, even though all three canon Sag (Bill, Charlie, Hagrid) have been Gryffindors. The sign rules the 9th House. Ravenclaw is all about the 9th House.

Capricorn: Earth, sure. Hardworking, yes. But when your defining characteristic is AMBITION, there is only one House for you: Slytherin. (canon Capricorn: Snape)

Aquarius: Ravenclaw, no question. (canon Aquarius: Arthur Weasley)

Pisces: Yet another water sign I can't see in Slytherin. Too compassionate, too idealistic. I am torn between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but leaning towards Hufflepuff simply because Helga Hufflepuff's philosophy of accepting all comers is very Pisces. (canon Pisces: Ron)

The score:

Gryffindor: Aries, Leo, Taurus (2 Fire, 1 Earth)

Hufflepuff: Virgo, Cancer, Pisces (1 Earth, 2 Water)

Ravenclaw: Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius (2 Air, 1 Fire)

Slytherin: Scorpio, Capricorn, Gemini (1 Water, 1 Earth,1 Air)

I am fairly confident on my placement of most of these with the exception of Pisces and Taurus which I feel can go Hufflepuff OR Gryffindor.

Discuss.

( two words meme )

Hmmm... I was going to also talk about some random crap, but now I can't remember what exactly.

umm...

I am moving tomorrow. Not far, but I am excited as it cuts my commute in half and my rent by $200. It's a one bedroom townhouse style apartment. Really like the layout. Only slightly smaller than the place I have now.

I guess when you don't update often you don't have much to say because there is too much to say. No established context. Would take too long.

Have to say goodbye.

I've been busy *cough*

I have a Firefly fanfic recommendation for you all. It's short, it's cute, it's funny and it's got some really awesome, in character, Jayne and Kaylee.

In the Way by meimei42

Birth charts...

Big thanks to everyone (and there were a lot of you) who sent me birth info. I've been slowly looking at them, but it will be sometime before I go through them all. I don't think I realized just how huge a task this would be. For a really great site for accurate natal charts, check out http://www.astro.com. http://www.cafeastrology.com and http://www.bobmarksastrologer.com are great sites for learning interpretation.

I am working on a project. A novel (urban fantasy) in which natal charts play a role. As research, I'd like to look at lots of charts for real people. Charts that really catch my eye may be used for characters in the story (you'll be thanked and credited if I use yours, assuming this thing ever gets published). I can tell you some really, REALLY basic things about your chart. However, I am a complete novice at chart reading, so... take anything I say with a grain of salt.

What I am looking for:

-- Volunteers born 1982 or earlier
-- date of birth
-- accurate time of birth
-- location (city, state, province, country, etc)
-- your email address

If you KNOW what your chart looks like, I am especially interested in:

-- Big aspects (kites, grand trines, grand crosses)
-- Pluto in the 1st, 10th or 12th Houses
-- Scorpio heavy charts
-- 8th, 10th and 12th House heavy charts
-- Something interesting going on with Pluto (lots of big aspects, completely unaspected Pluto, lots of planets in the same house as Pluto, Pluto all on its lonesome, far from everything else in the chart,etc.)
-- I would love an Aries who is also an Aries rising and Aries moon.
-- I need a "shy" Leo.
-- Lots of harmonious aspects to Neptune, especially a grand trine in which Neptune and the moon are both involved. If the grand trine is in water signs (pretty much means you were born between 1956 and 1970 with Neptune in Scorpio), all the better.

If you want to help, but don't want to post your info in a public entry, email me -- lizardlaugh@gmail.com.

Happy birthday to J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter!! If Harry were a real boy, he'd be 26 today. Assuming Jo isn't planning on killing him. Which she isn't. Because, well, she isn't. Right? Right.

I've been studying up a bit here lately on astrology, and I've distilled the astrological sun signs down to their very essence.

It all boils down to how they fuck (or don't fuck) the monkey:

Aries: Fucks the monkey up the ass. No lube, no foreplay. The monkey won't know what hit it.

Taurus: Owns the monkey. Taurus has People for that.

Gemini: Will talk about fucking the monkey, but won't commit to the actual fucking unless they can fuck two monkeys at once.

Cancer: Cooks the monkey breakfast in the morning, but is all passive-agressive about it afterwards.

Leo: Wants to be the center of the monkey fucking universe.

Virgo: Is not in the least bit shy about pointing out the monkey fucking mistakes of others. In charge of Monkey Fucking Quality Control. If you want a monkey fucked right...

Libra: Wines, dines and sixty-nines the monkey.

Scorpio: If the monkey shows up floating face down in the river, then you'll know Scorpio has fucked the monkey.

Sagittarius: Ponders the existential nature of the monkey, what it means to, in fact, fuck said monkey, and how the monkey should, in theory, be fucked. Whether or not the monkey is or is not fucked is completely immaterial.

Capricorn: Forms a multi-national monkey fucking corporation, with the goal of a self-fucking monkey in every home, faster than you can say MonkeySoft.

Aquarius: Shaves the monkey and makes it wear a rubber suit. Is fucked by the monkey, not the other way around.

Pisces: Stages a hunger strike for the poor, misunderstood monkeys.

So... in between bouts of rescuing the English language from grown men who wouldn't know a comma from a semi-colon, I've been reading some Firefly fanfiction. And I've discovered some things that surprise me.

-- I have almost no interest in reading Firefly slash. Not that I don't see the homoerotic subtext-bordering-on-text (it's Joss!), just that... eh. Not that I couldn't see Mal and Jayne taking a sweaty tumble, mind you. Just... I don't find the idea very interesting.

-- I have almost no interest in the exploration of canon or nearly canon ships. Wash/Zoe? Yawn. Kaylee/Simon? Snore. Mal/Inara? *SPORK*

-- The only non-canon ship that holds any real interest for me is Mal/Saffron. And I can't find it. Anywhere.

-- On the other hand, very canon-like fics that explore characters and their relationships in general? Totally digging.

-- Very few people have a handle on the dialogue. It's difficult, I know. I ain't saying I'd get it perfect either. However, I think folks tend to go a little too heavy on the dialect and a little too light on the Jossian clever.

( Eureka )

TLC is running a fanfiction contest for Lumos where the HP gang is in Las Vegas. Now... I started a fic like that ages ago. Ended up scrapping it and using the basic premise (a Las Vegas magician who really can do magic) for an original novel. Was kind of thinking of recycling, but... something tells me washed-up, alcoholic, chain smoking, casual sex having, pissed at the world Harry ain't going to fly with The Leaky Cauldron.

TLC's contest

...when they wear their robes too tight and their hair is fried.

( stolen from dissasembly_rsn )

But the REAL find was the old post, found here. It was all about an OC I created, but never put in a story, unfortunately. She was this trailer trash exchange student from Beaumont, Texas and she was awesome.

Her face has that sort of hard, trailer trash look to it. Not ugly, but no Professor Higgins could ever make her pass for 'high society', even if she spoke the Queen's English and knew the subtle arts of tiara touching and pinky extending. Know what I am talking about? Not ugly, just... trashy. Which is kind of appealing in its own way when you think about it.

...and she totally cried when Old Yeller died.

ETA: Super bonus points if you can name the songs and artist(s) referenced in this post.

ETA 2: Coincidentally, I am doing a party in Beaumont this Saturday.

Awesome names. AWESOME. Too awesome to be Real Names (but they are). So awesome, I am stealing them.

I think Warren and Frank are time travelers. They go on all kinds of crazy adventures. Warren's a little crabby about the whole thing. He wasn't supposed be then today (or ever). Frank has IDEALS. PRINCIPLES. He's doing it for Humanity. Frank is... a little scary.

Does anyone else steal real names for character sames?

If you don't play poker you can just ignore this one, though the moral dilemma applies in other arenas.

It is generally agreed that soft playing (defined here as 'going easy' on someone at the poker table so that they don't bust out)is cheating. The objective in a poker tournament is to accumulate as many chips as possible until you have them all. Though you must always know your player and may play a hand differently depending on who is in the pot, the objective is still the same: win. By going easy on a player, you are giving one player advantages the other players at the table do not have.

I haven't seen a whole hell of a lot of soft play, but I know it goes on and I think I may have done it myself. However, The goal was never to let the other person win or keep them on the table because they were a 'friend' or what have you. The goal was always to win. However, I have found it useful to keep certain players on the table when I otherwise could have taken them out.

For instance, let's say you have a player Tom*. Tom is agressive, loves to bluff and generally bullies the table. He accumulates chips quickly and loses them just as quickly. He's a good player and can be a real threat, however, having Tom at the table gives me certain advantages.

If Tom is to my right, I have position on him, we are frequently in pots together. I can let him accumulate his chips his way, then take them off of him easier than I can take them off of the other players at the table. I don't want to take Tom completely off the table until late in the game, so if I know I'll bust him with his all-in on a bluff, I might fold even though I am pretty sure I have the better hand.

Now, let's say Tom has position on ME. If he is directly to my left, I probably will want to take him out. However, if he is a few spaces down, at a full table I can use him to hide behind. Let him do my raising for me, let him bet my hands for me, etc.

Now, I'm not going easy on Tom because I like him -- keeping him in the game is a strategic advantage for me. As far as I am concerned, there are no friends at the poker. My goal is always to win. However, I admit that I DO occasionally soft play certain players because I find having them at the table to be advantagous.

I also admit to gunning for certain players because I'd like to get them off the table as early as possible in the game. It has nothing to do with liking them or not liking them, it has to do with their threat level. While I want Tom to have chips, I don't want Andy* to have chips. I can get them back from Tom; I can't as easily get them back from Andy. Now, granted, if Tom moves all in at me and I have a monster, I am going to call, no question (though I will be a little bummed I couldn't use him a little longer).

I'm doing the same thing as someone who doesn't want to bust out their friend/wife/crush/person they bought in/etc. Is what I am doing unethical? Is it cheating? Personally, I think what I am doing is completely in the spirit of the game and therefore NOT cheating.

*NOTE: There is more than one Tom and more than one Andy I play poker with. *cue the Carly Simon*

You know, sometimes people say things to you they think are clever and funny, but you are totally rolling your eyes (inwardly, of course). But then, when you don't acknowledge their flash of brilliance, they look at you like you are dumb and just don't get it. Or worse, REPEAT IT. Just in case, you know, you didn't hear it the first time.

In a situation where rolling your eyes would probably be inappropriate (like, say, the work place), how do you respond to lame ass comments like 'I'll be in my orifice'? Do you:

A: Fuck it... roll those eyes!
B: Ignore and move on, no acknowledgement
C: Laugh
D: Fake laugh (AH HA HA HA, ahem)
E: Come back with something sarcastic like 'don't forget to wash your hands'.
F: Come back with something dirty (and potentially sexually harassing) like 'can I watch?' or 'hang on while I go get my strap on/Saran Wrap/Chocolate Thriller/flash light/rubber gloves/lube/spelunking gear'