Clare-Dragonfly

This is the first time I've turned on the computer today!

Reading, talking to people on the phone.

Then I had fun finding just the right colour ink (J.Herbin Terre de Feu--Fiery Earth) to put in my Lamy Joy calligraphy pen (to match a letterhead I had made from American Greetings online) to write a letter to my mother. Which I then did. :-)

Bunnicula and I watched two more episodes of "The Grand". Good series!

And I spent over two hours on the Wii! It's been a while! I wanted to go back to "Endless Ocean". I now have an photo assignment to snap a sperm whale. I finally had to check with GameFAQs' message board to see where and how to find it. I'll try again tomorrow. I also spent time on the Everybody Votes Channel, the News Channel, and the Nintendo Channel.

Need to go check my email, then EAT.

That Time of the Month is coming fast. How can I tell? Hellacious cravings and crazy mood swings. That whacky, whacky PMS!

Still working my ass off. Still writing. When all this is over, I'll probably spend at least two days just lying on the couch and staring at the walls if the bastard voices in my head will let me.

So here's one for you all - hopefully it'll inspire some of you.

Imagine for one minute that Earth (or an earth-like world) had a Steampunk revolution in its Victorian Era (or equivalent).

Imagine it - hold it in your head and roll forward over a hundred years to its early 21st century.

What would that world be like? The aesthetic (after all our modern aesthetic is not very Victorian so there's no reason the post-steampunk world would be), the technology, the science, the culture...

What would the Post-Steampunk era world be like?

Discuss.

http://steampunkwallpaper.com/?p=534

Title: Dangerous hobby Description: So, there I was, tightening the flywheel, and the fuel scuttle snapped clean at the stem and set the whole damn thing on fire. I managed to put it out, but I had to lean on the main gear. Left a rather prominent scar, but at least I didn’t lose the entire assembly two days before the launch… Type: Widescreen, 1680×1050 Credits: hand painted, with a few brushes by Ewark and Gorguss. Creative Commons licensed derivative.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Feministing/~3/386065687/010898.html

My name is Shark-Fu and I usually practice the fine art of bitchitude over at AngryBlackBitch.com.

But let me tell y'all that a bitch is thrilled to be in the land of Feministing.

Shall we?

The Vice Presidential debate is going to be in my hometown of St. Louis Missouri and this bitch has been fantasizing about it for days. Not just because of my fan-based joy of being able to watch the fantabulous Gwen Ifill moderate, but because of the opportunity I'm damn sure we're going to let pass us by as these two people sweep in and sweep out of St. Louis Missouri.

Oh, how a bitch would love to have a day with them.

Blink.

I would!

Mmmhmmm, a bitch would take Senator Biden and Governor Palin on a tour.

I'd take them to my neighborhood, where public schools leave poor children behind and middle class families struggle to send their children go to private schools. I'd walk them through the grade school up the street and around the corner to meet young people and talk to them about the fucked up tests and the flawed standards...the lack of funding for what they need and the abundance of funding for what they don't need any more of.

We'd drive to the local shelter for pregnant teens where I teach women's health and voter education classes and we'd stay for lunch. They'd meet the young woman who found out how to prevent pregnancy when she became pregnant and the pregnant fifteen year old who faces motherhood alone after being denied choice and options by law.

Of course we'd have to drop by a union hall and have coffee with workers who have seen factories close and industry flee...who have seen my state's greatest export become our people.

We'd have a meeting with local law enforcement to go over the daunting crime figures...the rise in violent crime and gun violence that too many county residents expect to see in the city and too many city residents don't expect to change anytime soon.

And then I'd sit them both down and tell them in very specific terms exactly what change means to a bitch.

Lawd knows that we'll be lucky if either one of them pause for a fundraiser...some tastefully catered affair in a "good" neighborhood attended by all the right people and blah followed by blah followed by another blah.

Sigh.

But a bitch can dream...

...and hold out hope that Ms. Ifill will toss in a few questions on behalf of the masses whilst getting her moderating on.

Title: Getting Dirty
Author: alisanne
Pairing: Neville Longbottom/Bill Weasley
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Warnings: None, really.
Beta: sevfan
Challenge: Written for neville100's prompt #33: Labour
Disclaimer:The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: It's pretty straightforward, really. Neville likes being dirty.

Getting Dirty

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Feministing/~3/385843535/010895.html

So many Sarah Palin links... Fact-checking Palin's RNC speech. Will Palin be the first woman president? Who pays for Palin's child care? Polling shows women aren't buying the McCain-Palin ticket -- they're more skeptical of Palin than men are. Palin's first photograph at the RNC was with the political wives. Phyllis Schlafly uses Palin as an excuse to spew more bile. And Kate Sheppard looks at Palin's environmental record.

Bloggers are posting tomorrow on community organizing, setting the record straight about why "community organizer" is NOT a derogatory term.

Vanity Fair does the math on Cindy McCain's RNC attire. And on a related note, Robin Givhan (she of the "Hillary's cleavage" coverage) defends writing about clothes in a political context.

On the parties' changing stances on abortion. And Habladora asks if the parties are really moving to the right on this issue.

CNN runs a classic "career girl" article that reads as if it were published in the 1950s: "...wives rated their marital quality as higher when husbands were the primary earners." Ugh. ... AND then follows it up with an article that actually asks if catcalling is a compliment. They're on a roll, clearly.

The EU Parliament decries sexist advertising.

A truly tasteless spread in Vogue India featured impoverished Indians wearing outrageously expensive fashion items.

On Facebook's gender-targeted ads.

Remembering Doris Gibson, who founded Peru's first newsmagazine.

Check out Science Debate 2008, where they asked the presidential candidates to answer 14 science questions.

Syndicated radio host Jim Quinn referred to NOW as the "National Organization for Whores." And radio host Mark Levin called NOW the "National Organization of Ugly Women." Stay classy, conservative talk radio.

Actions and Events

Sign up to host a house party for Bitch magazine!

You know how you have fantasy novels that are set in worlds that are explicitly *not* Earth but have a roughly equivalent climate and biosphere, and human society and technology at some historical level (usually medieval but I've seen later periods).

However once you reach the Industrial Revolution level this stops. From the Victorian Era onwards all Fantasy seems to fall into the Alternative Earth or Hidden Magic varients. Or at least I've never seen it.

And don't get me wrong I love a good contemporary fantasy novel with a hidden magical society and most people blissfully unaware of the magical world, but I'd like to see something different.

And presumably a typical medieval level fantasy world will eventually develop higher tech levels because you know it's inhabited by intelligent people - most of whom can't use magic - who will be looking for ways to make their lives easier.

The worldbuilding project that petered out when I got flu was roughly renaissance level with hints of clock and steampunk and would certainly reach 21st Century technology eventually without losing sight of the fact that dragons, fee, magic and the gods are all real. I will go back to it eventually but at the moment I'm focused on the fact November is less than 2 months away.

Nano is a great time to experiment, and so I'm thinking of using this idea as my setting. Then I realise why no one has ever done it. It wouldn't be easy to create such a world. Then again worthwhile things are rarely easy.

So what do you think? Other world contemporary fantasy - possible or not? And if you actually know of stories where this has been done tell me.

What I have been twittering about today:

• 00:47 @bachelorfarmer ahahaha! I shouldn't laugh, but I can certainly understand that giving you a headache!!! #
• 20:20 @JaneBunny Cool!! #
• 20:37 @JaneBunny Thatsa lotta yarn! #
• 20:37 @JaneBunny OMG, there's more knit furniture! Just incredibly beautiful! #
• 21:25 @JaneBunny Stabbing with knitting needles is not a good idea. :-P Sleep well! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

It's not too soon to be thinking good protective thoughts/praying prayers for the people and property in the path of Hurricane Ike and everywhere around the Gulf of Mexico.

http://steampunkwallpaper.com/?p=531

Title: Water and Iron Description: There was a request for a widescreen version of this, so I thought I’d oblige. Type: Widescreen, 1680×1050 Credits: Based off the picture by Yersinia. Creative Commons licensed derivative.

I have to do 8 and 9 pages a day, alternating, for the next 10 days. George has indicated that he should be able to help me out with 2 a day unless his own editor cracks the whip.

The "Divide" series is proceeding; it's hard to find the time to input all the information that's streaming out of my brain. *orders Bob and Megabyte to SHUT UP FOR FIVE MINUTES, thank you, and of course they don't... it's a cliche that characters take on a life of their own, but well, sometimes they DO...*

George and I went out for lunch at Niko's (fish and chips for him, a chicken gyro with salad and rice for me). On the way back we stopped at Starbucks and I now have a sugar-free soy milk latte.

Aaaand in the catagory of "links you probably shouldn't click and which will change your worldview if you do"... Pizza Stix at urbandictionary.com. Not safe for work like woah. You have been warned.

Back to work. Again. So tired...

This is all my sister's fault, for sending me this video. It's stuck in my head and now it will be stuck in YOURS! LOL! Enjoy!

I liked the bakery/bread theme, but it has some problems if you are looking at a post with lots and lots of comments on down the page.

I can't make up my mind. This is my colour scheme for now...

If Cat'r hadn't phoned at 10am, Bunnicula and I would have slept until 11am or so! LOL!

Reading, eating, online. We'll probably watch some of "The Grand" soon.

I'm hankering after an expensive pen I don't need. I want a yellow Sailor 1911M with a medium nib. I could get one for $130. But you know that money could pay for a coat or shoes or groceries...eep!

Everyone should check out the following Icon Challenges.

illyriastill a challenge dedicated to Illyria from the series Angel
fandomstillness An icon challenge for all fandoms welcome
whedonsworlda challenge for All things Joss Whedon
ulttvshowdown A challenge for all things on Television

These communities are waiting to be opened, once we have at least 15 members in each I will begin the challenges.


A fic community that everyone should also check out is

eroticjossverse Must be 18 to join and post, and open to all Jossverse shows.

Matt Lewis admitted to reading Neville/Draco slash at Dragon*Con.

Now I can't help but wonder which one! There are some good ones, and some really bad ones out there!

http://steampunkwallpaper.com/?p=526

Title: Water and Iron Abstract. Description: After London flooded, some places became accessable only by boat. Type: Fullscreen, 1280×1024 Credits: Based off the picture by Yersinia. Creative Commons licensed derivative.

We've finally caught up in "Mad Men"! We'll watch this coming Sunday night's episode on Monday, using the ever-popular On Demand cable feature. Cat'r mentioned something that might be a twist! About Peggy's baby and stuff...don't want to spoil anything. Just conjecture, but still...

So tomorrow or the next day I guess Bunnicula and I will get back to watching our big BBC series we started a couple weeks ago, then set aside for our "Mad Men" marathon: "The Grand", about an hotel in Manchester in the 1920's, its owners, workers, and residents. We've only watched one episode so far, and we're not sure there's anyone nice in it...except for an ex-madam! Still, very interesting!