lagilman: coffee or die (lol)
I'm trying to decide if this guy's ironic, or it seriously really wants you to do well...



aquatic cheerleader
lagilman: coffee or die (just sayin' - Nate)
Ok, usually my dreams are of the very straightforward, "here is your archetype, here is your basic dream symbolism, go fix whatever is digging at your brain."

Last night, not so much. It was set in... San Diego, maybe? The Leverage team was in it, so were a number of (now unrecalled) SoCal genrefolk. We were in a diner, and then everyone left, but someone came back to our table and stated poking around to see if we'd left anything behind, and then we were chasing after that someone (or someone else, that bit is hazy)....

The object d'chase went into an underground arcade whose escalators led into smaller an smaller tunnels, and I had claustrophobia*, so I had to find a way around when the team went into one. A stranger in the arcade pointed me to a maze of stairs and said I could connect with them at a certain place at the end of the tunnel. But that was all the direction I got, and there were a lot of exits on different levels, all with different signs (like those "downtown layout" signs showing you where the major attractions are, only these were clear plastic, and there were a lot of them - ok, more like what you'd see at an outlet mall, telling you where stores are. Except, like I said, clear and set high overhead). But I got out, eventually.

I ended up first passing through a playground and having to duck under a "end quiet zone" sign/gate and then down into the city proper, wandering around a small, slightly European-looking city In the middle of the night. It was mostly asleep, but set up for a rambling kind of carnival/street fair, and I knew that I was completely fucked in terms of finding the team again. Most of the dream, in fact, took place as I was wandering.

I finally met up with the rest of the team at a random-but-planned keyboard store that I'd been told about about when I was directed to the surface route but to the best of my knowledge, they hadn't. And yet, they were waiting for me, there.

And that, far as I remember, is when I woke up.

WTF, brain? That is neither a useful archetypal kick-in-the-ass, nor a coherent (or even surreal) plot.



*I don't
lagilman: coffee or die (do I look impressed to you?)
Readercon isn't one of my regular conventions, but it's local-ish, and it always had a good reputation for being well-run and interesting, etc. They also had a "safe space" policy of zero tolerance for bad behavior, including sexual harassment.

This year, they failed in a rather major way, backtracking on their stated policy and changing "banned forever" to "banned for two years" because when he said he was sorry - not to his victim, but to the convention Board, when he was questioned after the fact.

The community has not been shy in making their opinions known: http://readercon.livejournal.com/21805.html


I said what I needed to say in the comments there, but I will add this, here. Readercon's board has stated, publicly, that their written and posted policies are not to be trusted, that they will change the rules on the fly, and predators are given more consideration than their victims (and potential victims). That makes Readercon not a safe space, but a danger zone.

I regret the fallout on behalf of those who've put their time and effort into making Readercon an enjoyable convention, and didn't deserve to be treated this way by the Board, but I see no reason to go somewhere my safety is considered less important than coddling a known offender.

UPDATE: The Readercon convention committee is reportedly voting on overturning the Board's decision. Many of them were Not Happy. So there's that, at least. We'll see if anything changes.
lagilman: coffee or die (brain.  hurts.)
I just... I... what?


"Businessman with little extra time is seeking a Personal Assistant / Ghostwriter / Research Assistant to help develop novel idea. I have a general plot outline and character profiles but no time to develop."

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/wri/2959627941.html
lagilman: coffee or die (peevy short chick)
Apparently, Belvedere Vodka thinks that rape jokes are an AWESOME way to sell booze.

The ad was removed, but the Internet doesn't forget:

http://aminatou.tumblr.com/post/19788599188/fuck-you-belvedere-vodka

http://jezebel.com/5895931/the-rapey-belvedere-vodka-ad-that-just-got-pulled


Their corporate response? "We apologize to any of our fans who were offended by our recent tweet. We continue to be an advocate of safe and responsible drinking."

But, apparently, not safe and responsible social interactions. Or, y'know, shame.

for the record, PR departments, "we're sorry you were offended" is obvious shorthand for "we think you can't take a joke." The proper wording is "We are sorry for our ill-considered ad; we did not think it through and that was wrong of us. We are donating $X to a national rape crisis center to show that we learned our lesson."


I may not always drink vodka, but when I do... it's not Belvedere.
lagilman: coffee or die (just sayin' - Nate)
I just...yeah. What?

http://www.televictim.com/christianporn.html

EtA: NSFW, probably.


Go forth, my children, and snark. I expect to wake to much WTF.

(also, that a few of you have been struck blind)
lagilman: coffee or die (brain.  hurts.)
Awake at 5am on Monday morning, after a stress dream wherein a readers' group that invited me to sit in on their meeting gave the book of mine they were reading 2/5 stars, and I discovered that that's what they had given ALL of my books...

This may be the writer's version of the "failed to study for a test" dream. Ugggggh *scrubs brain, looks for chocolate*


[to add to the stress, I was being driven to the meeting by a former lover who is, um, not always so good with the directions, and I was pretty sure we weren't going to arrive on time (we did), and we had Mei-Chan with us but she couldn't go into the meeting itself so I had to leave her outside which was another level of stress and... yeah. I was actually sort of glad to wake up, even at 5-freaking-AM.]


Also: today is a freelancer's nightmare: a Monday where you're expecting a check but there's no mail delivery so you know it ain't showing up today. Wheee?


EtA: a realization about schedule changes has made it official: Bad Monday. Possibly Very Bad Week. I'll let you know once I pry my claws out of the ceiling. Bad but potentially manageable. Just an additional unpleasant jolt to a morning that didn't need any more, thanks so fucking much...
lagilman: coffee or die (the general warned me...)
I give you Photographic Evidence

These were taken after I, innocently sitting at my desk working, heard a loud THUMP against the window, turned around, and saw Pandora sitting up close to the glass, peering out.

The thump came, not from my beloved hunter-cat, but the Damned Squirrel, who had somehow determined that there were corn chips on the counter. Next to the cat. Cat be damned, apparently... human also be damned, since when I leaned in and barked at him, he just made a very nervous hhhnnnhhh noise, and stuck around until I removed the chips from sight. I suspect there will be a call to animal control, if he doesn't go away (poor thing, but eventually I'll want to open my windows w/o worrying about a furry little home intruder....)









and yes, I suspect this is the same little furry bandit who broke in (tearing my screen in the process) last summer. So he knows there is food here...
lagilman: Does Not Play Well With Stupid People (stupid people)
Just when I think the stupid can't pile any deeper, Fox News (of course) proves me wrong. When co-host Bob Beckel asked why the weapons of mass destruction Bush claimed Iraq possessed were never found, Mediaite caught (Fox Host) Bolling’s novel response: “Whether they did or didn’t, America was certainly safe between 2000 and 2008. I don’t remember any terrorist attacks on American soil during that period of time.”

Um. Um? WTF, Bolling? WTF?

The residents of New York City and Washington DC would like you to come over here so we can bitchslap you. All of us, one at a time.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/eric-bolling-doesnt-remember-any-terrorist-attacks-on-american-soil-during-bush-administration/

Oh FFS...

Jul. 14th, 2011 09:01 am
lagilman: Does Not Play Well With Stupid People (stupid people)
from the St. Petersberg (FL) Times:


Tea party members tackle a new issue: manatees

from the 4th paragraph:

"We cannot elevate nature above people," explained Edna Mattos, 63, leader of the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots, in an interview. "That's against the Bible and the Bill of Rights."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/tea-party-members-tackle-a-new-issue-manatees/1180112


And that? That is why we mock & scorn you, Tea Partiers. You're not only idiots, you're anti-manatee.
lagilman: coffee or die (bye-bye)
EtA: Apparently, Dropbox, seeing the swell of WTF rising through the netverse, amended their new TOS to say "This license is solely to enable us to technically administer, display, and operate the Services." I'm still not reassured, considering the other potential legal problems with the wording, and how easily they can change that wording again, but it's a Mileage Varies scenario. Be aware, and make your decision.



For those of us who use DropBox: They've just changed their TOS. You might want to check out paragraph 5, and reconsider your patronage...

"By submitting your stuff to the Services, you grant us (and those we work with to provide the Services) worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable rights to use, copy, distribute, prepare
derivative works (such as translations or format conversions) of, perform, or publicly display that stuff to the extent we think it necessary for the Service."


Do I need to explain why these terms are utterly unacceptable to writers, photographers, artists, and anyone else who creates content for sale/license?
lagilman: coffee or die (stop that)
STETSTETSTETSTETSTETSTETSTETSTET
stabbitystabbitystabbitystab
     STETSTETSTETSTETSTET
        stabbitystabbitystabbitystab



I've had excellent CEs before.  I've had mediocre/mostly harmless ones before.  I've never had one that changed words to WRONG usages, had no idea about basic epic fantasy terminology (and failed to look it up), AND rewrote random sentences not because they were incorrect but (apparently) because the CE didn't like them - and then chirpily asked "ok?"  No.  NOT OKAY.

I should be done with this by now, not barely 1/4 of the way through.  Your job is supposed to be to make things cleaner, not muck them up.


[and yes, my editor has been informed that I am Not Thrilled.  But the damage has been done]
lagilman: coffee or die (stop that)
AP Interview: Trump says Obama was "terrible" student who didn't qualify for Ivy League


More proof that Trump is a sleaze who will do anything to get a publicity buzz. Which, if you've been paying attention since the 1990's, you already knew. But seriously...WTF?


From the article: "I heard he was a terrible student." On the basis of.... what? His high school does not release transcripts, but Obama admits he wasn't a star pupil in high school.

Me neither. High school bored a lot of us. That doesn't make us terrible, just, mostly, average.

And yet... after Columbia (no slouch here) Obama went on to Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude 1991 and was president of the Harvard Law Review (NOT a shabby accomplishment). So how did he "not deserve" to be admitted? Clearly, he excelled while there. Maybe, like me, they saw potential beyond the grades. Maybe his GRE scores rocked the scale. Maybe, like George W, someone pulled strings (oh no, wait: Non-wealthy, non-white. No strings get pulled there).

I have my own beefs with Obama, dog knows. But attacking his academic record is high on the WTF-o-meter.
lagilman: coffee or die (please)
The Florida GOP thinks "uterus" is "language that would be considered inappropriate for children and other guests" and should not be used.

I suppose they'd rather use terms like "hoohah" for anything between a woman's legs, all the way up to her "boobies." Because Dog forbid that the actual proper name for a woman's anatomy be used - it's okay for them to take away our right to make decisions about what happens to our bodies, but not to talk about it?


(the actual discussion wasn't even about that - the speaker made a one-liner about his wife incorporating her uterus to get a break... which is actually sadly funny and maybe not such a bad idea. But I digress)

The point is: words are power. Naming things gives you power. Being told you cannot use a word - especially the proper medical/biological word for a part of the human body, because it is offensive? Is disempowering. Also, dismissive. And insulting to any visitors of any age.

[and I suspect had the speaker made a reference to, say, testicles, a fuss would not have been made. But that's just my suspicion]


I think the GOP has done quite enough disempowering already. They can take my words when they pry them out of my cold, dead mouth. And maybe not even then.

Uterus. Labia. Clitoris. Vagina. Breasts. Ovaries. Cervix. Fallopian Tubes. Hymen. Perineum. Anus. Vulva.

I got 'em, I name 'em, I own 'em.
lagilman: coffee or die (brain.  hurts.)
So there is a Person on Facebook who requested to friend me. Since I didn't recognize the name, I did a basic looksee -- account seemed legit, there were no obvious warning signs (being a member of NAMBLA, FantasyWritersRTheAntiChrist, etc etc), had a number of other writers friended, so probably was a reader -- so I said yes.

the rest of the story )
lagilman: coffee or die (brain.  hurts.)
While fixture-shopping this afternoon, we came face to, well, wing with this offering...



Trust me, it's even more horrifying in person. And that's before you look at the price tag.


Somewhere, there's a crimson-walled, gold-tiled powder room that's crying out for that faucet.
lagilman: coffee or die (crunchy)
Newspapers Retract 'Climategate' Claims, but Damage Still Done

A lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its boots on, as Mark Twain said (or “before the truth gets a chance to put its pants on,” in Winston Churchill’s version), and nowhere has that been more true than in "climategate." In that highly orchestrated, manufactured scandal, e-mails hacked from computers at the University of East Anglia’s climate-research group were spread around the Web by activists who deny that human activity is altering the world’s climate in a dangerous way, and spun so as to suggest that the scientists had been lying, cheating, and generally cooking the books.


h/t to [livejournal.com profile] marinarusalka
lagilman: coffee or die (bitch)
ETA: and meanwhile, government officials raise estimate of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico to 35,000-60,000 barrels per day.


"Oil Executives Tell Committee That BP Spill Is an Aberration"

In their remarks to a House panel, the executives of oil drillers try to cast the BP spill as a rare event that their companies were not likely to repeat. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/business/16oil.html?nl=&emc=aua1



Holy WHAT THE FUCK?


No, seriously. What. The. Fuck?

Deepwater might be the only type of that particular spill, because of the nature of the drilling. But spills are "rare"? "Unlikely to repeat?"

A brief history of oil spills in the Gulf and Mississippi River

1979
June 3, Gulf of Mexico: exploratory oil well Ixtoc 1 blew out, spilling an estimated 140 million gallons of crude oil into the open sea.

1990
June 8, off Galveston, Tex.: Mega Borg released 5.1 million gallons of oil some 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston

1993
Aug. 10, Tampa Bay, Fla.: three ships collided, the barge Bouchard B155, the freighter Balsa 37, and the barge Ocean 255. The Bouchard spilled an estimated 336,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil into Tampa Bay.

2000
Nov. 28, Mississippi River oil tanker Westchester ran aground dumping 567,000 gallons of crude oil into lower Mississippi.

2005
Aug.-Sept., New Orleans, 7 million gallons of oil were spilled during Hurricane Katrina

2006
June 19, Calcasieu River, Louisiana: An estimated 71,000 barrels of waste oil were released from a tank at the CITGO Refinery on the Calcasieu River during a violent rain storm.

2008
July 25, New Orleans, Louisiana: A 61-foot barge, carrying 419,000 gallons of heavy fuel, collides with a 600-foot tanker ship in the Mississippi River near New Orleans. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel leak from the barge

2010
Jan. 23, Port Arthur, Texas: The oil tanker Eagle Otome and a barge collide in the Sabine-Neches Waterway, causing the release of about 462,000 gallons of crude oil.

April 24, Gulf of Mexico As much as 5,000 barrels (200,000 gallons) of oil per day were leaking into the water.

(via http://waternewsnetwork.blogspot.com/)

I think that we've established a goddamned pattern of "oops, sorry, won't happen again really we mean it this time," no? And do you notice that they're happening more often? Hrmmm....

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Laura Anne Gilman

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