southerlywind

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The little Shel Silverstein touch in there is perfect.

Woo! Do you get to hire and fire at will? Don't let it go to your head or your serfs (employees, excuse me) might mutiny.

That sounds unutterably delicious. I'll have to give it a shot. I might even be able to get my dad to drink something besides beer, with this recipe--he eats so much spice on his food that I'm pretty sure he's burned his taste buds off by now, and can no longer taste anything that hasn't been smothered in chili sauce.

Thanks guys! You all pretty much echoed what I'm saying here--their disapproval is a drag but not an impediment, and we've got a lot of shit to look forward to. And eventually, they will learn how to deal with it or they will be deprived of the company of their fantastic and kind and brilliant daughter, so fuck them anyway.

Speaking of American Gods, Spain, I just had lunch with a friend in academia who used to go to a convention for literature on the fantastic which Neil Gaiman also attended several years in a row. She said he always had an entourage and used to sit by the pool in a black leather jacket, black swim trunks, and black sandals. This picture entertains me.

It's true. I do entice innocent young women to my adopted homeland with the promise of fresh air and beautiful scenery, then gleefully expose them to filthy sex advice columnists.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Also, slightly-effeminate rock musicians in tight pants.

Slightly?

Edited to add: Also, "innocent"?

Savage Love is really good. I keep forgetting to read it for ages, and then have several months' worth of columns to catch up on. Not that that's ever a problem.

Mark told me about it when I visited last summer, and then it promptly flew out of my head until now. I'm glad I saved it, actually; right now I have loads of empty time to fill up reading the archives, whereas if I'd started reading it during the school year I would probably have procrastinated far too much with it.

Best of luck with the move. It's a shame that your girlfriend's parents can't be supportive. My friend Dorothy is dating a lovely Korean girl, whose parents are currently not speaking to either of them, which obviously upsets both of them a lot. I hope Whitney's parents will come round, and that your move goes smoothly.

 

Where in upstate New York are you moving?

Thanks, guys. I hope so too. And we're lucky in that my parents are very supportive--they've welcomed her into the family and buy her Christmas presents and all that stuff, and my dad is taking off work to help us drive the U-Haul and carry boxes up the stairs to our new apartment. So it could be a lot worse. I'm sure Dorothy and her girlfriend are going through hell right now.

We are headed to Syracuse, at which university I'll be getting my MFA. She's still looking for a job but my stipend and our savings are fortunately big enough to support both of us until she finds one. Another way in which we are lucky!

Mosquito bites. I have one the size of a ping pong ball on my thigh, and it itches intensely. At least Mark killed the little blighter that bit me.

Ugh, I sympathize. My parents' cat is always coming home with fleas, and apparently I am one of those people that fleas love, so unless I'm super vigilant about vacuuming up the little buggers, they leave little welts all over me. They are evil.

I'm currently planning a big move to upstate New York with my girlfriend, whose parents are not happy about the idea. They've got that whole strict immigrant family thing going on, where your parents tell you what to do your entire life, and that plus her mom's depression and control issues (and homophobia, obvs) are making this a really difficult struggle. Wish us luck, okay? We don't need their permission or even their blessing, but it would be nice to get through this without Whitney being totally crushed.

In happier news, my mom's production company just released their latest movie, Hell Is Full. The trailer is here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/bigbitingpig#p/u/0/DlvrM5tfjRk

My mom is the jogging lady in a red hoodie. She did a super awesome job with this flick, in the writing, directing, and acting. It's weird to watch your mom turn into a zombie onscreen!

I'm reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which I suspect many of you have already read and which is already (I'm on page 112) unspeakably awesome. I am pleased.

Savage Love. I can't stop reading.

Spain I love you dearly. Never cut your hair. Or shave. Or take off those glasses.

I wish they'd identify where that is--sounds like Tennessee to me but my ear is not perfect. My eighth grade science class did much the same thing: evolution on Tuesday, creationism on Wednesday, then let's move on really quickly to something safe like insect anatomy before anybody can ask any questions.

That's a cute little bit of business. Also, I am pleased that she's my age.

Bravo! I had tons of reservations after last week, but most of the things that were bothering me were addressed. Mostly I'm just giddy for multiple companions! And I missed Rory! And I am happy.

Sorry everybody, I'm home already. It was a really short trip, more to see Whitney than to see New York, although I did get to do a fair amount of strolling and sightseeing.

Kate, I'm sorry about the split and the graduation delay. At least you're done with your project!

Nicely done, Mark. I think you've added to the measure of goodwill in the world.

I'm currently in New York City, visiting Whitney who is living here with her grandparents for the summer while she works an internship at the Feminist Press. I thought I was going to have to crash on a friend's couch way out in Queens, but as it turns out, Whitney's very-nice boss was out of town for a long weekend and gave her the key so we could stay here. In his immaculately decorated, impeccably clean, twelfth-floor apartment in Gramercy Park. I cannot believe my luck.

Also, my Egyptian teacher called her buddies at the Met and now the Egyptological curator there is giving us a behind-the-scenes tour today at 2. This is a good trip.

I am super charmed by the Doctor pretending to be normal. And it's sad but true that I'm relieved there was so little Amy in this episode, if only because I always feel a distinct sense of disappointment at how her storyline is handled. That's all I have to say for now--perhaps more when I've watched it again.

Congratulations, sir.

I have a tiny tiny question. The first scene with Van Gogh, outside the cafe, at the very beginning: what's the cafe proprietor's accent called? It's really familiar but I can't place it.

I'm doing my best to forget Victory of the Daleks. I've been watching through the new series with my girlfriend, judiciously skipping the very worst episodes or the ones I found deeply unmemorable (Fear Her, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit), and I'm really not sure which episodes of the current season I actually want to watch with her. The Eleventh Hour, definitely; The Beast Below, maybe; Victory of the Daleks, not on my life; Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, yes; Vampires of Venice, for Rory only; Amy's Choice, definitely; The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, maybe just the last ten minutes so she understands the next episode; Vincent and the Doctor, definitely. What's that, about half the season? That's kind of a depressing ratio. There are just so many things I don't particularly want to see again (Cardboard Churchill, psycho lizard bitches, the Doctor is a starwhale!, etc.). But season two was sort of crap as well, and things got a lot better after that, so I am patiently waiting it out.

Mark, if you don't mind my asking, what has tugged your heartstrings in the season so far? I sniffled a bit at Vincent in the museum, which precipitated into full-on tears when the Doctor was hugging Amy and talking about good things and bad things.

P.S. OH, Chris Chibnall wrote a bunch of Torchwood episodes. That explains it. I knew there was something naggingly familiar about the crapness of The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.

Yes. YES. Now THAT was proper Who. I teared up and everything.

As an aside, what exactly did Amy say right after the Doctor's line about the ultimate ginger?

Damn it, Rory. That was such a boring way to die. I call bullshit on this season's character development. Malin, I'm usually the same with Doctor Who, I tear up at all the sad bits and chew my nails when they're running from the bad guys, but I've felt distinctly "eh" about basically everything so far. Which is a shame, since Matt Smith is so charming and lovely and I really want to be emotionally involved.

Mark Millar, the person.

Ditto. Double-ditto. Super-ditto.

So I liked this last one--great pacing, good emotional underpinnings, wonderful use of Rory (you know, I started out liking him okay and now I'm just really fond of him). And I'm finally really liking Amy. I think it was Mark who said something about Amy being a return to the old companion model, cute and plucky and in need of rescuing, and that's what I've been seeing so far (not happily). I mean, Rose and Martha and Donna were not perfect but they all felt like individuals in a way that Amy just doesn't so far--although that may be just hindsight speaking. Amy's decision to

definitely re-interested me in the character, though, and I'm excited to see where it all goes.

Also, I don't know what I was thinking in my last post, The Beast Below was shit.