LET'S DO THIS

Sorry my updates Friday have been pretty sporadic. I'll do better about it. I've been really busy is the thing.
Anyway I found this blog through ONTD_Political, my usual go-to.
I know I said before I wouldn't spoil my source but fuck it.
Frankly I'd be happy if they closed shop.
Anyway I found this through a cunt posting some article about women making less money (in certain sectors) and everyone was butthurt.
Even though the article outright says the reason for this is largely due to the fact a woman's income is easier to lose than a man's and parenting is still a full time job for women.
I guess you cunts won't be happy until you're completely not raising the things you spawn.
How's this?
How about if it's such a bother for your career you don't have them?
I used to see this logic a lot when I was student teaching and it made even less sense there. "I'm really committed to educating the next generation..." but apparently not the next generation you had a hand in creating, huh?
Like I get you're busy and this school sucks but why are you here until 8 PM?
You're just avoiding your kids at that point.
Anyway on to the blog.
The first entry is entitled "Should I Be Worried?" and the answer is DEEPLY.

Okay.

Okay.
Why do cunts start entries like this?

So I know that historically speaking, it's much easier for the current President to run for and get a second term than it is for the opposition to win things back. I think 2004 with Bush showed us that, even though from the rage on my flist, I would have thought that he'd be voted out on a landslide.

So today President Obama stated that he is in favour of same sex couples to get married. And the reaction has been... mixed. 

PREPARE FOR CONCERN.

On Twitter and Facebook (now, I'm Canadian, so keep that in mind - same sex marriage is already legal up here and I don't have a lot of Americans on my page) reaction has been mostly positive. 'Mr. President' was trending on Twitter earlier, and everyone seems happy. 

So you're Canadian-- why are you concerned about the American president, exactly?
Your whole cultural identity seems to be based more or less around the fact you aren't American. Prove it by fucking out of American politics.

I've noticed a lot of this lately in terms of general political issues when it comes to Obama, and I know that I'm Canadian and I don't need to care, but I do care. Because I have a lot of friends who are affected by who is in office in the US - women, people who need good healthcare, people who are gay/lesbian, people who are affected by the economy. 

Me it's me I'm affected by the economy.
AWWW SHE'S CONCERNED ABOUT ME.

So the cynicism and negativity that I see among Democrats here on LJ worries me. It worries me a lot, because I wonder how widespread it is, how many people who voted in the last election are feeling disengaged and cynical and negative... Because that is a dangerous state of being in an election year. People who are disengaged, cynical and negative quite often don't vote, they don't urge their friends and families to vote, they don't get into passionate arguments that might sway minds - and that would play into the hands of Republicans in ways that I don't want to think about. 

Yes because the Democrats are so much better than Republicans.
And different, let me also say.

I've seen a lot of comments about how this is only to win votes, that there's no risk, etc, etc. Uh. Proposition 8 and what happened in North Carolina yesterday should remind us (and I say us because I feel that not nearly enough liberal Canadians voted in our last election) that the right is very good at something, and that something is called mobilizing. 

Watch out we have a crusader here.
The ruined economy?
The wars in the Middle East?
The mounting (and predatory) Chinese economy?
NOT A CONCERN.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS ARE THE CONCERN.

So, caveat: I haven't seen Avengers yet. I'm thinking I'm going to have to leave it for a bit until the hype dies down, because between that and what I'm about to write about, I've kind of lost the desire to. 

Save the effort. I can review it in three words:
Mediocre Hollywood Shlock 

Anyway, first of all - there are spoilers in this entry and the one I'm linking to for a line from the movie, so if you haven't seen it and you care about that sort of thing, don't keep reading!

**spoilers for the line past here**

Christ knows I wouldn't want the shitty super hero movie with the lamest fucking aliens ever to be spoiled!
Why are the aliens such a threat in the first place? Entire squads of them are dominated by a man wielding a bow and arrow.
That's right: a species capable of intergalactic conquest, a species that mastered laser and teleporter technology is dominated by neolithic technology.
Okay, Iron Man, you can put away the power armor: we went to Sports Authority and bought about 15 reflex bows.

Basically, the line 'mewling quim' made it into the movie (and I stand by my opinion that it shouldn't have), and now it seems that Joss Whedon is proud of that.

NOT MEWLING QUIM!
It did? I didn't hear it.
What does that even mean? I'm the unequivocal master of the English language and I've never even heard this word before.
Oh. It means cunt.
In the 1950s.
Who gives a shit?

But seriously, Mr. Whedon? This? This is completely garbage. This is garbage that has just stripped away a lot of my respect for you - respect that's not going to come back, after the scene with Spike in Buffy, after the problems in Dollhouse... It's like you're on a slippery slope and you think you're a feminist, but as Katie said to me today - you slip and your fanboy shows through and so does your misogyny and your sexism.

And who cares if you don't see it? It's a mediocre super hero movie and it already made 150 billion dollars or some shit. You really think the loss of 8 (Canadian) dollars is going to be felt that acutely by the producers?

The line shouldn't be in the movie and you shouldn't be proud of it. Period.

Edit: I just want to add here that I know that there are arguments both for and against using problematic languages in media, and I sometimes come down on one side and sometimes I come down on the other. I know that there are reasons for a villain to say something like this, and that's really not my main problem at the moment - my main problem is with Joss Whedon's remarks about it.

So don't see it. You're missing exactly nothing anyway.

Wandering around Good Reads, I've had to pause and wonder how many parents and adults out there actually take the time to try and look at kids books from a child's perspective.

I'm talking young books, like Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch.  

Wow you must lead a great life if this is your major concern for March 21, 2012.
Even I, on a Monday off, had more adversity in my life today than this. I was playing TERA so I was in several "kill or be killed" situations in the span of 45 minutes.
I'm still a little kill crazy, honestly.

*shakes head* Idk. It just seemed like a lot of the reviewers thought that it made sense to review every aspect of the book as though it was intended for adults, and that's...so not how you should look at a book for kids.

*VERBS* because you know kids do a ton of research on the next book they're going to read on the internet.

Oh! And in other news, I have approval to use an ereader at work, now!! After being told no by my last TM, I then found out that some of my friends were using theirs at work -

Originally I was going to make some sort of comment about it being easier to ask forgiveness than permission but man I wish I could bring my ereader to work.
But unfortunately I have to do work when I go to work.
Sucks.

Lately I find myself wishing I could turn this little train of mine around, go back a few years to have a better chance of figuring my life out.

Here I am, 31, and while I support myself and pay the bills and all that good stuff (which I'm proud of!), it's not precisely the fulfilling work that I thought that I would be doing when I was this age. 

PUTTING SALAD
ON A SHELF
AT 6 AM
I'm going to time myself tomorrow. I want to know the exact minute salad hits shelf and my day is officially off with a bang.

I don't regret my decision not to teach. Hearing about the trials and struggles that Katie goes through, I just don't think that it's for me. I mean - I got my degree, if I really wanted to, I could take the steps and do whatever refresher training I need, get my license. It's not what I want to do, though.

Since starting at my current job, I have to admit, I kind of thought that eventually I would move up. I did it so quickly at West, I thought it would happen here, too. But it hasn't, and recent events at work and in the industry is making me think that it may not be likely, either. They're condensing and trimming the roles that I'd thought that I would maybe move in to, and that means fewer job opportunities in the future, and more uncertainty. 

Faced with the grim reality that your entire existence is unnecessary and redundant.
Faced with the ever-darkening twilight of your miserable existence that for every single solitary proud moment in your life there are dozens upon dozens riding the same solar winds over accomplishes much grander and vaunted than yours.

The choice now becomes... What to do? And that brings along a whole lot of uncertainty.

I thought about getting my degree in Library Science, and that's still something I have in mind. I could go into Early Childhood Education. Or I could pursue Child Psychology, which is something that I've considered since I was back in highschool.

These will all involve money and time, of course. And in the back of my head is the small, niggling voice that eventually, that 30+ number is going to count against me - though perhaps not? I really don't know. But anyway, first I have to make a DECISION, and that is so, so hard. 

Truly, nothing has held you back more than yourself.
Wracked with indecision at every turn. A decisive person would have seen this through faster than a thousand times a thousand computer processes.

I always thought that a field would just sort of jump out and scream my name, but that hasn't really happened. I still have uncertainties about the jobs I listed above.. ECE: challenging enough? Salary high enough? Library Science: enough job opportunities? I'm not as wary about job love, here, because my love of literacy is something that will never, ever leave me. And finally Child Psychology: too challenging? Too expensive to do? Is it something I'd be good at, or just something I'd like to do?

And then there's the lingering, never-ceasing desire to write, of course. I don't think that will ever leave me. 

You don't need a degree to write, do you?

Self doubt tends to be my Achilles' heel - it has been since I was a teenager, actually. I spend so much time thinking about the what-ifs that sometimes it stops me from doing anything, and that's definitely a bad thing. 

Ever read Hamlet?
Oh well.
Anyway that was a nice detour into emo land. I HOPE THE NEXT POST IS ABOUT FEMALE PROBLEMS!
Jesus Christ it is.
Am I psychic?
I seriously had to pause for thought when I saw the title: Misogyny and Slash Fandom
I am so good at this bullshit.

So today this happened: Lucy Liu was announced for the role of Watson in the new Sherlock Holmes reboot, Elementary.

... Watson, the crippled British doctor in Sherlock Holmes?
All right.
So be on the look out for my updated version of the Odyssey playing on CBS. Starring Kelly Clarkson as a girl about to enter her first year of college. Because apparently when you reboot something it doesn't actually have to be about what it's about.

My first reaction: Awesome!! I am so there.

I feel kind of bad, because I've never been able to stomach the BBC Sherlock. I have a somewhat irrational dislike for the show, given that I've never watched it.

The only thing that it's done wrong is be introduced/announced right when I was highly, highly sick of SPN and the rampant misogyny on the show and among the fans.

SPN. YOU KNOW, SPN?
THAT SHOW?
I LOVE SPN.
What the fuck is SPN?
Oh. Supernatural.
Acronyms work however the fuck you want them to work. Don't worry about it.
When my reboot of the Odyssey is realized I'd like all of you to use the acronym TDS.
The oDysSey, of course.

Arguing until I was blue in the face about how female characters were being treated was not fun for me, and I will never, ever forget the way that Jo, Ellen and Ruby died. Nor will I forget the incredible, positive welcome that Misha received, and I've taken note of the way his character arc has been handled so far, in comparison to the female characters.

And I just couldn't stomach fandom's instant enthusiastic reaction to a show that had m/m possibility. The same thing has happened with Suits, and White Collar... Though the distaste and dislike in the SGA fandom bothered me too, when fans were tearing apart a wonderful character like Keller just because she was matched up with a character they wanted to slash.

Guess I better hate Final Fantasy now because all of the fans of that series are rampant douchebags.
You know you can dislike people who like stuff and still like stuff, right?

And it BOTHERS me that I feel this way. I want to be happy and excited when a new show comes out. I don't want to have to stick my fingers in my ears and go 'la la la' as I ignore fandom or the problematic aspects of the show. 

I know you're a resplendent child lightly aglow with the soft golden light of your own personal halo but meanwhile back in reality everything has problems and you kind of have to overlook them if you want to enjoy anything in life you miserable cunt. 
Also people are complete idiots who miss the point of everything. I can't believe you hold the fans of a show against the show.
I mean, after all, you like shows and you're a complete insufferable twat and I can't imagine liking anything you  like and yet I'm sure there's a book or something we might agree on.

Of course, I'm very aware of the problems with this idea - they're taking a show that is well known for its m/m tension and turning it hetero-normative, and that's a problem.

Am I the only person aware Sherlock Holmes was a series of stories written in the 19th century?
Sherlock Holmes was basically an autist who did manage one female romantic interest and as far as I recall Holmes also had a female companion at one point.
There was absolutely 0 homosexual tension between the two and this is coming from someone who has overapplied the term "fag" so much the term "gayfag" is required to describe gay people.

There's at least some chance that the studio did this because they don't want their audience slashing the main two characters, and that's a problem. 

The problem, then, is the writers of the show are regarding their audience with anything more than disdain. 
This isn't writing by committee, dipshits. There's a reason I'm paid to do this and you're drooling idiots who write gay sex fanfiction.

Just once I'd like a show to come out that isn't like that. I don't want to have to worry that m/m tension is going to come along with rampant misogyny. I don't want to have to worry that hetero-centric show is going to come along with homophobia. I just want shows that make me happy. Like Lost Girl and Rizzoli and Isles and Doctor Who. But I'm not really in the fandom for those, so. 

This is why I want women excluded from video games. They apparently feel the need to fraternize to enjoy something and video games are primarily a solitary activity. I don't need Facebook integration in TERA.
KILLED ANOTHER ARCHER LOL!

Idk. Maybe someday I'll give BBC Sherlock a try. But I'm still curious about the new one and willing to give it a shot, even if at the beginning I was pissed off that the US networks were so obviously copying the BBC. But a show with a main minority female lead? 

GOOD WRITING AND CASTING?
WHO CARES!
ASIAN BITCH IS IN THE LEAD!
Somehow for all your feminist and gay pride posturings we manage to conclude the same thing about what makes good TV.
Scantily clad Asian women.
Of course I wouldn't watch a show with Lucy Liu in it but the conclusion is the same and that's what counts.

I'm sure most of you have heard of this already, but there is an awesome short story making the rounds: ILU-486. It is well written and bleak and powerful and makes you think - it put me near crying, if I'm honest. Maybe because it hits a little bit too close to home when I am thinking about the goings on in the US. 

ILU-486.
Man the 486 was a great processor.
I haven't heard of this. What's it about?

Summary: In the not-so-distant future of Virginia, the Personhood Act has outlawed abortion and chemical birth control. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, though.

Nope don't care.
If this is supposed to make me feel grimdark then I've read stories where people can no longer form unique sentences and the entirety of language is reduced to quoting state-approved quotes so you're going to have to do a fuck ton better to stir.

 ILU-486

 for Evil Dr. Em and the twitter brigade

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? James 2:25

Oh God you started with a Bible quote
Are you trying to piss me off?

“No one’s making you take any,” Carla said, her face making an expression that looked like this: O_o.

Oh yeah.
No, great writing.
I'm moved to tears at this characterization.

Ahh, I just love the smell of misogyny in the morning, don't you? Or not.

Seanan McGuire is the author of Feed and many other wonderful books, and she has a new book coming out on March 6th.

Feed was a great book.

I've no doubt that Steve Jobs was just as difficult, arrogant and tempermental as they say he was, but he was truly brilliant - he saw doors where other people saw dead ends.

Rest in peace, Steve. The world owes you a very big thank you.

Thanks for iTunes, asshole. Why did reinstalling an entire operating system take less time than restoring a music folder?
Ohhhh goodness. I guess it's my own fault. When I find out a Canadian broad has a Livejournal I should just walk the fuck away because I know what's coming.
My blood pressure is what's coming.