Between Impossibilities

I just finished reading Susan Bordo's The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private and I'm trying to process. (I'm re-reading her Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body now.)

( ramblings about the male body, the female gaze, male sexuality in the media, myths about the nature of women's sexual choices, size DOES matter, visual appeal in fandom, and spoilers for Eastern Promises. )

I’ve seen those year in review memes, but holy shit, mine would just be a lot of whining. So, I figured a ficcish year in review would be less traumatic for everyone.

( the story’s in the ground )

Here's my reasoning: I'm sick--like hacking up a lung sick--and I'm tired, and the Nuggets? They're just playing the Knicks, right? I can stay at home and sleep, no problem. They can make it through a game without me.

Only, really? They can't. Because at the end of the fourth quarter, Melo, in the process of defending his shiny new BF JR, got into a brawl with the Knicks that ended with 10 players from both teams ejected from the game, including Eddie. Melo threw the hardest punch, and therefore may be suspended the longest, although fines and etc. may include people as high up as Isaiah Thomas (Knicks Coach) for ordering the hard foul on JR.

( Have some visual aids: Pissed!Melo, Pissed!JR, Saving the day!Eddie, etc. )

Also, a general fandom question (which comes from that glut of A7X fics): does the amount of misogyny inherent in a band's image/songs/lifestyle (She's a dwelling place for demons, wtf?) make the fanbase for said band more likely to inflict violent scenarios on the band members? I mean, man, in A7X there isn't just a lot of guys beating each other up (although there IS that, certainly) but there's rationalized, institutionalized violence in the context of general BDSM themes: master/slave (various AUs), prison fics (of all kinds) and master/captive AUs, and just so much rape.

I have another band in mind (that I like) that leans towards the "we hate women" spectrum, with their lyrics about vain, lying, cheating whores, and, again, there's a whole lot of abuse in that fandom. Could be no correlation. Could be the age of the fanbase working out other issues. I don't know. This is just me thinking through a haze of NyQuil. *ducks*

Never underestimate the power of a woman in a strappy plethar thing.

( Unexpected ramblings about SG-1. Spoilers for Avalon. )

Now see, that header isn't as random as it COULD be.

( Twisted by the darkside, I am (Spoilers for LOST and ROTS) )

And in other news, I've written something a little new (my first real deviation from swimslash since last August). I'll have NBA Slash up tonight or tomorrow. Yeah, you heard me.

( 5 Questions from Vita )

I already did this meme, but if you want 5 questions from me, I'll do it again. Just comment here and then post your answers in your journal; I'll see 'em there. :)

I ALMOST FORGOT THE QUESTION OF THE DAY!

What is your favorite Stephen King book? Why?

It's blizzarding out.

Stephen King, Storm of the Century style. I mean this is the kind of howling in the eaves wind that gives you nightmares.

Really.

I can only hope that it keeps it up through tomorrow night and I get a last minute reprieve from lecturing on medieval cathedrals and giving midterm re-takes.

( People are strange when you're a stranger, or ghosts from academia past )

I watched the pilot episode of the x-files tonight, 'cause it was SO that kind of night, and that's where your quote comes from.

SCULLY: What I find fantastic is any notion that there are answers beyond the realm of science. The answers are there. You just have to know where to look.

MULDER: That's why they put the "I" in "F.B.I."

And your discussion question: ( behind the cut 'cause it's a bit naughty )

EDIT: Just because it's late and I'm liking 'em, I bring you: ( Secrets of a Salesman lyrics )

Have you all ever read any of the Icelandic Sagas? I didn't think you had. ;) It's okay, it's just that I was re-reading some of them since links to the online versions were right there next to the links to "The Song of Roland" and various versions of the morte d'Arthur.

Anyway, they're all rings and swords and wizards and wolves and valkyries too, and reading them made me feel all warm and fuzzy. :)

( The cycle of the Ring starts here )

I'm the only one who likes it, aren't I? Oh well. You all should tell me about a literary classic that you love.

Obviously, I spent most of the day writing my lecture on the High Middle Ages. That would be the chivalry part, of course.

I also attempted to make a start on sodiumlight's birthday fic but a headache stopped me pretty cold. Maybe all the things I want to get into this fic will sort thmeselves out while I sleep. We'll see.

Aaaaand - I'm pimping the community writing_sex here. We ALL need more comms, I'm sure, but this one could prove to be useful both in your writing and personal life. :p Check it out.

Last thing: What are your biggest fandom pet peeves? Hit me with'em.

Ah, I was kidding about Taos.

We went West instead of South. We ended of at the Grandparents' cabin in Buena Vista.

It was nice, though. Once we had a) scaled the HUGE drift blocking the path to the door, b) re-lit the furnace, c) turned the water on and d) built a fire.

There were several feet of snow on the ground and it snowed while we were there. The phones were out and Nextel doesn't get service there. SO ISOLATED.

What do you do in the middle of nowhere besides wallow in the snow?

Well . . . we went four-wheeling and, yes, got stuck. We ate at a new, nice restaurant (while sill covered in mud from the afore-mentioned adventure), and watched Kingdom Hospital for four hours. That was scary. Middle of nowhere, middle of winter, no phones, Stephen King on the TV and it was UTTER PITCH BLACK besides the flickering firelight. That's SUCH a Blair Witch scenario. We slept in the main room, and I threw my back out trying to get comfortable on the recliner because I refused to sleep on the side that faced the door. I was utterly convinced that something dreadful was on the other side of it, and I was working off of the time honored theory that if I couldn't see it, it couldn't see me.

Anyway, we got back in time to celebrate Easter and my mom's 50th birthday today. So Happy Birthday to mom.

It's back to lecture-writing tomorrow. Oh, yay.

Oh and on the way out of town we stopped by Independent Records and I bought the Scissor Sisters album because sodiumlight and horizon_greene think they're worth listening to. My car has become a Disco Inferno, baby. :P

EDIT Well. I don't know what to say. The Theban Band has been served with a C&D. You can see their brief post here. Don't know about The Band? You should. They do very pretty amazing HP, LoTR, PoTC, (and others) fanart. You can check it out here.

Also, grammar_glamour? Did you see these pics? (thanks to miss_charmed for pointing me to them. ;)

potter pics this way

I have a discussion question for you all.

You do know that one of my degrees is in Anthro, right? 'k. Sometimes I like to take that one out and and dust it off a bit.

Here's what I've been pondering: Women find men and pregnancy/babies together in the same context, erotic. I posit that this is because it's an evolutionarily sound strategy. (For those of you who haven't taken your Anth 101 or basic Human Evo classes, for shame.)

My evidence:

1) Romance novels. The smutty kind. These have a universal plot, yes? Girl meets (rich, mysterious, handsome) boy and they hate each other. They have HAWT sex and fall in love. They argue violently over some trivial misunderstanding, and the girl goes into hiding where the boy finds her later (after consulting with his sensitive, rich, handsome friend). She is, of course, pregnant. Pregnancy adds to the erotic appeal of the story.

2) The actual REAL LIFE scenario in which our couple is about to make LURVE and the girl says, "Wait, we have to use a condom; you don't want me to get pregnant." And our boy wonder says, "It's okay, I want you to have my babies." And the girl goes all limp and mushy and can't think straight, all because of that outrageous comment.

3) MPREG fic. Need I say more? We eroticize our own desire for pregnancy to the point that we transfer it to the men that we slash.

Agree with me? Think I'm full of shit? I might very well be. ;)

Oh. And look at the icon. Aren't you all just DYING to see RotS? Of course you are. Don't deny it.

It was a good weekend, actually. Smelling of gasoline and smoke notwithstanding. ;)

I ate a roasted marshmallow, and those of you who know me must realize what a daring feet that was. I did pass on the blackened burrito bonanza, though.

There is one week left until Spring Break. Praise the Lord. I SO don't want to write this weeks lecture on the early middle ages, though. I don'tdon'tdon't. Especially not after grading midterms yesterday morning before the Trek Into The Wilderness. How depressing.

Ah, well. It's cloudy and gray and supposed to snow until, like, Tuesday so I'm happy about that.

And in fandom related news . . .

I've gotten 3431 words written on a Potterporn fic. Nice. Tentative title? "Dicso Lights, Dungeon Nights". HAH. I'm kidding.

Maybe not. ;)

Also, I was watching SG1 on, hmm, Friday? Anyone a SG1 fan? I'm not. I watch it for the snark value and Lord help anyone who watches it with me. Anyway, I swear, the waffle house Daniel was hanging out in, y'know when he's REASCENDING? (OMG, let's recycle that plot device once more, with FEELING this time, kids.) It looks JUST like the one on Dead Like Me. Swear. I couldn't make that up.

Random update-y things in sets of 5.

1) The curry chicken from Xiang’s is divine.

2) You can never, ever have a long enough afternoon nap in the sunshine.

3) Gary Sinise looks strangely attractive in the profile shot during the opening credits for CSI: New York. (Also, has anyone else noticed that Jessie from The Fast and The Furious has taken over as Greg Part III on that show? Weird.)

4) grammar_glamour is evil. I like “Bowl of Oranges”, but I’ve been listening to both “Lover I Don’t Have to Love” and “Don’t Know When But a Day is Gonna Come,” obsessively since last night.

5) Puppies are ALWAYS a good thing.

Hmmm . . .
( sarcasm and misplaced wit regarding my writing aspirations, and also fandom appreciation )

A few last, random thoughts.

1) I like perfume more than I thought.

2) My dog is cute when she snores.

3) Fishing sounds good to me right now.

4) That The night they drove old dixie down lyric is stuck in my head. I think it’s from a live performance.

5) Oh, Neil Diamond!

Hey. *shakes fl* David Caruso is related to Kevin Bacon by exactly six degrees, by my figuring. Can any of you do any better?

Oh, and I dare the film buffs on my list ferrybeans11 for one (if you play the game, dear), to relate Richard Dean Anderson to the Bacon in 6 degrees or less. HAH.

Also, meme-type things.

Since people are starting to do the rants that I asked them to (thank you ever so much spherissa), you can go ahead and ask me for a rant. Any topic.

Also, related to the above and slightly modified. (The original snitched from kawaiimae)

1. Comment with any ship from a fandom that you know I have some knowledge about. (Buffy, Angel, LoTR, HP, FaTF, or OlympicSlash.)

2. I will then rant for as long as I damn well please. :)

3. Put this on your LJ, if you are so inclined.

Later, I just might, if I’m in the right mood, post a general fandom and writing rant. Y’know things that bother me, pet peeves, things that I love, cliches, etc.

Since I didn’t want to do a real Year in Review (and since I’d seen this elsewhere) I thought I’d do a Fannish Year in ( Review )