Five words, part 1.
Jul. 9th, 2009 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
healingmirthSpent the day driving to and from New Jersey with my mother (how she has gone so many years without rear-ending someone on the highway, I have no idea) with a break in the middle to meet a litter of corgi puppies. I'm definitely not a dog person. I mean, they were cute, they're puppies, but I didn't feel even the slightest desire to take one home. I'm 90% sure one of them is going to be ours, three weeks from now, and unless I find a job, like, yesterday, I'm going to be on puppy duty for the next two months. It will probably start raining 24/7 again as soon as we bring it home.
Sort of hated the opening number on SYTYCD tonight. I'll need to rewatch it. I really don't think that their camera people are up to the challenge of filming that show.
I was a little surprised that Randi and Evan weren't in the bottom three tonight, but of the couples who were, I wasn't at all surprised about who went home. And, speaking of dancing, (look! a segue!) - five(ish) words!
muccamukk gave me Dancing, Tony Stark, Feminism, Fraser/Ray, John McClane
I have no idea why this took me so long, sorry!
Like many suburban little girls, I took dance classes for a few years when I was growing up. None of us were deluding ourselves that I was ever going to be any good - I've always been too tall and too uncoordinated - and it was never more than an activity for me, anyway.
So really, I have no explanation for how hard I fell for the first season of Dancing with the Stars and then So You Think You Can Dance. With the exception of the first season of Dancing with the Stars (when I was SO mad about John O'Hurley not winning. I don't even have words for how mad I was) I don't even care who wins. I can tell myself that I love reality competitions that reward people for hard work, but since I have a totally unironic love of Broadway and musical theater, I don't think that's all of it.
I'll watch dancing movies (Strictly Ballroom, Center Stage, Step Up, Save the Last Dance, Stomp the Yard,, Honey... I'm sure you can figure out how that list is organized) Step up 2: The Streets is available for instant viewing on Netflix, and I nearly watched it the other night. I will probably even go see Step Up 3-D in the theater. Oh, and America's Best Dance Crew, although I skipped most of season two, and Miley and Mandy's battle with the Adam/Chu Dance Crew on YouTube.
Tony Stark (Iron Man - Marvel comics): I don't know what I can say about Tony that hasn't been said, better, by people who have read a lot more comics than I have, so I'm not even going to try to be insightful.
I made it to adulthood without having the faintest idea who Tony Stark is. (You're welcome to argue that I still don't...) None of my friends in high school read comics, and - looking back, this completely bewilders me, since I went to a college entirely populated by geeks and nerds - neither did anyone I knew in college, as far as I can remember.
I'm not really a big fan of powered superheroes. I don't dislike them, but they just don't call to me. I like people who build things, and some of my best friends are mechanical or electrical engineers. So that, in a nutshell, is why I'm a fan of Iron Man, and probably goes a ways towards explaining why I don't have a favorite Marvel universe to read in (or watch). I don't care if he's an amoral capitalist who had a change of heart because of a run-in with terrorists, or a playboy trying to balance out his karma before a brain tumor does him in,or a giant woobie who started a war with his boyfriend because they don't know how to communicate or whatever. I just like that he builds things. Sometimes entirely with his brain.
Feminism: Oh wow, I feel like I'm going to get into so much trouble by either phrasing this badly or by actually being an idiot, but here goes:
When I asked for words, I was having one of those moments where one wonders what correlation the stuff inside one's head has to the person that others see. So when I saw "feminism" I my first thought was something like "hahahahaha...what?" Not that I don't consider myself a feminist, because in the broadest sense of equal rights for women, of course I am. But I'm not, like, A Feminist. I don't read feminist blogs or essays or philosophy. Part of it is because I really, really don't believe that words are going to change the mind of anyone who is not already open to change. Part of it is that I'm lazy. Part of it is that I'm not so much a feminist as I am a personist. (and here is the part where I deleted the long rambly bit about how no, feminist philosophy isn't just about empowerment for women and blah, blah, blah. The point is, my brain identifies feminism with, like, suffrage and glass ceilings and "sweetheart, don't you worry your pretty little head about that." and that is a battle that I fight best by being, rather than by talking about it. This is one of the many things that I probably need to fix in my brain.)
No one has ever told me that I can't do something because I'm female. This is not the case for my mother, who wanted to apply to Radcliffe and be an archeologist, and her high school guidance counselor refused to write her a recommendation. (Instead, she went to Wellesley and was a psychology major and social worker. She's currently the first female Moderator in the 200-plus-year history of her church.) I was watching a bit of an episode of The Simpsons the other night where they're at one of those Build-a-bear type places, and every profession Lisa proposes to costume her bear for gets shot down with an "more appropriate" suggestion (Doctor -> Nurse, etc.) until she tells the employee that it's a boy bear. And how awesome would it be to live in a world where no one got that joke?
Screw it. I'm not even going to pretend I have a point here. So, in conclusion, be excellent to each other. San Dimas High School Football rules!
Fraser/Ray - due South: And now, for something completely different. For the record, my Ray of preference is RayK - I'm actually not sure whethermuccamukk knows that or not - but it actually doesn't much matter for most of what I'm going to say.
So, I have developed this tendency, in the past couple years, to start reading in fandoms where I don't have the first clue about the source material. Sometimes its because I'm working my way through a writer's other fandoms, more often its because I get saturated on whatever my current fandoms are, and pick something new from a rec community or list. Such is the case with due South. I've since seen all the episodes, I think, but I read a lot of fic having only seen the first RayK episode via YouTube. And because this was years after the series ended, most of what I read was post-finale stuff, where Fraser and Ray (either of them) had mostly worked out their trust/partnership/abandonment issues
I am, at least chronologically, a grown-up now. I can get behind the idea of someone who has made a ton of mistakes and is trying to figure out how to do things differently this time, or someone who has spent their life believing [whatever] is the most important thing in the world, and then suddenly having a new focus, or an additional one, and figuring out how all that works. And my favorite romance trope in the whole entire world is falling in love with your best friend. (Falling in love with your hellion ward/supposedly stodgy guardian, Regency style, is my second) And so: Fraser/Ray.
And finally, John McClane - Die Hard: I'm not actually a huge fan of Bruce Willis. As a...kid? (I don't even remember when the original run was) I watched Moonlighting, and liked it well enough. I was far too young to have seen Die Hard in its original release, which is just as well.
So, why do I love John McClane? I prefer my action heroes snarky rather than stoic. I love that he has an ex-wife, and it's reasonably consistent with canon for me to believe that even if John just plain sucked at being married, that they broke up because they were just too different. I love that he still cares about his kids (even though he sucked at that too) even though they're totally, vocally on Holly's side. I love that he does things because someone needs to do them. (which meshes well with my opinion on leading things: I don't need to be in charge, but someone does). I love him enough to forgive the existence of Die Hard 2.
Want to join in? Leave a comment that says "Five Words" and I'll hook you up.
Sort of hated the opening number on SYTYCD tonight. I'll need to rewatch it. I really don't think that their camera people are up to the challenge of filming that show.
I was a little surprised that Randi and Evan weren't in the bottom three tonight, but of the couples who were, I wasn't at all surprised about who went home. And, speaking of dancing, (look! a segue!) - five(ish) words!
muccamukk gave me Dancing, Tony Stark, Feminism, Fraser/Ray, John McClaneI have no idea why this took me so long, sorry!
Like many suburban little girls, I took dance classes for a few years when I was growing up. None of us were deluding ourselves that I was ever going to be any good - I've always been too tall and too uncoordinated - and it was never more than an activity for me, anyway.
So really, I have no explanation for how hard I fell for the first season of Dancing with the Stars and then So You Think You Can Dance. With the exception of the first season of Dancing with the Stars (when I was SO mad about John O'Hurley not winning. I don't even have words for how mad I was) I don't even care who wins. I can tell myself that I love reality competitions that reward people for hard work, but since I have a totally unironic love of Broadway and musical theater, I don't think that's all of it.
I'll watch dancing movies (Strictly Ballroom, Center Stage, Step Up, Save the Last Dance, Stomp the Yard,, Honey... I'm sure you can figure out how that list is organized) Step up 2: The Streets is available for instant viewing on Netflix, and I nearly watched it the other night. I will probably even go see Step Up 3-D in the theater. Oh, and America's Best Dance Crew, although I skipped most of season two, and Miley and Mandy's battle with the Adam/Chu Dance Crew on YouTube.
Tony Stark (Iron Man - Marvel comics): I don't know what I can say about Tony that hasn't been said, better, by people who have read a lot more comics than I have, so I'm not even going to try to be insightful.
I made it to adulthood without having the faintest idea who Tony Stark is. (You're welcome to argue that I still don't...) None of my friends in high school read comics, and - looking back, this completely bewilders me, since I went to a college entirely populated by geeks and nerds - neither did anyone I knew in college, as far as I can remember.
I'm not really a big fan of powered superheroes. I don't dislike them, but they just don't call to me. I like people who build things, and some of my best friends are mechanical or electrical engineers. So that, in a nutshell, is why I'm a fan of Iron Man, and probably goes a ways towards explaining why I don't have a favorite Marvel universe to read in (or watch). I don't care if he's an amoral capitalist who had a change of heart because of a run-in with terrorists, or a playboy trying to balance out his karma before a brain tumor does him in,
Feminism: Oh wow, I feel like I'm going to get into so much trouble by either phrasing this badly or by actually being an idiot, but here goes:
When I asked for words, I was having one of those moments where one wonders what correlation the stuff inside one's head has to the person that others see. So when I saw "feminism" I my first thought was something like "hahahahaha...what?" Not that I don't consider myself a feminist, because in the broadest sense of equal rights for women, of course I am. But I'm not, like, A Feminist. I don't read feminist blogs or essays or philosophy. Part of it is because I really, really don't believe that words are going to change the mind of anyone who is not already open to change. Part of it is that I'm lazy. Part of it is that I'm not so much a feminist as I am a personist. (and here is the part where I deleted the long rambly bit about how no, feminist philosophy isn't just about empowerment for women and blah, blah, blah. The point is, my brain identifies feminism with, like, suffrage and glass ceilings and "sweetheart, don't you worry your pretty little head about that." and that is a battle that I fight best by being, rather than by talking about it. This is one of the many things that I probably need to fix in my brain.)
No one has ever told me that I can't do something because I'm female. This is not the case for my mother, who wanted to apply to Radcliffe and be an archeologist, and her high school guidance counselor refused to write her a recommendation. (Instead, she went to Wellesley and was a psychology major and social worker. She's currently the first female Moderator in the 200-plus-year history of her church.) I was watching a bit of an episode of The Simpsons the other night where they're at one of those Build-a-bear type places, and every profession Lisa proposes to costume her bear for gets shot down with an "more appropriate" suggestion (Doctor -> Nurse, etc.) until she tells the employee that it's a boy bear. And how awesome would it be to live in a world where no one got that joke?
Screw it. I'm not even going to pretend I have a point here. So, in conclusion, be excellent to each other. San Dimas High School Football rules!
Fraser/Ray - due South: And now, for something completely different. For the record, my Ray of preference is RayK - I'm actually not sure whether
muccamukk knows that or not - but it actually doesn't much matter for most of what I'm going to say.So, I have developed this tendency, in the past couple years, to start reading in fandoms where I don't have the first clue about the source material. Sometimes its because I'm working my way through a writer's other fandoms, more often its because I get saturated on whatever my current fandoms are, and pick something new from a rec community or list. Such is the case with due South. I've since seen all the episodes, I think, but I read a lot of fic having only seen the first RayK episode via YouTube. And because this was years after the series ended, most of what I read was post-finale stuff, where Fraser and Ray (either of them) had mostly worked out their trust/partnership/abandonment issues
I am, at least chronologically, a grown-up now. I can get behind the idea of someone who has made a ton of mistakes and is trying to figure out how to do things differently this time, or someone who has spent their life believing [whatever] is the most important thing in the world, and then suddenly having a new focus, or an additional one, and figuring out how all that works. And my favorite romance trope in the whole entire world is falling in love with your best friend. (Falling in love with your hellion ward/supposedly stodgy guardian, Regency style, is my second) And so: Fraser/Ray.
And finally, John McClane - Die Hard: I'm not actually a huge fan of Bruce Willis. As a...kid? (I don't even remember when the original run was) I watched Moonlighting, and liked it well enough. I was far too young to have seen Die Hard in its original release, which is just as well.
So, why do I love John McClane? I prefer my action heroes snarky rather than stoic. I love that he has an ex-wife, and it's reasonably consistent with canon for me to believe that even if John just plain sucked at being married, that they broke up because they were just too different. I love that he still cares about his kids (even though he sucked at that too) even though they're totally, vocally on Holly's side. I love that he does things because someone needs to do them. (which meshes well with my opinion on leading things: I don't need to be in charge, but someone does). I love him enough to forgive the existence of Die Hard 2.
Want to join in? Leave a comment that says "Five Words" and I'll hook you up.
