mako's tank

2002-04-11T11:15:00.000-04:00

God, I'm lazy.

And frustrated. Last night I wrote a huge blog entry and *poof* -- my computer crashed. So, I'll keep this short and simple.

Real life is hectic. Smallville is still good. Fanfic is still fun. Some folks are still in some sort of contest to be named Most Abrasive Ass Ever. All I'm left wondering is what the trophy looks like. (Maybe a big ass with a Brillo pad sticking out of it?)

Have written a few throwaways, am still working on Liberty Part Ten (no, I haven't forgotten) and have joined CLexslash and have found it a relaxing haven. Have gone back to reading mostly SV fic and there have been some good ones. Today I particularly liked "Roadside Distraction", "Don't Cry" and "Breaking a Fast" -- Chloe/Lana, Lex/puppy, and CLex respectively.

Now, let's see if my computer eats this for breakfast.

2002-01-28T16:44:00.000-05:00

Oh, the pain of it.

Finally broke down and took my temperature this morning and it was 101, meaning when I get those hours of chills and sweats at night, it must have been at least 102-103 for the past three days. Hmmm ... it's doctor time, I think. It's either an infected tooth or ear, not sure which since the pain is spread quite evenly over the entire left side of my head and throat. I'll let Dr. Feelgood figure it out tomorrow.

Even more painful are yet MORE horrible Victoria fics in my inbox, all of them misleadingly labeled, all of them disgusting beyond human imagination. Again, I beg of my fellow posters ... just put her name in the fucking summary, okay? Because me NOT reading it so much better than me reading it and holding a reader's grudge forever more. I feel like a bunch of Fanfic Witnesses have their foot in my door, telling me to just give it a chance, because it's da special clever fanfic flavor of the month doncha know? Sorry, but no. I don't care if you're the greatest writer in the realm and your piece rocks the very foundations of the fanfiction world. I'm not interested, so just label the goddamn stuff properly. I'm not saying don't post it ... just LABEL it! Okay?

(Ooops, I see a fellow poster just made the same request on Clark/Lex but much more diplomatically. Heh. I give props to their courage and I will count the seconds before she and her reasonable request gets brutally shot down. One ... two ... three ...)

Anyway, it's back to the grind. I have an afternoon client call I can't avoid. Ugh. Hope they don't mind my shrieks of pain between the mumbles.

2002-01-27T16:15:00.000-05:00

Wow.

So this is what happens when you forget your user name on your blog. No, not my password, but the actual name itself and since I was depending on a cookie to keep me here forever ... anyway, I found it in my hard drive (finally) and am back. It's just as well, since I havn't really done that much in a while besides the odd posting on Television Without Pity and closing my eyes against the nasty joke that is Kelly Brook. Oy. The casting couch has never been less descriminating, methinks.

Insane Rant of The Day:Speaking of She of the Hair Extensions, we are already getting the gruesome unlabeled Victoria fics coming down the pike. Being a bit flu-ish for the past few days, these really inconsiderate postings increase my pain incrementally. I mean, sure, write Victoria until your fingers fall off, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD warn your readers of what lies within. And yes, that's the bitchy, narrow-viewed, immature, I-don't-give-a-shit-for-fanfic-as-writer's-"art" part of me speaking -- as well as the swollen gland that's right under my jaw causing one eye to throb with intense pain. I mean, I warn my readers that my stuff is vaguely unreadable smush, can't I get an equal sort of consideration? Please? [rant over]

I see below I've talked about LoTR slash. Go here for some good ones: http://www.femgeeks.net/tolkien/tolkien.html and don't be afraid of the Legolas/Gimli. On the surface it appears grue, but some authors there are making it work, such as Pythoness (try here for "A Diamond Between Wood and Stone" - http://www.femgeeks.net/tolkien/archive/0/adiamond.html If you are more into Aragon or Boromir or even Sam/Frodo, you'll enjoy the trip to this place.

I've enjoyed very little off the Clark/Lex list/SSArchive lately, mainly because of the fandom's rapid descent into cliche. I did like a Martha piece, "Awake All Night" which reminded me very much of my mother. Clark confessing his love of Lex to Mom is still a fresh part of fanon unlike the oddly cold smut pieces, which are wearing thin on me, not to mention the horrifying trend toward het inclusions. Some AU fic (like the excellent "The Butterfly Effect") and some warm future fic would be a very welcome change, but I'll probably have to wait until the series actually ends before I see any of that. (Although "A Word from You" by Isos Arie, while not exactly cuddly and warm, had a sad, desperate hope about it.) "Scripted" by Thamiris was extremely funny, as are most of her fics, which brim with a very dry wit and an underlying sweetness. All of them are worth the read.

The show itself on the other hand is EXCELLENT. I'm so looking forward to upcoming eps, especially one where I pray Leather!Lex will make a hip-swinging appearance. I appreciate these producers ... they seem to still like their audience more than their egos. "Smallville" is good stuff, here's hoping The Suits keep their noses out of there for good after the Brook debacle. And Mr. Rosenbaum ... I do -so- love you. Mmmm.

Okay. Back to my humidifier. Maybe I'll even get to writing more some day. Heh.

2002-01-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

Bad blogger!

Okay, maybe I'm not up for this daily sort of sharing. I never could keep diaries as a kid either, not past a week anyway. Remember those little books with the lock? You ended up losing the key, then cutting the strap in half with scissors and then just started doodling and writing travel lists in it? This blog is turning into one of those I think.

I saw The Lord of The Rings again and it was longer the second time around since I knew what was going to happen. The element of surprise is a biggie in this movie and I can see how fans of the books might not be as enthralled with it as I was upon first viewing. Lynne bought me the book as a gift and we are now struggling against getting the entire trilogy. I'm having serious trouble waiting for the next installment, probably along with everyone else.

PS: I just don't have the heart to write Sam/Frodo. It's just too -innocent- a love. Maybe Legolas/someone.

I uploaded two newish stories to the site today. One is pure fluff, the other is not: "Snow, Poets, Rum and Love" and "Seize" Still working on "Liberty" but New Year is my busy season work wise, with corporate tax time just a couple of months away (not to mention payroll round ups) so it'll take a bit.

Re: C/L list reading. There was a lot of stuff I liked, I forgot the names of most of it, so they'll have to wait until tomorrow. I like the Martha stories, especially since they have yet to turn her into Margaret Scully from XF. Maybe it's because she actually gets some nookie every now and then (and from a John Schneider look-a-like too. Whoo-hoo!)

Thanks to everyone who's been sending me those supportive emails in regard to my Clark/Lex List moderated status. For your information, I don't think I'm being moderated any longer (although I've gotten no word from the administration that I've been taken off, so it's hard to tell) and all is running smoothly along. I'm relieved that I wasn't put on some sort of eternal probation, although that wouldn't have surprised me, since I'd obviously crossed over some incredibly horrendous line and all with one four-line E-mail. (Wow, I impress myself!)

As for expressing aloud what many of you were thinking that day (thanks for letting me know, guys!) me and my big mouth never could help it. It was achingly obvious that some serious double standards were being displayed: one set for the admin clique and one for friendless cranks like me. I've been deliberately keeping myself out of all C/L cliques, chats and personal relationships on-list with anyone but maybe one or two people. As I told one person who sent me a note of support, I've been there, done that in other fandoms, and have the ulcers to prove it. I feel it's my right NOT to get involved to that level and NOT have to pay some sort of price for my solitude when it comes to sharing my opinion that NO site is worth being abused for, not even one owned by a list admin and that getting slapped for a tit joke while others (initially) get away with brain-curdling flamage is inherently unfair.

As far as I can see, I was punished for embarrassing and angering them, plain and simple. And while that's all good and fine (hey, it's their list, they can do what they like) it's still not good management, it doesn't even make that much sense. I mean, it's not like it was some personal thing on my part, it was just an observation.

Anyway, that's the end of my talk on this subject. It's closed, finito, finished. Thanks again to those many folks who sent me all the love and cyber- nailfiles in cakes to break me out. I appreciate it. *mwah*

Tomorrow I'll get back to recs and go through the things I've missed along the way. Also, we'll talk about Tolkien slash and why Legolas/Gimli isn't -such- a terrible idea. See you then.

2001-12-27T08:50:00.000-05:00

The destruction of the Ring, the Return of the King ...

Saw "Lord of The Rings" yesterday and boy, was I surprised. Let me begin by saying I -hated- "The Hobbit" which was the only book of the universe I started years ago so I never got to any of the others. I knew zero, zip, nada, nilch about the story and I don't know if that helped my opinion, but allow me to say: IT WAS FANTASTIC!

It was one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen and from the audience reaction during the fastest three hours of my life, I wasn't alone. A very cynical New York audience was screaming, clapping and cheering through it, something I haven't heard in a theater in -years.- It actually got a standing ovation at the end and I was right there hooting and yelling with everyone else. Incredible special effects that enhanced the story and the characters, not the other way around. The acting was top shelf and Sam/Frodo are so slashy, it almost made me cry. Orlando Bloom as the Elf representative of the Fellowship was beyond droolworthy. I'm going to see it again this weekend, another first. Wonderful.

Onto Day Two of my stint in Moderation Prison on Clark/Lex. Got an interesting email from a fellow fracas participant who expressed surprise at my moderation since this person felt that they'd had been way more involved than I was and they had not been shipped to Posting Alcatraz, nor even written to. What a surprise ... *cough* Maybe it's the quality of the pissing off, not the quantity.

This list sibling also agreed with me that the appearance of one set of rules for favored members of the list and another set of rules for the non-favored part had been pretty obvious, and extremely annoying, since most of us are certainly not part of the favored -- unless you'd consider moderation a sign of favor, which it might well be. Hey, it's my first one ever... what do I know? Anyway, if you need me I'll be in the yard, bumming cigarettes and making someone my bitch. And if anyone needs a custom license plate ...

Okay. Some recs: "Peaceladen" by JanieG is a very sweet, calm, well, peaceful fic with very nice small touches and interaction between our boyz. Two normal guys sharing an affectionate afternoon. I like that. "Scars" is by Jenn, it has green body paint and is very hot, so go read it if you are in the mood for such a fic. (And who isn't always in a mood for such a fic?)

There are some other interesting, but not very well executed fics on-list, which is okay but makes me a little wistful for "what could have been" if a beta reader/editor got a hold of them. However, I believe beta'ing is a very personal choice so I'm not going to push it, especially since I can't volunteer to be one myself. It's all very good and easy to yell at folks "Get a beta, damn you!" but that's not always so easy especially for those of us who don't have our little email cliques and circle of friends to paw and gush over our work as they correct the run-on sentences. As for assigned betas, they are often either lousy, mean or just downright lazy, so finding one isn't always the easy, simple task many fic critics would like everyone to think it is. You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a good beta. A lot.

Well, it's off to work. Remember, when a friend would rather drown then let you leave them, they are more than just your friend. Ah, that Sam ...

2001-12-26T09:16:00.000-05:00

Isn't that special?

Yes, I know it's been a very long time but between the holidays and baby-sitting I've been very busy indeed and blogs just go by the wayside. Real life is improving very much, my husband and I just discovered the perfect house in Ireland to rent for next summer. It's on the cliffs, five bedrooms, ocean view and if it's really nice we might just buy the thing outright. He has his Irish citizenship so it probably won't be too much of a hassle. (Besides, having a residence in Europe would open up a lot more possibilities on many fronts.) Everyone is healthy and I think I'm going to check out Lord of The Rings today at lunch. I'll give it my review tomorrow.

As for the Clark/Lex list, well, I've finally "made it" and been put on moderated status for two weeks by the administration after I mentioned startling inconsistencies in their management choices on-list. Fortunately it seems like the "Our Friends Are Right Even When They Aren't and The Rest of You Just Better Shut Up" policy is too difficult for even the most stubborn hearts to maintain as noted by a grudging next-day recant. Been there, done that with my own lists and frankly, if you don't lose two or three friends along the way as you run the stupid thing, you aren't doing your job. I hold no grudges against the admins -- they're the ones who have to deal with screaming whackos on one side and 600 pissed off people on the other, not me. Besides, look at this nice new tin cup I have to bang against my cell bars. If my behavior is good, I might get a harmonica for Week Two, you never know.

I will say that if a mere web site inspires such insanity I think it should be taken down before it drives more people to the brink of madness. I'm sure we can all live without it. I know I can.

As for the fics in this fandom, they are going through their Smug Phase right now, desperately trying to outdo each other in cleverness and self-conscious wit. Good stories, simply told are not 'in' at the moment except for a few authors who can be counted on for doing it right. Let's hope they all haven't been scared away by the latest round of silliness. I'll gather up some recs tomorrow and share. Jenn has some nice new smut today ... "Scars" I think? I'll see if I can feedback her on-list. It'll be fun to see who my fellow prisoners in Moderation Limbo are since we'll all be forwarded together no doubt. How many bets that I'm the only one? Gosh, I feel so speecciiiaalll ...

2001-12-07T10:43:00.000-05:00

Am suffering ...

From a case of PMS that would destroy the world faster than Lex's Glove of Death. DIE SUNSHINE, DIE!

From my previous journal entries it appears to have been around for a few days now and I just didn't notice. Although I really *do* hate Oprah. She squicks me beyond squick. Blech.

Speaking of squicks, incest fic definitely isn't one of mine, so if you are like minded go read "See This" by te on the archive. There's also a Chloe/Lana fic that was good all the way through, called "Cocoa" although you'd think you'd have to be the fucking Steinbeck of Fanfic before you dare to post, the way some people snark. The usual post-honeymoon, "I Want to Shock and Be Different" rash of depression, death, rejection and "other" pairing fics are coming in droves, most of them sans summary and detailed warnings. (Note: Coyness is not a warning.) Whatever. My delete button was getting dusty anyway.

Can't wait till the rapes and disciplines come sloshing down the pike like so much Level 3 fertilizer. I'm glad that Clark's bottom is impervious to spanking and Lex would just look stupid over Clark's knee. That makes me very happy indeed.

Now that I've been a total bitch, it's good to note that L saw the Clex. She's never seen slash anywhere and it hit her like a ton of bricks. Then again ... she did have a fever. Heh.

2001-12-05T16:18:00.000-05:00

I wonder ... I wonder ...

I wonder what makes Oprah Winfrey so utterly hateful in my eyes.

Could it be her hollow, obvious Auntie Tomisina'ism and weird uber-ethnic put on? (Oh, you GO GIRL! GO SISTA! THAT BE WHACK! WHAT BE UP WID 'DAT?) Perhaps her fake reliance on a sooo-much-smarter male, who isn't really much smarter at all -- who is, in a sane world, a shallow, feel-good, jingoistic, laugh-up-my-sleeve asshole ... a.k.a. Dr. Phil? Could it be those giggling, screeching, self-involved, self-satisified women in her audience who shame me into wishing I was Joe Dirt, mullet and all? Could it be the zillions of dollars she refuses to do a damn useful thing with in communities that really friggen need it? Hey, Opry! I heard y'all were cheap and all 'dis shit, but y'all are so-pooosed to prove me wrong and all 'dat. Why, girrrrrl -- 'dat be WHACK!

Lord, let me find my bliss. Let Oprah be canceled before I die. Please.

Not much else to say other than that except that I still love "Thin Line." Am trying to write a gift in that universe for the author and it's harder than I thought. Although the thought of Lex wondering about Clark and his dad is a very indulgent idea. Rowr,

2001-12-04T18:37:00.000-05:00

Things I love ...

A mass slapdown of people who are contrary for the hell of it. Slap. Slap. Slap.

Withholding praise from those who think they really, really, really deserve it, but don't. The stunned, petulant look on their faces is so worth it.

"Princess Bride" slash. Any flavor.

Incest slash. Lex/Lionel, Edmund/Richard, Edmund/Dimitri (how many slashy brothers are named Edmund anyway?)

How well I can predict the effects of a midnight IRC chat on a list the next morning. See the sudden flood of complaints about ellipses? Hello IRC whine! See the mass of effusive praise for an overblown epic posted two weeks previously to no special acclaim? Hello IRC whine! See the odd defense of a character that no one liked the day before? HELLO IRC WHINE! Mob mentality at its finest.

My husband calling me "Mrs. Lady." I think it's just the way he says it. "Mrs. Layyydeeee ..."

Michael Rosenbaum's web site. He posted a letter on his message board. He's a sexy, sexy man.

The fact that Lori got her computer up and running. Thank Clex!

"Hothead" repeats. Can get that fencing match on tape now. Mmmm.

2001-12-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

Nothing sucks the fun out of fandom ...

... like other fans. 'Nuff said.

Just saw "IT" on Good Morning America, the new top-secret, much-hyped invention by some nut who's decided that what America needs is yet one more way to avoid exercise of ANY type, even walking to the corner. Hope they make those goofy-ass scooters in sizes XXXX-Large. BTW, God made an invention that is just as amazing as "IT" many years ago.

They're called "feet."

Pretty spectacular, huh?

Read Part Two of "Thin Line" by dreamskein over and over today and am feeling very happily depraved. Lex/Lionel is soooo wrong ... and SOOOO hot. *shiver* Yow. "The Road Home" by Merry Lynne had a fine combination of hot schmoop and killer cows so I couldn't resist. It's a nice read, I recommend it. "Jailbait" by JediNic on the archive was lovely too except for the cliffhanger ending. Gargh!

Well, it's off to do some walking to work. Poor me -- I'm "IT"-less.

2001-12-02T08:12:00.000-05:00

Totally ...

... hung over with a baby shower to attend at one. Someone, shoot me.

Just read a really irritating post on the C/L list, so irritating I'm not even going to go into it here because I really don't want this braindead, self-important BEEYOTCH on my case. All I can say is read my rant below and get over yourself, lady. Sheesh.

Talk about pissing on the parade.

Okay, it's coffee time. Argh.

2001-12-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

Spent ...

... the evening listening to Barber's "Adagio for Strings."

Am in awe that any human being could write a piece of music so terrifyingly sad.

How horrific. How very, very beautiful.

2001-12-01T11:54:00.000-05:00

Rant ahead ...

Incoherent ranting that is. Hey, I'm on medication, all right? Anyway, here it is.

I've been reading fanfiction for close to twelve years. That's pre-Internet, all the way back to 'zines. I'm a hopeless fan-girl, always have been and like it that way. Now I've never had the same issues with 'zine fic that Internet fanfic seems to inspire, especially in regard to quality and presentation. 'Zines are edited (well, hopefully they are) polished, slaved over by obsessive people, etc. and you will rarely find too many huge glaring errors, in spelling, grammar, formatting etc. This doesn't cover content quality because I've read some serious stinkers in 'zines -- ones that I've actually ripped out of the binding and thrown in the trash lest my eyes be seared by their Overwhelming Badness ever again. (Yes Virginia, a well-edited, perfectly grammatical story can suck. It's true.)

Internet fanfiction is a different barrel of fish entirely. There is no mandatory editing, there's no required labeling, there's often no rhyme or reason to anything and once you get past the word "FIC" in the subject line, honey, you are on your own. Typos leap out of the bar doors, shooting wildly ... POVs jump around like Mexican beans in the sun ... rape fics come up behind you and hit you like the 1:13 from Memphis ... men apply garish make-up and get pregnant in the general store. It's often not a pretty sight and part of me doesn't blame people for railing against these crimes against their eyes, minds and stomachs. I can understand the emotion behind angry crits, bad-fiction sites and the like. I really can.

But none of these things will change the basic fact of Internet fanfic -- it's a writer's world, not a reader's.

Unlike 'zines, which you pay for and are allowed a certain amount of expectation, Internet fan-fiction comes with no guarantees, no rules, no respect. It's an ever-renewing pile of dung in which you must dig deeply for the oft-hidden jewels and if this tires or upsets you at any point, then your fanfic reading days in that fandom are probably coming to their natural end.

We all know about the happy, mindless devouring we do when a new fandom is discovered and many of us also know how bitter and weird we get by the time we burn out on one too many "Marty-Sue and His Amazing Threesome Experience With The Boyz" fics. When we reach that point, it's time to rely on rec-pages, word-of-mouth and the authors you've learned to trust and leave the angry crit lists/badfic sites alone.

So-called "badfic" will never be stopped without list moderation or mandatory editing and frankly, I believe its pointless to try. Most of it's posted by newbies, children, non-native speakers of English and a stubborn few who know no shame and besides, they have a lot of readers (mostly newbies, children and non-native speakers) who like them and their rancid fic a lot, thankyouverymuch. It's the very way internet fanfic is set up that makes it so, and to try and change it through intimidation is to miss the point completely.

Of course, if you just like to bitch and moan, hey, that's cool. I do it myself. A lot.

So, I guess my point is this: sit back, open your mail, enjoy what's offered if you can and feel very lucky if you do. I'm in a fandom right now that's churning out a shocking amount of quality fic but I know that's not going to last very long. In fact, when the inevitable flood of crap comes, it's going to look all that much worse since the stuff that came before it was so good. That's why I'm investing in my nose clips now and not a domain called "suckyclexfic.com"

Because the best offense, in Internet fanfic, is a good defense, always. Peace.

2001-11-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

The Art of Dying ...

George Harrison's death saddens me in many ways, not the least being the fact that it doesn't sadden or shock me anywhere near as much as it would have prior to September 11th. Compared to what happened just a few miles from my house, on that terrible day when I witnessed with my own eyes the death of 5,000 people in the span of an hour, I can safely say that it's sad that George is gone but, ah well, so goes life. And death.

Besides, he was so terribly sick. I'm glad he's in God's hands now.

And I'm a huge Beatle fan too. Remember when John got shot and I joined the vigil in front of the Dakota some seven hours later. There was still blood and bullet holes there ... it was gross. And sad.

Eh. Anyway, I put a new chapter of "Liberty" up last night. Click here if interested: LIBERTY CHAPTER EIGHT and I'm off to recover from my cold. And my sadness. Blech.

2001-11-29T09:38:00.000-05:00

*cough* *cough*

Tip of the day: Don't kiss babies with runny noses no matter how cute they are. Because, guess what? That means they are SICK. And you know what else that means? It means that a week later you will be like me, hacking, coughing and sneezing like a dope who smooches and cuddles sick babies. Pass the aspirin, my head hurts.

Luckily there's some nice Clex fic to tide me over. Jenn has two new ones out "Shift" and another with a long title my disease-fogged brain can't conjure up right now, sorry Jenn. Both are excellent. I liked "Shift" better because it had making-out in it. Yeah, I'm shallow ... sue me. Te has a new "Project" out and it was better than whiskey in my hot water (and that's pretty damned good.) I got a kick out of Caroline's "Coatroom" which creates a nifty, nasty little scene for Young Lex hiding out during Luthor Christmas parties. Told her the two gentlemen with Lex reminded me of Mssrs. Pike and Pluck from "Nicholas Nickelby" by Dickens except I think P&P were gayer. Hey, Dickens knew the score.

I joined the BatmanBeyond slash list and am happy that some Terry/Bruce might be coming my way. It's a very difficult slash (Bruce is like 70, Terry is 18) but the UST is there. There has to be some way to exploit this darnit and besides, I never could turn down a challenge.

I'll see if I'm up to writing today, but I don't know. My head sure do hurt. Ugh.

2001-11-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

It's been a while ...

Yes, I know. I haven't posted in a week or more but between the holiday and helping take care of my new neice (her mother's C-section was badly done) I've been bush-wacked. Things haven't been that good, the Merchant's Meeting was grim and I have a very bad feeling for the upcoming year on the economic front. Half the middle-market stores are going to close by spring next year just as I'd feared. Even a few of the chains are going down and that sucks.

Also, my anemia is back with a vengence and I'm on the iron dosages full time again. I had no idea what it was until my husband woke me up at least three times on Thanksgiving, where I was falling asleep practically in the middle of conversations. Dragged myself around pathetically until I finally went to the doctor. As expected, my red cell count was waaaaaaay off and it's back to the stomach churning little red pills. Blech. But admittedly, after three days on the regime I'm already feeling better. The wonder of taking care of yourself.

Anyway, I've still been doing a lot of reading, and a little writing. I've developed a soft spot for Baby Clark stories and since I couldn't find any, I wrote one. Click here for it, if you are so inclinced: The Finder's Keepers I've been wondering how Jon and Martha actually got to keep their foundling and hopefully this explains a little of it. Would that it were true on screen. Heh, heh. There's lots of good stuff on The Smallville Slash Archive Try "Reveal" by LaT for an incredibly brave fic starring Spying!Lionel and In-Love!Clex. There's a new Te fic "Benediction" and while I'm no fan of Make-Up Slash (*huge shudder*) this is so well done I can pretend there's no eyeshadow around. Besides, it's hot. Very hot. There's also "Corner of the World 4" which has some sweet smut and "All Human Things" and "Falling" both of which I enjoyed.

Am also enjoying on Fanfiction.Net this fic: Absolution even if it is a little overwrought. Hey, I'm a melodama fan and this is very well-written anyway. Might not be everyone's style but the folks there are enjoying it, which is good, since there's some nasty anti-Clex backlash thing going on there that's pissing me off. Pissing me off to the point of snarking at someone's anti-slash summary, which they apologized for and changed. Of course then I felt guilty but, oh well ... blame it on my thinning blood.

The show is as enjoyable as ever. As slashy as ever, although it's starting to fall into a serious XF-rip-off rut. Even Lex seems to be spouting the same old/same old lines six episodes into it and that's not a good thing. He needs some challenges. Would hate to see Rosenbaum get bored, he's too intelligent not be challenged at every turn.

Well, that's enough for now. Hopefully I'll be up and running in all things in no time.

2001-11-19T11:26:00.000-05:00

Tonight, tonight ...

Merchant's Association panel is tonight. Yeep! I'm nervous but I'm pretty sure I'm prepared enough. The talks are going to be very heavy this year, Lynn confirmed it last night. Our shopping district is in serious trouble with the small/mid-sized convenience store practically extinct, leaving a wide gap between the specialty shops and the chains. I'm really afraid the specialties will go under leaving nothing but the chains and that'll ruin the entire neighborhood. The local fast foodie is getting a drive thu (on the absolute MOST congested corner, of course) and I'm going to talk to Martin tonight about it. We have to pick our battles carefully these days, I think. Also, the aid package to downtown is wavering and while that doesn't concern us directly, I think we have to take a step forward and support those lobbyists for the general good. Oy. Wish me luck.

Also have a lot to do today in preparation for Thanksgiving (which isn't at my house this year, thank God.) The busy season is starting and hopefully I'll get it all together at once, not in drips and drabbles like the previous years. Organization has not been my thing for a while now.

Still have a massive Clex bunny that's biting my ankles brutally and I've either got to ignore it or let it brew. Got to finish Liberty first. Was alternately amused and horrified to see that a poster mentioned Smallville slash on Michael Rosenbaum's official message board. Geez, when are some people going to learn that not everyone is a slash fan? Sure, we have our own isolated, happy community, but we always have to remember that the general population is 99.9% mundanes and would gape in confusion and distress at the mere notion of slash -- altho' I'm sure Michael has a good sense of humor and obviously isn't homophobic in the least, but still ... he and Warner Bros. might be very uncomfortable with the notion of on-line Clark/Lex smut, you just never know. This reminds of all those stories of people actually GIVING their slash fic to actors at conventions and whatnot and acting surprised when said actors flipped out completely. I mean, DUH! Hellloooooo! Let's keep a bit of sensible discretion going, peeps. (Before Warner Bros and Geocities spank me silly, at least. *grin*)

Anyway, off to do the work I should have done this weekend.

2001-11-18T10:20:00.000-05:00

The hair o'the dog ...

Am extremely hung over from a good chug of wine last night, sans dinner. Ugh. Remind me not to do that again for another couple of years. Even the cat's meows are too loud. Ugh.

Was so lazy yesterday, I'm ashamed. No work, no chores, no writing .... just spent the day on-line trolling for slash smut. I went to Azkaban's Lair for some "Harry Potter" Remus/Sirius smut and it was good. Built-in angst, true love, werewolves, tea and sympathy ... just what I like. I don't like any other pairings in this universe (the thought of Harry Potter having sex at any age makes my brain bleed) but this definitely works for me.

A note on Fanfiction.Net: A very good Clex writer, Serena, got a horrendous flame for her work "Obscurity" yesterday and thus I'm retracting my recommendation for any other Clex slashers to post there. It was just an evil flame, so full of hatred it twisted me into knots and I thought I'd heard them all. Shameful, and it's always sad to be reminded that for every 1,000,000 good people in this world all it takes is one nasty jerk to ruin it for everyone else. It's not worth the grief I think, even tho' if we do stop posting there, this jerk will get precisely what he wanted. *sigh* Somedays you just can't win.

Found the EW article on "Smallville" replete with potentially depressing spoilers and one FINE picture of Tom Welling. (I'm pretending it's Clark so I can drool freely and not feel too dumb.) I'm glad the show is getting the recognition it needs just wish Michael Rosenbaum was mentioned more. Speaking of Michael, he did a great job as The Flash on "Justice League" but last night was my first and last viewing of it. Seeing Metropolis blow up was not for me.

2001-11-17T12:45:00.000-05:00

Early in da mornin'...

Poor husband went into work at 5am today for his test run. He'll be working tomorrow as well and all I can say is -- glad it ain't me sugah! I've been horribly lazy all morning, trolling through MR's web site (ahhhhh) the lists, old emails, joke sites and now must face the fact that I'm a wasted lump. Time to go do something constructive.

Read a very cute shortie last night by Henry James called Spin The Bottle which actually featured, *gasp* a hot Lana/Chloe moment. Who knew? Poor Lex, caught up in children's games waiting for the law to get him. Poor baby.

He needs an old lady to take care of him. An old horny lady. Namely me.

Big complaint today. Nowhere NEAR enough Clex smut. Lots and lots of fluff which is wonderful but I'm running out of things to re-read and bad smut hurts my brain too much to even bother with. I need sweaty hot angsty/happy boys running their tongues all over each other, dangit. And I don't want to write it myself either. Cuz it's too hard. For me anyway. I'm not a natural smut writer, I practically writhe with embarassment while I do it and can't reread the results because I always think it sucks. And not in a good way either.

But alas, I have a bunny. A smutty bunny. Which might fit nicely into the "Night and Day" universe. It has angst, make-up, candles, Metropolis, tongue hockey, smut, angst ... sigh. Guess if you want something done gotta do it yourself. *grin*

2001-11-16T18:17:00.000-05:00

Found Michael Rosenbaum's official fan site ...

http://www.michaelrosenbaum.com

My geeky fan-girl dom is now complete. Happy squeal of joy.

2001-11-16T08:47:00.000-05:00

Celebrate!

I have a new niece as of yesterday. Welcome to the world, Julia! She's big and pink and healthy and everyone's doing fine. I visited last night and had the incredible honor of holding and feeding her first evening dinner to her. She's eats well, burps well, is an all around great baby. Her mother had a C-section and unfortunately is flat on her back, but I plan on bringing her some brownies later. Maybe a baked ziti tonight for her husband and other daughter as well. I have a bad idea they'll starve or become pizza-fied without her. I'm all around very happy about this and looking forward to her christening, since I'll be godmother as well. happy sigh

Put up a new short fic yesterday Conversation Piece - The One In Which Lex Discovers Something In His Lake. Nothing like those long, dangling ends of Smallville to play with. The show really is almost as bad as later years X-Files. Didn't have much time to read yesterday, except for a beta version of Lori's new "Lessons" and man, is it good. She's so talented, normally I'd be jealous and have to lock her in a cage, except I want to read MORE. Her Lex is brilliant, torn and twisted with a need-to-know that comesthatclose to destroying him every time. Mmmm.

AngstLex, now that's the stuff.

FanFiction.Net's Smallville section has some exclusive CLex fics of varying quality but they are definitely worth checking out, especially if you've read everything on the list and the archive more times than you dare to admit and hunger for more. Here is the URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/list.php?categoryid=1303 I know that a lot of slashers won't post on FF.N feeling their work shouldn't be exposed to such a young mass audience and while I agree in some ways, I've recently decided that this exposure is good for slash versus otherwise. It educates, it encourages and while you'll always get the odd "ewwwwwww! u r sic!" or whatever, the responses I've received for the most part are intelligent and insightful, even the negative ones. Things are really turning around slashwise on FF.N for the better and the Smallville section is a good example of that. Clex slash fics outnumber the het ones around three to one so far and while some readers are surprised, few are complaining. This is a huge change in attitude and wouldn't have come about if the fics had been posted there in the first place. So, don't be scared. Register and post away.

Besides, the review system makes it very attractive for us feedback whores. Not that I'm a feedback whore.

More like a feedback concubine. Feedback call-girl? No, feedback mole ...

That's all for now. Might scribble some more "Liberty" if I have the time. Brownies come first.

2001-11-15T08:40:00.000-05:00

Hard times ...

Talked for a good hour with Lynn last night about the upcoming Merchant's meeting and the state of the local economy. We've got four major closings on the main district (Lechter's, the record shop and two jewelry stores) and she's not sure how many of the smaller shops would last past Christmas. Since this is usually a reflection of the general state of NYC's economy, I'm sad to say that I think we are in deep doo-doo. That crash over Rockaway didn't help either; and if you ask me I think American airlines is hosed. But, we shall wait and see.

For the good news, my sister-in-law went into the hospital last night to have her labor induced and I should have a new neice (and goddaughter!) any hour now. I'm psyched to see her, feels like we've been waiting forever. This is neice number four, plus three nephews and I hope they all like getting socks for Christmas. Cuz that's what they're going to get. *grin*

Read a few fics on ClarkLex, enjoyed In Spades by Sineya. A bit odd, very sexy, sad and lurid. Also got a kick out of The Other Clark by Henry James. There was a much longer story lurking in there somewherre, but drugged, struggling, almost-ravished Lex was too enticing to resist. Hey, I never said my inner drooler didn't have ambigious morals, did I?

Oh, and Yawna is still a nimrod. A grade-a nimrod. And I'm going to slash her with Chloe. Then I'm going to kill her off.

If only reality was so easy.

2001-11-14T10:11:00.000-05:00

Getting better all the time ...

Good morning this was. Got some sleep (with nightmares, but sleep still) had fun with hubby, and got my Smallville fix -- The One in Which Lex Has A Manservant. How much are the producers giggling behind those sets? Even Yawna is more stupid than threatening and Lex is, well, Lex is just hot. However, if they make the god of my TV dreams kneel to serve the unworthy their tea one more time, I'm going to stage a protest. They should be kneeling to him, hah!

As for the plot, was there one? Dunno. Too busy wondering what Clark would look like while running his tongue over Lex's chest. Pretty good, I think.

Anyway, a big "thank-you" to Lori who cheered me up immensely with previews of "Lessons 3" and another fic that was so hot my blues just melted away. I bow in her general direction, I am not worthy. Now stop reading this and gimme more.

Kudos to Livia who has uploaded all the SV lost fic onto the Smallville Slash archive; she is the Busy Bee of Us. The HTML format is just so much easier and pleasant to read, I'm seeing new things in fics I've already enjoyed. For your reading pleasure, head here and check out the new stuff: The Smallville Slash Archive I particularly recommend jenn's new stuff along with Henry James drabbles. I also liked PepperJack Candy's "Restoration" and "The Kidnapping" (Restoration better because it had this neat twist at the end) I'm not really into Mean!Lex at the moment, even tho' he's more canon oriented. I'm entrenched in my softer Lex mode, especially with "Liberty" which I refuse to apologize for Femme!Lex. Hell, someone had to do it.

If you don't enjoy opera, skip over the next part.

Spent the morning listening to Montserrat Caballe's Puccini Arias, and am trying to figure out what bugs me about her. She's not particularly subtle (although with an instrument of that immense power, it's probably impossible) and while her breath control tricks are impressive her loud fish chokes at the end of them often ruin even as they amaze. Note "In quelle trine morbide" in which one of the most amazing, exquisite renderings of "gaia, isolata, bianca ..." is followed by a very shaky "come un sogno gentile di pace" and then squashed flat by a really gasping "d'amore!" I love this aria and will have to look for another version of hers but I have a feeling it will be the same. Caballe is nothing if not consistant. She does do an utterly hair-raising "Tu, tu, piccolo iddio!" although it's very hard to listen to more than once or twice in a month, but her "Mi chiammano Mimi" is fantastic. Very even, no rough spots and has the cutest "Sono la sua vicina, che la vien fouri d'ora a importunate" I've ever heard. Her "Donde lieta usci" was featured in the film "Philadelphia" and no wonder she was one of *the* famous Mimis, it suits her perfectly.

Maybe I'll pick up a "La Boheme" by her this weekend and see what the rest sounds like. I don't like this opera, don't own a single copy of it, but it does have its good points. Ah, now onto work and the rest of the day.

2001-11-13T09:35:00.000-05:00

Brand new sleepless nights ...

Got zero rest last night and am too sick and depressed to work today. My husband went in, but he didn't sleep either and we're wondering what's left of our friends to the southeast. If this plane crash was an accident it has to be the cruelest cosmic joke of all time. Rockaway is where many of the firemen/cops/EMS who died in the WTC lived and then a friggen' plane falls on what's left of their families. That's just atrocious.

Heard someone talking today about it was lucky the plane nose-dived. If it had belly landed the entire neighborhood would have been wiped out. It's strange but the residents didn't seem quite that shocked. Many of them said it was an accident they've been waiting for a while now, although many are convinced that it wasn't an accident no matter what CNN insists. (God, I hate CNN. Cold, apologist, rationalizing bastards.) I feel so badly for the people of Rockaway -- if they were depressed before they're going to be crazy now.

I guess all of us are a little crazy now.

I'm not in the mood to talk fanfic. Maybe later.

2001-11-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

A plane came down two hours ago, five miles from my house in the Rockaways.

I have friends there. I go there every summer. I'm in complete shock and shaking so badly, I can hardly type.

Please God, let this be an accident.

2001-11-12T07:38:00.000-05:00

The sun also rises ...

Veteran's Day, 2001. Strange, everytime I think war is just some faint ugly memory of the past, like corsets and castor oil, here we go again. I've never understood the phrase "necessary evil" (how can any evil be necessary?) but history has a way of creating a brand-new lunatic to throw at ordinary people who just want to live their lives and we have to dust off the guns and take the bad guys out ... again. I'm from a military family, I lost an uncle in WWII and two in Korea, my father saw service for thirty years and none of us could stand the thought of going to battle again. My mother, who lived on the losing side of WWII in an Axis country as teenager, knew the horrors of homeland war in a way few of us ever will (or didn't until the WTC massacre, I guess) and may God forgive me for saying this, I'm glad she's no longer around to have to live through this nightmare, especially with us in NYC. She'd have been absolutely devastated all around -- at the terrifying memories invoked and the knowledge that her children would probably have to suffer the way she did so many years before: living in a war zone, where everyday living becomes becomes a game of "Do I Live or Die Today?"

It's a sad day when you can say you're thankful your parents are dead.

So here's to all veterans, may God grant them peace. Here's to all the active US military as well, may God grant them safety.

Now, onto much better things. CLEX! I'm not sure whether to send the WB flowers for giving me such a distraction or virtual-smack them for not giving me the Clark/Lex interaction I crave. I know that isn't their intent but it's just SO GOOD! At least more Lex ...

Anyway, run, do not walk, to read: Lessons In Cruelty by Lori. It's a beautiful fic, so well done, so gorgeously written you can't miss it. And it leaves off in a totally intriguing place, where a set-up for INTENSE Clex action is almost guaranteed. Read, weep, and send lots of feedback because I NEED "Lessons 3" NOW. Okay?

As for humor, there's a hilarious "future-Lex" fic by Jenn & Beth World Domination and Caramel The One in Which Evil Lex Gets His Delicious ClarkBar Comeuppance. Yes, he does need a vacation from evil and I'm so glad Clark still loves him with all his heart ... and other places as well. Thanks to both writers for it.

Now, off to shop and hopefully, scribble some Clexy stuff of my own.

2001-11-11T11:21:00.000-05:00

Rest ye merry my friends ...

And welcome to the Kingdom of Clex. Where upon yonder hill sits the vasty hall of the Dark Lord Luthor, who waits in lust for the innocent White Knight Kent, while Princess Pom-Pom whispers her last gasp (or, even better, takes a long trip to Gotham and marries the Penguin so they can hatch a whole brood of kids with speech impediments.) Behold the beauty of Clex, aflame with a love that will not be denied, not even by Jonathan, Duke of Hazzard.

It's a merry land, filled with scribes and jesters alike, such as dreamskein who wrote an amusing tale just for myself, filled with laughter, light and the Duke checking out Whitney's ass (which interested me more than I cared to admit.) The link is here, if you are a resident of Clex, click and behold its wondrous wit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClarkLex/message/1094 Tis called "Look! Up In The Sky!" Read, gufaw, send feedback. Tis all a glorious thing!

But lo, there is also darkness in the land, such as Serafina's "Pain" (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClarkLex/message/1099) in which our Dark Lord Luthor realizes that Clark looks pretty damn cute all bathed in tears. Ah yes, he truly is the Boss of Us.

Now, I'm off to market, where I shall mingle with the crowds in the square and hear the day's gossip. Farewell until we meet again!

2001-11-10T11:38:00.000-05:00

Are we awake yet?

Not my husband anyway, who is still snoring on the couch. Very sleepy day today, kinda cold out, bagels were warm, slashy boy thoughts were drifting through a lazy brain. Mmmm. Of course the frustration of trying to cut this blog page down to size is getting to me but I'll figure it out, eventually. Why?

Cuz I'm such a smarty-pants, that's why.

Read totally gruesome story in the local paper about a resident nearby who came home to find a pair of what he thought was stuffed pants hanging in the middle of his living room from his skylight on Halloween night. He figured it was a prank by his friends until he looked up and saw it was an actual dead body of a burgler who tried to break in his house and the hinged skylight fell on him, breaking his neck and trapping his corpse there for what amounted to the entire day. Wow. Talk about urban legend, but it's in all the papers and truth is stranger than fiction indeed.

Speaking of fiction, just put up Part Five of Liberty (The One In Which Clark Gets Rejected) and am enjoying it immensely (the writing part that is. Reading it kinda makes me wince but no one likes thier own cooking that much.) I have things planned for those very hot young men, oh yes, I do.

New fic-only spinoff list of Clark/Lex which is a good idea. Will be easier to snatch stories off of, the ones that don't get on the Smallville Archive. I hope all the authors use it. Nice little story today called "Cover" with a hot car kiss, which is becoming a beloved bit of fanon in our little Kingdom of Clex. Hey, I'd make out with Clark in the Lexmobile ANY ol' time. Yowsa! Interesting portrayal of Lionel, rather refreshing view of him as Not That Evil, which is good for balance, even though I prefer the Lionel as Satan version for my own stuff. Convenient villians are hard to find and all that, you know.

The laundry pick up is on its way, so maybe I can get some scribbling in before they come. Then it's a full day of sleeping, I think. :::yawning happily::::

2001-11-09T09:17:00.000-05:00

Every Friday the same ...

Awoke this morning to a phone call from Lynn telling me I have a panel spot at this years Merchant's Association Meeting. This is a very good thing, of course, I just hope it doesn't dissolve into the parking meter riots of years past. Or the We Need A One-Way street orgy ... or the, heaven forbid, Box Tie-Off Debate.

Better bring a book, just in case.

Am pleased to see that our City Councilman is a warmclosepersonalfriend of our new Mayor. This can only bode well for the district and for us who are warmclosedpersonalfriends with our City Councilman. Hey, he owes me big time for those restuarant arrangements to feed the workers at Ground Zero compliments of his office and I'm expecting a cocktail invitation to Gracie in the mail any day now.

Okay. Maybe a good seat at next year's Wigstock, but that's the very least I'll accept.

More C/Lx fic which is soothing my nerves so nicely these days. "Once & Again" by Molly does what the WB never will but should -- kills Lana Lang dead. Not walking around and talking dead (like she is on the show) but dead-dead, in a coffin and everything. Love you, Molly. Dead!Lana makes my morning. Enjoyed "Stay" by dreamskein. We need much, much more cuddle-smut even of the non-canon variety. It's strange how strictly the writers are sticking to canon in this fandom so far and whiner that I am, I suddenly want Clark/Lex Curtain Fic, where Clark moves into Luthor Manor and starts decorating as Lex looks at adoption agencies.

Yeah, I you screaming "NOOOOOO!" but we fanfic readers always want what we don't have, right? It's our curse.

Seriously though, Clark/Lex in love (not just in hesitant lust) isn't such a bad thing, if everything else with the fic is in place: such as the dialogue, a reasonable explanation of how they got there and the spellchecker has been used. There are writers of serious quality in this fandom -- newbies such as Lori ("Lessons") and Jenn ("Between Spaces" & "Relativity," which is so good it made my eyes water and my head twist with jealousy) and LexLovesClark ("Fathers & Sons" #6 - The One In Which Clark Has Flying Dream Sex) and many, many others. Even the toss-offs are neatly presented which is a rarity and a very pleasant surprise, so gimme some Clark & Lex in love, and let Bo Kent chase poor Lexy with his shotgun.

Fanfic won't forgive us if we don't.

By the way, speaking of all this great fic that's mouldering on the C/L Yahoo!mailing list archive, I'm not beginning the countdown of how long it will take until I crack and start an archive for the fic that's not making it on the Smallville slash archive (which is such a wonderful, easy to read place it kills me stuff isn't getting on there.) I don't want to do it: I don't have the HTML skill, the time or the patience but it really bothers me that other folks aren't getting exposed to this stuff. Maybe I've got some sharing fetish or something but it would be nice to see it all lined up for everyone to see.

I'll probably regret saying this in about a month or so, so we can keep a countdown about that too.

1 ... 2 ... 3 ...

2001-11-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

Mmmm, tasty ...

An amazing amount of good fic on ClarkLex this morning. A humor piece called "Focus" (hysterical), a very hot piece with teasing Lex at a pool table ("Learning Pool") and some good ruminations on Troy toys ("Some Say An Army of Horsemen"). Part Five of "Fathers and Sons" arrived being The One In Which Clark Gets a Makeover and promises of nibbles and licks to come. Guh. Got to beta something super good ... it's a secret but hopefully it'll be out sooooon.

Still disappointed with how little fic is actually getting archived at the Smallville slash archive. The posting interface isn't THAT daunting folks! Use it! This great stuff shouldn't be lost on the Yahoo!Groups crappy archives forever! Especially for those of us who like to re-read their smut consistantly. *hint*

Had a meeting with a client this morning at the ungodly hour of seven am. What's with owners thinking that I might somehow work harder for them while it's still half dark out? Dang, take me to lunch instead when my mind doesn't still have visions of Clarks and Lexes leaping through my head from the night before. Just to punish him, I outlined his scant payroll options in full glorious, gory detail and got to laugh at his green-gilled expression. Move to Mexico, buddy, that's all I can tell you.

Put up a tiny Slut!Lex piece called "Saved by Zero" and was called "sick" by a couple of readers. Ahhhh ... how sweet it is. Hey, it's better than him being a drug dealer or murderer isn't it? I did get some nice notes from other readers who share my sense of the twisted and besides, I can't think of any other way for Lionel to handle such a strange problem. If you can, let me know. Have to decide whether to do actual work today or scribble some "Liberty" -- will figure it out later.

Amazing how other fandoms get crushed beneath a brand new obsession, isn't it?

2001-11-07T12:06:00.000-05:00

Surprise, surprise ...

Mike Bloomberg won and I'm not that surprised. Mark Green was too much of an obnoxious weenie and deserved the fall. Besides, if you're a NY Democrat that can't get Ed Koch's endorsement, there has to be something -seriously- wrong with you. I'm not expecting much from The Billion Dollar Man, with any luck we'll survive the four years until Rudy comes back to save us like a lisping King Arthur. I'm crossing my fingers.

Smallville was on last night and Lex is so hot, I'm thinking about writing to the producers and asking them WHY they aren't just showing him and Clark, leaving that dull as dirt Lana Lang behind. Probably more male viewers dig him than Lana anyway. Michael Rosenbaum is definitely giving us shades of John Malcovich (sp?), and simply put, he's delicious. Brilliant. Will be a movie star someday, I feel it.

The tantalizing peek at Lex's naughty childhood, ala Club Zero, was intriguing and I wrote a short piece about it this morning, sans coffee (yes, I still haven't bought coffee yet. What's WRONG with me?) Put it up on the page and here's hoping I haven't offended everyone with it.

Part Four of "Liberty" is up and I finally got my chance at barnyard humor. Next part should be more angsty, just to keep things level. Read a cute fic by Nix, all about Lex giving Clark waltz lessons and what I wouldn't give to see that on-screen. I sigh to think how that will never happen, even sigh at how little Lex we get. I know it goes a long way, but darnit ... get that awful Lana OFF the screen. Boring can't-save-my-own-dull-ass biatch needs to go and Lex needs to be the planet Clark orbits around, darnit.

Ah, slash hysteria. It's all good.

2001-11-06T08:47:00.000-05:00

All My Civic Duties

Off to vote after my morning tea (note to self: *must* buy more coffee today) and it's either Snow Miser or Bloomberg. They are supposedly tied in the polls, 17% undecided or just apathetic and it's Bloomberg for me. It's not exactly the lesser of two evils, more like the smarter of two weenies, even though I think Bloomberg is in for a shock if he thinks he can manage a city like a company, especially a company he happens to own. He'd do well to take a page out of the book of Robert Moses, New York's late great highway man, and become a sort of Evil Overlord instead of a public servant. Because the only serving Bloomberg knows is when his butler brings him his pate.

I did finish Part Three of "Liberty" yesterday and the writing was very smooth, easy. It still needs some minor editing of stuff I miss even on the hundreth checkover, I'll do that later. Big discussion of Clark and Lex's age difference on the C/Lx List which I'm skipping over. Not because the debates there aren't good or interesting (they are) I've just got my heart set on "Clark is really 17 or 18 because his parents held him back from first grade for a couple of years" mindset and don't want to get thrown out of it. Besides, there has to be *some* reason he's ten feet taller than everyone else in that school.

Part Four of "Fathers & Sons" arrived on list (yay!) and it's almost 12 hours until tonight's "Smallville" (YAY!) Life is improving slightly.

2001-11-05T08:09:00.000-05:00

Mondays That Suck ... Today For Instance

This Monday was doomed before it began for a few zillion reasons. I'll just name a few.

1. The Yankees lost and my city, NYC, really, really, REALLY needed them to win. They lost in a truly excrutiating way as well (oh, Mario, Mario, you poor bastard) and I can feel the depression in the air around me as thick as the smoke still wafting over my neighborhood from the World Trade Center site. Yeah, we know it's just a game, but somehow, if we won it would be a sign that things were turning around for us as a city. Now, with elections coming, the future uncertain, the so-called "war" a joke ... we still don't know how our ninth-inning as a city is going to turn out. We just might lose after all. Damn.

2. There's a looming chance that Mark Green might be our next mayor. My best friend has described him the funniest way so far: He's "Snow Miser" from "The Year Without a Christmas." His big head, the weird white hair, the hook nose -- yes, He's Mr. White Christmas, He's Mr. Snow. He's also an egotistical, clueless, leftist whiner. His solution to all problems? Sue 'em! He really needs to tuck his inner weenie back in his pants and for God's sake, is THIS the best the NY Democratic Party can do? No wonder we're rapidly turning into a city of red-eyed conservatives.

3. There's also a looming, but slimmer chance that Mike Bloomberg will be mayor. This doesn't bother as much as Green's ascension to a throne he's so not worthy of, but still, rich hypocrites who view the mayorality as some sort of cap feather for their future episode of "Biography!" scare me too. Altho' I'm old enough to remember Rockefeller, so ... It's Bloomberg for me, even if he's about as Republican as Bella Abzug.

4. The house is getting cold again and I'm too lazy for redoing the insulation. Even the cat is glaring at me from under the comforter and my husband talks gaily about the nice heat in his office. Ugh. Such a pain in the ass, especially miserable this year since I, like everyone else, wants to pretend that the fall never happened. This is going to be a harsh, cruel winter, I think.

On a note of hope, stuff that doesn't suck:

1. Got to read Part Three of "Fathers and Sons" by Lexlovesclark. Great fic, great penname too and it certainly relieves a good deal of stress. There was also a tasty little treat of "Yes" by Caroline Baker featuring fun-loving angsty, Slut!Clark. On FFN, there's a Suicidal!Clark fic, ("Unbreakable") and while not slash, I have to say it's always fun to see how a poor Superboy might try to off himself. Okay, maybe not "fun" -- but you know.

2. Might get to finish Part Three of Liberty today. Got some nice responses, which blow me away, since I figure that people really don't read my web page and this proves me wrong. That's nice.

3. This isn't really "not-sucky" but I wish more people would use the Smallville Slash Archive, especially since their fic is so good, it really deserves the wider audience who use the archive exclusively, not wanting to belong to any list. I know the self-submission form is a little intimidating but it's really worth it. Maybe someone should volunteer to upload the stuff to the form. Maybe it shouldn't be me. Yep, it must not be me. Oh hell, I'll think about it.

4. There *was* enough coffee left in the bottom of the can to make two decent cups. Thank God.

5. Tomorrow is "X-Ray" -- "CLARK!" Ah,Screaming!Lex. Gotta love him.

Here's hoping for a brighter Tuesday.

2001-11-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

Just a note on the 2001 NYC Marathon:

It was a truly dumb idea. I can think of nothing more inviting to terrorists than that event, one that goes up and down all the boroughs, over bridges and is shown on international TV, with thousands upon thousands of potential victims. Not to mention that the helicopters and fighter jets buzzing my house for days on end has gotten rather tiresome. People have been crying in the street, thinking we are under attack again, only to discover that we're just prepping for 30,000 skinny out-of-towners to jog up Fourth Avenue in their underwear.

Screw that. I'm all for living your life and all that crap, but the NYC Marathon has little or nothing to do with New York. It's a rat race of show-offs from Bazooland, or even worse, France. Let them hold it on the Autobahn or somewhere else for a change. As for me, I'm just waiting until I can cross the streets again without looking up, getting ready to duck.

2001-11-04T12:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, now I get this blogger thing. Took me a few days to figure it out, genius that I am.

Watched the Yankees last night and winced. Sure, everyone else is allowed to hate the Yankees but I'm a New Yorker see, and I don't get that sort of luxury (even though as a denizen of the outerboroughs I'm allowed the Met Dispensation, but that's another story entirely.) The funny thing? They scored two runs the second I stopped watching. Of course, they were thirteen runs behind at that point ...

I think I won't watch tonight. It can only bring them luck.

Saw "Miss Congeniality" last night while escaping the massacre that was Game Six and damn if it wasn't totally slashy. Maybe my head is a little overboard with slash these days after discovering the Slash Mecca that is Clark and Lex on "Smallville." Mmmm, Clark and Lex, making out, pulling back, making out again. Guh. Drool.

I really love Clark and Lex. Can you feel it?

Sorry. Anyway, Sandra Bullock is now officially a hottie as far as I'm concerned and I was very interested to see what amounted to a flaming Robert Downey Jr. (a very young RDJ) as "Derek" in a bad 80's comedy "Back to School" starring, of all people, Rodney Dangerfield. It was a bit part, he was the best friend of Rodney's kid (who was also as gay as all out) and they needed to make out, really badly. The bad thing about all this unexpected slash from old HBO reruns? Who else would understand such depravity but myself and a few other old ladies who still sit forward in their wheelchairs hoping some special S & H out-take might appear. You know, the one where they kiss, have sex, get married, and live happily ever after.

A long sort of special out-take.

I'm listening to the Austin Powers II soundtrack and will find out more about The Lucy Nation. My nephew was impressed he was able to borrow an Alien Ant Farm CD from me the other day. I'm now officially "Not That Bad." From a fourteen year old this is high praise indeed.

2001-10-30T18:21:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog. Not quite sure what this is but it looks like fun. Let's see.