It Started with a Journal

Okay, so I have this epic fic planned wherein I use like a dozen different prompts from the be_compromised promptathon. I have an outline planned out and everything. But it's SO big and daunting that I don't know if I can actually write it -- at least with any kind of speed. And I kind of feel like speed is important, because I don't really want to use a prompt that's been done (and probably very well) before. >< I mean, given the amount of time and effort that would be involved to tell the story I want to tell, seriously, I don't want to produce something that's just a retread of someone else's work. But I can't stop thinking about the story. For this I blame allisnow, whose "friends with benefits" prompt got the muse whispering in my ear. I wrote a big old "friends with benefits" story in my XF days, and I have always loved the concept and would love to apply it to Clint/Natasha, but... yeah. Start from the beginning of this paragraph and go in an endless circle.

And before even tackling that, I'd really like to get this other story I have written edited and posted, but Jade has been super busy lately so hasn't had time to beta it. And I just can't post a story (not a drabble) without that; everything in me rebels at the thought. No posting unbetaed stories. Period.

Last night I indulged in a spending spree, buying an Avengers-related t-shirt that I've been wanting for awhile (what kept stopping me is the idea of paying $20 for a t-shirt. No t-shirt should cost more than $5 imho, lol). Once I get it, a photo will be forthcoming. Then I bought a gazillion Blu-rays/DVDs, basically to round out my Jeremy Renner collection. I'm still missing Take, Fish in a Barrel, Thor, and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, but I have most of the others now. A photo of all of them will also be forthcoming. I also preordered The Avengers. The end of September is soooooo far awaaaaay.

For Mortal Instruments fans... this is something worth reading, imho. Cassie recently made (or rather, re-made) this post on Tumblr, regarding "Magnus and whitewashing." ( Going to copy the full text here, because I think it's important. )

She's completely right, and after reading it I felt vaguely ashamed for ever wanting Robert Sheehan to play Magnus. I even said, not too many posts ago, that I thought he was perfect "other than the fact that he isn't Asian." I guess it's because there are so few Asian American actors being given work, period, especially in that age group, that not one single appropriate actor occurred to me. And yes, other than not being Asian, Robert Sheehan did fit my idea of what Magnus would be like: tall, thin, fabulous.

But I shouldn't have lessened the importance of his ethnicity, given that I am Asian American myself, and should be supporting minority characters, given how few of them there are. And especially because it would seem, just like from the Rue situation from Hunger Games, that some faction of people are confused as to why they would hire an Asian actor (or in Rue's case, a black actress). Never mind that BOTH OF THOSE CHARACTERS are fully described by the author as being Asian and black, respectively. Do those people just not know how to read, or is it just so ingrained in them to think of all people/characters being white that they can't imagine any differently, despite being outright told so, and multiple times in the books? It boggles the mind.

Anyway, this was the bit that got to me most: Technically, Magnus is biracial. I would be perfectly happy with a biracial actor playing him — but otherwise the option is an Asian actor, not a white actor. It doesn't matter if any of Magnus' background is white. Casting him white would erase that part of his background that is Asian. And important. There are plenty of roles out there for white actors. Most roles are for white actors. This is not one of them. There is very little I have control over as regards casting. I cannot pick an actor for Magnus. I don't have that ability. But I can say, and say strongly, that I want them to cast an Asian or half-Asian actor, and I did. It is pretty much the one ironclad demand as regards casting that I have made, i.e.: if you don't cast an Asian actor, I'll never talk about this movie again, nor will I see it.

I should've felt that strongly about it myself from the get go, but sadly I'm also somewhat cynical when it comes to Hollywood, been let down countless of times before, so rather than take up my pitchfork about something I figured was probably inevitable (that they'd just cast however they wanted to, with no regard to "how it's supposed to be"), I just let it slide. But I am super glad that she made a stand about it -- any kind of stand, really, because hardly anyone ever does, and the fact that it's just accepted (by myself included) is disappointing and sad.

I've just learned that Robert Sheehan has been cast as Simon in City of Bones. WTF? As thrilled as I will be to see him in something again (though he should never have left Misfits, imo), he doesn't fit Simon at all!!!!!!!! If anything, he's MAGNUS. I've said from the start that he'd be my choice for Magnus, other than the fact of him not being Asian. But SIMON? What? -.-

But this is just all too fitting for a cast that has Jamie Campbell-Bower as Jace. In the books, I prefer Jace to Simon by A LOT a lot. Now it seems inevitable that I'm going to like Simon more than Jace, and it'll ruin the books/movies for me, because Clary will look like an idiot for choosing JCB over Robert. UGH.

Maybe I just won't watch the movie so that I can continue to enjoy the books. I don't WANT to call JCB to mind when I'm picturing Jace! I JUST DON'T.

It's the last round of the YA Crush tournament and Jace (Mortal Instruments) is up against Zachary (Shade). I'm on Team Jace but vote for who you like here!

I have seen 3 more movies since my last post. Captain America, Thor (that's where my subject line comes from :P), and HP7p2. I have enjoyed them all. But I think I enjoyed Chris Hemsworth the most. I cannot WAIT to see the Joss Whedon-directed Avengers movie!

Are there any other Starcraft fans out there? I haven't played Starcraft II yet but it's pretty much the same concept so I still know what's going on when watching vids. Anyway, Day[9], a pro player who mostly shoutcasts these days, hosts "funday Monday" in which there's a theme, something you have to do, during your games. In this particular instance, it's that you have to lift off your command center in some way (playing Terran, of course). In part 2, starting around the 14 min mark, he shows two games that were so funny I cried from hilarity. The second game... omg the second game. I mean, I'm not a great player myself so I can't call them idiots or anything but... let's just say it was a comedy of errors.

ropo told me about the Thundershirt, which is apparently just some shirt that dogs wear that will solve excessive barking, anxiety, etc. Has anyone actually ever tried this on their dog or know someone who has? Does it actually work? Because if so, I'm getting one for Talis and never taking it off again.

Finally, have y'all been following the posting of stories on dgficexchange? I believe we are nearing the end. I participated, but can't tell you which story is mine, obvs. But there have been a number of good ones (again, can't tell you which I liked or that would make it obvious which ones I didn't write), so if you like D/G you should check it out!

The insane shopping spree continues. It's not my fault! Suddenly all the stuff I've been considering for weeks if not months has become available; it's not my fault it's all happening at the same time, is it???

The first thing is that today's Woot deal is the WiFi-3G Nook (refurbished) for $99. Hello, this thing is $199 new/retail! And Barnes & Noble sells the refurbished version of this Nook on eBay for $140! You guys might remember that around January I was asking about eReaders. I've been hemming and hawing about it ever since. But with a deal like that, how can I refuse? I can't.

The second thing is all corianderstem's fault. I looooooved her Twiggy Union Jack Studded handbag and wanted it, but it's been sold out at HSN for ages. On eBay people have been listing it at nearly double what it cost retail, which I refused to pay. But then recently someone listed it at retail price, in the brown leather (which is super rare)! So I had to get it too!!

*blows smoke off credit card*

Both things are good for my Chicago trip, though! Now I can return all my library books and check them out digitally! And that means there won't ever be a 'checked out' copy that I can't get, right? So the whole library catalog is mine! Or is that not how it works? As for the handbag... it's a really big bag so I can use it to travel with! It's a good bag to take onto the plane with me.

No more spending money, I swear. Well, there's the Restaurant Week stuff I already have planned, but that's it. No more merchandise.

Am more than halfway through B4 of the MI series. It's going really quickly. I just love Jace. And Simon's growing on me. I never really liked him as much as I think CC wanted me to, in the previous 3 books, but I'm getting there. I find that I like his interactions with the male characters a whole lot more than his interactions with the female characters (maybe because, for the most part, I like the guys more than the girls in this series).

Did some more Wii Fit yesterday. It can't decide whether I'm a couch potato or a yoga trainer, lol. Some of the yoga exercises I kick ass at, and then others... we won't speak of the others. The strength exercises are mostly fine, except for the one with the push ups. SCREW THOSE.

So after all the drama and controversy (on my LJ if not RL), I ended up going to the Indian dinner after all. LOL. Long story short, K. got a sitter (without ANY prompting from me, I was not reluctant or passive aggressive at all in any of my talks with her about it) so I got to go. I'm really glad I didn't say anything to her now, even though I totally understand why so many people thought I should, because I would have created strife for nothing! I mean, I suppose there's still the fact that she asked me to do it in the first place, which I agree wasn't cool, but I also understood that at the time, she felt that she had no other choice, and she does a lot of cool stuff for me. (Like, say, the Billy Elliot musical!)

Case in point: She was at the farmer's market and one of the vendors was selling their special apple cider balsamic vinegar, which they age for 7 years. It's only sold once a year. She picked up a bottle for me. It is SO RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. It doesn't taste like any vinegar I've ever had. It's so apple-y and flavorful it's almost like a syrup, except it's also got the tang of balsamic vinegar. Delicious.

Currently ropo and I are still homeless in Chicago, lol. I won't start to panic until about a week from now. At the moment I'm still trying to get the best deals on Priceline/Hotwire. I've gotten many awesome suggestions for food places. :D They're in LJ and email, so I'm going to consolidate and have this be my easy reference post.

( Grub in Chicago! )

I introduced K. to The Mortal Instruments series (she liked it) and she in turn introduced it to C., who loved it. Now C. is asking me for more recommendations and I find myself hard pressed to come up with any. I mean... I guess there aren't as many of those types of novels as I thought (she's already read The Hunger Games and Twilight) -- at least, good ones. I don't want to recommend really typical teen lit that has no other plot than the teen angst (like Meg Cabot or Elizabeth Scott). I'll mention A Song of Ice & Fire but I'm not sure that's what she's looking for. She's looking for books like The Mortal Instruments, and to my surprise I don't think there are any others of its ilk that I'd recommend.

I have a new shopping weakness: HauteLook. They sell really high-end designer stuff at steeply discounted prices, but you can't see what the deals are unless you're a member (it's free to join). Every day there's a different set of items/designers on sale that day (about a dozen), from makeup to clothes to rugs to vacation spots. As I said, it's all very high end and discounted. The other day I picked up a couple pairs of designer jeans, just because I couldn't resist! >< It's a brand I've heard of -- Not Your Daughter's Jeans -- but don't know how they actually look on me. This is the danger of HauteLook!! A few weeks ago I also ordered some makeup by Rock & Republic, and I have to say I LOVE it. Really good makeup and the packaging is awesome. I could never justify buying this stuff full price.

With that subject line, is it possible I don't have your attention? :P

I hope the DG gals don't mind, but we didn't finish all of the cheesecake at work so I'm bringing it with me to our get together tomorrow! It was the first time I'd made this particular cheesecake (and second time overall), a recipe from Dorie Greenspan. I was worried because the photo of the cheesecake in the cookbook is pale on top, whereas my cheesecake was very brown (as it says it should be in the recipe). There was a post about her cheesecake on Dorie's blog, so I replied and asked about it. I was wondering if I'd missed a step or something. You don't know how excited I was when I checked my email this morning and saw an email from Dorie! It is so cool that she took the time to respond to me and so quickly. (Answer: She doesn't know why the photo shows the cheesecake being pale on top, when she makes it, it turns brown just as mine did.)

( Cheesecake pictures. )

In other, totally frivolous news... Bradley James is one of the 10 'finalists' in the poll for Mortal Instruments casting (as Jace)! Eeeeeeee!!!!! Go vote for him! He's a tad old for the role, but they always cast older anyway. And even if he won there's of course no guarantee that he would actually be offered the role or would even want to take it, but I would hope that at that point it would at least be a possibility. :D So I must once again say: BRADLEY JAMES FOR JACE!

UPS's delivery schedule annoys me. Yes, why don't you deliver during the hours when people are most likely to be at work? GREAT idea. It's not so bad when they can leave the package at the door (then the worry is just that someone's going to take the package before you get home), but when it requires an in-person signature, sheesh! There's so much delay as they try to deliver over and over, and then you end up having to drive out of your way to pick it up from their service center. That's what I had to do today to finally get that Nikon macro lens I bought. I could have had it DAYS ago!

Lunch with the DG girls yesterday was fun and fab as usual, even if poor adelagia was slaving away at work and couldn't join us, and lyndsiefenele forgot what day it was and woke up when we were all supposed to meet (but slitherhither and I did walk around with her at the Ballard farmer's market and also to look for an ATM). Heehee. I was forced to order something new at Senor Moose because what I always get at dinner isn't on their lunch menu, and I really liked it! It was their carne asada sencillas, which came with seared steak, avocado, salsa, beans & cheese, and grilled bell pepper. I also tried elle_blessing's cactus, which was actually pretty good! The texture was like grilled bell pepper, but more cactus-y in taste. :D

It was pretty warm the last couple of days, and I repotted a number of my seedlings that were getting rather large, as well as the potted basil. The basil, btw, looks absolutely fine now that they haven't been in that window. I KNEW it was sunburn. Anyway, I've been trying to harden off the seedlings, except the 10-day forecast says rain, rain, rain! Argh. So how can I harden them off in terms of heat, when there's no heat to be had? Sigh. I guess I'll just have to restart the process in June, when it will hopefully be drier and warmer. I also think I am going to try to make my own organic pesticides because something has been eating the basil plant that's outside in the bed, and I can see other insects around. Ew. BTW, I totally thought that outside basil plant was dead, but this weekend I noticed that it has new growth! So it's trying to survive! All the rain that's expected in the next 10 days may end up drowning it though. :/

I went to Flower World again this weekend to pick up some soil. I took many, many pictures of chickens. I will have to share them sometime.

I've started Kushiel's Dart. I'm finding it a bit difficult to get into because of the writing style. I need another fun, fast read like The Hunger Games or Mortal Instruments.