It Started with a Journal

I've just found out something crazy. Lady Gaga is 5'1". :O I freaking love her "Bad Romance" video and I watched it again recently and was just noticing randomly to myself that she's super thin but not in a "I work out all the time" way, and it got me wondering if she was actually just a small person. And SHE IS. But I had no idea she was THAT small, she's even shorter than me! Weird. Talk about someone with a big personality.

The Avengers and Green Day's newest album are coming out on the same day. I feel like I should be taking a personal holiday or something. I already have the new album ("Oh Love" is still the best song from it), and I know my Avengers Blu-ray is on its way. With any luck I might even get it early (today)!

I. am. exhausted. 90% of that has to do with work, because of reasons. The other 10% is because I have recently read THREE awesome Avengers stories and must rec the snot out of them. Which isn't the best mental image but you should read them anyway. They're all so meaty and satisfying.

- White Blank Page by allisnow. For the last month or so I've been really hankering to read a long, satisfying, plotty fic with in-character Avengers and gorgeous Clint/Natasha, and that need has finally been met. You don't need the summary (it's not going to tell you much anyway), just go read it. To tell you the premise would be to give something away that I think is better to learn by reading. Just trust me, OK? I'm really glad I waited until it was fully done posting, though, because I'm a wallower, and boy did I enjoy being able to gorge myself on it in one long sitting, wallowing happily.

- Two for the Show by mousie tongue. Fuck. This story. Ohmygod. My heart was in my throat the ENTIRE TIME. I was like, "If this doesn't end well, I am going to destroy everything in my house." Clint. CLINT. He makes me want to stuff him in a little backpack and carry him around with me everywhere. I really enjoy stories where he's being abused and tortured, apparently. I don't know how other writers do it; I can't bear to do it myself, but I'll read the heck out of it. Anyway, this is a high school AU wherein Natasha ends up in the same group home that Clint's in. It's complete, but I'd give up my first-born child for one more chapter. This story blows my mind because Clint and Natasha are completely chaste. It's like an Asian drama, practically, because they don't fucking hold hands or kiss or outright state what they mean to each other... And yet. AND YET. YOU JUST KNOW. This could be like an instructional example of how to show and not tell, in storytelling.

- A Widow's Tale (series) by Mhalachai. OK, I reaaaallllly liked this series, but I don't rec it as qualm-lessly as I do the above two, because a) there's Clint/Natasha, but it's a very small part of the overall story (and you see/hear of Natasha with /Others, though not while she's with Clint); and b) it's a Stargate Atlantis crossover, which might not appeal to everyone, though it didn't make a single difference to me that I'd never seen a single Stargate show/movie/whatever. Also, I'm not sure that the series is actually done, though "Widow's Letters" totally has a satisfactory ending and could totally be seen as "the end" whether or not there are more stories forthcoming. The premise of this story is unique in that it keeps to Natasha's original comic book background -- she's a child in the 1940s and doesn't age due to the experiments that were performed on her (the vast majority of stories I've read simply bump her timeline up, so that she's the same age as Scarlett Johansson), a la Wolverine. Anyway, one of her deep cover assignments early on involved being married to Patrick Sheppard, with whom she had a son, John Sheppard (of Stargate Atlantis). The series is primarily about re-establishing their relationship after 30 years. The Clint/Natasha happens very, very gradually, and it's pretty fun to read a story where the tables are turned on the age difference between them, because even though Natasha LOOKS young, she literally has a son who is ONE YEAR OLDER than Clint. Sheppard actually refers to Clint as Natasha's 'boytoy' at one point. TEE.HEE. The best/meatiest story (and when C/N shows up) is the fourth story in the series, "Widow's Letters." I don't think you have to read the first three to understand it (as long as you know the premise), but it's nice to have the backstory, too.

All three stories above have very liberal doses of delicious angst. On the opposite end of that spectrum, I'm two scenes away from finishing a story, but it's a very silly AU that's going to need some significant pre-beta work. >.>

I'm rereading Wuthering Heights, because I absolutely loved it as a teenager and haven't read it since then. I don't know why, maybe I've been afraid that it wouldn't hold up or something. Anyway, of the Bronte sisters' works, it's my favorite, and it's always annoyed me that it doesn't get the same kind of accolades that Jane Eyre, which I've never cared for, has. I also find myself wondering about a chicken/egg situation -- do I love literary assholes because of Heathcliff, or did I love Heathcliff because I've always been attracted to literary assholes? *ponders deep thoughts*

And... I've also been watching a lot of TV. A lot. ( Don't be frightened. )

I've also been doing some minor exercise, which for me, is huge. I haaaaaaaaaate exercising. I used to go to the gym, and I dreaded it. DREADED IT. Renner apparently feels the same, which just makes him even more perfect. And obviously has way more discipline than I do, given his freaking body. -.-

( GIFs. May not be safe for work, depending on how prudish your coworkers are. )

Went to a Seattle Sounders game this weekend. Unlike baseball, I enjoy watching soccer even when I'm not really following the team. I mean, you have agile guys in nylon shorts running up and down a field, what's not to like? I really didn't want to go (as adelagia can attest to, as I kept bitching about it), because it was with work people and I felt like it was cutting into MY weekend, but I ended up having fun. People have to fight tooth and nail to make me overcome my hermit tendencies. >.>

Jeremy Renner is reportedly in negotiations to replace Christian Bale in some David O. Russell movie. He's replaced Christian in my affections, so why not this movie too, I say. :)) Basic premise of movie: Based on the true story of a notorious financial con artist (Mel Weinberg) and his mistress, who were forced to work with an intense and ambitious FBI agent (Jimmy Boyle) to turn the tables on other con artists, mobsters and politicians.

What doesn't make sense, if what Variety is reporting is correct, is that Bradley Cooper will take over the role CB was to play (con artist Weinberg), while JR would take over BC's original role (FBI agent Boyle). Not that I don't like Bradley, but Weinberg sounds like a meatier role and more apropos for a two-time Oscar nominee like Jeremy. Plus, as much as I like seeing Jeremy star in big-budget action films, I really want to see him win an Oscar and that's not going to happen with him playing bland good-guy roles. Jeremy plays bad guys with such believable intensity. I mean, I like seeing him as the good guy, too, but his bad guys have depth and a gray quality that not everyone can bring (sorry Bradley, you definitely can't). Boyle sounds like it might be a more interesting good guy role than most, but considering CB was originally going to play Weinberg, I have to think that's the more interesting role (the only time CB bizarrely chose a less-interesting role was in Terminator: Salvation, when he insisted on playing John Connor instead of the terminator, which went to Sam Worthington). It just makes no sense to me that Bradley would step into Christian's shoes, when on an acting level Jeremy and Christian are more comparable.

You know, it's really strange. Friday always seems to take forever to get here. And yet, when it comes to my weekly writing assignment (which is due on Fridays), it seems to always. be. Friday. Argh.

I've now watched S1 of Leverage and I think, sadly, that's as far as I can go. ( Spoilery commentary. Also I touch on Psych, The Unusuals, Lie to Me, Monk, Community, and Fringe. >.> )

Breaking Bad has aired two eps of S5 and so far I'm keeping up with it. I really don't want to be spoiled, I guess is my main motivator. I just have one thing to say about the new season so far, which is pretty much the same thing that could be said about every season: Walt's such an asshole.

I'm also going to start S5 of Mad Men soon. I think I got spoiled for something, but I'm not sure. I'm just glad it wasn't more. I had to scroll by all of the stuff they'd post about it on Slate. Freaking news orgs shouldn't report on the content of TV shows! And certainly not on the front page! Grrrrrr.

Another fun vid: Two artists playing Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" on a floor keyboard... possibly at FAO Schwarz?