Supernatural Fangirl

6:48pm: Y HALLO THAR IJ
So, LJ is sucking and GJ finally gave up the ghost.

Where are the fun things on IJ? I've been meaning to get more active here anyway.

5:59pm: So, is LJ FUBAR'd for everyone, or is that just me?

5:43pm: Studios may owe actors over writers' strike
I wonder what the chances are of the studios actually forking the money over. Not much, I bet.

The writers strike may have ended four months ago, but the studios still have checks to write -- at least according to actors.

Because of an obscure provision in the contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood studios, hundreds of actors could be owed more than $10 million in back pay as a result of being thrown out of work when the writers strike shut down TV production last year.

SAG has quietly lodged claims against more than 80 shows on behalf of "series regulars" who lost their jobs temporarily during the writers walkout, which shut down such hit shows as "Lost," "CSI" and "Ugly Betty." The union contends the producers violated a so-called force majeure clause in the current contract that entitles actors to receive roughly 2 -1/2 weeks' pay if they are suspended due to extraordinary circumstances such as a strike. Series regulars include stars and those who have a recurring role on a show.

Source.

Read on Blogspot.

5:12pm: Gillian Anderson pregnant
X-Files star Gillian Anderson is pregnant with her third child, her manager says. Anderson, 39, has a 13-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son.

"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" will be released July 25.

6:04pm: Because Alex IS special.
A Florida Kindergarten teacher led her students one by one to tell a 5-year-old boy what they didn't like about him -- and then let them vote on whether he should be allowed to stay in the class. The student, Alex Barton, is in the process of being tested for Asperger's Syndrome and other possible special needs. So far, the school district has only reassigned the teacher while an investigation takes place.

If you're as outraged and disgusted about this as I am, please take a few minutes to contact the St. Lucie County School Board at webmastr@stlucie.k12.fl.us, or call Lucie County Schools Superintendent Michael J. Lannon at (772) 429-3925 (fax #: 772.429.3916, email: lannonm@stlucie.k12.fl.us), or contact the school principal, Marcia Cully at (772) 337-6730 (email: cullym@stlucie.k12.fl.us) and tell them so.

Because Alex has been repeating the phrase "I'm not special" since the incident, there's information here about a card-writing campaign to let Alex know that he IS special.

10:50am: Free online classes?
Sorry for the spamminess, but can anyone point me towards one of those universities that have free online classes in all sorts of subjects?

I was just sitting here, regretting that I'm so bad in math and science. Seriously, I've seen school systems in our area offering signing bonuses to math teachers, but elementary teachers are pretty much considered a dime a dozen. But more than that, I'm sick of not being able to help my 7th-grader with her math homework. I feel like I fail at math, and I DON'T WANT TO.

*ahem*

Anyway, if anyone can point me in that direction, I'd appreciate it. :)

6:50pm: Looks like John Edwards has decided to officially endorse Obama. I think this is probably the final nail in Clinton's campaign's coffin. Not sure how I feel about that.

6:14am: Gah, I'm so freakin' tired. Ron's working nights, and I don't sleep well when he's gone, and to top it off, I woke up and thought it was almost time to get up, so I sort of roused myself...and then realized I had another hour to sleep. Aaaand of course, by then I was too awake to fall asleep again. Ugh.

I went to an all-day seminar on grant-writing yesterday, and it was somewhat interesting.

I was thinking again about trying to get my teaching license, but I tell ya, I can't imagine adding classes and homework and studying for tests to my life. It feels like I barely have time to do the things I do now. Plus, you know, that I don't learn things nearly as easily as I did fifteen or twenty years ago. Not to mention the cost of going back to school. Maybe I should just concentrate on gaining the skills necessary for this job and ones like it. It's a good job, and I like it. The pay's not as good as a teacher's salary, and I don't get summers off, but I love my co-workers. That counts for a lot.

Anyway, woo Supernatural tomorrow!

How're you doing, flist?

6:53pm: Last year, Hannah's end-of-year band concert happened to be the night of the Supernatural season finale. Guess what? Yep, it is this year, too.

Heh. I already told Ron we have to sneak out after Hannah's band plays...the eighth-grade band can play without us. :D

6:03pm: Num num gimme some.
I just made the most yummy and easy supper ever. As this certainly doesn't happen often, I decided to share. ;D

( Ground Beef Dinner )

SO GOOD OMG.

12:10pm: Let's play 'Spot the Supernatural Guest Star'.
I'm watching 'Freddy vs. Jason', and it's like a regular Supernatural guest stars reunion. So far, I've seen Katherine Isabel (Ava), Brendan Fletcher (Max Miller) and Chris Gauthier, Ronald "Are You Working for the Mandroid?" Reznick.

edit: and Kyle Labine, who apparently was Third Teenage Boy in "Hell House", Colby Johannson, James in "Hell House", Tom Butler, who was Harley Jorgeson in "Scarecrow", Brent Chapman, Superintendent in "No Exit"</a>, Kimberley Warnat, Julie in "Bedtime Stories" and Alistair Abell who, it seems was in "Folsom Prison Blues", though no character is listed.

I'm guessing this was filmed in Vancouver. ;)

4:49pm: New York Minute
Bwahaha baby!Jared with his baby!scruff and the Southern accent's still there and I'm trying to ignore the freakiness of the Olsen twins but Jared's character walks into his hotel room and the Olsens are there in towels and he's kinda freaked but he goes "uh...is it my birthday?" *falls over*

11:36am: Add Chex Mix to the gluten-free list!
This is probably interesting to no one but me, but Rice Chex is going gluten-free! I can make Chex Mix for me for the kids! *fistpump*

8:40pm: Razor
( Battlestar Galactica: Razor )

Also? I'm imagining what Supernatural (which gets about the same ratings as BSG, I think) would look like if we had BSG's budget, and trying not to be ill with jealousy. *g*

Not at all related, but less than 24 hours after rejoining Freecycle groups in my area, I'm remembering why I left. The multiple offers of puppies, kittens and young lab-mix dogs is downright depressing and, really, people, wtf is up with posting that you're looking for a 27-inch PLUS TV set? And laptops? And working treadmills? And complete sets of furniture? Greedy asshats. *leaves groups again*

8:12pm: I just finished season 3 Battlestar Galactica.

...

*SHRIEKS*

*downloads season 4 like the frackin' wind*

6:21am: Drop. Your. Sword. [*clang!*]
Also, did anyone else look at these SPOILER pictures for this week's Supernatural and wonder why sfuniverse was posting caps from "The Princess Bride"?

6:12am: You say it's your birthday!
Happy, happy birthday, zillah975! You're one of the best hearts I've known, and I'm so glad we're friends. *loves forever and ever* I hope your day is full of wincake and awesomesauce, sweetie. ♥ ♥ ♥

3:32pm: *flail*
Eyecon is trying to get Jensen and JDM for Eyecon 2 in September! They already have Jared signed. :D

I'm picturing them all three on-stage at the same time. O_O

Oh Em Gee Dubya Tea Eff Elle Oh Elle

I brought the idea up to Ron casually earlier, and he did not immediately declare it the worst idea he's ever heard. However, work schedules may make it impossible. ARGH.

( Less-interesting stuff. )

7:25pm: I give up.
Scene: home. Watching the news. There's a report on women finding they don't get hired when they mention they have kids during a job interview. Reporter tells us that mothers, particularly single mothers, are thought to be unreliable because they may need to be out of work to take care of a sick child.

Ron (looking at me, confused): I dunno...nobody ever asked me if I have children in a job interview.

Me: *blink* THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A WOMAN, DEAR.

Ron: *blink* Ohhh... [beat] ...You mean people ask you that?

Me: Yes. Yes, they do.

Ron: Ohhh...

2:35pm: There I was, innocently watching the local news, when...
Dear Billy:

OMG, what happened to you?! You always seemed like such a nice guy. Such a shame. *tsk*


*sigh* I suppose Hollywood corrupts everyone, eventually.

11:28am: The whole OSBP wank is consuming me. I tried to step away, tried to turn off comments and ignore the conversation, but my reaction to it has been unexpectedly visceral, and I just can't. People on my flist have been wonderful; their posts have been thoughtful and heartfelt and intelligent and often funny as hell. My reaction has been closer to the OH JOHN RINGO NO end of things. I've seen people saying that I never should've brought it up on the dragoncon comm, that I'm just giving people ideas. I respect people's right to think that, but it seems wrong to me to avoid talking about something because it might give men people ideas -- as if they're somehow not expected to be able to stop themselves from acting on ideas, like it's not their fault if they don't control their more base impulses. I'm sure this was not how people meant to sound, but it reminded me very much of the whole 'well, she was asking for it! Did you see how she was /dressed/? She wanted it!' defense against rape. And surprise, surprise, that exact thing turned up in theferrett's original post. They started asking people who were dressed scantily -- who were "displaying their assets" if they could grope them. Because, obviously, the only reason a woman dresses that way is to invite sexual advances. Apparently.

More than one person in the dragoncon post has told me that they have the right to ask women if they can grope them. The right. That there's nothing at all wrong with 'just asking a question'. Two people have asked me in comments if they can grope me, even though I've made it clear that it's not okay to ask me (full disclosure: I deleted those two comments). So tell me, why is it a surprise that I worry that this game/project/gang-grope could get out of control in a setting like DragonCon? 50,000 people crammed into three hotels, many of them inebriated, some of whom think they have the right to ask to grope me even if I expressly have said that's not okay?

I'm physically ill just writing about it; I'm violently angry that we even have to have this discussion -- that there's even a question about whether this kind of thing is okay. I think I got comfortable in my mostly-female space online and forgot that there is this pervasive attitude in the world at large that my body is not entirely mine, that other people have a right to it in some way. That I'm a harpy and a shrew and a shriveled-up old feminazi if I say that this is a revolting idea.

( Cut for possible triggers. )

This is not about me objecting to consenting adults exploring their sexuality. If this is something they want to do with like-minded people, that's great. I'm all for people having all the consensual sex they want. Be wild. Be kinky. Be vanilla. Be poly. Explore your own limits. Celebrate your sexuality. But be damned sure that when you do, you're not bringing people into it who have not consented to do so. It's their right not to be confronted, questioned, cornered or coerced into something they didn't expressly ask for.

That's all.

2:55pm: Just wanted to post that I'm doing okay. Turns out that instead of what I thought was unusually high blood pressure, mine is really low, which is apparently what was making me feel like crap. I went to the (free!) employee wellness center to get checked out, and my BP was 98/64, which I think is the lowest it's ever been. On the one hand, yay, because the doctor said he wants my BP as low as we can get it without me actually passing out from it. On the other hand, boy, do I feel like crap right now. I can has nap nao? The RN at the wellness center said it's probably a result of doubling one of my meds a week ago, and my body should adjust to it. Pls to adjust faster, body.

Anyway, I'm all excited to get more into insanejournal now! I'm going to let my extra icons expire on LJ in a day or so. We'll see if I'm actually willing to let my paid account revert to free in a month or so. Does anyone know if paid accounts will revert to the ad-supported "plus" accounts, or the original basic account? Also, can anyone point me towards interesting IJ comms, especially any that can help me prettyfy my journal? Thanks!

Two days till OMFG NEW SUPERNATURAL! *flails*

8:49pm: The Day Fanfic Turned Jared and Jensen Gay and Totally Ruined Their Lives Forever
Um. I wrote badfic? It's keepaofthecheez's fault.

( J2 badfic, inspired by recent wank. Rated, um...R? )

7:57pm: Nice mention of Operation: Winchester
Sorry about the spamage, but I couldn't /not/ post this!

Op:Win and Fandom Rocks got a really nice mention in The Supernatural Online Fandom: Take Two:

For something truly inspirational, there are two big charity sites. Operation: Winchester is dedicated to sending Supernatural Season one DVDs to the troops overseas via care packages. Word is the show is very popular among the soldiers, and fans are doing their part to show support by delivering them a part of the same joy we get at home. This campaign is ongoing, and details about how to donate can be found on the site. Fandom Rocks recently raised money in the name of Supernatural for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and the Lawrence Humane Society in Lawrence Kansas (which is the hometown of Sam and Dean Winchester). In their latest campaign, they managed to raise $2350 for both charities. The site has a nice profile of each visit to those places and the challenges these facilities face. They also indicate to stay tuned, for another campaign is in the works, but they are always accepting donations online.

Yet again Supernatural fans, you've amazed me, and I’m sure there are still way more that I’m missing. It’s incredible what love and inspiration from one show can do to motivate people in different ways. Once everyone is done with the diversion of the four remaining episodes of the season over the next month, it’ll be time to share that pent up energy online all summer. I’ll be there lurking, taking notes, and having a great time.

Whoot! Also, I really need to update the site.

8:02pm: Collin is SINGING IN THE SHOWER. OMG it is the cutest thing any child has ever done in the history of ever.

What's he singing? "Jingle Bells"! *falls over*

AND NOW HE'S APPLAUDING HIMSELF AND GOING "YAAAAY!"

edit:NOW HE'S SINGING "THE ABC SONG". I AM CLOSE TO DEATH FROM THE CUTE.

edit two:NOW IT'S "TWINKLE, TWINKLE LITTLE STAR" OMG THE WORLD CANNOT WITHSTAND THIS LEVEL OF CUTE. WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!2!