Diary of a Suburban Squeen

Um, what is this? Work is allowing access to LJ and tumblr? Je ne comprends pas! But I like it...

Rah! Fucking LJ stole my fucking post! I was being all amusing and ace and telling you about the coconut cock cake that Emma made me, and the new lip salve I bought, and a doctor curing MS, and getting IDed for a bottle of wine (seriously? Seriously, Tesco woman? I'M NEARLY 30), and nearly dying from biological warfare on the Jubilee line, and being given a giant card made out of an archive box. But now you will never hear about these things. It is a sad day for everyone.

In other news, IT'S MY LAST DAY.

Woo.

So, in light of this meme, let's hear it for me talking about things I don't usually talk about.

It was a short list.

1. Lightbulbs (kathrynw)

I do, in fact, have an opinion on lightbulbs. I am all for energy-saving lightbulbs. Energy saving is a good thing. It helps save the planet (I know, I know: what, at this juncture, does that expression even mean any more? Well, actually, in this instance, they use far less electricity to run, which means less energy has to be produced which means burning fewer fossil fuels (a) which are not a renewable source and therefore likely to run out at some stage and (b) the burning of which produces by-products that have a detrimental effect on the environment - I assume everyone knows that; I don't even know why I even bothered to type it out) and also save us money on our electricity bill. Woo. Everyone wins. However, sadly, energy lightbulbs also suck. They take forever to turn on properly and they aren't as bright even then. Also, the design is ugly. I love the old standard lightbulbs - there's something so iconic about them. I have a standard lightbulb in the lamp on my bedside table, mostly because I'm not sure energy ones would fit with the lampshade without making it look like the lampshade was giving birth to plastic intestines.

2. The Future (megaleena)

The future. Oh, the future. That's a pretty wide remit to ask someone to LJ about, Mog. In terms of the general future, mostly I think it's going to pobble along much as it has already. Maybe in a few years there'll be another massive leap forward in technology and we'll have flying cars, but to be completely frank with you, I don't think Britain's transport structure is up to the challenge (Britain: the country that didn't bother rebuilding and expanding on its Roman roads until the eighteenth century), so I don't really see that happening. Ditto also living on Mars; living in underwater towns; shuttle services to the moon for £37.99 (+ booking fees) with easyShuttle; Vulcans deciding we're technologically advanced enough to contact; Vogons deciding to destroy the planet to build a new hyperspace bypass; world peace. I do worry that this country is becoming increasingly authoritarian (though welcome the news that ID cards are off the agenda for the time being), but mostly I trust that the political pendulum will swing back the other way.

Alternatively, of course, we will have an actual apocalypse (likely causes: massive climate change [cf The Day After Tomorrow]; alien invasion (OK, that's less likely); massive collapse of financial systems; meteorite hitting the earth and Bruce Willis not being available to DRILL INTO ITS CORE to save us; zombies), in which I will soon die due to frequently mentioned inability to fight to the death for scattered remnants of Waitrose inventory.

For my own personal future: who knows? As Anne said, the future is a bend in the road up ahead. Maybe Captain Kirk will come through a time vortex, fall in love with me, and give me an alien STD. Maybe not. Maybe Chris will win the lottery and Katie and I will have a bookshop-cum-tearoom. Maybe I will die tragically young and everyone will weep at my funeral. Maybe I will stumble across the path of a stockbroker or doctor or Waterstones employee or IT advisor or something and get married and have generally neglected children. Maybe I will just chug along as I do now and have my little jobs and Katie and I will indeed end up as old women with scanty pensions and ceramic cats. Who knows? Or dares to dream? /Percy voice.

3. The Great Cooking Challenge 2009 (katherinea)

Shut up, Katherine! Actually, I've done a recipe or two that I haven't LJed about, but I can't remember them now! Maybe I will try again through the Autumn...

4. Are there really things I don't LJ about? (ungratefulwench)

Actually, I don't think this counts as a topic under the meaning of the act but I DON'T CARE; I will treat it as such. No, there aren't really things I don't LJ about. Basically, as everyone has doubtless noticed by now, I like the sound of my own voice (or the look of my own words - whatevs). I have lots of thoughts and they are, naturally, all AWESOME, and I like to share them, whether they're on religion or politics or books or TV or my hair or Jim Kirk and his tiny broken psyche or Spock and his emo life now that I've left him. Actually, you know what I don't LJ about? Other people. I should probably stop being so self-centred, but what is the diary concept about if not being self-centred? Answers on a postcard...

Jizzy Chrizzy, I'm writing Part Two of my Star Trek high school AU (really, I just like having the opportunity to type those delightful words) and it's like getting blood from a stone. I know what I want to write, it's just taking so long!! Thought I would take a little break and do a random fly-by post.

So, what's up with the Squeen? you ask. Meh. Not much. I'm still in my pyjamas, but I just had some cocopops, so yum. Also, am planning spag bol for dinner. Today I was also planning to be domestic, and since katie__pillar and klo_the_hobbit have gone off to Kingston, I have the opportunity to tidy up etc, but, um, no. I'm just sitting around writing fic and listening to Kid Beyond's I Shall Be Free (OMG I love that song) over and over again.

Yesterday, I eventually got dressed and went over to Lee to see the Brownies' exhibition, which was vee nice - good to see my chums but also to have the Brownies take me round it, because Brownies are never not hilarious. Had an OMG THIS IS HOW YOU CAN TELL THE WORLD HATES ME GIANT TRAUMA over some potatoes in Sainsbury's (over £2 for about three potatoes WTF WTF?). xanantha and I had a good deal of squee over going to see Arcadia in a fortnight (ARCADIA! ARCADIA FTW!), I fought pim2005 over a balloon (again) and had a disproportionate number of leg battles with katherinea. Also made a tiny social faux pas. I also redesigned my LJ - woo. Quite pleased with the end result. LOOK AT MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR etc etc, though hopefully will not become pair of legs in lonely desert.

Ho hum. Should get back to my fic. I am on the final stretch, and I am determined to finish it today. STAR TREK HIGH SCHOOL AU FTW!!

ETA: Oh yes, I meant to link to this from Jezebel: This is your life RomCom style. It would be funnier if it weren't depressingly true. I love being a woman but it is weird sometimes.

MAH ICONS.

default	oldest	newest
saddest	happiest	angriest
cutest	sexiest	funniest
fave ship	fave fandom	fave animated
best quote	best textless	best stolen idea
use the most	favorite

HOW MANY ICONS DO YOU HAVE: 111
OUT OF HOW MANY AVAILABLE ICONS SPACES: 115
IF YOU COULD BUY SPACE FOR MORE, WOULD YOU: Maybe.
DO YOUR ICONS MAKE A STATEMENT: From time to time.
WHAT FANDOM DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: Babylon 5
AND THE SECOND MOST: Supernatural
WHAT SHIP DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: Tony & Ziva (though it's only two; I obviously don't have very shippy icons!)
ARE YOUR ICONS MADE MOSTLY BY OTHER PEOPLE: Yep.
DO YOU MAKE ICONS: Yes.
ARE THEY ANY GOOD: Sometimes.
ANIMATED ICONS ARE: Joyous. Except for the shit ones.

DO THE MEME.
Coding can be found here

I just updated my profile page in the manner of a teenage girl. I mean, actually, without even a hint of parody. Shame, shame on me. Must remind myself am 27, not 15.

LOL! At the top of my flist was a post entitled "Five Times Sam Brooded Unsuccessfully". And I didn't know, for that first moment, whether it was Sam Winchester or Sam Tyler. Maybe it's something in the name...

Is it just me, or is LJ absolutely dead at the moment? Surely most people must have finished Harry Pee by now?

In the wake of the Strikethrough 2007 schemozzle, I seem to have seen at least half a dozen newspaper articles about the freakishness of people on the internet. Not related to LJ, just other things. YouTube, MySpace, people stalking other people, setting up fake Facebook accounts, all kinds of things. And what strikes me about the people who write these articles is that they none of them seem to have any comprehension of what internet communities are about and how they work. They no doubt use the internet: email their friends, book their holidays, shop, download music, all the usual stuff. But I would bet that none of them *engage* in the internet in the way that we do. They do not understand that internet communities are, in a way, a separate subculture, in which social rules vary from those in the Real World, and this lack of understanding leads them to interpret, in so very many cases, internet community users as freaks and weirdos who need to get a life. Pah.

Rah. Why is that I can design something from scratch but am utterly incapable of customising things like LJ? All I want is to put a picture at the top of my LJ, and I have no idea how to do this. It's enough to make a girl weep. Does anyone know how to do it?