Delightfully Useless

Theorem: The universe is awesome.

Proof: "Spock vs. Q" and "Spock vs. Q: The Sequel" are both available on YouTube.

I could squee about the writing, the acting, the unexpected singing, and of course the whole concept of these odd little arcana - a pair of radio-play-like scenarios recorded live in Kansas City (don't ask me why Kansas City) by the original actors, packed full of ridiculous Trekkish hilarity...

...but I think the title says it all. Spock versus Q. Battle of the sardonically raised eyebrows FTW!

I'd provide a link, but I don't know how quickly it would go out of date, so just do the search, and be prepared for awesome. ;D

(It's a major shame this is not a video recording. I'd buy the DVD. It *is* available on CD, but the DVD would be so much more incredible.)

(Okay, this is what I did: http://www.livejournal.com/misc/autopost.bml)

Thanks to ScreenMusings, I finally haz Ducky screencaps! They only have six eps of NCIS capped thus far, but that's actually a good thing... I would have when he was telling off the Klingon captain about asking him to betray the Enterprise. And the big standoff... the writer had SO MUCH FUN with this episode! *loves*

S1E16: 11001001 I thought this one was more interesting in concept than in execution. I enjoyed the way Data's attempt at painting was tied in to the question of computers and creativity, but the Save the Alien Planet subplot just seemed sort of thrown in for the occasion. There was too much time spent playing with the Illya-in-drag motif earlier today (other than that I had to do these! (But I didn't like the answer choices very much - they were almost entirely fanon rather than canon. I did both quizzes, but I think the result from the Napoleon one is more accurate... *g*)

Bagged from lothithil , but the direct link is here.

The first quiz I did (of course) was "Which Illya Kuryakin are you?

this quiz was made by lyrebird

I have no idea if anyone's interested in this, but I always like to see what other people think of a show when they start watching it without knowing half the storylines from spoilers already... doesn't happen to me very often. *g* However, thanks to Beth's helpful suggestions, I'm actually watching Star Trek: The Next Generation for the very first time more or less "from scratch".

So I thought, since I like to read other people's mini reaction posts to older shows, I'd do one myself now I'm finally in a situation where I can.

( Rambliness under the cut! )

So... that's what I've seen so far. In the main, I quite like it, though I do rather see why Beth suggested I should skip season one! ;-)

I can't imagine why I keep posting these things, since obviously nobody is interested... but I rather like to natter on all introspectively about my writing process, anyway.

( Under the cut )

You know, I'd really like to read about y'all's writing processes, too...

There is a handspinning event called the "Tour de Fleece" which runs concurrent with the Tour de France. (Okay, there are actually two of them, but let's not get confused here...)

So, since this year I happen to have 1: spinning know-how 2: a drop spindle 3: fluffy stuff to spin (there are several technical terms, and to be frank I never quite know which one applies), I have been spinning. And I thought I'd just show off a couple pictures of my handspun yarn, since it looks like yarn now. :-)

The colors aren't too accurate in this first one, since it was taken outdoors in the late afternoon.




This closeup isn't nearly as bright as the actual yarn, but it does show the detail a lot better. (Fingers included for approximate scale.)

So stunt_muppet was wondering on her journal how other people manage to write such little short fics - a whole story in 400 words or some such. She asked, "Short-fic-writers on my flist, how exactly do you do it? How do you find the perfect small slice of a scene to write about? How do you condense an idea into such a small space?"

Well, in a classic example of "the grass is greener", I've always wondered how other people can write so much in one story that ficathons with minimum requirements of 1,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 words are common! So I offered to do a ramble/analysis post about how my fics are so short. Here it is.

( I have no trouble cranking out the words in non-fiction, of course, so they are under here. )

LOL, now I find myself wanting to remix "Well, That's Just Ducky" and see if I could make it into a longfic! *g*

It's Thursday again? Time for some Tolkien, I think. I keep trying to learn this one... he was so good with nature topics and alliteration both.

Cat
by J.R.R. Tolkien

The fat cat on the mat
may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
for him, or cream;
but he free, maybe,
walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
and tender men.

The giant lion with iron
claw in paw
and huge ruthless tooth
in gory jaw;
the pard dark-starred,
that oft soft from aloft
leaps on his meat
where woods loom in gloom -
far now they be,
fierce and free,
and tamed is he;
but fat cat on the mat,
kept as a pet,
he does not forget.

Thursday! Poem!

Seal Lullaby
by Rudyard Kipling

O hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us
And black are the waters that sparkled so green;
The moon o'er the combers looks downward to find us
Asleep in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow;
Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas.



(I do so love my Kipling... I think if I ever buy a Complete Poems it'll be his. So, so awesome.)

stunt_muppet wanted people to repost this meme, so I am. A little background: there is apparently an "id-fic" trend going round LJ, wherein people ask other people to tell them which bits of their subconscious tend to show up in their writing/comments/favorite stories/whatnot. Or something like that.

So here's the meme:

Look at my fandoms, my favorite characters, the pairings I like the most, my kinks, my fictional crushes, anything. Now, in a friendly and possibly teasing way, point out the obvious and not so obvious trends or fetishes you see in my tastes. Maybe I'm nuts for all vampire stories, or have a thing for men who smoke, or I'm fond for the tsundere archetype, or I'm into rival slash. Let's point out all those things you've noticed I tend to squee about during our friendship.

Being an introspective child, I can think of a few patterns right off the bat, but I'm rather interested to see what anyone else might come up with. (My master fic list is stickied on my journal, just so's you know if you want to use that for reference. But be warned, I don't fic about nearly everything I squee about. *points to username*)

Of course, I'd be more than happy to answer this meme for anyone else who wants me to! :-)

Another poetry post... I think I might do this once a week. There's so much lovely poetry in the world to share, both the miles of it already inside my head and the bunches I still need to learn.

Whence, this poem. ;-)

An Overworked Elocutionist
by Carolyn Bailey Wells

Once there was a little boy whose name was Robert Reese,
And every Friday afternoon he had to speak a piece.
So many poems thus he learned that soon he had a score
Of recitations in his head, and still kept learning more.

Now this is what happened: he was called upon one week
And totally forgot the piece he was about to speak.
His brain he cudgelled; not a word remained within his head!
And so he spoke at random, and this is what he said.

"My beautiful, my beautiful, that standest proudly by,
It was the schooner Hesperus! the breaking waves dashed high!
Why is this forum crowded? What means this stir in Rome?
Under a spreading chestnut tree, there is no place like home!

"When freedom from her mountain height cried 'Twinkle, little star',
Shoot if you must this old gray head, King Henry of Navarre!
Roll on, thou deep and dark blue castled crag of Drachenfels;
My name is Norval - on the Grampian heights, ring out, wild bells!

"If you're waking, call me early, to be or not to be,
Curfew must not ring tonight! O woodman, spare that tree!
Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on! and let who will be clever,
The boy stood on the burning deck, but I go on for ever!"

His elocution was superb, his voice and gestures fine;
His schoolmates all applauded as he finished the last line.
"I see it doesn't matter," Robert thought, "what words I say,
So long as I declaim with oratorical display."


(Better yet, I found a web page that hyperlinks each quotation here to the poem it originally came from! *squee*)