Which are the Psych episodes with Gus's sister Joy in them, please?

ETA: Is it just the one, "Christmas Joy" from season 3?

So yeah, no writing commitments for me this November, other than some rl projects, merlinfemfest, and maybe yuletide once those assignments go out. I'm happy for my friends who are getting a lot of writing done though! And excited about some of these giant Merlin fics in particular.

( Fleet Radio Audio Commentary )

Yesterday I followed anatsuno's link to remopodmo and committed to spending at least three hours a week on podficcing this month, so I started in with that by recording a little of netgirl_y2k fic yesterday! That's going well and I'm looking forward to getting that and a few shorter podfics done this month. I'll be able to check off another kink_bingo square. And even though the longer ones are harder and more likely to make GarageBand crash, it does feel good to be making more of those, which are likely to be more satisfying for most listeners.

remopodmo is very small and could use more members, btw! It's okay if you missed the first couple days or if you're new to podficcing, as long as you want to make a commitment to record more podfic this month.

netgirl_y2k has a good post about Morgana's characterization this season. (Link goes to the second cut on that post, if you scroll up there's a review of the latest episode.) ( brief Merlin thoughts/feelings and a bit of squee about 3x07 and 3x08 )

If I had lots of time and patience and technical skills and hard drive space and...whatever it is that keeps your computer from crashing, I would try to learn how to vid! I now have four fairly detailed vid bunnies. One of them I won't tell you about because it's totally unoriginal, a song that has probably been vidded a hundred times and a pairing that I think the cool kids tend not to like. Then there are two others I came up with recently that I won't tell you about because I might actually try to do them and I would want them to be a Surprise (or two Surprises!)! But I will tell you the one I thought of last week, which would be to do a Merlin/Morgana vid to the R.E.M. song All the Right Friends.

( my hypothetical upbeat shippy vid for two characters who hate each other )

I so do not have the time or other things and I know I shouldn't even be thinking about this, but I will ask anyway: I'm on a MacBook that has iMovie and I have heard some stuff that I don't really understand about different versions of this app. The version that I have says it is version "8.0.6 (821)" and also that it is "iMovie '09". This is okay, right? iMovie '08 is the one to avoid, and that's different from version 8?

I have a few friends on LJ and Dreamwidth who like swimming laps for exercise. For a while I would read their posts and think "Yuck!" because my main association with swimming is humiliation in junior high gym class. Only lately I've been reading them and thinking "Huh," because, hey, I used to have the same associations with running, but that is now something I enjoy and get a lot of satisfaction from. So, I've been wanting to give it a try and would love some advice from those in the know about how to get started. ( Where do I buy a swimsuit and how do I learn to breathe, for instance? )

This morning I accidentally dropped my backpack that had my beloved laptop Kimiko in it in the street. It's still working fine but one corner of the casing is a little dinged up and some of the paint is chipping off. I just backed up the files on my external hard drive.

I've only had this computer (a Toshiba Satellite) for a year and a half and it's been great for what I need it for but I'm a little worried about how banged up it's gotten. Also its battery only lasts about 25 minutes these days, so it's getting less and less practical for taking places. Of course I could get it a new battery, but I've been thinking about whether I should try getting a new computer instead rather than lugging this one around all the time and worrying it might actually crack up one of these days.

I've been thinking about Macbooks and how pretty they are and how Mac people are so cultish snobbish enthusiastic about them. I've heard they're sturdier, and that would certainly be a good thing. But then I look at the prices and I think, okay, technically I could maybe afford to spend that much money, but how do I justify it when I could get a PC laptop for half of that? Mac people, can you help me?

So then on the other hand I think about these new mini-laptops, netbooks, which are around 3 pounds and $300 and cute. I guess they're mostly supposed to be for the Internet but I could install a word processor on it too, and that would pretty much take care of the stuff that I do when I take my laptop to campus or a coffee shop (reading and writing). Then I could keep Kimiko at home for reading and writing but also watching movies and TV shows, and it wouldn't get so banged up. Anything PC would also probably be more compatible with school/work computers than a Mac. Maybe the small keyboard would make typing on a netbook uncomfortable though, I don't know.

What do you think?

ETA: My eyesight is not awesome. I mean, it's not bad, I wear glasses and they're okay but I still really hate small type and lack of contrast. Does that make a difference? Do netbooks make type any smaller or do they keep it the same size so you just have to scroll more? What's with Apple's website and all the gray-on-white text? Are the computers like that too, when you're doing...operating system type stuff?

ETA2: If you've got all your files on a PC (Mostly Office documents but also PDFs pictures and some videos and other things), how easy is it to transfer them to a Mac?

"Midnight" is just an episodic-type episode, right? Will it matter if I watch it out of order? Like, if I go ahead and watch some later episodes today and come back to it later (since I have it saved somewhere else)?

Which is correct, please?

Merry held onto Frodo
or
Merry held on to Frodo
?

Here is a poll about het fic. You can check more than one box! Please share your thoughts in comments! ( Ticky box! )

I've been toying with the idea of setting up an LJ community for giving and getting constructive feedback on hobbit fics, and I'd like to, well, get some constructive feedback from you all on the idea. The general idea would be something like a writers' workshop -- mind you, not the lame kind of writers' workshop where people try to shoot each other down, but the cool kind where people are genuinely interested in helping each other improve as writers.
( some flipflopping )
Honestly, in general, what do you think? Would you play? Do you have suggestions for keeping it truly constructive and helpful? Do you think people who want concrit would be better off just saying so wherever they already post? Do you think the hobbit writing community is too closely knit and public concrit would create serious conflicts between friends? Would you like to co-mod with me?

I've seen a few of my hobbit-lovin' LJ friends mention that, while for various reasons they prefer not to read slash fiction about the real-life actors who made The Lord of the Rings, they do enjoy some LOTRIPS AU (or is it AR, and what's the difference anyway?), stories about more or less original characters played by our lovely boys and sharing names with them, but usually taking place in exotic settings such as, say, Ancient Egypt or outer space. *waves to trianne*

A few recs for you ladies, and anyone else who's interested, of stories by airgiodslv and elfellon111, two very different but both excellent authors you may not have come in contact with since they don't write about hobbits.

( Read more... )

Okay, and, a quick question about LJ and fanfic customs. If you come across a fic that was posted, say, a year and a half ago but that you've never read before, and that you think is terrific and deserves feedback, do you give it? Would you leave a comment on that fic, send an e-mail, mention it in a comment to a more recent post that the author's more likely to notice, or just let it go?

What are your feelings about warning labels on fics?

( Read more... )