ha ha ha, or maybe ho, ho ho

[vaznetti]

So I had this idea that now that I am back to working part time, I would be able to get back online more. I would update here! Maybe I would do some memes! Maybe I would even write something! What I forgot was that the nature of part-time academic work is that you are in fact doing almost all the work in only half the time (because of childcare) for roughly a quarter of the pay. So what has actually happened is that since starting work, I haven't updated at all. I often don't check my personal email now for whole days. I owe people mail like you wouldn't believe.

Of course as I type this, (while Spartacus naps) I really should be writing a lecture instead.

Needless to say, I will not be doing yuletide this year. Although that may be for the best, because I keep hearing rumors about how Yuletide has been taken over by the crazy this year. That seems so bizarre to me -- I mean, yes, of course it drives everybody crazy, but not usually in the anonymous flaming and trolling kind of way.

In other news, I will probably watch Spooks, although this week I had to dodge in and out of the room because I have a low tolerance for violence against children these days, and by low I mean pretty-much nonexistent, and thought that this episode was particularly heavy-handed and exploitative in that line. On the plus side, Ruth! although she spent quite a lot of time screaming -- did she used to do that?

Actually, I often feel that I shouldn't comment about Spooks online, because other people seem to think it's a good show (I wouldn't disagree), and I never know whether that means that they think it's a quality show (to which I say, in exactly the same way Alias was.) Although I must admit that Harry's secret stash of weapons-grade uranium (or was it plutonium) totally puts Jack Bristow's lockers of guns and cash to shame. He has his own secret supply of uranium, guys! And only he knows where it is! Hahahahahaha! That was priceless. He and Crazy Uncle Arvin should totally hook up.

At this point, I am kind of hoping I remember how to code for LJ, to avoid spoiling everyone in the world.

In other TV news, regarding Strictly, my hatred for Craig Kelly cannot be textually rendered. And although I have no idea who is voting for Anton and Laila, I'm glad that they are.

Anyway, Spartacus will be waking up any minute now, so I think I will go ahead and hit post!

Comments

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

I think for the first couple of episodes I thought that Spooks was trying to be serious drama, if a bit heavy handed with the death and gore (take a bow, death by chip fat).

That definitely didn't last beyond the first dramatic cliffhanger, and was long gone by the time they wrote out Tom. Nowadays I watch it for its cracktastic disconnect with reality, and I think that Alias is a pretty good parallel. Except that there are less wigs involved.

I think I've seen more of Strictly this year than in any other. And my parents haven't even come down to visit yet. I'm happy to see that Laila is still in (and I've probably doomed her now), even though I really want to see her heading off to go and film that new season of Primeval. 2011 is so long to wait.

Alas, I can't say I'm surprised at your definition of part time work's hours to money ratio. But hopefully it feels good to get back to it again.

[vaznetti]

Well, Tom really was the Worst Spy Ever, and once that was clear the whole thing became harder and harder to take seriously... Tonight's was enjoyable in the "oh, surely not" kind of way. I like the new American liaison -- "It's just like Yalta!"

I think last season of Strictly was more enjoyable, but this still keeps me out of trouble on Saturday nights.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Hi *waves*

[vaznetti]

::waves back::

[zarahemla.livejournal.com]

Hee hee, Harry knows EVERYTHING ... including where the plutonium is stashed! It's in his secret lair, natch. And no, Ruth didn't used to spend that much time screaming.

Hi! I am considering not doing Yuletide either, because of the sheer volume of fandoms I have to slog through to sign up. Which is a shame because I've done it for six years or something. Oh well.

[vaznetti]

I like Harry, but he's completely insane. I really liked it last season when he got to kill people with his tie.

Not only do I not have time to write a Yuletide story, I don't even have time to do the signup! I kind of feel like it's gotten too big for me.

[bardsmaid.livejournal.com]

Good to see you checking in! I know what busy is like; I rarely get around to updating these days, either. Hope you stumble across some niches of free time here and there. When children are young, that's often the way you find a few moments to yourself--unexpectedly.

[vaznetti]

I do really like seeing your updates on my list, and learning how you and your family are doing -- even if commenting to say so seems entirely beyond me!

When children are young, that's often the way you find a few moments to yourself--unexpectedly.

This is very true!

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Nice to see your pixels! And I hear you on the PT work, oh joy.

I have no idea WTF is up with all the Yuletide nervous newbies demanding handholding & hairpats this year, but it's driving me nuts. I guess that makes me a BOFQ at last.

[vaznetti]

I am starting to wonder if Yuletide hasn't just gotten too big for me -- all those people, and all those fandoms, and somehow the bit where you get some requests and write a story feels overwhelmed by all this stuff about chat and stocking stuffers and generalized hysteria.

Alas for PT work! I guess it's better than unemployment, and my pay does at least cover my childcare costs.

[fourteenlines.livejournal.com]

Hi there!

Nothing really to say, but every once in awhile I drive by Reed and think of you. :)

[vaznetti]

::waves hello::

I miss Reed, despite the crazy, crazy workload. It was a fun place to teach.

[dagnylilytable.livejournal.com]

Hey there-

I may soon be providing you with e-mail to get behind on, as the rest of my department is on the warpath and I may end up not changing careers after all. It's almost novel-worthy in scope.

Glad to hear your teaching is as crazy as mine- I have a midterm on which a student drew me a Sputnik for an ID.

[vaznetti]

Woot! I am glad that not everyone in your department has succumbed to the insanity of the few. (Presumably, they also do not want to spend the rest of their professional lives getting the "Oh, you're at school X" line from everyone else in the field.)

Undergrads. Can't beat em. Can't even beat em.

[jcalanthe]

Nice to see you in these parts! I send hopeful thoughts that greater balance makes its way into your life - work eating one's life is no fun, and hopefully is only temporary.

[vaznetti]

Thank you!

I'm not sure that my life is really out of balance -- it's just that I find that at this moment LJ and online interaction is something I can manage without. Possibly because (unlike Spartacus!) you all don't start crying when you think I'm ignoring you!

[cofax7]

::waves::

I had to watch Spooks before replying.

In her defense, Ruth was in desperate straits -- and she didn't start screaming until the second half, where she was captured and being threatened with watching her family die. So I shall cut her some slack--especially since she successfully evaded ambush at home and spirited her family from Cyprus to London without any of the Bad Guys finding them. So go, Ruth!

I agree that the show is cracktastic, but it does a much better job of appearing realistic than Alias did. No bikinis, for one thing, or prophecies, or any of that stuff. And they're willing to kill people and leave them really dead, which counts for a lot in my book.

I would still give a great deal for a casting director who actually knows what a middle-American accent sounds like.

Anyway, I'm glad you see your electrons, even if you're crazy busy. I'm not doing Yuletide either, but that's not new for me. I did sign up for apocabigbang, though. Yikes.

Hugs to Spartacus and ::waves hello:: at DH. Please do let me know when you come back this way: it would be lovely to see you.

[vaznetti]

Hi! I think we won't be in SF until the spring, although we'll be in LA briefly this December and January.

I agree that the show is cracktastic, but it does a much better job of appearing realistic than Alias did.

Well, this is certainly true. I guess it's an aesthetic thing, but once a show has reached a certain level of crack, I no longer value that kind of verisimilitude. I mean, as far as Alias went, having prophecies and crazy outfits and people coming back from the dead, all that was internally consistent within the show universe. Not that there's anything wrong with verisimilitude -- it's just that (unlike, say, internal consistency), that's not something I use to evaluate a show. Maybe this is why bad accents don't trouble me at all?

You're right about Ruth. Those scenes were all just a little much for me.