Did anyone else watch The Colbert Report on Monday and see him talking about the LOL-Cat in the interview? It was awesome!

Here's the video in case you missed it, he talks about the LOL-Cat about 1minute 10seconds into the clip:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Erick Erickson
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

I can has EARNED cheezeburger!!!

I've been an avid lurker on cat_macros for some time now. I hope these are lulz-worthy. u_u

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• Activity is killing the actor.
• Sherlock Holmes can solve the DaVinci code with both hands cuffed to bed posts. #ersatzerudition #danbrownisawanker
• RT @deuhlig: NYT article about @Etsy - http://bit.ly/4DKFFH (via @kateharpercards)
• Photographing mushrooms in the park.
• The Whuffie Bank for @nullalux: http://ow.ly/TuGq


@nullalux

You know, just about every time I post anything about writing, but especially if I post about increasing the visibility of women, queer culture, and people of color in literature, I get several of this kind of comment--and yes, I just got ANOTHER one on my Racefail post.

"If you want more representations of women/gays/PoC, why don't you write your OWN damn books?"

Often accompanied by the cute addendum: "Just tell YOUR story, and don't worry about politics."

Look, I don't expect every random commenter to be conversant in my complete works. I don't expect them to know me at all, given how many come via outside links. I'm not being all DON'T YOU KNOW WHO PRINCE IS?

But seriously. One might consider, when there are over 100 comments, let alone 300, that the author of the post might possibly have written something other than the post at hand, and possibly a quick google search is preferable to looking hilarious in comments. I know that assuming Everyone Else Is An Idiot is part of what makes the Internet such a jolly place, but it's LJ, there's a lot of writers here, and people who post about SFF and fandom usually have some vested interest in it, and it's not like there aren't links to my books all down the side of the page.

Not to mention, it's not actually the first best destiny of Everyone on Planet Earth to be a writer of fiction. Cultural commentary is important and valuable in and of itself, and some people need to, you know, read books and react to them. I know! Crazy! My reaction to culture would still be viable even if I couldn't string a denouement together with a duct tape, a wristwatch, and my Aunt Martha's wedding band. So would, and is, yours.

The second one, which I also tend to get when talking about any thorny issue in a work in progress, is much harder to respond to. But pretty much the only thing to say is:

My story is political.

I can write from the heart--and seriously, where else would I be writing from? I'm such a commercial sellout with my popcorn novels and my stacks of cash that I have to dig down to my Grinchy literary heart with both hands and even then I might not find anything but hot sparkly vampires? I'm all heart, baby. But I can write from my ventricles and still be political, because I am a woman and a feminist and queer and there is no telling my story, no matter how cloaked in fiction, without bringing all my uncomfortable politics in. That is telling my story. It means I worry about colonial issues, it means I worry about portrayals of gay sex, it means I consider the race and gender balance of a cast of characters, it means I think long and hard before committing narrative. Because my politics are the politics of thinking long and hard about things.

But hey, maybe one of these days I'll get around to writing my own books and not just complaining annoyingly on the Internet about how the world could occasionally suck just a little less. It could happen. You never know.

Probably not, though. I'm mostly hot air. Hot, politically correct, ugly, loud feminist air.

Please read this post from my daughter, Furuba9.

Not much going on this week. Having a hard time breaking out of vacation mode for some reason.

Poor Scott is having some neck issues this week. His neck was all seized up yesterday and he went to get an hour massage. It helped for a while, but I guess it was even worse when he woke up this morning! He went to the Dr. Got some Flexeril and a suggestion to play more video games! Seriously! To reduce stress. He hasn't been playing many video games lately so it's ok!

I'm going out for drinks with Linda and Tracey tonight! Looking forward to it.

Jimmy Fallon might not be one of my favourite personalities, but this impromptu moment had me smiling all day! I'm glad the camera's were still rolling.

Besides, how could he go wrong with The Muppet's?

One is not such a lonely number after all


Tonight: Dr. Who (end of 10) and beef stew. Damn my house smells good!

Now if only I could stop feeling like I am coming down with something.

Hell, yes. I can relate on a very casual, or very formal level (like co-workers, in-laws, etc.) with pro-Lifers, Right-wingers, and religio-conservatives when I have no choice. But I simply cannot maintain any kind of serious dialog with someone who is so fundamentally opposed to everything I hold to be the highest goods and most cherished human rights and responsibilities, and things which are blatantly evident to even the most basic of honest rationalism and critical thought.

I acknowledge that I am something of an elitist (which may, in itself, be an understatement, things at which I lately feel I excel), but I find I cannot hold these people in anything but contempt. If you think global warming denial (like holocaust denial, and the 'reclaiming of Senator McCarthy) should be taught in schools, you are an idiot and I want no further discussion with you. If you truly believe the universe revolves around the earth, and that early man put saddles on dinosaurs, you are a moron who has no business holding adult responsibilities, because you are clearly very far out of touch with reality. And if you think Obama is the antichrist, that it's perfectly OK for politicians to operate in secret, ostensibly Christian cabals, and the big business is honest and fair, kindly hand over your voter's registration card, your car keys, any college degrees you may, inexplicably, have acquired, and most of all your sense of righteous indignation, because you have not earned the right to use any of them.

Am I another shade of bigot for thinking people who voluntarily choose to suspend their intellect and instead worship unreason, illogic, and chicanery have no right to participate in the business of being a responsible citizen? Perhaps. But treating these people with kid-gloves and that most offensive of all tropes, 'toleration,' has gotten us where we are today, which is pretty much royally screwed in terms of things like health & healthcare, education, religious freedom, equal rights, environmental conditions, sustainable energy and all those frivolous things us liberals care so much about. I know this is a rather non-P.C. position. Fine. Polar bears will be extinct in my son's lifetime, thousands die annually in the richest nation on the globe for lack of affordable insurance or health care, and rights for women and gays are only slightly improved over the stone age. P.C. isn't working. F*&k P.C.

From tithenai and yuki_onna:

Were I a summonable monster, what kind of ritual would you craft to summon me? (Include items to lure monster-me and method for said fell ritual.)

• Why am I always surprised at work when I can't find the chameleon?
• Students back from vacation today. Completely unfocused, and wild, and I've missed them so!
• Mazel tov to @steamteam's @choklit! RT @choklit: I became an Auntie over the New Year! Huzzah! http://tinyurl.com/choklit-blog
• Much goodness up on @CurioExpedition blog, including review of The Bone Room right here in Berkeley: http://ow.ly/TbML
• RT @thehermitage: Omniglot, a wonderful treasury of alphabets and scripts - http://www.omniglot.com (found thanks to @Bobweb2)
• RT @zoeboekbinder: If you like moustaches, movies, and kissing girls, go watch my cover of Katy Perry's song - http://tinyurl.com/ykm3l2l ❤
• So excited for the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale Preview Sale on 31 Jan! Vintage and oddities galore: http://ow.ly/TcyW


@nullalux

Car now fully winterised bar winter tyres (budget doesn't run to it, local tyre places don't do em / sold out), but I have chains so it's not all bad.
Mostly packed for Stargate.
Looking forward to a challenging drive up there, and then to comparing nightmare journey details with the other players.

Thank you, KnitLJ. I will try the non curse-making method tonight.

In the meantime, I steal an awesome meme from tithenai :

If I were a summonable monster, how would you summon me? (Include items to lure monster-me and method for said fell ritual.)