Castiron Rustles

iTouch app suggestions?

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:10:49 GMT

Anyone have particular iTouch/iPhone apps they especially recommend? (Yes, Santa Claus/my parents were very good to me!)

I'm already planning to get:

* Stanza
* Toodledo's app
* Snowmint's Budget app
* that free level app, even though it doesn't actually work that well, because the concept is just so cool

I'm interested in:

* a basic astronomy app (I used Planetarium on the Palm and found it a little challenging to use but good as far as the star maps and planet locations went) * a basic checklist that handles multiple lists (mainly for trip packing, but also useful for party planning; Simple Pack may be what I want, but we'll see)
* a solitaire app that includes a two-deck version of Spider
* possibly a simple database, though in practice I'm not sure I'd use it that much
* in the massive wishful thinking mode, a decent genealogy app (actually, I really want The Master Genealogist for Mac with a coordinating iTouch app,
neither of which is ever happening)

a Yuletide fic thought....

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:48:29 GMT

Reading someone's dissertation on the source you're writing fic about -- research or procrastination?

(In my case, almost certainly procrastination, but I'm very interested to find that someone actually did discuss this particular source in a disseration.)

Things the world needs...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:49:22 GMT

Things the world needs: a mashup of "When I am an old woman/I will wear purple" and Gogol Bordello's "Start Wearing Purple".

on border crossing

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:37:57 GMT

The only time I ever ran into a problem while crossing an international border was last May, on a trip to Canada to visit relatives.

The extent of the trouble? Twenty minutes of extra questioning and being told to bring proper documentation next time. (Public service announcement: If you plan to enter Canada with your minor child and without child's co-parent, bring a notarized statement from the co-parent saying they know you're taking kid into Canada and are okay with it, or the divorce paperwork saying that you have the right to determine the child's residence.)

The professionalism and courtesy level? 100%.

My level of fear for my personal safety and that of my infant child? 0%.

I'm sure there are jerks in the Canadian customs & immigration services, but comparing my story to Peter <a="http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/11/dr-peter-watts-canad.html">Watt's</a>, I'd rather deal with Canada's border guards than my own country's.

A random thought on publishing, self vs. traditional vs. vanity

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:27:13 GMT

A random thought caused by too much reading of commentary on Harlequin Horizons:

Traditional publishing is like working for a company. You work; the company profits from your work; you're paid. (And if you lose the company money, you're likely to be not working there in the future.) You don't get all the profits that result from your work, but you're also not responsible for handling most of the company's expenses.

Self-publishing is like being self-employed. You work; you do everything yourself or pay a subcontractor to do it for you. You have to deal with every aspect of the business, not just the part of the job that originally interested you. You can lose a lot of money on the business -- but if you succeed, all the profits are yours.

Vanity publishing....that's like being in graduate school in the humanities. You work and often pay for the privilege; the department benefits from your work. The department sells you a dream -- a tenure-track job, a life of scholarship -- but you're likely to find that the dream isn't attainable, or if you do attain it, that it cost more than you'd expected. The people who do best with this option are the people who go in with their eyes open, who've looked at the options and know what they're really likely to get out of the program.

Dear Yuletide Entity

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:47:14 GMT

In general, I like happy or at least hopeful endings. I'm usually okay with slash, het, or gen; I'm not crazy about 'cest. Gore and graphic violence are squicks; I'd rather not read about any non-con sex that isn't in the source material.

Rumer Godden - In This House of Brede: Philippa's return to Brede after Japan (or non-return, if that's how the muse grabs you) would be particularly interesting, but anything's fine. This is one fandom where I'm not crazy about slash, or at least not anything that goes beyond thoughts; an active sex scene doesn't fit with Dame Maura's leaving the abbey to detach from her romantic feelings toward Cecily.

Alexandre Dumas, Count of Monte Cristo: Same as last time. What I'd really really love is a happy ending for Mercedes. I love this book deeply, but every time I reread, I find myself annoyed about the standard Mercedes is held to, and I want to see her find new hope, love, etc. I want her to be like Ista in Bujold's Chalionverse, receiving grace unlooked-for. That said, it's up to you what form that new hope takes, whether it's the love of God or a hot young man or an unexpected talent.

Louisa May Alcott, Eight Cousins series: Two possibilities particularly interest me, though feel free to chase another plot bunny.

1. Phoebe finds out who her parents were. Were they the scum of the earth, or honest working people who couldn't feed their latest child, or a wealthy young woman who managed to hide her interesting condition long enough to drop the baby off? It's okay if they're not people Phoebe would be proud of, but I'd like Phoebe still to be happy at the end.

2. If you're up for a challenge, want to add to the body of fic starring PoC, and feel like researching 1860s-1870s China and Chinese-Americans, a story about Fun See Tokio (is that even a plausible name??) and Annabel Bliss would be majorly awesome. I've always scratched my head about how that romance is just dropped into Rose in Bloom with no explanation, and I wonder how the relationship would be accepted; Alcott doesn't indicate any issues with it, and I don't know enough about the Chinese experience in New England to know whether that'd be accurate. How did they meet? What do they see in each other? How did they overcome the cultural barriers? -- New England is certainly as exotic to Fun See as China would be to Annabel, even though Fun See's now lived in the U.S. for several years. (Is it still U.S. law at this time that an American woman who marries a foreigner loses her citizenship?) etc. etc.

Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield

I have no preferences; I have no ideas; I just want fic for this book to exist.

Velvet Light Trap Call for Papers

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:02:23 GMT

The Velvet Light Trap, a peer-reviewed journal of film & media studies, has a call for papers for Issue #67, "Seeing Race: Our Enduring Dilemma". Submissions are due January 30, 2010. More information at the publisher's website.

fun with Bollywood

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:33:13 GMT

We're watching Koi...Mil Gaya, an Indian SF movie that Lois McMaster Bujold recently recommended on her blog, and we're finding it extremely entertaining. I heartily second Her Ladyship's recommendation.

My husband now wants to know whether there exists a Bollywood submarine movie (well, whether there exists one that's readily available in the U.S. -- given the quantity of Indian film production, it'd surprise the heck out of me if one _didn't_ exist); he'd also curious as to whether there exist Bollywood zombie flicks (or whatever the nearest cultural equivalent is).

note to self....

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:28:03 GMT

Note to self: If an NPR story has me cursing at the radio, it's time to turn the radio off.

(Why I like the Internet: I can tolerate reading about an opinion, action, or policy I disagree with much better than I can tolerate hearing someone spout that opinion/action/policy.)

Random thought while watching PBS

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:34:52 GMT

After watching Rick Steves' Europe and similar travel shows, I really want to see a travel show where non-Americans talk about U.S. cities and sites. The outsider's viewpoint on what's worth seeing (and what cultural differences the traveler should keep in mind) would be very interesting.

sorting Melendys

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:02:29 GMT

Which Hogwarts houses would Enright's Melendy family sort into?

My first thoughts: Mona - Slytherin, Rush - Gryffindor, Randy - Ravenclaw, and Oliver - Hufflepuff.

Dear university students:

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:48:37 GMT

Those dreams where you realize that it's the final exam and you hadn't been to class or done homework all semester? Or where you suddenly realize that there's a class you'd been forgetting to attend for a month, and now it's the day after the drop deadline?

They will never stop.

sundry thoughts

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:34:46 GMT

1. A pair of socks is almost finished, after which I shall start another pair of socks.

2. Is taking a half-hour to do a short post or comment a sign that my internal editor has gone way into overdrive? (Answer: yes. No wonder I'm not doing any writing lately.)

3. Grace Lin, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: awesome book.

4. Sleep would be a most wonderful thing. Especially if it occurred in a seven-hour unbroken block.

It's a Scientific Experiment. Really.

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:51:14 GMT

Purely for experimental purposes, and not because I needed or wanted any books (perish the thought!), when The Book Depository opened up their American site, I decided to give them a try.

I ordered four books on July 28, all of which were discounted to be a smidge cheaper than Amazon, and the order had free shipping. Three of the books arrived today -- in three separate packages. Clearly they're getting a great deal on their shipping!! So that's eleven days from order to arrival, a little slower than Amazon Super-saver shipping for me, but not by much.

I'm also wryly amused that the book which isn't here yet is the book about Islam. (The Muslim Next Door, if you're curious.) If I were prone to conspiracy theories, I'd be saying "See? See?", but I figure it just got separated in the shipment and will probably arrive Monday.

Anyway, if you aren't in a hurry for your books, want free shipping, and don't want to use Amazon.com, The Book Depository is a decent option. Assuming my fourth book actually arrives next week, I'll likely use them again.

two random thoughts

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:26:24 GMT

Is a sexually explicit story with a lot of typos an example of errataca?

If an Athenian cheesemaker used Parmigiano-Reggiano methods to make a hard cow's milk cheese, would it be Parthenon Cheese?

overheard in the Castiron household

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:12:04 GMT

...on second thought, you don't want to know. Let's just say that "steampunk" and "Medela pump" are perfectly good concepts independently but rather frightening in combination.

the thoughts that come to mind at 3am while sick

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:11:01 GMT

Samuel West as Lord Peter Wimsey: Good idea, or bad?

North and South

Sun, 31 May 2009 18:06:46 GMT

Just finished watching the DVD of the BBC 2004 version of North and South; I saw it for the first time a few weeks ago while visiting family and decided it was worth getting my own copy. (At some point, I need to read the book again; the movie stands on its own, but I can't remember the book well enough to judge it as an adaptation.)

It gives the character interest of a Jane Austen movie (and the period costumes and settings), but with the addition of social and economic issues that aren't as blatant in an Austen production. And the textiles person in me keeps trying to figure out what exactly they're doing with different machines. I greatly enjoyed it.

I have to ask, though, is the public affection at the end something that would've been tolerated in period, or is it there for the modern audience? I'd have bought it more if they'd waited until they were in the train....

(also posted on the Bog of Lost Scholars)

WANT!!!!

Thu, 07 May 2009 22:56:10 GMT

http://www.unshelved.com/store.aspx?cat=shirts#GoodDayShirt

overheard in the Castiron household

Sat, 02 May 2009 17:05:52 GMT

[on mishearing a Pete Seeger song]

Spouse: "Where have all the young men gone, all turned into unicorns"? Huh??

Castiron: If you turn a non-virgin into a unicorn, do they explode?

Goodreads?

Sat, 02 May 2009 16:29:06 GMT

I have a Goodreads account (as Castiron), though I don't use it much -- I logged in today for the first time in two years, and I still find the interface a little annoying. Anyway, if you have an account and are okay with me friending you, let me know what your userid is there.

First Dreamwidth Post

Fri, 01 May 2009 22:28:34 GMT

I write this as my autistic son pinches my forearm for no apparent reason (other than possibly that of getting a reaction, which I am working on training myself not to do; by the time he's an adult and off in a group home somewhere, I will be ready for employment at the CIA as a spy, as my resistance to torture will have greatly increased [someday I will have to write a post on what I have learned from rearing an autistic child, but not today {though this is a great excuse for using extensive nesting parenthetical characters}]).

Anyway, I'm sure other Doctor Who fans have seen this, but today I just discovered this video: Catherine Tate and David Tennant in a sketch for Comic Relief 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A
It's quite entertaining, with appropriate Shakespeare quotes.

overheard in the Castiron household

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:24:51 GMT

[as Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me theme starts to play on the radio]

Spouse: Hey, Wait Wait, Don't Tase Me is starting.

Castiron: Now, that'd be a different show.

Spouse: Well, if they decided to go for the stick instead of the carrot.... It's the show with Peter Segal's evil alternate universe self.

[Castiron wonders afterward what that show's Carl Cassell would say on the winner's home answering machine.]

Random Drink Question

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:45:23 GMT

If a screwdriver is vodka and orange juice, what would a Phillips screwdriver be?

overheard in the Castiron household

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:12:25 GMT

Castiron (watching a commercial for Masterpiece's Tess of the D'Urbervilles): You know, Tess was an interesting character, but I'd have liked the book much better if both the male leads had been eaten by dingos at the end.

Spouse: Isn't that the wrong continent?

Castiron: Okay, eaten by wolves.

Spouse: Or exterminated by Daleks visiting from the future?

Castiron: Yeah, if everyone was exterminated by Daleks at the end, that'd be a happier ending than what Hardy wrote.

[later]

Castiron: What if they were all eaten by the Queen's time-travelling corgis?

Spouse: Maybe that was the model for the Daleks.

[Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of those novels that I actually found pretty readable, but I have no urge to revisit it. I did not watch the movie version either.]