Sun, Jul 12th, 2009 -- 11:55 am

APPARENTLY my body has decided I'm no longer allowed to sleep. One of my great luxuries is getting to stay up late on Friday and Saturday evenings, because I can have a lie-in the next morning, but the last two days I've woken up at six am and not been able to get back to sleep. On the one hand it's annoying; on the other, I get a ton of stuff done.

This morning I got up, did the billions of dishes in my sink, and Epic Pitas and a big tray of Improvisational Cheese Bread (gruyere and munster were my cheeses of choice this time). I was going to make rice, but I packed my lunches for the week in tupperware and realised that I won't have any need for rice that I can't reheat, so that'll be an event for either mid-week dinner or next weekend. Related to my earlier post about saving money on food and cheap delicious recipes, I realised pretty much all I eat is leftovers; I make a big batch of food on the weekend and package it up for the week, then reheat stuff for dinner most nights. I almost never cook individual meals. As one person, there's often very little point.

Ianto's post broke 1600 comments in 24 hours, which is pretty awesome and has been a lot of fun. We've also officially raised £112 for Red Nose Day, more than twice our goal, and thus not only can we buy a really spankin gourd, but also some adorable British children. Or if we go whole-hog we could buy a minialist sink!

Between raising $300+ with Nameless charitable sales and this, I've been thinking a lot about philanthropy lately and how I interact with it. When I was a kid we gave money to various causes, and I trick-or-treated for UNICEF a few years, but it wasn't really out of any kind of moral stance or philosophy. It was just what we did, what my parents raised us to do. The motivation behind the fic I used to write for charity was the same. I never felt especially accomplished or pleased to raise money, but it was What You Do; I didn't volunteer as much as I could have because it was real physical work that wouldn't satisfy either my soul or my pocketbook.

As I get older, especially now that I work in the not-for-profit sector, I get more pleasure out of it. I think perhaps part of it is that it's a scary fucking world out there, and giving money to help people live better lives is one of the few things I do that is really totally morally unambiguous. My decisions about where to live, where to buy my food and clothing, what entertainment I pay for are hard, because it seems like whatever I do it contributes to an economic system that hurts someone. Putting money into humanity becomes...easier, when I feel conflicted about eating beef or living in one of the most opulent countries in the world.

It's not an attempt to balance the scales or pay for some supposed sins; it's a pleasure in itself. I did something good, and nobody can say it isn't.

As I get closer to my thirtieth birthday in September, I'm thinking a lot about how I live my life, the systems I've developed, the patterns of thought I have. I want to be someone who is still cool and kind and happy when they're forty and fifty and sixty. There are a lot of things I need to do to make sure that I'm on that course.

Anyway. Life is a work in progress; as a friend of mine used to say, Love like you don't need the money, Dance like you've never been hurt, and Work like no one is watching.

Words to live by. :D

Sat, Jul 11th, 2009 -- 07:28 pm

MY MUM IS COMING.

QUICK, HIDE....EVERYTHING!

She just bought tickets to come visit at the start of August. ARGH. She's thinking of staying with me this time -- she has a standing invitation to do so, and even if that weren't the case I'd still clean frantically. Not that I have an untidy home, but I'm willing to put up with certain things that she's not, like a bit of grease on the stove or a bedroom I haven't roomba'd in a few weeks.

Unrelatedly, I think you should know that snaxcident and I can solve all your problems.

( Especially the ones that happen in Torchwood Season 3. Cut for spoilers. )

This morning I made a one-time post to ask_aboutcoffee, to deal with some various events in S3. We thought as a group it would be nice for fandom, but we uh. Seriously underestimated the level of response we'd get. In eight hours we got 1200 comments. Granted, some of that was us threading, but still.

So. Guess fandom needed that, huh? Our little corner of it anyhow.

And that is where my Saturday went. Well, that and eating pizza, ALL THE PIZZA IN THE WORLD, because the delivery place mistakenly brought me two of everything I'd ordered one of. OH HOW WILL I SURVIVE.

Fri, Jul 10th, 2009 -- 08:05 pm

O....kay then.

Sam's Three Things About Torchwood, ( Day Five. )

Fri, Jul 10th, 2009 -- 03:14 pm

Spoilers behind the cut.

( AND ONE MORE THING about Day Four )

Two points of protocol to remember as we go into Day Five:

1. Please don't flail, squee, or spoil in this journal until the Three Things goes up. The latter is rude, the first two just make me cranky. :D

2. See earlier post. It was accidentally flocked when I posted it, so some of you may have missed it first time round.

ALSO, xenakat13 asked if I'd publicise her search for other TW/DW fen in the Boston area, for grate meetupses. Your informational post of infoness is here.

Fri, Jul 10th, 2009 -- 08:51 am

Coworker Fail and I were united in a moment of dismay this morning. I am greatly troubled by this.

Coworker Fail: There's been a huge spill in the breakroom on the 18th floor.
Sam: No problem, I'll put in a janitorial call. What's the deal?
Coworker Fail: Someone made a pot of coffee into a pot that was already full.
Sam: But how does that...why would...because you have to empty the pot to fill up the...you know what? I'm not going to ask.
Coworker Fail: Probably better that way.

I am 80% sure it wasn't him who did it. But only 80%.

Fri, Jul 10th, 2009 -- 06:15 am

Uh, as a favour to me, can we keep the threats/discussions of physical violence and harassment towards the writers and producers off my journal? I know -- at least I hope -- the physical threats are not in earnest, but they're making me uneasy. Expressing displeasure is one thing but I know how I'd feel if someone wanted to take a knife to me over something I wrote about in Nameless. I don't want my journal to be a source for that, or a place to plan harassment at cons.

Just, consider it a concession to my overly delicate sensibilities and indulge me, guys? I'd appreciate it.

Thu, Jul 9th, 2009 -- 09:12 pm

THREE THINGS HOMG.

Still very tight and paced! AND OH THE AWESOME.

Sam's Three Things About Torchwood: ( Day Four )

3a. As SRS BZNESS as this episode was, there were tons of times I seriously LOLed. Which is as it should be -- my mentor always said "It's easier to shove in the knife when the victim is laughing." This was good writing. Love it or hate it, I can't disrespect the quality of writing Torchwood has shown this "season". I just hope they can maintain it for the last episode, and not pull a Stephen King* on it.

* Stephen King is brilliant and one of my heroes but god his endings fucking suck.

Thu, Jul 9th, 2009 -- 06:46 pm

LOL, I should not perhaps have asked for recipes *boggles at comments* I have to admit I couldn't keep up, guys, especially after PT, but all of them look delicious.

They put me through my paces tonight and no kidding. Four new workouts and two new balance exercises. I am beat. *collapses* If I can walk tomorrow it'll be a miracle. I'm not planning on moving much for the rest of the night.

ETA: Guys, I know we all want to talk torchwood, but you're walking a very fine line of spoileryness in the comments. Please try not to squee/flail in a post I've made where I, you know, haven't seen the episode yet. :D

Thu, Jul 9th, 2009 -- 12:02 pm

Are people morons?

(Don't answer that.)

One of my regular foodie blogs had a list of ways to cut your food bill without cutting the flavour out of your life. I figured it would be something like easy substitutions for expensive foods, cheap recipes, or cheap foods that give lots of flavour for the buck, right?

( Here are their (pathetic) suggestions. )

I'm constantly baffled by all these news articles about how to save money in this economy by...well, what appears to me to generally be "spending two minutes in rational thought".

HEY GUYS

RECIPE TIME

Share your cheap and flavourful recipes here! If we get enough I'll pretty them up and toss them in a PDF for everyone.

On my behalf I offer spicy peanut vegetable soup and, to eat with it, either no-knead bread or epic pitas.

Thu, Jul 9th, 2009 -- 09:05 am

Okay, having had a think about it and read some comments about it I think I know how to talk about why I'm uncomfortable with the scene from last night that I put off discussing until a later date. Hello, later date! Glad to see you.

So let's critically -- and, one hopes, accurately -- discuss what is likely to be a point of division and misunderstanding in fandom, shall we?

Spoilers for Children of Earth through Day Three.

( I can hit a target through a telescope... )

Phew. I feel better now. I spent the whole El ride wondering if I could actually be coherent about all this.

Wed, Jul 8th, 2009 -- 08:26 pm

Sam's Three Things About Torchwood. All you really need to know is: THE LULZ.

( Day Three )

3a. I couldn't come up with anything nonspoilery to put outside the cut for 3a, so I'd just like to inform you all that the Katamari Damacy app for iPhone has an icon for your best-of record. It's a stopwatch and a measuring tape. HAND TO GOD.

No masschat tonight -- well, you're welcome to use the chatroom, it should still be functional, but I have to do dishes and stop ignoring the rest of my life for the whole evening while I bask in how great this is.

Wed, Jul 8th, 2009 -- 03:26 pm

Sam: Look, it's very simple. You have a security card and a security dot. The card gets you in the front door of the building, the dot gets you into our office suite. The building controls the card, we control the dot.
Coworker Fail: I don't get it.
Sam: Well, okay, you don't really have to. All you have to do is tell the computer that these dots are now free for use, because the people who had the dots don't work here anymore.
Coworker Fail: But the computer says the dots belong to those people.
Sam: Which is why you need to tell the computer they don't anymore.
Coworker Fail: I better ask BossBoss about this.

AND THEN

Sam: Those cards should have been deactivated already, really. Some of them just fell through the cracks when Coworker J and I were overhauling the system.
Coworker Fail: Oh! Well then I won't deactivate them until I talk to BossBoss. I'll just put them in a drawer!
Sam: No, it's okay --
Coworker Fail: And label them "Cracker Cards".
Sam: *brief pause* Uhhhh. Can you not call them that? Just call them "misfiled cards".
Coworker Fail: But I know where they're filed.
Sam: Look, just....don't call them Cracker Cards, okay?
Coworker Fail: Okay! I'll call them Crack Cards.

I decided to pick my battles, and let him call them Crack Cards. Which may in retrospect be even less professional than Cracker Cards, but I did not have the strength to argue any more about keycards. I have to save it for important things, like preventing him from "helpfully" picking up packages people have set out for delivery and redistributing them to their respective senders.

Wed, Jul 8th, 2009 -- 09:33 am

I hurt everywhere this morning. I almost stayed home from work, but my attendance has been patchy lately and anyway I had shit to get done. That being said, I feel like one giant bruise. OH ALSO someone elbowed me in the face on the escalator. Win.

Still, I am in reasonably good spirits. I found out today is NOT sushi day, alas, but I found out last night so I ordered sushi for dinner. Sushi and Torchwood -- pretty awesome evening. Plus I had a lot of fun at the Torchwood chat, though I know it was terrifyingly busy. Sorry for those of you who were overwhelmed -- I wish there were a way to run that better. Probably will not do one tonight, but if I do I'll link to it again.

On that subject, please remember that even if you have seen an episode several days ago, other people may not have. Do try not to put spoilers in comments to posts that aren't episode reviews/meta or don't already have spoiler warnings. I'm not picking on any one person; I've had to screen three or four comments, all from different people. And I'm sure nobody's doing it with malice aforethought, we're all just Very Excited.

At least work is fairly mellow this week, so I can sit and be bruised in peace. :D

Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 -- 08:29 pm

OH TORCHWOOD. I don't even want to try quitting you.

This is not as analytical as my usual three things, sorry. I was swept up in the AWESOME.

Sam's Three Things About ( Torchwood, Day 2 )

3a. I love that in the Torchwood/Doctor Who universe, PAs are superheroes. It makes me happy deep in my service-job-oriented soul.

As a special treat tonight, 51stcenturyfox and I are hosting a Torchwood chat. If you've seen episode two, or if you don't mind spoilers, follow this link and come say hello! I can't promise I'll be around for a long time, but an hour or two at least. Ground rules, of course: no spoilers past episode two, play nice, have fun. :)

ETA: I'm out of chat, kids, but the link will still work. Party on if you fancy it.

Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 -- 06:25 pm

So, I had no pain in my teeths today, but I went to the dentist anyway because better safe than sorry. He says it's all down to the tooth I'm getting a crown on at the end of the month anyway, so if it comes back, use anbesol.

I caught a bus north to my physical therapist, got off about four blocks away, and was walking when I came down wrong on a chip in the pavement and took a tumble as my ankle buckled. Fortunately there was a fence! The fence broke my fall. Ow.

So I'm a little jarred up, but as I was going to the doctor ANYWAY I had them take a look at it when I arrived and it's fine, just some aggrivated tendons.

I AM SORE EVERYWHERE.

I don't feel well either, which is just what I fucking get for breaking my ban on Corner Bakery. Surely, I thought, their baked goods don't suck. Their sandwiches are dead to me but a lemon mini bundt cake can't possibly make me feel ill!

I'm never ever eating at Corner Bakery again and I mean it this time.

So I am battered and indigestive but Torchwood is impending (Uh. I wish I could link you guys but it's someone else's upload) and tomorrow is SUSHI DAY at work, a glorious day.

Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 -- 05:26 pm

Hallelujah, no cracked tooth. Did trip and fall on the way to the physical therapist. I FAIL SO HARD.

Uninjured though, doc says. Well. Uninjured more :P

Tue, Jul 7th, 2009 -- 12:02 pm

Guys, there is something deeply wrong with me.

I couldn't even wait till the week was over!

Title: Price
Spoilers: Children of Earth, Day One
Rating: Uh. Um. Strong PG-13?
Summary: Surely, given that Ianto had made his own peace with Jack and Gwen's bizarre sexless love affair, they had known they were having it.

Mon, Jul 6th, 2009 -- 09:29 pm

Also, while I was watching Torchwood, Mum texted me. And then phoned me.

And then texted me to tell me she'd phoned me.

AND THEN EMAILED ME TO TELL ME SHE'D TEXTED ME ABOUT PHONING ME.

Being fair, today was her first day at a new job and a woman called her an asshole for being a Pisces.

Win, universe. Total win.

Mon, Jul 6th, 2009 -- 09:26 pm

HEY HEY HEY GUYS

SAM'S THREE THINGS ABOUT TORCHWOOD

DIDJA MISS IT?

Spoilers under the cut, duh.

( Children of Earth, Episode 1 )

3a. As indicated above, I am totally uninterested in the plot. It's a fine plot! I'm just way more interested in the team. I AM CHARACTER-DRIVEN OK.

SORRY I CAN'T RESIST

3b. "And I've got tupperware!" LOVE.

In all, though, well-paced and tight -- if they can keep this up for all five episodes it's going to be a hell of a "season".

Mon, Jul 6th, 2009 -- 03:57 pm

I think I cracked a tooth.

SWEET JESUS. I swear, since I broke my leg I've been taking vitamin suppliments and honestly, really, do you guys know how much dairy I eat? A LOT OK.

I have an appointment to see the dentist tomorrow afternoon.

Possibly I need some kind of adamantium treatment. Do we have any adamantium specialists in Chicago? I'm willing to risk having to become an angst-racked crimefighter if it helps me STOP BREAKING MYSELF.