Well, I just committed two illegal acts, got showered in firework remains, and ate a cream bun. I smell like black powder and pastries. It's been a busy afternoon.

The Lunar New Year festival in Chinatown is different to the ones I've been to before; it's basically the parade, and that's it, no vendors or anything. I got there early and didn't want to stand around, so I walked down the parade route and ended up not entirely intentionally sneaking past some cops to where the step-off was. I thought I'd go back a bit, but they stopped me the second time, because the area I'd snuck through was laced with firecrackers and nobody was supposed to go through there.

Oops.

Anyway, it meant I got a nearly-front-row seat to the firecracker display that kicks off the parade, and was promptly enveloped in a cloud of smoke and red paper. Then I got to watch men taking their lives or at least their ability to walk in their hands as they kicked the firecrackers around to make sure they'd all gone off.

The parade was cool enough, and people were handing out free stuff so now I'm the proud owner of two Tsingtao Beer can-cozies, but after the second marching band and fourth very-boring-float I decided I'd let someone else stand in front. Plus I had legitimate concerns I might be getting sunburned, because this is the dumbest winter ever. So I started back up the route, but I hit an impenetrable mob somewhere near the emcee booth, and ended up nipping down an alley. I have photos of all the other people who were climbing the fence too, so I swear I wasn't the only one who went over the alley fence to escape.

Then I went shopping in the Chinatown Centre for a bit, stopped off at the Chinese Bakery, and accidentally cut in line -- I swear to god, I didn't mean to -- to buy a cream bun. I ended up stopping at Belmont to buy a comic book as well (Iron Man, and a very-cheap-sale copy of Ultimates Vol 2) and now I am home.

With a faceful of aloe just in case.

APPARENTLY I HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO REMEMBER TO MAKE LIVEJOURNAL POSTS. Don't panic, I'm sure it's temporary. Just letting you all know I haven't died.

I'm off to Chinatown to see the New Year's parade. I promise to bring back mysterious pastries and brightly-coloured things!

I'm pretty sure I've spent part of this week missing some time. There's no way it went as fast as it felt like.

Note for folks: in the US and Australia, possibly other parts of the globe, Lulu.com has a coupon deal running for free shipping: WHOASHIPPING305. It's a good opportunity to save on certain books...:D It's good through January 31st.

Also I've been crap about linking my essays at Extribulum from here, so I'm trying to be better about it. Today's is about why I can't write YA Lit.

By the way, if I want to post twice weekly on my "I actually write about writing here" blog for the rest of the year, I have to come up with like a hundred posts, and I have about five ideas. So if there's something to do with writing that you want me to talk about, make the suggestion, I could use them. Otherwise you're going to get a post about this comic book character I've decided to invent, and nobody actually wants that (you may think you do, but you do not).

Tonight I am going to go home and sleep all the sleep. All of it.

I have seen this week's White Collar! It felt like White Collar again!

I'm fickle, I know.

Anyway, it's time for Sam's Three Things Pieces About White Collar. Spoilers for Episode 3.12, ( Upper West Side Story )

3a. "Well, Neal is more of a romantic, and I'm a machiavellian puppetmaster, so what we're going to be giving you is...game." I JUST ABOUT DIED. Especially since that ended up being the worst game-giving ever.

So I toured a hot dog factory, and now I'm a little worried about what might be on my shoes. :D

It's a super-popular tour, I'm not sure why -- I mean, I know why I went, and I had a blast, but I don't know why other people would be like HEY, A SAUSAGE FACTORY, GOOD IDEA. They only give the tour twice a month to groups of six maximum, and there were three of us today, but that's because it was going to be me and a five-person group, and they cancelled. So it was me and two other people who were supposed to do the tour this coming JULY and could come today instead. That's how long the waitlist is. Seriously, this trip was eight months in the making for me. Totally worth it.

( Why I approve of Vienna Beef sausages. )

So yes, great tour, yummy smells, really gave me confidence in the product, and a good time. It's free, too, though of course it's difficult to do if you're from out of town because the wait is so long. But well worth it, at least I thought so.

I went to the dentist! He filled my cavity! I cannot feel my face!

I forgot about novocaine. I have zero foods that are appropriate for someone who has just had dental work done. I'm trying to figure out if I should try to gnaw a slice of leftover pizza to death or just eat almond butter with a spoon. I like almond butter, but not enough to eat it with a spoon if I have other options.

Tomorrow I am taking a tour of a hot dog factory. It's serious business, I signed up for this tour last April. I have to sign a page-long confidentiality form and turn off my cellphone. I probably shouldn't even be telling you people the hot dog factory gives tours. ARE YOU SPIES FOR HEBREW NATIONAL? Wait, no, they don't need spies, they've got God on their side.

(If anyone on the Cafe actually does work for Hebrew National, who are my preferred brand of hot dog, I will die laughing.)

I wanted a Cheesesteak today.

The differences between a Cheesesteak and an Italian Beef are probably mostly semantic and involve the cut of meat and how it's trimmed; also depending on where you get it, an Italian Beef does or does not have cheese or onions, sometimes it has peppers, but ANYWAY, the point is that for me, the difference between a Cheesesteak and an Italian Beef are that Great Steak & Potato calls it a cheesesteak and is closer to work.

So I went to Great Steak and Potato for lunch, and got a cheesesteak and some fries. And I came back to work and ate it at my cubicle, while listening to the Gluttony episode of Caustic Soda Podcast.

Awkward Coworker: Oh! You're the one who has fries, I knew I smelled them.
Sam: Yeah, but they're not very good fries.
Awkward Coworker: Not very good?
Sam: Soggy. Very unsatisfrying.

IMMEDIATELY, from THREE DIRECTIONS (my boss's office, the person who sits behind me, and across the hall) I hear "OH NOOOOO". It was so sudden and so loud that Awkward Coworker was startled. Possibly one of my finest moments as a punster.

On the other hand, I just remembered I have a dentist's appointment later today. Possibly should not have eaten a cheesesteak beforehand.

The moral of the story is: Great Steak & Potato is not that great, and do not get their fries.

It's been several solid days since I actually made a post about myself on my blog. Not sure what happened there; I think my life has simply been uninteresting while I recover from the endless week of endlessness.

Actually I've done a lot. On Saturday I went out to brunch with my theatre group at this place off the Paulina brown line stop, Wishbone Restaurant, and had an incredibly ambivalent experience with cornflake-coated french toast. It wasn't bad, it was just...strange. The sausage was exceptional, though.

The area around Paulina is pretty neat; there's a fun toy store next to Wishbone, a really fantastic bakery up the street, and apparently (this is hearsay, but I intend to prove or disprove it soon) the New England Sandwich Shop near the bakery makes the best lobster roll in the city. North of the train station is the Paulina Meat Market, which smells astoundingly good. I may need to start paying visits to get my meat there; I really miss having access to a great butcher's counter, like I had in St. Nowhere. Living directly behind an organic grocer is one of the few things I genuinely miss about grad school.

My work with the theatre group is getting me out of the house a lot, actually. Sunday I was at rehearsal, which went well; I got to talk to the playwright for the first time and get some questions answered. Monday night I had production meeting for the group, which went fast because like half our people are out of town. At the moment I'm researching southern spirituals for the scene designer and baptism traditions for one of the actors.

Work's ticking along quietly; Coworker Crush keeps forgetting the book she was going to loan me, so I've been stopping by her office daily in mid-morning to pester her and entertain my replacement at the front desk. Budget projections are well underway, and it's remarkable how much easier they are when everyone's healthy.

Three people I know had babies last week within the space of four days. SURREAL.

(I keep looking at my notes from yesterday's weekly planning meeting with my boss as I write this, as if those are going to help me remember wtf I did last week.)

Also, my friend I was fundraising for yesterday wanted to pass along her thanks for your donations -- she was able to pay off two utility bills and has almost made rent for February. It's good for me too; so many of my friends are out of work, and I feel so helpless at my inability to do any more than I'm already doing. So. Thanks from her and from me for that.

It's all about food, in ( A Cheaper World )

Good morning all, and welcome to the most epic RFM ever. Srsly, so many links.

Ways To Give:

Claire linked me to a fundraiser for Sarah Burke, a Canadian freeskiing champion who died in an accident in the US -- and whose hospital bill for her stay in a US medical facility was $500k. The money has been raised to help her family, but the information is still something I think people should have, and they are accepting donations to help with funeral services and establishing a foundation in Sarah's honor.

abraxas_life is in a charity ride for Diabetes, Tour de Cure, with her father, but they need to raise $200 each to participate. Her father is apparently doing well, but she could use some help reaching her goal; you can donate here.

Anon linked me to a fundraiser by author Patrick Rothfuss, Worldbuilders. Worldbuilders donates all of the money made to Heifer International, which helps build sustainable economies is poor areas and third world countries. Pat is raising money through lottery and auctions; you can find more info here. You can also donate directly here. The fundraiser lasts until midnight on February 7th, CST.

ailelie is raising money to start Plunge Magazine, an ezine focusing on queer women in genre literature. She looks like she's got a heck of a plan for it, and like her I'm not sure if there's another ezine out there with the same focus, so I think it's well worthy of support. You can check out more info and donate here.

Fans Helping Fans:

I'm rattling the cup myself this week; I have a friend who's in need of help and I could use some help helping her. I can't really say more than that, but if you're in the mood to pass on a couple of bucks to a very deserving person, and you trust my discretion, you can paypal copperbadge at gmail.com or give at the donation page here. Thanks guys :)

bicrim has a fantastic opportunity available for Cafe computer security engineers in the DC area. They're hiring fast and desperate to find folks; you can find all the info here, and I strongly urge you to check it out!

polarisnorth found an apartment through RFM last year, and now is looking for a new roommate to live in said apartment. It's in the Boston/Cambridge area and you KNOW they'll be good people 'cause they're Cafe. :D You can contact her at DW or LJ, or her other roommate aria at DW or LJ; those posts have information including links to Craigslist ads with photos.

Help For Free:

the_rainbow_jen passed along the news that according to Swedish law, if you want to legally change your gender, the government forces you to undergo sterilization, taking away your reproductive rights. There's a petition regarding it here And an open letter from the Human Rights Watch here.

888mph has an informational post up about Lau Fat-wai, a Portuguese citizen arrested and sentenced to execution for drug trafficking in pretty suspicious circumstances. You can read about the case here (and why Amnesty International is taking an interest) and there's a link to a petition.

starlingthefool linked to a site that I thiiiink I may have linked to before but can't remember: Charitysearch. This site allows you to search the web while helping to donate to charitable causes; every time you go to their site to search (which eventually redirects to the search engine of your choice) Charity Search makes a charitable donation.

News To Know:

Trigger warning on this one, please check the blurb before following the link: lirren let me know about Project Unbreakable, created in October of 2011 by Grace Brown. Grace uses photography to help heal those who were sexually abused by asking them to write a quote from their attacker on a poster and photographing them holding the poster. Obviously this may be very, very triggery to some folks, so click with caution.

brainwane has an informative link about Kindle highlights and interactivity with Amazon. I'm not well-versed in Kindle so I'm not sure what it means, to be honest, but her quote from the conclusion seems informative: "If you have a Kindle, connect it to your computer and look on its filesystem. All your highlights are kept in a structured-text file located at documents/My Clippings.txt. This file includes highlights taken from PDF files and other ebooks not recognized by Amazon, which don't get synced to kindle.amazon.com. ... take control of your highlights by backing up this file."

SOPA/PIPA Special feature:

I got a ton of links this week about both SOPA/PIPA efforts and the Megaupload takedown that was apparently not linked to the blackout but did happen to coincide with it, and of course the Anonymous strikback that led off from that, which let me tell you, wigged the hell out of my mum. So in case you've been hearing a lot about this stuff but haven't had time to hunt up information, I have some for you!

daymarket linked to an explanatory infographic that explains what the proposed legislation does. Please be aware this infographic is rather simple, but daymarket also linked to a more complex discussion here. The number of supporters/detractors is also now out of date after the blackout (a more up to date one is here, but this is moving very fast.)

Regarding the Megaupload indictment, jadey linked me to a discussion of it by some of Dreamwidth's folks here. For the story as it unfolded, kallaneboi linked to a WSJ article about the shutdown, stephani673 linked to a Gizmodo article about Anonymous's revenge, and taerowyn had a Gawker article about why this revenge, while terribly satisfying, is also rather hazardous to your computer's health.

Both of these issues are getting a lot of attention and are part of a very fast-moving continuum. It behooves you as internet users to be aware and informed; don't depend on my once-weekly updates if this is something that concerns you.

Just For Fun:

I know I'm just about the only person who finds Shit Girls Say unfunny and kind of worrying, but it's creepy and I had to have an upsetting talk with my sister about it. That said, I'm not gonna lie: Shit Austinites Say cracks me up.

Also awesome: Apparently now our technology allows us to make music out of tree rings!

Ever wanted to read about the neighborhoods of Chicago? Here are some profiles, complete with awesome logos.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help. Remember, non-embedded links are love.

So, I watched like three Marvel films last week, and went to the comic book store, and I wrote some fanfic. I don't know how these things happen, they just do.

But yay, fanfic! I haven't posted fic in forever. Have some porn. Porn, two noncorporeal ninjas, a light stroke of PTSD, the superfluousness of jet packs, and half a Bugatti.

Title: Arms And The Man
Rating: R (Tony/Steve)
Warnings: Brief mentions of PTSD, some not entirely consensual smooching.
Fandom: Theoretically, Avengers; realistically, Iron Man and Captain America movieverses.
Summary: His best friend keeps cockblocking him, his relationship guru is a computer, and he might be gay. The future is very complicated.
Notes: I don't really read the comics regularly. This is pure movieverse. Hope that's not too jarring...

( There was this woman. )

Fake cut takes you to the fic at Dreamwidth.

And now I present to you:

My mother's feelings on White Collar.

( I have to go in the other room, sweetie, so I don't spoil dad, he hasn't seen it yet. )

Mum: I am very worried about all this hacking that's been going on, and that site Megaupload got taken down! You used to use that!
Sam: Well, yes, but now you have Torrent, I don't need to send you files anymore.
Mum: Torrent won't go down, will it?
Sam: Probably not.
Mum: I was worried today, I thought, what if the FBI shows up and takes you away? But then I thought, you've seen a lot of White Collar, you know how to beat a lie detector test.
Sam: I'm all over it.

This is the best fannish conversation I have had all week, hands down.

THAT WAS NERDTASTIC.

I just bought several comic books and a video game, and totally actually went into Robot City Workshop.

There's a really cool comic book store about a block north of the Belmont red line stop, and some strange impulse drove me there tonight, where I picked up a few sale books and scoped out the action figures. On my way back I did a literal double-take as I passed a new video game store almost directly under the train station, and it turned out to be fantastic. The guys are way nicer than the ones at the video game store north of Belmont, and the selection is better, if less accessible (all the games are in locked cases, but the prices and titles are visible which is all I really care about). So I bought Myst for the DS, because I liked the original Myst but only ever got to play it at a friend's house, and thus couldn't ever get very far.

I also ducked into the Robot City Workshop instead of just going past it this time, and that was cool. Though it's kind of small and robots, while awesome, are not cheap. I might sign up for a robot building class in the summer, though. That seems like it would be fun.

ALL THE NERD.

I keep trying and failing to read books these past few weeks. I've been through like four books and couldn't get through any of them.

I almost made it through Charles de Lint's "The Blue Girl" but honestly, could a book about punk teenagers and fairies be less interesting. I know de Lint is a good writer, but I think he must have been phoning it in on this one. It reads like a short story he was desperate to stretch into a novel, or possibly a world he wanted to build but didn't have enough plot content to justify.

I didn't actually get very far into Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice To All Creation by Olivia Judson. The book in itself is not boring or badly written, but it mostly seemed like a lot of stuff I already knew, and while I have a passing interest in natural biology it doesn't really extend to the mating habits of very specific beetles.

I honestly did my best to try and get through Douglas Coupland's "Microserfs", but nothing happened in it, and kept happening, and that's something I will read if the characters are interesting. But it's about a bunch of coders at Microsoft in the nineties, and it's Douglas "Common people don't have interesting lives!" Coupland, so...

And I feel like an asshole because here are a bunch of books I've tried to read and failed, in a row, which makes me think the problem is probably me. But I don't quite know how to fix the problem.

Anyway, Coworker Crush is bringing me some books to borrow tomorrow, which is excellent motivation to actually read them, so we'll see how that goes.

Please don't recommend me any books, even your favourites. I know you want to, but my reading list is sixty books long.

Shellfish are a major concern of ( A Cheaper World. )

WHITE COLLAR IS BACK

I HAVE THREE THINGS TO SHARE WITH YOU

Spoilers for 2.11, ( Checkmate )

3a. Well, it looks as though WC will be continuing its long and storied tradition of Not Actually Acknowledging Peter And Neal's Actual Situation. It's not that I think Jeff Eastin couldn't write two people facing up to their issues or even just HAVING THE FEELINGS anyone in their situation would have. I think he could. I just think he won't, and in a way I don't blame him for that, because it's messy and frequently boring and cuts way into "let's pull a fake heist!" time, and I probably wouldn't either. So this isn't a complaint, just an observation.

Still. I'm impressed by Peter's ability to repress, at this point.

Oh White Collar. I cannot quit you. Except for the last ten episodes, I wouldn't even want to. Don't ever do that to me again, baby.

I hit Awkward Coworker with a revolving door this afternoon.

I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT.

I was leaving for the day and our revolving doors are kind of heavy, they take a real push to get going, and he was coming back from getting coffee and tried to squeeze into the door before it swung shut right as I pushed from the other side and I like, whammed him with the door.

And then he made a LOLface at me and I made a HORRORFACE at him and revolved through the door back into the lobby to make sure he was okay and it was so many flavours of awkward. My friend who works the security desk couldn't stop laughing at us.

Fortunately no bones were broken. With me, you just never know.

In the past few days I've read about the growing importance of readers to self-publishers, how small time blocks can be used to manage multitasking, and the concept of a local "microadventures". Also, George Clooney's going to make a movie about the Monuments Men.

Man, I was so far ahead of the curve in 2011 that I may have lapped it.

Not that being ahead of the curve did me any material good, but the activities that put me there were very helpful. Nice to be a trendsetter.

This morning I've been working on revisions for a project that (I think) I still can't talk about; pleasingly, most of the revisions are stylistic/grammatical rather than inherent issues with the work. I gave myself the week off from Dead Isle because last weekend I got a shit-ton of revisions done, and I'm right in the middle of having to write some new scenes; they should be fun, but writing new bits for a story that was written ages ago has its own issues -- I forget what's coming next, plus I have to match my style to the style of the piece.

I have not seen White Collar yet; I'm scheduled for that tonight. Also I know people have been asking, I haven't seen the 2nd or 3rd episode of this season's Sherlock either. Sometimes I get in moods. This one has been going on for a while, if the amount of Doctor Who I haven't yet seen is any measure, though granted some of that is the unpleasantness of the final episode before hiatus. I'm booking time this weekend to force myself through it. I'm sure I'll enjoy it once I'm actually watching it. And if not, it's the weekend and I have vodka in the freezer.

BUDGET: DONE.

BOOM, as we say at work.

Or at least, done for the next two weeks. Then we have to do budgeting for all of next year. Fortunately, the magic worksheet I made for the six-month projections will allow us to do that with almost no fuss. My god, listen to me talk about budgets, what the hell.

I am enjoying a much-deserved pizza and a mini superhero-movie-marathon. Mainly because later I have to destroy my apartment looking for something that will prove my residence, since I have to renew my library card this month and renewing a Chicago Public Library card is roughly analogous to receiving a federal background check. When I lost my wallet a few years ago, it took me twenty minutes to get a new Social Security card; it took me three weeks and four tries to get a new library card. My driver's license isn't local (and I didn't have it anyway) so I had to prove my residency using the mail, but it can't just be any mail, and you have to use the mail and a photo ID, and of course when you've LOST YOUR WALLET a photo ID is a little hard to come by.

Plus, and I'm sorry if any of you work in the CPL system, but I'm sure you can confirm for the readers that most CPL circ librarians are cruel. There's one good librarian at my local branch, and she is a treasure beyond worth, because she works with three angry, bitter, mean and incompetent dickheads. Checking out at the main branch downtown is like going to the DMV, only angrier.

OH THE PAIN.

It's time for precognition and vegan horses in ( A Cheaper World )

And a guest strip! the_randomist made this strip a few days ago.