If I’ve ever been tempted to say WTF?! this is it:
Evening apparel, ten thousand dollars+; awards gala, several hundred thousand dollars; trying too hard, priceless.
No matter how many times I see this picture, that question will not go away.
One more nod to Matt, and this one is for all of you Apple bigots. It's also a fitting post for the Chinese New Year.
EDIT: This American Life has retracted the episode after Mike Daisey was found to have fabricated some of the information he presented in the episode. Links to clarifying information and my take here.
If anybody didn’t catch last week’s episode of This American Life, “Mr. Daisey and the Factory,” you should listen to it right away. The episode is an hourlong excerpt of Mike Daisey’s one man show, The Agony and the Ecstacy of Steve Jobs, a timely monologue about Steve Jobs and the working conditions in the factories in China that make most of the world’s electronics, from iPhones to Xboxes.
One thing that I was thinking about while I was listening to the episode was what it means, in this day and age, to be a prophet. Because Mike Daisey sounds like a prophet. I think we have a confused concept of what a…
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Have You Read Matt Yet?
Hmmm, two pieces in a row with a question in the title. I need more coffee. That little bean is the source of about half my clever thoughts. The other half is from reading people who take me on a journey and make me consider or reconsider. One of them is Matt. Originally, I read his blog to hear his thoughts about music, and I’ve stayed to learn much more. Over the two years I’ve been reading, Matthew has been evolving as a writer and thinker, and usually posts something fascinating. The piece today highlights beautiful explanations, and is the perfect piece for me to bring to your attention since I often think of Matt’s blog pieces with that description.
Hope you check him out. And believe it or not, most of my favorite websites have nothing to do with Richard Armitage although I would imagine he would like Matt too.
Note: never saw Matt before I started reading his blog. Just giving credit where it’s due. :D
Widows on the Web
One of the ways I’ve connected to other Richard Armitage fans is through their fan fiction, and when I stumbled onto the GuyxMarian community at Livejournal in late 2008, a new addiction was born. :D I found a treasure trove of stories to keep me well occupied with the continuing saga of Guy and Marian, and the first Gisborne fiction I read was by Spikesbint (some of you may know her as Angelfish69 or the Admin of Armitage Daily or simply Angela). Little did I know how high she would set the bar with “Prisoners of Circumstance.” It is a tightly written story that resolves GxM in a way that left such a warm feeling when I first read it. Still feeling it after three plus years. LOL! But it was a story that became even more satisfying because it’s complete. Thank you, Angela.
Another one I read early on was “Fallout”*. Bookishy, the author, has done a great job capturing the Guy and Marian characters and potentially making them something else, and I would love to see how she develops them further, but the piece remains incomplete. It has not been updated since 2009. Maybe her imagination got distracted by something. I do give her credit for that possibly being the case. But dammit! I want the ending of that story, and I hope she’ll come back and take mercy on all of us and finish it. I’ve been waiting to say that for almost three years! :D
I wish “Fallout” were the only story left dangling or at least one of just a few fan fictions that remain unfinished, but there are many stories waiting for an ending. That frustrates me, and I’m not alone. A couple of years ago a friend of mine, who is also a fan fiction writer, posted her frustration about it on IMDb. I told her when I was starting this blog that I was going to save what she wrote and post it at some point. She was fine with that, and I’m not only posting it, but making it a permanent page on my blog. Not because I have an ax to grind with fan fiction authors. Not at all. I’ve loved witnessing people trying their hands at writing and have marveled at the imaginations and abilities of many of you. In fact, your efforts were part of the impetus for this blog. Which brings me to the real point of this piece.
I do not want my Diary of an RA Fan to be a widow on the web — something that starts but eventually goes nowhere. At one point in the life of this blog, I was thinking about scrapping my diary entries as they are not really conducive to publication and have to be heavily edited. I’ve pondered for a long time about finishing, and several of you have counseled me about that and several of you have sent me notes asking me for more entries. I thank all of you for your input. I started and I’m going to finish! But I need the fan fiction page to keep me focused.
As to fan fiction, I plan to say a lot more about it this year. In the meantime, some words of wisdom from broughps.
Graphic by Angela.
Encounters of the Misty Kind
It has to be apparent I love technology and have a special fondness for the Web. But it’s not just because it feeds this info junkie’s habit, it’s also for the people I’ve met. From the first time I participated in a bulletin board using 80 byte files that were appended and all in lovely monochrome display, I’ve been hooked on communicating with people who had a shared interest and wanted to talk about it, to offer some knowledge or glean some knowledge from others. For those who have never participated in something like that, they usually don’t get it. They usually don’t understand that it’s possible to form relationships where you are edified by others whom you never see or hear. I do hate that I can’t hear your voices, and that’s the chief reason I wanted to do voice as my subject for last year’s FanstRAvaganza. I’m deeply affected by what I hear. Much more than by what I see.
But even if I have never heard your voice, I am affected by what many of you have typed into your keyboards, and I’ve come to know some of you and know you’re real people with real lives which have highs and lows. I never forget that when I’m online. So when one of you goes away and there’s no clue as to where you went, it leaves a hole where you used to be. I’m never quite sure what to do with that. Part of me thinks I should adopt society’s demeanor and throw you away and move on, but I’ll never be able to do that, because I don’t want to do that.
Years ago I participated in a forum and one of the members who became an online buddy was a gentleman named Fred. He was a delight and had such wisdom. Everyone on that site loved him, and then one day Fred stopped talking, and for months we wondered what happened. Only one of the forum members had ever talked to Fred offline, and he offered to find out what he could. It was a long time before that member got a response and came back to tell us that Fred had died and his family sent us a message. I’m so glad they did that, and whether Fred really died or not (I’ll never know the truth of that), he was dead to us, and we could mourn him and not just throw him away in our minds.
That incident had such an effect on me that I’ve left instructions with my will that in the event anything happens to me, SO is to get online and say goodbye. When I told him about that, I thought he would laugh, but to his credit, he understands relationships whether online or not and knows how very important it is to gain closure. I’ve now worked with countless people who have experienced death of a loved one, and closure is imperative. If someone can’t say goodbye, they’re never over it. In the case of being online, I think it’s as important for the one leaving cyber space to say goodbye as it is for those left behind. So I hope our friend will at least give herself a chance to say it’s been fun, but I’ve got to go, and take care.
More thoughts on this later and in regard to Richard Armitage and his relationship with fans in cyber space and beyond. For now a close up of a fan’s encounter with RA:
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Spooks behind the scenes candid shot courtesy of KuchingGirl
At Last — Etta at Peace
One of my favorite performers died today. Etta James. Her tunes got under my skin when I was in second grade, and they’re still there. Even at that tender age, listening to her made me want to dig down inside myself and pull out whatever was in there and have it pour all over the piano. It was one of her songs that made me want to write music and somehow express all the hope in my seven year old heart, and that was what I loved so much about her tunes. They were hopeful. They were a celebration of what life could be despite the bluesy words and sound, despite Etta’s difficult life.
When I thought of her earlier today, I finally saw her as the kid she must have been when she became a singing sensation and being completely overwhelmed by it. I saw her as a kind of Lindsay Lohan and was sad at the thought of people using her and of her using herself. But she’s at peace now, and all we’ll remember are these:
I have to include this. How perfect — Etta James and Richard Armitage:
Back from Sanity
It took me a little longer than I thought, but I’m back. The foray into politics wore me out in a way running this blog never could. Despite that, my sane self still wants to take over. I’ve fought it off enough to make this post.
I am going to talk about FanstRAvaganza at some point, but for now, read Servetus’ post which has details about when and where and whom.
The Opera that is SOPA and PIPA
Not much Richard Armitage today, but I can’t apologize for it. Richard will just have to understand, and somehow I think he does.
For most of the day my site was blacked out with this being the only post:
My friends, I do not like getting political on this blog, and just so you know, I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am merely a U.S. citizen who does not believe the Federal Government needs to have control of the Internet. Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: Senate Bill 968, the Protect IP Act. From personal blogs to giants like WordPress and Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking for you to help us stop this dangerous legislation from being passed.
Please watch the video below to learn why we are opposing this legislation and how it will affect internet freedom, and if you agree with us, take action. I hope you will.
— Sincerely, Frenz
I hope you took the time to check out the link and the video. If you’re still confused, by the SOPA/PIPA saga and all the parties ranting on each side, I have a few more things to say about it, and then my insane self will take over tomorrow.
The crux of this issue is the U.S. government trying to legislate the ability for them to subvert an ip address based on a complaint of piracy. No day in court. Just a complaint. This blows the 14th Amendment to hell. Yes, there are other things that blow it and other amendments to hell, i.e., NDAA, but when do we say enough is enough? The internet is our only decent end-run around mainstream news sources, and it scares the hell out of me to have the government in control of it. That lumbering elephant that does nothing easily to be in charge of handling complaints about piracy?! And do it effectively? I don’t see it. But I do see the system being abused, and then a whole set of additional laws cropping up to deal with that, and on and on and on and one more damned bureaucracy to deal with. Meanwhile we have lost a major freedom of expression.
The good news today is some backers of the PIPA bill have withdrawn their support. But the most important thing to remember is that the fat lady hasn’t sung, and she still bears monitoring. Yep, the price of freedom is still vigilance.
Back tomorrow with RA.
I Can’t Keep Up!
Ever feel like all these blogs and forums and websites are too much, oh my?! They probably are, so guess what? Don’t even try to keep up. Read, or listen or watch what you can. You are not obligated to read all of this stuff, and the moment you have that thought, step away from your PC, your Mac, your phone, your iPad, your kid’s DSI…. Go outside and inhale some fresh air. Then come back in and eat something really decadent that is not on your diet. After that, you won’t feel like you’re overdoing the web. You can come back to your system and look up great diet sites that have wonderful tips on how to keep from overeating, which you may never use, but it makes you feel good to read them. See how useful the web can be?
By the way, I had a great piece for yesterday to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, but I got caught up in reading and watching so much that I never posted it. And posting at 11:55pm didn’t seem it would have the same effect. Maybe next year for that piece. Oh my God! Did I just commit to another year of this?!! Someone slap me.
Oh yeah, I’m putting the Richard Armitage tag on this ’cause he’s an eater like Nigella Lawson. The dude likes food and hasn’t been able to keep that knowledge to himself. Just one more thing to love about him. :D
John Standring savoring a sausage while contemplating Carol’s words:
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Screencap courtesy of Richard Armitage Central
I’m Having a Blast
The banner makes each post into a goal of making you forget it’s there or forcing you to look at it and wonder about yourself or me or both of us. And I’m loving that challenge.
Dropping the cloak has been a thought in the back of my mind and sometimes in the front, but this is so much fun, it’s better not to mess with what’s working. So in the shadows I’ll remain. Why didn’t I do a blog sooner? Seriously, what was the big fear? Never mind that question. I know what it was, and for a time I regretted how slowly I woke up. Life is short and getting shorter. No times for regrets.
RAFrenzy 