(no subject)

How does it happen that I have done essentially nothing but work on my to-do list since Saturday and yet it is longer now than when I started? It's like the Hydra, you cut off one head and it grows two more.

Foremost on that list at the moment are some awesome links:

KETCHUP CHOCOLATE. It's not chocolate flavoured; it's ketchup that behaves physically like chocolate, so you can melt it and harden it and make fried chicken bon bons with it. This? This is awesome, and you can't convince me otherwise.

Southland is re-premiering on TNT tonight, and the run on TNT will eventually include the unaired episodes filmed for NBC. If you've seen the show it's a chance to reacquaint yourself; if you haven't, it's a good chance to catch up. Granted, this show is not for everyone, but I find the characters endearing and the writing top-notch, so I'm excited it's back on the air.

I'm sure Dove would also like me to point out that both Ben McKenzie and his arms will be on this show.

51stcenturyfox has a poll on how you write -- literally what materials and programs you use, how you beta, and how you archive once you're done. I took it, and so should you!

Finally -- today is ter369's birthday. She would have been 54. I have no doubt that she is attending a celestial operatic rehearsal, and probably telling them exactly what they're doing wrong. (In this she is likely joined by my Gran, who will be critiquing the costume design).

Thinking of you, Ter. Say hi to Gran for me.

(no subject)

So, about a month ago I sold off a bunch of old Game Boy games, a mixture of mine and my brother's, and got a steal deal on a used Nintendo DS Lite. I did not, however, get any games with it, so it's taken me this long to really start messing around.

I bought Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS, which I think is more of a kiddie game than I expected and yet in true Zelda fashion is also challenging and interesting, with a fun story and lovely (if rather cartoonish) graphics. It does make me think of a few things, though --

1. Cut scenes. I grew up playing 8-bit, and cut scenes were confined to "Thank you, Mario! But the Princess is in Another Castle!" Now you get these epic cut scenes that on one hand advance the plot, so you can't really skip them, but on the other hand you can't pause, so if you suddenly need to do something else you're effin' stuck. I just sat through two five-minute cut scenes within 30 seconds of each other, and it made me deeply impatient.

2. It would be awesome to release a game where you played as Zelda. We've done the damsel in distress thing for twenty years, Nintendo, move past it. I want Legend Of Zelda: War Queen Of Hyrule. Or at least a scene in whatever new Link epic is coming out where you play as Zelda for a bit. Also it would freak out the asshat boygeeks.

3. There's a scene in Twilight Princess where Link encounters a character from early in the game, and she doesn't recognise him. Which is all kinds of poignant on its own, but I was sitting there thinking, Oh that's clever, she doesn't know who he is, he's changed too much, he's not the farm boy anymore! and it turns out no, she just has amnesia. I'm almost tempted to write fanfic, that's how awesome the quickly-squashed idea was.

3a. The guy who formerly owned my DS is named Ari. Apparently he loves Genny. So said the personal info on my DS, until I changed it this morning. SORRY ARI.

(no subject)

The Sandisk Titanium USB flashdrive is supposed to be able to function after being run over with a steamroller.

What it cannot function after is: two years of use by yours truly.

I BREAK EVERYTHING. It's almost a gift.

Fortunately I backed it up this morning so not much was lost, and it seems to still function in a sickly kind of way on my work computer. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get whatever I did today off of it, and then format it and pitch it out. I've already ordered a new one.

Tonight, I'm taking it as a sign that the gods don't want me to have access to my to-do list. I have ordered sushi, and NCIS is on in ten minutes.

I FEEL ODDLY FREE.

(no subject)

I missed last week, but now I'm back! And so it's time for

Sam's Three Things About NCIS, Episode 7.12: ( Flesh And Blood )

3a. NOT ENOUGH ABBY. But Abby and McGee are forever adorable together, and that is true facts.

3b. I love that there is a show my mum and I can both watch. She texted me halfway through: "OMG [character] is a CIA agent!" and I texted back "He's just an ass!"