(no subject)

Wow, did I pick the right morning to oversleep. I got here and received three emails -- two of my colleagues and my boss are all running late as well.

I think that means there's time for ( A Cheaper World! )

FYI, Chicagoans, Groupon is running a deal today for half off tickets to the Art Institute. The tickets expire March 22nd, so it's a brief window, but those of you who love the ahrt might enjoy it.

ETA, sorry guys, gotta lock comments -- I'm getting a crapton of spam on the post.

(And as always, if you're new to Groupon and register via this link, I get ten bucks of credit when you buy your first Groupon!)

(no subject)

So, people enjoyed "Sam Explains Marvel Civil War" enough that I thought I would break out an old conversation a few of us had about....

Why Professor X Can't Wear Telepathic Pants (Or Possibly Can)

Featuring Claire, spiderine, thaddeusfavour, and amand_r.

For some reason best left unidentified, I must open every discussion of comic books with a picture of Michael Fassbender smoking.

Claire: He looks like

the kind of man

to agree with me

that Professor X could obviously wear telepathic pants instead of a telepathic chair!!!!!!

( Professor X and his Magic Pants )

And so, in conclusion:

Claire: HERE ARE SOME IDEAS TO IMPROVE MARVEL COMICS by Claire

1) Prof X + pants (see attached document with thoughts).

2) Draw the ladies less sexy more normal, but still cool, and still pretty.

3) Have more heroes that are actual heroes and not anti-heroes that do bad things and we are supposed to applaud them.

4) can you buy Superman from DC and then relaunch him as awesome? I am not confident in DC's ability to handle Supes lately.

STAY TUNED EVERYONE. Next week we tackle Alpha Flight: Canada's Unnecessary Avengers!

(no subject)

OH I AM WAY TOO EXCITED ABOUT STUDENT LOANS

Two years ago I made a post about how (if you are a Statesider) you can consolidate your student loans -- and get the payments reduced through Income Based Repayment if you are low-income. And if you pay through Income Based Repayment and work for a not for profit, you can qualify after ten years of payments to get the balance of your loans forgiven.

At the time the PSLF ("Public Service Loan Forgiveness") program was so new they didn't even have paperwork for it yet; you had to sign up for IBR blindly, hoping that PSLF would actually come through. Now they have actual documents that allow you to prove to them that you work for a 501(c)(3) on a yearly basis, so that when your ten years are up, there's a paper trail.

If you go to the Student Aid On The Web PSLF site, the instructions are MASSIVELY UNCLEAR, but all you need to do is fill out the "Employment Certification For Public Service Loan Forgiveness" linked on the right-hand side in the box, and mail it in as documentation. You can read the other links, but the actual form you need is that third link down.

Now I get to go do a tutorial on all this for about half of my ducklings. Closing fannish websites and opening boring government ones in 3...2...1...

(no subject)

I AM SO LATE WITH THIS.

I don't often read Torchwood fic anymore, but I have to say, I will ready nearly anything Foxy writes, and the same goes for XT. I got to beta the first chapter of this -- sadly didn't get to do the rest, but not for lack of motivation. It's a delicious Torchwood adventure on beaches and boats and stuff!

BLOOD OF EDEN by 51stcenturyfox and xtricks

Rated R, lots of hot ships, check the warnings before proceeding. I really enjoyed it and those of you who are Torchwood fans likely will too!