While I was at home visiting my family, I caught the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner.  The speaker was John Hodgman.  And he made his "talk" on the culture of Jocks vs.  Nerds, boldly calling into question the current President's Nerd credentials.

Since almost everyone who reads this is a computer gamer or a gamer, tout court, or an elitist snob who uses phrases like tout court, or collects comic books or reads sci fi/fantasy, and all of you are reading a BLOG, I will go out on a limb here and suggest that most of you are Nerds.  (I will not ask how many of you also pack an inhaler.)  So I thought many of you might find his speech inspiring.



I'm still being sluggish about Sim playing and commenting, partly because I am busy doing other nerdly activities, such as fooling with stereo equipment and writing papers about werewolves.  

I've been working really hard, and finally got it together enough to renew my reader's card at the Huntington. And to my embarrassment I was there about an hour when I ran into some colleagues from grad school. THEY were working. One of them is there working all the time, and of course I ought to have been doing this all along. Oh, well.

So of course I haven't been playing as much, and also asthma season has officially started, it seems. I've decided to play the Romans for a while and catch them up with all the other families in the neighborhood, and of course, in my neighborhood, Cassidy Vetinari is a "Roman." So there has been a lot of dating.

Like probably everybody else, I've been noticing all the Michael Jackson stuff going on. I really wasn't a fan of his later stuff. To me, Michael Jackson is the little kid I used to watch when I was an even littler kid. Or, more precisely, he is this:



To me, the Jackson Five was a cartoon family who lived in the TV, probably across the street from the Osmonds. Both of them had a Saturday morning cartoon show animated by Rankin-Bass. They were also on a lot of variety programs, like Sonny and Cher. My grandmother liked those. My parents were very much about Renaissance music and Frank Zappa, but actual pop music, like anything by Burt Bacharach, that was my grandma's kind of thing.

I read somewhere that Michael Jackson felt personally betrayed that everyone who liked him as a child star didn't like him later, but that's what happens sometimes. My childhood was ruined by disco. By the time Michael Jackson came along, I had taken refuge in opera and early jazz like Fats Waller and George Gershwin, and to this day, I'm just not in the habit of listening to popular music unless it is SO popular and maybe controversial that they play it on NPR. And my friends who hung around with me at Rocky Horror--we tended to like stuff like Blondie: Heart of Glass.

Anyhoo, because Michael Jackson is all connected to the Jackson Five in my mind, and since I can't think of the Jackson Five without thinking of the Osmonds, I got curious about what they're up to now. I see Marie flogging the Nutri-System Diet all the time. Jimmy is the closest to my age, and while he's put on a few pounds (hey, who hasn't), he's still got a career performing in England. In fact, he was just in a production of *Grease,* and . . . just watch the clip.

 (Ask me sometime about the lyrics about Australopithecus Africanus that I wrote to this tune. )

 
Then I got to wondering what Donny Osmond was up to, since he was always the big star. I remembered that he'd been doing about ninety seven million performances of *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.* He's still performing, too, even though his clean-cut image hasn't helped him. A PR guy once begged him to PLEASE get arrested for drug possession. Just once. But I did not know he was in Weird Al Yankovic's music video for *White and Nerdy.* Because as Weird Al said, Donny Osmond is the whitest guy he could think of. You can see him dancing behind Weird Al in the original, here, but this is the greenscreen stuff they shot. It's kind of hilarious.

So now that I've established my geek credentials yet again, I'll admit two more things:

Yes, I have begun another writing project but I am not going to say more about it until there is more;

and yes, I have been tearing my way through the Dresden Files and really enjoying them a lot. A few things I was thinking as I read them:

( Dresden Files commentary and speculation. May contain spoilers up to *White Night*. )

So tomorrow I have research to do, and I hope my asthma clears up a bit, because this is nasty.

Also, to the dorks in Sacramento:  I am way out of patience with you.

 I'm working on the next update, but it's like pulling teeth.  I'm not sure why.  Every slide is sheer misery.  I think the format may be throwing me off.  I know that sounds odd, but it's true.  The captions don't seem any dumber than the old ones were, but then I look at them and think "DUMB."  I finally decided that dumb or not, I'm finishing and it goes up anyway.

I'm probably just cranky because of the stuff at school.  I don't think I'm going to say any more about it right now.  Let's just put it that I will probably be a lot poorer in the fall--a LOT poorer--and that to add insult to injury, I'm being asked to vote to allow them to do it.  I'm trying not to think about it right now, figuring that I'm pretty resourceful and that I've been poor before and can cut back on stuff, and that I have two lovely cats and what more does a girl need, anyway?  

I picked up the car.  They finished with it and a lot of it was covered by my powertrain warranty.  I would say "it could be worse," only I don't want it to GET worse, thanks very much.  

I wonder if anyone has ever written a horror novel set at a university?

Also, just read *Good Omens,* and it's as good as everyone says it is.

Just wanted to say that Yima on GOS was kind enough to turn Astiee's Extreme Skin : Sparkling Flesh into a vampire default. She made one using Sussi's Mirror Gold eyes, which you can find here--

. . .are there any products I can interest you in?





Yes, I finished grading. Why do you ask?

 Wheew.  Two finals today, plus the online one.  I'm hoping to wrap this up soon, but tonight I'm taking a break.

So you know I've always envied you PC people those last two EPs and SPs.  I've especially always wanted AL--(witches, yay!)  And up till last December, I was still holding out the hope that EA might bring them out for Mac.  But frankly, if they cared about a "dead" game, they would have fixed the Sims 2 Exchange by now, right?

The good thing about Sims 3 is that lots of people decided to uninstall Sims 2 and sell their used games on EBay.  And with Bootcamp, I can create a Windows partition.  The guy I talked to at the Mac Store said it was easy, and since he goes to my school, he also assured me that getting a copy of Windows through them would be cheap.

I just got used copies of the base game, all eight EPs, five SPs (Family Fun Stuff, Glamor Life Stuff, Celebration Stuff, H & M Fashion and Teen Style Stuff, plus a bunch of Prima Guides (whatever) and Sims Life Stories, for under a hundred dollars, including shipping.

I probably won't be installing it right away, because I'll need to buy Windows and install that first.  And I'll still be playing my Legacy on Mac, since I have everything there and Generation Nine is born.  But after that, I can play with the premades and maybe the Megahoods.  Because there's still plenty with the Sims 2 that I haven't done and still want to do.  And once I've figured out how to download stuff on Mac and migrate it to PC, who knows what I'll do?

Someone posted on MATY asking if it would be possible to create vampires like the ones in *Twilight*--sparkling, don't burn up in the sunlight, all that stuff. Well, of course, a Maxis vampire is going to have most of those vampire characteristics, like smoking in the sunlight and stalking with their arm over their face and saying "Blehhh!! The sun!!! I must flee!!!" With the exception of biting everyone in sight, I like those characteristics, but I still thought it was an interesting question, and of course. . .

Ulysses, this means you must become a sparklepire again.

( More vamp skin experiments )CC links, in case you're curious:

Lyran default skins.
Eye Candy eyes and contacts.
Dylan TK's Vampire Paste.
Do I Dazzle You? Default.
Extreme Skins "Sparkling Flesh."
Bruno's Gemstone Eyes.

OK, anyone who *doesn't* want to see some toddler pix and is afraid to be spoiled, don't click under the link.  Any or all of these might show up in a future chapter, so you've been warned.

( Oh, sure you do. )

Penelope and Dinadan had their third, and it's a boy, so I'm still trying to figure out what to do.  I'm leaning towards waiting a few days and letting the two eldest enjoy their grandparents, now that they've all actually become friends. And then I will probably let Jack and Sophia move out.  They won't have to die, and that will free up two more chances for a girl, so it's a win-win.  If they *still* don't have a girl, then I'll be able to send the oldest two to college, and keep trying, but let's hope it doesn't come to that.  ARGH.  You can see why I like playing Achilles and Ulysses.  It's a nice break.  


PB

I've finally been playing a bit. I don't even want to think about how many papers I have to grade on this lovely Memorial Day weekend. It came out to about 15 a day, only today I went out shopping instead and bought some new clothes. I suppose they were impulse buys, and I do have to be careful about those, when I have been so good.

But I got an absolutely adorable hat, and a nice black dress and a white dress and a hair accessory from Anthropologie, which frankly I thought was too young for me. I figured I would look all hideous and bulgy but I don't. It's probably because the clothes *look* all floaty and unstructured, which looks like heck if you have any body at all, but they really aren't. They're all lined and well constructed. AND the dresses show off my knees. So between that and some stuff I got from J Peterman, I have some great stuff, if only I had somewhere to wear it.

Dinadan and Penelope gave me their first child. Well, children. Twins. BOYS. Twin boys. It's a good thing I like Dinadan, because between that and his Six Grandchildren LTW he is in my black books. They have two cats, but of course the cats can't have kittens and let the house get all full: there's only room for one more baby as it is. If the worst comes to the worst, I can let Jack and Sophia move out to their own little house, which is what I was thinking of doing anyhow. (Notice how I'm pretending that I'm not all excited to have twin boys named Gawaine and Parsifal?)

Speaking of Sim children, Nausicaa aged up and I am thrilled.
( Nausicaa. . .  )

Finally, some pictures from my garden:
( Two Paradises were in one, to dwell in Paradise alone -- )Have a nice weekend, everybody!

PB

Onwards for a bit less pink and squeaky and a bit more oddity.

And now for a long-awaited wedding. . . 

 

 

And now for a big bumper weddingpalooza!

And at last, it is time for a wedding that everyone has been waiting for seemingly forever.

Stay tuned for the rest of the update!

More this way   ---->>>
 

Who knows when the Exchange will go back up, right? And I'm sure you'd like to see wedding pictures as much as I'd like to show them.

The rebuild, the switch of neighborhoods, now the Exchange, the first chapter in LJ format--it's all part of a series of SNAFUs, and not even the worst of them. And that is why this chapter of Squeaky Clean is called:

In due time, Penelope proposed to Dinadan again, and all was in line for a set of long-delayed weddings.

This way---->>>

 Don't want to jinx anything, but I finally got to where I'm really, really ready to start tossing weddings and birthin' babeez!  So with the last free weekend I'm going to have for a while, I am going to do *exactly that.* There's already one baby on the way and I am betting it will be purty.  

The Roman weddings may happen a tad later.  But because the Exchange is all messed up, I might post some nice wedding shots on LJ anyway.  It's not exactly a *surprise* that Penelope is marrying Dinadan, and if there are pretty pictures, I don't see why I shouldn't share them.  I don't remember anyone ever saying "RAWRRR I SAW THAT PICTURE ON LJ" before.  The babeez, some of them anyway, might be a bit classified.

Hee, hee.

 My school is doing Romeo and Juliet this quarter and I can't help thinking of one of my favorite versions:



(You can find the whole Peep Romeo and Juliet here.)

 It's been a long time, I know, and there are many chapters I owe comments on.  But today I am giving two midterms, and I know my time will be limited after this.  So here is this transitional chapter:

Chapter 15.5: Goodbye To All That.

 I saw this linked on cleolinda 's LJ and I just had to share it.  It's a letter by Stephen Fry to his 16-year old self.

It's officially a letter on gay rights, but I think it has a lot to say for anybody.  And I love Stephen Fry for many reasons--for being a fellow Cantabridgian, for making me laugh, for calling his autobiography *Moab is My Washpot* ( I am so glad I am not the only person who finds that funny.)

Just a bit of it, to whet your interest:
I think you may enjoy it.

 I was hoping to read some stories again and do some comments, but now it looks as though the Exchange is honked up.  Everything seems to point to the main page.  Has anyone else noticed that?

While I haven't been exercising much, if at all, I've been really, really diligent.  I finished up some reports I was supposed to do, and prepped and Xeroxed my midterms, and cleaned up the online component of my courses, and submitted an abstract for a paper, and a few other things.  I'm worried about some stuff and working hard makes me worry less.  

Swine flu seems to have reached LA County.  The school right around the block from me has been closed because a student and the student's family has come down sick after a trip to Mexico.  They're getting tested, and while they figure out if it's swine flu or not, the school is closed.  I would rather not have a swine flu problem at my school right now, as midterms are coming up (see above.)

Tomorrow I finish teaching *Love's Labors Lost* and go on with *All's Well that Ends Well.*  A lot of people don't know those particular Shakespeare plays, but I have to admit that I love both of them.  I especially love *All's Well.*  A poor physician's daughter, Helena, is madly in love with a Count Bertram, the boy she grew up with, and she knows she has no chance.  But she has a prescription she inherited from her father, and the King is desperately sick, so she goes to Paris and cures him.  The King offers her a choice of the hand in marriage of any man she wants, and she picks Bertram.  Ta-da!  Happy ending!. . . 

. . . except he doesn't want to marry her, she tries to let him off the hook, but the King orders him to.  He deserts her and runs off to Italy to the war, challenging her to present him with his ring and his child, only he's never going to take the ring off or sleep with her.  . . .

. . .so what does she do now?  And can this possibly End Well?

I have to admit I love Helena.  I admire her because she has brains and gumption and drive, and I feel sorry for her because she is in love with a pretty jerk and because she thinks she can earn him: "Who ever strove/ To show her merit, that did miss her love?"  If you think about it, this is exactly the same situation in about 99.9% of fairy tales--get rid of the dragon, do the noble deed, and you get half of the kingdom and the princess' hand in marriage.  Only it's always a guy doing the noble deeds, and the princess never objects.  In fact, there's never even a suggestion that she MIGHT object.  No one cares what she thinks at all.  

It's only when the genders are reversed that people have a problem with it.  "How dare she force him into marriage!  She's too aggressive!  Too crafty!  Too manipulative!"  This play only became popular recently--they may not even have performed it in Shakespeare's time, believe it or not.  The 18th and the 19th century just couldn't handle the idea of a reasonably virtuous young lady who can hold her end up in a conversation about virginity and some crude passes, instead of freaking out and running away.  It's only now that the sexual politics have become acceptable or even interesting.  

Bit of a digression, I know, but if you get a chance to see either of these plays, grab it and go.

. . . OK, Exchange.  You can go back up now.

Haiku2 for profbutters
the constant pillow fighting is boring but it doesn't look too nice
@ aboutmylife.netadvogato.orgblogger.comblogs.gnome.orgblogspot.comdeadjournal.comgreatestjournal.cominsanejournal.comlivejournal.commyspace.comspaces.msn.com
Created by Grahame

I can't remember who started the post on what your "white whale" would be for Sims 2 CC. No surprise to anyone who has listened to my whining about it, it is, of course, CC wedding cakes that actually work.

And now! Thanks to eris3000 on MTS2, and thanks to dicreasy and dizzifulbliss , who let me know about them---

Wedding cakes that work!

"The whiiiite whaaaale!"



DANG, doesn't that look pretty? There are six different ones. There's even a *chocolate* one. MMM. And the same creator has a bunch of other wedding CC--tables (seen above) and arches and things of that sort that do not require Celebration Stuff!

You can set them for sale if you have Lord Darcy's and Numenor's mods--I checked, using (of course) Gilbert Jacquet as my guinea pig. You can't put them in the Decra-Chills because they are too big. But they really do actually work, as the following pictures of Rosie and Shane's second wedding will show.
( Wedding and cake picspam! )Also, my unauthorized opinion on SimSecret this week--BO-ring.  Also confusing.  I have no clue what the rules are now--the same old nasty cracks seem to be ok, but the nicer ones like "I really love your stuff" aren't--even, confusingly, a Johnny and Ripp one that was a shade naughty but not more.  If Ripp/Johnny isn't a SimSecret, what the heck is?