stunt_muppet

I would like to say that I have been hiding away doing homework (and to an extent I have) but mostly I have been trying to clean the enormous hive of paper that is my room. And wrestling with the Web-based program that I need to actually do my homework, which has decided to lock me out again. This is why I hate doing assignments on the internet! Paper and pencils for all!

Anyway, the reason my room has become a nexus of general messiness is because my coworker has decided that she wants me to help her sell some of her old dolls on my Etsy page, since Etsy does let you sell vintage and, hey, people sell stuff from the Eighties and call it vintage on Etsy, 50-something-year-old dolls should count.

But the trouble is, I have no idea what they are. No brands, no certain country of origin, no year, nothing. And there's some old metalworked boxes and vanity sets that she wants sold too and I can't place a year on them, or anything about them really aside from the fact that they have the Russian double-headed eagle on them.

So...I know some of you make dolls, but do any of you know anything about collecting them? Would you be able to help me out with identity and pricing? I'm not expecting them to be super super valuable or anything, but if you could point me to any resources I might use or anything like that.

And since I'm including a couple of crappy webcam photos so you can see what they look like, I was going to turn this into a picspam but then I spent five hours on the internet and SCP Foundation instead. ADD! The sport of kings.

( Couple of pictures, couple of pictures. )

Got to run, there's homework what needs finishing. I keep meaning to seize my weekends and write and it never happens, le sigh.

Of course I'm not pissed off that I'm not at BotCon right now. Not at all. Not in the slightest. I am in no way being eaten up with jealously at the thought of not getting to meet the writers and artists and voice actors of my favorite continuity and not buying any comics or getting any autographs, fuck you California one day I will just cut you off the side of the country and bring you over here so you can stop hogging everything. >:(

In all seriousness, even if it was close I wouldn't have been able to go anyway, probably, what with my baby brother graduating from high school! A bit scary since I do actually remember him being a baby, but, still, super proud of him, and it does warm the heart to watch him walk across the stage after all the hard work he's done.

Also, if I was at BotCon, I wouldn't have gone to see a documentary about the oldest cave paintings ever found, in Chauvet Cave in France, asking questions about the nature of art and humanity and stuff. You wish you were this much of a film snob, oh yeah. (Though it was very beautiful, and you should see it if you get the chance.)

Oh, and another thing I wouldn't get to do if I was at BotCon: Watch a black swallowtail caterpillar molt. OF COURSE THAT'S EXCITING.

( A few bug pictures behind the cut! )
It is probably a tiny bit absurd how excited I am about this caterpillar, but I am so looking forward to watching his development. Or her development, I suppose.


Goodness it's late. To bed with me.

[Poll #1735683]

Breaking News: Drawing is even more slow and frustrating than writing. I ended up with, like, five faces. After a million billion years.

So I'm guessing it'll be a while before I can post anything on DA, then.

Figured I might as well put them up here, plus some more of the photos from my garden. Now that fall's started in earnest there are fewer and fewer bugs for me to photograph, and that makes me a bit sad.

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( Drawings back here, mostly of faces. )




And now, photos!

( Photos, mostly of bugs. )


I've got an interview tomorrow! Which means I should go to bed. That huge Real Life post I've been meaning to make will have to wait. Wish me luck.

So to change my topic from all the complaining from the past few entries, I have a picspam!

So after my Entomology class last year, I became a bit less afraid of bugs and started to find them really fascinating. And fortunately, all the plants in my backyard, there are rather a lot of them around, including a praying mantis who appears to have been living here for several weeks! And so I decide to post pictured of him. Or her. I can't tell.

I ought to warn you up ahead, though: Contains close-up pictures of bugs, including bugs eating other bugs, and a few pictures of parasitoid wasp larvae emerging. I'll give you a head's up when they're coming.

( Behind the cut! )



So. That and writing job applications have kind of been my day, as I have been inexplicably exhausted. And now this entry has been under construction for ages, and I really must finish. Good night, good night.

Yeah, I signed up to take that one too, because I figure your scores stay valid for a year or two I might as well take it before all the knowledge in my head atrophies. But still, more standardized testing, why. :(

But first, Round 1 of the Interview Meme that goes around every so often. Just in case you don't know the rules:

1. You comment on this entry.
2. I ask you five questions.
3. You answer those five questions in a post on your journal.
4. When people comment on that entry, you ask them five questions.
5. They answer those five questions in a post on their journal.
6. When people comment on that post, they ask them-- et cetera et cetera ad infinitum.

kayliemalinza  asked me these:

( Lots and lots of text and some pictures behind the cut. )

... ugh, and I still have GREs to study for. At least I have the excuse of having volunteer positions to interview for and stuff today, so it's not like I completely toodled around on the internet today.

AND NOW IT IS SLEEP TIME.

I know, right, I can actually sit down and put together a post instead of sneaking one in when I'm supposed to be working. Because I'm NOT SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING. Ha! I'm still getting used to that.

(Though technically I only have time because I'm staying up late because I spent all day packing and should really be doing my resume right now, but oh well.)

It occurs to me that I've never actually made a proper introduction post. So, a rather belated welcome, new folks from the friending meme, and a renewed welcome to old friends as well. Feel free to ask any questions if there's something you want to know (whether fannishly, Real Life-related, or logistically i.e. how long entries tend to be, spoilers, etc), but other than that...yeah. This is my journal. I write things in it.

1. So I was watching TV with my parents yesterday, and apparently the penultimate NCIS episode of the season was on. So I figured, sure, even if I really don't know what's been going on this season, surely I can figure things out from here.

And for the most part I could, but what also came to my attention was an ad for the season finale of The Mentalist. Now, for the most part I have mightily resisted the urge to pick up another show, particularly one that already uses the same gimmick as a show I already like, but this trailer reminded me why I still watch it when it's on: Simon Baker is really, desperately attractive.

This was particularly noticeable because near the end of the trailer Patrick Jane is tied to a chair with cling wrap, looking disheveled and scared. And his hair is doing wonderful things. 

And because I'm a slightly pathetic person, my first course of action was to track this trailer down on YouTube and start capping. And since I know there are at least a couple of Simon Baker fanciers on my flist, I thought I'd share the fruits of my efforts even if it's only four pictures.

( Pretty pretty hair... )

Mmm, curls. /shallowness

2. On the subject of said NCIS finale...well, predictably, as it was a tie-in to NCIS: LA, I wasn't all that aware of what was going on, other than that It's Personal This Time (true to season-finale form). However, there was one line in particular that I found interesting on a rather meta level: ( cut for mild spoilers )


3.a. Apparently Peter Cullen is returning to voice Optimus in the upcoming series Transformers: Prime. And The Fandom Rejoiced. (On a completely silly note, by the way, look at his mustache. That is the mustache of a MAN.) 

You know what would be amazing, though? If we could somehow have Peter Cullen, Gary Chalk, David Kaye, and Neil Kaplan all doing voices in Prime. I don't care if their respective agencies make that impossible, I want it. They could have themselves an Optimus-off and I would probably squee myself clean out of existence.

Of course, now that more announcements regarding Transformers: Prime are being made I must ask the obligatory question: Who do I have to bribe/threaten/offer sexual favors to to get Elita One in TF: Prime? How much more extravagant do those threats/favors have to be to get her in for more than one episode?

3.b. However, on the subject of robot ladies, TF: Prime is supposed to be somehow tied to the upcoming War for Cybertron, and not only is Arcee in that one (and looking badass, might I add) but there's the distinct possibility that Slipstream might be in it, and that means that she might be in Prime as well, and that means I have to go dance about and throw confetti now.

Sure, War for Cybertron does have a create-a-character mode, so it's distinctly possible that the Seeker at the end of the trailer is just a customizable body mold, and even if that is Slipstream they can't possibly include every character from the games in the animated series, and besides Slipstream's whole existence is based on the cloning plotline in Season 2 of Animated, so unless WfC Starscream is also into cloning himself (not impossible but somewhat convenient) I'm not sure how they'll justify her existence, but you know what? I don't even care. She can be his sister this go-round or something. There's a possibility that not only will Hasbro be acknowledging that Animated existed, but SLIPSTREAM. I cannot be unhappy about this.

3.c. And in a final bit of Transformers news, reportedly Alan Tudyk has been cast in Transformers 3. (How many people are even in this movie? I mean, there are going to be some robots in it too, right? Sheesh.)

...crap. Crap. Now I'm obligated to go see this thing, I have to go see everything Alan Tudyk's in in the hopes  that he'll start getting more substantial film roles and TV series that don't get canceled! Crap!

Fine, Bay, you win. This time.

4. Even though the only Supernatural episodes I've seen have been before the introduction of Castiel I seem to be well on my way to becoming a Misha Collins fan. No, I don't know why either. I think it's the fact that F!S seems to be abundant with amusing macros of him.

5. The Glee Cast version of Bad Romance is almost as addictive as the real thing, although it jolts me right out of the song every time they sing "freak" instead of "free bitch". I get that the FCC is hanging your head with a hammer, FOX, but that's a whole syllable that drops out of the line every time you make that replacement. It doesn't bloody scan, okay.

The version of "Dream On" with Neil Patrick Harris, however, is so gorgeous it darn near makes me weak in the knees. It helps that I love the song already, but their just both such forceful singers and they don't sound like they're rasping on the high notes and eeeee. :D Even if I don't watch the show, I'm so glad it exists so it can keep giving me lovely music.

6. And I still haven't watched all the new Doctor Who (though I might be rewatching the first two Eleven episodes with my Dad and that thought makes me warm and fuzzy inside) and now TGWTG is having their two-year-anniversary supercrossover fiesta and I can't watch either because I'm not supposed to spend too much time on the computer. Fandom is so stressful sometimes.

And on top of that I need to go to bed an hour ago. Good night, flist.

...so, yeah, I spent most of today watching Batman.

Surely this is a sign of a misspent life and wildly mislaid priorities, but when I get a job and stuff I probably won't be able to indulge in evenings full of Batman anymore, so I may as well do it now, right?

Anyway, so that this didn't feel like a complete waste of time, I thought I'd take a few screencaps and make a picspam for you, mostly on the topic of why Aquaman is awesome, why Batman/Aquaman is completely plausible and you should ship it too, and why Blue Beetle III is adorkable. Caps are mostly raw, and a few come from Veoh/Dailymotion, where the little pause icon in the middle of the screen won't go away; sorry for that. Caps are located here if you feel inclined to use them to make icons and are from the episodes "Rise of the Blue Beetle!", "Mystery in Space!" , "Night of the Huntress!", and "Journey to the Center of the Bat!".

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( OUTRAGEOUS! )
And so, in conclusion, go watch Batman. Because it's a whole lot of fun, that's why. And it has Blue Beetle making funny faces. And only 9 fics on FF.net, so, you know, you should look into that and all.

I am home from vacation! It is sad to not be at the beach anymore, but I'm sort of looking forward to going back to work, maybe getting a little more writing done now that Remix has given me a boost.

Speaking of Remix, some anonymous person has remixed my fic The Waiting-Room World from the POV of an original character whom I briefly mentioned, and the result is poignant and beautiful and did everything I should have done with regards to actually fleshing out the future described in The Ark in Space in all its grim, terrifying detail. You should go read it and tell the author how amazing it is.

Second, since I had a minute I thought I'd answer the Five Fannish Things meme. Feel free to ask me more at the original post; indeed I encourage it, because it gives me something to do. You'd love to help me procrastinate, wouldn't you?

marah_sarie asked me for my Top Five Third Doctor Serials:

( I talk about them behind the cut. )
And that is all I have to say for now. I really should go to bed; work in the morning and all. Good night, flist.

It is Saturday, and I have nothing to do save my homework (and why would I do a silly thing like that?), and there's nothing going on, and for some reason writing is Just. Not. Happening. And there's a lot of stuff I could be doing but the horrible lethargy of this week has still not shaken itself off despite my getting plenty of sleep this weekend, and I just don't want to do anything at all ever again.

Also, my head hurts.

And so, in lieu of doing something actually useful, I figured I'd put up a lazy-day picspam of some of the Three Doctors caps. Because why not.

Contains Patrick Troughton's expressive face, Gratuitous Benton, shippiness of various flavors, and tiny undignified squeaking noises. Also occasional transcription of the best bits of the commentary.

( Three of them. I didn't know when I was well off. )
And that's all for these episodes. More screencaps are here should you want to pinch them, and are free to a good home.

And now I should go do some work.