(no subject)

I am walking again! Well, really more hobbling and limping, but I'll take it. I still don't really feel comfortable leaving the house, but at least I'm not quite so stuck in one place, which is good as I have been bored out of my skull.

M. took the kids to see the Orioles get completely spanked by the Blue Jays yesterday afternoon, the highlight of which is that the kids got to run the bases at Camden Yards after the game. I hate that I missed it, because apparently A. looks fabulous on Jumbotron. I realized yesterday morning that this is something of a golden age of our family - all members are present and accounted for, and both children have moved pretty firmly into childhood - our kids are almost 4 and almost 7 and there are no more babies living here. It's so exciting and I'm so happy to be here - I really want to enjoy the years between now and when teenagerdom hits. I feel very conscious right now of how quickly time is passing and there is a bit of a panic to enjoy every moment.

Other stuff:

+ *crosses fingers and toes for jlh*
+ So many flisties looking for work right now! *crosses fingers and toes for y'all, too*
+ The meme post is now crazy out of control. I'm gonna have to cut it off.
+ Every time GWB gives a press conference, my horror that half the country thought this man was capable of leading us is renewed. I mean, beyond just being a smirky ass, he's an idiot, and that's a powerfully offputting combination. My poor country. *cuddles the USA* ETA: OMG. He just LIES! Did you know that the tax cuts have worked? And that the economy is now officially stimulated? And that the deficit has been reduced faster than anticipated? What REALITY is this? *is outraged*
+ Which reminds me, actually, that I had a dream last night in which Helen Thomas was caught on videotape making weird noises to try to drown out some of the president's answers and there was one of those 2 day MSNBC/Fox/Daily Show scandals and I was dismayed for her. Let's take a moment - I am dreaming about the White House press corps. It is entirely possible that I am broken on some fundamental level.
+ I have big lifestyle changes coming, and there will be LJ changes to accomodate those. Namely, I think I HAVE to cut my flist, and I'm not sure how radical those cuts will be. You've got first shot at defriending.

SGA - wank with an underlying principle!

Those of you not of the SGA persuasion might miss this (unless you also spend time at Journalfen) but there's a kerfuffle over at sga_flashfic that's just INTERESTING, particularly as it appears to be time for LJ based fandom to have another broad and meandering discussion about intellectual property. This time, the basic question is: is it cool to use another person's fanfic as the jumping off point for your own fic without clearing it with the original writer? The majority opinion seems to be, "um, no, and haven't we covered this?" but there's a vocal minority who insist that since we never ask permission from the writers of the original source material, there's no moral or ethical obligation to ask for that from fanwriters, either. This cannibalizing of source material, the mishmash collage approach to ideas and inspiration, that's just what we do, they say - it's part of what the fannish writing collective is all about.

I... actually think they might be right.

One arguable position is that maybe it's OK to use the work of someone who's not of your tribe as your jumping off point. I have said before that I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the presence of creators at cons and maybe this is part of why. Is this basically about belonging to a subculture and a community and not screwing over your fellow fen? Or is it simply that professional writers got paid for their work and so they've gotten their due off of it, whereas a fanwriter's rewards are more intangible and therefore need to be more protected and more carefully preserved?

What do you think? I'm still working this out for myself. Is there a REASON that within the community, fanfic writers' rights to their property ought to be more respected than the rights of the writers of the source material? And what is that reason?


ETA: OK, I think I have worked this out a bit more now. Thoughts behind the cut. ( Read more... )

PSA - When the Levees Broke

Just a reminder for those of you in the US who might get HBO. Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" about NOLA and Katrina begins tonight, in about half an hour here on the East Coast and at 9 pm PDT for HBO-W. No idea how good this is going to be, but it's something we've been waiting for in our household, so just a heads up.