maristu

1. I am working on a long vid (6:30) that I LOVE but that is SO HARD OMG. Plus I'm coming up on the deadline for said vid (it's an auction vid). Now I'm questioning my ability of making a 7:30 long multifandom vid for Vid Big Bang 2020.

2. I have finished watching season 8 of SPN and am now bracing myself for season 9, which I've been told is the season of Rage Quitting. I aim to watch all 6 remaining season before the final season starts. And I already have vid ideas for characters I haven't even seen on the show yet. This is getting out of hand.

3. Because I obviously have a lot of free time on my hand (heh), I've decided to go back and start reading Marvel issues from the 60s. It's a lot of fun though! I'm following this reading list: https://www.comicbookherald.com/my-marvelous-year/, which has about 10-15 issues per year starting in 1962. I'm currently at... *checks* 1963. Lol. This is going to take a while. But I'm excited for the first Avengers issue! And the first X-Men issue! And oh my god the sexism is hilarious. But also annoying. But also hilarious. I might post about this experience at some point. I might also do the same for DC (or at the very least for WW and Batman).

4. Kitties are amazing as usual and I love them to bits. Odin had bronchitis (oh the irony) and was coughing and throwing up and had to take medication for about 2 weeks. I'd always give him a treat afterward and because he's such a glutton he eventually started VOLUNTARILY taking the meds, just so that he could get to the treat quicker. Well, now that the 2 weeks are over he will literally beg me for the meds. I mean, he'll paw at the drawer where I kept the meds. Every. Single. Day. I keep telling him that he should be begging for the treats, but I don't think he's figured that out yet.

5. Apparently some air got into the water pipes in my building and the pipes are banging and making a lot of noise every time someone in my building flushes the toilet. And apparently someone in the building has a very small bladder, because I've been awoken at 2am, 4am and 6am for the last 3 days. And I'm not kidding that it's LOUD. The first time I was so startled that I thought the cats had broken the huge living room TV. There are cracks on my bathroom ceiling. I've been showering at the gym because I'm afraid that pieces of plaster are going to fall on my head if I shower at home. This is the least fun I've ever ever had in my apartment. And waking up startled multiple times a night is not conducive to good mental health. Hopefully they'll fix whatever it is soon. I might actually have to go to a hotel, although the kitties make this kind of decision much more complicated. Although I guess I could just sleep at the hotel?

God I need sleep. 

 Day 2: Rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Okay! So as I'm all rebellious I'm gonna do MORE than three! I'll do three vids and three fics.

Let's start with vids:
Work This Body by cherry 
This was made for equinox and I loooooved it. The source is Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which I I hadn't watched and I loved the vid so much that I went and watched it (totally worth it by the way). But the vid is just fun and bubbly and makes you laugh and there are singing hippos!

Lithium by luminosity 
So. This is Legion. I have yet to watch the whole thing, but one thing I can say is that it's absurdly pretty and Lum just takes that and makes it even more so. The colors are amazing. The pacing is amazing. Don't let this cover of the Nirvana classic lull you into a false sense of security. This vid packs a serious punch.

Sing! by laurashapiro 
You know when you're sad and need something to make you smile? This is the vid for you. And I've actually watched all of Sense8! Kindness is sexy :-)

Ok, and now for some fic!

Good Our Whole Lives by beatperfume 
Shadowhunters is the show that brought me back to fandom after, oh, 15 years? Because I love teen angst, apparently. But it's truly a good show, and y'all should watch it if you're not already (also I'm really angry it was cancelled). This is a Malec hooker AU. I have no idea why I'm so into AUs all of a sudden, I used to be so against them. But most of what I'm reading right now is AU. Pirates? Sure, why not? Space? Let's do it! Hooker? I'm in! Anyway, this is one of my favorites. Explicit, obviously.

4 Minute Window by cesperanza 
Shadowhunters brought me back to fandom but Marvel is what's holding me here. Well, mostly. This is a lovely "what if" fic. 

Safe and (the) Sound by 27dragons  and tisfan 
One day I was browsing around in AO3 (which is a dangerous activity in general) and somehow I ended up reading WinterIron. I have NO IDEA how I ended up there, but I am so hooked. This is an AU (read my previous comment) where Bucky owns a diner and a young Tony runs away from home. It's the first in the Nights in Sandbridge series and I've read every single one and they're all so totally worth it. 

That's all for today!

Okay, so I'm gonna try this "writing on dreamwidth with some kind of consistency" thing one more time. I promise to give it a proper try this time, seriously!

I'll skip the "catching up on life since 2005" thing since I've done it ad nauseum and I figure I'll get around to talking about all that stuff at some point in the future (there's a lot of stuff!). Suffice to say that after a loooooong hiatus, I'm back in fandom! I've been vidding for the past year or so and I even wrote a fic! And I went to The Last Vividcon (awww) and met a lot of lovely people, and now there's Equinox and the Vid Big Bang and collaborations and I've made the terrible life decision of watching Supernatural (starting from the beginning, gulp). So yeah, when I decide to jump back in, I do it head first like a leap of faith. Let's do this!

Next up: my Dear Equinox Vidder letter. Then on to the vids I premiered at Vividcon, and vid recs, and probably some commentary on the first season of Supernatural because I'm already way invested in it. I'm also thinking of remastering my old Smallville vids (because their current source is horrendous) and posting them on YouTube as well. So, lots to come! Stay tuned!

You know what's the worst thing about arriving late to a fandom? It's that everything you want to do has been done, sometimes more than once, sometimes in a much better way than you'd have done yourself. I've had about 5 ideas for vidding Buffy, and they've all been done already! With the character I was thinking of doing, with other characters I hadn't thought of, sometimes the song has been done 5 times! Seriously, how is this possible?

So... I have two sort of obscure songs (by pretty famous bands, actually) that I was thinking of vidding to Buffy. Not my first choices, but I still like the ideas. And they haven't been done yet. That's how obscure the songs are... :P We'll see how things go!

Okay, this may sound stupid, but... How does this BitTorrent thingy work? Where do I get it?

I'd forgotten what it was like to read my flist right after an episode of , not having watched it along with everyone else. So yeah... BitTorrent. I want it. Now.

Please?

I'm online again! Well, actually I've been online at work every day, but the firewall there blocks LiveJournal and AIM. But I finally got my computer back, with a borrowed 120GB HD (my old one died on me) until I manage to buy another one. Bigger! Better (hopefully)! We'll see... Although I'm starting to believe that there's something else wrong with the computer, since it's crashing an awful lot lately, especially when I use graphics-heavy programs (which is obligatory to vidding, so you can see my conundrum). I'll have to have it checked again soon. But for now, it's home, and working (kind of). So I'll just make a big update while I can.

~*~

I'm currently very much in love with Paco de Lucia. For those of you who don't know, he's a spanish Flamenco guitarrist, and he's amazing. I love his work. If you like Flamenco, check out his site.

I am, however, very nervous about a presentation I have to give tomorrow for my spanish class. I chose Paco de Lucia as my subject, and I have to speak 15 minutes about him. In spanish. Now, I suck at presentation in general. Even when I have to give them in portuguese (or in english, in which I'm kind of fluent ;) ). I'm already trembling at the prospect. I plan on playing a 5 minute piece on the CD player, that way I only have to speak for 10 ;)

~*~

My dad was on TV today! Well, he's on TV every week, actually, but this time he was on for a whole hour! He was interviewed about his political views on the whole corruption scandal that's been going on here in Brazil. Pretty cool. Also, they showed a picture of me and my sister! So I was on TV too! Yay! *g*

~*~

I am currently working on ripping my Smallville DVDs into small MPG files, so that I can remaster my old videos, and possibly make a few new ones. I have a few movie vids in mind also. The ripping process is taking longer than I anticipated, though, especially because my computer keeps crashing on me. But I'll get ther eventually.

Also, I wanted to put up a website. That involves finding a good hosting service. I'll probably host in the US, it's hard to find a hosting service here in Brazil that gives me the kind of freedom you guys have as to what can be put up. I'm still searching, though. Any ideas?

~*~

Don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm going to Peru this Friday. Me and two girl friends are walking the incan trail to Machu Picchu. The three of us make an interesting group, one is a very girly type, loves pink, is taking cologne and is horrified at the idea that we'll have to use bushes as our bathrooms for 4 days (not that I love the idea, but I'm not losing much sleep over it). The other is very practical, and is the one taking care of all the arrangements, booking hotels, making check lists, that kind of thing.

As for me, I'm just in it for the adventure. I love camping out, being in the wilderness, walking trails and taking pictures. Not to mention the whole spiritual aspect of the journey. I have been given a few tasks by a psychic I went to the other day (and yes, I go to psychics. I've been to three in my lifetime, and although I'm kind of skeptic, I still think there's some truth in what they say). One of this tasks involves writing all the stuff that I think are wrong in my life, and that I want to leave behind in order to get a fresh start. I should then take it on the journey, and bury it somewhere along the way. I have to tell you, the list is LONG. But, you know, even if you don't believe in this kind of thing, just the act of making the list already gives you clarity of what you need to change, and it does seem like a good start, doesn't it?

~*~

Another superstitious thing I'm doing: I have this apartment that I've been trying to sell for almost two years now. It's an apartment I bought with my ex-husband when we still believed we were going to stay in São Paulo. When we decided to get divorced, he didn't have enough money to pay the mortgage on it, so the arrangement was that I'd pay for it until I managed to sell it. I paid off his part, so what actually happened was that he got his money upfront, while I got stuck with the debt and the ordeal of selling. I know, very very stupid, but then, I just wanted the whole divorce negotiation over and done with, no matter the cost (it was an extremely tiring and nerve-wrecking process for me). Anyway, it's been on the market for almost two years now, and it's just not selling. So this psychic told me to light an orange candle over the contract on wednesday, which I did. And now all I can do is basically pray that it works. I figure it can't do any harm, so... The candle's been lit for four days now. We'll see.

~*~

Also, I went to a podiatrist(sp?) today, and had all my ingrown nails trimmed. I then proceded to paint them pink. I am in love with my new feet :)

1. They're shooting "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe"!
2. The release of Dreamfall (computer game) is set for the end of the year.
3. New Harry Potter book! Just finished reading! Will comment in next post.
4. Saturn left my sign after 2 LOOOONG years (and for those who don't believe in astrology, this is probably silly, but damned if I don't feel much lighter...)
5. My new hair cut. It's a little bit shorter than shoulder-length. I LOVE IT.

*looks around empty office*
Yup... I believe I just *might* be able to come back to LiveJournal. Read my friends page. Update LJ. Catch up on my email. Even vid a little, who knows? Here's hoping :)

A quick update on fandom (not much there...) and RL, considering it's been *months* since I've done a real update on LJ...

Fandom: I've started reading OotP, and am loving it. Although I haven't been able to get very far, with work and family stuff. On the vidding front, I'm working on boni's b'day vid (just 7 months late!) and on a few SV vids that I've been mulling over for what feels like a *year*. Expect a huge batch of vids to come out soon. They're practically exploding from my brain... Also, I've finally got a cable internet connection at home, so I'll be able to dl SFU episodes to vid. And a few movie vids I've been thinking about also. This is *fun*!

Therapy: I've just started. My therapist is very nice, we're getting along just fine... Although I always leave the sessions (the two I've had so far) feeling like we've only just started scratching the surface and that there's so much *more* to talk about. For some reason, I manage to spend the entire hour just chatting about unimportant stuff, and the stuff that's been really bugging me are always left unsaid. Maybe next session I'll just make a list or something.

Also, she's asked me to try and remember my dreams, but I just can't. I know I dream, and I remember them for about 5 seconds after I wake up, but by the time I'm fully awake all the memories seem to have just flown from my mind. Does anyone have any suggestions for remembering dreams?

Work: Work is crazy as usual. Apparently, working in the department that develops software for the federal budget means working 20 hours a day during the months of June/July and November/December. I have five different software projects, all due on July 31st. Fun, huh? On the bright side, I won't know what to do with myself on August 1st (hopefully) :)

Birthdays: This year, my mom, sister and I decided to celebrate our birthdays together (my sister's is June 20, mine is June 23 and my mom's is July 9). So we arranged this huge party at my mom's house. Here in Brazil, during the month of June, we have a traditional type of party (St. John's Feast) with specific costumes, dances, foods and games. And a bonfire. And colored flags. And... Gosh, lots of stuff. I was talking to Barbana on AIM a while ago and I promised to make a site explaining all this stuff, with pictures and movies from the party. This project turned out to be much bigger than it seemed at first (the history behind this feast is *huge*), but it's coming along. Stay tuned! *g*

Family: My sister is staying here on vacation from NY for a month. We're trying to get her to come back for good. There seems to be an opening for a producer in the national news here, starting August. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

Pregnancies: My younger cousin just told the family that she's pregnant. She's only 18. I wanted to whack her in the head when I heard... Considering that she has a living example in the family (my *other* cousin also had an unwanted pregnancy), that people do indeed get pregnant, it's not just some scary story our parents tell us to prevent us from having sex, you'd *think* she'd have understood the concept of birth control. Apparently, no. Birth Control Pills and Condoms are foreign words for her. Dear God.

Meanwhile, I *want* to get pregnant, and don't. Seems just a little bit unfair, doesn't it?

Well, I guess that's it... Feel good to be back! Hopefully, I'll be able to stay this time *g*

Okay, I'm rushing off to a movie with hubby (it's been *ages* since we've gone to a movie), but stuff is piling up in my head and I just have to write it down before I forget everything. So here goes... *takes deep breath*

• Hated 'Visage' (well, except for the part where Chloe's hitting on Lana. That was cool.). Loved loved *loved* 'Insurgence'. Seriously, I don't remember what y'all thought of that ep, but it was good. So good even my *husband* liked it. Plus, it gave me a whole bunch of footage for my "Sympathy for the Devil" vid :)
  
• On that note, my computer is back to its full vidding capacities, so I've begun tinkering a bit with a few vids, mainly Boni's b'day vid, Barbana's vid and the Lionel vid. And I've come to a conclusion: I CAN'T VID WITHOUT A BETA! *weeps* I can't, it just doesn't work if I don't bounce stuff off of someone. Boni! I need help! And I need a net connection! Wah!
  
• I finally managed to convince my boss that I *need* Photoshop on my machine. So he got it for me. And all I've done with it so far is... work. Darn. But I have a whole bunch of icon ideas, not to mention the new layout for my LJ I'm working on, so expect new things as soon as work slows down a bit. And note that I said *new*, not *good*. Definitely NOT good :P
  
• I have a fic idea (or rather, a character analysis of sorts). It's Lillian/Lionel. It will probably never get written, much less posted, since I have little confidence in my writing skills. I have a serious vocabulary deficiency, y'all. Really. Someone please tell me where I can pick up english vocabulary? And don't say, "read", because I read a *lot* in English (more than in Portuguese, actually), and I *know* what words mean. I just don't remember them when I'm writing...
  
• For all of you that like computer games, adventure games in particular, go out NOW and buy "The Longest Journey". That's the absolute best adventure game I've played so far, and I've played a *lot* of adventure games. April Ryan kicks ass. Plus, she's snarky and she writes *exactly* like me. Seriously. Her diary looks just like my LJ, except with interesting stuff :)
  
• Hubby's thinking of trying out for the police academy. I don't know if I support him on this or not. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I'll support him. But I'm scared to death of him being on the streets and having a gun in the house. I dunno. I don't want to become a widow so early... And yes, I'm melodramatic, why do you ask? *g*
  
• Brazil's coming up on the Carnaval weekend, so I'll be offline from Saturday until Wednesday afternoon. Going up (or rather, down, now that I live in Brasília) to visit my dad. Should be fun, and restful. Hopefully. I need it. I *totally* blew up in a meeting today. I even scared myself. Not fun.
  

Well, that's about it, I guess. Lots more to say on a whole bunch of topics, but I don't have the time to write it now, so I'll just jot them down here... *scribbles on notepad* and write them tomorrow.

I want to whine. I feel like whining. Here's why:

* My absolute favorite brazilian movie *ever* didn't get nominated for the Oscars. And that sucks. I don't think I'll watch the Oscars this year.

* I'm all sore from the latest exercise bouts. I'm taking Aikido on Tuesdays/Thursdays, and hitting the gym on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays. Maybe that's a bit too much...

* I have cramps. And that always pisses me off. For the obvious reason (i.e., *pain*), and for the not-so-obvious reason that I'm obviously not pregnant. I think. Do you get cramps when you're pregnant? *eyes conception doctor's number* Maybe I should just call this woman and get an appointment and get this over with already. Tomorrow.

* Latin WB is showing reruns, and I wanna watch all the fantastic new eps y'all are raving about! I've only seen the crappy ones (with the exception of Lineage, of course). But now, they're back to "Nocturne" :P

So, yeah, I'm not happy right now. Not sad, either, just... bitchy. Like the mood icon says. I'll be better tomorrow.

Back to your regular program...