Miss Cellaneous

...I suppose I cannot interest you in a three-seater sofa made of buffalo leather? Anyone? Bueller? It's not even thirty years old!

Ah, well. I put up an on-line ad just now (with pretty-ish pictures'n all) because the one time I needed...well, time in order to sell or give away for free said couch is, of course, the time this beauty is delivered a week too early.

(I also survived the first day of work. But it was a close call.)

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( Down to my KNEES? Not yet, and also, I'm not John Sheppard. )

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In fannish news, I've been cheerfully going through Yuletide. I might get to a round-up once I'm done, but if you want a sneak (or, knowing me, only) preview, check out my AO3 recommendations for, so far, Friday Night Lights, Dollhouse, and The Mentalist.

This entry was originally posted at DreamWidth and has comments. Feel free to comment there using OpenID.

Worked till 9:30, worked out for another hour at the gym, and am now enjoying a banana-chocolate milk (made with the organic banana and the Milka-Weihnachtsmann Zartherb that Johnny at work had given me). I may have had two large projects on my desk these last two days, but now I'm off work until the week "between the years."

Speaking of women & work, how 'bout this BusinessWeek article? Women Hedge Fund Managers Outperform Men.

This entry was originally posted at DreamWidth and has comments. Feel free to comment there using OpenID.

Back from the annual office Martinsgansessen: that bird was pretty yummy, same for the Kartoffelklöße und the Rotkohl (even though the latter does not reach the one my Mama prepares). Cheerful chats with old(ish) colleagues were had at two different tables, too.

Speaking of workplace associations - I think I mentioned before that absolutely everybody should have an English office-mate. They make work life a lot more hilarious.

First, there's the phone conversation between sandynotlisa and his girlfriend in Brussels, where she interns - he started to laugh uncontrollably and immediately told me what had transpired:

gfnotsandy: By the way, I'll see my first Shakespeare play tonight! Very excited.
sandynotlisa: Sounds great. Which Shakespeare play are you going to see?
gfnotsandy: King Leon!

And then there's the story of this girl-pal of his, whose taste in men is not always...ideal:

galnotsandy: It's 10pm - you know, I'm getting hungry. How about dinner?
datenotsandy: Sure thing, babe.
datenotsandy: *goes, buys pack of crisps at the bar, and very proudly hands it to her*

This entry was originally posted at DreamWidth and has comments. Feel free to comment there using OpenID.

( Real life: family & work )

In the mean time, I have changed my blog layout. Y'like?

Also, with my first From Mona To Mona gift, I've made a couple of DVD Screencaps of SGA 1x01 "Rising." Have at 'em, if you like. Yes, I am icon-making as I post.

Finally (for this entry), new default icon.

This entry was originally posted at DreamWidth and has comments. Feel free to comment there using OpenID.

My icon says everything there is to say about my work day. Leisure time was much better, then: a good episode of Spooks, not to mention concurrent orgasmic noises from sandynotlisa. If I'd known he'd like my Leberwurst* so much, I'd have bought some a long time ago.

* not a euphemism.

The parcel from amazon.co.uk came at a perfect time, in any case: I gave myself an early Christmas present.

( Only SGA fans will understand )

While we're at it, did I mention Sandy had given me this as a little thank-you gift for lending him Seasons One to Three of The Wire?

( Aww! )

RL

I wish I hadn't gotten up today. ( Whine, whine, whine )

Wine at the end of it, though: my colleague two doors down did think it necessary (he's a smart fellow in every regard). Sandy still had that bottle of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Riesling in the fridge, the Founder of the Friday drink-a-palooza still had two bottles of sparkling wine, and the rest is history.

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SGA

After signing up for remixthedrabble as a remixee-only on a whim, a fellow author did remix me! \o/

Original Fic: Indulgence, by monanotlisa
Remix: The Luxury of Touch (The Taking Care of Geeks Remix) [John/Rodney, Jack/Daniel, 100 words, rated G], by goddess47

Oh, drabbling: I miss it.

Came home from work only now, mostly because I'm not much into early Monday morning stress, as I'm strongly suspecting that sort of thing is what gives people ulcers. Of course, just when I left, there it was: the boss's email from the US that said he was fine, we were fine, everything had gone great.

Ah, well. Me and my sake, we're having a great time right now.

SGA folks, do have a link to friendshipper's excellent proposal-slash-poll:

What about kicking off 2010 with "100 Days of Episode Tags"? [...] I'm thinking low-pressure/no-pressure -- people sign up to take an episode and do (at their own discretion) a fic or art or vid, wallpaper, etc for it (with super-easy minimum word count on the fic, like 500 words or something).

I know I shouldn't sign up for - anything, basically; I inescapably have Deadline Issues. And yet. 'tis SGA, and also the perfect opportunity to re-watch favourite episodes and bask in the glory that's John and Teyla and Rodney and Ronon...

Boost the signal, yeah?

As a lazy corporate bee who came home only half an hour ago admittedly because two dear colleagues were celebrating their good-byes and I couldn't tear myself away, I googled "Packliste USA," which of course, in German, means "packing list." Ah, Germanic languages like English...

Anyways. First Google hit? I kid you not, the first one? Was a furry's packing list for a furry con.

Oh, fandom. Sometimes, you haunt me. (For reference, i.e. those who haven't seen it: The Geek Hierarchy.)

...when I came home. Yay?

In other news, selenak has a rockin' post about The Women of Earth. Spoilers for Series Three of Torchwood, obviously.

69 versions of the documents modified, screened for confidentiality, printed, ordered, checked, scanned, re-checked divided, & sent
+ 13 hours at the office today
+ 7 hours partying last night
+ 4 hours slept afterwards
+ 3 glasses of wine
+ 2 tequila shots
+ 2 big projects
+ 1 broke bike
____________________
100% exhausted Mona

Oh, Mr. Murphy. I wish we weren't such steady companions sometimes. Every workday since last Friday, sweetcolleague & I were waiting for further data input - and now that it shall arrive tomorrow, no, really, totes serious, tomorrow afternoon!, it couldn't be any more inconvenient a time: the information will take us hours and hours to integrate, and tomorrow's the big, long-awaited Office Summer Night's Party. & :-(

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At least it meant that I could leave early-ish today, go to the gym for a good hour, and then bake lemon-cranberry muffins* that smell heavenly. (No, I haven't tasted them yet, but trust me, the the batter was delicious. & ;-)

* No time tonight; bed now, but I can provide the recipe later?

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Torchwood: Yes, I watched it and enjoyed it. I haven't forgiven Rusty for ( spoilers for TW2! ), but I still like Gwen a great deal, and to me, this show has always been captivating in its cheesy monsters-and-aliens glory, not to mention Cardiff as the centre of the world, or canon bisexuality.

If you care for a cool Torchwood review, check out Selena's. I look forward to her thoughts almost as much as to the series. & :-)

( We prefer the term 'guestage' around here. )

In conclusion: Stockholm's Syndrome rocks!

Went to see the Reboot for a second time, in the original version. Alone, alas: Shy colleague had his aunt die (no, really), geeky colleague had to work long hours, and my business graduate date for next week had a wine tasting.

After I'd left work - early! - at 7:30pm, I went to the gym for a furious session, took first a shower and then a taxicab to the movie theatre. Decadence, thy name is - well, my name. But after a week of work and stress and work and stress and work and stress and you totally catch my drift, I thought this was okay: no good public transport access, and the cinema's located in an area where ('specially after 1am) no one would think to cycle around on a bike. Come to think of it, it's a lot like many US places.

::ducks::

Now, brief comments only, and also cut because I do realise not everybody is in love with Kirk (a good thing; I'm not trying to justify this): ( Star Trek, Wine & Dine )

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I survived today's 16 1/2 hours at work. Without so much as a nap. Um, yay me?

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Iran: keep boosting the signal:

If you use Twitter, please set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Cut & paste & pass it on.

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I was checking my phone cam for the pics taken yesterday during my brief reprieve with my friends and colleagues by the river...

( An open letter to the German people. And because Reading Is HARD, I've added an illustration. )

ETA: Eheheh. Call me Bob from now on. Thanks, caia.

Since I came home early-ish today ('round 10pm) I'd been thinking about watching Star Trek again earlier - in the Original Version, this time: in English. It's not that the dubbing was bad; it's just that I avoid translations like the plague whenever I can. Turns out it only plays Friday and Saturday late at night in this remote cinema in a faraway part of town. So in order to make it both more fun and safer for me I jotted down a few lines of an invitation ( to a couple of my co-workers. )

So far, so good. From Saturday onward, then, I'll be gone to see my old university friends. hermine, I'm dropping you an email as we speak.

- Only came home after 11pm.

+ With those tummy troubles on the upswing.

- We'll see if the beef stripes with broccoli (ordered at 7pm, arriving at 9pm) change that one...

+ Date with film-maker yesterday night at the harbour bar went well: very interesting, if perhaps a bit too intense?

- ciderpress, remind me to ask what your integrated bio-version of that Facial Recognition Software sez about him. Almost afraid, here.

+ Meeting monanotmona (who has a LiveJournal now!) yesterday after work in a bar was alcohol-free, yet fun. I know. Marvel at the concept.

- Something we talked about: There is usually at least one obvious reason why a given single boy is single. Often enough, however, I cannot for the life of me see why a given single girl is single. Discuss.

+ I have 2 more Dreamwidth invite codes available. Pipe up, please.

- Why do I have to pay EUR 1,200 for this flight alone (not the car I need; not accommodation) to the US? Summer vacation, economic crisis with fewer seats, late booking, and even that darn detour to Minnesota cannot account for *three times* the price I paid the last time 'round, no?

...on the plus side, I'm home now, and I'm also drinking this Chilean 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, I found three links on the fly. Anyways - it's not especially exciting, but rich, decent, and definitely neither too acidic (we hatesss that) nor too sweet.

Before you whine about the wine, let me distract you: Hey, you know I haven't been talking about food all that much? It's a little disconcerting; I haven't been baking, either. Think it's all the weekend travel and the current work hours. A personal belief in All Muffins, All the Time! still requires a bit of the latter.

Maybe this weekend. I just did ask for an extension for my taxes. See icon. I know.

( Empirical cat is empirical. )

Never has this icon been more appropriate.

Guess I should lay off the alcohol. But monanotmona called me today at the office, so after my post-work hairdresser's visit (quite fabulous, thanks & ;-) I took her up on her offer of a last little get-together before she heads off into the Spanish sunset for a more than well-deserved vacation. During those nice chats about Other People At The Office, one thing led to another, and by "another" I mean her mellow yet distinct Chilean Sauvignon-Carmenère.

The love of both vylit and Sarah Connor, that is. It's the former's graduation, so I made her a present featuring the latter:

[for vylit only]

( Sarah Connor, she of the Terminator Chronicles - a banner )

Watching the rest of the Bones finale now, and tomorrow, it's aforementioned company celebration in Mainhattan. I'll be back Sunday; you'll be good, okay? "Good" in the sense of "writing lots of John/Rodney smut," of course.

voguefan - he of the 50% job who works roughly 110% of the actual time, most of it in telephone conferences or occasionally other countries, poor boy - was in the office again today. We went to eat sushi and shared: ( Life, and other stuff ) Man, I'd missed him.

I am, however, saddened by the fact he won't come watch the new Star Trek with me: he likes "only dark sci-fi," which this certainly doesn't seem to be (not a Trek fan, although I spend my formative years with geek boys who were). Too bad I have no geek girls nearby. & :-/

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giandujakiss, whose entries are always worth a read, says - and links - like this:

Women are bitches, men are athletes. Another look at how women judges are perceived.

I'll just add to this - I think women who enter the legal profession, or any kind of competitive business environment, are in a particular double-bind. Not only are the very qualities often necessary to succeed seen as unfeminine and unattractive in a woman (aggressiveness, etc), but women are under more pressure to be aggressive simply to be taken seriously.

It's by now well-known that women are interrupted more than men in conversation (both by men and by other women). Ideas that sound good coming out of a man's mouth are ignored when they come out of a woman's. I know that in my own work, I have witnessed pretty awful conversations where women were simply ignored and talked over by their male colleagues, while the men never dared treat each other that way. So in order to simply be heard, women have to make even more of an effort to refuse to be interrupted, to aggressively take control of the conversation - which, of course, will then only contribute to her being stereotyped as a nasty bitch.

Her entry is cross-posted to Livejournal and Dreamwidth.

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To end on a positive and deeply fannish note, thegrrrrl2002 posted a picspam entry about Joe Flanigan's, respectively John Sheppard's tufty hair - squee & stories & more pics ensue.

♥