(no subject)

[cleolinda]

Quick question: If I were to make an Occupation: Girl/M15M FAQ, what would you want to know, or what questions do you think people ask a lot? It's the O:G half I'm really interested in, because I can rattle off frequently asked M15M questions for hours. The reason I ask is because I love PB Wiki, and in fact I have come to realize that I love writing wikis recreationally, and that really, I think anyone could sit down and wiki their life. It's not just me or anything. But the fact that people keep asking what the deal with referring to Bad Cat as s/he is, and needing a way to remind people that I didn't coin "Potterdämmerung" but I don't know who did, made me realize that if I had a personal FAQ wiki, I could link mentions of either one to the answer. I could also set up pages for my favorite movies and link resources, or favorite websites, or for icons, or what-have-you. Anyway, it seemed like a fun project with a lot of possibilities. So: I know what I would put in a wiki for my own use; what would you want to see in it?

(ETA: I should add that this would include any M15M jokes or references you've always wondered about.)

(It'll be cleoland.pbwiki.com; "cleolinda" is already taken up for my private writing notebook. I told you I love wikis.)

Speaking of sites I would link to--costumes would get a whole section, I think--I was going through some Sense and Sensibility caps for The Costumer's Guide, and I realized that the movie is pretty much exclusively made up of future Harry Potter alumni (Trelawney! Madam Pomfrey! Umbridge! The first Fat Lady!). Actually, I first realized this when I was watching it with Sister Girl's best friend one day; she'd never seen it, we'd just watched it for Happy Grandma Movie Day the day before, and so I suggested we watch it while waiting for Sister Girl to get home from work ("Oh my God, that's SNAPE!"). And the thing is, today I realized that the Dashwoods' neighbor Sir John is Cornelius Fudge. I'm telling you, S&S is second only to the Potter movies in terms of total employed actors in Britain. Now all we have to do is get them to hire Hugh Grant (who I totally wanted for Lockhart), Kate Winslet (who I totally wanted for Tonks), and Hugh Laurie ("Oh my God, you mean HOUSE IS IN THIS TOO?") and we'll be set.

Linkspam:

Warming 'likely' man-made, unstoppable. (Right-wing US thinktank offering cash to dispute UN climate panel.)

Yellow-orange snow falls in Siberian province; yellow snow in Siberia poses no health threat. I'll just be over here snickering.

A foiled plot in Britain may signal chilling tactic.

Defense official resigns over terrorist lawyer remarks.

Boston Aqua Teen Hunger Force scare case could be hard to prove. "Some legal experts say prosecutors will have a hard time proving that two men intended to cause a scare when they planted blinking electronic devices around Boston in a publicity stunt for a cartoon show."

Viacom demands YouTube remove videos.

Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring.

Texas requires cervical cancer vaccine for girls.

W. Va. To Use 'Dance Dance Revolution' To Slim Kids.

Dutch gym to introduce 'Naked Sunday.'

The Departed: Part Two. Oh, why the hell not. If Scorsese can make an Oscar-nominated remake, I don't see why he can't do a sequel as well.

Harold & Kumar 2. Oh, sure, them too.

Russell Crowe to star as Sheriff of Nottingham in a revisionist version of Robin Hood--in which Robin is a serial killer (or something like that) and Nottingham is tracking him. I give it two thumbs up for at least trying to do something different, because I'm hoping they save a straightforward remake for Orlando Bloom. Come on! It's dead center in his skill set!

People magazine on the delicious horror of Radcakes' abs.

Jason Isaacs talks about the upcoming Potter movies ("I'm always so tortured about work - it's always about trying to find the truth in a character - so it's great with Harry Potter to devote my attention to devising ever-more ingenious ways of blasting Gary Oldman with a wand").

Comments

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

Murphy said that, prior to the study, most of the children reported feeling awkward about participating in gym and physical activity at school.

And they're not feeling awkward about leaping around on a dance pad?

[kateshort.livejournal.com]

Not with DDR, they're not. It's fun, flashy, and it's a video game. Even if they aren't hitting all the moves right, they can laugh it off a lot easier.

Plus, no physical contact-- you just need to beat the game, not go head-to-head with a guy who's got the basketball.

[royalsongstress.livejournal.com]

My brother's girlfriend seems to think that an unshaven Hugh Laurie would make a good Fenrir Greyback, so there's an option. Also, Sense & Sensibility rocks my socks. Could Alan Rickman be any sweeter? Gah!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hmm. He would be a very snarky pedophile-werewolf, that's for sure. I'm intrigued.

(I KNOW! I love Alan Rickman in that movie. Greg Wise is cute and all, but Rickman just makes it so obvious that Brandon's in love with Marianne from the moment he sees her. Awwwwwwww!)

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Dear David Pugh:

You might want to adjust the thermostat in your theater. Apparently it's a little cold.

Best,

Ann

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heeeeeeeeeeeee.

Someone also linked an article at some point where the director was talking about how they hadn't ever seen Radcliffe with his clothes off before (and this is strange how...? Although clearly they didn't see the bit in the prefects' bathroom in the last movie), and "everyone goes 'Wow.'" I'm twelve, so I snickered for a good five minutes.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Regarding Harry Potter:

--They need to get Hugh Laurie in the films. Don't care what role. Make one up for him, Jo! I *adored* him in S&S, but then, I adore him in practically everything else he does, too.

--LOL at Jason Isaacs!

--I'm going to the Special Hell over the Radcakes photos. Any other Dirty Old Broads who'd like so share my handbasket?

[dorothy1901]

Now I want to see a version of one of the HP films with Hugh Laurie in every role. Harry. Ron. Hermione. Dumbledore. The Dursleys. The Malfoys. Snape. Okay, not Snape; Rickman for Snape.

[graydown.livejournal.com]

Never thought I'd say this, but yay for Texas!

I think the cleolinda wiki should have instructions for ordering your book. For it is awesome, and has snapped me out of many bad moods.

[neveth.livejournal.com]

man you have no idea how happy it makes me that this passed in Texas. NO IDEA. One of the few times my state makes me proud.... politically and such.

[thegeneralerin.livejournal.com]

Who would Hugh Laurie play? Oh he'd be fantastic as...anyone. I don't even know. I hope book 7 delievers something that's perfect for him. :) (obsessed much? who, me?)

[lucky-guess.livejournal.com]

I would add Stephen Fry to that Harry Potter Dream Cast list, too! Sweet, sweet man.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Fry/Laurie OTP! I do hope Hugh is able to get his old pal to guest on "House" sometime, because that would just be beautiful.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I've often thought DDR was a good way to get some exercise since you're just NOT going to be able to pry kids away from the video games no matter what you try.

And Robin Hood was made for Orlando Bloom. Noble, handsome hero with archery penchant defends the downtrodden and gets with his OTP with perhaps Jason Isaacs playing the sheriff. Clearly someone in Hollywood needs to pick this idea up.

[ninepointfivemm.livejournal.com]

And since he clearly loves to channel Errol Flynn, it's another reason why it's so perfect for him!

And ooooooh, Jason Isaacs. I could go for that.

[neveth.livejournal.com]

On the Departed part 2 - Well there was a sequel/prequel to the movie it was based on in China, so it makes sense. I don't really know WHY they're making it here, but oh well.

[notemily.livejournal.com]

I think the wording of the global-warming headline is interesting. The article itself makes it clear that "likely" was the wording the panel used five years ago, and their language now is much stronger, but the headline still uses "likely."

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

US thinktank offering cash to dispute UN climate panel

OH MY GOD
SOMETIMES, I THINK I JUST WANT TO MOVE TO A GLACIER AND NEVER TALK TO ANYONE ANYMORE. BUT IT SEEMS THEY WANT TO MELT MY STUPID GLACIER. THANKS, GUYS. THANKS.

I like how the sponsor of the idea says that the polarization of the current "debate" (there is no such debate among the scientific community) doesn't have a lot of utility for intelligent policy.

[elisa0984.livejournal.com]

I understand it might be a touchy subject, but I was always interested in your accounts of grad school and consequently your thesis work (the touchy bit). I think you call it an MFA? All I know is that you're in a creative writing program so I've been rather curious as to how that type of thesis is constructed; is it a study of genre and or explanation using a particular work or is it actually producing a portfolio or a single creative work?

It's all rather more detailed than you'd probably like for an FAQ and explaining the thesis mught fall under the realm of OMG DUN STEEL, but that's what I'm curious about.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's not a big deal, although I'll probably try to avoid mentioning school (for identity-protection reasons) too much in the wiki. I haven't completed the thesis work yet, but basically, it's you putting together a creative work of substantial length--a novel, a poetry collection, or a story collection, basically. It's not a "thesis" per se; it's more of a project equivalent in terms of *effort* to a literature thesis. And instead of defending your thesis, you basically go in and answer questions about your writing. That's how it's been at my school and the school the Lovely Emily went to; again, I haven't done mine yet, but I basically got unofficial permission to submit a volume of Black Ribbon--the second one that I didn't have as much work done on already.

[zrath.livejournal.com]

I normally don't cotton up to them "teen comedies" thingies, like "American Pie", or college humor crap movies,
but I must admit I have a special place in my heart for "Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle".
I own the Unrated DVD even!

I have a new favorite word: hoax device.

[mermaidrain.livejournal.com]

A friend and I just got into "A bit of Fry and Laurie" which is an SNL type british comedy show with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. ON the DVD for the 2nd season, there was an extra from the 80s, something like "Cambridge Players" where Emma Thompson joined them to do comedy sketches as well. I guess they've all known each other for YEAAAAARS.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely. I know Thompson and Fry also did Peter's Friends together, and Hugh Laurie could have been in that, but I don't remember. And that was the early '90s.

[demonqueen666.livejournal.com]

God, I love Jason Issacs. He has such a cool sense of humor about everything.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I know! And he was incredibly complimentary to the kids when he worked with them in COS. This is why I'm sad that I just heard that he can't stand Ralph Fiennes based on their days together at RADA, because I love Ralph, but Jason Isaacs being so awesome suggests that he's not the annoying one here.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

"Oh my God, you mean HOUSE IS IN THIS TOO?"

Is it OK that I find your family incredibly cute?

As for O:C questions (OCQs!), I'm wondering what sort of stories you've been finishing and consider to be good candidates for publishing. What have you sent out to publishers, if anything, following the M15M book? And are you likely to publish non-M15M stuff (like short or short-short stories) on your own website? (I haven't looked at O:C in a while, so these questions might be redundant, in which case I apologize.)

Do you do any performing? (And come to think of it, did you have any interest in auditioning for American Idol any of its times in Birmingham?)

Which authors and other artists are you especially fond of?

I'll close with a wish for good luck in your further publishing endeavors. I really enjoy reading your stuff.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks. I'm definitely going to link to writers, musicians, artists, etc. that I like on the wiki. I have done a little performing--a few readings and paper presentations (one in Spanish!) in college. I have a fairly good voice for reading, I think, and I like to sing along with CDs, but I have strictly a backup singer's voice; I got complimented by a choir teacher once. But I don't have the strength or range to go on American Idol as anything other than one of those poor nuts they dismiss out of hand. ; )

As for publishing other things, I haven't submitted anything else because I either haven't finished it or don't feel 100% about it yet. Basically, the projects I'd be most likely to (try to) publish next would be Black Ribbon or some children's stories, maybe a second M15M book if I can get my shit together (2006 was a bad, bad year). I grew up writing novels--that sounds pretentious, but you know what I mean: full-length narratives--and a few short stories here and there, so "Cleolinda Jones, American Humourist" was a surprise to me. Because my status as a published author is kind of shaky at the moment (you know--one book out, mostly unknown, copyright issues), I'm afraid to really post anything other than journal entries right now.

[stringertheory.livejournal.com]

o.o Hugh Laurie in Harry Potter would be too much for my mind to process, I think. It might implode from that much awesomeness. ;)

...because I'm hoping they save a straightforward remake for Orlando Bloom. Come on! It's dead center in his skill set!

You know, that's so true. He'd have to work a bit on the charisma part, but the Hood would be an excellent role for young Orlando. I'd watch it, anyway. Fun!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I do think he's getting better--POTC2 showed some definite improvement in his acting, although I think it was more in the Brooding Angst range, with some Heroic Leadership thrown in. I really think an actor's director, so to speak, could make all the difference for him. Obviously, he worked with Ridley Scott, but his role in Kingdom of Heaven was a bit underwritten. If he could work with someone who could do what Alfonso Cuaron did for the Potter kids, I think it could make all the difference; he definitely seems eager to learn.

Irrational annoyance

[mustang-bex1126.livejournal.com]

I want to smack the damned people in the Boston City Government and any Feds who think that trying to prosecute these guys is a good idea. Personally I think that the evidence is severely weighted against the City: 'threat' requires intent to cause harm, these guys were the ARTISTS, these promotional items were up in countless other cities. Even without these factors, this is a total circus and nobody is going to take it seriously... have these guys even SEEN ATHF? It would make them understand what sort of crazy they're up against.

Re: Irrational annoyance

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

One the one hand - someone needs to dump a load of tranqs into the Boston water supply

On the other, a simple sticker with "Property of Turner Broadcasting" and/or an 800 number or URL would have eliminated the whole mess.

There's just a whole lot of stupid going on here.

[velvet4269.livejournal.com]

Am I the only person who gets greatly annoyed every time the HPV vaccine is referred to as an "anti-cancer" vaccine? Because it's not really a cancer vaccine. Some types of HPV may cause cervical cancer, but that's not the same thing. The key words there being "some" and "may." I understand what they're trying to accomplish when they do this, but ... maybe I'm just arguing semantics, but it seems misleading.

And I'm also irritated that Rick Perry is taking away my rights as a parent. You can't opt out of this one like you can with the other vaccines, and the Texas Legislature has no repeal authority instance.

[neveth.livejournal.com]

Just curious, and seriously not trying to start anything, why opt out? Or is it just the fact that you couldn't opt out if you wanted to that irks you?

4 Things

[rorqual.livejournal.com]

1 - David White-Lief, the state bar's president-elect and a Boston lawyer, said the lighted boxes probably do not meet the state statute's definition of a hoax device, which must resemble an "infernal machine."

Is infernal machine an actual legal term? Awesome.

2 - Kate Winslet would have made the perfect Tonks. Now I'm sort of cross about it.

3 - I don't know if you've seen this, but Muggle Quidditch. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggle_Quidditch)

4 - In re: FAQ - I would suggest info on all the Major Players (Sister Girl, mother, various dogs, etc.), Common Phrases (OMGWTFPOLARBEAR and the like) and Useful Writings (like all the stuff you wrote about how to write). Among other things I am sure. For all our Cleo-researching needs! (which sounded a little stalky, sorry...)

Re: 4 Things

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hee!

Yeah, I'm sure the girl they got to do Tonks will be fine, but it's one of those OMG So Perfect imaginary casting things. I'm not so much mad that Hugh Grant didn't end up playing Lockhart as I'm sure that there's an alternate universe in which he *did.*

Is infernal machine an actual legal term? Awesome.
I don't know, but it's definitely the name of my next garage band.

[eruvadhril.livejournal.com]

I realized that the movie is pretty much exclusively made up of future Harry Potter alumni

I have that film! It was a game of "Which Actor Is That?" the entire way through. And it has HOUSE BEING SNARKY SQUEE.

[soleta-nf.livejournal.com]

FAQ ideas for O:G:

- Some questions I've asked before, like how you got started writing; what brought you from someone who simply likes to write to landing a book deal and creating a very popular LJ; what inspires you to write, etc.

- What is the process of writing your Lost recaps?

- Where do you get your linkspam? Do you really read all the stories you post? How long does it take you to do the reading/research for that? (Seriously, that's a lot of work!) What inspires you to post it in the first place, or what do *you* get from compiling all of that? (I know what I get - lots of entertainment and a better awareness of world events - but is the time you put into it worth it for you yourself?)

- And then I want to say something about your depression posts here, but I'm not sure what. Maybe the "why do you talk about X" question, so you can say how you want others to see how common these issues are. I think that's admirable.

- And a final question about where you go from here. Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years? What are you working on now? What do you hope to work on/publish in the future, both on LJ and with professional book publishers (or other venues)?

Those are the basics that I can think of. :)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hee, thanks. The one I'll answer right now is this:

Do you really read all the stories you post? How long does it take you to do the reading/research for that?

Hell no! Most AP/Reuters articles are written to summarize in the first paragraph, if not sentence. I'm a speedreader as well, so it really doesn't take very long to look at a list of headlines, glance over anything I find interesting to see what it's about, and C&P the text link straight into Semagic. (Headline I just saw: "Federline is 'sorry' about Super Bowl ad," which I linked to previously. So it's a follow-up link, and it takes literally two seconds--I counted--to glance over the text to confirm that it's about what I think it is [offending fast-food workers] and that there's nothing all that interesting to quote.) Really, it's exactly what I'd do for myself, skimming the news; I just C&P the link in addition. You do it as often as I do, you get pretty efficient about it. And of course I steal from Snarkfest posts as well, but I credit as often as I can remember to (hangs head). Usually I have whatever I've found in the course of reading comments and other sites I browse, and then I hit Yahoo Top Stories or Popular Content to round things out.

As for what I choose--well, I try to grab things that look important without being so politically controversial (or phrased that way) that I'll have to polish up the banhammer. Those go on top. Then I look for "wacky" stories, often involving animals, and then the entertainment/movie news. I look for things that interest me, but after three years of reader feedback on LJ, I have a fairly good idea of what would interest other people even if it doesn't interest me. Obvious example: I don't really care about the Simpsons movie, but I know other people do. I never really set out to make linkspam a regular thing; it just evolved. : )

[crimsnfirestorm.livejournal.com]

I'll snicker over there with you, because "Naked Sunday" amuses me. I am five, I swear.

[bigeyedrabbit.livejournal.com]

I so had a fierce wish for Kate Winslet as Tonks.

[artemis-archer.livejournal.com]

I love that Jason Isaacs is so excited about the next book because he wants to be in the movies so bad. Too cute =]

It always amazes me when I realize how many amazing British actors are in the Harry Potters. It kind of makes me want to bitch slap Emma Watson about possibly quitting- look who she gets to hang out on the set with!