My computer is an unhappy camper (there's something wrong with the fan, I think - it overheats and shuts off in like 40 minutes) and is in the shop, thankfully still under warranty. At the mo bestest buddy is kind enough to let me use her computer, and I do have access at school, and mi madre is going to make time for me on hers, but I probably won't be on as often and posting (little that there has been, it really was going to pick up in the next couple of weeks, I swear) will probably not be all that frequent.

Love to all of y'all!

I just had it pointed out to me that the wallpaper I've had up on my computer for six months has a swastika on it.

...


I. I don't even know what to say.

Except that I'm for sure taking that desktop screenshot down now.

*headdesk x 1000*

Like, seriously. I don't think there's any way I can apologize enough.

Well, actually I just watched two, but as they were both on the computer this is a miracle of patience for me! And they were both very good.

One was called The Secret of Kells (as in the Book of) and it was animated, very stylized pretty style. It was produced by like three different European countries that I can't be bothered to look up right now, and it tells the story of the creation of the Book of Kells. Also, it involves fairies (actually, fairy and one dark force, but whatever) and we all know I'm a sucker for those. It's not available in America atm, so like all good things in life if you do not live... in Europe, probably? I don't know - you'll have to torrent it. It is in English, so you won't have to worry about finagling with subtitles.

Unlike this next film, which has been one of my favorites for quite some time. It's a Spanish-language film directed by Pedro Almodovar (there's a diacritical mark somewhere in there, but my computer is unable to produce it) whose films always have some really interesting stuff going on and some really interesting characters. This one, All About My Mother (Todo Sobre mi Madre) is definitely no different. The (very) basic plot is that a single mother's son is killed, and she seeks out the father that he never knew about and she never told to tell him about their son. But it's so much more than that, and I don't know how to say how without spoilers. Suffice it to say that it deals heavily with lesbianism, transvestitism, AIDS, and faith. It won an Oscar about a decade ago for best foreign film. I haven't been able to find it for renting, much to my chagrin, and it's hard to find it to buy from an official trustable source¹ so your best bet is the internet, as I have found out. However, on the 'net you are unlikely to find a copy with subtitles meshed to the vid file, so you're best off getting a program like VLC Media Player which can deal with separate subtitle files and downloading them off a site^{2 3}.

Side note: The Oscar in the same category the next year was for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which I also love insanely. It used to come on cable a lot; I no longer know if this is true. But on Amazon it's like nine bucks, so. (Actually, Amazon is apparently running a promotion of what they say are indie films - but whatever, Gods and Monsters and Girl With a Pearl Earring are both nine bucks too.)

Also, I have spent like the last three hours staring at X Japan pictures. I WOULD GO STRAIGHT FOR THIS ENTIRE BAND, OKAY, but especially Yoshiki. I have a drummer thing, okay, and also an androgyny thing, and search Google books for Gender and Modernity (and add yoshiki and x japan) and you will see how that factors in. (As a side note, how cool is it that there is a book like that [the full title is Gender and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific] which uses rock stars as examples?) Also, I stole a picture from an ebay listing of an X Japan fanzine (at least that's what I think it is) of this lace coat he wore in 1991 during the Jealousy tour I think, and it's saved on my compute as 'my life is over if i do not own this coat.jpg'. Also, musically I love X Japan too, I promise! But my head really hurts right now (I have a sinus infection) and I am not up to KISS-style guitaring⁴.

Also - happy second day of NaNo, all participating!

<sub>1. You can buy it on Amazon, but for like forty-five bucks if you want a new one and not from Amazon itself.
2. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE check your subtitles before you download them. Most sites will have some sort of way for you to preview them, and if you don't you may end up with some like this, which I believe are the subtitles which played for quite some time at DragonCon a couple years ago for the Death Note Live Action Movie before somebody found some decent ones. Scroll down to about number 48 and you'll see what I mean.
3. Don't get freaked if your movie starts talking but the subtitles do not. As I have discovered, some subtitle files have a blank track. Simply find the menu and go to Track 2, and that should fix it.
4. To illustrate my Yoshiki point: the Celebration PV, which is totally hilarious, by the way. Anyway, the blond biker with sunglasses at 4:30 and the Cinderella stepping out of the carriage 30 seconds later? The same person. The drummer, to be specific.</sub>

I have been writing lately, but it's all in my school journal. When this semester ends, I'll have so much to post, dudes. At the mo I've got a scary story for ya, but I may hold off on that until tomorrow.

Got everything on my report card resolved, to my relief. Apparently there were issues on all three sides, as far as communication goes. Of far more importance to me now are my weekend plans. I'm going to go see The White Tie Affair and Stereo Skylines with Aleesa tomorrow, and then after we'll probably go see the Halloween thing down at Three Rivers.

And on Sunday, if madre can't get ahold of her boyfriend or if he turns her down (a HUGE if) I get to go see Leonard Cohen! LEONARD COHEN. Madre won a raffle for two $125 tickets plus a night down at the Sheraton afterwards (she entered cause it was for charity). I am not at all ashamed at saying I really hope he has to do other things.