Cam's Corner of the World

I can be productive! Finished a big stop_plagiarism case (57 proven accounts of plagiarism, sheesh!), wrote another Merlin fic, made another fanvid (using a local band, hah), cleaned the back yard of leaves (oh so many leaves), watched my beloved Tromsø secure their bronze medals one round before the end of the Norwegian football league this year, read up on analytical method for teaching the letters in school, put away the bike for winter (sniff) and remembered to change the clocks to winter time.

I know several of my American flisters was at the rally this weekend, and I have to admit there seems to have been some really excellent signs there too. I think I've only been to rallies twice in my life - once as a kid when my parents took me to a 'No to EU membership' rally, and once as an adult to an anti-racism rally after the murder of Benjamin Hansen. But then, if I shared a country with some of the shit opinions I've seen come from the extreme right of the US of late, I would have been in a rally in a heartbeat. Certain things is worth speaking up against.

In any case, I hope you had a happy Halloween, Americans! (But please Norwegian commercial forces, STOP TRYING TO FORCE AN AMERICAN HOLIDAY WE HAVE NO TRADITION OF ON US. THANK YOU AND FUCK YOU.)

Okay, is it shit-stirring post a fic to a Spock/Uhura shipper comm with implied Kirk/Spock when you're a person with such classy, classy icons like this and this and even used to have one icon calling Uhura a whore? Maybe it's just me wondering that, cynical and wary of misogyny that I am.

But then I see the poster in question also makes posts like this and makes a comm that states specifically in the rules that bashing is a-okay! Three guesses as to who she'd like to see bashed.

Why, fandom, why must we (almost) always hate so much on the females? I've started poking into Merlin fandom as well and some of the stuff said about Gwen and sometimes Morgana makes me sigh. But also made me more determined to write awesome fics about the female characters - have done one Gwen-centric and one Morgana-centric so far.

Meanwhile, I am off to Holland next weekend and will be there for four days. Anyone want postcards? I'll make a post with screened comments for collecting address if enough want.

Today, this 11th of September, I would like to remember that while we might not share religions (or nationality or sexuality or skin colour or politics or what side of the bed we sleep on), we do share humanity. All of us. You and me. Me and you and all of us.

Which matter the most to you - that which divides us, or that which unites us?

I know which one I'd like to matter. Unity. Humanity. You and me and all of us.

I know which one terrortists and fear-mongrers of all kinds would like to matter, and it is not the same one. They want you to think certain differences make us Not the Same. That certain differences are Right and certain are Wrong and only they can tell you which is which. Many listen to them. Many are afraid.

But we're still all human. We are all the same in that. Humanity is us.

Don't forget what we share.

You and me and all of us.

In two weeks I am off to Italy to hang with falena and poke around Tuscany. If you want a card from there, leave your address in a comment to this post. All comments are screened, so only I will see.

Mmm. Holidays.

Meanwhile, World Cup is awesome fun.

This is a shit week. The only bright side is that it's soon over and that I have about a week off for Easter. Other than that, this week can bite me. Issues with people I am working with, my mobile being nicked, getting caught in unexpected rain, the usual monthly pain, frustrations and feeling like a failure, yes, a load of fun things all stacked together. Man, did I ever pick the wrong week to go cold turkey on all candy, chips and cake (in a self-imposed health iniativ).

On the bright side, it is spring. Just spring with a metre of snow to melt still.

In fandom stuff:

- Hey, Dcotor Who is almost back! New Doctor and new head writer and I am curious to see how it pans out. I am feeling midly optimistic, as tends to be my default. Also, this secret posted to fandomsecrets amused me muchly. But sorry OP, I don't think the Doctor is lingering around Norway. I'll be sure to let you know if that changes, though.
- Also I got a Rassilon action figure. He's currently eyeballing a little koala suvenir I took home from Australia. I think he may have villainous plans.
- FlashForward is back! Two episodes in so far and I'm not sure where it's going yet, but if it's towards more shirtless Jack Davenport, I sure won't complain.
- Law & Order: UK is new to my DVD player and I like it. Yes, I do.
- Norwegian football season is back! Oh, I do love my football. My absolutely favourite activity on Sundays during spring/summer/autumn is lying out in the sun and listening to the football on the radio while reading.
- BSG fandom seems to have had some wankery over a secret comm which I seem to have mainly missed despite it involving some friends, but man did it ever give me flashbacks to Doctor Who fandom. Yeah. Really, I think we can always manage to imagine nastier things said about ourselves by others than they can come up with. (Most of the time, anyway.) And thus, wank o'hoy even if the comm has in reality been rather benign. (Even more so if it wasn't.) Not to mention some will object to it as a matter of principle.
- My WoW guild is so close to the Lich King fight I can taste it. On Arthas, I have sharpened my arrows for you a long time. We did down Illidan back in the Burning Crusade days, but that never felt like taking out a big bad like the Lich King will. (It was still wicked cool, though. Hoo yes.) And I'm working on my video editing skills to make the vid of the kill - here's a kill of Professor Putricide.

Also I made a fanvid for FlashForward's Lloyd/Olivia, mainly to see if I could.

( Embedded vid behind the cut )

Maybe I should stick to writing - which reminds me, time off for Easter, time to summon some writing spirit.

These last two weeks have been hard on me for a lot of reasons I won't get into, but here's one small part of it:

So, I'm having a bit of a conflict with someone I'm working with and I was really feeling a lot of dislike, right up until a friend of mine offered some insight and now a lot of pity is really battling my dislike. Dammit. Man, I hate it when compassion gets in the way of a good dislike. Still not sure how to act around him this coming week and it's messing with my head. I know it's not all on him, too - I gotta shoulder my part of this.

All in all, not feeling a lot of love for myself these last few weeks, that's for sure. And I am turning 30 on the 21st. Blah. I must think of something nice to do to myself for it rather than treat it like a deadline to have done something worthwhile with my life, which it's feeling a lot like.

This was your weekly emo. Next post shall be more silly with fandom secrets (and not so much) by yours truly, I promise.

Meanwhile, I see the US has had some respectable snowfall. Europe had a lot of cold and snow before Christmas, so overall this has been a wintery winter, right?

Apart from at the upcoming winter Olympics, where there is no winter at all. Which just goes to show that the universe? Has a mean sense of humour.

Also, Norwegian television is for the first time broadcasting the Super Bowl live, with a promised entertaining introduction to American football (as we call it, since the true football is the kind Americans are not playing much). Is it worth a peek? Who should I cheer?

Excuse me for a moment:

HOLIDAY WOOOO.

I am mentally worn out after the stress of the last week, but now I have holiday. It's a beautiful thing. Also, been recieving presents from several of you and thank you! I've kept them wrapped for opening on Christmas Eve, whee. Apart from those who are virtual, of course, like icons I got from lily_winterwood.

Plans for my holidays:
- Play a silly amount of World of Warcraft and slaughter Icecrown Citadel good. Also, get a new cloak and bow.
- Finish my alternate-world FlashForward fic (with Lloyd/Olivia and Mark/Demitri), finish that AU Daybreak BSG fic with resurrection for humans already, finish that Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover with Spock and the Doctor meeting ("Therapy for Lost Planets"), write the multi-fandom many-kinds-of-love fic I've had in mind a while and if I get silly enough, finish the Star Trek penis-size-is-serious-business fic that lives in a dark cellar of my mind.
- Buy new very comfortable winter boots. Finiding the right kind of boots that I can wear without socks and that keeps me warm through Norwegian winter without being a pain on my feet is not that easy, you know.
- Make a gingerbread house.
- Read "The Gathering Storm" and any books I might get for Christmas.
- Watch "East West 101" and whatever else I might get for Christmas.
- Get visit from my brother and his Dutch live-in girlfriend.
- Eat a sad amount of marzipan and CamMum cooking between Christmas and New Year's.
- Relax. Oh, wonderful, wonderful time to relax.

You got any plans for the holidays?

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart employee writes horribly inappropriate letter to co-worker asking her to 'stay out of [his] dreams', get fired and complains about it. Seems to miss the newsflash that he's coming across CREEPY AS HELL, DUDE and bemoans the lack of nice. Yeah. Because the approiate reaction to borderline-stalking and inappropriate behaviour is always niceties.

In the news:
- The attack on Berlusconi sparks battles on the Internet. Italian politics sure get vitrolic.
- The last Spanish top club breaks a colour barrier - but Spanish football still has racism issues.
- Sect members vow to marry female sex workers. I must admit my first reaction to reading that headline was 'bwhuh?'
- Stunning pictures from a recently launched ESA telecope. Preeeetty.

"Because of work" is clearly not one. Ugh ugh. Add to this being October, making it pitch dark and wet outside. I hate October in Norway. It looks so dreary and usually involves too much rain.

So, do you have any actual good reasons to be up at six a.m.? Being creative is allowed.

(First day of teaching 9-year-olds ahead. Oh my.)

This has been your "mornings are so unfair" whinge post.

Busy week. Adapting to new schedule and new workload and weekend is bliss. Mmm, finally time to sleep. Also turned very visibly autumn here, with rain and winds with a hint of colder days. What fun. I think I'll do another photo round once autumn sets a little more though - it has a certain beauty to it here.

Anything in particular you want to see a picture of, ask now or hold your peace until next time.

The Classified sections sometimes turn out stuff I wonder at the backstory of, like this one: Looking for a woman by the name of Bjorg Enger who in 1945 lived at Kloster Road 51 Skoyen, Oslo Norway with her parents. It was my father's dying wish to contact this person.

Says he was a WWII veteran, though I wonder slightly which side he might have been fighting for. Could be British or American of course, but Allied forces didn't come to Norway until after the Germans had surrendered here. (And then it was a very small force.) Some German soldiers did fall in love with Norwegian women - the consequences for the women after the war ended were usually dire. (The woman has one English last name, but it could be her married one for all I know.)

I wonder what the story is here, I really do.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi is apparently petioning the UN for Switzerland to cease to exist. Wow. That dude has some impressive gall and batshit. The UN headquarters is actually in Switzerland, for one thing. For the other... Dude, wtf?

I was slightly taken aback by the most recent review here. It's not like I was planning to leave in unfinished back when I was uploading it, so... Um, sorry?

Meme via mingsmommy (much delayed, because I have the mind of Swiss cheese):

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song saying "meow!"
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

( Her questions and my answers )

Man accused of killing claims self-defence - when he stabbed the guy 86 times.

Um, yeah. Good luck with that defence. Poor girlfriend and family :(

So I got stung by a wasp. Which in itself is not fun, but I'm allergic to the venom. Had to go to the hospital, blah blah blah. I'm going to live, but it's not particularly pleasant when your body is having a fit.

Later in the day I was leading one group on a raid in Ulduar - World of Warcraft - and people start making rape jokes. Second time that has happened in about a week. Last time I whispered the guy doing it privately that he could knock the rape jokes, and he was very apologetic and it was okay. This time it was two female guildies starting it and I got quite sharp with them, and blah.

In combination, all that pretty much ruined my day. Life's a bitch and then you die, huh? (Could really do with something to cheer me up right about now, universe.)

Meanwhile in Norway, we're having a debate about freedom of speech and gay marriage.

( When you give an award for free speech to someone for opposing gay marriage... )

(Am also testing crossposting on this entry. Hum.)