Where I work, it is accepted practice to check private web email at work, or pop by ebay, or do online banking. It has never gotten in the way of anyone's work, and my boss is okay with it. However, there is now definite reason to believe that some of the IT people have been illegally monitoring employees' private web mail correspondence and/or computer use - not just logging IP addresses, or checking that nobody slows down the network by downloading large files privately, but actually reading private emails, and who knows what else.

Which - there is absolutely no question there - is both illegal and immoral.

I have briefly considered friendslocking my LJ, but you know what? Why the hell should I.

I'm not the one doing anything illegal or immoral here, so I am not the one who needs to hide. So, IT people, if you are reading this, have fun. Feel free to comment. I'm not the one who has to be ashamed here.

Several weeks ago, I watched Avengers. I thought it was rather fun, but don't have stronger feelings about it than that. There was one plot hole which irritated both me and the unfannish friend who watched the movie with me, however.

( So, about the Hulk… )

( Dear translators, may I have a word?  )

( And now for some random opinions and observations. )

( One more thought, this time with added X-Men First Class reference. )

ALSO, why oh why does nobody - including professional screenwriters - *ever* get the Early Modern English pronouns of address right? I'm looking at you, Anthony Stark. It is really not that hard. I still have an unfinished fannish tutorial on the correct use of "thou" and "you" somewhere on my harddrive... maybe I should dig it out and finish it.

Would you believe I started writing this entry to talk about 3D films? I didn't think I had anything much to say about Avengers. Well, next post. :-)

Has anyone but me been watching "Grimm"? Because it's been growing on me more and more as the season went on. I keep meaning to post on it - I love the way they're building up the mythology of the show, and I am surprised at how deft a hand the authors have with characterization.

But more on that later! I actually mention it because there's a new comm that looks promising, grimmpendium. It specifically encourages meta discussion, and there's already one interesting discussion about the nature of Grimms. Curse or hereditary job? Or something else entirely?

Any thoughts? :-)

Serious spoilers for ep 2x06 of Game of Thrones behind the cut. No spoilers for 2x07, which I haven't seen yet.

Also, strong opinions. Funny that. ;-)

( How can I put this politely. )

( Bonus Game of Thrones poll! )

I haven't seen last Sunday's ep (or read the books) yet, so please, no spoilers in the comments!

OMG, you guys! There is a sequel!!

The manufacturers of the mobile X-ray device for dentists have created another ad, and have still not shelled out money for an advertising agency. ( I hope they never do, because I want to see many more of their glorious in-house creations.  )

This series of ads is starting to look like a possible Yuletide fandom. ;-) I don't know if many teeth get fixed in this fictional practice, but everyone certainly looks to be having a lot of fun…

I finished watching Season 1 of Game of Thrones a while ago, and haven't started on Season 2 yet. Before I do, here are some of my impressions on S1 characters, just because. :-)

There are no spoilers for Season 2 or beyond behind the cut, because I haven't read the books. There is rampant – if uninformed – speculation on my part, however.

( Behind the cut, winter is coming... )

Have you watched and/or read Game of Thrones? What do you think?

Please don't spoiler me for Season 2 or beyond! I am a spoilerphobe.

Have a lovely Star Trek Reboot parody of the Mary Sue phenomenon, in comic form. Brilliant. :-)

( Beware: The scourge of the universe lurks behind the cut... )


In other news, sorry for that weird stray post the other day. As you have probably guessed, I am participating in an X-Men: First Class kink meme and fail at posting. And also at noticing that I fail at posting. *headdesk*

I got this result for a page or so of an original fic I'm writing. Unfortunately, I have to say this is not true... And not just because I cannot ever hope to approach the man's dirty double entendres and lewd puns. But I am insanely pleased even so. :-)

The JE epic is supposedly written like Mark Twain, btw. Leaving aside the fact that Mark Twain wrote about a hundred times better than I - even though it could perhaps be argued we are at about the same level when it comes to dirty double entendres and lewd puns ;-) - I think I have a vague idea of the similarities in sentence construction the program might have picked up on.

Really interesting!

In case anyone is still using Google+: I deleted my account there. I wasn't using it anyway, and Google hasn't been putting me in a trusting mood lately (or ever, really).

( Many people don't think anything of letting big corporations have their data. )

Right! End of rant. :-)

In other news, I am seriously thinking of writing a kinky non-con Ebay/PayPal slash story (with bonus voyeur!Google lurking creepily in the bushes). It'd be my gnat-like kick to the gigantic corporate shin of PayPal, whose ongoing censorship drive is getting more and more out of hand.

The results of my recent poll about partly-written stories surprised me – I wouldn't have expected such a high percentage of you to be interested in unfinished stories! I have the impression readers are generally far more amenable to permanently abandoned stories than to works in progress.

Which does make sense. WIPs carry a lot of uncertainty: will this story ever be finished? how long will I have to hang on, hoping for updates? can I or can I not file the story in the mental box marked 'done, if not finished'? A story that's presented as a fragment from the start, on the other hand, allows the reader to take it or leave it for what it is, no uncertainty involved.

At least, that's my theory! I'd love to hear different explanations of the evident preference of abandoned stories over works in progress.

Anyway! The "unfinished works – yay or nay" poll results have encouraged me to post some of my partly-written, abandoned stories.

( These are the unfinished stories I'm contemplating, in vaguely chronological order. )


Clearly, it's time for another poll. :-)

Poll #1822684 Story Fragments
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 32

Which of the above-mentioned fragmentary stories might you be interested in?