This week’s tv shows

Saturday is the day that I catch up on the previous week’s tv shows, while at work. So yesterday I watched Fringe, 30 Rock, Hellcats, The Vampire Diaries, and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

I’ve been reading the manga series Nana, and just finished volume seven. And on Twitter yesterday it was proposed that Savannah from Hellcats, Hatchi from Nana, and Caroline from The Vampire Diaries should all be roommates and have adventures together. I have a real fondness for this character type — the girl who appears flighty and ditzy, the girl who places a high value on appearing positive and cheerful, the girl who seems trivial, but who then turns out to have a powerful determination and inner strength, far greater than suspected.

I particularly like this character when she’s paired with a female friend who initially seems tough as nails, with goals and determination, who guards herself and looks like she knows who she is and what she wants, but it turns out is emotionally more fragile than she seems and has trouble being strong when her plans go awry. In Hatchi’s case that’s Nana O., for Savannah that’s first Alice and then Marti, and for Caroline — well, she doesn’t actually have that dynamic at the start of the show. Elena sort of fits that part, but not really. I don’t think Elena is fragile in the slightest.

I like this character, and this dynamic, because it show different ways for women to be strong, different ways of being a good friend or a bad one. This character exists within and places value on a conformation to socially approved femininity, and that doesn’t make her less strong. I was thinking about this while watching this week’s 30 Rock, “TGS Hates Women.” The episode is a complex look at feminism and the entertainment industry, summarized here by Sady Doyle. But the part that is relevant to Hellcats is, there’s clearly more than one way to be a woman, a feminist, to be strong. Which also came up in the most recent Spartacus: Gods of the Arena episode, as Lucretia finally revealed what I suspected all along — namely that she is completely ruthless, really smart, and can play a long game.

The twin and conflicting obligations of friendship are in all of the shows I’ve mentioned — to support your friend in reaching their goals and to be happy for them, while also calling them out when they are screwing up. The tension between those things, the different choices the characters make, and how they all live with the consequences is a great story engine. Hellcats in particular does a great job with this. I look forward to seeing how it all plays out.

More in the way of soup

1. M appears to be coming down with something. He’s complaining of a sore throat and is lying in my bed looking pale and tragic. He’s got coloring which is most typically described as “Irish” — red red hair, blue blue eyes, and pale pale skin. Whenever he gets sick he always looks pale and tragic.

2. I’m in the midst of another soup. The beans are soaking. I hope that the longer boil and soak times (I do not yet have the planning skills to soak beans overnight) will make them less crunchy than Wednesday’s chick peas.

3. On a related note, I have heard many a recommendation that I might want to get a pressure cooker, if I am going to be making soup-ish things. Thoughts?

4. On another related note, an accident revealed that I really AM lactose intolerant. My goodness, yes. So, Lactaid and avoiding dairy and only aged cheeses in moderation and lots of soy milk for me.

5. I finished volume five of Nana, and I am loving the mistakes these women are making. I am also loving that this is another of that trope I like, the flakey emotive girl who is really much tougher than she looks, and the tough, armored girl who is more brittle than she first appears, and their friendship. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

6. K volunteered to do the dishes. Mostly, I suspect, because M isn't feeling well, there is no one home to play with, and she ran out of her weekly allotment of screen (computer/video/DS) time. So socializing with me over the dishes is better than nothing.

7. Went to the Y this afternoon, as usual. Since last summer I've gone from being unable to do any squats at all to being able to do twenty with a 45-pound barbell in my hands. This slow, steady progress thing is really quite fun.

8. This update is very domestic, my goodness.

9. I like numbered lists.

Whedonistas review!

Lisa Fary at Pink Raygun reviewed Whedonistas quite favorably, with some especially flattering remarks about my essay, “The Ages of Dollhouse: Autobiography Through Whedon.” Thank you, Ms. Fary, for the kind words.

Whedonistas debuted at the Gallifrey One convention last week, and goes on sale March 15th. It is available for pre-order through Amazon, through Mad Norwegian Press, and through Barnes & Noble.

Wednesday evening is for cooking

1. It’s possible that my body no longer processes lactose the way it used to. Some dietary testing was done, and the results were strongly suggestive, let’s say. Yes. Let’s leave it at that.

So, I’m a vegetarian eating low-to-no-salt and low-to-no-dairy. This is mildly frustrating, but I find that I am merely grateful that the things that my body prefers to avoid are not, say, soy or wheat or, god forbid, garlic.

I did a little bit of poking around online at recipes and nutritional information, because I’ve been getting much of my protein and calcium from dairy. First observation? Every freaking website on the planet presumes you are desperate to lose weight. Second, though, I found out useful nutrition information on lentils and various beans. So this afternoon I went to the grocery store to pick up bags of dried beans. Canned beans are more convenient but much more expensive.

Anyway, Monday I made roasted root vegetables, which I tend to reheat as a hash. I add other vegetables, like peas or broccoli, or I add an egg. Tonight I made a potato-lentil soup, and am about to start on a … a something, involving bell peppers, carrots, and chick peas.

Conclusions so far? I love garlic. Parsnips are mandatory. Chick peas are nummy. This does not suck.

2. I stumbled across this Shovelglove exercise site on the internets. It looks sort of silly and fun, and like something I could do at home on the days I don’t go to the Y. I mean, there’s a move called “Smite the Orc.” This is a weight-training workout by geeks, for geeks.

3. The Department of Justice today decided it will no longer prosecute Don’t Ask Don’t Tell cases. Hot fucking damn. Little by little, the world improves. And even if the Wisconsin union situation goes to hell, the power of the demonstrations has garnered international attention. Unions and labor demonstrators across the country are beginning to agitate on local issues.

4. Working with K on her math proceeds apace. Slowly, that is. She wants math to be a matter of absolute memorization. But math is infinite, and one has to memorize not each problem but the system for solving the problems. And that is not her strongest suit.

This is actually fairly similar to the problems some people have in training to be air traffic controllers. You cannot possibly memorize the solution to every single traffic problem; you must memorize and internalize the principles for solving the problems, and then apply them correctly for the situation. It’s a hard thing, and it breaks some trainees.

The Native Star and steamfeminism

The 2010 Nebula Award nominees were announced today, including among their number M. K. Hobson’s The Native Star.

I just finished The Native Star, on a friend’s recommendation, and quite liked it. I don’t want to go into the story too much here, to prevent spoilers, but here is my recommendation –

Avoid this if you: prefer male point-of-view characters, dislike a romantic b-plot, prefer optimistic protagonists, are tired to death of steampunk and/or zombies.

However, read The Native Star if you: like a bit of cynicism in your narrative voice, enjoy in-depth world-building including competing schools of magic, want a book about adults instead of teenagers, don’t mind a bit of environmentalism with your zombies and steampunk.

I hesitate, truly, to call this steampunk. But it’s a mid-to-late 1800s historical U.S. AU (alternate universe,) and it deals almost entirely with competing schools of thought about how the world should be run — magic, science, different schools of magic, etc. I think the Big Bad’s revealed [redacted] in the plot to [redacted] makes it steampunkish.

The attitude of the protagonist is one common in this second-wave steamwhatever that I’ve been reading — a scrappy attitude of trying to get by in a economic and social world comprised of systems run by men, for men. I’m thinking of Gail Carriger’s Soulless and it’s sequels, I’m thinking of Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker and Dreadnaught — Dreadnaught in particular.

Is it punk when the stories simply try to take an honest look at what the lives of women might be like in these Victorian AUs? Is it punk, bravado and rebellion, to imagine women in a world engineered for men? Or is it not a punk anger that simmers under the surface of these female protagonists, but a feminist will? None of the protagonists of the books I’ve mentioned complain about their lot in their worlds as women. They are angry about specific things they face, zombies and werewolves and vampires and demons and blood magic, sure. Who wouldn’t be? The characters accept that the world is manifestly unfair, and then set about doing the best they can in it. That determination is remarked upon as unfeminine, unmannerly, and unladylike. And the female protagonist characters by and large respond with a steel-willed anger.

Anyway, check out The Native Star if you think it sounds right for you. And if you want to ponder whether the existence of female determination and anger is enough to be dubbed revolutionary, or “punk,” read the other books I mentioned.

Briefly, snow

Someone I follow on Twitter has started simply tweeting “#fimbulwinter” as the only real, sane response to the weather. I got to work yesterday in terrible driving conditions and stayed the night. Slept on a couch in the break room, because I saw no reason to risk my life on the way home merely to sleep for five hours and risk my life on the way back in.

It’s still snowing, albeit lightly now, and the blowing winds have lessened somewhat, increasing visibility and reducing drifts across the highways.

I have to say I am very much looking forward to sleeping at home tonight.

Also, a shower and clean clothes.

On the upside, my neurotic preparedness in life served me well. I had a toothbrush, toothpaste, medications, and snacks all packed in my bag, “just in case.” Well, just in case happened, and, lo, I was prepared. I do like that.

Saturday night is for working

1. We’re supposed to get 16 +/-5 inches of snow over the next 36 hours. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning whether I will be heading in to work.

2. I am trying this thing called f.lux on my computer. It is supposed to look at your latitude and time of year and time of day and adjust the color of your computer monitor to be more conducive to a natural light cycle. Perhaps this will help me on, say, my days off, but I’m at work and sort of squinting at the screen because it is dim. Also, the geek room has glaring florescent lights so I’m not sure how much it helps. Also, I work until midnight tonight, you know? I’m going to be up until 1:00 a no matter what, since I have to drive home.

3. The geek room has organized, selected a board, established dues, and locked down the internet by physical address. Thank goodness. This SHOULD bring a halt to the horrible connectivity we’ve had over the last three months. Those who leave their computers uploading crap to torrent sites will be SMOTE. Video streaming, online gaming, and regular surfing should be unaffected.

4. As usual, I spent the breaks on my shift so far catching up on tv shows — Hellcats, 30 Rock, Vampire Diaries, Fringe. I still say that Hellcats has the smartest, most thoughtful and respectful presentation of Christianity in the U.S. I’ve ever seen on television. Not condescending, but not blind to Christianity’s faults either. It shows religion in this country for what it is — complex.

5. Politics are a, a real thing right now. The rallies in Madison are heartening, but I have no certainty they will prevail. And the federal government is … behaving reprehensibly. And the entire Middle East appears to be exploding in protest, insurgence, and revolution. It’s a nerve-wracking time to follow the news.

It’s the hope that gets to me. If I wasn’t hopeful for a better future, I wouldn’t be so scared.

6. Speaking of politics, though —

Federal funding for Planned Parenthood is grave danger.

There are countless people telling their stories right now, about how Planned Parenthood was their only option for medical care at certain points in their lives. Not just birth control or abortions, but straight-up medical care. Go, if you are a U.S. resident, take a look at the Planned Parenthood website and see if you can find a way to sign the petition or contact your congressional representatives in some other way.

Friday morning

1. Now I’m following the political situations in Libya and Bahrain. I’m not certain what I get out of this, you know? There’s *certainly* nothing I can do for the people being shot by their governments. But I am very aware that the political struggles of people who are not white Americans often fall under the U.S. radar. Part of why I choose to get my news from the BBC is to combat that tendency. I want my kids to grow up with a native sense that the planet is full of people who, every day, are struggling and celebrating, fighting and making peace, and their lives are equally as important as anything that is happening here. Protesters being gunned down in the streets of Bahrain is news. The tax referendums regarding repairing the Metrodome roof are also news, and will likely affect us personally more. But the South Sudan independence referendum is going to determine the lives of millions of people, and I think that’s more important than local sports.

2. The kids are at a slow bit in math. M could do long division, he can do it when we keep him on task, but ohhhh, it is so LONG and has so many STEPS and the world is full of OTHER THINGS to look at and think about! Like Pokemon! And robots! And mega-cyclones! So, anyway, we are making him practice one or two long division problems each day, just to get the work in. It takes forever.

K is stalled out on a different aspect. She can do arithmetic just fine, but she cannot determine what a word problem is asking of her. The only catch is, life is nothing but word problems. I mean, no one is going to ask you, at age thirty, to recite your times tables. But they will ask you how much lumber you need for that fence, and then there you are, trying to figure out how many board-feet you need and making sure you don’t forget that the three two-foot stubs leftover from sawing do not actually equal a six-foot fencepost and you need another whole board.

I am a little frustrated with this problem K is having, through no fault of hers, simply because I get this part of math in a way that makes it a struggle for me to explain. Luckily, the Singapore Math books do a really good job with this and I can simply rely on them.

3. We had a lovely, lovely two days of thaw. The huge line-of-sight snowpile obstructions are reduced, making driving easier. But the temperature dropped back down and all the melted water has refrozen into sheets of ice everywhere. Luckily, the end is in sight. March will be here soon, bringing a ton more snow to be sure, but all of that snow will MELT.

Reviewing Voice

I wrote up my review of Carla Speed McNeil’s latest Finder collection, Voice, for Fantastic Fangirls.

I really cannot stress enough how there is something for everyone in Finder. I mean, you have to enjoy science fiction, of course. The world of Anvard makes you work a bit for comprehension. But it is so very worth your time.

I think it’s … a massive miscarriage of something that Jeff Smith’s Bone, or Dave Sims’ Cerberus, get reprints and recognition and intense praise, and McNeil’s work gets … less. I don’t want to take away anything from those guys, not at all. I just want to find a rooftop from which to shout McNeil’s praise.

This is good SF. I happen to think it is great SF.

Wednesday morning is here

1. Around 8:00 last night I got a call from my friend Nancy Clue. Her wee cat, Madeline, was ill. I live less than a mile from the emergency vet hospital, so she swung by and I took them over there. Madeline had, it turns out, F.I.P., which is sudden in onset, painful, life-threatening, and incurable. Nancy made the right decision under the circumstances and Madeline was euthanized around 9:30.

I mentioned to the vet (who I quite liked and approved of, though she looked about twelve years old) that I have never been to the U of M’s Small Animal Hospital when 1) I planned to be there, 2) when I wanted to be there, or 3) in daylight. Such is life with animals. When I got home I made sure to give both the elderly dogs an extra skritch behind the ears.

2. Between K’s birthday party yesterday and the evening with Nancy and Madeline I did a lot of talking, or croaking, yesterday, and I am paying for it today. Ow. Ow ow ow.

3. N made a decaf chai latte, more or less, for me this morning. I am so very pleased.

4. I started reading M. K. Hobson’s The Native Star for my next Wiscon pre-reading. But I also have, sitting on my Nook, a non-fiction work discussing the myth that vaccinations lead to autism. Hmm. I might go read that first. I would like to be better armed with the facts in this particular discussion.

5. I have a ton of new music I downloaded from Zune Marketplace that I want to listen to. Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis, The New Pornographers, Neko Case. I wonder if it’s good workout music? I guess we’ll find out.