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14 May 2009 @ 11:20 am

I survived the bike-commute in to work, with no major incidents. Better (and faster) than last year, though there were a couple of surprises. One was the spot where I waited for a light-change to cross a busy street, and after two traffic cycles realized that I have to push the "walk" button. D'OH! The second was a turnoff onto "Mason Lane" which was supposed to cut some distance AND helpfully avoid some major streets. The "Not A County Road" sign a block down was unexpected. "What does that mean?", I wondered. It meant that it was a private access road for residents, and that it was chock full of speed bumps and potholes-- in the shade. Quite the offroad experience! Won't be doing that again. The ride in was slower than I'd hoped (13mph average-- ouch!), sure confirmation that I really am NOT a morning person.

The route home will be longer, and I hope not hair-raising. Not expecting any trouble...

Tonight's the Supernatural finale, and I'm trying to prepare myself for the heartbreak. Let's hope it doesn't kill my muse over the summer, or anyone else's. I'll resort to writing S1/S2 porn if I have to! And wee!chester fic! And reading RPS like there's no tomorrow. :0

In other news, Lauren is extremely disappointed that Danny Gokey is out of the running for American Idol. He was her favorite, which surprises me (her tastes are creeping away from pop toward rock, apparently). I don't get the Adam Lambert thing-- I hate his voice (so shrill), and then there's the makeup and the lisping thing. Yick. Yet clearly a lot of people love him. OTOH, people like the band "Rush," and I could never get past Geddy Lee's voice either. :(

Tags: cycling, tv

12 comments | Say what you feel

12 comments —

( 12 comments — Say what you feel )

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halfshellvenus on May 14th, 2009 06:51 pm (UTC)

The wee!chesters thing has been tricky for me ever since that Christmas episode, where we had a very clear view of the kind of absent and neglectful father John was. Though I haven't written him remotely "soft" other than in an AU (when the boys were younger), and somewhat soft in something where Dean was 5 (i.e., very young). I struggle reading other people's wee!chesters, depending-- if the boys are older and John's just this basic Daddy type, it doesn't work for me! If there's no John at all, I'm usually okay.

Oops-- detoured there through something. A private rant totally unrelated to you!

It is awesome gen brother bonding in a can,

"in a can"-- hee! Though I know what you mean. Someone else posted something on one of my fics, which went like "Putting the 'WIN' in WINcest!"

Your Big Bang needs to settle down and behave so that you can write at will! I'm plugging away on one of my two Sweet Charity fics, hoping to get that out of my hair so I can help someone beta HER Big Bang and also have only the one fic left.

Obligations! They're deadly!

Edited at 2009-05-14 06:51 pm (UTC)

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halfshellvenus on May 14th, 2009 07:26 pm (UTC)

signed up for SC too... and... my bidder promptly didn't give me a prompt. O.O

That happened to me the first two times, which made the story hard to write! It took much too long to feel like I had a good satisfying story idea that the person would love. The last round, I got clear prompts but trouble with the second fic (Prison Break) because I couldn't quite get a handle on the prompt timeframe... but the bidder revised, and that helped a lot.

This time, my prompts are clear! Though one of them has a lot of detail-- but the person isn't terribly firm on it all fitting in (she's flexible). I just don't want to make her wait forever. It's such a subjective process, somehow. :0

The thing about it is that where they are on the timeline, John hasn't completely lost his shit yet. He's losing it, but I don't think he COMPLETELY lost it the night of the fire, because he still had to be a dad a little bit.... I don't think you can really turn that off like a switch. Do you?

No-- I think he was more of a "Dad" at first, though a broken one (he lost his wife in a terrible and unexplainable way). But somewhere around probably the 1-2 years after timeframe, I think he started turning into a soldier more than a father and everything became about vengeance instead of the boys. By the time Dean was 9, he was clearly solidly there (leaving a 9-year-old to watch a 5-year-old for a weekend!!!). :(

So at this point I roped tahirire into it, and we'll probably be working on it all summer.

Wow. Though I'll bet you'll be proud of it when you're done, and amazed at how much you got out of that AU 'verse!

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tsuki_no_bara on May 14th, 2009 06:49 pm (UTC)

they were talking about american idol on the radio this morning and played a clip of adam singing some u2 song - i can't remember which one - and he just belted that out like he was on a broadway stage. it was very theatrical, in a way that u2 (and pop music in general) really isn't. he seems to have much more of a broadway musical voice than a pop/rock one. i guess the voting public likes that kind of thing, i don't know. or people just think he's cute.

but hey, two thumbs up for surviving the commute! even with the private road, yeesh. why wasn't it marked as such?

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halfshellvenus on May 14th, 2009 06:57 pm (UTC)

it was very theatrical, in a way that u2 (and pop music in general) really isn't.

That's what Lauren was saying-- that he's got a Broadway voice, and that's probably where he'll wind up (rather than as a star). That prior guy-- Taylor somebody-- is apparently now starring as a teacher in 'Grease' on Broadway. Not a leading role-- a secondary role! :0

Her assessment was that no-one has been terribly successful other than Kelly Clarkson, and possibly David Cook (too soon to tell). Clay Aiken did well for awhile, but he's fallen away. She thinks Chris Daughtry should have won his session. I remember Bo Bice being my favorite in whatever round he was in, because he had a great Rock N' Roll voice.

The commuting was interesting, but not maddening. Last year it made me nuts, and took 2 hours on the route in! Fewer stop signs/stoplights this time.

That private road... those details don't show up on MapQuest or on GoogleMaps, and I didn't take that little detour on my trial run. I discovered it on Tuesday, while printing out my maps... but apparently, some detail was missing. :0

One of the trickiest things about commuting in Roseville (as I discovered last year) is avoiding 1) train tracks 2) a bisecting creek and 3) elevation changes! Last year, I took a wrong turn (but knew where I was), and saw this big street starting to loom overhead. "What's that? Oh crap! I think that's my left turn!" :D

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tsuki_no_bara on May 14th, 2009 09:00 pm (UTC)

it's entirely possible adam will be better served by NOT winning, because that way he won't be bound by whatever recording contract ai requires of its winners, and he can go right into doing something that he's actually suited for. i mean, lauren's right - kelly clarkson's the only idol winner who achieved any kind of pop success. well, and carrie underwood, but she's more country and seems to have found success there more than in pop. winning ai is almost like the pop music kiss of death.

man, i loved bo. that he kept doing well made me so happy. i was actually glad he didn't win, tho. ditto for chris daughtry.

all bikers around here really have to worry about are cars and trucks.... i mean, there aren't a lot of random creeks in greater boston. or major elevation changes, yikes.

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halfshellvenus on May 14th, 2009 09:30 pm (UTC)

or major elevation changes, yikes.

That's one of the reasons I routinely get lost in Roseville in my car. Too many "You can't get there from here" moments. :0

I tend to rely on the Google/MapQuest image, which does not show those 3-D details!

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_sin_attract on May 14th, 2009 08:26 pm (UTC)

OMG I hate Adam's voice SO SO much! He just screeches! I hope Kris wins, but I have a feeling Adam will.

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halfshellvenus on May 14th, 2009 09:29 pm (UTC)

I suspect he will too, and "screeches" is the right word.

It reminds me of "Angel," when Lorn (whom I otherwise loved) would start singing in this really gay falsetto style with the major vibrato. Sto-o-o-p! Sing like a regular person, already!

I also have issues with voices that sound "strained." Geddy Lee isn't just shrill- he sounds strained to me (his throat is tight). Bruce Springsteen often bugs me for this reason, like he's singing too high for his range. His voice sounds tight too (and not in the slang way, where apparently "tight"==awesome). :0

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astrothsknot on May 14th, 2009 10:49 pm (UTC)

What kind of bike do you have?

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halfshellvenus on May 14th, 2009 11:33 pm (UTC)

It's a Trek road bike (i.e., skinny tires). It was not meant for potholes or gravelly surfaces!

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miss_mandy on May 15th, 2009 12:58 am (UTC)

I agree with you on Adam's voice, I can't stand that high pitched screechy thing he does. It's like a dentist's drill or nails on a chalkboard.

I haven't been watching the show for about a month now, but I'm glad that Kris is in the final two. He's adorable.

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halfshellvenus on May 15th, 2009 05:07 am (UTC)

I can't stand that high pitched screechy thing he does.
He's not the first, but I hate it regardless of who's doing it. I made allowances once for Freddie Mercury, partly because that wasn't all he was capable of, but in general I hate that tone quality.

I also find a lot of female pop stars kind of piercing, for the same reason. My ears!

I don't really know any of the competitors, other than who Lauren liked (which surprised me), and Adam and his oodles of makeup. :\

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