The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

E.F.B.

Stories, stories everywhere
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Good morning, Cantina. Sorry about OldLadyDog, Aggy.:Hug2: It's great that you all were able to cover her a good final two months.

Looks like today will be more reading than writing as my dad has two different doctor appointments I'll have to sit through. One is his retinologist, which guaranteed always takes several hours, so yep, lots of reading. I will try to get out some words before we have to leave the house, though, and I was also fairly pleased with how much I wrote and the quality of yesterday's writing, so I'm not feeling frustrated about the loss of writing time, at least.
 

yumpty-tum

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Oh, yeah. Once again, let me reiterate that I'm really looking forward to Doctor Whittaker. She was great in Attack the Block so she has sci-fi chops and Broadchurch showed her depth. I really want a Doctor without the convoluted guilt thing that they've been using for the past, gosh, nearly a decade for artificial pathos and I think Jodie Whittaker can bring that.
 

yumpty-tum

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*de-lurks*



Out of curiosity, have you considered why this might be the case?

How many originally male-dominated franchises can you name? How many female ones?

Frankly, who cares? That's not the argument. Franchises can be created. What do you think Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Miss Marvel, Squirrel Girl (coz, yeah...), Alias (AKA Jessica Jones) and oh I don't know how many others were about? It's a sad indictment if people think that the only way to have female-led franchises is to take over the male-led ones and remove the males.
 

Aggy B.

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Ah, yes. The old "Just make your own," argument. (Which folks are. But since female leads are still perceived as being "niche" - targeted only to women - the male lead franchises still dominate.) Also "I have genuine reasons for thinking this is a bad idea but clearly <Entertainment Company> has just caved to political correctness," self-undermining logic.

When someone's first response is not "Hmm, I wonder how they'll work around this piece of canon," but "I see the femi-nazis have struck again," then one is throwing shade on ones own "genuine reasons". (Note: this is an observation in general about the way these things tend to go, not specifically about anyone in this thread.)

Alas, I don't have access to Doctor Who so it's been quite a while since I watched. I do know, the Time Lords were supposed to have a certain number of lives, and I'm pretty sure the Doctor has used all of those. Perhaps they have to come back as a woman for a certain number of lives to get around those rules. (I.e. Escaping what some folks are positing was a legal restriction imposed by the folks of Gallifrey, not an actual physical restriction, by playing semantics. "I'm not a Time Lord, I'm a Time Lady.") Perhaps there is some other bit of canon that is being created. Without having seen the scripts it's hard to say.

But, one assuming that it must be catering to political correctness does very little to underscore any "genuine reasons" one might have against the plot twist. I've not seen many (any) genuine reasons being presented via FB or Twitter or the comments on the announcements and articles. Just a lot of "But he's always been a man! I'm done with these leftist TV producers."

[This discussion might be better off over in the Dr. Who thread. Or elsewhere in the SF/F forum.]
 

yumpty-tum

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Ah, yes. The old "Just make your own," argument. (Which folks are. But since female leads are still perceived as being "niche" - targeted only to women - the male lead franchises still dominate.) Also "I have genuine reasons for thinking this is a bad idea but clearly <Entertainment Company> has just caved to political correctness," self-undermining logic.

When someone's first response is not "Hmm, I wonder how they'll work around this piece of canon," but "I see the femi-nazis have struck again," then one is throwing shade on ones own "genuine reasons". (Note: this is an observation in general about the way these things tend to go, not specifically about anyone in this thread.)

Alas, I don't have access to Doctor Who so it's been quite a while since I watched. I do know, the Time Lords were supposed to have a certain number of lives, and I'm pretty sure the Doctor has used all of those. Perhaps they have to come back as a woman for a certain number of lives to get around those rules. (I.e. Escaping what some folks are positing was a legal restriction imposed by the folks of Gallifrey, not an actual physical restriction, by playing semantics. "I'm not a Time Lord, I'm a Time Lady.") Perhaps there is some other bit of canon that is being created. Without having seen the scripts it's hard to say.

But, one assuming that it must be catering to political correctness does very little to underscore any "genuine reasons" one might have against the plot twist. I've not seen many (any) genuine reasons being presented via FB or Twitter or the comments on the announcements and articles. Just a lot of "But he's always been a man! I'm done with these leftist TV producers."

[This discussion might be better off over in the Dr. Who thread. Or elsewhere in the SF/F forum.]

I'm not sure we're going to get anywhere with this... Suffice it to say that there are lots of people out there with lots of views for lots of reasons and most of them are reasonable reasons, FB and Twitter not withstanding. But dismissal is wrong from whichever direction it comes. And now for something completely different...
 

greendragon

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So, anyone watch GOT last night? (stands back to watch)...

Also, we stayed up late to try to see the Aurora Borealis, but were disappointed. We were smart and went up to the local observatory, where at least we got a good view of the sky without too much light pollution. We saw Saturn, Mars and Venus, the Milky Way and several shooting stars, but no northern lights. We were on the edge of the 'maybe' area, anyhow, and the direction most likely to see them had some light pollution from Corning. Alas.

The odder thing was that when we got there, there was another couple with the same idea. Now I've been in this area for a year and a half. I've met some folks, but the city has a population of over 10,000. The odds of me knowing the other people was slight. However, it was a member of my author group, Max, and his wife! Go figure, eh?
 

Shadowflame

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I have seen it once when I was a kid--and I live in Missouri so it was a really rare thing. Parents had taken us to a friend of their's house for fun and games and we came back home really late. We were well outside town and Dad stopped the car on a gravel road so we could all get out and look at the green ribbons of light in the sky. I don't remeber it well just that it was green and pretty. A very rare occurrence this far south.

I am going to end up strangling middle cat today. She's yowling for some reason again. Doesn't want attention. Doesn't want to play. Just sits there about 4 feet from me going Meow. Meow. Meow. -_-

Going to be a busy week. Trying to push through revisions of the novella. Up to 27K words. I'll be happy when it reaches 30K (and I know now how to do that--more internal dialog of the main character.) Doesn't change the story line, but in fact, solidifies it into something much better. The readers will now know more of his motivations of what's going on and why.
Promoting 2 omnibuses for the next 2 months. Coordinating interviews, guest posts, spotlights, and reviews. Head is spinning. Plus there's other work to be done. 1 SEO article today for instance. Need to make a pitch for another personal assistant opportunity today too.
Oh what fun freelancing is. But please hurry with more jobs so I can drop this infernal part-time job before I go start raving mad. ;)
 

Cobalt Jade

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Light pollution is the devil. I know they were observable here in Seattle, but it's a big metropolitan area. You'd have to get at least an hour away from the cities to see anything and probably on the other side of the mountains, too. Which is too bad, I'd like to see them at least once in my life. (Speaking of sky phenomena, I have seen the elusive Green Flash, and a good number of sky arcs and sundogs.)

I got my first "official" rejection today, by that I mean by someone who notified me of it and not ignored me. Wah!
 

greendragon

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Stevebot! Clean that!

Middle cat may have an upset stomach or constipation, shadow. :( I wonder if cats get headaches?

The last place I lived was Nowhere Amish country in southern Pennsylvania. A half hour drive to the nearest grocery story, 20 minutes to the nearest gas station or shop of any sort. The sky outside was amazing. Watched several meteor showers from there, and you could see a true Milky Way, not just a smudge. But alas, still too far south for Northern Lights. There was one night we saw it was possible, and we drove up the nearby hill and watched the sky for a long time, but nothing. Some day.

Of course, if I keep going on vacation to places like Norway in the summer, I never will. Got to plan the next Iceland trip closer to winter.
 

Shadowflame

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Middle cat may have an upset stomach or constipation, shadow. :( I wonder if cats get headaches?

No, she's fine. She's just ornery. Usually when she does that she wants the boys to wrestle with her and they are napping. When she's not feeling well, she's actually kind of cuddly. Plus, I've not seen any tongue flicking which usually indicates stomach distress such as nausea. (Amazing what you learn when your cat has cystitis.) I do watch her closely as she's the finicky one of the bunch and has some health issues, but now she's napping in the window. But thanks.
 

Ambrosia

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Well, I did the rewrite to the magic one of my betas had suggested. And it indeed does make the novel better. I'll do the next change he suggested, as all of my betas have indicated issues with that scene. I had not been too happy with it, either, so it doesn't surprise me others found problems. At least that is just rewriting the one scene as opposed to going throughout the book to make changes.

It should be loads easier. (That's my story, and I sticking to it. ;))
 
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Religion0

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Went to a hypnotherapist today. Not sure how much of the soft therapy she said I believe in, especially the "smiling your way to happiness" thing, I just felt like I was getting strangled by a mask when I stopped feeling it. Not sure I buy that the hypnosis worked either, although maybe I should just give it a bit to work, set in. I'm still wondering, if discipline is something you have practice and learn, how are you supposed to get it when you start out having negative one in discipline? Those are bad stats.

It was called "Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]", and HAWT DIGGIDY-DAYUMN! It was full of gaps and plot holes and an entire (p-cool) character was completely forgotten for one and a half seasons, BUT!!! :eek: IT WAS ALSO AWESOME!! Perhaps in spite of, perhaps because of the massive deus ex machina that it all amounted to. It was so BLOODY BLEEDIN' BLITHERINGLY BLIGHTEDLY BUTT-GRASPINGLY B'AWESOME!!! and, like, totes purdy too... :eek:
Ah, yes, Unlimited Budget Works. I thought the second half flagged a bit. Still awesome. Still gotta recommend you watch the old Fate/Stay Night before Zero, which is a measure for it's temperature of coolness.
 

Jade Rothwell

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Either the person who made that post was being fantastically sarcastic or was an idiot.

I'm hoping sarcastic, but I doubt it

Learning these things has given me a happy! :D

it's so great!

Some people are definitely losing their brown stuff on social media. I was watching the women's singles final at Wimbledon as I was away yesterday, and followed it by timeshifting the men's singles and mixed doubles, so I got the Who announcement two hours after everyone else.

There was a comment on an article from a certain UK tabloid newspaper the other day that "no one wants a TARDIS full of bras". Not sure what he thought the many female travellers in the TARDIS over the years were wearing, then...

someone I saw had made fake episode title cards with quotes from that article :ROFL:

Went to a hypnotherapist today. Not sure how much of the soft therapy she said I believe in, especially the "smiling your way to happiness" thing, I just felt like I was getting strangled by a mask when I stopped feeling it. Not sure I buy that the hypnosis worked either, although maybe I should just give it a bit to work, set in. I'm still wondering, if discipline is something you have practice and learn, how are you supposed to get it when you start out having negative one in discipline? Those are bad stats.

at the risk of getting personal in my response:
I really disagree with the idea that smiling will make you happy. I tried that for years and just repressed everything to the point of explosion. I think talking through emotions is so much healthier and has more long-term benefits
 

Aggy B.

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I find that taking a few moments to focus on positive things can help when I get particularly depressed or anxious. It doesn't necessarily make me happy, but not dwelling only on the things that have me down can give me a better perspective. It doesn't mean smiling will make me happy, but for certain frowning will only make me more angry and sad. If that makes sense. (Not a therapist, psychiatrist or other health professional, so YMMV.)

Sketching. Trying to decompress. Getting ready to head out the door to karate with Monkey.

Aggy, tired and it's only Monday
 

Religion0

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someone I saw had made fake episode title cards with quotes from that article :ROFL:
I would like to see that.

at the risk of getting personal in my response:
I really disagree with the idea that smiling will make you happy. I tried that for years and just repressed everything to the point of explosion. I think talking through emotions is so much healthier and has more long-term benefits
I think it might work for some people, especially if it's a stopgap or to work with general malaise, but I agree with you, things need to be talked about. You can't just force circumstances to not be hard, to not be wrong, by smiling at them, by pretending they're not.
 

Damoclian

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Went to a hypnotherapist today. Not sure how much of the soft therapy she said I believe in, especially the "smiling your way to happiness" thing, I just felt like I was getting strangled by a mask when I stopped feeling it. Not sure I buy that the hypnosis worked either, although maybe I should just give it a bit to work, set in. I'm still wondering, if discipline is something you have practice and learn, how are you supposed to get it when you start out having negative one in discipline? Those are bad stats.

Ah, yes, Unlimited Budget Works. I thought the second half flagged a bit. Still awesome. Still gotta recommend you watch the old Fate/Stay Night before Zero, which is a measure for it's temperature of coolness.

Here Rel, precious! Take this Cat O' Nine Tails for +2 to discipline... You need it more than I :eek: ;)

There's another version of Stay Night??? :eek: Where do I find it!? I checked crunchyroll and it ain't there as far as I can tell. I think I may know what you're talking about though, as I tried F/SN a long time ago and SOMEHOW didn't get into it!!!??? :'O I know, I used to be tha werst!

at the risk of getting personal in my response:
I really disagree with the idea that smiling will make you happy. I tried that for years and just repressed everything to the point of explosion. I think talking through emotions is so much healthier and has more long-term benefits

You know what, Jade? The Cantina is a safe space full of awesomesauce people (I'm including the lurkers here! ;)), it's okay to get personal if you think doing so will help another person here. :) And while I agree with your sentiments in the above, I would like to clarify that smiling - whether 'fake' or 'real' - does make one happier, if on a neurochemical/hormonal level, because the physical act, the actual movement of the muscles required to bare one's teeth, releases all them various happifying chemicals in the brain.

Smiling when you're in distress will not make the distress go away, it won't get rid of outside stimulus if that's what's causing the problem. But internalising the act of being happy through smiling or any other means, by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, say, definitely does have long-term benefits. There's a funky-fresh diagram I keep seeing about the interconnectedness of CBT (possibly because I'm undergoing such therapy rn), and by that diagram I have come to the understanding that just as thoughts and feelings influence behaviour, so too does behaviour (like smiling when you don't really want to) influence thoughts and feelings. (There was also a whole bunch of stuff about environment and exercise, but like, meh!)

So if you or anyone else gets out of bed on the wrong side, consider smiling at yosizzelf in whatever reflecty-thing you use, not because it will make your problems go away, but because your problems might smile back atcha! And who doesn't love a good smile?? :evil
 

Richard White

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80% of the way through convention season now. Got back last night from ConGregate in High Point, NC. Small show - probably less than 400 attendees. It didn't help that a new convention started in Raleigh, NC and was the same weekend (Great timing, guys!). Still, we had some very good panels - I did Working in Media Tie-Ins, Pulp Fiction, Writing Believable Military SF, and a Writer Beware presentation. The only low-point of the panels was Barbara Hambly was supposed to be on the Media Tie-in panel but her plane was still circling Charlotte when the panel started. *le sigh*.

Only Archon, in St. Louis, to go and that's not until late Sept, so it's back to the writing grindstone for me.
 

JJ Litke

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yumpty, for future reference, you can't throw conversational grenades into a thread and then insist that it's unreasonable for anyone to counter with a differing point of view.

Went to a hypnotherapist today. Not sure how much of the soft therapy she said I believe in, especially the "smiling your way to happiness" thing, I just felt like I was getting strangled by a mask when I stopped feeling it. Not sure I buy that the hypnosis worked either, although maybe I should just give it a bit to work, set in. I'm still wondering, if discipline is something you have practice and learn, how are you supposed to get it when you start out having negative one in discipline? Those are bad stats.

"Smiling your way to happiness" has always struck me as a grossly oversimplified technique. I don't think it'll work on anything deeper than mild dissatisfaction, at least not all by itself.

Hypnotherapy has been shown to have a significant impact on things like chronic pain. But I think the therapist makes a big difference. Not only that they're good, but how well you click with them. Even then trying to control emotional states is difficult.
 

themindstream

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*falls out of the woodwork that EFB was scratching*

Ooh, shiny new Cantina.

Rel: I would probably be making disbelieving eyebrows at your therapist too. The hypnosis, it depends on what the goal is. But you might find out your therapist isn't a fit for you and that's ok. (Coming from an experience that was ultimately more frustrating than enlightening for me.)

At the moment I'm trying to educate myself about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but am waffling over whether it's something I can manage on my own. CBT does have the advantage of having clinical trials backing it at least.
 

Filigree

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For the record, I'm cautiously optimistic about Whittaker as Dr. Who, and thrilled that Moffat is leaving the show. I know he's a long-time creator (I've been watching Who since 1983), but lately his writing has bounced all over the place.

I get growly when people tell me to smile. I've had to use that technique in cold-call sales and telemarketing. It works often enough to be creepy, but I always feel it's a fake emotion.

No writing tonight, but did finish a new shiny art project. It's on the July 17 page of the blog below.
 

Caitlin Black

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Rainy day here. And windy! I went to the shops, and on the way back got caught in a shower. Umbrella: Destroyed. Like, the pole part was ripped out of the fabric-circular-on-top part by the force of the wind, and when I got home, I couldn't even force it back in. And while I'm not the strongest person out there, I'm no slouch, either. Very strong winds!

So yeah. Next time I go to the shops, I'll need to buy a new umbrella. This last one made it through 2 and a half winters, which isn't bad.

Oh, and I just went to check the letterbox, figuring, "Hey, the ground has dried now." Then promptly stepped onto a wet doormat. *sigh*

On the plus side, that shower I got caught in on the way home from the shops only lasted a few minutes. About 20 minutes later, though, it absolutely bucketed down for at least 15 minutes, which would've been way worse to get caught in with a busted umbrella!