Book Signings

Last night, my parents whisked me out of the county to go to an undisclosed location. They implied to me that we were driving all the way to a town two hours away, but after stopping about 5/8 of the way there in a bookstore for an alleged bathroom break, they revealed to me that we were actually staying there because Stephan Pastis was doing a book signing.

I've been a fan of Pearls Before Swine since childhood, so it was exiting to be able to meet its writer/illustrator. If you're familiar with the comic, you'd know that the author oftentimes features himself in it as a character. Stephan Pastis the character drinks, smokes, has a sloppy appearance and is extremely cynical. The actual Stephan Pastis was much more personable. He had an adorable sense of humor, and was really a really nice guy. 

After getting our stuff signed, we got fried rice and gyoza from the Japanese place inside the bookstore. I had only had a breakfast cookie and a venti White Chocolate Mocha in twelve hours, so it was the most delicious meal of my life. 

All-in-all, I had a really good time. I got to see my parents, I got to meet a public figure from my childhood, and I got to hang out in one of my favorite bookstores. Despite all of my nagging, I'm really glad my parents didn't spoil the surprise.

Weekend

On Friday, I fell victim to extreme emotional whiplash after watching I Love You, Phillip Morris with Scott. The film was a dramedy, which means it was hilarious, but ultimately depressing. If you haven't seen it, you really should watch it. Ewan McGregor is in the title role, which is always good, and for once, Jim Carey plays a part that doesn't leave me wanting to punch him in the face. 

Yesterday marked the beginning of "Parents' weekend" at my school, so mine came to visit me today. We ended up going to one of the planned activities before splitting, buying coffee, and going to lunch at a Hawaiian restaurant. Pulled pork sandwiches, I'll have you know, are similar to Barbecued ribs in that there is no way you can possibly eat them and maintain your dignity. 

Pulled pork sandwiches are also similar to barbecued ribs in that eating them is worth the loss of your dignity. 

It was nice to see my parents. My father and I spent most of lunch conversing in Scottish accents. I informed him that the progenitor of our Scottish clan was actually French, but I don't think he believed me. My mother brought me my old Build-a-Bear Koala, dressed in a witch's costume. She sits atop my DVDs, being adorable.

How I Choose What Fanfiction to read

Me, looking for fanfiction:

I normally don't listen to my shoulder angels while browsing for fanfics. That doesn't mean they ever shut up.

• Me: Oh, this one looks good. It's an AU fic, which I normally don't like to read, but this is a Brideshead Revisited AU. 
• SA: Brideshead Revisited is a wonderful story, although it seems suspicious that someone would be using it in the X-Men fandom. Why don't you click on it to see more details.
• Me: Okay. <clicks>
• SA: You shouldn't read this, madam.
• Me: Why not? It combines X-Men: First Class, and Brideshead Revisited. What's not to like about it?
• SA: It's rated NC-17. And one of its warnings is for "perpetual nudity."
• Me: I guess you're right, this does look like a good fanfic, though...
• Shoulder Demon (Fun fact: he's my shoulder angel's husband. I just thought you should know): Oh, posh. Don't you know that the NC-17 rating only applies to children under 17? 
• SA: She's still a decent young lady, though. She doesn't need to be reading smut!
• SD: You and your hatred of smut. "Smut," and "good writing and plot" are not mutually exclusive concepts!
• SA: I'm sure there are plenty of fanfics out there that don't have smut that she could be reading instead.
• SD: There are, but how many of those combine X-Men: First Class and  Brideshead Revisited?
• SA: <silence>
• SD: How many good Brideshead Revisited fics are there, Katy?
• Me: I don't think there are any Brideshead Revisited fics. 
• SD: Would you pass up the opportunity to read what could possibly be the only fanfic related to Brideshead Revisited because my wife is overly sensitive to the things you read online?
• Me: Heck, no. <clicks>
• SA: You're making a terrible mistake, madam.

And you know what? It turned out to be a really awesome fanfic. It was clever, gorgeously written, funny and not nearly as smutty as the warnings implied it would be. It was definitely worth reading.

The lesson here is: Don't let the disclaimers get you down.

Unless of course, you're watching Mystery of the Trinidad. People who go into a movie looking for a feel-good, coming-of-age film about the relationship between a man and his daughter are probably not looking for a Flowers in the Attic-esque twist involving the man's half-sister.

Seriously. It was a good movie up until that point. And I was watching it with my parents. Awkward doesn't even begin to describe it.

The Internet

Yesterday and the day before, the Internet wasn't working.

That day began with me acting more sane than I usually do, since I had gotten a full night of sleep. This was unusual for me, as my usual actions are full of non sequiturs and a higher tolerance of bad fanfiction.

Before the loss of the Internet, I was a respectable member of society.

But when you take away the ability to read bad fanfiction, any semblance of sanity goes out the window. 

Poor Hillary had to put up with me singing both parts of a love duet from Anna Karenina: The Musical, instating first "Prayer" from The Scarlet Pimpernel and then "Sail Me Away" from Lestat as the tragic theme songs for my loss of the Internet, and then me singing along loudly to Air Supply.

I didn't even remember having Air Supply on my iPod.

The guy from our school's technology center called me the next day, and I'm connected again, but I have found out that my sanity does in fact come from the Internet.