Might be time to find out what I owe and start paying

[sovay]

spatch woke me like a cat this afternoon, kneading his head against my chest. The new year feels strange and fragile and even more difficult to watch coming on than the usual future lately, but it is still the new year, so we took my niece to the reservoir for masked-and-socially-distanced tashlikh. She threw her pieces of cracker into the algae-dusted water shouting, "Not going to do that again! Definitely not going to do that!" which seems like a reasonable degree of teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah to expect from a six-year-old. We shared the holiday meal outdoors, including with a wasp that meticulously sliced a portion of roast chicken the size of its own body from my sister-in-law's plate and staggered triumphantly into the air with it, just skirting the fire pit as it made its escape. (It later returned for seconds.) We helped move a car on furniture dollies and came home to discover that our thermostat had impressively died. Rob took this picture of me in the afternoon:



Have some links that cheered me up.

1. sholio is hosting an apropos promptfest in her comments: Hold Me: A Comfort Fest.

2. Courtesy of moon_custafer: "I Am Anxiety." Or, a well-intentioned PSA catastrophically underestimates how thirsty its target audience can get for their mental health issues when personified by Ben Mendelsohn.

3. Thanks to a friend elsenet linking this tweet, I have stated for the record that while I cannot contra (or even country) dance to save my life, I would learn for the sake of a tune called "Fire Up the Harpsichord, Bartholomew." In a tradition whose tunes are all named things like "Haste to the Wedding," "Mr. Beveridge's Magot," "Smash the Windows," "Long Odds," and "Cuckolds All Awry," it'd fit right in.

Comments

[niqaeli]

That is a lovely pic.

I made faces at the thermostat pics, oh dear. I hope that is easily resolved for you and causes minimal disruption to your comfort?? (I have no idea what the weather might be like elsewhere. It's still miserably warm here, with our highs most days in 100s and I have no sense of what actual autumn might be like any more. -wry-)

[sovay]

That is a lovely pic.

Thank you. I'm working on the physical embodiment thing.

I made faces at the thermostat pics, oh dear. I hope that is easily resolved for you and causes minimal disruption to your comfort??

Oh, naturally we have hit the first real cold snap of the year! spatch is going to see if he can clean enough of it to try new batteries tomorrow. Until then, my Raynaud's and I are under an electric throw on the couch.

[gwynnega]

Wow, my anxiety issues were never so wildly compelling! Not in a good way, anyway.

That is a lovely photo. I like your niece's contribution to the holiday.

[sovay]

Wow, my anxiety issues were never so wildly compelling! Not in a good way, anyway.

I agree with moon_custafer that I understand what the ad was aiming for, and yet.

That is a lovely photo. I like your niece's contribution to the holiday.

Thank you! I love how she meets things.

[moon_custafer]

I understand what the ad was aiming for, and yet

The more I think about it, the weirder that production meeting must have been:

(writer): Right, so this advert will show Anxiety personified as a man murmuring vaguely sinister things in your ear.
(somebody in the Australian public-health sector): Classic. Go on.
(writer): And part of the issue is that people often don’t recognize they’ve got it, so Anxiety should be played by a really recognizable actor. I’m thinking Ben Mendelsohn.
(somebody in the Australian public-health sector, nodding): Mendo’s great.
(writer): I’m picturing Mendo in a business suit, but with an open collar. And some heavy silver signet rings that he toys with as he leans back in an armchair and gazes into the camera.
(somebody in the Australian public-health sector): ....
(writer): We intercut with closeups on his eyes as he delivers his monologue. I haven’t finalized it yet, but there’ll be something about how he makes you feel hot and cold at the same time.
(somebody in the Australian public-health sector): ....
(writer): And he’s definitely going to make a little cracking-the-whip sound at one point.
(somebody in the Australian public-health sector): ....
(somebody in the Australian public-health sector): How much money do you need?

[kore]

//just dies

[minoanmiss]

That was very kind of you all to share your chicken with the industrious wasp! And your hair is amazingly long and lovely!

*sends a star for warmth*

[sovay]

That was very kind of you all to share your chicken with the industrious wasp! And your hair is amazingly long and lovely!

Thank you!

We agreed it wasn't Pesach, but it is still good practice to invite all who are hungry to come and eat, even if they are wasps.

*hugs*

[minoanmiss]

beams and hugs you back

[nineweaving]

A lovely and mischievous picture.

I love that the water for tashlikh has to have fish in it. "Sins, sins, sins. Could it hurt to throw worms?"

Hoping for a sweeter new year for all of us.

*hugs*

Nine

[sovay]

A lovely and mischievous picture.

Thank you.

I love that the water for tashlikh has to have fish in it. "Sins, sins, sins. Could it hurt to throw worms?"

My niece was confident that fish would come for the crackers. We couldn't see any under the algae, but she kept pointing.

Hoping for a sweeter new year for all of us.

Very, very, very much so.

[muccamukk]

I think that's psa is about to be a yuletide fandom.

[sovay]

I think that's psa is about to be a yuletide fandom.

I am unironically delighted to hear it.

[moon_custafer]

I admit I was curious enough to check the “Other Media” section of Ao3 to see if it had generated any fic, but found nothing listed.

ETA — I guess I may have just written one, see above.

[kore]

OMG did you see the Lion King one? "Could you Mendelsohn this up?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PT0JbSeLek

oh he makes my heart race, all right

[kore]

I think this would tap DIRECTLY into the id of those of us who loved the perverted fandom for the Always Crashing In The Same Car film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2wagAsrimQ

Re: oh he makes my heart race, all right

[muccamukk]

Now i want a crossover.

Re: oh he makes my heart race, all right

[kore]

HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO MEI thought we were friends!

Both of them domming someone at one time or would it be Dom!McGann v Dom!Mendelsohn? Maybe they could be persuaded to softly trash-talk each other for half an hour, for charity. I bet it would bring in a million dollars.

Re: oh he makes my heart race, all right

[sovay]

Maybe they could be persuaded to softly trash-talk each other for half an hour, for charity. I bet it would bring in a million dollars.

Take my money.

Re: oh he makes my heart race, all right

[moon_custafer]

Sorry, I’m still pondering this.
catastrophically underestimates how thirsty its target audience can get for their mental health issues when personified by Ben Mendelsohn.

It’s not just that, though—it’s all the deliberate little details like the gentleman’s-study setting, the leather armchair, the crisp business card, etc., that somebody in the production had to set up.

Assuming everyone involved was *not* collectively trolling a mental-health organization, the only other explanation I can think of is that none of them had *any idea* of any overlap between D/S tropes and movie-villain tropes. Which still seems amazingly unlikely, but well, perhaps we read more fanfic than they do-- I also wonder about the demographics of both the production team and the target audience.

Maybe to straight guys the scenario says “villain menacing James Bond” and not, um, “villain menacing James Bond?”

Re: oh he makes my heart race, all right

[sovay]

I think this would tap DIRECTLY into the id of those of us who loved the perverted fandom for the Always Crashing In The Same Car film

Oh, my God, whose id did that fall out of?

Re: oh he makes my heart race, all right

[kore]

Some blessed soul who decided we ALL needed Paul McGann purring "Say the three little words...."

[sholio]

Awwww, that's a lovely story about the wasp. And thank you for the link to the fest!

I hope the coming year will be much better for us all. <3

[sovay]

Awwww, that's a lovely story about the wasp. And thank you for the link to the fest!

You're welcome! It's a nice thing!

(After the initial startle of its appearance, we were all rooting for the wasp.)

I hope the coming year will be much better for us all.

Amen.

*hugs*

[thisbluespirit]

It's a good photo! ♥

[sovay]

It's a good photo!

Thank you! I am trying to reinforce my relationship with the aforementioned physical embodiment.

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, btw, I have done Peter Cushing as Palladium for you, which was fun:



The actual tumblr post is in my queue; I will let you know when it materialises!

[sovay]

Oh, btw, I have done Peter Cushing as Palladium for you, which was fun

Agh! He's wonderful! Thank you so much!

The actual tumblr post is in my queue; I will let you know when it materialises!

I will link!

[thisbluespirit]

♥

[cmcmck]

Nice pic!

Really brings out your reds. :o)

[sovay]

Nice pic!

Thank you!

Really brings out your reds.

I'm not entirely sure how that wound up being the dominant note of my hair, since for most of my life it wasn't, but I'm not complaining.

[selkie]

I love everything but the thermostat, I’m not even that mad about the wasp.

[sovay]

I love everything but the thermostat, I’m not even that mad about the wasp.

The uninvited guest to be made welcome, the wasp made our meal into a seder!

We're not thrilled about the thermostat, either, but the rest of it was good.

[kore]

....from now on I'm seriously going to use Ben Mendelsohn purring menacingly at me as anti-anxiety therapy

[sovay]

....from now on I'm seriously going to use Ben Mendelsohn purring menacingly at me as anti-anxiety therapy

That sounds medically recommended to me.

[brigdh]

Lovely photo!

And wow, that Ben Mendelsohn video is... quite something, huh?

[sovay]

Lovely photo!

Thank you!

And wow, that Ben Mendelsohn video is... quite something, huh?

It's just one of those things I'm astonished originated outside of AO3.