I mean to be fair all I have been reading for 8 months is gay hockey on AO3 so…

My mother read the Valachi Papers when she was pregnant with me.

I had to spend a lot of time off my feet my first pregnancy and much of the time was spent with multiple collections of Calvin and Hobbes. It surely had an impact.

Jess you go first, explain what your formative media is and why is it Buffy

Nice.

Today is my son Bobby's 32nd birthday. The 5th with no contact. It doesn't get any easier.

I just got on a plane and over the shoulder of the girl in front of me, I spied AO3.

Last week Aeryn walked past me on the opposite side of the living room and said, "You read on DARK MODE?!?!?!!" (And...yeah, it was Hollanov.)

I was at a flea market a little ways upstate this morning and had to rescue an Ender (from Ender's Game, not Minecraft) Funko from one table because the idea of turning this traumatized 8 year old's story into a cute little desk toy just made me so sad for him. I also got a soup bowl that has handles and the word SOUP in all caps for a dollar, so all told it was a pretty good haul.

I'm sorry, Laura.

Yeah, Laura, that sucks. Dad and I sort of put the "strange" in estrangement, but we've left the lights on a little bit lately. Also, Tep, I meant to say best wishes for your surgery. Sometimes when I write long posts they get eaten so I tend to post too fast. In "Cool story, Jeopardy contestant!" style news, I can probably confirm that I've dialed someone in all fifty states... New Hampshire was one of the last "Um, maybe?" ones and I did that with PDA today. I'm sure there are prettier milestones that one can reach after twenty years, but I did it.

It's absolutely a milestone. Ya did it and deserve gold stars, at the very least.

Oh Laura. This is tough. I'm sorry.

Steph, lots of surgery~ma!

and back to memememe

Thank you, all! I still can't grasp that this is happening. I've been wanting to do it for so long, and then, for some reason, it's happening. And after years of shit, it's kind of overwhelming to get news that is so good.

keep something that smells like you in the carrier with him

Oh, the little guy gets something better. He gets to fly with me in the cabin, and the rest of the plane can hear his freedom serenades for five hours. And then, since the airline doesn't fly directly to Belgium, we get to take and Uber *that costs more than the flight* from Amsterdam to Belgium, with same very annoyed cat that by that time will be for 3 more hours in a carrier. Can't wait.

My brother is moving to Brussels for 8 months as soon as they sort out his security clearance, so if (when) I visit him, I would love to try to see you!

I'd love to see you too! I'll be in Leuven, so it's very doable!

What are your digital humanities plans? There are so many fascinating projects out there.

Yes, and coming from archives and metadata librarianship I feel like I have a specific angle here. What's interesting for me in data about people is that humans don't dwell in nice and neat categories, and I don't want to arrange us into such categories. So I want to focus on oral histories and testimonies. I've been listening to and taking oral history interviews for years now. Following the war, I want to focus on how survivors are finding a way to tell their stories after everything they know has been shattered. I'm very interested in knowing if DH methods can spot or help us understand better how people are beginning to shape new stories and narratives. I know that I am still at a loss for words after everything that has taken place and is still taking place here. So I'm wondering if I can learn something about how people talk about their new lives. And for sanity, I'm planning to work only with interviews from wars that have ended.

That sounds amazing, Shir. I'm so happy for you. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"

I'm hoping that now that DH might be retiring from coaching, we can travel more. Belgium, hmmm. Maybe.

Judging by all the cosplayers I see walking towards the Javitz Center, I guess there’s some sort of AnimeCon today?

Teppy I hope your surgery goes smoothly and there are no evil parts in there. Not that you are getting body parts but you never know where evil lurks

I saw an article something about the definitive Spike line and I was like oh. "Out for a walk...bitch" but no they meant his love and blood speech. Which, ok, that makes more sense.

My brother is kind of semi estranged from mom and dad. He did talk to Mom and she told me they did and she sounded positive. Then I talked to him and he said she managed to say things she thought were positive but hurt . So....families are complicated.

I have a cold. I'm at work because I fucked around with my PPTO and also missing some days and not claiming them right (and being late) so I have too many points to stay home.

However frequently using saline spray for my nose seems to have helped a lot. At least I don't feel as congested as yesterday and I'm not groggy from cold medicine.

So I want to focus on oral histories and testimonies. I've been listening to and taking oral history interviews for years now.

That's so cool. My cousin interviewed my grandmother before she died and I have an MP3 of it.

Fascinating to hear stories about her growing up in the early 1900s. When she was 12 she snuck a joy ride on her brother's horse!