Ah, true love.

This is how you know we're in love.

[00:52] <@JadeNSC> That reminds me. When does Incubus's new album come out?
[00:52] <@JadeNSC> Or is it already out and I'm out of the loop?
[00:52] <@NinjaWeazel> Not out yet I dont think.
[00:52] <@NinjaWeazel> I am not sure when it is supposed to drop.
[00:52] <@JadeNSC> And Evanescence has a new one coming out this October. (And I totally didn't almost type Cocktober.)
[00:53] <@NinjaWeazel> rofl. Well it IS my birthmonth.
[00:53] <@JadeNSC> No, that's Jerktober.
[00:53] <@NinjaWeazel> :D

Oh yes, we talk like this in real-life too. And he totally had this coming for saying I was "such a girl" when a spider scared me the other day. :(

Eee, new Fair to Midland album is here!!!!

In totally awesome music news, Fair to Midland released a new album called Arrows & Anchors. Have a music video.

In case you can't tell from the video, Arrows & Anchors is much harder than Fables From a Mayfly (2007) was, but three songs into the album and I'm loving the hell out of it. If you're interested, check out the song "Uh-Oh" as well. (There's several videos of them performing it live on YouTube, but the sound quality just isn't that great to my ears though it's no less awesome.)

And Incubus and Evanescence have new albums coming out soon, too. My ears and brain are very happy.

New Music posts tend to lead to lyrics posts.

This song is just begging for me to write something, and I swear I'm not actively looking for an excuse to write more about WoW characters even though it's perfect for Salih and Folami.

"Uh-Oh"
Fair to Midland

I went right back home
You would have done the same
And never washed your hands
If you knew they'd dig up dirt again
It took a drought
To wash her out

So I was the sun
That slapped the rain
Until we all knew she'd go down the drain

They're the jacks of all trades
The fruits of our labors were laid out to rot
They danced and sang to the song of amazing grace
I told you so
Uh-oh

( Read more... )

Tell me again that there's not a war against women and the poor.

Dear New Hampshire,

Fuck you.

Signed,

A woman who will endeavor to never travel to your state and/or spend a dime on any businesses in your state until you pull your heads out of your collective asses.

Explanation for the above starts here.

The six Planned Parenthood centers in New Hampshire stopped dispensing contraception last week after the Executive Council rejected a new contract with the organization.

Planned Parenthood had operated under a limited retail pharmacy license that was contingent on having a state contract, said Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Two weeks ago, the all-Republican Executive Council voted 3-2 against a new contract that would have provided the organization $1.8 million in state and federal money for the two years starting this month.

Executive Councilor Dan St. Hilaire of Concord, who cast one of the three votes in opposition, said the contract should go to an organization that does not perform abortions. The councilors approved 10 other contracts for family planning services.

So in order to stop more abortions you take away Planned Parenthood's ability to help their patients prevent unintended/unwanted pregnancy which would likely go on to be aborted anyway. Yeah, makes perfect sense.

The Planned Parenthood contract, which accounts for about 20 percent of its annual New Hampshire budget, would have paid for education, distributing contraception, and the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. The organization's abortion practice is paid for by private donations, Trombley said, with audits ensuring no public money is used.

But, oh my god you guys, they're still performing abortions! That's enough to punish people who otherwise wouldn't have access to education and treatment for STIs and contraception!

The center has turned away 20 to 30 patients a day who have arrived to refill their birth control prescriptions, said site manager Amanda Mehegan. She said some women have said they will stop taking birth control because they cannot afford the higher prices charged by pharmacies. Seventy percent of the center's patients lack private health insurance, she said.

Mehegan said she also worries the denied contract will lead to women with breast and cervical cancer going longer without a diagnosis, both because of direct cuts in funding for examinations and because many women are drawn to the center to pick up their birth control and then receive checkups.

But, but, abortions! Babies! Sex without consequences!!!!!

Anne Hildreth, a practitioner at the West Lebanon center who has worked for Planned Parenthood for 22 years, said her goal is to help prevent unwanted pregnancies. She questioned the rationale of limiting access to contraception in an effort to prevent abortions.

"It's crazy to not give women birth control if you want to stop women from having abortions," Hildreth said.

Who told you logic was invited to this conversation? How dare you make sound and well-reasoned arguments!

Another executive councilor who opposed the contract, Raymond Wieczorek of Manchester, said he had asked if the contract could exclude the issuance of condoms. Wieczorek said he supports paying to test for sexually transmitted diseases but does not believe the state should subsidize contraception.

"If they want to have a good time, why not let them pay for it?" he said.

... ... I can't even be sarcastic or funny with this one. Congratulations Mr. Raymond Wieczorek, you have utterly flabbered my ghast and rendered me speechless with your record-setting levels of douchebaggery.

You see, Mr. Wieczorek, those poor people who have the gall to want to bump uglies will pay for what you're doing. They're going to pay for it with STIs or other reproductive organ ailments they cannot afford to treat. They will be forced to bear children they do not want and cannot afford. And then you're going to whine and complain that you're paying for those increased medical costs, paying for those children to go to school and to eat, and then you're going to try and take their education away and rip the food right out of their greedy little mouths.

I wish people would stop pretending that all this anti-choice rhetoric and attack on abortion rights is anything other than a full on war against women and the poor. They hate women, yes they do.

Shakesville has more with added asshattery from Wisconsin.

Where's a good place to post my creative works?

In case you can't tell by now, I love to indulge in a bit of writing now and again. I like it so much that I want to get better at it and, while I don't have any lofty expectations of being the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, I wouldn't mind having a published story or novel under my belt before I'm 50, though if I'm still writing just for fun then and still loving it, I'll take it too.

However, the thing I'm realizing is that I only ever post my stuff here confined to my LJ or DW where it's a very small audience. Considering the content of some of my writing, I feel exceedingly uncomfortable posting it publicly since my f-lists contain a diverse range of people. Yes, I know about the age restriction options provided by both LJ and DW, but I kind of want my writing and political ranting/personal life stuff separate. Plus, I want (some of) my writing to be seen by those who really want to see it, who would give constructive criticism and stroke my ego while worshipping at the altar of my creativity. And there are people out there who would love to read my works, but who probably wouldn't care about my day-to-day life. And more people who don't care for the social network aspect to LJ and DW.

Theoretically, I could make a new journal only for writing, but I've tried that before and it was more of a hassle than it was worth and it still wouldn't solve my issue of how to put myself out there to a much wider audience. I use LJ and DW primarily for connecting with others and have never really gotten heavily involved in the various fandoms and writing communities. I guess I'm looking for suggestions for writing-oriented communities on LJ/DW and websites that meet the following criteria:

• Allows adult-oriented material AKA erotica AKA smut.
• Is progressive in nature.
• Is kink friendly. (And this includes content with dubious consent and non-consent. I don't plan to write any of the latter, but I don't mind the former.)
• Permits both original works and fanfiction. (Most of my stuff is original, but more and more I've been wanting to dip my toes into the fanfiction pool so I'd like both. Also, some of my OCs are from video game settings such as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy.)
• Has some quality control in place and doesn't just let anybody with a keyboard post there.
• Isn't full of people who love to tear others down for shits and giggles. I admit it, I'm thin-skinned about pretty much everything about myself, but I'd like to work on this with regard to writing critiques. I just can't do it if it's not part of a group that's overall supportive and nice. Trials by fire actively discourage me and trigger my anxiety.

I'd prefer to avoid Fanfiction.net or Adultfanfiction.net for what may or may not be obvious reasons. I know about Archive of Our Own, but there is a waiting list for invite codes and I'm not sure that currently I would have much that could be posted there or that I'd be a good fit for that crowd. Literotica is out of the question. Don't even joke.

Don't worry, I'll keep posting things here, and there's still the filtered smut if people want to see it. I just think it'd be good for me to have a place where the focus is just on my writing and isn't a post of some hot slash followed by one about my pets' antics. That might make it easier for people to comment on the writing, too.

Feel free to de-friend me.

Here's an open invitation for anyone else who's annoyed with me to remove me from their friend's list.

Not being passive-aggressive, just wanting to put it out there for anyone who's been thinking of removing me and worried it might upset me or something. Yes, even those of you who've been around for years now. I acknowledge that I don't always comment either because I don't know what to say or because I'm too anxious to put anything down, and I know this is a problem for a few people who are worried about creepy lurkers.