kathleen_dailey

1. This week I received my spring Covid booster (shot number 8 on my personal hit parade). I'm still masking everywhere I go, even though I sometimes have to lower the mask briefly when I'm outside so that (1) I can actually get some oxygen into my lungs and (2) I can smell the flowery spring air, even in the deepest depths of downtown, for a couple of minutes. But everywhere else, it's Mask Up all the time, every time. Unsurprisingly, I'm usually the only masked person within eyeshot (except for the spouse). Thank goodness my optometrist is another observant masker (though her colleagues are hit-and-miss); I felt reasonably comfortable with her getting all up in my face for the annual eye exam.

2. While waiting for the eye doc, I was reminded that "the pairing of like with a groan or moan or other interjection represents a complete defeat for language." Two young humans were communicating in the manner described in the article and, apparently, understanding each other perfectly.

3. The archives in this week's ST: Disco ep were actually interiors of the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library at the University of Toronto:



While a few of the shots were digitally enhanced, the place really does look Warehouse 13ish--mystical, otherworldly.

T'Rina has a spine of titanium.

Hmm, T'Rina and Delenn: separated at birth?


In some eternal alternate metauniverse, those two women are in charge of the galaxy.

And I was glad to see Reno, who revealed some interesting (though suspiciously convenient) history.

Now if we could only get Owosekun, Detmer, and Nilsson--along with Grudge--back onscreen. Time is running out.

Some of lois_welling's TOSfic from printzine days is now available on AO3. Her Fanlore entry is here.

The Displaced and its sequels may be her best-known works. IIRC, there was a fuss about self-insertion when those stories were published in zine format. Perhaps that's not as much of an issue for present-day fans, who are used to seeing intentionally written readerfic?

Regardless, it's always good to find the classic stories (and tropes) preserved so that new readers can discover the writers who paved the way in fanfic.

1. Friday was mostly consumed with medical claptrap--following up on follow-ups; booking blood-lab appointments (what an unfunny joke--never once has an appointment at the nearest lab happened within an hour of the booked time); and waiting on hold for ages after futilely trying to interpret the contradictory and outdated boilerplate instructions in the spouse's Wheel-Trans package and on the TTC website. TTC bureaucrats, please hire an editor!

2. Our condo board has undertaken a massive renovation of the building's public spaces and common elements. Any day now, we'll be getting new entry doors to our unit, replacing the original burl-elm versions. Some of the residents are keeping the old doors and converting them to dining or office tables; they're real wood and attractively unusual in their colour and pattern. Even though the renovations are accounted for in the 2024 budget, I know from sad experience how renos invariably proceed, and I foresee a special assessment in my future.

3. In other condo news, the unit next to ours has been sold. This is a big deal because there's not much turnover in our building (a unit changes hands every two or three years). Each floor has seven units, and our floor is a tight-knit micro-community of very diverse and very compatible humans and animals. So we're all hoping for more of the same with our new neighbours.

4. If some of the AO3 tags describing Spock and his personality traits, childhood development, mental and emotional stability, and interpersonal relationships had been available to the psychological screening department of Starfleet Academy, I'm pretty sure that he never would have gotten as far as an interview for the cadet training program, much less risen to become "the best first officer in the fleet."

5. In this week's Rob Fordesque episode of LOT: CI, the investigative reporter was said to work for Toronto Life, which IRL hasn't raked a microgram of serious muck since before David Miller was mayor. The disclaimer card at the beginning of the ep said, in part, "No identification [sic] of any actual person is inferred [sic] or intended." Showrunners, follow my advice to the TTC in item 1 above and hire an editor! Otherwise, the story was forgettable and the performances anemic. The two leads have zero presence and less chemistry, although the IT guy has a tiny (really tiny) bit of promise.

I was sick last week and thus couldn't post this rec in time for More Joy day. This story certainly gave me joy, though, so I'm hoping that late is better than never. (The story was written in 2010, and I've no idea whether the author is still active in fandom.)

"The Orion-on-Vulcan Method" by anodyna

Chapters: 1/1
Words: 6,963
Category: F/M
Fandom: Star Trek (2009)
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Spock Prime/Gaila
Characters: Gaila (Star Trek), Spock Prime
Additional Tags: Het, Vulcan, Rare Pairing
Author's summary: Gaila needs somewhere to recuperate after being injured in the Battle of Vulcan. What better place than with Spock Prime on the Vulcan colony world? Hijinx, cultural misunderstandings, and unlikely romance ensue.

"Rare pairing" and "unlikely romance"--those two phrases are the epitome of understatement in the context of this story. I never would have imagined this pairing, and yet it hits every target for me.

As I said in my comment on AO3, I seldom read reboot fic. But the author has written a smart and observant Gaila, and a Spock Prime who is a self-assured, insightful, wryly perceptive, emotionally stable ADULT. After decades of enduring fanfic that portrays Spock as the exact opposite of all those things, I was delighted to find this work. (It's the first part of a four-part series.) The story is both satisfyingly layered and highly entertaining, and the author's command of the craft is impressive.

Recommended reading, even if you're not a fan of the reboot universe.

This is the first time that I've tried linking to a Tumblr post, so I hope it works as advertised. (Thanks to scarfman for reblogging the post on Tumblr.)

It's gratifying to know that Leslie Fish's classic filk "Banned from Argo" is still a part of the collective fannish consciousness. At every midnight filksing at every con that I ever attended, BFA was a mainstay of performance and participation (even though the opening chords were often greeted with "not again" groans--unsurprising, maybe, considering how many hundreds of times the song has been sung over the last forty-plus years).

Hearing the song performed by its composer brings back so many good memories. Leslie's novelization of the filk is available on AO3, and is highly recommended.

The song imprinted itself on my consciousness so strongly that it inspired the setting for the prologue to Any Other Lifetime. My hypothesis was that (as the Tumblr post suggests) both the song and the events that it recounts are definitely A Real Thing in the Trek universe.

Salon has a fun article on Christopher Pike's practice of cooking for his nearest and dearest.

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The article includes Leah Chase's recipe for jambalaya, which inspired the dish served in "Under the Cloak of War." SNW's food stylist, Tanya Osmond, "confirms that choosing to have Pike cook jambalaya for this occasion is a small homage to ... Benjamin Sisko, the son of a New Orleans' chef for whom the dish holds tremendous family significance." The recipe sounds delicious, and I foresee a trip to the St. Lawrence Market in the near future.

The New Republic has posted an intriguing review of The Possibility of Life by Jaime Green.

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I hadn't heard of this book until I saw the review, but it's about one of my favourite topics (not to say obsessions), and I'm eager to read it.

Less than what I was hoping for. Cut for spoilers.

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But we should see Pike again next week, so that's something to look forward to.