sholio | Alaska, she is cold

Alaska, she is cold

50 below zero in Fairbanks this morning, and supposed to stay that way all week. Killer weather. We put a heat lamp in the chickens' coop; we'd had a hundred-watt light bulb in there for extra heat, but it wasn't really enough for this kind of cold. They were getting sluggish and unhappy. Poor tropical jungle fowl.

The ice fog has really socked in, too. ... for those who aren't familiar with it, when it gets this cold, the moisture in the air freezes into a dense fog of ice crystals. It's much worse in town, with all the ambient moisture from cars and houses and so forth, than out in the intensely dry valley where we live, but even we have a smoggy drift of it. In town it's pea-soup-thick, "can't see the taillights in front of you" fog. Going to work on Friday was a miserable experience. Right now I'm only working two days a week, and my university-employed husband is off until the students come back, so neither of us has to be anywhere until Thursday and we don't plan on attempting it. This is "hunker down and stay warm" weather.

I've been thinking about doing a "year in review" fic post, because I'm enjoying going around and reading other people's, but I'm just not really motivated to. I am bitter, bitter towards the show at the moment *g*, and I really don't want to dwell on having lavished love on it last year.

Edit: Massive "Vegas" spoilers in the comments.

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Meanwhile, today I didn't even wear a coat! It's cold now, though. Like, around 6-7 degrees celsius, so... 40s in fahrenheit? I'll just shut up now :-)

Ice fog sounds kind of scary, I have to say. Doesn't it, like, puncture your lungs or something? I'm imagining it as thousands of tiny tiny diamonds floating through the air.

And dude, don't let what you feel about the show now ruin your entire experience with it in fandom! SGA fandom has always been far, far superior to the show, IMO, and the fact that the show might suck doesn't mean that the fandom does (and it definitely doesn't mean that your contributions to it, not to mention the relationships you made through it, were a waste).

Sounds very, very cold! I'm sorry you're still down, I thought you bitterness was at the fandom and not the show. You've been such a big part of the positive side of both. Hopefully you'll feel better after things have settled.

Did you ever watch "Vegas"? Thought it was of the best episodes they ever did. Top five.

Glad you made it home after the crazy adventuress in NY. I never want to g o to the heart of the city..think I'll stay in cold Buffalo :D

The ice particles aren't dangerous by themselves; they're very tiny and human body heat melts them instantly. Ice fog is mostly just annoying. You *can* hurt your lungs by breathing too quickly and deeply when the air is this cold and dry, though. I've done that to myself; it's not pleasant.

I guess every part of the world has its dangerous weather, though. The desert is beautiful and I love your pictures of it, but I don't know if I'd want to deal with the hazards of living there! I guess it's just a matter of what you're used to ...

And regarding your last point, I certainly don't want to lose the friendships that I've built up during my time in the fandom, and I suspect that eventually, after the series ends and everything settles down, I'll work past the animosity and sense of betrayal that I'm currently feeling towards the show and its characters. I'm obviously not over the show, because I'm still thinking about it quite a bit .... just in a negative way. I have to keep stopping myself from writing bitter breakup fic for it ... *g*

Dude, I have no idea how you manage in that kind of cold. We regularly get below zero here in the Midwest, but I mostly stay in bed at that point, whenever possible :D Are your heating bills just out of control huge?

Buffalo - that's where you are? I was close to you! Well, by Alaska standards anyway. *g*

No, the bitterness is mostly at the show (and myself), because it's not like the fandom pointed out anything that wasn't true; it's just that I'd been able to ignore it and go on enjoying the show, until it got to the point where so many people were pointing it out that I couldn't ignore it anymore. I just feel kind of ... duped and angry, I guess. I miss the show terribly, but at the same time, I can't figure out what I ever saw in it or why it took me so long to catch a clue about it.

Ouch that ice fog sounds brutal.

How many hours of sunlight do you get in Alaska this time of year?

erm....what you ever saw in it? that's easy just rewatch season 1 and season 4. imho those are the best seasons.

The thing about this sort of cold is that you don't really have a choice so you just ... deal with it. The perceptual difference between -50 and 0 is not really as great as most people think (it's nothing like the difference between 0 and 50), but things are just more difficult in a lot of little ways. Stuff breaks easily. You have to really, really bundle up before going anywhere. And yeah, heating bills go through the roof. We heat our house with an outside coal-stoked boiler, and right now it feels like we're just pouring coal through the thing. But the house is comfortably warm.

Which reminds me ... I need to go out and feed the boiler again. :D

I wouldn't want to live in the desert either :-) Visiting every now and again is enough for me.

And hey, if writing bitter breakup fic for the show helps you in any way, go for it! I'm sure you wouldn't be the only one with whom it resonates...

Um ... about four hours, I think, give or take a bit, though at our house we actually get none because there's a hill in the way and the sun, at this time of year, is too low on the horizon to clear the hill. We can see the sunshine on the hills across the valley, though! We'll start getting sun on the house again in February.

I guess. I miss the show terribly, but at the same time, I can't figure out what I ever saw in it or why it took me so long to catch a clue about it.

Ouch. Guess it's hard to just enjoy something without trying to break it down to death. Maybe it's time we all moved on to happier places.

Well, but that only works if I'm not overwhelmingly frustrated by how much better it could have been if it had been better conceptualized, written and acted. See, I always knew that it was kind of a bad show that I loved anyway. Most of my fannish loves are; with the really good shows, I like them as they are, and don't feel much need to spin my own stories around the edges of canon. It's just gotten to the point where all I can see is how bad it is, even in the early episodes.

are you alaska? ... its not that bad here only like -43 or something. I have seen the -50's and its so not fun at all!!

i love your pic of joe i haven't seen that one before

Alaska, yeah. We always used to see a lot of this kind of weather at this time of year when I was in college, but the last few years have been unusually warm and lulled us all into a deceptive sense of security. Back to business as usual, I guess ...

Er, and sorry for the mini-rant there. I wasn't kidding when I said I was bitter. *g* I'm glad you're still enjoying the show and that you found something to squee about in Vegas. I liked Vegas, actually, though I also saw a lot of what I dislike about the show in the episode as well.

Wow, that's brutal. Glad you don't have to go anywhere for a few days, but you'll probably get cabin fever before Thursday. Be careful out there!

My husband wants to know if the Teddy Brown Hotel is still in Fairbanks and does he still drive a caddy?

He owns the album 'Farewell Fairbanks' by Randy Edelman:

'Old Teddy Brown owned a small and run down motel,
he used to be real lucky to get 10 bucks for a room...
now Teddy Brown drives a big new long black caddy,
a sudden indication of the new but gloomy boom..." - Farewell Fairbanks

I deny all knowledge of this question!! *bg*

And ooh, cold and dark and icy!! Suddenly the cold spell we're having in the UK doesn't seem quite so bad!!

Well, I'm still walking the dogs, which helps with the cabin fever. The older dog hates the cold and just wants to stay inside, but the young one isn't bothered at all and he pings off the walls if he doesn't get a run or two during the day. (He's a spaniel/retriever mix, so I guess he's bred to swim in icy water; this dry cold doesn't bother him much.)

Hee! I don't know if there ever was one, but there certainly isn't one now -- at least not that I know about!

well i feel you pain ((hugs)) though we don't tend to get as cold as you we are often close behind

what i am not used to... is all the snow.. we usually get snow but the last few years not as much ... this year decided to make up for it.. hehe my shoulders are so stiff from shoveling hehe

It's interesting that you say this. My first episode was "Aurora" and it is still pretty awful, but then I heard that Jewel Staite was in one, so my Firefly love bled through to SGA. It was okay, but then I saw "Grace Under Pressure" and went..yep, I can watch David Hewlett/McKay regularly. You are most definitely right in that the writing is mediocre for *most* episodes and some of the acting is below that. However, I will point you to a couple of things...
1) David Hewlett is an awesome actor. Just watch an episode with him, not necessarily about him, and see how he behaves. Seriously, just watch McKay and forget the plot, etc.
2) It's tv sci-fi, which is notorious for being shallow in character development. I would, however, state that Firefly broke that rule (and has forever "ruined" me for good sci-fi).
3) Watch season 3 again. I feel that it was the best, though the "Shrine" is certainly my favourite of the series. There were some great episodes and some great ideas coming back. It felt like the show had finally come into its own.
4) Go and re-read your fic Long Road Home and its sequels. Seriously. It is one of my all-time favourite fan fics in SGA, heck, in any fan fic, and is just wonderful to read again. I find new things every time.

While I understand your frustration with the writing and the show in general, perhaps you can gain solace in knowing that, for the most part, new material is going to come from highly intelligent and gifted writers in fan fic. That has to count for something. It's what got me hooked on the show.

And yes, ice fog is too cool! That and thunderstorms in a snowstorm!

Hey there.

First off, -50 good grief, and here I thought -7 was bad LOL.

Secondly, I know you are feeling bitter towards SGA right now, but I would just like to say how much I enjoy your fics. You are an incredible writer, and your characterizations are spot on. I really hope that you will do a 2008 fic roundup - even if it is several months from now.

I will always look out for new stories from you, even if they are in a different fandom, cos you can't beat quality.

Oh dear! Now I sound like some demented stalker! LOL

All the very best, stay warm.

Happier places are in fan fic!

Please tell me where you got that Flangian icon! Love the glasses!! What show/movie is it from?

I made the icon from the picture here (http://kristen999.livejournal.com/206963.html) on my LJ. It's of Joe at Christmas.

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