Lizlet Dot Com

In which our heroine imbibes spirits and attends the theater.

2008-08-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

The metaphor I used to describe seeing X-Files: I Want to Believe to my parents was this: imagine watching a slideshow from your high school year book on a very large screen for two hours, and you look bad in every photo.

I'd heard it wasn't great from friends who beat me to the theater, but I'd never been the sort of person who watched The X-Files for the same reasons as normal people. Ten years since 1998, and I'm a whole different Liz... But I still remember the Liz I used to be. The girl who wore her obsessions on her sleeve, who memorized and archived and loved with abandon, loved the way you're supposed to love, loved despite the flaws, loved maybe because of them.

The prospect of seeing such a profound reminder of my adolescence on a big screen was a daunting one. So I knew, going in, that I'd have to see it by myself, in as deserted a theater I could manage, because whatever reaction I was going to have, I wanted it to be completely unchecked. And I also knew that I'd have to be a little bit drunk.

The first part was easy enough to manage -- 4:30 on a Monday at the Mann Chinese, the only people who show up for a flick are tourists wanting to rest their feet, and the massive theater almost ached with emptiness. The second bit, though, was trickier. How much vodka do you really need for one person for two hours? I erred on the side of "oh good god, remember how this script is co-written by Chris Carter and you hate the way Chris Carter writes dialogue?" This turned out to be too much.

As a result, the movie itself passed in a blur -- more so towards the end -- but I do remember the ways in which it failed me: the scares failing to terrify, Scully overreacting to everything, her relationship with Mulder making no sense in context, the clumsy characterization and major plausibility issues.

But I was a pile of squee over the little things, the details that I'd catalogued so fervently back in the day: the sunflower seeds and pencils, the cross around Scully's neck, the way David Duchovny savors the chance to curse. And of course, Mulder and Scully, solving crime -- solving crime and sharing a bed. 1998 Liz would have flipped her shit, had she known this lurked in the future. But 1998 Liz was easily excited.

Afterwards, I wandered up and down Hollywood Boulevard, killing time before meeting some people for dinner, at a restaurant within walking distance. Killing time, a little bit numb. Oddly, I felt bad for not giving The X-Files a chance to win me back -- I regretted the loss of that trust. So I sat on the steps at the Highland complex, phone in hand. Disconnected from who I used to be. Unable to remember where, exactly, I was going.

I do not recommend this movie, to anyone but myself, circa 1998. Back when I would have been so happy to care.

Canadians have excellent taste in science fiction

2008-08-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

I sold Hand of God to this fine publication over a year ago, so this is an excitement borne of long-delayed anticipation. I don't expect any of y'all to rush out to your bookstores and buy a copy (unless you live in Canada, in which case GO GO GO!). But it's still neat to know that it's out there.

In other news, I am behind on everything else on earth. Oh, life.

One second later...

2008-07-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Edited to add: And yes, all good here.

Comic-Con!

2008-07-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

So I am here. As always. Loving it. For the 24 hours or so I have left.

If you want to know what I am doing this year, your best bet is either checking my Twitter account or Variety's coverage.

And if you want to remember what I was doing last year...

Not about any piece of media in parrticular...

2008-07-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

But WOW, do girlfriends in fiction have a high mortality rate these days.

Which means it's time for another link to Women In Refrigerators...

In which I enjoy writing 225 words that aren't about online video

2008-07-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Savvy readers of this blog (all two of you) might have noticed that I made a few updates to the sidebar, and put an end to the Twitter syndication. If you miss it, it can be brought back easily enough... or you can just click here. I like Twittering, but I think it works best when only distributed to a Twitter-friendly audience. Which is to say, I feel like I was just bugging people.

Hello! Hi blog. I had a lovely weekend kind of by accident: didn't plan anything, but still managed to get lots of stuff done and manage a few nice social occasions. But now it is Tuesday and I am fried. Or, rather, I'm slightly fried and Comic-Con, in all its glorious charbroiling glory, looms all-too-soon. And I'm only going to be there for forty-eight hours, before driving north for a family reunion. Am I looking forward to a weekend of enforced offline time? Hell yes.

So that's the personal venting. Otherwise, I'm enjoying this writer-for-hire business, and I'm even managing to catch up on some TV that I'd never gotten around to (the 4th season of Lost was excellent, and Damages so far has a lot going for it). And I'm also thinking a lot about assassins and Internet exhibitionism. The topics are unrelated. Thankfully. One hopes.

Today, on Twitter...

2008-06-29T23:55:00.001-07:00

'WALL-E' broke my heart a little. It's also the kids version of 'Idiocracy.' I liked it a lot more than 'Idiocracy.') #

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Free idea: Poop de Jour

2008-06-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

Secret confession: I have, for about five years now, been fascinated by the idea of someone (not necessarily me) creating a blog that was nothing more than a daily recounting of the blogger's daily bowel movement. It's not that I really want the skinny on an individual's doody -- but such a blog would be a fierce postmodern take on the blogging world, as well as a Dadaist art piece, similar to Piss Christ or such. I will leave the task of creating a sample entry to your imagination, but it'd be written in the most delicate prose, descriptive yet also genteel. Plus, it'd be funny. Gross, but funny.

I have to tell you, dear reader, that I've been so half-tempted to put this idea into action that I've never before told anyone about it, so as to preserve my possible anonymity. (To have your identity as the Pooper revealed would probably be very uncomfortable for an individual. For one thing, everyone would look at you funny when you ate carrots.) But three things have been holding me back:

I'm crazy busy
I can't even update my own blog regularly
I don't eat enough fiber

So here is what I am doing. I am casting this idea out into the world wide web, for anyone to take. Make it a blog, make it a Twitter account -- whatever you like. All I ask is that you tell me about it, so I can check in and see what's on your... Well, what you come out with.

Poop de Jour. Because people kinda want to know.

Paradox of the human condition #34,209

2008-05-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Something I've learned recently from internet discourse in general and creating multi-option polls in particular: People sometimes need to say, in the loudest voices possible, how much they don't care about something. A-apathy in action.

In retrospect, this isn't such a new thing. To admit to caring about something makes you slightly more vulnerable and exposed than usual, and proclaiming, "whatever, man, I am SO ABOVE THAT" gives you that additional bit of armor. Maybe it's an Internet thing, a hasty attempt to reclaim some cool. Until of course you remember that you're on the Internet. Which is a losing battle.

I have been spending too much time on the Internet recently, and yet also not enough time on the Internet. This is a bad combination. But maybe that'll change soon. Like in a month or so.

Today, on Twitter...

2008-05-13T23:53:00.001-07:00

Watching "Gladiator," drinking vodka tonics, updating spreadsheets. I am totally awesome. #
Things that are younger than John McCain: tinyurl.com/6ywezy #
Have finally mastered the art of making iced tea. This will be what keeps me from going on a killing spree, come summer. #
First nice day we've had in a long time, and I spend it inside wearing pajamas and poking at spreadsheets. All for a good cause, though. #
Why I was bitching about Kate Capshaw yesterday: tinyurl.com/6c7jbh #
Hey, friends, do me a favor and vote on poll: www.variety.com/ (right side, just below fold). If you don't, co-workers will mock me. #

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Today, on Twitter...

2008-05-12T23:47:00.001-07:00

Ohnoes. X-Files trailer is out. Time to watch. Ohnoes. #
How do you know, X-Files, that the one thing I love on this earth is Mulder telling Scully "I need you on this"? HOW DO YOU KNOW?! #
After last night's three hours of "Survivor" recapping, it is hard to sit down and write straight, non-snarky review prose #
You know what I don't think gets a lot of notice? How hot some men can be in khaki. #
Is there anyone on this earth who really thinks that Kate Capshaw is better than Karen Allen? Really? #

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Today, on Twitter...

2008-05-07T23:48:00.001-07:00

Went to bar last night with E. it really doesn't matter what night we go out, a night out with E. means tequila shots and strange men. #
Which reminds me, I should probably make sure E. isn't dead in a gutter somewhere. Though the guy she ran off with was British. #
Today's ensemble -- ripped-up baggy Target jeans, Webby Awards jacket, and this t-shirt: www.brandonbird.com/crimefighters.html #
My college-era tape recorder crapped out on me during this afternoon's interview. Guess it's time to replace my iTalk Pro. #
Calling Best Buy to make sure they have iTalks. Have now spoken to 5 different sales reps. They're making it hard for me to give them my $. #
...especially since they have none to sell me. #

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Stop it stop it stop it!

2008-04-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, ad-men. Maybe it seemed like a good idea at first. But now:

I know you think you are so clever, but seriously, stop it with the black person/white person split-screen down the middle bullcrap. It's no longer original. And it's CREEPING ME OUT.

I only speak facts

2008-04-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last week, while still in New York, I agreed to be interviewed for a friend's sister's article about gay comic book characters, as said sister needed a female subject for the piece. (Said friend asked me about this only two hours after my very exciting tour of the DC Comics office; how did he know?) Because of schedules and time zones, this interview ended up happening much earlier in the day than I'd have liked; I was thus much much less than coherent, and went back to sleep immediately afterwards (this was the morning after one of my drunk-and-lost-in-the-lower-East-side adventures, which definitely didn't help matters).

Today (again, much earlier in the day than I'd have liked), I got a call from a fact-checker working on this piece, who wanted to verify my background information and quotes. As an internet journalist, I admit this was pretty foreign to me as a concept, but I rolled with it as best I could. We got through the basics, then the fact checker started confirming with me all the things I'd said to the sister. I like Brian K. Vaughn? Check. Y The Last Man is about the only man to survive a worldwide plague? Check. Dr. Allison Mann is a lesbian? Check.

"And your favorite gay comic book character is Detective Renee Montoya?"

"Um, yes?" I picked her because I always liked Montoya in the Dini Batman series, in her pre-lesbian days. But I liked Montoya not because of what gender she dated... Wait, shit, what did I say I liked about Montoya?

"She's your favorite character because she solves crime?"

"Um. Yes."

I didn't bother to correct it. That might be the single dorkiest quote I've ever given a journalist (student or otherwise). But even more sadly? It's the truth. She solves crime. It's rad.

Exciting New York experiences I enjoyed on my trip last week

2008-04-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

Been a bit exhausted from all the traveling -- Sunday afternoon was glorious, in which I simply basked in being back in my apartment, with more than four shirts to wear and some real time to myself. Monday, of course, back to work, and there's plenty to do. But I meant to post this entry last week, and why not go ahead and remember why hauling my ass across the country was worth it:

Walking walking walking!
Buying a refurbished Canon DV-20 from the BH Photo Video mothership.
Buying only TWO BOOKS from the Strand!
Leaving my cell phone in the back of a cab! (I got it back.)
Seeing nearly everyone I wanted to see.
Twenty minute conversation about books at lunch, and our waitress had opinions about theater.
The closing performance of The Homecoming.
Discussing the unevenness of The Homecoming in the middle of Times Square.
Brie and basil sandwich at a perfect sun-streaked cafe.
Getting vaguely drunk and somewhat lost on the Lower East Side -- two nights in a row.
Reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn while riding back and forth on the train.
Putting my book down every time the Q went over the Manhattan bridge.
Trying on hats in SoHo.
Working and writing all the while.
Loving it.

Me and the 14-year-old boys, front row and center

2008-04-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I find more depressing: the fact that I haven't gone to a move theater for several months, or the fact that I know when I last saw a movie in theaters because I put it in my Google calendar ahead of time. (Feb. 21st and In Bruges, if you're wondering).

As I love going to the movies, this makes me sad, but to be fair to my slackitude, there hasn't been a lot in theaters I feel like I missed. However, hey, summer is coming! And during this lull at work, why not compile a list of all the movies I'm excited about? Especially since I keep forgetting how jam-packed with awesome this summer is. In fact, one might say this summer is a JAMLOAD. And here's what I consider to be...

Must Sees

Iron Man (May 2)
Speed Racer (May 9)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22)
The Incredible Hulk (June 13)
WALL-E (June 27)
Wanted (June 27)
Hancock (July 2)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (July 11)
The Dark Knight (July 18)
Untitled X-Files Motion Picture (July 25)
Tropic Thunder (August 15)

Heck, while we're at it, the second tier of awesome...

Maybe, Baby

Redbelt (May 2)
Son of Rambow (May 2)
Sex and the City (May 30)
Get Smart (June 20)
Step Brothers (July 25)
Pineapple Express (August 8)
The International (August 15)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (August 15)
Hamlet 2 (August 22)

And the third tier of awesome (note -- the third tier of awesome might be confused with the first tier of awful)...

Meh

What Happens in Vegas (May 9)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May 16)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (June 6)
The Happening (June 13)
The Love Guru (June 20)
He's Just Not That Into You (August 1)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (August 1)

This list is really optimistic, especially when one considers the price of tickets these days. (11 must-sees times $14 = OW.) But as temperatures increase and apartments become more and more oven-like... Well, it's going to be a lovely summer at the pictures.

On the subject of Patrick Stewart...

2008-04-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

It is very important that everyone watch this clip RIGHT NOW.

I am going to start my taxes in ten minutes. Yes. FACT. Just let me watch this one more time...

Up for it.

2008-04-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

I make a point of not discussing certain aspects of my personal life here (in part because they are, for the most part, pretty dull). But this BBC article should be fascinating, I think, for anyone playing the dating game.

For, according to scientists, of the two composite faces below:

The woman on the left is giving off visual cues that indicate she's interested in a long-term romantic relationship. The woman on the right? She's a dirty dirty whore.

And for the men, same thing:

It's fascinating to look at these faces, project your own assumptions on them. They say that almost 80% of human communication is non-verbal, but is the sort of relationship you're looking for in life really something you can pick up on through such details?

And that of course begs the question of how other people see us, and what any of us see what we look in the mirror, and if that matches with the person inside...

Crap. Sorry to get all Sex and the City here. Do not worry, reader: my shoes persist in being reasonably priced.

Patrick Stewart wears his adorably cranky pants

2008-04-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

A frequent topic of conversation amongst folks of my acquaintance is "Patrick Stewart: Hot or Not?" There are people who say "not" or "maybe ten years ago" or "seriously, he has old man neck." Those people are wrong about everything. Patrick Stewart is hot. He'll be hot until the grave. And even then...

Anyway. A friend just sent me one of the better Patrick Stewart interviews I've ever read (yes, I've read enough Patrick Stewart interviews to judge). Go read in full, but here's my favorite bit:

Now if you write that Patrick Stewart thinks that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are sick, I will come and find you and I will kneecap you.

We're actually going to write that we were just threatened by Patrick Stewart.
Yes, you were. And I mean it. I have friends who are much nastier than me who will come and find you. You have been warned.

Today, on Twitter...

2008-04-07T23:49:00.001-07:00

Does anyone know how the hell to describe Google Trends stats? Their graphs make no sense to me. Google Trends can suck it. #
Internet apocalypse! tinyurl.com/4qgvqp #
Just told Facebook to start ignoring application requests. I feel so free now. #
Happy to see that Potter Puppet Pals have improved the quality of their puppets. Even if the writing hasn't improved. #
John Adams the book or John Adams the miniseries? Two media enter, one medium leaves! tinyurl.com/5pe6ug #
Big project tonight: editing together VO. Going well, except of course for the part where we forgot to record an entire page of script. #

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Today, on Twitter...

2008-04-02T23:48:00.001-07:00

Debating whether or not to go into work. Money = good. Still coughing like mad = bad. #
The fact that I haven't gotten out of bed yet seems to indicate that perhaps I am NSFW. Which means, yay! I can catch up on other work! #
Deal with self: For every unit of work done, I get one episode of 'Ashes to Ashes.' Only two eps left, though. Plan doomed to failure. #
Work getting done. A2A 107 consumed. Have saved incredibly annoying task for pre-108 work window. Gene Hunt better be worth it. #
Wikipedia says no more A2A until 2009. I can wait for Gene Hunt. I'm a patient bird. #

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A note to my increasingly morbid self...

2008-04-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

This looks like a fascinating read.

Today, on Twitter...

2008-03-31T23:48:00.001-07:00

Just got back from Santa Monica; it's a gorgeous day, and after this ten minute nap I might be able to enjoy it. #
Writing about Geert Wilders, this time for NTV. This is a slightly more complicated subject than Dramatic Prairie Dog, sadly. #
Hey, guys, digg it: tinyurl.com/2nwel3 #

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Today, on Twitter...

2008-03-30T23:49:00.001-07:00

After sweet morning at writer's group and sweet afternoon working on 'John Adams' piece, am now enjoying sweet delights of Wrestlemania. #
Ric Flair, in case you were wondering? SOOOO GROSS. #

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It's the little things

2008-03-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots going on right now, but in the midst of the chaos of my life, I have been avidly following the saga of Geert Wilders and his war against Islam. Why? Oh, not because I think his cause is virtuous. But every time he goes off on a tea, when I go to the day job I get to post this picture of him:

If I ever get to write a superhero comic for DC, I'm basing my character concepts around this. He just LOOKS like a supervillain.

I am especially fond of his hair.