sarcasm always wins out in the end

I've been reading a lot of Star Trek fic recently, inspired by seperis wonderful War Games. There's a lot of really bad fic in this fandom, but also much good stuff, and not just in terms of characterisation and romance-building. Seperis' fic is prime example of this - there is a complicated world of inter-planetary politics, racial histories and ideologies, educational philosophies and practices, as well as Jim Kirk being hilarious and adorable. I love the fact that in our community we take incomplete worlds and complete them in our own way, that people think about things like what would a Starfleet Academy curriculum actually consist of, how would they train people from different cultural and educational backgrounds, and what kind of practical training would be given and needed for space exploration? It makes me want to learn science and I can assure you that I've never had such urges before. Which is why I particularly love the function of linguistics in these stories, the depth that goes into Nyota Uhura's education and research projects and how that is made relevant for her post in the Enterprise. I kind of want to learn Pre-Reformation Vulcan and study its poetry too. (And here's the fic about that, although it's Kirk, not Uhura, who does that. All the more hilarious for it, I say.)

All this has made me think more about the presence of learning in my life. I have a PhD and I teach at university, and most of my life revolves around a) making others learn and b) utilising my intellectual skills in the production of academic texts. I do not learn anymore, as such, but rather have graduated into using my learning in practice. This, I've decided, is kind of sad.

I bumped into a friend during my commute last week, and we had the usual moan about job prospects and poverty and the hardships of academic life. He shared a nugget of wisdom with me from Twin Peaks. Apparently, Agent Dale Cooper (whom I still remember with trepidation and the potential for nightmares, cause that shit was fucking scary) advises someone to give themselves a treat every day. Despite its very very disturbing origins, I have taken this advice to heart. I have a treat every day, a glass of wine (um, this is a treat I seem to have most days :D), an episode of Criminal Minds, a fancy coffee. And a couple of times per week, that treat is a new chapter of my Teach Yourself Latin book. Seven years ago I attended some Latin classes at my university, enjoyed it a lot but didn't ultimately have time for it. Latin is something that would actually be useful in my research, and I find it really interesting to learn. I have refrained from restarting it because I have too much work to do as it is, but then I thought - what if it is not a chore, not one more thing in the endless pile of things to do, but a treat instead? What if this was my pleasurable incursion into Things Not Work? And I've discovered that this way I will actually pick up the book and learn, but also think about it and learn, and think about using it (one day, Horace, one day you and your boy-loving odes will be mine!). And it is wonderful.

How about you? Has fanfiction ever made you want to learn something?

My Bandom Big Bang is handed in! Quite literally at the last minute - I went and found out what time it was midnight in Hawai'i (11.00 UK time, it turns out), and set my alarm clock accordingly. Not that I won't still be doing extensive rewriting because wow does it suck in its current form, but still.

Now that that is done, I can talk about my Very Exciting Weekend, which included Cobra Starship, lots of squealing over Adam Lambert, some therapeutic watching of Life On the Murder Scene, Star Trek, and three bottles of wine. And sunshine. In the UK, this is a rare event which inspires people to take their clothes off in public and consume large quantities of alocohol whilst turning increasingly red. You'll be pleased to know that emeraldgreen and I were able to participate in this tradition.

1. Cobras at ULU. It was a fun show despite the venue being inexplicably dry - there was plastic over the beer taps, it was a most distressing sight - and the band was very enthusiastic. (We are not going to mention the support bands. Anybody who brings Cash Cash into my journal will get smacked with a glowstick. That fucking song is already in my head.) I also learned to use glowsticks and to make fistpumps with great glee (these two things were not disconnected). Gabe was sporting his usual glasses and hat combo, and I kind of wanted to go and ask him about his Patrick Stump look (and tell him that Patrick looks prettier with it, of course). Amusingly, he said something about wouldn't we rather see Cobra Starship on the charts than some dude from American Idol, which...you know, they've got some fun songs and all, but Adam Lambert is a shiny unicorn prince and your argument is invalid. He's got a huge talent, and I've not seen yours, Mr Saporta, so less with the bitching, please.

2. There was an aftershow at a nearby bar, which was both hilarious and incredibly weird. It's an awkward situation, the fans trying not to stare too much or be too creepy (well, most fans, obviously there are exceptions) and buying drinks for the pleasure of being in the same room as the band, while the band tries too look like they're just out having fun rather than engaging in a PR event. I thought about whether I'd want to go and talk to some of them as they were there and clearly prepared to chat to people, but just the idea of walking up to a complete stranger is sort of mindcurlingly embarrassing, especially considering the Band/Fans hierarchy that was going on. I stood next to VickyT at the bar at one point (she had tequila shots *g*), but that was pretty much it. I thought about asking Gabe what he had against Adam Lambert, but then at the end of the night we saw him and some of the band climb into a taxi with a gaggle of (fake) blonde (look, I'm a natural light-brown dark blonde so I'm allowed to be smug about these things, okay?) fans in skimpy dresses, and I decided that a fan encounter would not be something I'd want to do . It is a strange dynamic that's created in these events, and I'm starting to think that meeting anybody out of these bands (except of course Gerard, who is PERFECT) is not a good idea.

3. On Saturday, emeraldgreen, yan_tan_tether (are you on dreamwidth?) and I went for a picnic in St James's park. It was 24 degress and I wore hotpants for the first time ever, which was pretty exciting. *g* We had cheese and olives and houmous, and talked about pairing Adam Lambert with everybody in bandom. I'm thinking of writing an Adam/Patrick fic (tentatively titled 'till your lungs give out') where they make beautiful music together and Pete is jealous in a number of hilarious ways (think about it, all these years of guyliner and crazy hair and nailpolish, and then Adam Lambert comes along and wins not only the hearts of the nation but also Patrick Stump?).

4. On Sunday, emeraldgreen and I went to see Star Trek, which we decided was deliciously slashy and ( Read more... ) This also means that I am on the lookout for interesting meta posts and above all, porn (Kirk/Spock preferred but other options also considered), so if you have recs please come and share. I am very eager to explore this fandom more deeply.

5. What's up with you guys? I'm mostly caught up on my flist but it's quite possible that I've missed some stuff, so please link me if you/Gerard/Adam did something exciting.