I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes

A few months back I was chatting with Abby on AIM, as I often do. We were discussing Love Actually, a movie I love unreservedly. I would go so far as to say I lurve it. And we were discussing in particular the scene involving Andrew Lincoln holding up a series of cue cards for Keira Knightly. "But for now, let me say," he tells her silently, "without hope or agenda, just because its Christmas -- and at Christmas, you tell the truth -- to me, you are perfect."

"Yeah," sighed Abby cynically. "But nobody actually does that."

That conversation has been percolating in my brain ever since, and a while back I resolved to change the situation, if only for myself. And so it is with great pleasure (and more than a little trepidation) that I announce the first annual At Christmas You Tell The Truth project. I've even given you two weeks warning, so you can get your thoughts in order.

At Christmas You Tell The Truth: For 10 days, between 12:01 AM on Yule (December 21st) and 11:59 PM New Year's Eve (December 31st), I hereby pledge to tell the truth, if I'm asked. I don't mean I'll tell it non-stop; I know better than to imagine that the little white lies that lubricate socialization can be done away with completely for that long a stretch. But during that interval of time if you ask me something, anything you think is important (and perhaps prod me a little if I seem to have forgotten), I promise an honest answer. If you've ever been unable to get a straight answer from me about something, this will officially be the time to ask.

Hopefully this won't end disastrously for me, and I can make an annual thing out of it. I don't necessarily expect anyone to join me in this ill-advised little pledge, but I want to make it clear that you're all more than welcome to. And if you want to get all meme-like about it, feel free to copy & paste the italicized text above into your own livejournal or blog or what-have-you.

Love actually is all around.

I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need

Two quick unrelated things:

• The Websnark fandom is making me want to cry tears of blood. A post was made today about the discussion surrounding the recent Questionable Content story arc, and one of the regular commenters over there was actually ornery enough to get all in a huff about it. So now he's basically accusing demiurgent of being condescending, for taking note of rational discourse and commenting on it encouragingly (again, on the webspace that he bought and pays for.) I was struck, upon reading it, with a moment of extreme StFU-rage. But I let it pass, because hey, its just an internet argument. Letting my own temper fire up is just fanning the flame war, and what the Hell do I care, anyway? Still, I wonder more and more how its possible to run a site like that and not tear your hair out.
  
  I think I was happier when I avoided the 'snark comments altogether.
  
  
• Also! A couple years ago spreadnparanoia made fun of me over my strange tendency to name powerful Vampire NPCs after predatory birds. Particularly observant readers will note that I now have not 1 but 2 LJ icons devoted to one of my favorites, the Philippines Monkey-Eating Eagle (or Pithecophaga Jefferyi, for the taxonomists in the audience.) What can I say? I am, and have been for some time, obsessed with funky animals. Its particularly ironic in the case of birds, because I hate birds overall. I think they're filthy animals: I find pigeons detestable, and I can barely fathom voluntarily keeping such creatures as pets. Having said all that, and for the sake of of some people who are new to reading my LJ, I'm happy to report that I have a recently-renewed interest in shrikes. Because who doesn't like little birds that pin down and dismember their prey? How cool is that!