Friday Five again.... housekeeping. (Not my best thing.)

I consider it part of my identity as a Libra that I want my living space clean, beautiful and uncluttered at all times. Just my bad luck that I'm a terrible housekeeper - I'd rather be writing or reading. Always. And I can't afford a maid.

These questions come at an opportune time, though. This weekend I did a major housecleaning of the whole apartment, top to bottom, except for the bathroom and the hall closets. (Or the bedroom closets, come to think of it.) This is rare, but it feels good to have it done. Currently the place is beautiful. How long will it last? Forever, I hope.

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?

Washing dishes because it always needs to be done. You make a meal, you clean up, whammo, it's almost time for another meal and another set up dishes.


2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing?

Surely you jest.


3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed?

I don't like routines. I sweep or vacuum up birdseed every day or every second day, because it's there. Otherwise, it's when I can grab the time and I'm not writing or reading. Or when people are coming over. Sometimes I invite friends over just to have cleaning incentive.

Note: that isn't true, I'd invite them anyway.


4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?

Good heavens no. I do what I can, when I can - maybe. Improvise a lot.


5. What was the last thing you cleaned?

This morning before work I scrubbed the bathtub - well, part of it - and vacuumed up, you guessed it, birdseed.

Smallville thoughts sparked by latxcvi....

I really enjoyed what latxcvi has to say about Smallville in her LJ here.

Among other things, she says: "at the end of the day, if you asked me why I signed up in the first place and what it is that keeps me coming back, it's the stories of Clark and Lex becoming." So I thought about that, and I thought: that's not true for me. It ought to be true, but what I love is Clark and Lex being, not the becoming.

It isn't a matter of quality. adamlizz and I were discussing that the other day: while I agree that there are badly-written episodes of Smallville and some appalling bits, there are also some wonderful episodes and superb bits - superb on several levels. And while it may be imperfect, it's the only thing on TV these days that is holding my attention - and earning my love.

See, I never liked Superman or Lex Luthor. I read Superman and loved it when I was about 9 or ten years old; and Adventure Comics featuring Superboy was my favourite series. But then I discovered Marvel comics (with Fantastic Four #4 and that was that. I read no DC at all for a few decades, until someone pointed out to me what good stories I'd missed, especially in various incarnations of Batman. Englehart and Rogers. O'Neill and Adams. I'd missed all that.

I even read some magnificent Superman stories, like the Paul Chadwick one about the man trying to kill himself at Christmas, and Alan Moore's retrospective that happened just before Crisis. Then I got heavily into Legion of Super-Heroes and loved Kal-El, though the era in which I was a Legion fan coincided with the era where Superboy didn't exist. Go figure. I still love that story, though, where Ultra Boy went to Smallville and thought Pete Ross was Superboy.

Years went by and I still didn't like Superman: a character too good to be anything but dull, too American, too easy, too untroubled, too simple of mind and morality. Lex Luthor didn't even register on my interest-scale. The world of comics held the likes of Magneto. Why bother with Lex Luthor? I saw a couple of Superman movies, I saw a few episodes of Lois and Clark and the show on Superboy where I really thought the kid playing Clark was cute and remember nothing else. I still didn't like Superman and once had an interesting conversation with Mike Carlin on the subject of why: essentially, I was annoyed by the hypocrisy of his standing for 'truth' and yet lying to everyone he knew about who he was, preventing any kind of intimacy or trust from building in his life.

Now: Smallville. There is so much I love about the show, and various things I hate, because they conflict with the things I love. I love many of the characters: Clark, Lex, Lionel, Chloe, Martha, Jonathan. I love some of the stories very much indeed. And I loved the first season relationship between Clark and Lex. I loved the Clex. I loved the sense of personal teasing, the ties between them.

But this isn't the Clark Kent (or Superman or Kal-El) that I had always known, and it's not the same Lex Luthor. Not by a long shot. It's something new.

That's where I have a quandary.... No, not even a quandary, because it isn't a choice. It's a paradox, a cognitive dissonance that I don't know what to do with. See, what they are becoming, what they are going to become, is presumably the Man of Steel and his arch-nemesis. And much as I may be enjoying the ride now, I live in horror of Lex being less sexy, less smart, less mesmerizing. I live in horror of Clark resolving his internal conflicts in a way I don't want.

I live in fear of the breach.

It's a show that I know will betray my love.

I'm not sure what to do about that, except to enjoy the ride as long as I can, and write fic that shapes the themes to my taste, and read fic that does the same.

I don't want the innocent farmboy to grow up. I want Clark to be beautiful and fresh, and I want Lex to be charming and way too clever for his own good. I don't want the troubled millionaire to go to the bad. I want the love between them to flourish, not to grow into hate.

I know I will ultimately be out of luck. I'm hoping it all happens in an interesting way, not like the Lex-Helen romance (which I thought appalling in its effect on Lex) but like a journey with twists and turns and psychological twists.

For the time being, I can only quote

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Dunnett dinner....

Had a great evening: my friend Jo is visiting from Victoria, BC, and we had dinner with a bunch of Dunnett fans at the Canal Ritz. Creme brulee for dessert: yum.

We talked about TorCon, the World Science Fiction Convention that was in Toronto last week (as three of the party had been there), and books. Jo is a writer; we are all readers. We tried to determine what you would call an expert in bats. Vesperitiliologist? Had no luck whatsoever on that, but found a lot of unrelated Latin names for various kinds of bats.

I drank a pina colada in honour of Jack Sparrow, rather than in honour of my diet.