mdperera

...in Iqaluit. Yeah, it's a little distance from Toronto.

It's only for four months, because I don't think I could survive temperatures of - 45 Celsius. - 65, with wind chill. That would freeze me where I stood, and scientists hundreds of years later could dig me out of the ice and wonder what brought this clearly equatorial-adapted specimen to the Land of Always Winter. But I digress. The job posting I saw a month ago was for a lab technologist position at Qikiqtani General Hospital, and the pay is excellent, so I thought I'd go for it. Today the official paperwork from the hospital arrived, so I'm just waiting for my criminal records check and CSMLS (Canadian Society of Medical Laboratory Sciences) registration to arrive. I'm hoping to leave after the first week of May, to take advantage of the all-too-brief summer.

I'm also buying supplies, because Iqaluit is the only capital in Canada that is not connected by highways to the mainland. Everything has to be shipped or flown in, so prices for groceries and so on tend to be high. It's like going on a hiking trip. I'm looking forward to trying caribou and Arctic char and seal meat (will not think of those cute little white baby seals as I do so), wearing mukluks, and in general, having a very very different experience. An adventure.

After much studying and even more worrying, I passed the national certification exam of the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Sciences. I did it! I'm the prettiest! Uh, well, not that last one.

The last few days of waiting for the results were the worst, because I started dreaming about the damn results, or lack thereof. I was also consumed with the utterly irrational fear that I had forgotten to sign the form that came with the exam, meaning the whole thing would have been invalidated. But it's finally over. Now I can celebrate! And get a job, of course.

*dances around*

So I was reading reviews for one of Terry Goodkind's novels. I'm used to long, snarky reviews, partly because  I've written quite a few of my own. This one's short and pithy, though.

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Not without its problems, but I could watch the last couple of minutes over and over again.

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And what a disappointment it was.

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I just read this blog post, where an editor from Dreamspinner Press discusses a particular kind of crossover - how fanfics inspire, influence and finally get reworked as original fiction. The post has two major points: 1. whether it's ethical to turn a fanfic into original work that can then be submitted to a publisher without wasting anyone's time or inviting copyright infringement suits 2. ways in which to do so.

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Whoa... so much to love about the first episode of TF:Prime's new season!

• In terms of labels, "Decepticon" is the new "gay".
• Soundwave is perfect - a cold, composed badass. The scene where he deals with Arcee shows just how he's earned his position... and why I love Prime!Soundwave as a character.
• Starscream returns!
• Starscream doesn't just return - he shows he's still the vicious backstabber we all know and love. I had a feeling he would ruin Megatron's carefully laid plan, though, and that's exactly what he did, albeit inadvertently. Even if Megatron manages to explain the lie he told Optimus/Orion about Starscream being dead, the "Optimus Prime!" at the end could not have helped.
• That's what happens when the 'cons don't have the benefit of your leadership and skill, Starscream. You come back and the 'bots have the run of the place.
• Then again, maybe Megatron could explain the lie as Starscream returning from the dead? It's not like that's never happened before.
• More Knock Out would have made this even better.

I watched "Speed Metal" and now I want to write this (at some point in the far future, given how much else is in line before it).

But a race between these two egotistical speedsters would be such fun, especially since neither of them would draw the line at cheating, ambushes or actual deactivation of the opposition. Who would win is debatable. I could see the other Stunticons getting into it if things got too bad for Drag Strip, so maybe it should just be the two of them, although it would also be fun to see Drag Strip confronted with a very different Breakdown from the one he's used to.