Hello 
I'm Siobhan Curran/Kisa Naumova, and this is my weblog. I tend to write about stuff like crossdressing, Macs, code, cats, wine and Second Life, but in general it's just an ongoing conversation about all sorts of stuff. If you'd like to know a little bit more about what this all is, I recommend starting on this page which has a little bit of info on who I am, and what I'm trying to do — or you could dive into my five years worth of archives if you like.
Otherwise, feel free to close this box and explore...
Scarey
Excuse me. Can we all stop saying that Alan Yentob's avatar looks creepy and scarey please? I was really proud of that, and I'm starting to doubt my own abilities here.
Backstory
There are several reasons why I'm feeling a little flat this morning, not least of them being Biscuit, who — for some reason or another, probably the weather — has started the rather unpleasant habit of using my doormat for a littertray. Meaning instead of my house being full of the aroma of freshly made coffee as I stumbled down the stairs, it stank of cat shit.
And then, of course, I slept really badly last night. I was tossing and turning until well past 3am, and when I did drop off, I had nasty scarey dreams that left me thoroughily disorientated when I woke up...
...which was about an hour ago. Thank God I'm not in work today.
But one of the things that's contributing to a current sense of bewilderment — a tiny, insignificant thing, that probably isn't worth mentioning, but I gotta get it off my chest — is that frankly, I'm really disppointed with Torchwood.
I know I've moaned about certain aspects of it before (like the stupid blue flashing lights FFS), but there's one thing in particular that's really getting to me at the moment — I just don't like any of the cast.
Owen is odious and smarmy, Toshiko is a bit pants, Ianto is completely wet, Jack is ... well, I'll come back to Jack at some point, and Gwen is bloody irritating.
I think it's Gwen that's my main problem with it. See, as far as I can see, she's supposed to be our 'hook' into this strange Cardiffian world of monsters and Spaceporn. She's the 'human' element — the person it seems I'm supposed to relate to in all of this.
But all the "Oooh, what's this?", and "What's going on with that?", and "How come he's immortal?" business — all the tension-building elements of the overall plot-line of the series ... we all know it already.
So instead of sitting here, desperately wanting the Meddling Kids™ to dig up some answers and sate my curiosity, I'm sat here wondering how the "Jack's an alien from the future" revelation is going to be pulled off in a way that doesn't leave me thinking "Well, duh"
And why doesn't he just tell them eh? I mean, they've got aliens scurrying all around them, they've got a frigging dinosaur in their office, they're bringing people back from the dead left right and centre — what part of "I'm an alien from the future" does Jack think they'll have a problem with?
*pfft*
Sorry 
Ignore all that, I'm just venting.
I do have one important question though — something that's been bothering me ever since last night. Something that, perhaps, shows my naivety — but I'm going to ask anyway, in the hope that someone can 'fill me in' as it were.
Just what sexual exploits can you get up to with a stopwatch, eh?
And where can I get one?
they've got a frigging dinosaur in their office
twitch
Dinosaurs never flew, nor for that matter did they live in water (although some will probably have been called upon to swim for a brief period at one time or another.) Pterosaurs are merely flying reptiles.
Gah, damned Markdown.
*twitch* is how that should read....
Dinosaurs never flew
God, and I thought I was being picky 
The dinos that were standing near where the asteroid hit flew a bit.
Alan Yentob is kinda creepy. I'm amazed that you manage to capture that in his avatar.
I've stopped watching Torchwood. There, I said it! It's out in the open now!
What the f*ck's wrong with my gravatar??
and E. Is there some kind of autonumber list thing on your blog that I've managed to break? Because I'm sure those read 1 2 3 4.
I'm a bit miffed because the 'best' character in it is dead. AGAIN!!!
(My definition of 'best' may be influenced by me being incredibly shallow)
Is there some kind of autonumber list thing on your blog
Yes. Not quite sure what happened there though
Oh wait, it's because in the raw text the first line is ... ack, never mind. I've fixed it by hand
What the f*ck's wrong with my gravatar??
Don't blame me 
Mr Werner says he's just about to fix the whole system. Email the original to me and I'll implement a stop-gap thingumy.
the 'best' character in it is dead.
Hmm, if I had to pick a 'best' one, I think I'd have to go with the week before last's alien.
Cos she was hot
(That's the best I can come up with. It took me five minutes to think of one character I actually liked so far)
On the other hand, I think any British sci-fi that has scads of cash chucked at it should be supported, lest potential investors get jittery and fans are left wandering in the darkness for another zillion years. I mean, without Dr.Who and Torchwood all we'd have left is re-runs of transatlantic pap (SF 'lift muzak' with the odd bucket of 'heavy handed moral messages' thrown in just for good measure). "Bring back Babylon 5", that's what I say.
Cos she was hot
That's where I was coming from with my 'best'. And am I the only one who thinks Gwen looks a bit like Terry Thomas in drag? (Not that that's a bad thing, she added, hastily.)
And am I the only one
Yes
Ooh, my hard-coded avatar matches the colour scheme of your site.
Deliberate, of course.
You make it sound like I have a carefully planned-out colour scheme
My Big News
For a while now, I've been hinting that there's something big going on here — something that I wasn't allowed to talk about. But I guess that now word has come From On High™, I can tell everyone about it.
I'm going to be an Auntie
My little brother and his wife are having a baby. It's notable, because it'll be the first member of our family to be born in America (among many other reasons).
I was going to write something big and significant — but all I can think of is how weird it is to think of my brother as being 'a Dad'. I suppose that because we're all quite remote from each other — Ireland, England, Scotland and New York — it's hard to form a continuous mental image of my family. And sometimes all I can think of is what we were like as kids¹
So it's odd to think of my wee brother being a grown man with a family, and my wee sister being anything other than eight years old.
Anyway, it's due in May — and no they don't know what it is yet.
¹ Maybe also, because I seem to spend so much time acting like a kid, I kinda default them to being even younger...
w00t!
I will pass on your w00ts to them both
Congratulations. I hope you get to see a lot of your new niece/nephew despite living so far away because being an Auntie is the best. Really, there's no better relationship — you'll see.
Really, there's no better relationship
I'm starting to think that I mean, here's me worrying about a tiny piece of cat shit in the morning
At least it's not green and unholy
Being an auntie is cool 'cause you get gran-like privileges (e.g. you can spoil 'em rotten then hand 'em back! I used to think that being a long-distance auntie was a drag; but these days, with the magic of t'interweb, it's easy to stay 'currant' (no pun intended).
Congratulations.
being a long-distance auntie was a drag
Was that pun intended?
with the magic of t'interweb
Yes. But...
Normal-time for them, is Happy Drunk Siobhan Time™ for me. So the wee'un is going to get a very disproportionate opinion of me.
What? WHAT?!
I met up with a schoolfriend last week that I haven't seen for about two years and probably haven't talked properly to for nearly twice that long, he's still disgustingly thin and handsome compared to fat old me. But we were going through the list of mutual friends, almost everyone we know is either dead or now parentals. I'm just glad that my sister's relationship with her hubby broke up before they'd reached the breeding stage and not after...
And Torchwood s.1 is at least following the pattern of Doctor Who s.1, most of the early episodes of that were crap too. The last three episodes, while not problem free, have at least been an improvement on the first few, especially the awful awful tin-tits episode.
Was that pun intended?
No, but I wish it was, it's a goody
the awful awful tin-tits episode
You're just upset because your beloved Ianto showed himself up as being A Big Girl's BLouse™
Congratulations on being an auntie!
I've only really enjoyed one episode of Torchwood (the faerie one). That said, I missed last weeks episode (...not that bothered) and I haven't seen the latest one yet.
It has been disappointing though.
It was supposed to be dark and adult, but it just comes across as...camp. I know it's a spin off and that Dr Who is slightly camp, but it is supposed to be. Look at most of the monsters!
I find most of the writing lazy. Especaially that episode with the canibals. I was half hoping that they would all get eaten, except Jack. He's the only Character I like and they haven't developed him at all. Gwen's just comes across as a damp drip. Toshiko's not much better. Owen's ok, but a bit of a git, and the less I see of Ianto the better.
One of the things that has really annoyed me about the whole thing was the Cyberwoman episode. What the fuck was Gwen doing when she just stood there pointing a torch at the cyberwoman instead of running away. And then! When the Cyberwoman turns around! "Oh Shit". AND THEN!! it turns to Toshiko, who's still in the bloody cage and has stopped for a rest, possibly a cup of tea (I'm not sure), rather than leaving by the airlock. ARGH!!!
Jack is the only believable character in it, and I doubt that's down to the script writing 
Sorry
Oh! by the way,
it's easy to stay 'currant' (no pun intended).
It's a Currant Pun!
Again, sorry.
And another thing! How come, nobody's asked why Jack isn't dead after being electrocuted twice by the cyberwomen?
That epsiode made me a bit angry. Can you tell?
On the plus side three weeks today!
I take it you haven't seen the secret in-cinema preview yet then?
*cough* Jon 
*cough*
Big congrats on the auntie thing
"but all I can think of is how weird it is to think of my brother as being 'a Dad'."
In about 12 weeks time I'll actually BE a dad!!! And that takes some serious thinking about...
No offense hon, but rather you than me
I hadn't seen it, I think I wish i hadn't though. I'm not sure if it's catherine tate or the TARDIS in a chase scene, but that made me so angry!
I know it's only Doctor Who and it's not real, but the Tardis can not fly. I feel betrayed by the lack of thought that goes into making it sometimes.
I am, I'll admit a Doctor Who geek, I have the BBC books, (quite a lot of the books actually) as well as some of the Vigin ones and The New Adventures. I have invested a lot of my time over the years in Doctor Who, and Russell T Davies can't be bothered to check the books to see what has been established in them.
I know that there are a lot of books onll the Doctors and it's only fiction, but I'm sure someone out there must have done an "Enyclopedia Whotanica™" or someting. I would have checked it for him! I'm not sure if i'll watch it now.
Ah, Crap. I don't know why I'm so angry about it.
Great!!! Good timing, too... I'm going to be an auntie in May as well!!!
You can time how long it takes to eat the pizza afterwards....