(no subject)

[radlilim]

We had another meeting on my project yesterday, not the one I'm working on / helping with now, but the one I'm supposed to be doing. They still haven't ironed out the work flow, so I still can't start working on the files. The suggestions we had to solve the work flow issue were shot down, without any explanation. They also asked for projections on the schedule. I have about 200 hours of work to do on this project, and it's all supposed to be done by Friday. Which is like 90 hours away. Not happening I guess.

Other project, the one I'm helping with, is having growing pains itself. Following their well known history, they decided to try out new workflows and technology on a complex, live project. So we are having tons of snags, while also being over a month behind on it.

I also ended up with having more PTO that I need to use this year than I had thought. My math must have been off, cause instead of 20 some hours I have to use 40. I think I have too much to do to take off a week, so they might make an exception and let me roll over more time than normal. I had hoped to take some half days this month, I really, really need to clean the house. And do Christmas stuff, like cards and decorate.

I'm not sure I believe all this hype about the amount of snow we are supposed to get, but seeing video of some of the western states, I'm a little concerned.

Not sure I'm going to have time to get all the way north this weekend to get the tree like planned. Might have to see is mom will met me half way for lunch and give it to me.

Comments

[fenrah.livejournal.com]

Hey, Jason, I have a random question. A friend was laughing at humorous reviews and banter at this blog http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/. Among other things, the author reviews a lot of m/m romance novels. I got to thinking - who is the target audience for these things? I suspect it's women, but I could be wrong. Do gay guys buy these books? I don't really know much about genre romance. I don't think I've ever managed to complete one without skipping huge chunks. I have read a few paranormal romances (I mean, I could count them on one hand), and the only ones I liked were m/m.

Straight men, of course, don't have any romance marketed at them at all, het or otherwise. That's not to say none of them read it, but it's not marketed to them. I'm talking about genre romance here, not the romantic elements present in lots of good fiction.

So what do you think? Who's the target audience for m/m genre romance? Do you know anyone who buys these kind of books?

[jkivela.livejournal.com]

Mostly women, yes. The same group that write slash fanfic. I'm pretty sure that the concept of that type of book and it's target audience comes from yaoi manga from Japan. m/m holds a huge section of the manga market, there are many, many product lines dedicated to that. And they are all targeted at women, usually ones that are in their 20s-30s. So I'd think that the m/m romance novels are similarly targeted. I'd say that gay guys are the 2nd target audience, and I have bought some of them. But most do end up being crap and impossible to finish. Personally I have a large list that I've collected from online reviews/comments/discussions of the m/m books out there that are actually worth the time to read, and I tend to take the list with me when I"m book shopping, just in case I run into any of them.

A big part of the draw of m/m romance to (most) women is the romanticization of that type of relationship. It's the whole "something to fantasize about that can't even be seen to challenge their current relationship because clearly neither party in the fantasy would ever be interested the the woman." I actually know very few gay guys who are romantic or would consider that sort of story either arousing or interesting. IMO gays are more horn balls than casanovas. :D

[fenrah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was pretty much my impression. Although this idea - "something to fantasize about that can't even be seen to challenge their current relationship because clearly neither party in the fantasy would ever be interested the the woman" - is (IMHO) a fallacy. "Something that challenges their relationship" is code for "something the boyfriend would not like to find them reading." Any guy who would be displeased to find his girlfriend reading het romance is going to have kittens if he finds her reading gay romance. The idea that girls see imaginary characters as personal threats to their relationships is laughable. Threat-status is all about the boyfriend's reaction. And believe me, it "challenges" the hell out of straight boyfriends.

But genre romance... Bleh. It's always been my impression that, all things being equal, Myers-Briggs feelers (male and female) like romance. Myers-Briggs thinkers (like me) tend to sigh and roll our eyes.