(no subject)

Sometimes I wonder if the situation I'm in with respect to a given fanfic is some sort of vast social experiment on fangirls.

You see, there is a fic. I'm quite fond of the fic. It's a well-written fic, as such things go, with an engaging, clearly limned cast and one heck of a plotline. It's a damn fine piece of work, but it's not done yet. It hasn't been updated for eight months. The author assures her constant readers (of whom there are quite a few) that there will be more fic Real Soon Now, though when that might be is anyone's guess.

The 'vast social experiment' angle is this: Could the fic author be studying how long fangirls will continue to check in for new chapters after the "reward" ceases? Behaviorist research building on the work of B. F. Skinner has shown that the desired behavior persists longest after the cessation of reward for systems where the reward (new chapters in this particular case) is on a variable or probabilistic schedule, and that'd match this damn fic's update schedule.

Also, you can color me impressed if anyone else knows what fic/author I'm talking about.

(no subject)

なんと猫が地図を見ているーーダーズリー氏は一瞬目を疑った。



A cat was somehow looking at a map -- Mr. Dursley doubted his eyes for a second. I like the diagram. I like the translation. I feel very good about this whole shebang. And, in the interests of full disclosure, I bought a copy of the English version of the book at Wal-Mart this evening because I was tired of not having it. Still not gonna cheat or anything, though, because I'm just not that way. I realize that these two small sentences are not connected in any way, but did YOU realize that they are both SVO sentences? Isn't that damn nifty?

In other news, I will be attending the "We're Married" party of a friend in Philly tomorrow. Pretty damn good friend, too, given that she's getting me in nylons for the first time in ages. That was why I was at Wal-Mart in the first place, for the buying of nylons.