The Many Worlds of Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones’ stories include nine-lived enchanters, the power of stories come to life, and many, many worlds. I have loved her books since childhood and read many of them over and over. I’ll come back here and edit to add a bit more about some of them/her life but meanwhile…
You know the drill:
Users’ Manual: Obey The Rules. Consult The Guide. Have fun!
For those of you reading comments from backstage, this month’s installment in our “year of stories” threads honors Diana Wynne Jones.
(A squid?
)
*nods respectfully in memory of Ms. Wynne Jones*
*looks at calendar*
*nods again in memory of Tim Samaras*
I think of the Geographic article about Reinhold Messner’s career as recent, but it was itself almost ten years ago…
I hope it`s not too early in the thread to post about my life? because this post is basically going to be My Entire Life atm Laid Before You? just cuzzzz
So I went to a wedding with my dad this past saturday. It was the wedding of my dad`s coworker`s daughter and we didn`t know anyone there except the guy my dad works with (that`s why my mom decided not to attend and sent me instead). I wore a short-ish black dress with black shoes & black knee-high stockings and a lot of black & brown eyeliner (it ws an evening wedding). The outfit made me look a lot older than 14. I realized this when, during the dancing part (they were playing dancey pop music), a 19-year-old guy asked me my name and then said, “so, it looks like we`re around the same age,” and when I told him my age he facepalmed and apologized. We later danced together and chatted a bit anyway (we were 2 of like 5 teengers there).
I`m getting braces tomorrow. I guess I`ll be having a mushy diet for 2 summers. And I`ll have to wear my contact lenses more often to avoid looking like a dork (no offense to like, everyone who ever existed. and stereotypical ugly girls i guess? i am a stereotypical ugly girl). yay.
Every day I fall deeper and deeper into the vortex of tumblr Phan (phan is the ship of youtubers AmazingPhil and danisnotonfire) blogs. Now I`ve gotten into shipping Johnlock as well. My life is cake. But like seriously… what is it that makes shipping so exciting? It feels creepy sometimes, especially when I read phan smut scenes and I`m like, omg, these are real people, what am I doing? (time keeps on shipping, shipping shipping… into the fuuuture.) (sorry)
This summer, I`m doing a ballet summr intensive thing y. I`ll be taking variations (ahhh! pointe shoes!!! help!! my feet r so inflexible!!!) and also partnering. dancing w/ the boys, hurray. The only class I look forward to is acting.
So, I hope that has sufficiently updated my adoring fans. (yes, yes, thank you, here, have an autographed photograph)
lolol this`s the word limi
I had braces for a year and a half and totally ignored every restriction they gave me. You don’t have to resign yourself to eating Jell-O and oatmeal! If you’re careful, you can even have popcorn. And gum.
yeah, last time i had braces i didn`t go so far as chewing gum, but i did ignore pretty much all the restrictions on sweets. i feel like popcorn gets stuck in my teeth even w/o braces though, so i don`t think i`ll eat it.
also i`m probaly not going to avoid food which requires chewing unless it hurts to eat it
I always thought glasses made me look dorky (and therefore avoided them), until my boyfriend eventually told me that he really liked them. So don’t stress yourself about that. Just be careful with the brightly colored frames- some people can make them work, but in general they rarely look as good as you think they will.
right now i have light blue frames, but i think, actually, i`ll try black frames next time i get new ones. just to enhance my occasional hipter-goth aesthetic. i`ve actually only done a hipster-goth type outfit like 2x but…. ya know.. idek what im saying or if hipster-goth makes any sense or if it does, if it means what i think it means.
Personally, I like bright funky frames! Well, actually I tend to have the front of the frames be black and the sides be funky. But I especially like frame shapes that are not the standard, though I also know what works with my face.
Go with a friend and see what they think looks good on you but also make sure you enjoy whatever frames you pick out.
Oh, black fronts colorful sides is such a good idea! I`ll look for frames like those next time I shop for glasses frames.
This is what happened to me! I wore contacts from the end of middle school through high school. First year of college, a combination of dry weather making contacts more uncomfortable, laziness in the mornings, and my boyfriend liking my glasses better, and poof, I’m a regular glasses wearer.
My usual ones are pretty simple silver, but they have a cute butterfly right on the sides, the combination of which I really like!
You can also experiment with the thickness! I used to get thin rose-gold/red/purple frames, but two years ago I was stuck choosing by myself and ended up with thicker, dark brown half-rims which I prefer. I’ve yet to try contacts. (My parents discouraged me when I was younger because my older sister constantly lost hers back in the day.)
Braces are fun. Not really- they’re just annoying metal stuff.
As for shipping shenanigans, I try to stay away from shipping real people. It’s a bit out of my comfort zone- esp. fic writing and the like. Multiple people have said “I ship it!” to me and my boyfriend, and it’s… a little weird?
I just now realized how supremely UNfun braces are. I literally cannot chew. (it is a little fun to pretend they`re grillz though.)
It is wierd (WEIRD!) but I`m in too deep. Actualy, maybe not. Maybe I could gradually transfer my shipping focus from Phan to Johnlock and just ship Phan as platonic BFFLs (which is what they say they are). I mean, the two main purposes of a ship are something to fangirl over and two names to read/put in you fiction work if you`re scared to come up withs OCs (unless you`re one of those in-character writers, ahh, I love those) in fanfiction.
WARNING VERY LONG RAMBLEY PARAGRAPH ABOUT A SHIP WHICH ALSO INCLUDES A COUPLE DIGRESSIONS
The thing about the ship that I ship, though, is it seems very likely. They`re these two guys who share a flat and haven`t been in other relationships since they met, and are constantly acting in a way that reinforces the shipper`s ideas. THEY SEEM SO IN LOVE TO US IT`S INFURIATING. (also lolol dan recently tweetted a photo of him eating sushi that… some people photoshopped to look like he was eating… something else (it was so obvious in the tweet too he said “oops accidental selfie at a suggestiva angle) it`s irelevant but it`s so funny and the fans are like “WHY MY TINY SON” cuz they call him their son idek does anyone even know why they do that? sorrysorrysorry bye)
I mean, I don`t /really/ ship them. It`s just fun to do it. And there`s this whole online comunity of people who ship them, seriously or for fun
SORRY I AM TALKING TOO MUCH BYEEEEE
Yeah, the first few days after getting braces (or getting them tightened) is always rough. Pro tip: Don’t play trombone with a retainer in. Any wind instrument really.
The thing about huge ships like Phan and Johnlock is that they’re really easy to get sucked into simply because the communities are so huge. I follow multiple people who don’t care much more about the actual plot of Attack on Titan but still consider themselves avid members of the Jeanmarco fandom. Jean and Marco had very few bits of interaction in canon so the Jeanmarco community runs mainly off of headcanons.
My main concern with Phan in particular is that the two guys have stated that their relationship is platonic, and I’m kind of a stickler in that I won’t assume anything relationships-wise til it’s been confirmed by the individuals involved. The two are definitely very close friends, which is great. It seems like you’re just caught up in the fan community. Some of the fans get… really carried away about the ship, which is kind of dangerous when you consider they’re real people.
My OTP, in the interest of full disclosure, is Kaworu/Shinji from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. They’re the cutest. I get really particular about how they’re written, though, because if you write their dynamic wrong in fic (which almost everyone does!!!!) then it’s weird and unenjoyable to such a seasoned taste as mine. But anyway yes. Shipping is fun.
You obviously do not realize the life of somebody who ships James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett.
no. i truly do not.
i can`t even imagine.
i would love to hear (read i guess) about it from you, though!
They’re two members of the band Metallica. I’m a huge fan of their music, and the singer and guitar player are closer together than they are to any other band member, and oftentimes it is really sweet and nice and what professional fangirl wouldn’t ship that?
Of course I know that this pairing will never happen in real life, they both have wives and stuff, but it’s just so cute and fun!
Aww that sounds like a wonderful ship!
That`s a lot like how I ship Phan, actually. They`re very close already, and it`s such a cute ship, though they are just friends in real life.
i am overflowing with nyan faces of general fangirl emotion :3:3:3:3 <33
I think I’m really lucky that the only real-life couples I’ve ever shipped are people who actually were married to each other.
(Now friendshipping, that’s another story, I friend-ship a lot of people from different eras of history being BFFs as ghosts or in the afterlife.)
Kirk/Spock was a far more promising relationship than anything I’d seen in real life… Ahem.
I friendshipped Korrasami before it started turning romantic, and I was cool with that too.
This month is not getting off to a very good start… I have a headache that has lasted all day and is getting worse. I took pain medicine but it didn’t help. And, tomorrow my mom’s councilor is bringing her daughter with her to our house and I was given the responsibility to entertain her. I know nothing about this girl except that she is a girl. I suck at entertaining people I do know so how am I gonna handle entertaining a stranger? *sighs* Sorry for ranting guys, it’s just that I have no one else to go to…
Aw im sorry… about the headache- you might be dehydrated? drink lots of water. Water Helps With Everything. could also be you`re tired, or have been reading or interneting too much (me lol).
I feel you about the entertaning thing. if I were in that situation (and i have been in it) i would either be sitting in an awkward silence or making awkward small talk, or talking too much and overanalyzing the reaction of the other person and wondering if i`m being wierd.
When I`ve been in a situation like that with someone around my age, we usually ended up just playing with whatever`s there. for example, one time I was at this girl`s house and once we got over the initial awkwardness we had a kind of dance party using her radio and she had one of those disco light things that come on a stand. So generally what has been successful is finding something that you can do something with and just having fun and being silly.
or you could play 20 questions or something, idk.
So everything went well, 45 minutes with her. I learned her name and age and that she had a dog named Shadow who is strong enough to push the couch around. Most of my cats loved her and followed her around begging for more attention and pettings. XD And, even after taking those 45 minutes off of school, I still finished early now that I have completed Health and Economics.
so I get really frustrated when things dont folow the rules and I`m just really annoyed that “weird” doesn`t fit the “I before E etc..” rule. I always misspell it and then when i notice i did i`m like, well why is it spelled that way in the first place?!
it`s just so weird… like idk maybe that`s why? cuz its supposed to be weird? whatever.
bye
“I before E, except after C. Except when you’re running a feisty heist on a weird beige foreign neighbor.”
to end their reign of terror
I greatly appreciate this video and I feel you might too: https:/ /ww w.you tube. com/ watch?v=ER9-LxcCcXU
thanks
and now! my phone! is making everyhing tiny! because it says! the page is too large! cake!
sftdp
i just realized, also, that i am using tumblrspeak too much. i mean aesthetic? is2g, eggy….
Oh my gosh, okay, I swear I’m going to get better about commenting now that I’m not busy, but in the meantime, some things that have happened in the last few weeks:
-I finished all my AP tests. Super glad to never have to deal with those again. Now I just… wait until July to find out where I’m going to college. (For those not following the saga: my dream school gave me an offer conditional on my AP results.)
-I went to prom! Had an amazing time, danced loads, and had the unique pleasure of driving my friends home at one in the morning, all singing along to Florence and the Machine. I love my friends.
-I had my last day of high school. Cried really hideously through the goodbye rally, senior awards night, and my last time in Journalism (they gave me a Steve Buscemi shirt as a going-away present; these people know me).
-Got a dog. His name is Toby and he’s the cutest thing in the world, though I’m starting to suspect that he’s not all that bright. By the way, pet adoptions are free in the Bay Area on something called Maddie’s Weekend, which is pretty cool!
-Went to my senior picnic, which was today. It was fabulous and my friends and I spent most of the time hiking up a creek taking pictures.
-Broke my arm, also today, while falling into the creek on said picnic. I’m now typing one-handed, which is SLOW.
I’m graduating on Friday–sorry this was so long, guys! I hope you’re all doing wonderfully, and if you would like to tell me what you’ve been up to recently, I’d love to hear.
Ouch, I’m sorry about your arm.
Congratulations on everything (apart from breaking the arm) – but I mean finishing APs, prom, getting a dog, graduating etc etc! Best of luck for your results in July!
I got laid off this past Monday. I’m actually a bit relieved about this, because my work environment was becoming rather toxic (coworkers who didn’t respect me and an incredibly fickle boss, among other things) but it would have been nice to have found a new job before this happened.
On the plus side, I got a reply about the tribble job that I applied for, asking to see examples of my work! Time to put tribbles in everything!
I appear to have missed you talking about this tribble job, if you have before, but I greatly approve of it.
ML, Groundhog first mentioned the tribble job here:
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=15133#comment-491020
“The Tribble Job” (greatest Leverage episode never made)
synopsis: the team goes undercover as pest exterminators to expose a fake alien invasion.
I haz a ginormous whiteboard!
((I have also been up to other things, but that seemed like the most important one. Otherwise, I’ve learned that it’s hard to sneak out through someone’s apartment with a clunky, three-legged metal board roughly the size of two second graders that makes loud clangy noises each time the back leg bangs anything. But it’s going back on friday anyway.))
My mom says I’m too old to ask for another symbolic adoption and plushie as a graduation present, so I asked my godmother for a sea-turtle-print scarf instead. The money’s still going to the World Wildlife Fund, but the gift is something my mother sees as age-appropriate.
Nice compromise.
And it does look like a nice scarf.
I finally cleaned my room! It looks so nice and clean, and also school’s over, so that’s nice.
I’m sad… I’m gonna cry…
Hello, all. I am alive. And back in Alaska, after 17 days of travel, including today. We had a great time, Riverside, Iowa (Trekkies understand), Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone (my 2nd time, although the last was >15 yrs ago), Vulcan, Alberta (omg I love that town, although the trekcetera museum was closed, so i only got to see the visitor center trek stuff), Banff National Park in Canada, Liard hotsprings, etc. It was a lot of fun. If it weren’t for the coyote incident yesterday, it would have been a “perfect” trip. He darted out at close range and at 90-100kph (55-62mph) you can only brake so fast. So that sucked. But the rest of the trip was good.
Awesome!
That’s too bad, but at least coyotes aren’t an endangered species. Just this morning I discovered three of them living under my back porch.
If you habitually look at the main page, you’ll know that Friday is National Doughnut Day. If you don’t, you’ll just have to be told. How do you plan to celebrate?
By eating doughnuts, of course. What else?
Straightforward and sensible. I’ll do the same.
My chosen doughnuts were an old-fashioned (the last one in the case!) and a cinnamon crunch, one of this bakery’s specialties. To paraphrase Thoreau, “I rejoice that there are doughnuts!”
By eating one of the free doughnuts my office is supplying in celebration! (I’ll think of Feather when I do.)
And here’s the sacrificial victim:
hexagonut
No wasted dough!
Now I really want donuts. Hmmm. How to accomplish this…?
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
And I have found that way. Mmm, donuts.
Ugh, I got too caught up in what I was writing and stayed up too late.
You’re suffering in a good cause, then. I suggest you reward yourself with a doughnut.
That’s a bit too sweet for my tastes, but I may have something doughnut-shaped in honor of dear Feather.
A bagel, perhaps?
Hmmm, I finished “Bad Days in History”, out of my remaining library books, should I read David McCullough’s new Wright Brothers bio, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager’s account of the flight of the “Voyager” or mountaineer Ed Viesturs’ memoir next?
Hi! I’m with Fern! We went to a museum and now we are eating Nutella! We have agreed that new york is great, though we disagree on how long we are willing to stay here.
Fern here! I’m so glad we got to visit, and hopefully be able to do it again while I’m here. Dodec’s phone is hard to type on!
Good to hear from you both! Are there pictures?
Sounds fun!
With my final (violin) exam out of the way – since Tuesday, actually – my first year is done and summer is here! The weather has been incredibly hot and sunny here with the occasional storm. Almost too hot, especially for someone who grew up in a place with lots of air-conditioning. Here, you go inside and it’s just as sweltering.
So I’m off on holiday in little over a week from now! This summer’s list of countries: Switzerland (where I am now), The Netherlands, Spain, England (these three with the family) France (boyfriend’s house), Hong Kong (home), Australia (cousins’ family).
Will do my best to keep you all updated!
Enjoy your holiday!
So, I unfortunately missed doughnut day yesterday. Not that I forgot what day it was, we just didn’t have any doughnuts in the house. I really don’t eat many sweets. But, today I compensated by having half of a glazed doughnut. That counts, right?
I’d say it counts.
I`m really excited and happy because my best friend just told me that she and my other best friend (who she`s had a crush on for a long time) are now dating!!! I`m so happy for them!!
My family went up to West Point for a picnic for my brother P.’s incoming class, which apparently nobody else showed up for. But we still got to see the campus and the spectacular views of the Hudson and surrounding mountains. And I was able to visit Ed White’s grave, which was very sobering. I didn’t have a white rose like I gave his crewmates at Arlington, as we didn’t think we’d have time to visit the cemetery, but maybe I’ll have the chance to leave him one when we drop P. off for Basic Training.
Sad that Ronnie Gilbert died. Her voice was a big part of my childhood.
House Rules
1. If you wash your hands with no soap
dry them with the green towel.
2. If you wash your hands with the green soap
shake them into the purple potato peelings.
3. Everybody gets a piece of pie.
4. If you ask somebody nicely
and they still say no
do a small dance in a secret room.
5. Always carry ostriches upright.
6. Never (ever) let a capital letter
wander the house alone at night.
7. At birthday parties, remember your mother.
—Nancy Kangas
Anyone else following the Women’s World Cup?
My girlfriend is obsessed! She’s been making me watch, and I have to say I’m kind of getting into it, especially after she dragged me to a pickup game this afternoon.
I still think soccer’s still way less engaging than quidditch, though.
-A
I have a job offer! My husband’s boss needs another web designer/programmer, and he’s offering me the position. I told him that I wanted to wait for an answer about the Tribble position first, so I haven’t accepted yet, but it’s really nice knowing that I have an offer.
Has anyone here seen “Tomorrowland”? KaiYves in particular might enjoy its depiction of a 1960s-style retro-future. Of course, the idea that smart, nice, concerned young people are the hope of the future resonates with all of us GAPAs.
Not yet, but I’ll be sure to get the DVD.
This one is better on a big screen. (I saw it in IMAX.)
I saw it- it seemed a little preachy but was overall enjoyable. (A bit of a letdown though as I had to settle for it since I couldn’t go see Mad Max.)
Things I like about my new house (duplex, two bedrooms, basement, garage):
-it has a laundry chute – I drop my laundry into it in the hallway and it ends up in the laundry basket in the basement.
-my own washer and dryer – incidentally, a used washer and dryer cost the same as a new queen bed / box. Go figure.
-there’s a resident garter snake in my backyard – I’ve seen her twice so far
-GARAGE (with CAR)
-lots of space, I have a designated practice room
-a/c
-cute, walkable neighborhood
-nice flower beds
-getting it nicely furnished
-good farmer’s market
things I don’t like:
-stuff is still a mess, I haven’t figured out where everything goes yet
-boyfriend’s been having allergy attacks every time the a/c comes on
-local ice cream shop’s flavors are kind of bland
-area (and honestly city as a whole) seems very much a monoculture. I think I’ve heard people speaking something other than english once in the three weeks I’ve been here (as opposed to school, where I heard probably average of four different languages a day).
Congratulations! Regarding the allergy attacks: If you have central air conditioning, check the filter. It may be filthy and in need of replacement.
I checked, it looks clean. Current theory is that there’s just a lot of buildup of dust in the mechanism since the vents were absolutely filthy (I cleaned them) and I don’t think it’s been run in a while.
You’re in Omaha, right? (If you’re not, save this comment until you are.) If you want non-English, go to south (i.e., southeast) Omaha. I very highly recommend the taco truck that parks in the O’Reilly Auto Parts lot on 24th Street south of Vinton. (Don’t try the chicharrón unless you have a very high spice tolerance.) There’s also a sizeable population of Sudanese refugees in Omaha, but they’re not as easy to “see” just driving around. A little north of the taco truck, still on 24th Street but south of Martha, is Stoysich House of Sausage–try their smoked Dutch onion sausage, and their bockwurst. You’ll find me there for lunch most Mondays through Wednesdays, since I work within easy walking distance and you can get a sausage and a can of pop for three bucks. You could try the Sons of Italy hall for a plate of spaghetti on Thursdays or Fridays, though prepare to get interrogated by the barkeeper since he won’t recognize you. The Bohemian Cafe on 13th Street is imperative–the boiled beef is my favorite there. Go for lunch, dinner is overpriced. Dinker’s, off I-80 at the Martha Street exit, has the best burgers around. Cash only.
Getting less historical, Tokyo Sushi (downtown, 12th and Howard-ish) is the best sushi place in town, although most people overlook it. The Tea Smith down the street from there has a lot of good stuff if you’re a tea drinker. Try Blue Line Coffee in Dundee as well. North Omaha has some good food too (try Leo’s Diner for breakfast sometime). The “Vietnamese-Asian Restaurant” on 72nd north of Pacific is surprisingly good. Oh, and Mother India on Leavenworth.
Omaha isn’t as monocultural as it looks, especially in south O. It’s just that a lot of the cultures are “white”, and they’re less obvious than they were even a couple decades ago. A lot of Italian, Czech, Polish, and Vietnamese immigrants worked at the stockyards back when that was Omaha’s main business, though the stockyards are mostly gone and the area is generally populated by Mexican immigrants now. My mom was raised in south O, and my family’s parish, my workplace, and my grandma’s house are all in that area as well, so I’m more in tune with it than most of the people who live farther west. The Czech and Polish influences especially, though I don’t have any Czech blood myself.
Oh, and if you have some time, try Lincoln’s farmer’s market some Saturday morning. It’s at least twice as large as Omaha’s.
I’ll have to keep those places in mind, thanks! I’ve actually already been to Blue Line – my place is a few blocks from there – and their cold-brew coffee is solid. The main thing that’s getting me down is that from what I’ve heard there’s no good Korean restaurant in town – any opinions?
I’d probably have to agree with that, unfortunately. Well, maybe Korean Grill down in Bellevue–I haven’t been myself but I’ve heard it’s pretty good.
Well now I own three Tom Lehrer records. I’ll probably give one to my brother for his birthday, though.
Last night I watched a documentary about a hippie commune called The Farm. It was kind of funny because the people in the old videos kept using stereotypical hippie language, like ” you gotta dig groovy stuff, man,” but it seemed really cool. The Farm`s gone now because they ran out of money, but it seemed really awesome and peaceful until the funds ran out and if there were a place like that now I`d want to live there.
My local supermarket is selling “Astronomy” magazine at the checkout counter. Yes, next to all of the tabloids and fashion magazines. Some unknown righteous Muser Unaware has done their bit to spread wonder.
I found a room in an apartment to sublet! For July and half of August, which isn’t ideal (ideally I’d have found a place to move into last month and would have stayed there until the end of August, but oh well), but is still good! It’s about half an hour from work, and really close to two oldtime jam sessions, which is really great. Also spending so much less time traveling to and from work will hopefully mean I’ll get to spend more time actually taking advantage of the fact that I’m in NYC and also working normal-people hours (for the most part). Right now I’m not sure when I’ll be working 9-5 on only weekdays next. Anyway, I’m excited about that, but also mildly terrified because even though it’s a pretty nice place for only 600/month, it’s also in Brooklyn instead of out in a quiet suburb-y place in Long Island, and I’m a country bumpkin at heart. I think it’ll be good though.
Finished finals today!
…broke my phone’s screen and touch screen today.
You win some, you lose some.
Sorry about your phone.
Thanks, I ended up spending 5 hours today going to/from SF to get it fixed at a phone repair shop that I’ve grown fond of. At least it was only out of commission for a day.
The only time I ever broke my phone screen was shortly after finding out I’d aced a math quiz. Think of this as a good omen.
Spending time in my parents house (where I am staying indefinitely until I find a house or apartment of my own) gives me a greater understanding and empathy for the discomfiture that Spock feels aboard the Enterprise as a result of the climate controls being set to Earth normal, rather than Vulcan normal. Although I am uncertain anymore whether that is strictly fanon interpretation, or actual canon (that he is constantly too cold aboard the Enterprise, because he originates from a swelteringly hot desert planet). Regardless, this last week has given me new insight into that. I’m constantly freezing, my parents think the temp is wonderful, but they keep it “heated” to 65 degrees, which doesn’t *sound* bad, but sitting in 65 degree temp all day, my fingers and toes are ice cold to the touch, and I”m constantly chilled. And they keep it closer to 60 at night, because apparently sleeping in a freezer is ideal for them? I kept my apartment a nice ~72 degrees, during day and night, which my parents seem to think is sweltering, and impossible to sleep in (“even a sheet would be too much”), whereas it was perfect, and I bundled up in 2-3 blankets at night to keep cozy, and slept like a rock. Instead of being minimally warm with….at least 4 blankets? on my bed right now, 2 regular comforters, 1 feather one.
In other news, today is my day off from work, I worked Monday and Tuesday this week (I work 4 days a week, plus some Saturdays). It’s weird, being called doctor. I keep having to restrain the urge to look around, see who they’re really talking to, because while it’s my last name, surely it’s not me they’re calling doctor? And there’s times when I’m standing observing the techs (I’m currently shadowing the vet techs, to help get a feel for the flow of things and plus I don’t have my license yet, because apparently the state is extra super slow), that I have to remind myself “You’re a doctor now, you’re not a high school tech assistant anymore,” because I keep feeling small and little, like when I was in highschool working at a different clinic, and then I remember when the other employees look at me at thsi job, they see a veterinarian (albeit a young, inexperienced vet), not a highschool kid, which is slightly terrifying and yet also a little thrilling?
I’m not good at the introducing myself to my coworkers as Dr though. Like when a tech or receptionist walks up and says hi I’m “first name”, even though the techs/receptionists are suppose to call the vets Dr “last name” during work hours, I can’t make myself introduce myself back as Dr “last name”, maybe because I don’t feel Dr-y yet, plus when half of them are older than I am, I’d feel like I come across kinda conceited, so I opt for just sounding socially inept and introduce myself with my first and last name, and kind of just leave doctor out of the equation, and they put it together themselves, b/c they know the name of the new vet [me]. The slight pause, the generic beginning of “hi nice to meet you” with the generic enthusiasm, which in a beat morphs into eyes that grow a little bigger and real, genuine excitement when they process the fact that I’m the new vet based on my name is actually kind of nice. It makes me feel welcome and liked and included.
While I haven’t done any doctor things yet, I really like it there so far, everyone seems really nice and welcoming and genuinely friendly/good to work with. None of the cattiness that can frequently occur in an all female work place. Everyone either genuinely likes/works well with each other, or they are very good at remaining professional and putting on the pretense that they like each other. Either way, I like and appreciate that.
So I think it’s going to be a good fit for me.
There must be some way to get a doctor who joke in here somewhere…
Also I didn’t mention this before but Yay that’s great! I wish I could be a doctor in something just to have that same kind of feeling. And sftdp.
I am done with 3/4 of college?! what
In other news, I now have to pack up all of my possessions and move into an apartment — and also figure out how to feed myself for the summer. Also, Ingrid Michaelson concert this Saturday!
Internship begins Monday! It’s going to be a whirlwind next five days.
if you are reading this, I’ve successfully activated internet I am paying for for the first time in my life
(my old place had a free fiber optic connection I miss it)
Lizzie,
Congratulations on successful activation! You’ve made it through another rite of passage to adulthood.
Adulthood is expensive.
*pops in for the first time in a few weeks*
*immediately notices this month’s Random Thread theme*
*cackles in glee*
Oxlin, you’re a wonder! <3
Oxlin still has a little caption writing to do for the thread. Coming soon?
Welcome back to Earth, Terry, Anton, and Samantha!
So, I was shopping today, and I passed by one of those machines that tell you the price of an item, and it beeped. I looked at it and it read ‘[brand of cookies] $5:00’
I wasn’t even buying cookies, so it couldn’t have picked them up from my cart.
Guys, I am a five dollar cookie.
You are worth more than a $5 cookie. The machine is a lie!
Played concertmaster with the orchestra for the first time today. Concert went pretty well, I’m not sure how helpful I was… I hope I was ok. First time I’ve played concertmaster with a professional group and it’s been four? five? years since the last time I played concertmaster at all. I just really want them to like me.
Just moved in… so exhausted. I almost hit someone while entering a roundabout (in my car!!) due to exhaustion. I had a sudden outburst of energy and unpacked some clothes and looked through a bunch of movies on Netflix but now I am going to bed for sure.
oh god I have to unpack so much stuff
One big difference between reality and fiction is that in reality, when criminal henchmen screw up in a way that prevents them from doing harm, people are relieved and thankful. When it happens in fiction, people yell at the screen or book and get angry at them for acting stupid.
Also, in westerns, when someone is target practicing, the local villagers don’t care. But when someone shoots someone else, everyone comes running out of their homes to see.
So, (I really need to stop starting sentences with that word, huh?) my dog was overreacting and getting excited again, so I did what I usually did; tried to hold him down so he wouldn’t break anything or something. And he turned around and bit me. It’s not so much the dog biting me is why I feel the need to write this and ask for help as my reaction to it. I ran away bawled like a baby for about two minutes. This actually surprised me. My guinea pig bit me about five months ago, and I didn’t cry then. I just scolded it. Why did I cry now?
And the guinea pig drew blood, my dog only bruised my hand.
I don’t get it.
The bedding I use in my Guinea pig cage was recalled because the baking soda was causing respiratory problems in small animals… I used that litter a bunch of times already. O.O So this afternoon after I finished school, I had to clean out the whole cage and replace the bedding with the new bedding we bought that was made from shredded phone books.
It’s funny how you can track past trends and fads in the DVD collection at your local library. A decade ago, having five separate documentaries inspired by “The DaVinci Code” on the shelf may have made sense, but now one’s reaction is “Did they really need FIVE?” Also, one can still apparently only rent either of their two copies of “Shackleton” for two weeks. (I am still as big a fan of Ernest Shackleton as ever, but I don’t think he’s QUITE as popular today as he was right at the turn of the century, if only because the wheel of popular interest spins inexorably on. But his niche in the Pantheon of Historical Figures That Mainstream Newspaper Articles Can Reference Without Fear Of Alienating The Lowest Common Denominator seems to have lasted, so I’m happy with that.)
RIP, Christopher Lee.
It’s been rather strange. I heard he had died yesterday morning, online. Throughout the sites I visit, I only saw a few people talking about it. I haven’t talked face-to-face about it with anybody. The news seems to have hardly made any impact on the world at all.
Yet almost everything I’ve done over the last two days, up to and including starting to clean out my closet for the first time in years, wouldn’t have been done without that news.
My family went to a Polish festival this afternoon, hosted by the best beer store in town. Good Polish food, great Polish beer, decent Polish polka. My grandma was the happiest I’ve seen her in a while–she said it reminded her of being back home (“home” being a small town in central Nebraska). She was talking about the Polish parties and dances they used to have, where everyone would be drinking and dancing all night long, hopping around to different towns and different halls, dancing and partying till the wee hours of the morning. After the festival, we dropped her off at her house and picked a bunch of strawberries–three or four quarts at least. I’m sure we’ll be freezing some of them. The weather was good for it too, cloudy but dry and cool; the rest of this week has been either very hot or rainy.
What else has been going on in my life? Nothing important, I guess. The past few days I’ve been reflecting on how much I love cottonwood trees. I wouldn’t want one in my yard, but out in the country they’re wonderful. Definitely my favorite type of tree. They’re even the state tree of Nebraska, as if they needed further proof of their good qualities.
I am section leader of the baritones for this marching band season! Here’s hoping I can effectively take charge of that wily bunch of teens.
YES! PHILAE IS BACK UP!
Hurrah! It didn’t look good back there, but he made it!
Today I revived my ice-cube bandana trick to survive my brothers’ graduation cookout. I ran around, played frisbee (J and I got to show off the practice we’ve gotten playing it together when I’ve been home), and helped out the hosts without overheating. (I also drank enough bottled water throughout the day to fill a bathtub.)
Had a great day off, today! Got to sleep in until 11 (a pleasant change from 6:20), got a free brand new recliner chair (to furnish my as of yet nonexistent future house/apt), and we went and watched Jurassic World.
One of the stores was having a buy one get one free sale on recliners, and my mom had recently mentioned that dad should get a recliner (b/c the couch makes his back hurt, so he’s been sitting in one of the wooden dining chairs when we watch tv/movies or whatever, and it’s definitely not comfortable for long term sitting), and I was asked if I’d be interested in one to furnish my (still hypothetical) place of my own, and I was like heck yes, b/c basically, my choices were: buy a recliner/chair/whatever with my own money in the future, or get a free chair now (and still buy a new one in future if this one is not entirely to my liking), so obviously I opted to get one, b/c I’m not at all losing out. Although the color/fabric is a bit ugly/meh. It looks like an old lady chair, with fabric that kind of reminds me of courderoy, and kind of an ugly mucky grey, but it’s free and new, so really can’t complain, lol.
And Jurassic World looked much better than the previews made it look, so I actually really enjoyed it. Although the dinos in the original movie were far more realistic (that’s still what I compare all my CGI to and am always disappointed lol)
Well, only fifty shots in the original movie are actually CGI. The rest is animatronics and puppets. So in some cases when the dinos look like they’re physically there– they really were, although not as living creatures.
Fair point!
The point has been made by various others that a parallel can be drawn between the series’ themes of overreliance on technology and the overreliance on CGI technology that has followed in the years since JP1.
I walked out of Jurassic World feeling like everything was right with the world.
I’m really annoyed. I got offered the Tribble job, but then I found out it was a volunteer position. Which was not a deal-breaker for me, but when I explained that I could only do it in my spare time, because I have a day job lined up, they rescinded the offer.
I really wanted that job. So much that even after finding out it didn’t pay, I was still willing to do it. And they rejected me…why? Because I asked how much it paid (not realizing that it was a volunteer position)? Because I said that I could only do it alongside a day job? Were either of those things so insulting?
Sympathy squids, but they probably didn’t rescind the offer because they felt insulted. I suspect it was a business decision, based on the hours they figured they needed someone to work. Or maybe they didn’t realize that you genuinely didn’t know it was a volunteer position, and thought you were trying to change the terms on the fly. Anyway, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.
Meanwhile, congratulations on the offer of a fulltime job.
It’s 82 F inside our house right now. We live in Alaska–aka we don’t have air conditioning, because almost no residences have air conditioning. It hit 100 F on our thermometer at one point this evening. I would kill for AC right now.
Turn your ceiling fans all the way up?
Hold your head under a faucet and get your hair wet. Dry with a towel lightly so you don’t drip on things. Repeat later if necessary.
Go sit in the car for a bit?
We had turned the line ceiling fan in our house on, but it really wasnt doing anything. I did the soaking my hair in cold water thing before heading to bed (as well as the pj top I was wearing to bed), because that was my only hope of being cool enough to sleep. And it worked far beyond expectations and I pretty mch fell instantly asleep and didnt wake up until morning.
Today was much much cooler inside. And cooler outside, but still a warm day
Had two finals today, and I think they went well! For Language & Composition we had to write a synthesis essay about what superhero we would want to be and why, and how we could fit into modern context. I said that I would want to have the power to transform into any animal that’s less than a meter long. My essay ended up taking up the entire book we were given to write it in.
Physics went okay as well, though I think I might’ve gotten some stuff wrong because I thought there were 2(pi)r radians in a circle for some reason and not 2(pi). Whoops.
Tomorrow is a latin trial (we’re putting Aeneas on trial for killing Turnus: I’m Anchises) and math, then Thursday is gov/econ and then I’m finished!
I moved! My bed is in a completely different area of the house, now. It feels weird now, though I’m sure I’ll get used to it in the future. I already miss my old room, but this room is actually a lot cooler. A lot more convenient placement-wise.
I bet that took a long time, but it’s worth it right? ^^
After a good night’s sleep in here, I feel a lot more awake and refreshed than I ever did before, sleeping in my old room. I think I’m used to this already!
Work is tiring! But it’s interesting, and I’m learning all sorts of things, and I like the guy who’s in charge of me, and I got a shiny new Macbook Pro from the company, so those are all good things. Also, as an intern bonding experience, we’re doing a room escape game tomorrow!
What is a room escape game? It sounds like fun.
I did one last summer, too — you’re basically locked in a room and need to solve a bunch of puzzles to escape. If you want an online example, look up “neutral room escape game” for the best online escape games I’ve found.
so my boyfriend and I have spent the past three days playing through Neutral’s games and they’re awesome and I finished all of them so I tried looking elsewhere and they were lame. Do you have any other recommendations?
Sadly, I had to sift through a lot of mediocre games before I stumbled upon Neutral’s games, and I haven’t found anything else of that quality. Let me know if you find anything! I forget where you live, but there might also be physical room escape games in your area. There are tons in the Bay Area.
You finished Elements? I’m impressed! I haven’t, but then again I haven’t spent a lot of time on it lately.
after some googling, robamimi has some that are fairly cool, visually pretty similar although the settings aren’t as immersive. We worked on Elements together, it probably took us about six hours total? Started maybe 9pm – 1am, then another two hours the next morning. It was really fun.
If these are mostly hard puzzles, I know of some puzzle hunts that might also be fun. CiSRA, SUMS, and MUMS are all Australian and online. MIT’s Mystery Hunt is do able remotely too, but you have to sign up in advance. All of them have archives of puzzles online. There is also a magazine, P and A, that comes out four times a year with lots of puzzles.
We escaped the room!! It turned out to not be an actual physical room we were locked in, as I was expecting, but just a series of puzzles you had to solve to get a final, one-word answer. It was a lot of fun and we were one of only four teams that escaped! (out of 20+)
“Hidden Expedition: Everest” is one of the cheesiest games ever. They abbreviate “skillet” as “skilly” just to rhyme with “chilly”. I hope Ed Viesturs got paid a lot for having to say that line.
ATTENTION: We’re more than halfway through June and need a theme for next month’s random thread. If there are any stories or storytellers you’d like to write up and illustrate, just say the word.
All I can think about is Lovecraft, although I don’t think I’d be able to write up very much information on him.
Although, I could probably try….
Please do.
If you do, I can contribute a poem
IS IT THE POEM I’M REMEMBERING????? IF SO I HIGHLY APPROVE
I dunno. At the rate of my writing, this might be a long report.
I think I might be done. If anything must be changed or added, feel free to let me know.
Where would I submit such a thing?
To thegapas at gmail dot com.
Got it! Now, find a picture of the Crawling Chaos, and we’re done.
Oh, come on. That’s Groot!
Then DeviantART lied!
Horrors!
I’m teasing. I’m sure there is somebody on DeviantArt who hears the words “Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos” and imagines something that looks like a walking asparagus spear. Maybe H. P. Lovecraft himself did, for all I know.
Many images that I found during my search resembled a walking cactus spear. I haven’t read the story, yet, so I wouldn’t have any idea what Lovecraft thought of his creature’s appearance.
If you don’t get it done, I’ll do one on Peter S. Beagle. Heck, if you do, I’ll save Beagle for August.
Sing on, Willy Gentle.
Almost nobody I meet knows anything about Beagle, except The Last Unicorn sometimes, and yet you have managed to make a reference to his work that I do not understand. I am outdone.
(It’s a crime that he’s been so forgotten. I personally think he stands alongside titans like Tolkien and Pratchett, and I want to read more of his work but much of it is no longer in print!)
Willie Gentle was Captain Cully’s minstrel in The Last Unicorn — an Alan-a-Dale to the ragtag band of would-be Merry Men.
Huh! I suppose it’s been too long since I’ve read that.
I’d say it has been.
Beagle had a huge influence on me in my early teens. (Some of my Prussiania stories were shamelessly Beaglesque.) I still read “Come, Lady Death” at least once a year.
I always wondered if “Come, Lady Death” had any influence on Gaiman’s Death from Sandman.
I met the man himself last fall, on the Last Unicorn screening tour, in a little independent theater in San Francisco. I was taken aback by how ordinary and humble he was. Like a friendly great-uncle. Some part of me was expecting a Prometheus.
I’ve never seen mom so happy as at the Barry Manilow concert last night. I was pretty happy, too!
Hello from the Netherlands! We’re staying in Utrecht, but spent today visiting Amsterdam. So far I have eaten (among many other things) a chocolate waffle, stroopwafels, and from the market these amazing poffertjes served with butter and sugar, mmm. Also, gouda has long been a highly-regarded cheese of mine.
So in between taking lots of pictures, today we: walked past the Anne Frank Huis (but didn’t go in, the queue was enormous..), wandered around the canals, visited the Albert Cuyp market, looked at the Concertgebouw, visited the Van Gogh museum. (His paintings are so touching! I remember especially the Flowering Orchards series and Almond Blossoms.) Hard to believe his career only lasted ten or so years…) Did lots of walking in general!
Sadly we won’t have time to see more of Amsterdam this trip, but I definitely plan to come back someday and spend longer visiting. It’s a very pleasant little city, architecture+canals wonderful, lots of people biking everywhere.
Went on vacation to New York! Spent most of the trip either in a museum or eating, saw lots of paintings (pretty much everything in MOMA, including Yoko Ono as she was leaving her exhibition) and cool exhibits (Oceania and part of Africa wings of the Met – so many gorgeous gorgeous and highly sophisticated sculptures, why do they not teach us more about them in school when we’re going through all the various renaissance religious imagery that honestly I can’t stand -, the human evolution / meteorite / rocks corner of Natural History), saw American Ballet Theater do Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Also met up briefly with dodec and fern, which was lots of fun and I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to spend together.
Awesome! I wish I could have been there with you all!
Finally applied to a job that has been hanging over my to-do list like the proverbial sword of Damocles. Yay for finally beating procrastination! Plus, THE NEXT DAY I got a call from the hiring manager who would like to interview me!
Much excitement.
I’ve got many more adventures to describe here, but no time at the moment as I should really hit the sack.
It’s almost 2 AM so it’s time for me to make a long post about college
To everyone who’s going to be starting college and is terrified that they’re going to feel completely alone and not connect with anyone: you won’t.
I’ve been taking anywhere from 4 to 9 credits since spring term of last year as a non-admit student (since I was still technically high-school age) and in that time many of my fears about college have been soothed.
Friends can be your age, or they can be years older than you. Friends can be a fellow terrified freshman, or a student who is coming back for a second degree. Older friends are good if, like me, you need someone who will look after you a bit. I’ve become very close to someone who’s five years older than me- she’s kind of a mom-friend to me. It’s really nice to have someone who’s an adult, but young enough to know what it was like to be your age, to confide in and go to for advice.
Join a club, organization, activity, whatever. Becoming a DJ at the college radio station was one of the best decisions I ever made. I’ve found a place where I’m part of a sort of weird family. I was in an organization (MESA-Mission for Environmental and Social Awareness) for one term (the meeting time was impossible for me last term) and even though I wasn’t really that involved in it, I met people that I knew I could go to if I needed someone.
Last but not least: if your college has a writing center, set up an appointment there at some point. It’s not just for “bad” writers; and if you are a “bad” writer, no one will judge you for going there. I’m going to start working as a tutor at my college’s writing center this fall, which I had to take a course for. Tutors aren’t there to point out what’s wrong with your writing, they’re there to help you figure out how to be a better writer. We’re not scary. If at any stage in writing a paper you think “this could be going better”, go to the writing center. I wish I had during my first writing class, it would have saved me a fair amount of stress if nothing else.
This has been the ramblings of a Rós who really, really needs to sleep.
Wait a second. I feel like you have said something about being somewhat in the area of Eugene Oregon… and you are/(were?) A DJ at a local radio station. I happen to live in Oregon too and there is one specific radio station in/at/affiliated in some way with a certain lane community college – KLCC. Ring any bells?
(Sorry for taking so long to see this!)
I’m actually in the area of Eastern Oregon University- our station is KEOL.
Me yesterday: “I am going to spend the whole day writing and totally not waste my time reading fanfictions all day!”
Me today: *Discovers a treasure trove of fanfictions of my favorite fandom containing my OTP* “I was crazy yesterday.”
Now in the south of Spain! In the middle of nowhere surrounded by olive farms, villa and swimming pool all to ourselves for a week. It is incredibly dry and hot.
Is it intentional that the New York Driver’s Manual you have to study to get your permit has the staples at the beginning of the chapter on passing other cars on the roadway? It is rather encouraging that the book opens to a page where “How to Pass” is written very large.
Probably unintentional, but certainly amusing.
I did pass, so it was a good omen, I guess.
SFTDP
A thought for the day, courtesy of my brother P: if we know we’re going to have to beat the tar out of them with sticks, shouldn’t we make pinatas ugly instead of cute?
A similar question applies to chew toys for dogs.
There are places that will make you a piñata customized to look like anything you want. They even work from photographs of real people. One writer I know threw a publication party that featured a piñata effigy of her very difficult (and absent) co-author. People who were there tell me that it was the most vicious piñata assault they had ever witnessed.
Seems that my hair decided to turn red. All my black and dark brown hair had been falling out and in it’s place is redish hair. Perhaps I should get a new hair style to go with my new hair color. Though I wonder, why does my hair change color randomly? I’m not even making this up, even my mom and dad have noticed! Before, my hair would only look red while I stood in sunlight, now I don’t need sunlight to see that my hair is turning red! XD And sorry if this post is stupid and useless, it’s just that I haven’t said anything lately.
I’ve never heard of that happening! My hair has changed colors over the years but only to the extent of going from white-blonde as a small child to a dirty blonde today.
I’ve heard it’s pretty common for some children to be born with blond hair and for it to slowly darken as they grow up. I’ve never heard of the reverse. Babies can also be born with gray or blue eyes, only for them to become brown (the eyes, not the babies, though I’ve heard of skin tones darkening over time too). My sister was born with light gray eyes and they’re now dark brown.
Yeah, that happened to me and to both my parents. My hair is still lighter than theirs, but it’s very very dark/dirty blond. If you compare it to pictures of me as a child, it’s quite the contrast.
My skin has lightened over time. XD I used to be very tan and now I’m very pale, especially when the sunlight bounces off of my skin.
I meant babies being born pale and then their melanin kicking in, like babies born to black parents shocked by the paleness of their baby, only for the baby to become more “normal”-looking fairly quickly. I also was quite tan as a child and have become paler over time, but I think it’s just because I just stopped going outside so often.
I was apparently born with gray eyes and brown hair with blond tips. Now green eyes and brown hair, brown tips.
have you been spending a lot of time outside? My hair used to bleach out to redder in the summers.
No, actually I’ve spent a lot of time indoors lately because it has been storming a lot like it does every year around here.
Another possible explanation for this is that you are getting split ends and the light is just bouncing off your hair a different way. My hair was starting to look reddish on the ends until I got a haircut earlier this week.
I passed my drivers test!
Don’t try to jump anything!
Unless you’re sure you can stick the landing, of course.
Has anyone done Expanded Universe fan fiction for Jurassic Park? Because I really want to…
“You can hold a thylacine cub in your hands at Australia Zoo. You can see a flock of passenger pigeons at the Smithsonian. There’s swamps in Florida where you can hear bird calls everyone thought DDT had silenced forever. Twenty-five years ago, these would have been miracles, the stuff of headlines. Today they’re on page 12 because the world thinks anything else is a sideshow compared to Isla Nublar.”
Hey everyone! You can find my math comic at mathinthemargins dot tumblr dot com! It is all colored and posted!
Now to work on part two of Pascal’s triangle…
Cute! Looking forward to seeing more.
today it was 112º in Barstow, a town we were near for work. Luckily we were only working in the morning, which was slightly cooler (though never below like 90), and the highest it got when we were collecting plants/measuring our garden yesterday was 108º. Sleeping outside is getting harder.
Next week I’m up for the Death Valley rotation and Vegas is supposed to be 113. It’ll be a tiny bit cooler where we’re going but. Still definitely triple digits all week. idk if I can do it D: D: I’m acclimated pretty well but like. MAYBE NOT ENOUGH… FOR THE 2-3 MILE HIKES… TO OUR SITES… like it’s ok when we get up at 4am and hike out when it’s cooler, but at least once going in and back are always during midday, and I get so much warmer when I’m moving fast (imagine like. the power walking version of hiking. almost jogging. my supervisor is REALLY TALL and REALLY FAST and I gotta keep up) and just hhhhhhh I’m worried D:
like I will survive (I’m drinkin like 4+ liters of water a day for sure) but I may come back to you as either a sad puddle or a dehydrated husk. unsure as to which yet.
It’ll be so interesting to visit Death Valley, they have so much weird stuff there, like Racetrack Playa and that tiny hole that actually leads to a huge cave that has fish that don’t live anywhere else in the world, and the spot where the highest temperature on Earth was recorded that is somehow named Greenland Ranch out of irony.
Alas, this is a work trip, not a visit for wandering! We’re doing research on plants in the Eureka Valley, at 3 sets of sand dunes, and so we go there every other week or every 3rd week to take measurements actually. It’s 5+ hours just to get there and back at the start/end of each week, so we don’t really have time for detours elsewhere in the park (although once we did come back via Scotty’s Castle, which was neat). I’d love to see the other places, but it’d have to be on my own time, and it’s gotten too warm for that now. Racetrack Playa was on my list of places I’d like to go, but the roads have been in bad shape due to rain, and my personal car (unlike the gov 4-wheel-drive) wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Eureka Valley itself is pretty neat though! The dunes certainly are something. Soooo many stars at night, and so strangely quiet–the first two months of our visits, I never even heard insects at night only wind. Very strange to a midwesterner like myself! In other parts of the Mojave we’ve camped/worked in I have been hearing more insects though, so maybe cicadas or something will be out and about next week. I hope not too many bugs though, the heat will be enough to deal with x_x
Life update: Just passed my penultimate college exam! I can’t believe this era is now coming to an end. It doesn’t feel real yet. My last class was on Wednesday, and I’m going to turn in my thesis this weekend. Actually, my advisor already gave me an A on it, but it’s so nice of him to trust in my work like that (and save me a good deal of beurocratic busywork) and I feel like Ihave to hand in the most perfect paper under the sun. Admittedly, I’ve already had my advisor correct it three times and I’m only supposed to change a few typos and a paragraph. So I guess the paragraph will have to be a paragon of perfection then.
In less serious terms: Wheeeee!
So the Supreme Court did something good for once and I am going to cry, I am so happy and so lucky to live here, and decisions like these make me really believe that people will do the right thing, and wow. Wow.
I know, it was so wonderful to hear.
(Five years ago, there’s no way I would’ve said that. Five years ago I wouldn’t have counted this a victory. Thank you so much to Dodecahedron and everyone else on MuseBlog that put me on the path away from hatred.)
I’m in a similar position, having been privately rather homophobic when I joined the blog. I’m obviously no longer so. Thank you all for helping me appreciate what an important issue this is.
What a great victory! There are, of course, many other human rights issues to be addressed. But this is a good step in the right direction.
It’s nice to see that people actually can do something good, in spite of all the other news stories that seem to offer evidence to the contrary.
IT IS A GOODGOODGOOD DAYYYYYY I’M SO EXCIIIITED AAAHHHH
YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH
What isn’t good news is the whole business about the Confederate Flag. If we’re going to ban the Confederate Flag, shouldn’t we ban the American Flag too? Since it offends Muslims?
By the way, if I’ve just said something stupid, don’t be too hard on me. I only know what I hear and don’t deserve my own opinions.
ok, so I really want to help you understand why I feel the way I do about the confederate flag. I don’t want to scare you off or make you defensive and I’m really sorry if I do.
I think that you absolutely deserve to form your own opinion about these things – but I also feel that your opinion should be based on as many of the facts as you can get, and that it can grow and change as you acquire new facts.
So, here’s my perspective.
I did not grow up in the South – I’ve lived in New York my whole life, and even when I lived in a more rural part of it, we’re famous for being a very liberal state – going blue/democratic in every election, etc. So I didn’t grow up seeing Confederate flags around. I did learn about them in school. What I learned is this, in a nutshell: This flag was a symbol of the people who were not on our side. I understand that this may not have been what you have heard, so I’ll elaborate. These people were willing to defend to the death their way of life, which may be honorable, taken without context – but their way of life was based on treating their fellow human beings as if they were animals. I am not a black person, so I do not experience the negative aftereffects of slavery firsthand. I feel strongly that black people deserve just as many rights as I do, and their skin color does not make them any less human or less intelligent than I am.
You’ve probably heard a lot of things about how a Confederate flag is representative of the heritage of the South, but the thing is, the heritage of the South is based on treating some humans pretty awfully. Personally, if you think that’s in the past, there’s nothing I can do about that – but I do ask that you respect that not everyone agrees with you. What do you gain by being in favor of the Confederate flag? What, concretely, does “heritage” get you? I’ll now ask you to keep in mind how others feel about the Confederate flag – it represents hundreds of years of them being treated like animals, less than human, some continuing to face worse treatment into the present day. Is what you gain worth what they lose?
As to the second half of your point – the American flag differs from the Confederate flag in that it represents a currently solvent nation. What it represents may offend some radical extremists in the Islamic state, but those tiny fraction of extremists are in no way indicative of all Muslims – in fact, there are many Muslims who are American, and who are not offended at all by it.
Lastly, as an interesting side note, I will remind you that flag burning is protected free speech in America, even if that flag is American.
Everyone deserves their opinions — but the flip side of that is that everyone has to take responsibility for their own opinions too.
I happen to think your opinion is wrong, but I don’t hate you or think you’re stupid. I’ll try to explain why.
I agree that getting rid of any symbol with a bloody history would leave us with very few symbols! (The American flag has flown over some terrible things, after all.) But the history of the Confederate battle flag is pretty clear. It was created as a symbol of illegal secession from the United States in order to wage a war in defense of slavery. I don’t think people should be banned from flying it themselves, or any other flag of a movement that I personally hate, because if you give the government that power once, it’s very difficult to take it away. (The First Amendment doesn’t just apply to people I agree with.) But I also don’t think it should fly over government buildings with the implied endorsement of the United States of America, because it is an artifact of an attack on America, an attack made to keep Americans enslaved because of their heritage and the color of their skin.
That’s my opinion. I’d be happy to talk more about it, but we’d want to move the discussion to the Hot Topics thread in order to keep it from taking over the Random.
Nothing terribly coherent here – both dodec and posoc make good points. A few disjointed remarks:
-I don’t know what banning the confederate flag means to you exactly; I don’t think anyone is proposing that no one be allowed to own or display it. Businesses are within their rights to sell or not sell them as they wish, and I am within my rights to patronize them or not as I please. That said, having governmental entities display it suggests endorsement, which has issues.
-I grew up in texas and went through public school, so I did experience the whole southern pride heritage thing. Whether explicitly or implicitly, and I experienced both, the flag represents racist ideals. The heritage it represents is the systematic oppression of a group of people based on race.
-The american flag is a national symbol. The confederate flag is limited to the southeast. Atrocities have been committed under the american flag, but it is also commonly used as a symbol of freedom, justice, equality, all the nice fuzzy things. The confederate flag has its roots in a civil war – an attempt to separate from the nation – and the resurgence of popularity in the south was a backlash against the civil rights movement.
-According to the 2011 census, there are 2,600,000 muslim american citizens. the flag represents them as much as it represents you.
-You’re what, 14? That’s plenty old enough to start coming up with your own opinions.
-I also disapprove of unthinking veneration of the american flag, for what it’s worth; I sat out the pledge of allegiance every day from middle school onward. But the american flag’s main message isn’t representing a point of view that sees entire classes of people as less than.
Here’s how I understand it — the Confederate flag is like a milder version of the Nazi swastika. It, too, represents a now-deprecated (though not extinct!) way of thinking that no modern government entity would approve, such as the enslavement of others or genocide. The Confederate flag represents slavery and oppression — the Civil War was, sure, about states’ rights (the rights of states to make legislation banning banning slavery; yes, that’s banning x 2) and the economy (based on slave labor). Okay, so it was about slavery.
The crimes committed under the Nazi swastika were more recent than the oldest crimes committed under the Confederate flag, and the Nazi swastika is almost universally reviled and Germany would be absolutely out of their mind to display it above any government building. The Confederate flag is still flown over government buildings to this day, long after slavery was declared illegal; it represents a continuation of that kind of mindset, that “the South will rise again”.
P.S. Muslims can be Americans too! The American flag only offends extremists, but the Confederate flag offends those who remember the sins of those who flew the flag.
Of course, the proper response to that catchphrase is, “And the North will beat you down, again.”
Unless I’m missing something, the whole point is that the confederate flag shouldn’t be flown over official government buildings anymore? There’s no good reason for it to be there anyway, since it doesn’t represent the US in the first place.
From an international perspective, all the Europeans I’ve met who have been the south of the US have found it weird that they’re still flying the “slavery flag”. We (Austria) also had a brief civil war, but none would dream of using those old symbols outside of a museum.
On a side note, aren’t the state flags supposed to represent the proud heritage of wherever you live?
Everybody else has put in excellent words! I’ve got a couple points to add–also not trying to attack you, but just giving you some new info and perspectives!
For reference, I am a white Southerner. (Also, I’m going to call it the Southern Cross, because that’s the name of the design that is widely used and misunderstood to have been an official symbol of the Confederacy, and is currently under discussion.)
-As Lizzie said, all that’s happening is that some retailers are choosing not to sell the Southern Cross anymore, and the state government of South Carolina is trying to decide whether it should stop displaying it at government buildings alongside the national and state flags.
-I think the picture you’ve been handed of people being offended is an oversimplification. Not only does it represent, y’know, a bunch of people who decided to go to war for the ability to legally enslave people, it also represents a bunch of people who completely severed from the US to do so. It represents people who wanted to celebrate all that, or wave it away, or deny it happened. It has been adopted internationally by neo-Nazis and other racists. The headlines are all about people talking about what they know seeing that flag means for them (danger) and other people rethinking their associations with it. I personally have only ever thought that anyone displaying the Southern Cross was either consciously dangerous or dangerously thoughtless.
-As a descendent of Confederates, the idea that the display of the Southern Cross is respectful to the Southern soldiers and civilians who died during the war doesn’t do anything for me. I think it disrespects many other deceased people who are not institutionally honored as their enslavers are, and also disrespects many living people.
-As others said, plenty of Muslims are Americans, and the idea you’ve absorbed of Muslims vs Americans is an Islamophobic concept.
I’d never heard it called the Southern Cross before, interesting. I thought that sort of “x” design was called a saltire and the term “Southern Cross” in vexillology meant the image of the constellation, as on the flags of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and several other South Pacific nations.
Oh, both those things are true! I’m not sure when the battle flag as a whole also became called that, but. I dunno, it’s Southern and has a cross-shape on it, so. It did. The naming distinction isn’t really important to me, but since the confederacy itself used several other official designs which aren’t now used nearly as often as the southern cross, I zeroed in on that design for fact purposes. (Though everything I said about my attitudes wrt meaning and display applies to all of them.) ~History facts~
I haven’t checked the ‘blog in a while, so when I saw that this discussion wasn’t actually about the Southern Hemisphere constellation I was surprised.
I would be very glad to have a discussion of the Southern Hemisphere constellation, it’s very pretty and I liked finding it when I was in Australia.
Everyone’s saying good things, and I’d also like to note that the flag was raised (risen?) over the SC capitol in the 1960s in protest to the civil rights movement. That flag, and especially that flag’s presence in that place, is a lot more than offensive.
Even though it’s definitely still for the future and not now, I’ve been doing a good amount of serious consideration about how/when/where/if I’ll settle down, and not having to take into consideration my chances of being able to have a legally recognized marriage is an incredible relief.
One of my coworkers and I were working aloft when a parade of small boats with pride flags sailed down the East River, so we honked our horn and waved a lot and it was just so cool to see. We tried to find a rainbow flag for our ship, but couldn’t find one on our lunch break, which was disappointing.
Our sympathies are with SpaceX tonight in the hopes that the cause of today’s launch failure may be quickly and effectively discovered and remedied for future flights.
I just saw one of my coworkers rainbow-ify their profile picture online. This is the same coworker who once told me “I donate the cost of my meal to the HRC every time I go to Chick-fil-A”….. at the time, I was pretty annoyed, since the HRC is largely a construct of transphobic white wealthy gay men, and does little/nothing to address the concerns I have as an intersectional feminist. (Also, it’s like… we live in New York, the office is in lower Manhattan, you are GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY to go to Chick-fil-A & give money to people who want me and mine dead)
Color me disappointed but unsurprised, and definitely don’t color me rainbow, since it’s almost completely meaningless now. I wish the bar for being an ally was set the tiniest bit higher, so that only people who were actually allies in actions as well as in words could cross it.
update: decided this morning to comment on his picture with “so, uh, does this mean you’re going to stop going to chick-fil-a?” … kind of as a joke, but actually I’m not joking at all????
That’s such a weird thing to do too. Like, even assuming that a donation to the HRC somehow “canceled” out profits to Chick-Fil-A, this guy is effectively paying twice as much for an average chicken sandwich to salve his guilt.
Money isn’t CO2, alas.
I’ve never had a Chick-Fil-A sandwich, but they must be pretty amazing if people will go to such lengths to get them.
Confession: I think Chick-Fil-A is delicious and I go every so often. Their kids’ meal is filling and cheap, and I’m a poor college student. Also their food is 900% better and cheaper than McDonald’s.
Not proud of it, and I feel really bad about it after reading Dodec’s post. If I ever become rich I’ll donate all the money I ever spent there to GLAAD or something — not perfect, I know, but it’s one of the cheapest places I can get a filling dinner near my work/the best local Target.
Me, neither. My co-workers in DC all raved about it, but despite Dodec’s comment about there being one in NYC, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one of their shops, just ads. (But then, I never saw a Moe’s until I went to New Haven even though there are some way closer, so maybe I’m just bad at noticing.)
They’re… okay? Like, I’d eat one if somebody put one in front of me, but I don’t see any reason for anybody to go out of their way for them.
The Pride Parade in SF was fun! Noisy, chaotic, and with the occasional weed-smoke cloud, but (and?) fun. Wouldn’t have gone if it weren’t for the SCOTUS decision because of my penchant for avoiding crowds, but I wasn’t about to miss a chance to see history unfolding and I’m glad I did. Love wins!
so, uh, does this mean you’re going to stop going to chick-fil-a?
I have always supported LGBTQ+ rights, as well as people’s rights to affordable healthcare and fair competition between businesses. Yet I spend maybe — as a liberal estimate — $60/year on food at Chick-Fil-A (let’s say that’s ~1 meal/month). I would gladly work for a biotech company that has pharmaceutical companies as clients that charge patients up the nose for life-saving cancer drugs and make enormous profits on them. If I’m stranded somewhere without a ride, you can bet that I will compare Uber and Lyft to see which will give me a cheaper taxi ride (see the NYT article “The Slippery Slope of Silicon Valley” and/or Google “the most ethically challenged company in Silicon Valley”).
The fact that I eat at Chick-Fil-A occasionally may make me a hypocrite, but if I only patronized businesses that aligned exactly with my moral compass, I would be spending much more money than I am right now, and at this point in my life, money is a big deal. Chick-Fil-A’s ethics woes may be better-publicized than those of other companies, but that doesn’t mean other companies don’t have their own ethical dilemmas. As it is, I find their food tasty, and my $60/year will probably simply help fund the salaries of the workers at the franchise I go to, who have the unfortunate dilemma of paying rent in the same city as Yahoo headquarters and just down the road from Apple and Google. What can I say — at least I shop at Target rather than Wal-Mart (and I spend much more money in one trip to Target than I do in several months of going to Chick-Fil-A).
I’m not asking you to only support perfect businesses – I know that’s impossible. I’m just saying, this is where I draw the line, and I don’t think it’s an unreasonable place to ask others to draw the line. There are other fast food places. (I don’t use Uber or Lyft either, for what it’s worth.)
If you’re going to keep going, then that’s your answer – qualifying it with long excuses doesn’t change it. I hope that you consider whether you want to change that instead of just getting defensive. I would also like it if you considered how your actions as a whole communicate your pro-LGBTQ stance to LGBTQ people. Allyship is based on actions, after all.
Man, I need to stop posting things on the internet, freaking out over what people will say back, and dropping contact with said people for weeks. Especially since it’s rare that I actually voice anything controversial enough in the given context to get much of a response.
So, I finally finished exams last week! This semester has gone pretty badly for me – I got above 80 in every subject last year, and it looks like everything will drop at least a letter grade (10 points). There was an assignment I didn’t finish, one I never even did, many weekly things I didn’t do / turn up to, or handed in late. I felt overwhelmed by everything and constantly anxious for a large chunk of it, and didn’t feel like going out and doing fun stuff like I did last year, either. Next semester should be a little better since I have a better idea of the expectations of 2nd-year courses, and am going to make an effort to avoid a lecturer as terrible as my differential equations one this semester.
My dad finished his first lot of chemotherapy in February or so, and it looked from the tests that it was stable… then in May, we had a fun trip to the emergency room, which brought up a lot of painful memories at random times, despite my mainly being used to this stuff by now. (He was in twice again two weeks ago for unexplained pains, at terrible times of the night/morning!) That week they figured out he had noticeable lumps in his lungs, so they started the new chemo planned for four months ahead within two days. I insisted on going to the doctor’s appointment because it’s hard enough to keep track of what’s going on with him. It’s not that I’m actually able to do much to help, but knowledge is power. Apparently the usual prognosis would be three years to live. He’s far younger and otherwise healthier than the average case, though, so optimism is warranted.
He’s also acquired a girlfriend. *eyebrow waggle* They text like steorotypical teenagers which sometimes grates on my nerves, and because this is a city of soul-crushing commutes he often drives half an hour to see her, but she’s pretty cool. He’s successfully introduced her to tango, and our cats.
After a lot of skirting around the topic, I finally asked one of my uni friends if he’d been flirting with me when we first started hanging out, and he confirmed the answer was no. That’s good, because I don’t like him romantically, so we’re on the same page.
I’m sorry about your father and your grades, but I hope he fully recovers.
I’m at college!
…okay, not actually. But I am doing a Summer@Brown program for 2 weeks and taking an actual college-level course and feeding myself and all those other things! The course is Marine Biology of the Invertebrates and my first class was great! The professor’s really nice, the lab is super cool, and yesterday we got to look at some baby squid!!! The only weird thing is it’s from 3 to 6 in the afternoon/evening, so I have to do my homework the next morning and that feels strange. But yay college stuff!
Wow, that sounds like a fun class! Enjoy it!
One of my online friends got called an Annoying Little S-word today by her own mother and now she’s even more depressed than she already was. I don’t know how to help her, she told me to leave her alone because she felt like S-word… DX I wish she was my sister, my mom would love her no matter what if she was her child…
That’s awful!
Eh, don’t worry about it. My mom called me that one day. Except that she said ‘snot’, but still, the point got across that she knows I’m worthless. It’s been made clear a few times.