A propos of very little
It's...unsettling to think that someone you used to know could be dead without your knowing it.
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Writer's Block: Mommy Mommy
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Memories of my mom? What, you expect me to come up with any that don't involve hospital beds and breathing tubes?
Fuck you, LiveJournal. Fuck you right in the bit bucket.
Memories of my mom? What, you expect me to come up with any that don't involve hospital beds and breathing tubes?
Fuck you, LiveJournal. Fuck you right in the bit bucket.
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Writer's Block: Ticket, Please
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Wow, this question reeks of privilege.
Wow, this question reeks of privilege.
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Writer's Block: Educate Me
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More philosophy and critical thinking; more psychology. Less emphasis on team sports and more on other fitness-related activities.
More philosophy and critical thinking; more psychology. Less emphasis on team sports and more on other fitness-related activities.
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Writer's Block: National Pi Day
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For some reason, only the first twenty-eight (past the decimal point) seem to be able to stick in my head. I've tried to cram in more digits multiple times, and they never took. I wonder if I've lost some kind of plasticity or something.
For some reason, only the first twenty-eight (past the decimal point) seem to be able to stick in my head. I've tried to cram in more digits multiple times, and they never took. I wonder if I've lost some kind of plasticity or something.
Seven more things
Posting about seven random things was actually kinda fun, so I picked up seven more from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tsgeisel. I'll still hand out seven topics to anyone else who asks.
business cards: I used to have deliberately silly ones, but the contact information on them became outdated. I keep thinking I should maybe acquire some MOO cards, but the problem is that I'd want different ones for business and social uses, and I can't quite motivate myself to shell out for two sets.
romance novels: I actually kind of wish I could get into them, because I'd like to be able to fantasize about romance a little more, especially during periods when there's not enough of it in my life. But it seems like they're all either insufficiently realistic, or about characters who are insufficiently like me for me to connect with.
Huh. Now that I think about it, romantic fanfic does sometimes work for me, and maybe that's why: the characters are ones I do connect with, and I know enough about them that their stories are more meaningful.
I've also, interestingly enough, had good luck with parodies of romance; it's sometimes easier to get into a story that explicitly doesn't take itself too seriously, and flaws can be easier to condone when they're deliberate.
milk chocolate: Usually I prefer dark. Milk just tastes like chocolate-flavored sugar. On the other hand, I recently discovered that adding bacon can mitigate the over-sweetness quite nicely.
candles: Ohgods, did I ever use to collect scented ones. Problem was, I never really had occasion to use them; it doesn't usually occur to me to light things on fire just because I want to smell them, and it feels sort of wasteful too. Now I get my scents elsewhere.
juggling: I can do a basic three-ball cascade, and once or twice I've tried passing with a partner who's also doing a three-ball cascade. That's about as far as I've ever gotten. I can also do some really basic moves with poi and devil sticks.
masks: I made a couple of really pretty ones as art projects in junior high. I don't much like to wear masks, though; having things on my face tends to annoy me. And I also dislike being surrounded by people in masks. Masks don't always stop me from identifying familiar people, but they do hide facial expressions, which are a massively important part of in-person communication; not seeing someone's expressions as they talk feels creepy.
eyebrows: This is kinda timely. I just found out this past weekend that darkening my eyebrows a touch, together with one or two other little makeup tricks, makes me look pretty badass in a satisfyingly butch sort of way. I knew there was a reason I liked my eyebrows.
tsgeisel. I'll still hand out seven topics to anyone else who asks.business cards: I used to have deliberately silly ones, but the contact information on them became outdated. I keep thinking I should maybe acquire some MOO cards, but the problem is that I'd want different ones for business and social uses, and I can't quite motivate myself to shell out for two sets.
romance novels: I actually kind of wish I could get into them, because I'd like to be able to fantasize about romance a little more, especially during periods when there's not enough of it in my life. But it seems like they're all either insufficiently realistic, or about characters who are insufficiently like me for me to connect with.
Huh. Now that I think about it, romantic fanfic does sometimes work for me, and maybe that's why: the characters are ones I do connect with, and I know enough about them that their stories are more meaningful.
I've also, interestingly enough, had good luck with parodies of romance; it's sometimes easier to get into a story that explicitly doesn't take itself too seriously, and flaws can be easier to condone when they're deliberate.
milk chocolate: Usually I prefer dark. Milk just tastes like chocolate-flavored sugar. On the other hand, I recently discovered that adding bacon can mitigate the over-sweetness quite nicely.
candles: Ohgods, did I ever use to collect scented ones. Problem was, I never really had occasion to use them; it doesn't usually occur to me to light things on fire just because I want to smell them, and it feels sort of wasteful too. Now I get my scents elsewhere.
juggling: I can do a basic three-ball cascade, and once or twice I've tried passing with a partner who's also doing a three-ball cascade. That's about as far as I've ever gotten. I can also do some really basic moves with poi and devil sticks.
masks: I made a couple of really pretty ones as art projects in junior high. I don't much like to wear masks, though; having things on my face tends to annoy me. And I also dislike being surrounded by people in masks. Masks don't always stop me from identifying familiar people, but they do hide facial expressions, which are a massively important part of in-person communication; not seeing someone's expressions as they talk feels creepy.
eyebrows: This is kinda timely. I just found out this past weekend that darkening my eyebrows a touch, together with one or two other little makeup tricks, makes me look pretty badass in a satisfyingly butch sort of way. I knew there was a reason I liked my eyebrows.
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Seven random things
Comment to this post, and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your journal. Other people can get lists from you, and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.
wshaffer gave me these:
travel: Can't get all that excited about travel for travel's sake. Traveling to see people is more of a draw for me, although even then it puts a bit of a crimp in my lifestyle. Right now my dad's trying to get me to come down and consult with him on Important Things and I'm still having trouble figuring out a place in my schedule that I really want to carve the time out of. *sigh*
singing: Couldn't live without it. Am finally studying to get better at it. Yay!
modern art: I keep being tempted to scoff at it. Like, I mean, Rothko. Really? A big honking white rectangle in between two big honking red ones is supposed to be art?
But then I look at a Pollock painting and I go "oooooooooooh." No goddamn reason a bunch of swirls should be art either, but it's satisfying to me in a fundamental enough way that I don't mind people calling it art.
So if that's art, then I guess Rothko's inane rectangles must be too. Or something.
ginger: Good stuff, ginger. Eases the stomach and all. And goddamn I love gingerbread.
Just don't ever call me "gingered up," because I know perfectly well what the origin of that phrase is, and figging is not my kink.
I am, however, rather fond of Tim Minchin's song Taboo.
waistcoats: Sexay. I should wear them more often...but then there's so rarely an occasion to. Like neckties. Feh.
Batman: The Tim Burton films kinda creeped me out when I was a kid. Then the really cheesy films came out when I was a teenager. Should've been the other way around.
pie: I like it well enough, although my enjoyment of it (even when it's gluten-free) is hampered somewhat by my obsessive-compulsive need to balance crust and filling per bite. I'm not a fan of fruit pies except for apple, but I like a good pecan or chocolate cream, and occasionally find myself in the mood for pumpkin.
wshaffer gave me these:travel: Can't get all that excited about travel for travel's sake. Traveling to see people is more of a draw for me, although even then it puts a bit of a crimp in my lifestyle. Right now my dad's trying to get me to come down and consult with him on Important Things and I'm still having trouble figuring out a place in my schedule that I really want to carve the time out of. *sigh*
singing: Couldn't live without it. Am finally studying to get better at it. Yay!
modern art: I keep being tempted to scoff at it. Like, I mean, Rothko. Really? A big honking white rectangle in between two big honking red ones is supposed to be art?
But then I look at a Pollock painting and I go "oooooooooooh." No goddamn reason a bunch of swirls should be art either, but it's satisfying to me in a fundamental enough way that I don't mind people calling it art.
So if that's art, then I guess Rothko's inane rectangles must be too. Or something.
ginger: Good stuff, ginger. Eases the stomach and all. And goddamn I love gingerbread.
Just don't ever call me "gingered up," because I know perfectly well what the origin of that phrase is, and figging is not my kink.
I am, however, rather fond of Tim Minchin's song Taboo.
waistcoats: Sexay. I should wear them more often...but then there's so rarely an occasion to. Like neckties. Feh.
Batman: The Tim Burton films kinda creeped me out when I was a kid. Then the really cheesy films came out when I was a teenager. Should've been the other way around.
pie: I like it well enough, although my enjoyment of it (even when it's gluten-free) is hampered somewhat by my obsessive-compulsive need to balance crust and filling per bite. I'm not a fan of fruit pies except for apple, but I like a good pecan or chocolate cream, and occasionally find myself in the mood for pumpkin.
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Writer's Block: Ready for Your Close-up
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The plot I dunno about, but I always kinda figured Janeane Garofalo would play me.
I haven't been keeping up with Hollywood lately, though; is there anyone up-and-coming who'd be more appropriate?
The plot I dunno about, but I always kinda figured Janeane Garofalo would play me.
I haven't been keeping up with Hollywood lately, though; is there anyone up-and-coming who'd be more appropriate?
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Writer's Block: Just Say No!
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Correcting people's grammar in public. I mostly manage to only do it in private these days.
Correcting people's grammar in public. I mostly manage to only do it in private these days.
Musical variety
Huh. I seem to've been doing a pretty good job of getting more music into my life lately even independently of the whole "pursuing a degree in the subject" thing. The top three emails in my inbox right now are each about music, and are from three completely different sources, only one of which has anything to do with school.
How long will it take before all holidays merge into one?
My next-door neighbors just put up Xmas lights.
I don't know if they plan to turn them on at night yet, but still.
*huge sigh*
I don't know if they plan to turn them on at night yet, but still.
*huge sigh*
Mississippi Personhood Amendment
Originally posted by gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood Amendment
gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood AmendmentOkay, so I don't usually do this, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is getting very little no attention in the mainstream media.
Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.
Putting aside the contentious issue of abortion, this would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.
Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.
What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.
The reason I'm posting this here is because I made a meager donation to the Jackson Women's Health Organization this morning, and I received a personal email back hours later - on a Sunday - thanking me and noting that I'm one of the first "outside" people to contribute.
So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. My RSS reader is near silent on this amendment. I only found out about it through a feminist blog. The mainstream media is not reporting on it.
If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.
What to do?
- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.
- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.
- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of our representatives aren't speaking out against this.
- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.
Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.
Putting aside the contentious issue of abortion, this would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.
Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.
What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.
The reason I'm posting this here is because I made a meager donation to the Jackson Women's Health Organization this morning, and I received a personal email back hours later - on a Sunday - thanking me and noting that I'm one of the first "outside" people to contribute.
So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. My RSS reader is near silent on this amendment. I only found out about it through a feminist blog. The mainstream media is not reporting on it.
If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.
What to do?
- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.
- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.
- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of our representatives aren't speaking out against this.
- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.
Mysterious distinctiveness
It kind of baffles me sometimes how often I can identify the author of an LJ post before I scroll up to see the username.
I mean, sometimes it's pretty obvious from the subject matter, and occasionally it's obvious from the writing style. But sometimes I scroll back down and reread the post and still can't for the life of me figure out how I knew who wrote it. Especially when it's someone I don't even know in real life.
Does this happen to you? Are you as puzzled by it as I am?
I mean, sometimes it's pretty obvious from the subject matter, and occasionally it's obvious from the writing style. But sometimes I scroll back down and reread the post and still can't for the life of me figure out how I knew who wrote it. Especially when it's someone I don't even know in real life.
Does this happen to you? Are you as puzzled by it as I am?
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Writer's Block: Freewill vs. fate
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...Why ask this about love in particular? Either we have free will with regard to everything, or we don't.
...Why ask this about love in particular? Either we have free will with regard to everything, or we don't.
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Writer's Block: When the moon hits the sky...
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Ohgods. The town I grew up in had this pizza place that served all kinds of specialty pizzas, including one with mashed potatoes and gravy and one with angel hair pasta, chicken, bacon, and ranch dressing. I've been missing those for years. *sigh*
Ohgods. The town I grew up in had this pizza place that served all kinds of specialty pizzas, including one with mashed potatoes and gravy and one with angel hair pasta, chicken, bacon, and ranch dressing. I've been missing those for years. *sigh*
Does anyone these days even know what it means to actually communicate?
From Wired's article on the Facebook redesign (h/t to metahacker):
Ohferchrissake. Am I alone in thinking that hearing what day-to-day shit someone's been up to for the past year instead of the past week does not make a conversation any fucking deeper? Or that checking out someone's bookshelves, though it may help one get a slightly better sense of the person, does not count as some kind of "soul exchange"?
Give people a platform to make posts that actually have content, and then maybe I'll be able to feel like I know them better after checking out their archives.
Okay, yeah, so people are mostly too busy for content these days, and it's easier for them to broadcast every little thing they do rather than take time to talk about the big things. Fine, I understand; sometimes you gotta make sacrifices, and sometimes you've got to settle for whatever way you can manage to keep in contact at all. But don't pretend it's not a sacrifice; don't pretend that a firehose of trivia is somehow just as interesting or informative as an actual conversation.
metahacker):“With the current profile, you look at my wall, you look at my photos, you’re done — there’s nothing else to do,” says Chris Cox, Facebook’s VO of Product. He compares it to the first five minutes with a stranger, when you simply find out the basics about a person — where they work, where they went to school, who they know. Even the more extensive information that Facebook has added over the years only adds up to five more minutes of conversation, where you might learn what the person was been doing very recently.
[...]
Cox says that instead of that brief conversation you used to get by scanning the previous version of the profile, visiting the profile will be the equivalent of going to a bar to have a long overdue five-hour soul exchange. “It’s that conversation where you play the jukebox till it runs out, the bar closes, and you walk about and say, ‘Man, that was really deep,’” he says.
The profile will be “a visual scrapbook of your life,” says Cox. At his F8 keynote Zuckerberg goes farther, calling it “the story of your life.” Visitors come by to learn about who you are in detail — it will almost be like being left alone in someone’s apartment and being able to check out their bookshelves, CD’s, refrigerator and even their pedometer — but people will actually spend endless time on their own profiles, not only organizing them but eventually hanging out there to reminisce about the past.
Ohferchrissake. Am I alone in thinking that hearing what day-to-day shit someone's been up to for the past year instead of the past week does not make a conversation any fucking deeper? Or that checking out someone's bookshelves, though it may help one get a slightly better sense of the person, does not count as some kind of "soul exchange"?
Give people a platform to make posts that actually have content, and then maybe I'll be able to feel like I know them better after checking out their archives.
Okay, yeah, so people are mostly too busy for content these days, and it's easier for them to broadcast every little thing they do rather than take time to talk about the big things. Fine, I understand; sometimes you gotta make sacrifices, and sometimes you've got to settle for whatever way you can manage to keep in contact at all. But don't pretend it's not a sacrifice; don't pretend that a firehose of trivia is somehow just as interesting or informative as an actual conversation.
The vagaries of Craigslist
Try to give away small items of furniture -- no takers.
Try to give away planter boxes -- five replies within half an hour.
Huh.
Try to give away planter boxes -- five replies within half an hour.
Huh.