I was supposed to study for my test in Philosophy of Science, but got hit by a second sickness while still recovering from last week's cold. Thus, all I've really managed this weekend, besides sleeping, is getting excited over an offhand comment in one of my coursebooks that the word "vaccination" originates from vaccine (lat. for "cowpox", from lat. vacca - "cow"), since the first form of vaccination consisted of infecting people with cowpox - which doesn't affect humans - in order to make them immune to smallpox. And that concludes today's nerdy linguistic anecdote.



My new hometown is almost ridiculously clean. There seems to be nearly no littering; not even in places that don't get cleaned up as often, like outside the very center of the town. Maybe the general attitude towards littering is different here, or perhaps it's simply a matter of providing more public trashcans. It's a nice change, in any case.
But speaking of which: it really isn't things like this that keeps my faith in humanity alive, nor is it the selflessness and unconditional helpfulness that people sometimes can show, strangely enough. It's the short moments between people, the sudden bursts of creativity and spontaneousness that really won't make a huge impact on the world, but are done anyway. Like the documentary I watched the other day about a huge group of people who gathered together to make a huge painting of a naked human body, using only their own naked bodies as material. Or just the way one can strike up a conversation, no more than a few sentences, with a cashier or a guy one passes by on the street, laugh together, and then move on. Yes, this is a very deep and important issue that I have been contemplating for days now. Every time I go grocery shopping, in fact.



( Kiseki )



On a finishing note: earwigs? The ugliest little bastards in the insect world, second only to cockroaches. They need to stop getting into my apartment. Go away, or I will drown every single one of you the way I drowned your brother.

This is one of those rare posts of mine that are all about me, me, me. I was planning on including some musings on archetypal figures and views on good and evil in children's fiction, but that, I fear, will have to wait until my next post. This turned out long enough on its own. Oh, and that reminds me: have an LJ Content Quiz. I scored pretty low in all categories, so it's not worth posting my results, but it may be more fun and relatable for some people reading this.

( With pictures for your enjoyment )

It's decided: I'm moving to the south of the country to become a librarian. I suppose it's about time I grew up and moved out of the nest, but godammit is it frightening. I'm currently working on finding someplace to stay - the semester starts in late August. The best part, though? Living in this new city, I'll be only a few miles away from where the annual Book Fair is held. Finally I'll be able to visit it.

And now for something completely different:

( Icons! )

I got accepted into the librarian program at this university in the south of the country. I... don't know what to do. I know my mom is sick of having me around the house all the time, so I'll have to move out at some point, and since getting a permanent employment seems to be an impossibility at this point, education would seem like the most reasonable excuse to get going, but good heavens, it's so far away. Someone please find a way for me to crawl back into the womb and not have a single care in the world anymore.

I've been failing at activity at Poly for about a month now. I need to do something about it.

( Meme )

Random trivia:

- Disproportioned features, or more precisely oversized heads and eyes in comparision to the rest of the body, along with soft, round features, evoke parental instincts in all animals, regardless of what species the baby in question belongs to.

- It seems to me that folklore from all cultures, be it legends or fairytales, almost always regard the trinity as a holy number. Maybe it has to do with most tales being recorded only after the cultures they originated from had been in prolonged contact with cultures that did consider the number 3 to hold a special value? I'd like to do some reading up on that. I do know that both 7 and 9 are considered holy numbers (the latter mostly so because it's the result of 3+3+3 and therefore thrice as holy), but I've never heard of any culture in which 5 is considered sacred, which is odd, considering our five fingers and toes, our five senses, etc.

- The best part about the Ice Age 3 movie was the Moby Dick reference.


ROLEPLAYME!

( my thread: here! )

While I'm happy to see that democratic issues such as the current one in Iran occasionally manage to attract so much attention from the outside world - and to see so many people on my f-list acknowledging the situation, at that - I don't think I'll add to it. Let's hope that the pressure from outside will do some good for the Iranian people, but let us also please keep in mind the unfairness and wars happening all over the world right now without getting any medial attention whatsoever (this is not to say I don't think people shouldn't take a stance for issues they sympathise with; quite the opposite, in fact). Moving on, I've been thinking about something slightly different these last days.

( And this is what )

( Dear various writers of shoujo manga... )

I had a dream that I was having an Internet discussion in which it was agreed upon that Hikaru's Mary-Sue-ness and Fuu's random bursts of jealousy over Ferio in the anime version of MKR mean that Umi's character was the least butchered one of the three Magic Knights. Please stay tuned for our next issue of "just how sad can my dreams get and what do they say about me?".

( And now for some words on the winner of the Nobel Literature Prize of 1978 and other reading experiences )

     
    
or   
 
 



( One of my extremely interesting lists )

Today, same-sex marriage has finally become legal in Sweden. Only one of the parties in the coalition that makes the current sitting government is officially against the idea, and thus they were outnumbered. The opposition is entirely in favour of it (pretty much a given, since it consists almost exclusively of left-winged parties). Media has been strangely quiet about it, to a degree which I honestly find rather surprising. Well, at least the glbt community is celebrating.

I can't believe it took fifteen years of civil unions and a right-winged government to finally reach this point. I'm not proud of this - I don't believe in taking pride in the piece of land you happen to live on and the laws/customs associated with it, especially if you've done nothing yourself to create said laws and customs - but I'm very happy about this small step towards global equality having been taken.

Fandom: Tsubasa
Characters: Mokona-centric, mentions of everyone in the travelling group.
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff, gen, introspective, slight angst.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Fay is touchy-feely and with little respect for personal space, but he's not very good at cuddling.

( Fay isn't as good as the others when it comes to cuddling. )

I can now add champagne to my list of Alcoholic Beverages I Do Not Like. Since I spent the evening together with some fifty people with access to an open bar, I've also been reminded of one of the reasons why I don't really drink in the first place. It was a nice party, though, however much the hosts and my immediate family refused to understand that I'm perfectly content keeping to the sidelines, appreciating the music and watching people dance. People always assume I'm horribly bored when in reality I would consider that a pretty well-spent evening. I'd also forgotten how strongly that part of the country is still influenced by Laestadianism, which resulted in me being virtually the only person at the party - save for the bride - not dressed in dark, somber colours.

( I had a dream about Kiseki )

I'm feeling better about rping lately (even though I play with the thought of dropping Eagle every now and then), as do I feel a lot better about life in general. I still can't quite find the motivation to write yet, and I miss it. Poetry, original stories, fanfiction... even solving crosswords. Most of all I miss reading like I used to. Not even reading the newspaper is a must every morning nowadays. I'm getting better, though.

I'm invited to one of my cousins' wedding tomorrow, which means I won't be back home until sometime during Sunday, for those of you whom that might concern.

Speaking of which: I've recently agreed to be the maid of honour on one of my friends' upcoming wedding. This, however, does not mean I'm much of a fan of the concept of weddings. While I understand and respect those who wish to in some way make a statement about their love, I personally see no reason why I would ever want to give promises based on outdated conventions that I, statistically, have a relatively low chance of staying true to anyway. That, and I'm not much for big ceremonies in general.

If I were ever to consider marrying another person, at this current point in life I can only see it happening because of the legal benefits that come with marriage. This is why - in addition to it being a simple question of equality and respect - I not only argue for gay marriage, but also for having a change in the law to allow marriage between several people (regardless of whether said parties are in a romantic relationship together or not) as well as between good friends or relatives. Why should marital rights be reserved for those who are in love? Should the decision to spend ones' lives together out of platonic affection or simple convenience be considered less worthy?

With that said, if the government/predominant religious organisation/general population ardently wishes to "preserve" marriage (this in spite of how such a big change as the husband's right to rape his wife was changed no more than one generation or so ago, just to mention one example) and restricts its definition, I see no reason why civil unions can't be given the same legal status, as well as include all those who, for whatever reason, would want to live together and enjoy the same legal benefits as the average heterosexual of today is lucky enough to be able to take for granted.

( Kiseki )



I'm currently working on two pieces of fanfiction, both of which are in different stages of my - I've recently realised - very predictable writing process. I can't imagine that anyone would be particularly interested in hearing about that, but I am very curious about how other amateur and professional writers go about their work. Thus, if you feel like sharing it, please do so here. TL;DR is more than welcome. On that note: my local library currently has an exhibition where rough sketches, early scribbles and notes from authors of children's books are displayed. It's a beautiful, nerdy sight to behold.



( Literature meme )

( Baawww. )

Seriously, nevermind me. If Tuul was here she'd tell me to stfu and go to sleep already.

Because I enjoy writings lists, balancing the pros and cons between different options, only to discard it all in the end and go with what I feel like - here is, without further ado and in no particular order:

( an incredibly interesting post about what characters tempt me in Kiseki )

Title: The greatest of miracles
Fandom: RG Veda
Characters: Ashura, Ryuu-ou, Souma and Yasha.
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff, gen, slight angst.
Warnings: None, as long as you're familiar with the general outline of the manga. Takes place during volume 5.
Summary: The longer north the small rebel group travels, the more guilty Ashura feels.

( I truly hope the prince will find at least a little bit of joy in this. )

Fandom: X
Characters: Subaru (mentions of Seishirou and Hokuto)
Rating: PG
Genre: Character profile, angst.
Warnings: Spoilers for Tokyo Babylon and X volume 18.
Summary: The words "winds of change" mean nothing to Subaru.

This has been collecting dust on my hard drive for ages. In the end, I deleted a whole paragraph and rewrote the ending completely, and I'm still not fully satisfied with it. Constructive critism is, as always, welcome.

( To others, the wind represents change. )

I was paging through some volumes of RG Veda yesterday night, and, only a month late, did it strike me that I made such a big, glaring error in Ashura's characterisation during the 'lost feelings' event. Someone should have hit me up the head when we were playing it.  Now it can't be undone.

I can't even play a simple little kid right, and I'm having so much trouble with Kujaku. I really ought to stop pretending I can match the awesome of the other players of Kiseki, and instead stick to what I'm actually somewhat good at. How long was it since I wrote a piece of fiction, anyway?

Feel free to take this chance to tell me what other things I'm doing wrong with these two.