sundries

[rm]

It's weird being able to talk to Patty while she's away. Normally, she's on a dig and it's nearly impossible. This time around, we can email and talk a lot. Yet, in some ways that makes it much harder to deal with the fact that she is away, because I'm reminded of it all the time -- so close and yet so far. Constant longing. But, if the CH visit works out, I'll see her in one month. So yay.

Elsewise, there is little to report since I last wrote, 7 hours ago. Tonight, though, is all about creative meetings.

OMG, I have GOT to submit something to this. I don't have an idea in my head for it, but I must find one. MUST.

This made me laugh myself stupid. Note, while accompanying image is not NSFW, it is the cover of a porn movie DVD, so if someone noticed the big Hustler logo, that might not be okay for the office. It's okay for rollick's office though. Let her tell you why.

Some days the news is too much -- not for all the horror, but for the juxtaposition of headlines. See today's two side-by-side winners at CNN: "Cops: Mom taped toddler to wall" and "Cancer patient: I see Jesus in my MRI".

Things I can't believe I'm linking to (which may be a theme for today): iCarly and the spaghetti tacos. But hey, defictionalization!

In more serious news: A dancer living with AIDS talks about her life.

An inside look at the gay panic in Uganda. via supergee.

Also from supergee: How a placebo currency saved Brazil. It both makes perfect sense and is sort of brain-bending. It also explains why the Brazilian currency is named as it is.

Meanwhile, hazing charges at Sigma Gamma Rho.

Just had my first 2010 encounter with "the reason for the season" crap. Jesus is _a_ reason for the season. Not _the_ reason. Also, it's early October? Give us a month, yeah?

the_xtina thinks there should be a poll about a photo I linked to last night. Clickies below the cut.




[Poll #1628322]

And, just so we're clear, that distraction choice? That's for you browneyedgirl65

Comments

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I wish this had been a numbered list, but that's one of my particular quirks.

Re "It's weird being able...": I find it interesting how our increased level of connection has been accompanied by a decrease in our level of tolerance for disconnection. I remember when I was first reading about the English Civil War being shocked by the number of cases of married couples being separated and often incommunicado for years at a stretch.

Re "This made me laugh...": You have been official declared a Bad Influence for showing me this. The part of me that's trying to tell me I should be embarrassed by wanting this has been quite thoroughly shouted down by the part that's screaming about how awesome it is and that I need to by the marketing tie-in as well.

Re "Things I can't believe...": I can't believe I'd never seen this before (admission of guilt: I have watched iCarly even when the kids weren't around). I'm going to try it. I'll let you know how this turns out.

re "Meanwhile, hazing charges at...": Having seen the public part of the sorority hazing at Mississippi University for Women (my high school is on the MUW campus), I'm really not surprised by this.

re "Just had my first...": Shouldn't they be too busy planning "Harvest" festivals so that kids aren't exposed to Halloween to have time for that yet?

re the photo: My first thought upon looking at it was "Pygmalion," which is a fantasy I can enjoy from either side.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Re "It's weird being able...": I find it interesting how our increased level of connection has been accompanied by a decrease in our level of tolerance for disconnection. I remember when I was first reading about the English Civil War being shocked by the number of cases of married couples being separated and often incommunicado for years at a stretch.

Ha ha, I know! You don't even have to go that far back. I keep diaries when I travel, and was looking at one from 1987. That's the one where I went to Britain for the first time with two other friends. There's one day I describe in which we all went off on different errands and agreed to meet back at this plaza at 5pm or something like that. One thing led to another, and I got back to the plaza late (like 5:15, actually) and waited another 45 minutes for the rest to show up. That would absolutely freak me out now, because now I'd expect to be able to text them and find out what was up! But back then, I just waited because there was nothing else to do. I can't remember at what point of waiting I would have gotten worried at not seeing anyone come back yet...

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's one of the experiences I had that my kids will never got to have. That and driving 2-1/2 hours to go to a record store.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I too have watched iCarly (which I think is sort of fascinating as a tween show about image-making and celebrity), but the spaghetti tacos were also news to me.

On the sorority story, the note I did not make was that I was in a sorority and was the pledge mom one term. We didn't hurt people and we didn't humiliate people (and I could tell you stories about shit I saw or heard about from other houses). But we sure as hell gave people a lot of no-win challenges. I found it all pretty easy when I was a pledge, in large part because I have the type of mind that understands that game. And I think I drove the other people in my pledge class mad trying to explain it to them. When I was pledge mom, I was pretty harsh, but I was also like, "look, this is how you get through, because this shit? this is bullshit? and I expect you to be smart enough to know it." Was an odd experience.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

That's neat. I was never part of the Greek system. UNO didn't really have much in the way of frats - your only options were Teke or Kappa Alpha Psi - but even if they had, I was never much of a "joiner" where things like that are concerned.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what I was doing. Trying to be normal I guess after all the shit that went down my freshman year. I got close to getting into some national sororities who then remembered I was the gay girl from the previous year's drama no matter how well I played at being normal and pretty. So I joined a regional sorority. Less networking benefit, but also way less bullshit and way more diversity.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

"Trying to be normal..."

Yes, that can explain a lot. I realized fairly early on (as least as far back as junior high) that I wasn't "normal," and would never be unless I changed large chunks of who I am. I then developed a calculated disdain for all things "normal," which I held on to long after it had ceased being useful.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Believe me, I knew I wasn't normal. But I'm also one hell of a mirror when I want to be. So, ways of coping, ways of getting things.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I'm also one hell of a mirror when I want to be.

That can definitely be a useful skill. Unfortunately for me, by the time I had an idea of how useful this could be, I was already firmly established as one of the weirdos and had no idea how to transfer over to being one of the normal people. Then eventually I did get to hang around some of the normal people and realized that it wasn't any better than hanging with the weirdos, and also that I didn't have to automatically dislike something just because the normal people liked it. By this time I had also figured out that the weirdos generally had more fun.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I hate, hate, the thing where people feel they can't like something because it's popular or because of who else likes it. HATE.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Then it's a good thing you didn't meet me earlier in my life, because that was one of my major defense mechanisms for a long time. I was all about the sour grapes. I'm much better now.

[chaos-by-design.livejournal.com]

I'll confess, I used to have a bit of that problem. Not so much anymore, though I still don't gravitate towards things that are popular, mostly because of a genuine lack of interest.