TransDimensional

2002-12-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

There's a billboard I keep seeing around here that looks like it should have been written by a member of the Fool's Guild. Remember, it's not Toady, it's Todey (Toddy) Or something like that. For a car dealership.

2002-11-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

Last post here All right. New blog is going live. wilful.dualism is the new journalhome; this one's not going to contain the most personal stuff, because my family will read it. (Yes, I do keep most of my personal life separate from my family life. If you had my family, you would too.) Accordingly, things which I don't want my family to read will be showing up at the LiveJournal. Farewell,

2002-11-15T01:33:00.000-08:00

I took an IQ test here. No big, and, in a development which should surprise no-one, I did quite well. However, I don't think IQ tests measure anything other than how good you are at IQ tests. (Anyone who scores below 126 and wants to join The International High IQ Society anyway, I'm happy to give you my answers, by the way, for I surely do think that high IQ societies are lame, and would find

2002-11-15T00:11:00.000-08:00

Archives on this blog are going to be removed soon - no particular reason short of I'm going to need somewhere to post I'm willing to let my family read soon, both when I'm on my trip and because they're now aware I journal, and well. There you go, you see? Accordingly, if there's something I said you simply must see again, grab it now. (Unlikely as that seems.) A girl must have some privacy from

2002-11-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

Things which amuse Rae when she has been far too intent on her fascism essay Roger Griffin, whom I hate, alleges that there is a "new consensus" in fascism studies. Roger Griffin has the hobbyhorse that the core element of fascism is palingenetic nationalism - that is, the myth of national rebirth. Diethelm Prowe has adopted an ideological perspective to define fascism which ignores any role

2002-10-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

And also, DUDE. Read this! Apparently an Iraqi VP suggested Hussein and Bush should fight a duel, to avoid a war. Then the New Yorker did this. Hee. This is where the Yanks want President Jesse Ventura...

2002-10-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

A minor rant. An article I was reading discussing the recent arrests in the Washington area sniper case thingie (discussing how wrong all the profilers were) quotes a pundit who remarked on his shock that the snipers proved to be "African-American". I have rage. Why? Because one of the two snipers was from Jamaica. Indeed, a citizen of Jamaica. Let me elaborate my rage in a

2002-10-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

A review of a book on the subject of "Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics". Worth reading. (The review, and I presume the book.)

2002-10-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

And because it's clearly Blogger Day today rather than LiveJournal day, a search hit recap. I should check this more often, I've been getting weird ones lately. "escape velocity nova" crack - funny only because of the intent when I originally used the terms for EVN and crack in the same post. (All the EV crack references.) volkisch theory - Hi there! I'm a bit too eclectic and too relentlessly

2002-10-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Another article. Sibling Rivalry: why the nature/nurter debate won't go away, by Steven Pinker. I have issues with this. Not just because he tries to lend credibility to his arguments about how silly theories which have, in fact, yes, since been proved wrong are by using ethnic jokes. He's got a smug self-righteousness about him, and a tendency to attribute all that is Good to alignment with

2002-10-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

web-log I've been browsing. Some pages worth a read: A review of 'Vegetarianism: A History', by Colin Spencer. By Ellen Ruppel Shell. Haven't read the book, but having read the review I don't feel the need to; I do love a good scathe. Columbus was a quack. No, I'm not joining the Flat Earth society and neither is the author; deflating, rather, some of the myths and falsehoods surrounding this

2002-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

On watching 'Jaguar und Aimee' Intellectually, I know that a great many people died during the second World War. I know that an especially great number of Jews fell to the 'Final Solution'. Somehow, the entirety of my studies in History don't have the impact that one story, of one small group of people, and one woman who was taken to the camps and not seen again does. The DVD has a photo

2002-10-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

"There is a great danger in this war. But if we are among those that get back, we shall have nothing to tell... war is not a true adventure. It is a mere ersatz. Where ties are established, where creation is stimulated - there you have adventures. But there is no adventure in heads-or-tails, in betting that the toss will come out life or death." - Antoine de Saint Exupery. I picked up three

2002-09-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

Referrer hit: judo+homosexuality Well. While I'm sure many judoka are homosexual, what the hell do those two concepts have to do with each other?

2002-09-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Coolness listings first today. Since I'm no longer updating this half of the Rae Gets Wordy system as often, UberCools can be plural, since I'm now handing out several days' worth at a time. Accordingly: Pam is the UberCool, for library-related rockingness. And generally being great. Oliver is the UberCool, partly for being such an entirely lovely human being, and partly because he supplied

2002-09-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

The history assignment I've been cheerfully referring to as Adopt-A-Nazi is hard for reasons that don't have anything to do with the fact that I only have the biography for three days. That I can handle. A little concerted reading, some midnight coffee and chocolate, and I'm fine. No, it's more subtle than that. Rob made the point at the start of the semester that one of the hardest things

2002-09-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

Reading this article on "Fruitcake Conspiracies" by Phillip Adams, I was bemused by the theory that the Port Arthur massacre was a plot by Little Johnny to have an excuse to bring in gun control laws blah blah blah read the article. But, by chain of conversation with my mother, I was also reminded of the One Nation chappie who claimed to be visited by the ghost of Harold Holt, who declaimed that

2002-09-06T05:03:00.000-07:00

More referrer hit madness! bruce dawe - katrina - not inherently funny, but I love the Google synopsis of the page for this one. "... Mind you, I hated Bruce Dawe, too, and not just because one of the two well ... generally cheerful, intermittently adorable, and I swear I want to marry Dr Katrina..." racial heirarchy - What I like is, this person spells hierarchy wrong the same way I used to. I

2002-09-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

For those intrigued by my academic pursuits: having reacquired sufficient time to do all my required work by dropping a unit, I'm working on learning the life and character of Rudolf Hess sufficiently well to presesnt him - or rather, present myself as him - at my tutorial next week. Need a speech, about ten minutes, summarising his life and viewpoints, and then to be able to answer questions.

2002-09-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Out of vague curiosity, I looked at the reviews on several stories I posted on FanFiction.net several years ago. I found them interesting; from the person who "hated" Fire and Ice but couldn't string a coherent sentence together, to the person who said that To Die For was well-written, but they couldn't believe that Picard would ever commit suicide. To which I can only say Dude, you're so

2002-09-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

Referrer hits. mental illness "too sweet" nasty - Well, when I'm being too sweet it's usually because I'm truly being nasty, admittedly, and I've had an instance or two of neural flu, so to speak, but nonetheless: ... the hell? written by jack davis play no sugar - okay, if this person wanted anything more than some vehement diatribe against a crappy crappy play, they may not have been

2002-08-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

You all know, I'm sure, that tired old conversational gambit - if you could have dinner with five people, living or dead, who would they be? I have a list, but I wouldn't want all of them at once - I'd want them separately, so I could focus on each by turns. - Colette. I'd love to have met her, and talked to her, and, without doubt, would have fallen in love with her instantly. Sure, she died

2002-08-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

A game: Marbles. Very simple, yet weirdly addictive.

2002-08-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

I find myself thinking in terms of blood strangely often. Blood metaphors, blood imagery, sometimes just the word intruding randomly into my thought. I'm a very textually-oriented person, so word is association for me. I think it's why I love German so - German words can hold so much more meaning than English can. Take something we've been discussing in my fascism unit, the concept of the Volk

2002-08-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

Testing, testing. I've been using my LiveJournal because it has the nifty update client, and my blog doesn't. Well, didn't. Elizabeth pointed me to w.bloggar, a nifty update client for blogger, which means that the blog is again all good and I may yet be updating them both again. W00t.

2002-08-11T01:28:00.000-07:00

Eliane's diary (excerpts) Today we trained for combat. The plan worked more or less perfectly, but that Valmar boy ignored the objective to go play. ... We arrived in Meore today. I borrowed horses and a wagon from Dumont. I told him that we'd bring them back in a month or so. He said I was just as likely to get killed, and he'd bill my father for the wagon and horses. I told him fine. That

2002-08-05T06:18:00.000-07:00

"And what about Ian Thorpe? If he was a country, he'd be ranked tenth on the medal tally." -- Commentator at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. Well, the Manchester closing ceremony was rocking all over the (bland, sucky, generally poorly-thought-out) opening ceremony, until they got to the bit where the announcing was being done by an American, the singer was an American performing wildly

2002-07-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

A Rant A week of illness gives one time to be contemplative. Also, bored. I've been surfing random LiveJournals. LiveJournal has a really nice update interface and all, but god, it has some morons posting there. Still, I thank them for using spelling options like "mah baybee" and so on; it's such a beautiful cue for "Hey! This person's a total fucking moron, and you should despise them and

2002-07-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Kitty Psychoanalysis. As long as I am in the natural environment, I will be peaceful to resolve any problem. It's good to know.

2002-07-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

Random thoughts - I insulted Stephie wrong on Monday. I'm aggrieved about it. I told her I loved Jen more than her because she's prettier, forgetting that Stephie has relinquished So The Prettiest to Kadeton, and she is So The Shiniest. Sigh. - I was talking to my ex earlier. For reasons which no-one else will understand and she'll hit me for, I'll refer to her as Jellybean. It occurred to me

2002-07-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

So I'm hoping this is just a dose of 24-hour flu or something. Since I made the journey from "I have a vaguely sore throat and feel tireder than I should, but not enough that it actually affects function at all" to "barely conscious" in the space of an hour, and was at "I wish I were dead" within five hours of that, hopefully my recovery will be equally snappy. At this point I think I've reached

2002-07-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

Was going to blog. Have material. Even made notes during boring adminbumpf lecture. Am sick. I make a sound like a punctured bagpipe bag thing when I inhale, my throat hurts, and I keep coughing. Coughing hard. The blood rushes to my head, I feel my blood vessels swell, and get genuinely worried I'm going to pop one. Will be interesting tomorrow.

2002-07-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Oh, the guilt of abusing one's cat without intending to. I moved my chair slightly - slightly - so that I could turn and get something. I heard a yelp of pain, and Tabitha dashed away - leaving a chunk of hair beneath the wheel of my chair. Alerted by her cry of agony, Spike came in to harass her, making it worse. I cringe.

2002-07-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

I did stay up all night; I didn't stay up all day. I napped from six a.m. However, I think I'm on track to being able to function tomorrow after getting up at 6:30am, so that's sorted. I was reminded of the first time I tried to stay up really late. It was New Year's Eve about ten or twelve years ago, and I, my sister, and a couple of other kids at the camping club we were at were given

2002-07-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Today's cat picture: my cat reads Tomato Nation. (63k)

2002-07-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

Heading on for 4am. I'm taking the drastic approach to reorienting my sleep patterns. From Monday I have to get up at 6:30, and I haven't been up before eleven in weeks - so I'm staying up all night tonight, and will reorient by getting to bed early Sunday night. Harsh, brutal, yet short-term and effective. I doubt I'll be able to do this quite so comfortably ten years from now, but what the

2002-07-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post is gross. What does it say about me (and my exposure to certain people) that I can have a conversation which involves the sentence: "Not bat CUM, bat NADS." - and not even worry about my sanity? Phrases which still make me giggle: Russian fruit bat nads (actually, just 'bat nads' will do it) Roasted Albanian simian eyeballs Moravian goat entrails TOFU FLUFFPIE! See link

2002-07-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Back from Oliver's birthday party. A question Davyd asked me - about whether the leavening of my depression had to do with having friends and such around me - made me realise that quite possibly a big part of it was how isolated I've been lately. All this staying-at-home stuff isn't good for me. I had a good time tonight, and only had scant and short periods in which I was faking that. Of course

2002-07-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Curiously, after getting most of a good night's sleep for the first time in several weeks last night, I'm feeling a lot better today. I'm choosing to think this is the end of a bobble in my general mood levels. I've been laughing my fool head off today at this story on Tomato Nation. Also, continuing to read College Roomies From Hell. Tonight I'm going to Oliver's birthday party, where

2002-07-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

I'm seriously considering going back on anti-depressants. I've been off them for well over a year, which I was very happy about, but since I'm getting into a really sucky depression mode, and don't actually want to repeat the complete mental breakdown I had two years ago, it might be for the best. Oh, goody, the depression may be a recurring thing. I do feel slightly better about it if I think

2002-07-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

I'm over my fit of David Eddings reading again. I've taken up reading history books again, because semester starts again next week, and you can never be too proficient at your units. But the David Eddings stuff has reminded me of some things that irritate me, because, hey, there's a lot to be irritated by in David Eddings books. (I'll get to my attraction to sincerely crap fiction shortly.) One

2002-07-14T02:09:00.000-07:00

I am reminded of a site I read a couple of years ago then forgot: Lileks. There's some fun things there. Go, view, find something you like.

2002-07-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

You know, if it weren't for the fact that my cats are at war with each other, my feline situation would be perfect right now. Tabitha's terribly sweet and friendly - almost too sweet and friendly, since she gets up on my desk and demands attention when I'm doing stuff on my computer - and I have a cat I like again. A few minutes ago, when I got out of the shower, she was waiting to come see me

2002-07-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Simulation Argument - two papers, one arguing that we're probably living in a computer simulation (a la Permutation City or the Matrix), the other discussing the implications and proper lifestyle choices of a person living in a simulation. Weird. Stupid. Surely he must realise - as those of us who've sunk too large a chunk of our lifespans into The Sims already do - that a simperson has no

2002-07-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

News roundup. I could only find one link for this. For some reason, despite the fact that the West Australian attributes this story to Reuters (and since it's in pretty much the same words as the version I've linked to, I'm willing to bet Reuters wrote it), Reuters' website doesn't seem to have it. Anyway. Sesame Street South Africa - Takalani Sesame - is getting an HIV+ muppet. According to

2002-07-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

What can they be thinking? Wonderful. Immunity from prosecution for war crimes. Not only am I bothered by the fact that the US has been given this, but I'm bothered that they're anticipating being that brutal that this is a 'necessity'. Believe the pretext that this is about American sovereignty? I'm compelled to remind you of America's glorious past. - Starting from the beginning:

2002-07-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

There's a cat on my desk, and everyone's invited. Well, despite Spike's hostile attitude, Tabitha is settling in - to my bedroom, mostly. She spends almost all her time in here, as the one room in the house where she's safe from him. Leaving my room is an adventure in which she appears to prefer to have my company. Right now she's sitting on my desk, next to my computer, begging shamelessly for

2002-07-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well, Tabitha came to live with us today. Spike hasn't impressed me - he's been incredibly hostile to the poor thing. I ended up bringing her to my bedroom - where Spike is not permitted to trespass - and settling her on my bed. Or rather, in it. She crawled under my comforter. I suppose at least she's keeping warm. Poor thing. When she comes out I'm going to give her some tuna or something.

2002-07-11T03:50:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a new cat. The latest of many hand-me-downs from my sister, really, because Tabitha used to be Arwen's cat. However, Arwen's developed an allergy to her, which means that she has to get rid of her - and we're taking her. I'm very excited, because I'm fond of the little ditz - Tabitha, not my sister. She's a cute little thing, but a quintessential blonde bimbo. More

2002-07-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Terracon Image Gallery Just so I can be the first to get Terracon photos out.

2002-07-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

For those who simply must have it, my Terracon report is here.

2002-07-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

The Art of Bathing There's a beauty to the ritual of taking a bath. Step one, of course, is heating the room, critical in winter, especially for those of us coming away from cold cold Terracons. The room becomes warm and inviting; while this is happening, other preparations are made. A book, of course, is essential. Actually, when I'm all tired and sore and cranky as I was tonight, I take

2002-07-08T01:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from Terracon. Despite having to do worklike things for it, and stressing, and things going wrong at the last minute and having to improvise solutions, I had a really good time. Anecdotes will probably come; right now I'm tired and only just recovering from the faint edges of alcohol poisoning, I think. New discovery. Drinking games are non-compatible with my usual method for

2002-07-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

Well. Unless I post again this evening (probable but not definite), this is my last post until after Terracon. Unless I freeze to death down there or we've huuuugely miscalculated food, run out, and I get eaten by a mob of starving UniSFAns, I'll resurface on Monday evening, or possibly Tuesday, depending how tired I am. I'll note that I'm waaay stressed about Terracon at this point. I've never

2002-07-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

Second-Stage Literary Criticism I'm enjoying The Once and Future King immensely, on so many levels - including levels it's not supposed to have, like my delighted amusement at its anti-communist, pro-feudalism propaganda in chapters XIII and XIV. Tom and I had the most literate childish argument I've been involved in in a while; it started out reasonably intellectual, but once I had devolved to

2002-07-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

First-Stage Literary Criticism So I made a start on my reading list last night, and am partway into The Once and Future King. So far it's not what I expected, in both good ways in bad. Good - the potential dryness of historical[1] fiction is broken up with delightful touches of AA Milne - "But about these boys," said Sir Grummore. "How many of them are there, do you know?" "Two," said Sir

2002-07-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Holiday Reading List This is more or less so I can mock myself at the end of the holidays for all the items on this list I haven't read by then. - The Once and Future King - Anna Karenina - The Archaeology of Weapons - the chapter on Syntax in my Linguistics book - some overview material on medieval England - more on fascism! The last three, of course, are pre-reading for my units next

2002-06-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Midnight: Much Weird Beauty: dry lightning, perfect moments, and the armour of accessories As I drove home tonight, my eye was caught now and then by flashes of purple light to the west. Somewhere over the ocean there was sheet lightning, flickering with the kind of spectacular perfection that only comes to moments of sheer, raw power. Or something. As I turned a corner, ahead of me was a single

2002-06-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Hmm. As addendum to the previous post, I should point out that Maelkann can not, in fact, prove that I'm mortal, even once. At this point it's just an untested hypothesis. And sure, he can test the hypothesis and probably eventually get a success, but before then he might well have it fail, and there's no way he'll be able to reproduce his results. How is that proof? So I say to you, Maelkann:

2002-06-29T01:51:00.000-07:00

A quote, a quote... Rae: I hate to admit it, but you are mortal. And I can prove it, though only once. It appealed to me.

2002-06-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

I really need to come up with some kind of delineation system between blog/livejournal/weblog. LiveJournal is Fangirly is cool but low-traffic, yet kind of odd since LiveJournal has a lot to do with my uni friends, so why don't I do it as the uni friends bit... Whatever. Today, weblog post, because I found something that's just cool. The Conceptual Metaphor Home Page, which is making me wish I'd

2002-06-29T00:29:00.000-07:00

Really Very Sleepy The time: 5:25am. What did I just do: Get home from the Come As Another UniSFAn party. Jen, whom I continue to believe is just the coollest, is leaving, well, today for Vienna, and so when we finally got to talk, we ended up talking for hours - we were the very last people awake and so on, I think. We talked of many interesting things, not least of which the notion that

2002-06-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

Link Changes Julie: Delinked. Until she has her site back up. Matthias: Linked. Meanwhile, I'm making spaghetti. The Come As Another UniSFAn party is on tonight. I'm looking forward to it. I love the "Be there, or be yourself" slogan; and everyone should read this post by Chris, because it's brilliant and funny. Subject: On offer, pending interest... From: Rae Gunter To: UniSFA For

2002-06-27T03:59:00.000-07:00

Advanced Selfishness I've always, in my way, been a very egalitarian person. Now, whether this means I find all persons equally interesting, equally tiresome or equally intimidating varies according to my mood and so on, but essentially I approach people as people. (Note: I'm an intense intellectual snob, but my prejudices are largely theoretical. I don't apply them to dealing with individuals,

2002-06-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well I guess what you say is true I could never be the right kind of girl for you I could never be your woman. This afternoon I turned on the radio largely on impulse, and was just in time to hear Your Woman, by White Town, a song I rather liked when it came out and hadn't heard in years. This I found a pleasant bit of serendipity in a day which otherwise lacked it. A conversation on IRC: <

2002-06-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm still pondering the story below somewhat; it's going to need some revision, and there's a lot more still to write, but I'm happy because it's working and I'm writing again, and suddenly I feel like a human being again. There's this weird, important part of me that's shut off and weird when I'm not able to write. I was thinking about something last night. For a long time, when I was younger,

2002-06-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

I have my soul back, apparently. Entirely beta, and still untitled: "Are you kidding?" Ash asked incredulously. "You want me to interview the most reclusive businesswoman in this city." "It's topical," her editor answered reasonably. "CMC just swallowed Shirer Corporate. A month ago Shirer was untouchable. The most carnivorous corporate shark around is a cute blonde under thirty. Everyone

2002-06-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today I went to MLC, which is a Perth school (sorry, college) which wants to be an English boarding school. (It even has boarders.) Jen was performing with the Chorale - and also the Barbershop Septet - and proved herself to be a stunningly good singer, for which she was the UberCool despite the fact that their dance moves... needed practice. Random quote. Pam: "Ix-nay on the esbian-lay."

2002-06-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Other notes from yesterday: Chas and Tom L. are jointly the UberCool, because they're both honest and reassuring. EV Nova is NOT cool, because I'm stuck on the mission I'm up to.

2002-06-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

I went clothes shopping yestertoday, possibly for the first time this century. I spent about fifteen minutes in the acquisition of two pairs of pants and two shirts; one shirt for hypothetical future job interviews, the other because it was sparkly and looked cool. This should do me until about 2004. In case it's not obvious: I hate clothes-shopping. (Oh, let us be honest here, Rae, you dislike

2002-06-21T02:47:00.000-07:00

You know, I need a weblog or journal of some kind that isn't read by people I know. So I could bitch about them. A person who shall remain unnamed lest people pick on that person for telling me about this has informed me what the word on the floorboards is about me. Apparently I'm a domineering, controlling alpha bitch. (I paraphrase, with some bitterness.) Why is this upsetting me to the

2002-06-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

Synopsis of the last one post, for most people, seems to be along the lines of Huh???. So I'll put you all out of the misery of the possibility of a repeat, exams are over. And, by the way, that exam paper was my bitch. I also stopped by my tutor's office on the way back to UniSFA and fetched my essay; got 78%, a Distinction, 2 points short of a High Distinction, and some truly harsh criticism

2002-06-19T00:56:00.000-07:00

Synopsis of the last few posts: - song lyrics and maturation - depression, misery, and suicidal tendencies - cricket - drunkenness - astronomy. Damn, I'm an eclectically talkative wench. This doesn't even take my LiveJournal into account. The question is, do I have too much time on my hands? It's been days since I discoursed on historical matters, and today I'm studying for the history

2002-06-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

And I really got hot when I saw Jeanette Scott fight a triffid that spits poison and kills... You know, the lyrics to the songs in Rocky Horror are an excellent example, for me, of how growing up is a process of gradual understanding of the world around us. I heard some of the songs from early childhood, long before my parents ever let me watch the movie. All of the lines in Science Fiction,

2002-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

Link of the day: Acts of Gord. Anyway. Something I read has me thinking about something. Specifically, suicide. I'm ambivalent about it. Do I believe in euthanasia? Do I believe it's right and merciful to allow people the choice of a dignified death when it comes down to quality of life? Yes. Is it suicide? Kinda yeah. But when it comes to depression, angst, unhappiness... No, I don't believe

2002-06-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, and a recap... Tight match, but Pakistan won. They earned it, and it leaves the series 1-1 going into the next. So I got a good-humoured reminder lecture about not returning to a pattern of drunkenness from Kim last night, and my sister's worried "You shouldn't drink, I don't like it when you do" thing that was resolved when I explained to her that I long ago abandoned my steady slide

2002-06-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

It's an interesting thing that I can still touchtype with accuracy and fluency (although somewhat less quickly) when drunk. Which I am right now. Only lightly drunk, because I have the ability to get mildly drunk and stay at that point rather than go beyond, since my self-control (rigid as it is) persists sufficiently to moderate my behaviour when blasted. And it was a long car-ride home from my

2002-06-15T03:23:00.000-07:00

Home a long long long way away from home. I'm suddenly depressed to think that it's pretty much a given that this is the only planet I will ever walk upon. Still. This one has beauty, and diversity, and distinctiveness I haven't begun to explore. Tonight I was reflecting on just how amazing even the dusk is, how everything looks so familiar, and yet so different. Pakistan 6/130.

2002-06-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

A moral dilemma has been resolved. You see, at Cape to Cairo last night we acquired two items of headgear. One, a cap that says "S.A. CRICKET" and has a South African flag and a stylised protea on it. The other, a beanie that says "S.A. RUGBY" and has a springbok (and a protea - well, covering their bases) on it. I took the cap, Mum the beanie, but tonight we swapped. See, not only did I not

2002-06-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

The reason why I finally got into blogging is that I like the things it shows me. Via Viridian we have an interesting article on the modern anti-hero. I'm presently watching Australia vs Pakistan. Australia aren't doing so well - but this is only the first innings. Since the Aussies caned Pakistan in the last match, it remains to be seen if our bowlers can manage as much with the pitch. Present

2002-06-14T04:36:00.000-07:00

Forcibly alters my brain chemistry... It's all so beautifully good! So by the time I was heading home tonight, I was depressed, irritable, and generally annoyed at the world, and specific people in it. (Despite the fact that bits of today were quite a lot of fun.) Today's UberCool, while I think of it, is A/Prof Rob Stuart, for being the rockingest coolest lecturer/tutor I've had in some time.

2002-06-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

When stress dissolves... This essay is going to come together. I now know what I'm going to write, because I have a quote that I can build the whole damn thing upon. The EEC's 1985 Committee of Inquiry into the Rise of Fascism and Racism in Europe produced the following working definition of fascism: A nationalistic attitude essentially hostile to the principles of democracy, to the rule of law

2002-06-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

You know, true love shows itself in the little things. My girlfriend gave me cherry flavour lifesavers. If that's not love, then I don't know what loving is. And God didn't make lidded Greenacres, and it don't rain little green apples in the summertime. (Yeah, yeah. That's how I heard it as a kid.) Referrer hits continue to rock my world. I got one via Yahoo for "fascist economics" (whoever

2002-06-10T04:18:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take a moment to praise artificial cherry flavour. Artificial cherry flavour is good. Artificial cherry flavour has a wild, chemical beauty, a taste like nothing occurring naturally on God's earth. Artificial cherry flavour is a pinnacle of human achievement, a masterpiece of the confectioner's art. And it makes you want to hop around.

2002-06-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

One thing I'm finding very curious about meeting Jen's sister Pam, having known Jen for quite some time. I'm starting to understand why my sister's friends were occasionally disconcerted by me when they'd recently met me, because I reminded them of Arwen at odd moments. Pam and Jen are very different, and for the most part they are simply Pam and Jen, two women I know. But occasionally Pam (and

2002-06-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

A commentary on "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat". I can't decide how I feel about it. Sure, it's pretentious, over-literate, and silly. But then, so was Lear. Is it beautiful, or just bad?

2002-06-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

My History essay I'm working on dominates my thoughts. So, a couple of quotes: "Fascism is capitalism plus murder." - Upton Sinclair "The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category." - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf I agree with both, if you change Hitler's leader (probably Führer, in the original German) with dictator. Or possibly

2002-06-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

If you do a Google search on deflated soccer ball graphic, guess which website comes up as your number one result? This one, that's which. I take great pride: I'm number one at something. We're number one! We're number one! We're number one! Go me!

2002-06-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

From the cool dudes at Brunching: The Weblog FAQK. Tonight my roleplaying campaign went on hiatus for the exam period. My notes so that I can remember where we're at when we resume are as follows: The night of hell has just ended. Jon has checked out of hospital AMA. Bob recaps; agree to go get guns. Amelia has revealed herself to be fast + deadly Doc has figured the gangs somewhate. Snakes are

2002-06-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

So. I was going to return to my interesting-links-and-commentary style, but I can do that later. For now... Chris is going through something pretty hard right now. I know how he feels better than one might expect; my mother was sick for a long, long time, and for a year or so we reached the point where we figured we were just waiting for her to die. I watched her waste away. She aged about

2002-06-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

So Phillip sourced me The Many Faces of Go, a dangerously addictive Go software thing. I think I've spent at least two hours tonight on it - mostly solving problems, also playing a couple of games. I suck. The computer beat me twice on a 9 by 9 board with a FOUR STONE HANDICAP. Then I beat it by 18 stones. Go me. Anyway, through the magic of Go problems, I'm learning to see more levels of play

2002-06-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Watching the second half of the queen's Jubilee concert (we missed the first half, because Mum thought it started an hour later than it did). Random observations: Hey, who knew, Ben Elton is funny. It turns out you can do Bohemian Rhapsody without Freddie Mercury, so long as you have the guitarist, but you need three lead singers and a choir. Cliff Richard is much cooler with the guitarist

2002-06-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

I'm actively scorning people right now, although in their absence, since I left that channel. A beautiful, beautiful argument, started when one of the people started expounding that the Royal Family should be ousted and/or killed, and that the French had the right idea. An argument in which, apparently, all opinions are supposed to be held as equally valid, even when one set is based on

2002-06-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

So Netscape 4.whatever has been crashing on me lately, and it's getting irritating as hell. I'm now still using it for mail, but using Netscape 6 for browsing, because I prefer those elements of the two. Fun link: Penguin Warehouse. Via /usr/bin/girl and dedicated to Stephie Penguin, for obvious reasons. Quote for today: "Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to

2002-06-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

A quiz. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Telekinesis, with esper for "touch". Because it would be so darned useful. Would you use your super power to help any poor schlep that needed it? Would you use it just to help your loved ones? Just for personal gain? Or for PURE EVIL? Probably any poor schlep that needed it, so long as I could do it without making it obvious I had it

2002-06-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

It's been ages, so... We all remember what happened on the eleventh of September last year, of course. But, prompted by a line from the M*A*S*H episode I'm watching (Frank Burns: "When are you going to learn about Chinese treachery? Didn't Pearl Harbour teach you anything?"), I feel compelled to bring up what was, too me, the most beautiful quote from the whole News Anchors Having To Fill

2002-06-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

Because referrer hits are too much fun for words... gay skinheads into total rubber coverage - What I love about this one is that it was talking about Pim Fortuyn that got me this. Kylie Minogue Necklaces - what is a Kylie Minogue necklace, really? Other than something that sounds unbelievably tacky? "movie sex" songs - Um. Not here. What's a "movie sex" song anyway? And so you see. I think

2002-06-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

I'm considering avoiding people for a couple of days. I'm fragile right now, I think. There's some stress from uni, and from certain people, and there's the fact that I'm on somewhat unstable emotional ground still because Mouse died, and there's this fractured misalignment in my life without her. Elderly feline or no, she was a friend I dearly loved, and I'm not done grieving yet. Damn. I'm

2002-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ain't no miracle being born People doing it every day Ain't no miracle growing up People just grow that way So it goes like it goes Like the river flows And time it rolls right on And maybe what's good gets a little bit better And maybe what's bad gets gone... Some days you just feel like optimism. Especially when you're getting attacked from unexpected quarters, and deciding people suck and

2002-06-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hot soup is lovely in cool weather. Presently in an IRC channel I inhabit there's a couple of folks having a toilet training discussion. It's possible it's because I don't have children myself, or perhaps because I've read enough Freud to be highly suspicious of parents who obsess too hard about toilet training, but I find myself thinking, more or less: "... right. Do we have to hear the