Big test tomorrow morning, so I really don't want to, um, spend too long posting here. Sean's birthday today; he's an employee at Data Quality whose birthday we never really got to celebrate for real while I was there...
Okay, fun fact about why February is so short that I learned today, from Howard Tayler (whose birthday, it also is today) on his Twitter account: you've ever noticed that both July AND August have 31 days, though they're right next to each other? But it's alright because that's where your two fists stick together, just double-knuckle it, so you don't really notice how odd that is, that those two months break up the pattern? They're also the months named after the Caesars, so hmm I wonder if of course it has to do with that, apparently Augustus didn't want short shrift on his month, so he just stole the extra day(s) from some other month.
They're the two months that throw off the number count, too, randomly being stuck in there, "oh, September's name doesn't make sense anymore, but it doesn't matter because it's AWESOME." Friiig, they just toasted the entire Gregorian calendar over, just like, whatever. Roll straight over the months, because the solar calendar's months don't correspond to moons anyway, so, whatevs. Caesars don't care; Caesars do what Caesars want. (Holy crap, it was four years ago today that I blogged about watching that very video for the first time...)
And another fun fact about Caesars: I'd totally be watching Hail, Caesar! right now, if it weren't for the, you know, assignment stuff that I need to do. It's driving me buggy going so long without Coen Brothers knowing that they're playing in a cinema so near, but, I'm just going to have to wait 24 hours until the next showing, I guess...
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
The Random and the Inevitable (Further Misadventures in Plasma Bleeding)
I mentioned yesterday a list of topics associated with the process of selling my plasma all dealing directly with the theme of fate versus chance, or outcomes random versus outcomes inevitable. Which I've been thinking about in conjunction with being plasmapheresed, a bit; there's a promo going on this month, donate 6 times in February, and you open up the card they gave you at the beginning of the month, and you win whatever the card says you win. And so, random versus inevitable: your prize is seemingly random, but it had been that random outcome the whole time, and so your prize is actually fixed.
That was one of the reasons why I even needed to give my plasma on Saturday, when it probably would have been much easier just to skip it with so many things going on and not many places to fit this other thing in: well, for one, you receive a bonus $20 payment for your second donation in a calendar week, but for two, my sixth time this month had been on Wednesday, but I hadn't opened my card then. I needed to go back, yesterday, to get that prize. And figure out what it would be in the first place.
Fate versus chance. Maybe it wouldn't be that strong a theme, enough to post about so soon, but the topic gets especially relevant and also almost poignant, depending on how you look at it, but very appropriate, because of how the plasmapheresis ended yesterday, and how the events leading up to it play into that theme. Random and inevitable, it's not always easy to know which is which-- in yesterday's post I broke down all the topics as follows, and I will do my best below to delineate whether they played in at all to the ending of the story, and that ending's aftermath, and how much we could get away with in spite of said aftermath. The topics and subtopics, from yesterday:
The morning or the afternoon: I knew that if I chose the afternoon to fit in the two-hours-average process of waiting, getting called up, being screened and finally being admitted onto the floor, it would possibly be at the expense of, the first time we've seen Lauren in almost a month, and I'd probably sit there regretting not having gotten it done in the morning where my only obligation was sleep. So I went in the morning, early, before the Disciple Leader Conference. If you get in early enough, you beat the crowd of people all waiting to be screened, so the whole process takes considerably shorter than two hours anyway as well, so there was plenty of time before 9:00 DLC started.*
Wake up 5:20, 5:30 in the morning, eat breakfast drink fluids, get in there around 6:30, and instead of it taking you until 8:30 it should be only until 8:00 or even just 7:45. Get in there just fifteen minutes later, there's a whole crowd of people, and not only does that take you that much longer but also you don't get out with much wriggle room in your schedule before you need to get to the conference. So. The earlier the better, but also you want to make sure that your breakfast is good enough to get you enough protein in your blood they'll allow you to donate. (That's what happened on Saturday February 6th-- P2B in the morning at 9:00, so I went in early but without a good enough breakfast, so I couldn't do it that day.**) I had enough breakfast, I had enough blood protein, but whether it accounts for the thing that happened, well, let me get to the thing first, but, I don't think so.
My left arm being stuck, versus my right arm: my left arm is the one that always gives me trouble-- my very first plasmapherese was in that arm, and things went wrong, and they had to switch arms to my right arm. They give you a protein bar and a Poweraid your first time, and they gave me another of each, and my right arm worked fine, and my left arm was bruised for weeks. The next time I used my left arm went fine (Jan 27), so I use that arm again as well on the one after that, on the 30th... and the blood clotted in the needle, and so my blood couldn't return. Which was alright, just, don't lose any more whole blood in the next eight weeks, or else you won't be able to donate plasma at all for another eight weeks after that.
2 out of 3 times, my left arm gives me trouble. Ryan reports never having trouble with his blood clotting inside the needle like that or anything, so there must be just something really weird with the vein on my left arm. Let's not use that one anymore. At least, not experiment with it until the tail end of March, when I can afford to clot again.
So it's kind of concerning when my guy sits me to the left of the machine he's going to use, as if he's going to stick my left arm. I don't speak up though. Just, pray? I'm a milquetoast. But he notices he's on the left side, and just sits me one space to the right. Followed by my coat which I'd stuck in the cubby underneath the first seat, which gets noticed by the next guy to sit his guy down there, trying to put that guy's coat into the cubby, seeing my jacket, finding my wallet, and reading my name from some card of mine. That also gets brought to the space to the right.
And this is what the thing is... Something goes wrong with this time too. Before a single cycle can even be completed, the needle clots again, even in my right arm, and I won't be able to sell my blood plasma again until April 23.
And this spurs me to think of the theme, which I'd been thinking on because of the February bonus prize, of the random and the inevitable. Which was this? Would things have turned out better had I opted to go in the afternoon instead of the morning? I don't think so, but maybe certain diets (like a nice Hamburger-Helper-and-yogurt breakfast) increase your clotting factor, or something, and my lunch of vegetarian sandwich from Disciple Leader Conference would've allowed me to pass my blood without it clotting. But I don't think so. It's random, and it happens, and left arm, right arm, whether I went in the morning or afternoon, didn't matter; my blood would or would not have clotted inside the needle either way.
That was one of the reasons why I even needed to give my plasma on Saturday, when it probably would have been much easier just to skip it with so many things going on and not many places to fit this other thing in: well, for one, you receive a bonus $20 payment for your second donation in a calendar week, but for two, my sixth time this month had been on Wednesday, but I hadn't opened my card then. I needed to go back, yesterday, to get that prize. And figure out what it would be in the first place.
Fate versus chance. Maybe it wouldn't be that strong a theme, enough to post about so soon, but the topic gets especially relevant and also almost poignant, depending on how you look at it, but very appropriate, because of how the plasmapheresis ended yesterday, and how the events leading up to it play into that theme. Random and inevitable, it's not always easy to know which is which-- in yesterday's post I broke down all the topics as follows, and I will do my best below to delineate whether they played in at all to the ending of the story, and that ending's aftermath, and how much we could get away with in spite of said aftermath. The topics and subtopics, from yesterday:
- choosing the morning versus the afternoon
- my left arm being stuck versus my right arm
- it looking for a minute there like the arm about to be stuck was the one I didn't want but the mistake being realized
- whether that mattered
- having been entitled to a bonus gift for donation number six this February which I didn't cash in on till now with this being my seventh time
- what that gift was
- how that gift was.
The morning or the afternoon: I knew that if I chose the afternoon to fit in the two-hours-average process of waiting, getting called up, being screened and finally being admitted onto the floor, it would possibly be at the expense of, the first time we've seen Lauren in almost a month, and I'd probably sit there regretting not having gotten it done in the morning where my only obligation was sleep. So I went in the morning, early, before the Disciple Leader Conference. If you get in early enough, you beat the crowd of people all waiting to be screened, so the whole process takes considerably shorter than two hours anyway as well, so there was plenty of time before 9:00 DLC started.*
Wake up 5:20, 5:30 in the morning, eat breakfast drink fluids, get in there around 6:30, and instead of it taking you until 8:30 it should be only until 8:00 or even just 7:45. Get in there just fifteen minutes later, there's a whole crowd of people, and not only does that take you that much longer but also you don't get out with much wriggle room in your schedule before you need to get to the conference. So. The earlier the better, but also you want to make sure that your breakfast is good enough to get you enough protein in your blood they'll allow you to donate. (That's what happened on Saturday February 6th-- P2B in the morning at 9:00, so I went in early but without a good enough breakfast, so I couldn't do it that day.**) I had enough breakfast, I had enough blood protein, but whether it accounts for the thing that happened, well, let me get to the thing first, but, I don't think so.
My left arm being stuck, versus my right arm: my left arm is the one that always gives me trouble-- my very first plasmapherese was in that arm, and things went wrong, and they had to switch arms to my right arm. They give you a protein bar and a Poweraid your first time, and they gave me another of each, and my right arm worked fine, and my left arm was bruised for weeks. The next time I used my left arm went fine (Jan 27), so I use that arm again as well on the one after that, on the 30th... and the blood clotted in the needle, and so my blood couldn't return. Which was alright, just, don't lose any more whole blood in the next eight weeks, or else you won't be able to donate plasma at all for another eight weeks after that.
2 out of 3 times, my left arm gives me trouble. Ryan reports never having trouble with his blood clotting inside the needle like that or anything, so there must be just something really weird with the vein on my left arm. Let's not use that one anymore. At least, not experiment with it until the tail end of March, when I can afford to clot again.
So it's kind of concerning when my guy sits me to the left of the machine he's going to use, as if he's going to stick my left arm. I don't speak up though. Just, pray? I'm a milquetoast. But he notices he's on the left side, and just sits me one space to the right. Followed by my coat which I'd stuck in the cubby underneath the first seat, which gets noticed by the next guy to sit his guy down there, trying to put that guy's coat into the cubby, seeing my jacket, finding my wallet, and reading my name from some card of mine. That also gets brought to the space to the right.
And this is what the thing is... Something goes wrong with this time too. Before a single cycle can even be completed, the needle clots again, even in my right arm, and I won't be able to sell my blood plasma again until April 23.
And this spurs me to think of the theme, which I'd been thinking on because of the February bonus prize, of the random and the inevitable. Which was this? Would things have turned out better had I opted to go in the afternoon instead of the morning? I don't think so, but maybe certain diets (like a nice Hamburger-Helper-and-yogurt breakfast) increase your clotting factor, or something, and my lunch of vegetarian sandwich from Disciple Leader Conference would've allowed me to pass my blood without it clotting. But I don't think so. It's random, and it happens, and left arm, right arm, whether I went in the morning or afternoon, didn't matter; my blood would or would not have clotted inside the needle either way.
With a donation of whole blood, they still pay you in full, or at least they did me both times that happened. Just be sure to pay him before putting him on that two-month deferral, otherwise the payment won't go through and also he won't be entitled to that February bonus gift.
Right. The bonus gift. It's even possible to win gift cards or a Mac Book. Though that's probably rare. Mathematically there's a 100% chance of someone winning that, or at least being entitled to win that if that person does donate the minimum 6 times in February, but the odds of it being any one person are minimal. But, you know. I know it won't be me, but it still might be. That is, as long as they haven't deferred me yet, and I still can win...
The bonus gift: random versus inevitable: I'm still good to open my card, they allow me to do so, and my prize is... a spin of the wheel of prizes! The card I'd had all month, that's what the prize had always been (inevitable, though random at first,) but now the randomness continues into the present as I spin the wheel. Which wheel includes prizes such as: swag, an extra $5 on your donation, a VIP card (which allows you to skip to the front of the line so that you don't have to wait around in the lobby for an hour before they call you up to confirm your identity and test your vitals, effectively cutting your visit time in half,) or also an option that allows you to pick a prize off of the wheel, of your choice.
In the realm of random, I spin the wheel, and win, swag. I could've landed on, pick one, but I landed directly on swag, so choice is not yet introduced into the battle of the realms of randomness and inevitability. Rather, it is introduced five seconds later, when I must choose between a blue hoodie or a grey one. I say I can't choose, he mishears this as blues, but they don't have blue in my size-- I must choose again, a size larger or a size smaller, but I choose a grey instead.
I walk out, even earlier than the early that I would have been, because not even a single cycle was completed. And am free to explore the early morning.
That's how the story ends.
The bonus gift: random versus inevitable: I'm still good to open my card, they allow me to do so, and my prize is... a spin of the wheel of prizes! The card I'd had all month, that's what the prize had always been (inevitable, though random at first,) but now the randomness continues into the present as I spin the wheel. Which wheel includes prizes such as: swag, an extra $5 on your donation, a VIP card (which allows you to skip to the front of the line so that you don't have to wait around in the lobby for an hour before they call you up to confirm your identity and test your vitals, effectively cutting your visit time in half,) or also an option that allows you to pick a prize off of the wheel, of your choice.
In the realm of random, I spin the wheel, and win, swag. I could've landed on, pick one, but I landed directly on swag, so choice is not yet introduced into the battle of the realms of randomness and inevitability. Rather, it is introduced five seconds later, when I must choose between a blue hoodie or a grey one. I say I can't choose, he mishears this as blues, but they don't have blue in my size-- I must choose again, a size larger or a size smaller, but I choose a grey instead.
I walk out, even earlier than the early that I would have been, because not even a single cycle was completed. And am free to explore the early morning.
That's how the story ends.
- There's something kind of amazing about having your worst fears being realized, the end of the world occurring, and then realizing that even that's not the end of the world.
It's like failure. Well, it is failure. When I say, failure, though, I mean like in my experience with Try Everything, or not being accepted to Provo. When you fail, you realize it's not that bad, and then you can continue.
So, the end of the world comes as a relief. What you'd been dreading comes true, and you no longer have to dread it. My Wednesdays are a lot freer, and I don't have to worry about my (fairly intensive for an Art 125 project) Art 125 project until then, because I'll have time to do it then. Which is good, because of all the things I need to do for the day before.
Sister La Orange, a speaker at the DLC, talked about being unable to have children seemingly, when she'd always wanted to be, not just a mother, but the coolest mother ever. She eventually was able to bear children, but for 7 years no children came, and she was bitter. Even when he friends were complaining about the duties of child rearing, and expressing jealousy that she didn't have any kids and had time to do whatever she wanted, she was bitter that they had what she couldn't. The 8th year, though, she realized the Lord's patience with her. She'd been denied what she truly desired, and learned a lesson how she behaved when she didn't get it.
I thought about that, the blessings and curses of having children, watching Antigone: clearly the line of Oedipus would be better off if it, you know, weren't. The random and inevitable. In a purely deterministic causal worldview, they're one and the same. It had always been going to happen, kind of deal. The story of Oedipus is one entirely about fate, and this theme of the will of the gods continues into Antigone. Choice does enter into it, though, even here; if it were not so, there'd be no story.
Like how my story ends with a choice. Cut off from choosing an extra $5, I can still at least choose the grey hoodie over the blue.
And I can at least choose, not to be too hard on myself.
So, the end of the world comes as a relief. What you'd been dreading comes true, and you no longer have to dread it. My Wednesdays are a lot freer, and I don't have to worry about my (fairly intensive for an Art 125 project) Art 125 project until then, because I'll have time to do it then. Which is good, because of all the things I need to do for the day before.
Sister La Orange, a speaker at the DLC, talked about being unable to have children seemingly, when she'd always wanted to be, not just a mother, but the coolest mother ever. She eventually was able to bear children, but for 7 years no children came, and she was bitter. Even when he friends were complaining about the duties of child rearing, and expressing jealousy that she didn't have any kids and had time to do whatever she wanted, she was bitter that they had what she couldn't. The 8th year, though, she realized the Lord's patience with her. She'd been denied what she truly desired, and learned a lesson how she behaved when she didn't get it.
I thought about that, the blessings and curses of having children, watching Antigone: clearly the line of Oedipus would be better off if it, you know, weren't. The random and inevitable. In a purely deterministic causal worldview, they're one and the same. It had always been going to happen, kind of deal. The story of Oedipus is one entirely about fate, and this theme of the will of the gods continues into Antigone. Choice does enter into it, though, even here; if it were not so, there'd be no story.
Like how my story ends with a choice. Cut off from choosing an extra $5, I can still at least choose the grey hoodie over the blue.
And I can at least choose, not to be too hard on myself.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
The Burial of Polyneikes
I'm really not sure what to lead with, or even what this post's primary theme should be... earlier today I thought it would be about fate, and chance; right now I'm leaning a lot toward, responsibility, is the best word I can muster for it; both tie vaguely into this big long thing about the notion of causality and the paradox of omnipotence and omniscience, which I've developed a few good thoughts about lately. Conceivably I could tie them all together, but, though I'm surprisingly not tired for having been awake 17 hours straight, I'd still like to go to bed soon.
I survived Saturday. Wasn't even that bad. There's something kind of amazing about having your worst fears being realized, the end of the world occurring, and then realizing that even that's not the end of the world. We did spend, until almost 5:30, at the CBW lab, discussing our comic, so the plasma donation this morning instead of this afternoon was worth it. Choosing the morning versus the afternoon, my left arm being stuck versus my right arm, it looking for a minute there like the arm about to be stuck was the one I didn't want but the mistake being realized, whether that mattered, having been entitled to a bonus gift for donation number six this February which I didn't cash in on till now with this being my seventh time, what that gift was, how that gift was, that's all part of the discussion of the random against the inevitable which I might tell you all about, maybe even some time soon. It was significant at the time, and plenty of material for one post, but the day lasted longer that 8:30 this morning...
Like Antigone. I told you about this. Antigone. It's a play that deals with themes of the will of man vs the will of gods, and temperance, and who decides what is just. Polyneikes may have been a traitor, but is it for a man to decide to allow him to go unburied and thus damned, even if that man is Kreon, the new King of Thebes?
Near the end of the play, Antigone is cast into a cave, which Kreon figures is a good moral medium between punishing her since she went against the king's wishes, and not punishing her because she went with the gods' wishes-- it's still some sort of civic punishment, which satisfies the king, but the gods could rescue her at any time if she really was in the right. The gods don't save her from her fate, and though Antigone still believes that she did the right thing in burying her brother, she apparently suspects that she screwed it up somehow, wavers in faith and hangs herself (spoilers! though if you're really hung up about spoilers from literally thousands of years ago, dang son you're a fastidious one.)
Decrees of state versus decrees of gods are a whole lot easier to judge between, if you know that you worship the right kind of god.
DLC. Disciple Leader Conference. The girl I sat next to during the closing session felt impressed, after we'd started to go our ways after the meeting, to return back to me, to tell me-- not to be too hard on myself, for one thing. Just a random impression. She didn't know why she was prompted to tell me the things she did, and neither do I think that I'm too hard on myself, but we all have the right to receive revelation for those within our influence.
Antigone this evening was the final performance, so it was packed. I'd gotten a ticket for myself, a roommate suggested some activity with him on Saturday, I said my Saturday was busy, but that I was going to go see Antigone if he wanted to fit something in, and he suggested to make it a group date with him and his gal pal.
I don't think he showed up. I haven't seen him, not just all evening, but all day.
I did invite a date along, for myself, though, like he'd suggested-- invited her, and picked her up, and brought her, but she'd apparently never bought a ticket for herself, and so wound up, not in the standby line to get in, but the standby line to the standby line. Last I saw of her, either. I wonder how she spent her evening.
So, here's the powerful conundrum-- I did choose to go in without her, instead of like maybe giving her my ticket instead and miss out on it myself. Was that right? No matter who survives, one is stuck with survivor's guilt. Or do we both stay in the standby standby line, both miss the event, even though one of us could get in?
I chose to abandon her. Harsh way to put it; there was still a chance that she'd have been able to get in, really. (Mathematically, not really, but I suppose that's another aspect of inevitability.) It was absolutely worth going to; the conflicts were sharper and yet more poetic than I remembered just from reading the Sophocles script in High School, and my eyes were opened. But was that worth the sacrifice? Whose will is the most just, gods' or kings'? Is this what I wasn't supposed to be too hard on myself on? Even if our pantheon is right this time, even if we do have the right for revelation for those in our sphere of influence, how do we know that our seer is as reliable as Tiresias was in the play, and that we should act as she says?
18 hours, now, of no sleep. And the roommate just walked in.
I survived Saturday. Wasn't even that bad. There's something kind of amazing about having your worst fears being realized, the end of the world occurring, and then realizing that even that's not the end of the world. We did spend, until almost 5:30, at the CBW lab, discussing our comic, so the plasma donation this morning instead of this afternoon was worth it. Choosing the morning versus the afternoon, my left arm being stuck versus my right arm, it looking for a minute there like the arm about to be stuck was the one I didn't want but the mistake being realized, whether that mattered, having been entitled to a bonus gift for donation number six this February which I didn't cash in on till now with this being my seventh time, what that gift was, how that gift was, that's all part of the discussion of the random against the inevitable which I might tell you all about, maybe even some time soon. It was significant at the time, and plenty of material for one post, but the day lasted longer that 8:30 this morning...
Like Antigone. I told you about this. Antigone. It's a play that deals with themes of the will of man vs the will of gods, and temperance, and who decides what is just. Polyneikes may have been a traitor, but is it for a man to decide to allow him to go unburied and thus damned, even if that man is Kreon, the new King of Thebes?
Near the end of the play, Antigone is cast into a cave, which Kreon figures is a good moral medium between punishing her since she went against the king's wishes, and not punishing her because she went with the gods' wishes-- it's still some sort of civic punishment, which satisfies the king, but the gods could rescue her at any time if she really was in the right. The gods don't save her from her fate, and though Antigone still believes that she did the right thing in burying her brother, she apparently suspects that she screwed it up somehow, wavers in faith and hangs herself (spoilers! though if you're really hung up about spoilers from literally thousands of years ago, dang son you're a fastidious one.)
Decrees of state versus decrees of gods are a whole lot easier to judge between, if you know that you worship the right kind of god.
Antigone this evening was the final performance, so it was packed. I'd gotten a ticket for myself, a roommate suggested some activity with him on Saturday, I said my Saturday was busy, but that I was going to go see Antigone if he wanted to fit something in, and he suggested to make it a group date with him and his gal pal.
I don't think he showed up. I haven't seen him, not just all evening, but all day.
I did invite a date along, for myself, though, like he'd suggested-- invited her, and picked her up, and brought her, but she'd apparently never bought a ticket for herself, and so wound up, not in the standby line to get in, but the standby line to the standby line. Last I saw of her, either. I wonder how she spent her evening.
So, here's the powerful conundrum-- I did choose to go in without her, instead of like maybe giving her my ticket instead and miss out on it myself. Was that right? No matter who survives, one is stuck with survivor's guilt. Or do we both stay in the standby standby line, both miss the event, even though one of us could get in?
I chose to abandon her. Harsh way to put it; there was still a chance that she'd have been able to get in, really. (Mathematically, not really, but I suppose that's another aspect of inevitability.) It was absolutely worth going to; the conflicts were sharper and yet more poetic than I remembered just from reading the Sophocles script in High School, and my eyes were opened. But was that worth the sacrifice? Whose will is the most just, gods' or kings'? Is this what I wasn't supposed to be too hard on myself on? Even if our pantheon is right this time, even if we do have the right for revelation for those in our sphere of influence, how do we know that our seer is as reliable as Tiresias was in the play, and that we should act as she says?
18 hours, now, of no sleep. And the roommate just walked in.
Friday, February 26, 2016
Flesh-and-Blood Von Trapps! Killer Deals! Easy Fun!
I should go to bed-- I have decided to plasmapherese in the morning tomorrow, which means I need to wake up early, which means... yep. But I figure, as long as I'm making breakfast for myself tomorrow, I still have time to go over the day cursorily.
The theatre event of tonight was a performance by the von Trapps, who indeed are a family, that sings, though the grandkids of the Von Trapp Family Singers. Sound of Music = a true story; these kids are the great-grandchildren of the Captain and Maria. ("I'm Kurt and I'm incorrigible," in case you were wondering which von Trapp child is their grandfather...)
 |
| The one in the top center, yeah. |
The event ended at 9:00, and I could've gone straight home and gone to bed, getting an adequate 8 hours of sleep for waking up at 5:00... but they were signin' things after the show, all four of them writin' their signatures, and it was hardly the first time I stood in a looong line today.
Indeed, today also marked the "other Black Friday," the Lost and Found sale. Only instead of allowing trampling, they had a line, which stretched down the hall and down the stairs a full flight to start on the floor below. (Wasn't there this thing, where, like, Black Friday is actually the day you're least likely to get trampled shopping, but those are the only instances that make the news so people arrive at the opposite conclusion from reality, or something?) Anyway, I got some stuff from that. A shirt, a 16 gig flashdrive, three notebooks with people's notes already in, rife for the reading...
That's it for killer deals. Aside from lunch, and those von Trapp CDs I purchased, neither of which were actually that great of a deal but I figure the actual killer deals make up for it. Anyway, my post title also mentions "easy fun" in there...
That's right, I got myself a library card today! At the municipal library; I've already got my I-Card for the school library.
First saw the municipal library, yesterday, out of the window of the Walmart shuttle (heading to Walmart while studying for my Art 202 test, because I can? Still no trace of The Stinky Cheese Caper, and, hey, random interlude of ZOOTOPIA WATCH, one week, baby!) I was like, hey, MADISON LIBRARY DISTRICT, maybe I'll check it out, next week! But then, also because I can, I decided to track it down an hour or so later instead. Headed the completely wrong direction, thinking it to be one block over from the road to Walmart, well who should be walking the other way down the street but Jimmy (who couldn't make it to CBW Wednesday because of a choir thing.) And so I ceased my course of action and walked with him to Broulim's instead, because, though it was low down on my list of places to check out, it was still there on the list. And, leaving Broulim's a way that I've never left it before but randomly decided to explore, it turns out that the library is actually a block down from the street Broulim's is on, instead of the Walmart thing. It was in the completely opposite direction I'd been headed, so, thanks, Jimmy!
After learning yesterday how to get "carded" there, and returning today with some proof of address and some photo ID (my I-Card, because, irony is delicious) I got a card and checked some stuff out! A lot of stuffs, actually. Mostly graphic novels, though, so, a lot of pictures kind of speeds up the reading process...
Well, I should be wrapping up; my Hamburger Helper is done (I (almost) never buy meat, but randomly our freezer right now is overbursting with the stuff, free for the apartment to use, after some big deal and avenue for collecting free food (I'm not the only one in this apartment with that superpower.))
Have some von Trapp! Specifically August von Trapp; this is his "Friend," one of the pieces performed this evening (and as a solo as here, as well.)
Have some von Trapp! Specifically August von Trapp; this is his "Friend," one of the pieces performed this evening (and as a solo as here, as well.)
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Plans for the Weekend?
Thursday evenings (aside from the fact of weekly apartment inspections) are usually pret' chill, but tonight... well... It should all be easy, the art history quiz on Tuesday morning and the graphic design logo final design due Tuesday afternoon-- I've already got most of the Baroque down, study-wise, and the final logo project is just to polish the design up and print and mount, so I shouldn't be sweating about that. Usually I've got Art 101 after Art 202, but next week the Art 101 professor's on a European art tour in Europe, so after the 202 quiz I've got a whole wide open space to finalize my logo printout, or even just do whatever... so that's even better.
So I shouldn't feel stressed. And I don't... much. It's not Tuesday I'm stressed for. It's tomorrow. And, the day after that. The day after that, mostly. Thursday evenings are chill because they're the start of a glorious open weekend, but, looking at it, my weekend's not that open.
I'd like to get in a temple session this month, so I figure tomorrow morning, right? After that, I can study some more and work on my project for the entire rest of the day, aside from the sale going on from 3:00-5:00 of unclaimed Lost and Found items, and theatre at 7:30, for which I need to find time to print out the tickets. Saturday I've got event tickets for a thing 7:30 that evening as well, as well as for this Disciple Leadership Conference starting at 9:00 in the morning. That gets out at 1:30, which is half an hour after the Comic Book Workshop's lab starts, but that's okay because our artist Lauren can actually make it this week but only around 3:00, so I don't need to make it to lab on time. Looking at that, that schedule may not seem very packed, but it's plenty packed figuring out where to fit in plasma donation this week-- do I wake up early in the morning, eat well and put in the time before the Leadership Conference, or do I eat my lunch from that at the lab and try to fit the time in between that and Antigone? I don't know when we'll finish corroborating at the lab, what we'll need to discuss and how long it's going to take us... if it's not long, I won't need to have had woken up so early, but if we do get into it deeply, then I'll wish I had... but will there even be time before the conference? Yes, there will be, but, >phew.< I guess I've got a whole day till then to decide.
Alright. Thanks for letting me talk through that. Go get yourself an ice cream now or something.
So I shouldn't feel stressed. And I don't... much. It's not Tuesday I'm stressed for. It's tomorrow. And, the day after that. The day after that, mostly. Thursday evenings are chill because they're the start of a glorious open weekend, but, looking at it, my weekend's not that open.
I'd like to get in a temple session this month, so I figure tomorrow morning, right? After that, I can study some more and work on my project for the entire rest of the day, aside from the sale going on from 3:00-5:00 of unclaimed Lost and Found items, and theatre at 7:30, for which I need to find time to print out the tickets. Saturday I've got event tickets for a thing 7:30 that evening as well, as well as for this Disciple Leadership Conference starting at 9:00 in the morning. That gets out at 1:30, which is half an hour after the Comic Book Workshop's lab starts, but that's okay because our artist Lauren can actually make it this week but only around 3:00, so I don't need to make it to lab on time. Looking at that, that schedule may not seem very packed, but it's plenty packed figuring out where to fit in plasma donation this week-- do I wake up early in the morning, eat well and put in the time before the Leadership Conference, or do I eat my lunch from that at the lab and try to fit the time in between that and Antigone? I don't know when we'll finish corroborating at the lab, what we'll need to discuss and how long it's going to take us... if it's not long, I won't need to have had woken up so early, but if we do get into it deeply, then I'll wish I had... but will there even be time before the conference? Yes, there will be, but, >phew.< I guess I've got a whole day till then to decide.
Alright. Thanks for letting me talk through that. Go get yourself an ice cream now or something.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
My Life as a Twentysomething AMHFBM
My description, the "about me" over to the right there at the top (according to the current layout at least?) describes this "autistic Mormon hipster furry brony manchild," taken of course from this post in the Ghost Sequence. Kind of audience-alienating, that. Certainly tells you what you're getting yourself into. But just as applicable as ever.
Well, the manchild part grows less true, I'd hope; it was (apparently) extinguished for good Thanksgiving of 2013, (the sting of which experience there is dulling so maybe I should tell you about it sometime? Though I don't think I'll ever not flinch when the topic of Christmas lights at Temple Square is brought up, at least not within the foreseeable future (which, what the heck is a foreseeable future anyway, seems kind of a contradiction in terms to me.))
I still say "apparently," extinguished for good, because, great job jerk, one of the few posts that you actually got posted up last year describes you losing your cool a tiny bit, so we're reminded that you're still capable of frustration even after a powerful enough negative experience to ensure some mellowing. That post was posted a year ago today, actually, plus a couple of days (or minus, if you're counting about the date of "today" instead about the date of "a year ago.") Either way, frustration or no, loss of cool or no, it's been years since I've actually, you know, physically assaulted anyone. Yay?
As for the others from the about me, how applicable they are especially to this blog: when I talk about autism I get into it, the neurology and everything; "hipster" could mean anything, but for me it just means I listen to a lot of really obscure U2 and love eating fancy, so I don't tend to delve into it that much; I've noticed that I sure the heck seem to define the brony and furry terms I drop when we get to those, generally tending to go out of my way to explain the furspeech and MLP references when only half as often bothering to explain any insider Mormon culture when I reference that. This trend probably reveals a lot about the expected audience for these things... For the record: I've actually been to Mormon conventions...
So speaking of not bothering to explain what the heck Mormons are talking about, and finally coming to the head that I'd posted on this subject for in the first place-- I'm not sure what my grade's even going to be, but I did make a vague promise in The Phantom Progress Check to get that paper I did for my Pearl of Great Price class up, so it links from that post now if you want to see it. Which... I'd been about to say how you probably don't, but I don't know, maybe you do, and apologizing for myself and going on about how you don't have to read anything here if you don't want to is exactly the kind of thing that the Ghost Sequence had too much of. So.
Well, the manchild part grows less true, I'd hope; it was (apparently) extinguished for good Thanksgiving of 2013, (the sting of which experience there is dulling so maybe I should tell you about it sometime? Though I don't think I'll ever not flinch when the topic of Christmas lights at Temple Square is brought up, at least not within the foreseeable future (which, what the heck is a foreseeable future anyway, seems kind of a contradiction in terms to me.))
I still say "apparently," extinguished for good, because, great job jerk, one of the few posts that you actually got posted up last year describes you losing your cool a tiny bit, so we're reminded that you're still capable of frustration even after a powerful enough negative experience to ensure some mellowing. That post was posted a year ago today, actually, plus a couple of days (or minus, if you're counting about the date of "today" instead about the date of "a year ago.") Either way, frustration or no, loss of cool or no, it's been years since I've actually, you know, physically assaulted anyone. Yay?
As for the others from the about me, how applicable they are especially to this blog: when I talk about autism I get into it, the neurology and everything; "hipster" could mean anything, but for me it just means I listen to a lot of really obscure U2 and love eating fancy, so I don't tend to delve into it that much; I've noticed that I sure the heck seem to define the brony and furry terms I drop when we get to those, generally tending to go out of my way to explain the furspeech and MLP references when only half as often bothering to explain any insider Mormon culture when I reference that. This trend probably reveals a lot about the expected audience for these things... For the record: I've actually been to Mormon conventions...
So speaking of not bothering to explain what the heck Mormons are talking about, and finally coming to the head that I'd posted on this subject for in the first place-- I'm not sure what my grade's even going to be, but I did make a vague promise in The Phantom Progress Check to get that paper I did for my Pearl of Great Price class up, so it links from that post now if you want to see it. Which... I'd been about to say how you probably don't, but I don't know, maybe you do, and apologizing for myself and going on about how you don't have to read anything here if you don't want to is exactly the kind of thing that the Ghost Sequence had too much of. So.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
(Just as Fascinating as) The First 89 Times You Said That
Guardians of the Galaxy is on right now. On DVD, I mean, which means it's on, whenever. I must've seen this movie, well, I can't even estimate how many times, but a loooot. Even just, here, this semester here, this is the fourth or fifth time (depending on what you qualify to be a viewing.) The film came out 2014, two years ago, but we still treat it like it's fresh. It's still rewatchable, apparently, even though you wouldn't think. Like how "I am Groot" actually doesn't wear real thin real fast? That's surprising. How does Guardians stay so fresh?
I'm going to make a list of what I think it might be, because I can!
I'm going to make a list of what I think it might be, because I can!
- Great music.
- Great humor.
- Quotable, too. Both the humor and the, music. Both quotable.
- The action's pretty good, too. Some of it more memorable than others. Which, hey, increases the novelty factor, of action scenes that tend to be hazier.
- Complex plot with a lot of characters running around-- the movie's still ultimately understandable if you didn't catch all that any time previous through, but the politics and motivations and everything are all there if you pay attention, so, might as well rewatch it to piece together all that stuff.
- Also in, really hard to recognize under all that makeup, but: Karen "Amy Pond" Gillan as Nebula and Lee "Legolas's Dad Thranduil oh and also Ned the Piemaker" Pace as Ronan the Accuser? And Bradley Cooper in that tiny little Rocket Raccoon suit, of course. Vin Diesel isn't actually the one inside the Baby Groot suit, though. That'd be ridiculous.
- Alright, that was needlessly silly. I'm sorry.
You know what I should check out? The TV show. I actually like Ultimate Spider-Man, and that Avengers show is alright too I guess... Alright, movie's over now. Well, except for the bit with Howard the Duck. That's still forthcoming.
...Alright, it's over. And nobody seems to know who the heck Howard the Duck even is around here. Huh. A theory or two about what he's doing here in the stinger:
- "He's just, like, another Marvel character. It's like a cameo or something. I don't know if he's gonna be the villain in the next one or what."
- ...
Oh, man... I'd pay to see that...
So I'd been going to post today about maybe the animation workshop today (another extracurricular deal like the Comic Book Workshop except on Tuesdays, and hosted by Madeleine Fisher (the one from CBW who does Precious Metal, which seriously just read already.)) I'm not sure if this was its first week or what, since there weren't many people there and all seemed new-- I know it's my first time, since usually my Tuesday afternoons are for studying and taking my Art 101 quiz at the Testing Center, but this week I managed to get that done earlier.
I'd been going to post about that, and I guess I just, did. So there you go. Or maybe post about the research I did before the workshop and the stuff I found out for TTDECBA?, but that seems like something better posted over there of course...
Monday, February 22, 2016
Resurrection and Judgement-- A Romp through Scriptures, Modern Revelation, and a Little Bit of Art History Too
I've got another Putting It All Together due in my Religion 275 class-- the topic that sang to me from this period, in between Putting It All Togethers, deals with resurrection and judgement. Not that I've got any particular insights into it, this time, like the things that struck me about the origins of the Book of Mormon. There are a few reasons that this topic above all others stood out. Maybe I'll explain below. For now, getting into this two-pronged topic, I'll lead with resurrection.
We use death as a punishment- the capital of punishments, in fact. Isn't that interesting? I've been thinking about that a bit recently. As mortals, we can't grasp the true meaning of death. Christ had to die in order to be resurrected, and open the gate for everyone else-- death plays an integral role then in the atonement, our reconciliation with God.
Elder Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, talks about the hope in death in his talk "Resurrection." "The 'lively hope' we are given by the resurrection [1st Peter 1:3] is our conviction that death is not the conclusion of our identity but merely a necessary step in the destined transition from mortality to immortality. This hope changes the whole perspective of mortal life. The assurance of resurrection and immortality affects how we look on the physical challenges of mortality, how we live our mortal lives, and how we relate to those around us."
Mormon's final words in the Book of Mormon, excluding his son Moroni appending a compilation of some of his correspondence into his own book, are recorded in Mormon 7. These are his final words, then, basically. And he uses this space to talk about how Christ's atonement swallows up the sting of death. This is one of the reasons I chose this topic-- Mormon's a prophet, of course, writing in a religious work eventually canonized as scripture, so it's no surprise that he'd chose some kind of similar message, but, there's something about that: his final words are messaged toward the remnant of the Lamanites, exhorting them to believe in the Book of Mormon, designed to provide supporting evidence toward the Bible. And so he testifies of Christ's atonement.
"...he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; in him is the sting of death swallowed up. And he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat. And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom..." (Mormon 7: 5-7.)
There's a universal level and a personal level, here. We're all given restoration from physical death, but we can still remain spiritually dead. Alma 41:10 explains that something can't be "restored" from sadness to happiness, or from sin to happiness in other words. Restoration is to put something back the way it was, but perfected. Made whole. In Mosiah 16: 5, the prophet Abinadi explains that even with the atonement made, "he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God."
Which brings me to judgement. In art class, when we were discussing Michelangelo's wall of the Sistine Chapel (that's right, the wall-- they liked the ceiling so much that they decided to call Michelangelo back years later, when he was an old man, to paint the wall of the alter at the apse as well.) An interesting thing-- the end wall deals with the final judgement of man, but Michelangelo had developed some unorthodox ideas over his life-- nobody was about to argue with him, though, because, he was Michelangelo, you know, and so his ideas got a chance to come across in his artwork.
The really interesting thing was how Michelangelo dealt with the torment of hell. There's a fine Western tradition of brimmy fiery stone, with the torment being literal, but Michelangelo depicts torment here as being... mental.
I'll just close here by quoting Alma 12:10-11, where Alma is defining the meaning of the chains of hell:
I'd say, then, given what we've been discussing here, that Mr Buonarroti had it dead-on, wouldn't you? It all comes down to our receptiveness to the word, whether we decide to accept the Atonement of Christ into, not just our deaths, but our lives as well.
We use death as a punishment- the capital of punishments, in fact. Isn't that interesting? I've been thinking about that a bit recently. As mortals, we can't grasp the true meaning of death. Christ had to die in order to be resurrected, and open the gate for everyone else-- death plays an integral role then in the atonement, our reconciliation with God.
Elder Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, talks about the hope in death in his talk "Resurrection." "The 'lively hope' we are given by the resurrection [1st Peter 1:3] is our conviction that death is not the conclusion of our identity but merely a necessary step in the destined transition from mortality to immortality. This hope changes the whole perspective of mortal life. The assurance of resurrection and immortality affects how we look on the physical challenges of mortality, how we live our mortal lives, and how we relate to those around us."
Mormon's final words in the Book of Mormon, excluding his son Moroni appending a compilation of some of his correspondence into his own book, are recorded in Mormon 7. These are his final words, then, basically. And he uses this space to talk about how Christ's atonement swallows up the sting of death. This is one of the reasons I chose this topic-- Mormon's a prophet, of course, writing in a religious work eventually canonized as scripture, so it's no surprise that he'd chose some kind of similar message, but, there's something about that: his final words are messaged toward the remnant of the Lamanites, exhorting them to believe in the Book of Mormon, designed to provide supporting evidence toward the Bible. And so he testifies of Christ's atonement.
"...he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; in him is the sting of death swallowed up. And he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat. And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom..." (Mormon 7: 5-7.)
There's a universal level and a personal level, here. We're all given restoration from physical death, but we can still remain spiritually dead. Alma 41:10 explains that something can't be "restored" from sadness to happiness, or from sin to happiness in other words. Restoration is to put something back the way it was, but perfected. Made whole. In Mosiah 16: 5, the prophet Abinadi explains that even with the atonement made, "he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God."
Which brings me to judgement. In art class, when we were discussing Michelangelo's wall of the Sistine Chapel (that's right, the wall-- they liked the ceiling so much that they decided to call Michelangelo back years later, when he was an old man, to paint the wall of the alter at the apse as well.) An interesting thing-- the end wall deals with the final judgement of man, but Michelangelo had developed some unorthodox ideas over his life-- nobody was about to argue with him, though, because, he was Michelangelo, you know, and so his ideas got a chance to come across in his artwork.
The really interesting thing was how Michelangelo dealt with the torment of hell. There's a fine Western tradition of brimmy fiery stone, with the torment being literal, but Michelangelo depicts torment here as being... mental.
I'll just close here by quoting Alma 12:10-11, where Alma is defining the meaning of the chains of hell:
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
I'd say, then, given what we've been discussing here, that Mr Buonarroti had it dead-on, wouldn't you? It all comes down to our receptiveness to the word, whether we decide to accept the Atonement of Christ into, not just our deaths, but our lives as well.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
God, Logic, Morality, Talents and Motivations
Another Sunday, another chance to go to chirch and think about, chirchy stuff (chirch=church but for birds??) Religion/morality, another thing that fascinates me though it doesn't come easily, like music or mathematics or, shoot there was a rather good one that I was thinking about, what was it... smelling? I am not the best smeller... but I'm really good at it!
Well, I don't know. Art, I think it was, if that makes sense. But, church's focus on being a good person, anyway, always hammering how we could be better or try harder even though it feels like, well I always thought, I'm improving in the process-- is saying that admitting failure, in the face of everyone at church preaching a need for some kind of deliberate improvement? I don't feel like much of a sinner, but everyone's saying to repent...
This sense of morality confuses me. How can they say that there's such thing as sin, and in the next breath announce that there's a youth activity tomorrow? I'm taken aback-- youth activity!? they want us to have fun!? But I thought they just told us not to sin!
Logically I know that fun isn't sinful, logically I know that context separates vengeance from justice and sinful fornication from sacred marital intimacy, but emotionally there's no such thing as context, killing drive is killing drive and mating drive is mating drive... they're emotionally the same, and isn't spirituality supposed to be about emotion? That's what people say, that's how people describe faith. As though spirituality is supposed to be primarily emotional, irrational.
But I don't believe in God through emotion, I believe in God through logic, through rationality-- albeit logic based somewhat on emotion, in a sense; logic based on context, context of emotion, if the Spirit can be properly called emotion. The Holy Ghost manifesting truth, which dances around the edges of a very specific form.
No, but really, we've got no clue what the youth activity tomorrow is going to be. Probably Mario Kart 64, or something.
In Sunday School they were talking about the atonement, and somehow this meant writing down things on the board as part of the lesson-- love, repentance, faith and faithfulness; we can be selfish and braggardly about our EDUCATION, our TALENTS, our WHATEVER, all written out on the board. We can be selfish and braggardly, negative thing negative thing. But how can we turn these things into positive things, for other people?
Here it is. It's a subject I think a lot about-- in my Patriarchal Blessing the Lord told me personally to "live for" my gifts and talents to bless other people, but... in the presence of, the way morality is presented at church, the need to repent and try harder, it feels like we're bringing something amoral into the realm of morality, which feels immoral to me-- gifts, talents, live for 'em, why not; practicing your piano is your true form of worship, that is the law, are we not men.
Our education, or our talents, or our whatever, how do we turn these things into positive things to bless other people? It's a subject I think a lot about, and they're writing about it on the board right now. "It's impossible," I whisper.
And fortunately she mishears me, and it was an exactly write answer [pun.] THE GOSPEL. she writes on the board, at the top. Followed by others, SHARE at the bottom, WHATEVER again in the middle between the two (I paraphrase a bit of the board here, if you couldn't tell.) I guess there's a hierarchy: it's alright to share, but motivations need to be pure.
And, forced to come face-to-face with my motivations for things, if I truly do what I do to bless the lives of others-- I was forced to come face-to-face with that last night, where I spend half an hour in sweaty hot gradually blinding agony, just to get a decent shot that showcased both of my hands, and my big toe, and the little baby clipon that becomes a bowtie-necktie hybrid when it's worn by a full-grown man. And... well, I hate to sweat, so I really don't think I went through all that for myself. So that's good to know. Motivation-wise.
It's also good to know that within 24 hours, that post is already well on its way as one of the blog's most viewed posts of all time, according to the analytics, surpassing even that ever-popular one group of posts where we aggregated all the DeviantArt art of cats which were also pirates... it's at number 7, and is already neck-in-neck (heh) with number 6, and by midnight it should well surpass. And, perhaps go beyond; it's a very clickable title? It's just very reassuring to know that all that work paid off and found its audience, anyway. I really do, hate, sweating...
Well, I don't know. Art, I think it was, if that makes sense. But, church's focus on being a good person, anyway, always hammering how we could be better or try harder even though it feels like, well I always thought, I'm improving in the process-- is saying that admitting failure, in the face of everyone at church preaching a need for some kind of deliberate improvement? I don't feel like much of a sinner, but everyone's saying to repent...
This sense of morality confuses me. How can they say that there's such thing as sin, and in the next breath announce that there's a youth activity tomorrow? I'm taken aback-- youth activity!? they want us to have fun!? But I thought they just told us not to sin!
Logically I know that fun isn't sinful, logically I know that context separates vengeance from justice and sinful fornication from sacred marital intimacy, but emotionally there's no such thing as context, killing drive is killing drive and mating drive is mating drive... they're emotionally the same, and isn't spirituality supposed to be about emotion? That's what people say, that's how people describe faith. As though spirituality is supposed to be primarily emotional, irrational.
But I don't believe in God through emotion, I believe in God through logic, through rationality-- albeit logic based somewhat on emotion, in a sense; logic based on context, context of emotion, if the Spirit can be properly called emotion. The Holy Ghost manifesting truth, which dances around the edges of a very specific form.
No, but really, we've got no clue what the youth activity tomorrow is going to be. Probably Mario Kart 64, or something.
In Sunday School they were talking about the atonement, and somehow this meant writing down things on the board as part of the lesson-- love, repentance, faith and faithfulness; we can be selfish and braggardly about our EDUCATION, our TALENTS, our WHATEVER, all written out on the board. We can be selfish and braggardly, negative thing negative thing. But how can we turn these things into positive things, for other people?
Here it is. It's a subject I think a lot about-- in my Patriarchal Blessing the Lord told me personally to "live for" my gifts and talents to bless other people, but... in the presence of, the way morality is presented at church, the need to repent and try harder, it feels like we're bringing something amoral into the realm of morality, which feels immoral to me-- gifts, talents, live for 'em, why not; practicing your piano is your true form of worship, that is the law, are we not men.
Our education, or our talents, or our whatever, how do we turn these things into positive things to bless other people? It's a subject I think a lot about, and they're writing about it on the board right now. "It's impossible," I whisper.
And fortunately she mishears me, and it was an exactly write answer [pun.] THE GOSPEL. she writes on the board, at the top. Followed by others, SHARE at the bottom, WHATEVER again in the middle between the two (I paraphrase a bit of the board here, if you couldn't tell.) I guess there's a hierarchy: it's alright to share, but motivations need to be pure.
And, forced to come face-to-face with my motivations for things, if I truly do what I do to bless the lives of others-- I was forced to come face-to-face with that last night, where I spend half an hour in sweaty hot gradually blinding agony, just to get a decent shot that showcased both of my hands, and my big toe, and the little baby clipon that becomes a bowtie-necktie hybrid when it's worn by a full-grown man. And... well, I hate to sweat, so I really don't think I went through all that for myself. So that's good to know. Motivation-wise.
It's also good to know that within 24 hours, that post is already well on its way as one of the blog's most viewed posts of all time, according to the analytics, surpassing even that ever-popular one group of posts where we aggregated all the DeviantArt art of cats which were also pirates... it's at number 7, and is already neck-in-neck (heh) with number 6, and by midnight it should well surpass. And, perhaps go beyond; it's a very clickable title? It's just very reassuring to know that all that work paid off and found its audience, anyway. I really do, hate, sweating...
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Dat Necktie, Yo (Foot Selfies)
Well, I'm shaky, I'm sweaty, I'm bleeding from apertures I don't remember having earlier, and I can barely see anything right now from the afterimage of having a flashlight shined into my face for twenty straight minutes, but I finally did it:
playing photographer AND model AND lighting technician, I took a picture of me wearing that dope new tie...
...with my toe.
Still SD card-less, I couldn't use my camera so I had to use my Kindle, which doesn't have a time delay function. Hmm. So, foot selfies.
Not.
as.
easy.
as that sounds. And does anyone really think that it sounds that easy?
Especially with getting the lighting right, when Kindles don't have any real form of flashbulb-ing; more light=clearer picture, in photography, since more light can reach the aperture. It's been a half hour since beginning this post (composing on and off of course,) and my eyes still haven't fully recovered from providing sufficient photographic light for all of my attempts at success.
Sometimes when I'm searching around for my glasses when I've misplaced them, I grab a flashlight to allow more light into my retinas, so that I can see more clearly, but eye logic doesn't work the same as camera logic... With eyes it's the focus itself that's off, focusing a little in front of or a little behind the, hey I had it right, the fovea. How the frig did I know that word, just off the top of my head like that, sometimes I'm just so surprised at all the crap floating around up in my brain... so, anyway.
Hey, Facebook is telling me that four years ago today was the day that I "friended" Cailin, and since that was on the first day I had a Facebook, and the day I got a Facebook was the day I got a blog, this blog, and confirming that yes February 20th 2012 was the first post here, I guess hey, anyway, it's this blog's four-year anniversary. 1,461 posts into it, well strike that 1,089 posts of those actually written and published so far, also a few of those only those wimpy post preview versions that I attempted, so, well whatever. I don't know. I only just learned this now, so I hadn't really planned on anything special.
AND HEY THERE'S ALSO THIS
Zootopia tickets now available on Fandango. Only for a limited number of cities, as yet, but, I don't know. Is it just me, or are the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War posters suspiciously similar? It's almost as though they explore many of the same themes, or something... Also: the Warcraft poster, it's got two horizontally distributed faces on it too, as long as we're stretching as far as we are...
Friday, February 19, 2016
Meet Chandler (Plus Zootopia Watch/ Review)
Went to bed past midnight, slept in this morning, waking up at a glorious 9:30. Did a bit of homework, watched YouTube and The Martian; must read that book, but I also want to get around to The Three Body Problem and Ancillary Justice, and, I actually kinda like the ads on YouTube so that Red thing doesn't hold that much interest for me, and... and...
Dang, man, what do I usually spend my Fridays on? I have no memory of how I usually spend this gaping crevice of time. Sudoku, I think, getting it done in time to turn in by 5:30, but, this week's puzzle was exceptionally easy and I finished it day 1 (which was a Tuesday this week, of course, there having been no school on Monday and thus no opportunity to pick up a copy of the Scroll.)
So I decided to walk to Walmart. (Which is apparently spelled one word now, though I haven't been spelling it thus in the past...)
Now, Walmart's Supercenter is much much further away than the old Walmart was-- and that Walmart, across from Fat Cats, is, I timed it once, a 20 minute walk away from the mainy streety place that I just realized I don't actually know the name of or whether it really is Main Street here or not. The new Supercenter is such a great distance past that that being driven there for the first time on the day it opened (Wednesday 27th January, like I told you about in Clickbait Title,) it took a few minutes for it to finally come into view, and it was worrying there for a bit whether the new Supercenter really was past the old Walmart like I'd thought.
But I'd been duffing around all day, and figured I could stand to burn the calories; the sidewalk had been snowed over the first time, attempting to walk back after being driven up, but the snow's been sloughing like mad recently, and so the pathway was probably open for me. There is a Walmart shuttle that circuits around, of course, but I didn't want to wait for that thing. And, again, calories. So I walked.
It took me... a while. Maybe an hour, I don't know. But the snow really has been melting, uncovering much that had been covered since the winter began. Like a sign advertising how there's gunna be an Autumn craft fair on November 21st. Or an adorable baby-length plaid-patterned clip-on tie which I clipped on to the front of my t-shirt, or the back of my t-shirt rather since I'm wearing my shirt backwards today (and it looks great!) Or, and this is what I want to talk about, a newspaper page from the '90s. I'm not sure of the exact date, or even the exact paper, because it's just pages 9-10 and 19-20 of a television schedule, for the week of May 26-April 1, 1996.
Have I posted up the backlog post yet, where I talk about my bookshelf, and how the gem of the newspaper collection is an Idaho paper from 1989 which I found on my mission? It talks about AIDS, and the Exxon Valdez spill, and Ronny and Gorbachev and super expensive super advanced for their time super crappy home computers, which are made up for by $2.99 all-you-can-eat buffets for two (!!!). There's a television schedule section there, too-- ALF and MacGyver and all-- which features cinema times as well, all the movies that were playing at that time. Loads of classics, too, all in theaters at the same time: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Rain Man, Pet Sematary, See No Evil Hear No Evil... Fletch Lives...
This paper today was from the 1990s, anyway, 7 years after the other one, but even better because actually in living memory for me. Though, only one sheet, like I said, and in a condition almost as though it had spent the winter sitting under a big pile of snow, which only thawed for me to see the newspaper within. So, the '89 paper is better in my opinion, still, though the '96 sheet is just as chockalock of Mister Sandman Sequence-esque stereotypicality of that era.
 |
| Yes, this is what it looks like. (I may not have a camera today, but I still have access to a scanner.) |
I looked it up; Friends was between seasons 2 and 3, on May 30, 1996 (and, since you were wondering, Third Rock had completed its first season just the week before.) Sorry it has to be Chandler; the same paper features photographs of Carol Burnett, Sharon Gless, and Diane Sawyer, but I had to go with the Friends photo because, '90s. Another apology for the photo being of Chandler. It wasn't my decision. Chandler was, just, like, the worst. My goodness. Like Elaine in Seinfeld, but with 10x the suck.
...Actually, I might be thinking of Joey? No, definitely Ross. Yeah, that's right, it was Ross. Definitely, definitely... But, you know what, all the Friends friends were just terrible terrible people.
Seinfeld, anyway. Gosh darn it, Elaine...
So, hey. You can learn a lot from old television schedules. Like, It's possible to air reruns of Rivera Live (???). And, there's a second Short Circuit AND a second Where the Red Fern Grows. And, there's a third Darkman movie (also apparently a second!) And, perhaps the most amazing of all these facts, Darkman III is subtitled, Die Darkman Die.
Also, apparently, there WAS a Danny the Champion of the World movie made? Andrew and I always wondered why there wasn't, but: 1989. Three stars out of four. To whatever stock you place in TV schedule star reviews. It's on the Disney Channel Thursday night at 9:00!
See? Old TV schedules, man...
...review? that makes it seem like I've seen the movie already. Figuring to phase out the "watches," now, though, and, I don't know, just figuring to go with "review" like a "review" of some Zootopia tie-in merch, but now I realize, clearly that's not how that title comes across...
Clearly a review, though; that allows me to get away with showcasing copyrighted material, by using the magical power of fair use.
I said I went to Walmart, but I didn't actually get to the point in the story where I arrived. This is what I got there: Zootopia stuff, silly, some of which I didn't even know existed. Like the Disney Zootopia "Happy Tin," it's a tin full of fun!, which I've at least unwrapped from its cling but have yet to crack open. Maybe we'll go over it next time?
For now, hey Walmart finally has a stock of Zootopia books now (also this darling Frozen "Big Snowman Little Snowman" book, which tells the story of Frozen discussing opposites all along the way, and with which I instantly fell in love (though I did not purchase, because, hey that's a slippery slope, man; I was there just for the Zootopia goods and that ate up at my pocketbook enough (crack. is. cheaper.)))
Far and away my favorite score of the evening was, IT'S A HUSTLE!, which not only comes WITH FUN ERASERS!, but also features OVER 40 THINGS TO DO. Puzzles, coloring, games, and more! And choking hazards; the image below doesn't show it, being from the Amazon page of the book, but my Walmart edition came with a free BONUS sticker on the cover promising dire warnings to children under 3 years of age...
 |
| Source: Disney/Parragon Books Ltd, via Amazon. |
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| All $7 were worth it for this image alone. |
End... endemic...? Well, anyway.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
The Phantom Progress Check
So, how my Pearl of Great Price class was canceled yesterday? There was the suggestion to use that time to work on this "Progress Check" project, in the reminder email of the cancelled class. Is it canceled or cancelled? My spellcheck is accepting both. Gedssa. Yep, it's still working, not accepting those random letters as a word, so, huh, strange.
I couldn't get around to checking out the project, though, with that stuff due for my Art 125 class, and so I only swung around to see what the progress check (due on Thursday evening (this evening)) was about a few hours ago, during Art 130. And... well, I'm glad I got to it then instead of later, because it wasn't some cuddly fill-out-a-few-questions test like I'd thought it was going to be. It was a big mean paper that needed to be written, which it would have been useful to have gotten the suggested head start on like the email said, and which I only had a few hours to complete.
I started the paper on the computer in the lab, in between finishing the Art 130 lab work, and saved it to my SD card, bringing it home and finishing it off. Turned it in on time, all right.
Only, maybe I should have something to show for it, since that's what took up most of my evening and could only swing around to blogging at all, now (luckily I didn't get those Antigone tickets for tonight like I'd considered doing!), but...
The paper, saved in my SD card, is now in the camera of a photography student who swung by the apartment wondering if he could borrow an SD card from one of us. I won't be needing to take any photos in the interim, before I get it back Saturday morning, but, also, I won't be able to show you what I spent most of the night so far doing.
Pearl of Great Price, though; pretty dense stuff. Count yourself fortunate that I don't have the paper for you.
EDIT: Alright, got it! I'm so sorry.
http://dielikeadisneyvillain.blogspot.com/p/1-down-road-and-up-road-are-prefigured.html
I couldn't get around to checking out the project, though, with that stuff due for my Art 125 class, and so I only swung around to see what the progress check (due on Thursday evening (this evening)) was about a few hours ago, during Art 130. And... well, I'm glad I got to it then instead of later, because it wasn't some cuddly fill-out-a-few-questions test like I'd thought it was going to be. It was a big mean paper that needed to be written, which it would have been useful to have gotten the suggested head start on like the email said, and which I only had a few hours to complete.
I started the paper on the computer in the lab, in between finishing the Art 130 lab work, and saved it to my SD card, bringing it home and finishing it off. Turned it in on time, all right.
Only, maybe I should have something to show for it, since that's what took up most of my evening and could only swing around to blogging at all, now (luckily I didn't get those Antigone tickets for tonight like I'd considered doing!), but...
The paper, saved in my SD card, is now in the camera of a photography student who swung by the apartment wondering if he could borrow an SD card from one of us. I won't be needing to take any photos in the interim, before I get it back Saturday morning, but, also, I won't be able to show you what I spent most of the night so far doing.
Pearl of Great Price, though; pretty dense stuff. Count yourself fortunate that I don't have the paper for you.
EDIT: Alright, got it! I'm so sorry.
http://dielikeadisneyvillain.blogspot.com/p/1-down-road-and-up-road-are-prefigured.html
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Graphic Design Protips from Actual Pros, Plus the Lengthy Context in Which I Was Around to Even Hear Them
My priorities place Art 130 projects (due on Tuesday at 3:00 pm and generally being pretty labor intensive) over Art 125 projects (due on Wednesday at 5:00 pm and generally being pretty basic.) Wednesdays (with the early morning Book of Mormon course getting out 8:45 and no classes at all after that until 3:15 Pearl of Great Price) are a fairly nice respite in the middle of the week, with that chunk of open schedule there giving me enough time to put in my first plasmapherese of the week (with my second being on Saturday.) Do that, perhaps finish off my Book of Mormon study for the day, and there's still time left over to finish and print my Art 125 project in time for 5:15 class.
This week's project involved doing physical, pencil-and-paper design sketches, and scanning into the computer. There was a similar project in Art 130 once, which took me, how much time did I estimate, 16 hours, to complete (with everyone else talking about how very long it took them to do theirs, like 4 whole hours-- my module that week, may have been turned in, late...) but this project's rules were much more relaxed, and so I could knock it off during the course of, more Vin Diesel (The Last Witch Hunter, actually a really good movie, at least insofar as giving me loads of inspiration for TTDECBA. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is another great film in the same vein. And probably also the comic books upon which that film is loosely based. (LWH is an original concept, though, so the principle holds through, even more so.))
Sketches, well I probably should have knocked them off sooner, nonetheless, easy. The problem arrived when it came time to scan a 4"x4" version of one of my initial sketches. No sweat, just hit the computer lab, scan it there; the toughest part about that is signing in (the computers there have a thing against network accounts, and 120% especially mine.) The computer lab is busy, when I get there, though; there are day classes in there, who knew. So... I can't just... go in there, can I? There are people sitting at those computers, listening to the presentation being given.
Oh well. Maybe there's a scanner at the library, then? Don't freak out; between completing the tutorial assignments and digitizing this sketch in both Illustrator and Photoshop, and also preparing for your presentation, that should all take you, two hours. And, subtracting time in FDREL327, you've got... two hours.
There is a scanner at the library, at the back of the commons, but I've got no idea how to work it, at least not to the specs I need. It's one of those scanner/printer dealios, like a copy machine + I guess... To access the printers around you need your I-card, and, though it doesn't seem to be true of this one, I didn't bring my I-card either way, and I don't have enough time to try to figure the thing out anyway; my Pearl of Great Price class is in less than an hour now.
I head back home, figuring I can just digitize my sketch by eye, head to class, and swing by the lab after, when the class there will have had let out.
Only I hadn't grabbed my keys, either, and one of the apartmentmates has the subconscious habit of automatically locking the door behind him when he gets in, though we always leave the door unlocked...
Alright, then. Scanning first it is then. Let's try the lab again. Might as well. People sit in on classes that aren't theirs in the lab all the time, no biggie. Down in the lab, I peek in then at the presentation that's being given...
And the presenters are the team behind FamilySearch's new design.
I stuck around. Even managed to scan in there, as well as practice my line styles and thicknesses in Illustrator (I was assigned to do a presentation at 125, like I mentioned, either on some aspect of Photoshop or some aspect of Illustrator, of my choosing.) Mostly, though, I listened. And managed to collect some PROTIPS for myself, which I'm graciously sharing with you.
They then went around checking out the students' designs, from this assignment apparently where they had to design (and create!) soda pop bottles and their cardboard containers. But that's not me. So.
I went home. The door was unlocked. Pearl of Great Price class this week was scheduled for catch-up time, but we're already on schedule so turns out class had been cancelled today, so I had time to finish the rest of my assignment on time. Phew. Although, there still remained the printing to do... luckily I started my printing attempt a full half hour before I had to turn the job in...
My presentation went swimmingly, anyway.
Comic Book Workshop was packed this evening. It's nice that so many people are interested in it now, but one of the best parts of CBW is being able to collaborate with someone to do your own comic and I'm afraid these late(r)comers will miss out on getting to do that.
I finally brought both Unbeatable Squirrel Girl TPBs to the comic book table this evening, though it was just as crammed as the class was. Still, Squirrel Girl. My SQUIRREL POWER is being borrowed until the CBW lab on Saturday. It's so great to be able to spread the love; presumably then I'll be able to share Volume 2.
And meanwhile, "sexualized squirrel[s]" (???) disturb Toben.
This week's project involved doing physical, pencil-and-paper design sketches, and scanning into the computer. There was a similar project in Art 130 once, which took me, how much time did I estimate, 16 hours, to complete (with everyone else talking about how very long it took them to do theirs, like 4 whole hours-- my module that week, may have been turned in, late...) but this project's rules were much more relaxed, and so I could knock it off during the course of, more Vin Diesel (The Last Witch Hunter, actually a really good movie, at least insofar as giving me loads of inspiration for TTDECBA. Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is another great film in the same vein. And probably also the comic books upon which that film is loosely based. (LWH is an original concept, though, so the principle holds through, even more so.))
Sketches, well I probably should have knocked them off sooner, nonetheless, easy. The problem arrived when it came time to scan a 4"x4" version of one of my initial sketches. No sweat, just hit the computer lab, scan it there; the toughest part about that is signing in (the computers there have a thing against network accounts, and 120% especially mine.) The computer lab is busy, when I get there, though; there are day classes in there, who knew. So... I can't just... go in there, can I? There are people sitting at those computers, listening to the presentation being given.
Oh well. Maybe there's a scanner at the library, then? Don't freak out; between completing the tutorial assignments and digitizing this sketch in both Illustrator and Photoshop, and also preparing for your presentation, that should all take you, two hours. And, subtracting time in FDREL327, you've got... two hours.
There is a scanner at the library, at the back of the commons, but I've got no idea how to work it, at least not to the specs I need. It's one of those scanner/printer dealios, like a copy machine + I guess... To access the printers around you need your I-card, and, though it doesn't seem to be true of this one, I didn't bring my I-card either way, and I don't have enough time to try to figure the thing out anyway; my Pearl of Great Price class is in less than an hour now.
I head back home, figuring I can just digitize my sketch by eye, head to class, and swing by the lab after, when the class there will have had let out.
Only I hadn't grabbed my keys, either, and one of the apartmentmates has the subconscious habit of automatically locking the door behind him when he gets in, though we always leave the door unlocked...
Alright, then. Scanning first it is then. Let's try the lab again. Might as well. People sit in on classes that aren't theirs in the lab all the time, no biggie. Down in the lab, I peek in then at the presentation that's being given...
And the presenters are the team behind FamilySearch's new design.
- When a designer's showing off his portfolio, one who explains why he did what he did is always more interesting than one just with "cool" designs.
- Show your portfolios to people!
- I like to open up screenshots of apps and replicate them in Illustrator, studying the choices that the app designers made.
- We're always hiring.
- Something else about design I guess?! (Another thing I didn't have on me, aside from my keys and I-card-- a pencil. I wish I'd brought a pencil. I can't remember like half the stuff that the team said.)
- Pay attention to what your product would look like on the shelf next to other competing products, and think of ways how your design could stand out in context.
They then went around checking out the students' designs, from this assignment apparently where they had to design (and create!) soda pop bottles and their cardboard containers. But that's not me. So.
I went home. The door was unlocked. Pearl of Great Price class this week was scheduled for catch-up time, but we're already on schedule so turns out class had been cancelled today, so I had time to finish the rest of my assignment on time. Phew. Although, there still remained the printing to do... luckily I started my printing attempt a full half hour before I had to turn the job in...
My presentation went swimmingly, anyway.
Comic Book Workshop was packed this evening. It's nice that so many people are interested in it now, but one of the best parts of CBW is being able to collaborate with someone to do your own comic and I'm afraid these late(r)comers will miss out on getting to do that.
I finally brought both Unbeatable Squirrel Girl TPBs to the comic book table this evening, though it was just as crammed as the class was. Still, Squirrel Girl. My SQUIRREL POWER is being borrowed until the CBW lab on Saturday. It's so great to be able to spread the love; presumably then I'll be able to share Volume 2.
And meanwhile, "sexualized squirrel[s]" (???) disturb Toben.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Re: Things Other Than Vin Diesel, Apparently
I don't have many post ideas today that aren't Vin Diesel-related (be..cause... Vin Diesel?) but luckily Ryan shared the link for this video with me for some reason, sending me an email at midnight last night with nothing but the link to what's embedded here. As far as things on the internet go, it's fairly explicable, but as to why he emailed this to me out of the blue, ???.
Here you go, anyway:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0whherUIeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3378FlHK4v0
Here you go, anyway:
That's... not much of a post, still. I'm sorry. Watch the videos in yesterday's post again, I guess?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0whherUIeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3378FlHK4v0
Monday, February 15, 2016
Hey There, America! Happy Let's-All-Have-Some-Executive-Branch Day! (Plus Another Sorta Zootopia Watch)
I posted mostly about my Comic Book Workshop workshop project in the post on Martin Luther King Jr Day, also called Civil Rights Day apparently though I've never heard that before (and how delicious a parallel mirrored against our George Washington's birthday and Abraham Lincoln's birthday just getting mashed together into one genericized President's Day!) . That, and how I had a bunch to study for. My second Art History Ren-Present quiz was last week, though, and I rocked it; I've not much to study for this week so I can't use that as an excuse this time (though I do have a graphic design lab to turn in tomorrow, but I've got one of those every week.)
So I think I'll update you on the comic book project. Jimmy's finishing up the script as we speak; he said on Friday that he'd finish it up that night, so actually I take that to mean that he is finished, but, doesn't know how to, share a Google Document?
And that's about as long as my post was on Civil Rights Day, and that's about as long as my post is today. But today, I also have another sorta Zootopia Watch!
another sorta ZOOTOPIA WATCH
I'm not sure if these are even "watches" anymore, since there's not much wriggle room to learn anything new that isn't already public knowledge by this point... and I've already done one post just entirely dedicated to keeping tabs on everything. We're getting surreally close, now, though. Hey, you see the trailer for that Sing thing, right? Weird, eh? At least it looks better than Secret Life of Pets, also from Illumination, and anyway...
It occurs to me that maybe the identity of ultimate villain of Zootopia isn't meant to be some twist. Perhaps WDAS noticed their track record on villain reveals, and wanted to bite that train before it hatched, or whatever metaphor I'm trying to think of, on this one.
I've yet to get my hands on a copy of The Stinky Cheese Files, or even see a copy in real life, but I'd imagine that they even manage to slip the plot point into that. (It would take place after the film, correct? So, yeah, it wouldn't even be that big of a stretch to put that in there, and, freak, maybe we even get to see that skunk pride parade; man I've got to read that book, it's not many that provide exclusive content like that.)
Hey, so I was just about to post up the trailer for Sing, but going onto YouTube to attempt to find it I discovered that Xidnaf posted up his first video in months today, and kind of got distracted by that, because then there was this thing with Artifexian that he linked to as a sequel, and... ah, dang it, I'm sorry. Well, there are these videos, anyway... they're entirely unrelated, yes, but, just watch them already:
So I think I'll update you on the comic book project. Jimmy's finishing up the script as we speak; he said on Friday that he'd finish it up that night, so actually I take that to mean that he is finished, but, doesn't know how to, share a Google Document?
And that's about as long as my post was on Civil Rights Day, and that's about as long as my post is today. But today, I also have another sorta Zootopia Watch!
another sorta ZOOTOPIA WATCH
I'm not sure if these are even "watches" anymore, since there's not much wriggle room to learn anything new that isn't already public knowledge by this point... and I've already done one post just entirely dedicated to keeping tabs on everything. We're getting surreally close, now, though. Hey, you see the trailer for that Sing thing, right? Weird, eh? At least it looks better than Secret Life of Pets, also from Illumination, and anyway...
It occurs to me that maybe the identity of ultimate villain of Zootopia isn't meant to be some twist. Perhaps WDAS noticed their track record on villain reveals, and wanted to bite that train before it hatched, or whatever metaphor I'm trying to think of, on this one.
I've yet to get my hands on a copy of The Stinky Cheese Files, or even see a copy in real life, but I'd imagine that they even manage to slip the plot point into that. (It would take place after the film, correct? So, yeah, it wouldn't even be that big of a stretch to put that in there, and, freak, maybe we even get to see that skunk pride parade; man I've got to read that book, it's not many that provide exclusive content like that.)
Hey, so I was just about to post up the trailer for Sing, but going onto YouTube to attempt to find it I discovered that Xidnaf posted up his first video in months today, and kind of got distracted by that, because then there was this thing with Artifexian that he linked to as a sequel, and... ah, dang it, I'm sorry. Well, there are these videos, anyway... they're entirely unrelated, yes, but, just watch them already:
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Radio Free Zooropa
Though I'm talking mostly about Pop. Couldn't resist the pun.
So, U2. Like I mentioned yesterday, I picked up a few albums of theirs at Hastings, among other things.
Under a Blood Red Sky, I realized, isn't an old album to me like I'd thought! Wide Awake in America, is the live U2 album I already own. Totally different. So that's three new albums, instead of two like I'd thought! But none of them All That You Can't Leave Behind, I realized today looking at them... :(
Now, then.
Let's talk about Pop.
Pop is an album a lot of people were disappointed with. Rushed production, for one. Themes surprisingly darker than its bright kid-friendly packaging would suggest. Also, when the 1990s takes itself too seriously, it takes itself too seriously, and even (and especially!) the heart-on-their-sleeves U2 get in on the act.
But I like Pop. I've always wanted to talk about it, and I finally get the opportunity to do so now, now that I own the thing. This is exciting.
I find the album flawless in its flaws, perfect in its imperfection. It's like how Frozen is rendered somehow better by its wandering villain, as discussed in the post linked which I finished backlogging yaay. Pop is... It's got sharp edges, like it was freshly machined, like you can see the bones and sinews, the beating heart of the U2 music factory. All the cranking unevenness, the herky jerky griminess, is, thematically appropriate, to the angle they're going for. I don't know. There's an implacability about it. Implacability? You can't... place, it? Circulate, regulate, oh no, you cannot connect it. So, yeah, I think it's good.
But maybe that's just me. I like U2.
So, U2. Like I mentioned yesterday, I picked up a few albums of theirs at Hastings, among other things.
Under a Blood Red Sky, I realized, isn't an old album to me like I'd thought! Wide Awake in America, is the live U2 album I already own. Totally different. So that's three new albums, instead of two like I'd thought! But none of them All That You Can't Leave Behind, I realized today looking at them... :(
Now, then.
Let's talk about Pop.
 |
| u2.com |
But I like Pop. I've always wanted to talk about it, and I finally get the opportunity to do so now, now that I own the thing. This is exciting.
I find the album flawless in its flaws, perfect in its imperfection. It's like how Frozen is rendered somehow better by its wandering villain, as discussed in the post linked which I finished backlogging yaay. Pop is... It's got sharp edges, like it was freshly machined, like you can see the bones and sinews, the beating heart of the U2 music factory. All the cranking unevenness, the herky jerky griminess, is, thematically appropriate, to the angle they're going for. I don't know. There's an implacability about it. Implacability? You can't... place, it? Circulate, regulate, oh no, you cannot connect it. So, yeah, I think it's good.
But maybe that's just me. I like U2.
I've never actually owned a physical copy of the album, before, till now! Never owned it at all, of course, though of course I know the songs, from what's provided on U2's website and elsewhere. But I have you now, Pop, for real! Let's open you up, shall we?
It's so silvery and rainbowy! I've never had the, privilege, of opening up, say, "Prism" by Katy Perry or "Warrior" by Ke$ha (do they, still spell that with a $?), but I'd imagine it'd be very much the same kind of visual assault opening up the liner notes on those albums too, just from the covers of those albums and the style of music of those artists.*
One thing (probably) different, Pop is... very, very '90s. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing; I can't conceive of any other decade in which "The Playboy Mansion" could've been written (being about society's religious devotion to ephemera, how there's only one "mansion" whose gates we want to pass through, and it ain't the one up above.)
But, even in the liner notes, you can tell, Pop is still very visibly '90s. Not in a grungy way, too much, either,but... we're the 1990s, we're so cool, yeah? Unironic in all the places where irony would be better and ironic where all should be un-, in retrospect.
And as rainbowy silvery as the liner notes are, they... You know what, it'd just be easier to illustrate.
 |
| Feast your eyes. |
Saturday, February 13, 2016
CBW Idaho Falls Trip
The Comic Book Workshop usually have a "lab" on Saturdays, at 1:00 at the Crossroads Food Court in the Manwaring Center. This week, however, we took a trip up to Idaho Falls today, to eat at IHOP and shop at Hastings Entertainment. We left a little before 10:00, and got back, 1:30-ish I guess, so it wasn't that long but it was still a relatively big trip.
Hastings has things new and used, of comic books and apparel and books and CDs and action figures, and also DVDs and video games but I didn't spend much time checking those sections. (IHOP, meanwhile, I'm pretty sure has beer, just judging my the name? but we all got breakfast instead.) Also, one of the two vehicles back swung by this arts/crafts supply place for a bit, but, fearing for the remainder of my pursage, I just took the car back that I'd taken up which was just heading straight back home. Plus that was the vehicle all my stuff was in that I'd brought up, so.
So, odd bit of self-discovery today, I have developed nerve endings into my wallet, because, it hurt going into Hastings like that. It really, really hurt. Luckily none of the comic books appealed to me that much (or at least not enough to be worth buying, with my throbbing pocketbook- oh boy the entire collected Knightfall story arc of Batman, I sure wish I had $90 to spare on three phone books!)... I stuck to CDs and books.
Judy Hopps and the Missing Jumbo Pop is just so great, and I utterly lack the capacity to explain why...
Meanwhile, I am two albums closer to my goal of total U2 album domination! And also Under a Blood Red Sky, which I realized not longer after the purchase that I already own, albeit only (till now) in cassette tape form.
Figuring I should probably have some photography to prove the trip and one or two of the goodies we got on it, I commissioned (but for free of course) the following portrait, where I'm wearing, not my steampunk goggles purchased from Hastings, but those of the gal in the seat next to me. And they are even sweller to wear than they are to behold upon the visage of another, that's fo' a fac'.
Hastings has things new and used, of comic books and apparel and books and CDs and action figures, and also DVDs and video games but I didn't spend much time checking those sections. (IHOP, meanwhile, I'm pretty sure has beer, just judging my the name? but we all got breakfast instead.) Also, one of the two vehicles back swung by this arts/crafts supply place for a bit, but, fearing for the remainder of my pursage, I just took the car back that I'd taken up which was just heading straight back home. Plus that was the vehicle all my stuff was in that I'd brought up, so.
So, odd bit of self-discovery today, I have developed nerve endings into my wallet, because, it hurt going into Hastings like that. It really, really hurt. Luckily none of the comic books appealed to me that much (or at least not enough to be worth buying, with my throbbing pocketbook- oh boy the entire collected Knightfall story arc of Batman, I sure wish I had $90 to spare on three phone books!)... I stuck to CDs and books.
Judy Hopps and the Missing Jumbo Pop is just so great, and I utterly lack the capacity to explain why...
Meanwhile, I am two albums closer to my goal of total U2 album domination! And also Under a Blood Red Sky, which I realized not longer after the purchase that I already own, albeit only (till now) in cassette tape form.
Figuring I should probably have some photography to prove the trip and one or two of the goodies we got on it, I commissioned (but for free of course) the following portrait, where I'm wearing, not my steampunk goggles purchased from Hastings, but those of the gal in the seat next to me. And they are even sweller to wear than they are to behold upon the visage of another, that's fo' a fac'.
There are also individual portraits of everyone else in the vehicle, though I'd rather not go through the hassle of receiving everyone's permissions; those in the backgrounds of my picture are incidental? Also, if I commissioned the photo, that makes me the copyright owner, right? But I didn't commission the extra photographs, so, there's that too.
Friday, February 12, 2016
You Are a Radio Star (Plus Zootopia Watch, Sorta)
Odds are that you've seen the below video, and understand its significance in the world of, the very fabric of music video reality itself.
Absolutely, monstrously insane fact that I learned this morning, though: the Buggles, as everyone knows, are the two-man tag team of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, yet there's a seemingly third member in the video, most prominently around 2:53. No, it's not Bruce Woolley. It's not Snape. It's not even Voldemort.
It's Hans Zimmer.
ZOOTOPIA WATCH sorta?
With the very first film reviews already beginning to come out, this feature is beginning to seem kind of redundant, but I figure there are one or two more hurrahs left in this thing.
More from the Zootopia and Hype thing from a couple days ago, anyway-- down in the comments, user "crossie" pointed this out,* and it was just so great that I'm going to assume that you didn't read through the comment thread so I'll just post the thing up here in its entirety (remember, we're talking about Zootopia and Hype):
Which, yes, is amazing, but I only decided to mention it today specifically because I only realized today, I'm one of the people who wasn't hyped for Force Awakens, but love it now.
But I'm honestly not sure what that says.
ZOOTOPIA WATCH sorta?
With the very first film reviews already beginning to come out, this feature is beginning to seem kind of redundant, but I figure there are one or two more hurrahs left in this thing.
More from the Zootopia and Hype thing from a couple days ago, anyway-- down in the comments, user "crossie" pointed this out,* and it was just so great that I'm going to assume that you didn't read through the comment thread so I'll just post the thing up here in its entirety (remember, we're talking about Zootopia and Hype):
Two words: Star Wars
Listening to furries worry about hyping a movie too much while a large chunk of the culture around them obsesses about an upcoming ‘Star Wars’ movie all through 2015 didn’t make any point other than furries are really, really unaware about what’s going on in the culture around them.
In 2016, it’s that, plus late. **
Which, yes, is amazing, but I only decided to mention it today specifically because I only realized today, I'm one of the people who wasn't hyped for Force Awakens, but love it now.
But I'm honestly not sure what that says.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
P2Become, a Few of Those Notes I Promised
I'm finished with those sandwiches, and their accompanying chips and cookies! Not finished with all that water, though... and there's still plenty of condiment package left over. That vegetarian option, the wrap, was really good, very crunchy...
What the apartment will not run out of any time soon, however, is bread. We've been eating a lot of it for the past couple of days, and... I'm not sure if we've made a dent yet:
Protip: Jimmy John's sells breads in bulk for cheaps... if they happen to have forgotten to freeze the latest batch to keep it fresh like they should have done. Or, pardon, they did freeze the bread so that it was no longer fresh...
Anyway. I promised you P2B notes last Friday, and so should, like, give you those! The opening sessions don't yield much in things to share-- just people delivering inspiring talks about their own paths to greatness, that kind of thing, but, the breakout sessions of day 2 yielded some things worth sharing...
SPENCER TAGGART: TELL YOUR STORY
ROBERT SULLIVAN: NETWORK EFFECTIVELY
I don't know. I didn't go to this one. From what Mala and Caroline talked about during the opening session, though, I've got a couple of things maybe?
What the apartment will not run out of any time soon, however, is bread. We've been eating a lot of it for the past couple of days, and... I'm not sure if we've made a dent yet:
 |
| Those fruits are life-size, by the way. Not midget fruits or anything like that. |
Anyway. I promised you P2B notes last Friday, and so should, like, give you those! The opening sessions don't yield much in things to share-- just people delivering inspiring talks about their own paths to greatness, that kind of thing, but, the breakout sessions of day 2 yielded some things worth sharing...
SPENCER TAGGART: TELL YOUR STORY
- "Everything communicates." Everything. Even those, transliterating the example from his anecdote into relevant terms, those fruits by the breads. First impressions communicate- if you go into a job interview, assume that they're Googling you. You must exist, for one, but also for two you must not have any, again transliterating from that same anecdote, bruises on your fruits. What you do conveys different things to different people, so know your audience as well.
- Learn how to tell your story the right way. A story breaks down into four steps, 1 "once upon a time," 2 "suddenly!..." 3 "luckily..." 4 "...happily ever after." Remember this structure as you tell your story, and don't shy away from the "suddenly!" moment in it; this moment of tragedy deepens your story and your willingness to share it connects you with your audience; you trust someone who's willing to be vulnerable. The "luckily" can either be a hero or a victim card; don't play the victim-- be sincere with your story.
- Ask the right question. Albert Einstein was asked, if he had only one hour to solve a problem, how he would spend that hour. He replied that he would spend the first 55 minutes figuring out precisely what the question is, and once the right question is asked, it would only take 5 minutes to answer it. FOCUS your story. If you're vague, then I don't know how to help you. It's about VISION. Dial it in, or else you won't know when to say no to opportunities presented to you. The hardest part isn't when to say "yes," but when to say "no."
ROBERT SULLIVAN: NETWORK EFFECTIVELY
Be genuine. "Networking" in its classical connotations is, well, bad. It's a lie. The basic leadership practice today is to throw others under the bus over yourself. That's the given; that's the law. And it fails over and over again. Gains gained are in the short-term strictly, in the worldly conception of networking. Mormons network every day: all those callings in church are networking, the right kind-- if you were born into the Church, you're a networking pro! (Network=circle of people you serve, and whom you can call upon for service.) Expand the people you serve. As you serve the people in the network that you do have, others will see you serve, and be drawn in.
- Show genuine interest in others. It'll surprise 'em and make an impression! Constant access to technology and media can disconnect us from those physically around us. "Centering" means to focus on the task at hand. Barriers break down when we get to know people, and networking becomes what "networking" has been looking for.
- Three LinkedIn protips. 1- start with a great profile pic. 2- Your top banner is populated from your entire profile; complete the whole thing. 3- There's a BYU-I program of Super Connectors, people with at least 500 (but frequently many more) connections. Complete the prerequisites, and get those people to add you.
- Be active. Update your profile often. It's freaking impressive. Let people know what's going on. Ask for updates from other people in your network. Do more than the minimum-- it will be noticed.
If you do all these things, maybe you, too, will have been childhood friends with Jake Black this whole time, and get to meet Orson Scott Card.
"TALENT CATALYSTS": DISCOVER YOUR PASSION
I don't know. I didn't go to this one. From what Mala and Caroline talked about during the opening session, though, I've got a couple of things maybe?
- Passion=calling. Not like a church calling, though. Like, a, calling. For life.
- Job-- what you do. Career-- what you build. Calling-- what you live.
And that's about it.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Incoming: FANDOMONIUM '15, &c
[EDIT: Oh, shoot, I mean '16... I know I could fix that right now, but, I like it this way I guess?]
At Comic Book Workshop this evening, who should walk in but an old familiar face, well the whole person walks in but with the face still attached, which I thought I recognized but the more people you meet the more you start to notice how there are only a limited number of "actors" in the world, and you have to double or even triple cast for extras and minor characters and even major characters... but it really was, someone from the mission, whom I probably freaked out a bit by pointing at so hard in an "I know you" pose... and he wasn't the least shy of elders, so I hope he can make it back next week...
Anyway. Actual announcement time, an actual post topic. Ladies and gentlemen, particularly any ladies or gentlemen in the Rexburg area, and hey why not especially ladies, may I announce to you FANDOMONIUM, Saturday March 12. Sort of like a mini one-day Comic Con, here at BYU-I? The Events people and the Comic Book Workshop people are, getting together, and... gonna have little booths, and all, and... cosplay, could very well be cosplay...
...
I'm feeling kind of vulnerable right now, and I've got a big test tomorrow morning I'm trying not to cram for... so both of those are good, each informing the other that, I'm not putting out much of a post today. Because not only do I not feel like making much of a post, also I shouldn't. Happy alignment.
But, might as well get this out there, but in other news, it's been almost a whole month since the announcement but I wasn't informed of it till now (following research up on, they're making a Frozen musical now?...!,) but, Cats is coming back to Broadway?
At Comic Book Workshop this evening, who should walk in but an old familiar face, well the whole person walks in but with the face still attached, which I thought I recognized but the more people you meet the more you start to notice how there are only a limited number of "actors" in the world, and you have to double or even triple cast for extras and minor characters and even major characters... but it really was, someone from the mission, whom I probably freaked out a bit by pointing at so hard in an "I know you" pose... and he wasn't the least shy of elders, so I hope he can make it back next week...
Anyway. Actual announcement time, an actual post topic. Ladies and gentlemen, particularly any ladies or gentlemen in the Rexburg area, and hey why not especially ladies, may I announce to you FANDOMONIUM, Saturday March 12. Sort of like a mini one-day Comic Con, here at BYU-I? The Events people and the Comic Book Workshop people are, getting together, and... gonna have little booths, and all, and... cosplay, could very well be cosplay...
...
I'm feeling kind of vulnerable right now, and I've got a big test tomorrow morning I'm trying not to cram for... so both of those are good, each informing the other that, I'm not putting out much of a post today. Because not only do I not feel like making much of a post, also I shouldn't. Happy alignment.
But, might as well get this out there, but in other news, it's been almost a whole month since the announcement but I wasn't informed of it till now (following research up on, they're making a Frozen musical now?...!,) but, Cats is coming back to Broadway?
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