Of Chiropteran Run-Ins and Career Opportunities

Going for an evening walk a few hours ago, there was a bat that looked in a bad way, flailing around and not flying very well, I guess, though I can't say I'm not familiar with bats up close and, maybe they always fly like that? Real little one too, not like a baby by any means but still probably juvenile of whatever species of bat they've got here (fruit...? (fun fact about Idaho I didn't know #2: its state fruit is the huckleberry?))

It flopped/flew from the road in front of me, as if startled by me. Flew and landed in the parking lot on the other side of the sidewalk from the road, and then again and resting near the chain link fence (which I think it tried to fly through before quitting that.) Was it sick? Wounded? I don't know. Went home to get a shoebox and blanket and pair of examination gloves to scoop it up and take care of it and contact a veterinarian to take over from there, but when I got back, the little guy was gone (I don't actually know if it was male or not; I'm no chiropterologist and didn't exactly get the opportunity to look at its little bat privates.) (that is, I assume bat privates are little... see, see how little I know about bats?) (Every dead thing that I find does seem to work out spear, but this little (biddy?) was still alive, so, no sale.)

If it was gone, which it was, I'm just assuming it was alright all along, nothing broken about it at all. Because that's really all I can do.

Speaking of my creepy knack for locating animals when they're usually already dead, though, that boy squirrel corpse talked about in the link above, remember how it turned out that that could net me a job, as here? Figured now that I've got time for it, in summer, I could maybe look into that... but it turns out that it's a school job, at like the biology department, and it's, like I said, summer right now... there are a few summer classes going on, but the possibility that anything would be related is, remote...

Go

Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design (I think the library was closed but the door wasn't locked (alright, one of the doors wasn't locked) but anyway the service hours sign indicated that the library should have been open, though there was nobody in there) is something that I discovered today exists. Chip dang Kidd, writing a book for ages-ten-and-up to teach the basics of graphic design, which Milton dang Glaser calls "an excellent introduction?" Yes please.

I just, read it all in the library. It's not that long. Don't even need it from Amazon, or anything, like the stuff I ordered yesterday, 'cause... I already read it.

Good book, though. Great introduction to graphic design; I'm with Milton Glaser.

Things in the Mail (I'm Totally Plugging)

Cryptofiction #6 arrived this week, but to the old mailbox; I have updated my mailing address on Patreon but #7 won't come for another month of course. I fortunately still had the key for the mailbox, still having had access to that kind of stuff up until yesterday; I've got no clue where that key is now.

The last two weeks of July the Biomat's doing another one of those get-an-extra-$10-for-your-second-donation-in-the-week deals. Last  week, of course something went wrong preventing me from getting in on that action then (low protein levels); this week, we're moved, different address, and they need physical proof of your address if you want to sell plasma, which wouldn't have been an issue had the Cryptofiction arrived to the address provided on the day that it was shipped (I'd updated it by then,) but apparently it ships to the address provided on the day the deadline for the mailing list is. Which makes sense in retrospect. But for now, it looks like either way I missed the $10 bonus for this week too (it's more than it sounds, alright?)

And so I'm left with the need to find some other way to prove my address change. Which means, ordering something from Amazon to arrive here?

I could have done that the day that the Cryptofiction arrived to the old mailbox, but waited until today to because, I guess there was nothing really I desperately wanted ordered (the only three Dash buttons that I'd actually use: Voss, Perrier, Orangina.) There'd be no anticipation; it'd just be, ordering something just to order it, and I could just have somebody write me a letter if I needed the proof-of-address that badly. But, heck, you know, it'd be nice not to have to wait a month... So I ordered myself, the latest Silversun Pickups album (came with AutoRip so I've already listened to it on my Kindle; isn't the world awesome?) and, shoot, while I'm at it, a copy of WE3 by Grant Morrison art by Frank Quitely? Okay, that should cover it...

Amazon's telling me that if I sink $13.40 worth of qualified books more into this purchase, I can get the shipping for free.

I like free stuff. And you figure, it's not technically spending more, you're just spending more now, on something that was already on your wishlist and hence you were planning on buying anyway. But what book to add to my order, that costs more than $13, that I can't just get on Kindle...?

Rory Scanlon is a professor at BYU. I took one and a half workshops from him at last year's Utah Theatre Association, and his theories on costuming (he is a costuming professor) BLEW my KRUTACKING MIND. The sociology of zones of the body, and how we perceive characters subconsciously based on how those zones are clothed. I could go into it; I'll be a jerk and won't, but bottom line: crazy stuff. He mentioned having written a book, where he goes into even more depth on his theories; I looked it up, it's on Amazon; there's some jerk who wrote a one-star review which kind of scared me off till now (going into the book purely for a figure-drawing lesson. Of course you're not going to do better than an actual, figure drawing, anatomy how-to book for that; the school of costume design, figure-drawing-wise, is this: draw some elongated potatoes into a vaguely human form and then drape from there.) The book still has the theories, though, looking into it today, and it's, a little over $13, so, hey.

I'm actually looking forward to the order arriving now.

For some reason, though, Amazon's between shipping periods? Nothing's gonna start shipping until like, the 8th. Like what the heck...

We're Out of Mushroom Power

The "correct" music video to post here would be "The Old Apartment" by Barenaked Ladies, but man whatever.

I've been transferring things veeery slooowly to the new apartment. Day before yesterday brought over my mattress protector, yesterday my fitted sheet, today probably would have been blankets anyway. Didn't bring the cover and sheets "over" actually as much as up from the laundry room after washing them. My non-lauderable blankets just stayed in the old bedroom folded up neatly on the floor. Along with a lot of stuff that had been yet to be transferred to the new apartment. And loads of stuff in the fridge too; people just gave Ryan, like, all their foods, which we just kept in the old fridge (the stuff's transferred now, and that thing is pretty packed. I went to go grocery shopping this evening but bought nothing, because, not only do I not have much money, but also where would I put the food that I bought? (All I've had to eat today is, the remainder of the popcorn from yesterday, a little yogurt, 5 pepperoni slices (like slices of the pepperoni itself, not 5 slices of pizza) and free samples from the store. And I guess some frozen fruit I put into my water bottle as ice. (Was I not that hungry? No, I was pretty hungry. Just didn't feel like eating I guess. I do have things to eat, so it wasn't that. I'm good now.)))

I woke up before 7:00 this morning, did maaan whatever, for maaan however long, but it was still pretty early in the morning next I checked, and I was tired, but dressed, so instead of going through the trouble of getting back into my pjs and crawling back into the blanketless bed, I went down to the old apartment mushroom power, from now on; that phrase is "mushroom power." So I went down to mushroom power, spread out the blankets of the floor, got under those, maaan no pillow, but I made do with like the wall I guess.

And then company arrives...

I explain the story, how since there's nobody living in mushroom power during the summer we were allowed to take our time moving out, and how I was taking a nap in the middle of the day, because I was tired.

And I know now what it must have looked like instead: that I was living in apartment 4 still, and that I was sleeping in instead of napping like I claimed, because apparently 9:00 a.m. is a little early to be taking a midday nap.

So she doesn't believe me. Aaaaegh man I don't want to have to recreate the conversation for you; basically though I was still tired and thus not on my best navigation-of-social-interaction game, and things were off to a bad start and it was one of those situations where you tell the truth but they don't believe it and any further truth you tell just digs you further down the hole like a clam or something and so the best thing you can do is keep your trap shut--and bottom line, at the end, more or less, move out from mushroom power by 5:00, with everything white-glove recleaned (because I'd clearly been living there the whole week and thus things needed to be cleaned again?) or else I, basically, get kicked out of the apartment complex or whatever?

So yeah that was pretty weird.

We're all the way out of mushroom power now, is the good (?) news.

It's actually a good thing that I took that nap where and when I did. Can't think what would have happened to all our stuff if they just walked in on it still being half there and all...

Planet of Apes and All That Biz

I've done a few Every Frame a Paintings. I don't think I've quite got around to posting a Now You See It video up here yet. This one, though, from the Nerdwriter (whom I hadn't posted of yet either and who covers more topics than just filmmaking) came out today, and it struck me, because, really it was articulated far beyond what I'd figured out so far about Dawn of Justice's failure. It's not enough just to judge. Analyze.



That's pretty unrelated, though, though not so unrelated that I wouldn't be able to shoehorn in if I tried. Shoehorning. Huh. One of the reasons modern superhero films can sometimes seem so odd. We're used to plot being presented up front, all the necessary characters introduced in the first half, that like Spider-Man 3, or the Amazing Spider-Man 2, or BvS:DoJ of course, can feel so odd, in that they introduce new villains in the last halves of the movie. I don't think that, say, Vertigo would've been able to get made nowadays, with its whole twisted Kim Novac transformation-into-the-image-of-a-lie-which-also-happens-to-be-herself occurring only within the final thirdish-quarterish of the movie.

Um. Listen to some Miike Snow now, a'ight?



My morality is based around sensation. Morality is laws, right, and laws means expectations. Your existence, you can do two things to your external environment, interact and sense.

Sorry, I'm kind of reconstructing my relationship to existence right now. Forgive me if I'm somewhat shaky. Have you ever had a profound existential moment staring at your hands? And have you ever had a profound existential moment staring into the mirror? Today I stared at my hands, in a mirror. It's an experience I shan't recover from any time soon, I think. No backing out of this rabbit hole.

Time is reinforcement of morality- the longer you exist, the more you learn to expect, the more moral you are. God is eternal; it makes sense that God has the most power (power is influence over environment (locomotion (movement) changes the environment which means changing what you can interact with (influence) and what you sense.))

What is our moral obligation toward what we influence, how we interact, I haven't figured out yet. Technology is miraculous- it increases our influence, thus is more powerful than we are, thus is closer to God.

There was a time my world was filled with darkness, now I am expected to fill it up with something.

I'd change shapes just to hide in this place. I'm still an animal.



You don't see this kind of thing much more either, explorations of what it means to be humans. AIs have supplanted actual animals, it seems, but... I suppose even the Island of Dr Moreau is a rarity as far as these explorations from the past go.

Planet of the Apes showed today at Paramount 5; the listed start time was 7:00 but it was closer to 7:30 when they actually started playing it (not deliberately or anything, just out of sheer neglect.) I knew I had to go see it, being the cinemaphile I am; don't care if I'm also a poor college student; $10 a ticket wouldn't be that bad at FatCats. I made sure to get in a half-hour early, to ensure a seat for myself. Thought that probably the place would be packed.

I was the only one there.

Ken Burns documentary on the National Parks Service. Special previews nationwide, one of them in the High School auditorium, but nobody showed up to that. Except for those of us behind the scenes. Even if anybody had shown up, there wouldn't have been anything to show; we'd never managed to get the AV set up. So.  I guess this is just my kind of thing.

I had an hour there, before the movie began. Half an hour early and half an hour late. Fortunately I'd brought something to do; I've been looking into Mayan art and Animal Style designs, Celtic Knots Book of Kells illuminated manuscript that kind of thing, trying to divine their secrets, how they managed to achieve such good graphic design before the invention of graphic design. I mean, look at this:

Linda Schele and Peter Matthews, "Palenque: Hanab-Pakal's Tomb," in The Code of the Kings (1998), p. 102

That's not even designed and you couldn't design it better. (I know I've been posting up my Ancient Temples and Temple Texts papers, but am not doing it today; the remaining 5 papers are just reviews of some of the papers I've read on one topic or another.)

Graffiti, as well. I've been fascinated in it especially since around the end of spring break. Same thing- more deliberately designed, obviously, but still amateur work. How do they achieve the effects they do, without formal training? Their use of color especially. The particularly maddening thing is you find this kind of thing replicated in the furry fandom all the time, highlighted with particular emphasis for example with this year's BLFC

or the cover of the album "Phwoa" by furry electronica/ambient artist Halley Labs

not that these particular examples aren't professionally designed; I'm just using them as examples of how naturally furriness fits with typical graffiti color scheme

or, just like, the colors of your typical fursuit; animals in real life are, animal-colored, but I've frequently seen group photos of furry conventions described as being like a rainbow threw up its Skittles. I'm trying to crack open these secrets and amateurs all around me are handling it just fine, no secrets needed.

I puzzled over this for the better part of the hour. A few answers received, but it's a topic I'm going to need to explore in a lot more depth.

I realized there as well, there was no way I'd been going to miss it. Planet of the Apes, I mean. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. And with a jolt I realized: hey, I know something about myself; I'm not some wide-open personalityless entity of absolute lack of characteristicness.

And I also realized, I'm the only one here, so I'm the whole audience. I laugh, that's the whole audience laughing. I get up and cheer, that's the whole audience getting up and cheering. I pop a bit of popcorn into my mouth, the whole audience is munching their concession at the exact same time.

And later on tonight, after the film and after the existential hands-in-mirror-gazing, I realize, if it's characteristic of me, if it's what I expect, then it's my morality. Because rules are expectations. That's what they are. (Communication itself, interaction through a certain set of expectations, that meaning will be received. Interaction with others, fellow sensators, sensors, sensationizers, fellow interacters, some "I" that's part of the universe but not part of you. Communication, interaction with that, using language, which is a set of rules. I say "fun," you have expectations, rules, of what I mean by that, thus communication is or is not achieved.)

Sensation is my morality, and when I get up and use the restroom, that's the whole audience missing the part of the movie where Charlton Heston escapes from his cage. That scene goes un-sensed, by anyone, and I feel guilty, because it breaks my rule of morality, of sensation.

Use the restroom, yeah. Movies, I've discovered, are much more enjoyable if you've got the large combo with free refills. Gives your body something to do while the rest of you focuses on the flick. Also, I've got enough connections with the behind-the-scenes of movie theaters to know, it's the only thing that's really making them money, especially on such a screening, so, another aspect of my morality unrelated to the sensation thing, of course I'm going to nab some concession.

Saltiness of the popcorn negated by the sweetness of the pop; also physiologically the liquid negates the saltiness by giving the salt something to, I forget the name of the process, osmose or whatever. Caffeine dilates the kidneys, so I'm not sure whether that would enhance the process or weaken it?, but whatever.

Frequent drinks that go right through you, with all the salt and stuff; your bladder fills up quickly. During the movie and after it; I wash my hands when I'm finished, of course, and stare at them in the mirror...

The film only begins because I remind them that anyone's in there. They skip straight over the previews (half an hour apparently short enough that they don't have to do it to the film showing after that even though I'm overlong) but from what I could see of the one frame of preview that did slip through, it would have been Suicide Squad as the first preview. Suicide Squad trailer, the one that plays Bohemian Rhapsody... which come to think of it, is a better encapsulation of the existentialism than Animal is.



...caught in a landslide... no escape from reality...

The Axis Mundi (Ancient Temples and Temple Texts Course, Paper #2)

The term “Axis Mundi” refers to a pattern found throughout cultures’ modes of thinking about the cosmos, all with a similar method of symbolism, and frequently connected to themes of temple worship and the temple itself. Explained in a basic way, the axis mundi is exactly that, like the name in Latin suggests- a world hub, not only of the world but between the worlds. The axis mundi symbolically represents the binding point linking together Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld, the hub of cosmic plains itself. Physically, geographically it is represented as a center point not only between realms but a center point within realm(s)- in other words, the axis mundi is the center point of geography. In temple symbolism, for example, we can see this represented in the importance of the four cardinal directions. The symbolism is intriguing- the center of the geography is an access point to the supernatural, connecting the worlds as part of each other (on Earth, anything hailing from above or below is supernatural- from beyond nature, otherworldly in its truest sense.)

Mircea Eliade, pioneer of the idea of axis mundi, explains the primacy of hierophany (a manifestation of the divine) in the idea of axis mundi and the axis mundi’s own centrality. “The cry of the Kwakiutl neophyte, ‘I am at the Center of the World!’ at once reveals one of the deepest meanings of sacred space. Where the break-through from plane to plane has been modified by a hierophany there too an opening has been made, either upward (the divine world) or downward (the underworld, the world of the dead). The three cosmic levels- earth, heaven, underworld- have been put in communication. As we just saw, this communication is sometimes expressed through the image of a universal pillar, axis mundi, which at once connects and supports heaven and earth.” ¹

The examples themselves of axes mundi of various world cultures take on a few broad patterns, which are bold and obvious yet with enough room to get breathtakingly deep with application and interconnection between symbols. We’ll examine a few of those below, but the primary point of this paper will be to get a more general overview of axis mundi symbolism. The primary forms of axes mundi we’ll be examining are: the world navel, the world tree, the cross, the cosmic mountain. We’ll also examine a few symbols that show up alongside the axis mundi symbol frequently, such as the labyrinth.

We’ll begin with mountain symbolism. Connecting temple symbolism with the axis mundi, the mountain itself is a universally attested symbol for the temple, and vice versa, with one particular manifestation of mountain symbolism, the cosmic mountain, being an axis mundi in itself. Earthly mountains (holding roots in underworld, featuring physical presence in our world, with the natural extension up into heaven) are but microcosms of the cosmic mountain.

If there is one aspect of axis mundi symbolism that could be described to be even more universal than the cosmic mountain, it would be this- that of the world tree. The axis mundi links together the three realms, which takes natural format in the concept of a tree- passing through the realms, with its roots in the underworld, its trunk extending through this world, and its branches in the heavens. The world tree specifically models compelling evidence for the existence of the axis mundi in non-old-world society. It’s a common enough attestation of the idea of the axis mundi that a paper could be written wholly on just this facet of the symbolism. The world tree is central to Mesoamerican and North American mythology and cosmology, aside from its being found to lesser or greater degrees in many other cultures worldwide, such as the celebrated Yggdrasill of Nordic myth. Focusing on the New World attestations of the World Tree, we turn our attention to the temple symbolism of the ceiba tree.

Allen J. Christenson writes, in his paper “The World Tree and Maya Theology”: “In Mesoamerican theology the World Tree grew at the locus of creation, all things flowing out from that spot toward the four directions. The tree thus forms part of what Mircea Eliade refers to as the ‘symbolism of the center.’…This source of all creation was often depicted by the Maya as a tree or maize plant… The ceiba is an ideal symbol for this conception of the World Tree. It is one of the tallest of trees indigenous to southern Mesoamerica. In areas of dense tropical rain forest, such as Chiapas (where Palenque is located), or the Petén region of northeastern Guatemala, the ceiba soars to the very top of the jungle canopy, attaining heights of 175 feet or more. The trunk is remarkably straight, and its branches extend at nearly right angles high above the ground, reminiscent of the cross-shaped trees seen in the art of Palenque.”²

The similarity between the world tree and the cross was not lost on early Christian explorers, who saw the world trees as crosses themselves instead of taking them for what they really were. The cross itself can be seen as an example of axis mundi, such as the example given in the Encyclopedia of Religion article. “There is a tendency to replicate the image of the axis mundi in multiple forms. Such is the case with the cross—the cosmic tree of Christianity. Recreating the image of the axis mundi in the forms of village sites, house plans, ritual furnishings, personal ornaments, and even kitchen items tends to identify the universe as a whole with the fullness of being characteristic of action at that sacred place [i.e., the atonement.] It ensures that contact with the fullness of reality is everywhere possible.”³

The idea of the axis mundi simultaneously connecting the worlds emphasizes the kind of nourishing role that the axis mundi may have. From this we see an obvious extension and common form: the axis mundi is somewhat literally the navel of the world- in the Greek, omphalos. The omphalos connects us to life, imbuing the mortal world with nourishment from the divine worlds, as we’ve seen, as well as being the center location, a crucial aspect of axis mundi symbolism. Many world mythologies, specifically North and Meso-American ones, place their world trees explicitly at the navel, the center of life.

One of the interesting things about navel symbolism, of course, is the idea that the umbilical cord is now closed off, that the object that “at once connects and supports heaven and earth” has been disconnected. As in the example of the Babylonian ziggurat (temple) of Dur-an-ki, the name given to several sanctuaries. The phrase is translated by Eliade to mean link between heaven and earth, implying a representation of the unification of the heavens with the earth, ⁴ but the implication is disputed by Thorkild Jacobsen, and further by J. Z. Smith, who state that the Dur-an-ki stood for a disjunction between the heavens and the earth rather than a conjunction, and which would more accurately be representative of “the scar, or navel, left behind when heaven and earth were forcibly separated in creation.”⁵ It still stands for a navel, but as a reminder rather of something now permanently cut off.

This division is not easy to rectify; however, the disconnect may be explained in the symbolism, frequently concomitant with the axis mundi (particularly in its cosmic mountain form,) of the labyrinth. A labyrinth is of course a maze, but capable at once of being highly symbolic and diversely represented in more ways than we think of as mazes- basically, though, still representative of challenge or obstacle. Having the hub in the central place emphasizes its importance in the cosmos, marking its significance and thus, though centrally accessible, remote from the realms of the uninitiated as it entwines with the otherworld plains; its distance from mortal man makes the place of the axis a guarded one. Keeping to the example of mountains, they frequently represent permanence, unyieldingness, but also in themselves obstacles to overcome (as can still be seen in some modern idioms, such as to climb the mountain because it’s there.)

The temple is thus symbolized of both labyrinth and axis mundi- which is possible, specifically, with the separation of sacred spaces from spaces even more sacred. As the inner sanctum is beyond the outer sanctum, the axis mundi is at the center of the labyrinth, something to be attained only after meeting the challenges. It is only after learning of the mysteries and navigating the challenges, such as presenting the ritual symbols and tokens and passing the tests of morality and worthiness, that the initiate may ascend into a higher plain of consciousness both literally as an initiate and symbolically, with the temple ritual being preparatory for death and resurrection. The navel, then, would be cut off to all but those initiates into the mysteries, and the labyrinth, with its complex pathways spiraling inward one way and outward the other, is a reminder of this.

The importance of the axis mundi to labyrinth symbolism is demonstrated in the Buddhist Mandala, which is a well-attested labyrinth symbol. Mandalas are in a sense mini-temples, being encapsulations of the whole universe or axis mundi unto themselves, the square (symbolic, with its four faces, of the four cardinal directions and thus the earth) containing the circle (the sky, or heavens.) Specifically beyond the dimensions of being cosmic representations to themselves, and specifically illustrating the axis mundi as being central to or of the labyrinth, mandalas have at their centers representations of Mount Meru, the cosmic mountain. Mount Meru was the primordial hillock in Buddhist belief, and represents the axis mundi in nearly all ways possible: it occupies the center place, being underneath the polestar, and having the four continents and seven seas spring from it; it is connected to the four cardinal directions: flanked by four mountains, each of its sides (varnas) a different color, and the point where Ganges touches the earth dividing into four rivers that flow each a different direction.^[6] Even viewed more abstractly, Meru is central to the mandala. Writes I. W. Mabbet, in History of Religions: “Almost any symbolic representation that is ritually effective may count as a mandala—it need not be a pictorial design on a plane surface—and R. Ekvall tells us that the simplest form of mandala is made by interlacing the fingers, palms up, with the third fingers pointing upward back to back: they represent Mount Meru. Another form of mandala used to be made every day in monasteries: a dole of rice, representing Meru, would be offered to the Buddha in an elaborate ritual as an oblation of the whole world.”⁷

As compelling as these attestations are, it is important not to get too carried away with the model. The axis mundi theory is a useful analytical tool, but one which becomes increasingly inapplicable outside a temple context. Frank J. Korom, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, follows J. Z. Smith in disputation of Eliade’s conclusions regarding the matter. “If we accept the contemporary criticisms, interpretations, and exegesis that has resulted from more sufficient evidence based on ever-increasing sources of information and documentation,” he writes, “then we must seriously question the use of axis mundi as a universal mythological concept. What began as a potentially useful analytic model for the study of a specific culture over a century ago has been transformed into a phenomenological ideal type grounded in an inaccurate original hypothesis, and scanty worldwide empirical evidence.

“This is not to say, however, that the concept of axis mundi does not exist somewhere in the world, in a specific context.… The symbolism of a stationary temple-building culture, for example, is not equivalent to that of a nomadic, tent-dwelling one. Here is where Eliade's concept must be applied cautiously. The concept of a mythic axis mundi can be a useful analytic tool or phenomenological category only if it is grounded in specifics, not in vague examples applied within an atemporal and aspatial theoretical framework.”⁸

This is a good reminder not to go too far—while I don’t personally agree with all of Korom’s conclusions, finding, e.g. the world tree too prevalent in world society and mythology to be mere coincidence, it is important not to syncretize contradictory beliefs in the name of proving any one model for temple symbolism analysis true or not.

In conclusion, the axis mundi model of the world and cosmos is a very interesting and instructive world view, a fascinating lens in analysis of temple typology. It has many attestations which fit in some ways and contradict in others, working together to fill out a larger theological framework relating to the operation of the world, mysteries to be experienced in the context of temples, whatever context that may take.

What is a Temple? (Ancient Temples and Temple Texts Course, Paper #1)

(Finally done with the semester, as of... 2:50ish this afternoon. I'm bushed now, but, you know.... super fortunate that I happen to have 7,250 words right here hot n' fresh. I'll just share one paper; one paper sounds good. This one is called, "what is a temple?")

The topic is the temple, the focus, what that means. Simply put, a temple is a building of worship, the place where other objects of religious reference are found, an especially sacred place for being the dwelling place of a god or gods. Beyond that, the word is fluid, and is used in different contexts when referring to different cultures: each culture has its own ideas of what constitutes religion, far less its highest edifice, so naming any given building as a temple or not is tricky going in blind. That is not to say that temples don’t generally follow basic patterns—in terms of layout, a few features are near-universal, which, while their presence doesn’t automatically make a building a temple neither their absence a building not, are all at least helpful to understand the concept of a temple and understand its place within religion and within society.

In order to define a temple, then, we’re going to need to go into typologies, broad categorization based off of commonalities we see in patterns. Briefly, the few commonalities within patterns we’re going to be touching on here are: with the temple as a sacred place, it is a place set apart for the pure to enter, and there must be some form of filtration to distinguish the common man from the pure. Filtration can take place through walls and doors, liminal spaces separating degrees of the sacred, on a physical level; on a ritual level the temple-goer must be initiated to give correct responses in passing between spaces. Ritual is of course another pattern seen in temple worship, but the means of ritual tend to be very similar between cultures as well, which we will go over. Altars are universal symbols of temple worship as well, places of offering or sacrifice. They are as good a place to begin as any.

The altar’s location within a temple is variable, defined by the broader purpose that the temple had specifically in society; however, altar worship is so pervasive to temple worship that the altar is a symbol of the temple itself. Altars represent sacrifice, even if the altar isn’t a place for ritual sacrifice itself per se. The form sacrifice can take in these contexts is rather a form of contrition: altars are places to kneel, a submission of will.

It is essential to recognize, when dealing with the topic of the temple, that with their separate nature comes a tiered nature—not literally tiered (though that’s certainly present in pyramid temples and ziggurats) but that the separation between profane and sacred takes place in stages. Divine appearance (hierophany) manifest in cult images- statues etc. which are housed in the temple. The world is full of divinity. Hierophany is defined as the divine manifestation of the sacred in mortal space, and the settings of hierophanies themselves become sacred, with the profane world distant and the space gradually gaining more sacredness the closer to the site of the hierophany one gets. The separation of sacred space is marked by partitions, and space of an even more sacred nature is guarded, allowing only the prepared to delve further into deeper levels of the sacred.

Starting from the outside, proceeding from most profane to most sacred: The buildings themselves are walled off from the outside world, taking place for the most part within larger grounds, “temenos” in Greek; these are still sacred but to a lesser degree. Within the temple there are certain areas more restricted than others, usually with a “holy of holies” at the back (when dealing with a central-access plan temple;) either way this sanctum sanctorum is extremely restricted, such as with ancient Israelite temples where only one priest can enter all year, and only then on the most holy of holy days.
The worship of a temple must take place in a sphere beyond the category of worship in a church or synagogue- places of commonplace worship may include ritual and rites as well, but the worship of a temple consists of specific worship of a higher and more sacred level, deeper and more secretive rites, initiating the partaker into the inner cult, making the participant an initiate of the Mysteries. These temple rites could take any number of forms, but certain patterns are universally followed, with certain symbolism universally observed.

The initiatory aspects of temple worship mark another commonality between patterns of temple worship: liminality. Temple worship usually takes place within the context of marriages, coronations, or funerary rites: transitions from one state to another. These transitory times and places affirm themselves much in temple symbolism- cherubim, the famed threshold guardians of Hebrew belief, are themselves liminal creatures, usually depicted symbolically with mixed animal attributes.
Ritual is a common element of all worship, but the rituals in temples frequently relate to rites, and those frequently in the form of a dramatic presentation, a representation of the creation of the world. Sacred place, then, is designed to set apart sacred time. In temple drama, the history of the world is presented: the creation of the earth is collapsed into the present, and to its destruction; death and birth are collapsed into one, signifying the resurrection of the believers as an aspect of the temple drama itself and indexing the initiate’s own place within the cosmic order.

his is where we get into the deeper commonalities of typology—which are of course just commonalities, no one system of temple rite observes all symbols/rituals common between patterns. There are many aspects of temples and their meaning, which are also instructive to consider but which we can’t delve into beyond listing them. Temples, after all, can hold many symbols within them, symbolic of the cosmos itself, and there are many symbols of temples and their places themselves within the cosmos, and all the symbols are intertwined. Briefly: water represents creation, but creation is also in a sense chaos. Rivers, flowing water, flow from mountains. Mountains represent temples, but also feature other representations of temples, such as caves. The mountain is the place highest to the heavens, still part of earth- a liminal area itself, a connection between worlds, known as an axis mundi. Trees also represent the axis mundi, and world trees are attested in mythology worldwide. Trees are fed by water, so we can see how each symbol connects to each other. There are other aspects of temple typology, similarly entwined with other aspects, that I’m leaving out (perhaps wisely?)

No one culture attests all common temple symbols, but all feature most. The symbolic import of temples is impossible to overstate, as symbols that began in temple contexts trickled into everyday society and scattered throughout the globe. Each temple ritual features patterns in common with others, probably through this and other complex media. As far as can be determined, regarding temple ritual, of course- sacred rites and rituals go unrecorded frequently, so we must reconstruct a lot of what is known based on filling the gaps in with what is known from other cultures, the way that the temple ritual fits into society, and whom the temple services, among other things.

In conclusion, we’ll reflect on the broadest aspects of typology which we’ve considered. Temple refers to buildings of a most sacred religious nature- the temenos or temple complex is the greater structure in which the smaller temple itself holds setting. Sacred space is separated, by degrees, from profane. Passing through and delving deeper into the sacred space, one degree of initiation to another, a participant in temple worship passes through liminal space, transitioning symbolically from life to death to resurrection. Transition in a broader sense is the purpose of temple rituals as well; it is a place where transitional rituals are performed- sacrifice, marriage rites, coronations. The innermost part of the temple is the most sacred and most exclusive area- the deepest mysteries are available only to most elite or most worthy. Temples hold setting for the truest form of the highest order of worship- the making of covenants. Temples worldwide hold common symbols, entwined in complex ways.

We can see from just this recapitulation that the subject of a temple, while simple at first glance, contains an inexhaustible array of manifestations, interacting in complex and highly symbolic ways. In the end, though, the temple remains perhaps the simplest edifice of all: that of man retreating from mundane life to hold communion with the divine.

High Edifice

Great drinking games to play when reading papers about comparative religion. I'm not sure how Mormons could play drinking games, but it sure would be useful sometimes to have something at least superficially similar. Take a drink (or whatever) every time the word "attestation" appears. Take a drink (or whatever) every time something "indexes" something else. You start thinking in these big long technical sentences after a while; it's pretty useful for writing long papers at least. In some ways. In others... I find myself writing deeper before writing longer; my prose gets denser the longer I work on it, instead of trying to fill out a wordcount. I don't think that really has anything to do with the subject or the reading material though; it could just be me.

I am out like a lump of coal right now. I've got material from a couple of my papers here, though, paragraphs interlaced in a way that hopefully makes sense...

The topic is the temple, the focus, what that means. Simply put, a temple is a building of worship, the place where other objects of religious reference are found, an especially sacred place for being the dwelling place of a god or gods. Beyond that, the word is fluid, and is used in different contexts when referring to different cultures: each culture has its own ideas of what constitutes religion, far less its highest edifice, so naming any given building as a temple or not is tricky going in blind. That is not to say that temples don’t generally follow basic patterns—in terms of layout, a few features are near-universal, which, while their presence doesn’t automatically make a building a temple neither their absence a building not, are all at least helpful to understand the concept of a temple and understand its place within religion and within society.

The temple is thus [in preceding paragraphs not here] symbolized of both labyrinth and axis mundi- which is possible, specifically, with the separation of sacred spaces from spaces even more sacred. As the inner sanctum is beyond the outer sanctum, the axis mundi is at the center of the labyrinth, something to be attained only after meeting the challenges. It is only after learning of the mysteries and navigating the challenges, such as presenting the ritual symbols and tokens and passing the tests of morality and worthiness, that the initiate may ascend into a higher plain of consciousness both literally as an initiate and symbolically, with the temple ritual being preparatory for death and resurrection. The navel, then, would be cut off to all but those initiates into the mysteries, and the labyrinth, with its complex pathways spiraling inward one way and outward the other, is a reminder of this.

The importance of the axis mundi to labyrinth symbolism is demonstrated in the Buddhist Mandala, which is a well-attested labyrinth symbol. Mandalas are in a sense mini-temples, being encapsulations of the whole universe or axis mundi unto themselves, the square (symbolic, with its four faces, of the four cardinal directions and thus the earth) containing the circle (the sky, or heavens.) Specifically beyond the dimensions of being cosmic representations to themselves, and specifically illustrating the axis mundi as being central to or of the labyrinth, mandalas have at their centers representations of Mount Meru, the cosmic mountain. Mount Meru was the primordial hillock in Buddhist belief, and represents the axis mundi in nearly all ways possible: it occupies the center place, being underneath the polestar, and having the four continents and seven seas spring from it; it is connected to the four cardinal directions: flanked by four mountains, each of its sides (varnas) a different color, and the point where Ganges touches the earth dividing into four rivers that flow each a different direction.

Sacred place, then, is designed to set apart sacred time. In temple drama, the history of the world is presented: the creation of the earth is collapsed into the present, and to its destruction; death and birth are collapsed into one, signifying the resurrection of the believers as an aspect of the temple drama itself and indexing the initiate’s own place within the cosmic order. The initiatory aspects of temple worship mark another commonality between patterns of temple worship: liminality. Temple worship usually takes place within the context of marriages, coronations, or funerary rites: transitions from one state to another. These transitory times and places affirm themselves much in temple symbolism- cherubim, the famed threshold guardians of Hebrew belief, are themselves liminal creatures, usually depicted symbolically with mixed animal attributes.

Semester's Still Not Over

Pioneer Day (July 24th! Tomorrow!) is celebrated as a, actually it is a church school so it might be that, because none of the other buildings around town are closed-- I'd been just about to generalize and say, it's celebrated outside of Utah as an actual holiday apparently?, but, no, that's probably it, church school-- this weekend every single building on campus was closed. There's one dar ajoor, at the, man I don't can't tell the names apart of any of the buildings on the west end of campus, but it's the one where my religion classes were held.

Still have those papers to turn in, but emailing the professor about it how I couldn't get in to put my papers into his box, well first off there's that ajoor dar, but the important info gleaned is that I've got until Monday to turn in those papers really. Which is the first day that the building's going to be open again. Though, I guess buildings are open as churches around here on Sundays... still need to get into a building to print the papers out in the first place, though, and all the labs with printers of course would still be locked...

Going to check his office hours to see when he'd probably be in or out by, I'd known about the ajararity of that one particular door already. And it's not flagging "ajararity." Nor "ajoor" nor "dar," so... I don't know.

Give Me a Mesozoic Miiind...

I thought that Fred Savage's presence in Runaway Ralph was definitive proof that he's in every single '80s thing ever, but fetchin' nope! I didn't even know the half of it. Tell me I'm not the only one who remembers this...:

And it was, and it was, Fred Savage, this whole time, and I never even realized it...

(huge shoutout to http://www.mesozoicmind.com/ for the upload!)

Fresh(er) Look

Alright, tonight. Tonight is the night I'm prepped to pull an all-nighter. Last night I'd said I'd do it, but that only lasted maybe 15 minutes before I just attempted sleep- first on the couch, then on the floor of the bedroom.

Moved today. Kinda sorta. Nobody's moving into the old apartment, with its renovation this summer, so it's not too much of a rush at all to transfer stuff over. The bed's cleared-ish off, but it's still there, the sheets and blankets untransferred as of yet to the new apartment upstairs. But we've officially, handed in the old keys this morning, received new ones this afternoon, all that (the apartments aren't the only thing changing this summer; the apartment complex itself transferred to new management at noon, so we had to wait till after then to get the keys to the new place.)

I'm experimenting with wider widths for these posts. I like it so far; I browsed through a few of the old posts and found them far easier to read. Hold on, how was that screenshot that I'd placed on my graphic design portfolio last semester?

Darker, more cramped, with less value contrast. Yeah, this new design is much less embarrassing. Though I'd really like to bump up the leading half a pica. Have no idea how to do that on this platform though.

Click to make 'em full screen and toggle back and forth to note the differences. The headers are easier to read. The link color, though still red, isn't quite the "broken link" tint any more. If the body copy on the new template looks slightly lighter, it's because it is- the template uses the same font style for the body copy as some of the sidebar text, and so I sacrificed a little value contrast in the body to gain a lot of value contrast in the sidebar.

Thing

I

Make sure you get plenty of hugs this weekend, Mom says. In my dream, where I'm talking to her.

Hugs? Actually, there's a furry convention this weekend I was totally going to go to anyway, I say. Furries are crazy big on hugs. All about hugging, really.

Acceptable, Mom says. And I head out to leave, and I wake up. And I get out of bed (still half-piled with my stuff from packing) and I grab my Kindle and I look up if there even are any furry conventions going on this weekend. And, yeah I guess there is one, actually, but it's in Shanghai, so, thanks but no thanks.

And it occurs to me a few hours later, however many, that, heck, maybe there could be a brony convention going on this weekend instead? But didn't Bronycon Baltimore just take place; I doubt that there'll be another one so soon after that. I read about it in the papers, explaining what bronies are to an audience unaware. Community, the article talked about. Finally feeling like you've found your people.

Sounds like something that would make me entirely too uncomfortable to attend, putting it that way.

I try to analyze the root of these feelings- do I really not want to find my people? Do I just not want it to be these guys, taking these things way too seriously? Do they reveal things I'm afraid of about myself?

Am I afraid of fitting in at all? Do I want there to be a "my people?" If there is a "my people," do I want it to be them? Nerds, weirdos, whatever, is it better to be an outcast even from that? I've seen the slippery slope of using these waypoints to define yourself; I've been down it. But even just being yourself, that's what that's all about, being accepted; these are your people.

Do I not want to be accepted?

I'll say not, because, of course I want acceptance, but there's a difference between unconditional love and unconditional acceptance, and, really settling down and saying "this is who I am," miiight stunt growth, hinder progression?

But that's not it either. It's not quite J Alfred Prufrock-level, "it is impossible to say just what I mean," but neither is it liable to be a subject that can be exhausted.

I go to the craft and hobby store, like I do frequently. Check out the fabrics. Check out the, whatever. Take a trip to the Hobby Lobby, take a trip to the Office Max. These, I say to myself, these are my people.

And in a sudden blast of realization, I let out a breath, a death rattle minus the death.

II

The past and present are collapsing in onto each other. Aggressively. With the future added in for good measure (though, it being graduation day, not necessarily my future.) Collapse of time, Christmas in July and all that; seriously watched Elf today*. It's the final day of David Dornan's Detritus, the art exhibition at the Spori that replaced Brother Geddes's retrospective. I went in there one last time and realized I never actually got any photos of the exhibit itself. I have a few now.

As much as I hated to admit it, didn't want to like it just on principle how the exhibit replaced the last grasping point of my Art 101 teacher now retired, the last anchor of his to this school- but, the Dornan exhibit, it was really mind-blowing.

Photos can't do it justice, sorry. They're paintings but they look like photographs. Still lifes but not draw from life-- rather built up from the paint itself, applied in random or semi-random shapes which suggested how to go from there, representational objects constructed, knowledge of the science of lighting applied. The colors are vivid, the textures are painty. Like, actual drips and globs of paint, applied to the canvas, and made to appear as part of the image itself instead of just dripped over it. And doing the same with stenciled-on images, too.

It took a bit of study to figure out how he did it, but. Basically has to do with going over the globs themselves with more paint, to blend them into the lighting of the object.

I've been in the gallery before, of course. But it was only today that I realized that, as with all the other exhibits that have been displayed here, there's a second-floor balcony section of the exhibit too.

While I was up there, musing on, actually I guess I wasn't musing at all, there was a knocking sound past the door, whack-whack-whack-whack-whack, where the faculty offices are. I'd watched Brother Geddes clean out his office, after his own art exhibit; now, as I peeked in, I could see a couple members of faculty, dressed in the ceremonial robes of graduation, pounding the pins out of the doorhinges of the offices, for some reason, with the butt end of a screwdriver- specifically Brother Geddes's old office, and though they moved onto others too, there it was: this the final day of school, graduation day, the final day of the exhibit after Brother Geddes's retrospective, and here they were in commencement robes, depinning doorhinges.

III

The collapse of past present and future all to one day doesn't sound so aggressive with just that one surreally symbolic-seeming example, so I'll mention one more thing: hand-carved mahogany. I mentioned it in the title for this post of exactly one week ago, but by definition did not say why. Sinbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas, maybe it will finally stop haunting me with this. The same couple in the lounge as from last week, they were watching The Emperor's New Groove last time and here, on less of a date (meaning, seemingly not minding as much my being there) watching The Road to El Dorado. The lounge right now is smothered in stuff. Luggage. A couple of boxes of give-away stuff, which people can add to; one box for food they didn't eat, the other for not-trash. They go through stuff now, in the background, mostly watching the movie. I hover for a bit, but mostly am on my way passing through at the odd time betwixt errands which I really can't remember anymore.

Last time, a week ago, they said, do you mind, this is kind of a date, just the two of them on a sofa. Yeah, sure, I say. Just here to catch this one part... "Break it down? This is hand-carved mahogany," Kronk says, and with that line, my quest is complete. I'd watched Sinbad earlier that day, which also has the line, this is hand-carved mahogany. And Sinbad is a movie that seems to be cropping up more and more frequently, lately, because even that viewing hadn't been the most recent one since the Animation Workshop finale of last semester, more like the second or third. Or fourth.

And so, guess what movie the item watches after Road to El Dorado.

I don't catch much of it at all, this time. Going between errands that I can remember this time.

IV

I mean to pull an all-nighter tonight. Still have the papers to write for Ancient Temples and Temple Texts. And my bed is still covered in stuff. This is what it looked like last night:

I just cleared off the stuff at the one end to sleep, sleeping on just half the bed; the Zootopia merch I left on. Clean checks, and checkouts today, but we're not checking out till tomorrow, and this is what my bed looks like now:

That's with that box on the floor, its contents scattered about, which had at one point contained the non-Zootopia-merch portion of the bed's original contents. The Zootopia merch is all in that suitcase on the bed, save for the hats. I used those for a still-life, from life, or 6 thumbnails for a still-life at least. The box on the floor vomited because I still needed art supplies for it, and those were buried down there.

And then it turns out that the assignment from last week is the real final, with this week's lesson canceled for sake of convenience. It would certainly have been convenient knowing that earlier.

And now I have this scanned**, but with nothing to do with it. I can show it here I guess.

Electrizard

There was a massive power outage today. Like, the entire state of Idaho, or something, just, without power, for, hours. I napped for much of it- doing homework in the lounge at the time (Cyndi Lauper is standing right behind you! ha ha ha oops_ ) (guess I's still tires, that was pretty random,) but yeaaah I was out like a light, out like, geez I guess out like the power was.

May I be... cold blooded, but for electricity? Some cross between Electro and the Lizard?

Sleeping on all three sofas in here, not simultaneously of course but successively. Hot days; siesta times ahoy. Doing laundry (and with the power out, like, guess I can't touch-up dry for now, just leave it in there till the power comes back on) I was just in my pagans, I mean, pajamas; that was a weird typo.

I'm really not as tired as I look. Though I'm still in my pajans pagamas pjs.

I'm not sure where I'm sleeping tonight; I dumped a bunch of stuff on my bed, with white glove apartment clean checks tomorrow and the bed being, like, "base" in tag or something for those, a totally free safe zone for yer crap; crap being one thing I never have in short supply.

White glove clean checks, meaning, of course, apartment move-out day; staying here over the summer but moving apartments now, with the current soon-to-be-old apartment undergoing renovations this summer rendering it not suitable for human habitation. So this is my last night in this apartment. If I do even spend the night in the apartment; sleeping the night in the lounge is not unprecedented.

The end of the semester is also marked, here, by the move-out day. With my art history final this morning (marked down Hagia Sofia as Islamic architecture stupid stupid stupid) (but other than that I did fine) I have no more classes- but still plenty of finalage that needs to be done. With that and going to the moon and doing the other thing, not because it is easy but because it is hard, I'm so far completed with only two of my six classes this semester.

It's all over after this week though. After this week I can... lack a clear goal, purpose, and direction in life. Yeah, that sounds good.

Familiars, Hipsterism, Artists' Motivations (Again!) and Elaborate Heist Metaphors (the Metaphors are Elaborate, not the Heists)

The Antlers have had a new album out for a full month now* and I'm only learning about this today, like what the heck...

It's alright, it's fine. I think I might be... I don't know, was gonna say "hipster" but here I have to define that again... I think I might know why, what it means, I mean. McKenna and Devon knowing the lyrics to top 40s I've never even heard of, which I could never do; I mean I don't bother learning the top 40s, music is so great because there's always something awesome you've never heard of out there, and you don't stop looking, and, that's what I do, always look, and dig. That, and, I'm not very good with lyrics. May also be why I can't sing along.

Brother's post about his own taste in music, ranking every single t.ø.p. song so far, got me thinking about this a bit, and then there's this (nobody spoil "Heathens" for me, all right, don't want any spoilers for Suicide Squad at all...)

Okay, so. Last class of a couple of classes today; I do have a final at 7:00 in the morning so I don't want to stay up too late, although with this last Ancient Temples and Temple Texts class it's revealed that the papers which had been due on Wednesday can actually be turned in, just, whenever, during the week, which leaves me once again with a lot more time than I'd thought.

Still, test at 7:00; don't want to take up too much time. Getting to bed, getting good sleep and all that.

Fortunately I've already got word count to post, have been writing already today, on the subject of artists' motivations. How to serve the world with artistic talent, how to stay moral as an artist and how to litmus test the morality of the inspiration of the content of a piece of art you want to create. That's seriously, what, the final (lesson) was, in my composition class (love it here.)

It's kind of a topic I guess I think about a lot, or at least write about a lot apparently, but I don't think I've ever figured it out so lucidly as I did here. So I'm posting it.

An artist doesn’t become an artist because she hates art. A professional doesn’t become professional because they’re bad at it and don’t practice. The world is full of amateur artists, who genuinely love what they do and can even be pretty good. Everyone dreams of making a living of what they do, but this can introduce conflicts of interest. Creation of art is a celebration of the Spirit of Christ in us, but what if we make art to pay the bills? This is why we’re wary of those who “sell themselves out,” as though abandoning the most personal (amateur) parts of the artists within us sucks the rest of our souls out right past along with them, leaving the sellout a husk, not a true artist.

Having external motivation for art can be a bad thing- immoral thing. The content of the art uninspired by the Holy Ghost, left to be inspired by Satan or man- and artwork inspired by man is itself only inspired by either of the other two as it is.

We can also experience a shift in art motivations unrelated to content- art created not to uplift, but to impress other artists. Creation as an act of love (amateur) unshared is selfish, shared with others is a service. Creation as an act of immodesty-designed solely to impress- is shared with others as an act of selfishness.

How then do we improve our art, make it worth spreading and sharing and make it better and more capable of uplifting others, while maintaining our modesty? Pray for our talents, pray for humility, see our talents for what they are: gifts from God.

Also, hate to spoil the mood, but- while I'm posting stuff up, here's an analogy I wrote for that class, at the beginning of the semester, where the assignment was to create a metaphor for the elements and principles of design.

I would liken the elements and principles of design to a team of cons working together to pull off a heist. The elements are the individual criminals, all working together to pull off the larger heist, handling different tasks which would be principles. Each element has its own strengths as part of the team in achieving a principle, like how line (the distraction) is especially good at leading the eye to a focal point, but shape (the grifter) can also easily complete this task should it need to. The designer himself, the secretive mastermind of the team, can assemble different teams together using different elements, to pull different heists, needing a whole team to achieve what he wants- like how it takes more than one element to create a lost-and-found effect, and a whole team of individual elements such as color in order to create a pattern of repetition and even more for that and variation. (Or use more complex elements like texture for repetition and variation.) Sometimes you want to rob a casino, and sometimes you want to rob a bank? I don’t know, there’s probably a better analogy for that one. 

Assignment today (alongside the morality of art thing) was to come up with a better analogy than the one we came up with at the start of the semester, now that we know a semester's worth of knowledge more about design, but, it's, a better analogy to be sure (orchestra!**) but, being more apt, isn't as interesting.

Preemptively, I'm So Sorry

I actually have... a lot less work that I need done than I'd thought. It won't be, metaphorically, completely random example here but, a cakewalk, or anything, I don't think, but this will, I do think, actually be possible.

I hope.

But you're not here to learn about my personal issues ("I'm not!?", you ask yourself in shock, your (Google Glass?) monocle popping off and plinking with a wettish splash into your teacup.) You're here to watch clip of unironically embarrassing Teen Wolf sequel.

The Exactly Two Things I Got Done Today

I got things done today in times that should have been a lot shorter. Going to the district library to print out my ridiculous number of papers that I'd gone to the library already meaning to print them out yesterday, but long circumstances that maybe I'll tell you about in a few days when I no longer have finals breathing down my throat-- er, neck-- going back to the library today, not wanting to pay 4 whole cents per page to print out my 40ish documents, like I'd have to do at the school, finally actually getting around to actually getting onto a computer (they had Ms Marvel TPBs, okay, geez,) with my library card number this time, realizing that it also requires you to have a PIN to log on, realizing I don't know my PIN, reading more comics (Guardians of the Galaxy!) finally getting back to a computer and just using some stranger's account, logging in but noticing a card next to the keyboard, before even opening any docs, that informs that prints are 10 cents per page; 10 pages printed out for the cost of 25 pages back at the school, so all those hours spent chilling at the library (even if it did mean bumping into McKenna again one last time on the way back yesterday) were basically for naught, and, this has all been one sentence maybe I should just take a breath.

And I'm at the Spori computer lab right now, it having taken me an hour to do a scan for artwork that should have taken me 5 minutes to scan and post. People were, sitting at all the scan stations, already. And there is one spot open, but that computer hates me and never lets me log on, and... And it hated me, and it didn't let me log on.

I still have those writings to do. But... with the binder materials printed out, and one more art assignment knocked out of the park... those writings are, basically, all I need to do.

Ticking Down... One More Day till Summer

The results are in for what the final's going to look like in Art History class: 25 questions, no details needing to be known- just mark down the time period in which the art took context. Know the difference between Romanesque art and Prehistoric, that's it; you don't even have to know that the little clay figure you're looking at came from Ain-Ghazal instead of Jericho or anything.

Of course, you miss one question, mistake Roman for Etruscan or anything, that's 4% per individual missed answer; that's the downside of only having 25 questions needing answered.

And of course the school has to schedule the final for 7:00 in the morning. But other than that.

That's it. I learn these facts this morning and realize, that's my only final. I still have those 7 papers due in Ancient Temples and Temple Texts, but that's on Wednesday, with a whole weekend+ ahead to jot those down and I'm already studying the heck out of the papers I've got as my resources/weapons for/against that.

So today was surprisingly relaxed. Probably relaxed more than I should have, but... it's not like there weren't moments of panic as well. I'll... I'm pretty tired right now; I'll get you the full writeup tomorrow.

If This Semester Ends on Wednesday, Then This Must be the Final Thursday (Bada daaaa dum! Bada dumdumdum...!)

The ceiling fan is spinning out of the corner of my eye- I turn up to look at the light and discover the fan's not even on.

Trippy.

Experimenting with this, blocking out part of the light with my head tilted down and peering up through my eyebrows, there does appear to be some sort of strobe effect going on...

I'm not done with any classes yet. Haven't even taken any finals. I did take the final normal test for my art history class today- that class has had its last lesson, then; we're still meeting tomorrow for information on the final, which... I have no idea what to expect from that. That's my sole class tomorrow... typography class is done, with today's class, as well, so... (aside from the couple things left to turn in there.)

Monday I've got both religion classes. And probably the final as well for art history, though that could be on Wednesday or not at all or just I don't know whatever. I'm not sure if there's a temple texts class after that, either, on Wednesday; I do know that that's when the papers for that class are due.

Beyond that stuff... I don't know. Looks like I'm free?

Until then,,, Until then, I'll just be in continual panic mode. Sounds like a plan to me.

Hand-Carved Mahogany: One of the Many Things that Have Nothing to Do with This Post

Said I'd get on writing up temple stuff by today- guess I was wrong; turns out I still have homework to do in other classes. Also it turns out (and I'm so glad I actually bothered to check into this) that I don't have two papers due in that class; I have seven. Five of those are just, not even a whole page each or whatever, but still.

Two hours a day. That's how much time I need to spend writing, I figure, to get the papers in that class done by their due date in one week. I'm not sure what that's going to translate to, wordcount-wise, per day or per hour; my writing speed and wordcount ability really depends on whether I have anything to write about. One of the papers is a 2-3 page essay on, "what is a temple"; that, that is a broad subject, keeping it within that length is going to be the challenge there. And I'm going to want to actually do my best, oh dear oh dear; I'm never going to get this done...

Batman Smells (and Tastes!) Like Nail Polish

Killer deal on breakfast cereals, grocery shopping yesterday. The Superman promo cereal (Caramel Crunch) is almost good enough to be an actual staple. The Batman promo cereal (Chocolate Strawberry) is death in a milky bowl.

(It's like they didn't even try to get the flavors to balance. Maybe all chocolate cereals are this cocoa-y, tailored for the tongues of the masochistic children who'd eat that kind of thing? It's been a while (usually avoid cereals with added sugars, but, you know, killer deal), so I don't know. I've had Reese's Puffs within living memory, and those are alright?

I think it's the strawberry flavoring that does it.

Who the Holy-Rusted-Metal-Batman thought that that would be a good cereal combo idea?

Maybe the overpowering flavor is a metaphor for Batman's role in the film itself. Or something.

Makes the milk go nummy, though. That's a pro.)

I compiled a list today of all the homework I've got remaining for the rest of the semester, and how long I estimate it's going to take me to complete each task. Anyway. 40+ hours' worth of work left for me to do still, is the bad news, with the good news of course being, that's it, I'm done after that, until Fall semester starts way the heck off in September.

No Art classes tomorrow, just religion. So on Wednesday, usually my busiest day class-wise this semester, I've got time to, you know, work on stuff.

If I start to go into detail on other things, what homework I need to do and the deadlines for them and all, the floodgates are going to open up, so I'm kind of torn. Papers due next week for Ancient Temples and Temple Texts class, which is going to take me a fair chunk of time, and there's a test (not the final) open tomorrow and Thursday for Art History, and, just mentioning these things perfunctorily is pretty dull, but it'd be duller to try to justify anything with details. Floodgates.

Should write some stuff up, some temple paper stuff as tomorrow's post. I am actively slipping out of consciousness right now.

At Least It's the Last Normal Monday in the Semester...

If there's one secret of color and composition that I've mastered, it's getting my homework for that class turned in late. And it's still not turned in, though I've been working on it; I'd meant to get it turned in just like an hour late but late is late so I might as well wait till the morning. It's a two-fer, and I triaged the most important one for first (though the one worth fewer points.) I did have time to get both done, but didn't.

I was napping. And I'm super tired right now too. Hence, why I'm still not done. Making this quick.

Also I went grocery shopping. Took me longer than I expected; thought that a parade in the middle of the street on Independence Day a week ago was random...

I should probably get those fish fillets into the freezer; they've been at room temp for probably a couple hours now, and the package says never to let that happen...

I was going somewhere with this. Can't seem to remember... Oh well. 

The Poop on SLoP

Secret Life of Pets makes more money in its first weekend than some of my favorite films of this year made in their entire run. Hail Caesar, 10 Cloverfield Lane. Gods of Egypt? All beaten out within three days. Well.

Maybe it deserves the money; I don't know. It's actually getting pretty good reviews, so that's... something. A- on Metacritic, last I checked? This could be proof that Illumination is capable of making stuff that doesn't suck? Evidence, at least, if not proof. Secret Life of Pets turning out not to suck would be proof; decent reviews is only evidence. Which puts the upcoming Sing in an even shakier position, actually, makes it more of a toss-up, instead of securing it some like this-is-definitely-gonna-be-worth-seeing status. It genuinely looks pretty heartfelt, at least, if a tad incoherent. Trailers don't mean anything plot-coherence wise, of course, so I don't know; heartfeltness in trailers is slightly more reliable, for what it's worth.

...but man every time I see that that gorilla kid's dad is a bank robber I just get flashbacks to Minions... Shudder.

I Am So Ready for this Semester to be Done

Things happened today. The workshop showcase of the semester. Comic Book Workshop's superhero movie (once again, it's just Alaire and me and one other person (Mica this time; Jimmy's still in Alaska.)) Speaking of Mica, no Mutants and Masterminds session today; there will be one next week though, pretty sure. I worked on homework, and animation, and my first crack at ceramics in over a year,

I could talk about any of those things, but I think I'll just show a Markiplier video instead for some reason:

I just saw that, and I thought, oh my gosh, tame collars. Not the first time I've had this line of thought; I guess I'll just never be able to view shock collars the same way again. And I can always view things the same way again!

...

Okay, a few random Zootopia thoughts then, three of 'em, which I only realized today and am posting here instead of in any rewatch review because, that's not what they are:

The opening scene just sets up everything else so perfectly. Introduces pred/prey relations, Judy's dream, Zootopia itself...

As dry as Judy kept her iWhatever when flushed from Cliffside, they'll never be able to admit any of that recording in court anyway; they straight up got all that stuff without a warrant, which IS a thing definitely established to exist in this world.

And, exactly one more thing, which I can't remember right now. I'll put it here when I think of it, though. EDIT: Meowana, Adventure in the South Purrcific... is that an, actual place name, in the world of Zootopia? There's nothing wrong with having places named, right? I've seen the theory that it's the same continuity as Robin Hood shot down because it explicitly takes place in England (though really there are so many other reasons), but Lion King explicitly takes place in Africa (as established by Zazu during "I Just Can't Wait to be King") and nobody seems to have a problem with that taking place in the same continuity... "Sahara Square" is the name of a district, so, sure, why not have either? Life isn't some cartoon musical, is my reasoning-- so I don't think either are in the same canon.

Continuing Our Quest to Locate Animated Fish...

Piper is like the most adorable thing ever.

Finding Dory, though! Apparently it's one that people have been anticipating a bit; I only came for the Idris Elba. And stayed for the Idris Elba. Idris Elba!

But the rest was good too. Nothing I say is going to persuade you to see the film or dissuade you at all, I'm just reporting on the experience.

I can't say the last time Pixar felt like Pixar. Wall-E? Ratatouille? I can't really explain the difference between then and now; maybe it's got something to do with that one lunch dealio with Wall-E being the last idea they came up with there? But I'm not sure. I can't put a finger on "Old Pixar." But I can put a finger on the new. The new vibe Pixar's got going for it is, it makes you cry a lot? That was the case with Good Dinosaur, and, sheesh, I thought I cried a lot during that movie. Finding Dory is, basically, the first scene of Up, only every scene is that scene.

I hate you so much right now, Pixar. I'll forgive you when Coco comes out.

Crazy stuff? Crazy stuff: In its third weekend, Finding Dory surpassed the total domestic cume Zootopia made across its entire run so far (it is still playing in a few theaters, once again.) I can't even comprehend this. It must have been rapid ticket inflation, I think; a sizable number of people (say, a quarter of those who went to go see Zootopia) bought tickets, but those tickets were themselves four times more expensive for Finding Dory (the price has now normalized in its fourth weekend, explaining how my ticket price was normal.)

And watch this, Secret Life of Pets is going to make bank only because low demand is going to create low supply, thus shooting up the price of each ticket. I refuse to believe the economy works on any other principle when it comes to people actually going to see Illumination films. I like to imagine that the world is in general a decent place, where the only reason Minions is the 11th highest grossing film of all time is because there was some weird routing error and people felt sorry enough for the movie to let it go uncorrected.

Zootopia in Theaters: Retrospection (30 Viewings and Other Stuff)

126 days into Zootopia's domestic run, out on DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital for exactly one month now, it's still at 191 locations nationwide (as of yesterday)- not that many locations, of course, but still super solid, especially considering that, say, (you want to know a sad thing) Alice Through the Looking Glass is showing at the same number of theaters that Zootopia is right now on only its 42nd day. (Another sad thing about location numbers- Secret Life of Pets is opening tomorrow at 4,369 theaters, the widest opening animated-film release of all time. Secret Life of Friggin' Pets!) (I could get into numbers on Finding Dory as well and stuff, but I'll save that for tomorrow.)

Paramount 5 is dropping Zootopia tomorrow- which means that today was the last day it was showing. It's probably going to be hanging on at some other location somewhere (Kung Fu Panda 3 is  somehow still playing at 29 locations throughout the US,) but it's been a whole month since the home video release date, like I mentioned-- exactly a month, and I'm fully okay with conceding the end of an era.

So let's break it down. Zootopia in its theatrical run, a retrospective of my experience, right here, right now.

I've compiled a spreadsheet with data on all 30 of my viewings so far, and I've got some information. I could probably assemble it into an infographic!, wish I'd thought of it earlier...

30 viewings: 4 on DVD, for free, during the time it was still in theaters; 26 viewings in theaters. 4 3D viewings (each in theater of course); 26 2D viewings (22 of those in theater, with those 4 on DVD of course.) Viewings at Fat Cats: 14; viewings at Paramount 5: 12. Fat Cats viewings in 3D: 3; 1 3D Paramount 5 viewing. Tickets purchased for others: 6; for myself, 25 or 26. Total number of tickets purchased: 31 or 32.

Calculating the exact number of tickets I bought is kind of tough, considering the circumstances of ticket 8, getting a refund from ticket 7 after the power fails during the movie. And how to calculate that into the total price of tickets? I wasn't sure whether to count that stuff as $0, or $-2.25, or discount the price off of the other price or just go face-value on all ticket prices... Face-value, is what I wound up using to calculate ticket price for purposes of considering ticket prices individually (but with the actual value between the two tickets taken into count when calculating total amount of money spent.) But that doesn't even broach whether I count the tickets purchased for others into account when dealing with average ticket cost. Either way, most expensive ticket was $11 for a non-matinee 3D showing, but that's the one that got refunded; cheapest tickets were $2.50.

And you want to hear the damages.

Total amount of money spent solely on tickets: $166.50. Total amount spent on concessionage: $26.50, not counting the contribution McKenna made on our date (she paid for concessions, I paid for tickets. (We shared a Dibs.)) Amount spent in theaters combined, $193 of course ($26.50+$166.50); amount spent on merchandise: hey why bring that up, we're talking just about viewings here.

Though yeah, it's way more than that, added on top. Worth it.

Speaking of, though. Sometimes the best things of all are, free.

This being the final day Zootopia showed at Paramount 5, after the showing I asked about their policies regarding the mylar marquee signs they put above the theater doors to show what's playing at what cinema. They hand-make the signs, see, and it's really neat.

As you can see from the photo from one month ago, the viewing before going to go see it on DVD for the first time.

They just toss them, is what they do with them- if no employee wants to claim them, that is. Which they can do; they're free to claim them, so. Seeing as how they had two signs for Zootopia, this time, from the days when it was showing on two screens (one 2D and the other 3D (the 3D at Paramount 5 is amazing; way better than the bigger theater's,)) they happened to have one marquee sign more than usual, which meant that they could lose one and still have one left over for that employee/the dump.

So I got a custom-made Zootopia marquee of my very own, for the low low price of $0. I snapped a picture of it in the window so you can see the light pouring through, but I'm keeping it storage-wise in a darker place so it doesn't get bleached or anything.

That is, if you'll notice, the second one, a different one from the one above. You can tell because the hand-drawn zebra stripes are different, the doughnut sprinkles of course, and the cut of the "A" is slightly different as well. So now you know what both of them look like. Tight.