The Last Bastion Of Absurdity

Let's get back into the swing of things with a meme! via nny. It can be kind of like a roll call to see who's still hangin' about even though I've sorely neglected the place.

I know very little about some of the people on my friends list. Some people I know relatively well. But here's a thought: why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: "Ah, there's so and so...she likes office supplies." I'd love it if every single person who friended me would do this. (Yes, even you people who I know really well.) Then post this in your own journal. In return, ask me anything you'd like to know about me and I'll give you an answer.

In other news, I just checked my timetable for the upcoming semester and swore heavily. I only have one class for the rest of the year, due to some beaurocratic snafus and that one class I failed in first year. And I've had a recurring problem with everything happening on Wednesdays - my escrima class, Writer's Society meetings, random events people feel like having midweek for whatever reason... whatever. I get overbooked, I overcommit, I decide it's totally plausible to be in the city at one and back in maroubra at three and in kensington at six and back in the city at eight, I have misadventures.

Guess when the one class I have next semester is scheduled? ARGH.

Good evening, internet! It is for once Before Midnight and I am writing a blog post!

I have been a busy little maggot this week, for varying values of busy that alternate between internet-cyborg-zombie and person-who-leaves-the-house-wearing-clothes. My casual online tutor work has started up again, so now I have an EXCUSE to sit in front of the computer for hours at a time! Also on Friday I accidentally went to a trance club. The night began promisingly, with young ladies stealing my roll of gaffer-tape to prepare their breasts for later semi-naked acrobatics and all, but I went home early because I had forgotten my wallet and felt too awkward sober. Also, I was hungry. So I came home and made a steak at one in the morning. Class~!

Anyway, a thing which I wanted to talk about was the Ladies: Why You Be Putting Yo'selves Down stuff going round earlier this week. I shall link to the Tiger Beatdown post because that is where I came across it and also because I agree with pretty much all of it, Sady is a sensible person and I love her blog. She and Amanda Hess continue the conversation here, and that post in particular felt oddly, nay, horrifyingly familiar.

You see, people do this around me all the time. I shan't name names, but I've been dealing with various close friends moaning about how fat they apparently are since I was fourteen. And I never got it, and I could never think of an appropriate response, because "no you're not" got old fast when it was clearly making no impact, since the conversation would repeat verbatim ad nausea, and talking about how stick-thin is not the only way to be pretty skirts the minefield of calling them fat by dint of not gushing about how skinny they are. Sometimes I'd cynically think to myself, "She is just fishing for compliments, god!" but I never particularly minded handing them out - it was just, you know. Boring.

I never really thought about this weird female habit in context, in terms of the whole patriarchal structure of feminine downplaying and tearing down and submissive gestures. I never really felt the urge myself - I guess those couple years of preadolescent socialisation I missed out on were good for something, huh? On the other hand, I am always going on about how clumsy and forgetful I am. It's not in a "please reassure me" way, it's more an instinct to lower expectations, I suppose, but now I'm wondering if that's part of this phenomenon, or if it has more in common with the gender-neutral Class Clown syndrome, as I've always thought.

All that can't hide the fact that this really is a Thing, that women are taught to do, and it still sucks. It's hard to know what to do about it. I still don't know how to respond when people (read: women) (...and Shaun, now that I think about it) put themselves down. I'm thinking of a compliment-ambush strategy, or something, I don't know. But if you're reading this, if you're reading the posts I linked above (and I hope you read those because they are awesome) and you are thinking shit, that's me, then I'd like to hear about what goes through your head in those conversations, what it is that I never got from your perspective. And yeah, I'd like it to happen less often, but not at the expense of your feeling able to express your insecurities to me, because what else are friends for? I only want to hear that stuff less because you're thinking it less. And I of all people know how tricky and unpredictable brain-hackery is, but I do believe that sometimes, when we're aware of a Thing we do that we do not want to do, we can do something about it. Remember when I used to have panic attacks on buses? You probably don't. Hell, I barely do. But I do remember it's slow, it starts small. And here this rambling dovetails neatly with a meme I've been meaning to post, via jk_rockin and mishka_jayne!

Reply to this post, and I'll tell you one reason why I like you. Then repost this [if you like] and spread the love.

Except! Amendment! Especially for if you are a lady (or shaun)!

Reply to this post with something you like about yourself. No cop-out complinsults please! I know you've got it in you! And if you don't I will still do the original meme above, so no pressure or anything, but try. For me.

AND IF YOU DON'T COMMENT, Certain People, well... I know where you live (on the internet). I will hunt you down. And some day, when you least expect it... I will... SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT YOU.

Grah, firefox killed all my tabs agaaaaain. You would think I'd learn, and start saving things to my "to read later" folder more often or install Chrome or soemthing... argh.

Meanwhile, a meme:

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
• Update your journal with the answers to the questions
• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

I got two sets of questions! ( and the answers are under this cut )

...and some of you may have forgotten who the hell I am. This meme is going round my flist:

You know how sometimes people on your friendslist post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when were they working THERE? Since when were they dating HIM/HER? Since when???" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy the topics below, erase my answers and put yours in their place, and then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration. One-word answers seldom help anyone out.

Now, I'm a weird one who can ramble forever about some stuff and volunteer personal information at length while completely sober, yet apparently completely random topics will make me cringe and hide unless somebody has specifically asked me a specific question about them. And also I'm not very good at being able to tell what bits are the need-to-know bits. So the meme is slightly altered: I'm going to write some stuff, idk, and if there is anything missing that you're curious about you may ask me in the comments.

( meeeeeeeeeeeem )

THE ANONYMOUS WRITING FEEDBACK MEME

(but still wanting whatever feedback whether anon or otherwise on the last exercise)

actual post imminent! no, more like upcoming lol.

Today the internet has brought me fluorescent puppies, kaleidoscope and cupcake awesomeness, and this.

Have a meme from perfectdays: The first TEN FIVE TEN ACROSS BOTH LJ AND DW people to comment in this post get to request a drabble or a poem or something of any pairing/character/misc of their choosing from me. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level.

PS this is also awesome.

I am: Olaf Stapledon Standing outside the science fiction "field", he wrote fictional explorations of the futures of whole species and galaxies.

Which science fiction writer are you?

I... I have to google this guy now :P

I have half an hour before my Cinematic Cultures tutorial. In the screening today we watched Breathless, by Jean-Luc Godard. It was an interesting film, if a bit inexplicable in plot on occasion, and featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo's very distracting shoulders and Jean Seberg demonstrating the European obsession with thin black and white horizontal stripes. They were both very good. He sort of oddly reminded me of Brendon Urie plus ten years. I think it was the lips.

Also why is everybody in France called Jean?

List the first ten series that come to mind. Your friends will comment with the character from each series that they think you are most like. Remember this is who I'm most like, not necessarily my favorites!

EDIT: for some reason i thought it was just TV series, and dropped in some totally random ones uh. Changed around slightly now?

1. Torchwood
2. Firefly
3. Supernatural
4. Discworld
5. Burn Notice
6. Harry Potter
7. Stargate: Atlantis
8. Sandman
9. Batman! (any continuity)
10. Heroes


Which Horrible Affliction are you?
A Rum and Monkey disease.

Your result for What's your key signature?...

B Minor

Hey, what's an emo's favorite key signature? B MINOR LOLOLOL

Take What's your key signature? at HelloQuizzy

Quiz from shorelle. I loled. The questions are great.



My procrastinatory tool of choice for today has been this discussion on woodburner's journal. Because who wants to do actual work when there are theoretical zombie whores to contemplate? *facepalm*

So, maggiebloome, your LiveJournal reveals...

You are... 24% unique (blame, for example, your interest in viscous sarcasm) and 16% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy writing). When it comes to friends you are popular. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is intellectual.

Your overall weirdness is: 52

(The average level of weirdness is: 27.
You are weirder than 91% of other LJers.)

Find out what your weirdness level is!

Still ded on lj but would like to note that a) Lofty Words was reasonably successful and b) Panic/TAI/Cobra tonight!!!

PS: it is raining SO FUCKING HARD - I hope it clears up by this evening but at the same time squee!