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Saturday, December 12th, 2009
(comment on this) Friday, December 11th, 2009
(4 comments | comment on this)
(comment on this)
medievalmystic
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9:13p
Bev on c'hoazh
Hi everyone,
My last posts dates from October 24. Today we live on December the twelfth...Yes, I have been out of the running. As most of you know, I presume, I am living quite a hard time: I still long very much for Brittany, and Dutch every day life is difficult. I 'd never thought my Masters would be this amount of work; it is like a full-time job. Besides my studies I sit in the OC (Educational Comission) of the Modern Languages sector at university, which also asks his toll in the form of energy. And energy is exactly the thing that lacks me when I feel like I felt the past months. And lastly, when in the same week I received a very disappointing note AND had thieves in my house, I broke down a bit. I didn't feel safe in my house anymore, and I thought that from now on I would have no chance whatsoever to be admitted to a PhD programme, which has been my secret wish for some time now.
At the moment I am doing a bit better though; I have talked with friends who have really helped me; I have planned a trip to Rennes, in the last week of April, when there will be a congress on the origins of the Breton language; and I am playing in a new band, about which I am very enthousiastic! I love playing music together with others, and the musical choice of this project is exactly what I like. And I play together in it with Sanne, a hood friends, and Fieke, who also played in Cesair! It's a small world...
I am very much looking forward to my trip to Rennes: off course the congress will be fun, but I almost can't wait to see my friends again! Drinking tea with Anna, going to the Westport with the Kejadenn guys, chatting on Middle Welsh with Bibi, maybe, if it will be possible, visiting the family at Kastell Gwenn...I would love that. But the Morbihan is far from Rennes, and I am not sure there will be time. But already, visiting Rennes! Going to the Marché des Lices! To the book market on the Plasenn santez Anna! Chilling out in the park Thabor! Drowning in the sheer mass of Breton books in the library...Going to a fest-noz, or at least seeing a band playing in the Ty Anna or elsewhere...Drinking cider and chouchenn!
Yes, this prospect, and the feeling (only the feeling) it might all go well with this PhD after all, makes me feel better. And even if the PhD plan doesn't work out, that doesn't mean my life will be a failure, to say it dramatically. I can still become a teacher, or a musician maybe, or a fortuneteller, or a workless traveler....Mum! Dad! Just joking! No need for heart attacks ;-)
For the moment I try to live in the 'now': I try to finish my homework before each class (that isn't as easy said as done), I try do be a good 'university politician' in the OC, and when I have some spare time I play music, meditate, write in my diary, try to occupy myself with the things I think are important in life. Like friendship...yesterday I saw Martine in Hofman (A cafe here in Utrecht) for the first time since I left for Brittanny. It was like the year hadn't passed! That is, off course we had both things to tell each other, and things have changed, but, as Martine put it, when you really know each other's personality and are friends on basis of just that, rather than on shared activities and the like, time does't matter.
Today I posted a lot of christmas cards to friends. I you dont get one, don't be offended: this just means I don't have your address. I am very bad at keeping updaté with everyone's addresses, as I always forget to write them down when someone gives me his one. So if you want te be sure to have a christmas card, just mail me your home address!! I wrote cards in four languages: Dutch, English, French and Breton. At the moment I hope they are traveling to five countries: the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Brittany and Ireland. It gives me a very rich feeling to have all these friends, these people that are important to me, and also the knowledge that they care about me makes me feel thankfull, and stronger.
I keep saying I dont do the 'christmas feeling' this year. And it is true I am not getting very excited on Christmas dinners, presents and trees, but I do feel better than before, my heart warms when I think of my dear ones, and I have new hope on a good future. If that isnt a Christmas feeling, the whole thing doest exist.
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(comment on this) Thursday, December 10th, 2009
(22 comments | comment on this) Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
(comment on this)
niankhsekhmet
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2:07p
Of all the things...
So, I put out my bill for the internet in the mailbox,secure it,put up the flag - the mailman picks it up. Hey, this is how rural mail works.
We had a blizzard last night apparently. This morning I waded out through the drifts of snow out to the mailbox on the road that has yet to be plowed in order to put in more bills, Moo-mas cards, etc. My eyes were greeted with the sight of the flag still being up, the door open and the bill is missing.
Good luck finding a white return enclosure envelppe in 12 inches of snow in the woodlands! :P
I called the internet company to let them know. They will get a replacement hand delivered tomorrow, providing the road and driveway get dug out. I then get to pay my bank for a stop payment on the check that is literally lost to the winds. *sigh*
Snow days are great. But snow days with 60 mph winds the night before are not so much fun.
current mood:  blank
current music: the furnace blower
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(2 comments | comment on this) Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
sabotabby
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7:32p
Recent input
Short recommendations time!
Book-wise, I just finished Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (those were both ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) zingerella-recs that she thought I'd like, as opposed to the times when she gives me books that she thinks it'll be funny to hear me rant about). I couldn't put either of them down. They're swashbuckling fantasy, with no actual magic, and no glossing over of the ugly class and gender dynamics of period settings, which made me quite a happy girl.
I preferred Privilege, as it had an engaging female lead who did stuff, and a host of secondary female characters who also did stuff, and talked to each other about things other than a man. And it skirted the other big problem in writing strong female characters, particularly in genre fiction, wherein "strong" is defined as "kicking ass" without having to resort to vagaries such as character development. Katherine kicks a substantial amount of ass, don't get me wrong, but the less ass-kicking characters, from the traditionally girlie Artemesia to the brilliant-but-dumpy Flavia, are just as interesting and well-developed.
Also, it has hot boys making out. Well, hot boys in one book and hot middle-aged men in the other book. And beautifully witty dialogue.
On the non-fiction end, I'm almost finished reading The Authoritarians, available for free online. It's an accessible study of the authoritarian personality, both that of followers and leaders. I don't think it's covering any new ground and I'm not entirely sure I buy Altemeyer's methodology or conclusions, but it's definitely an interesting read, and it very much describes some of the more puzzling things about the Right (or, in the case of people I more frequently encounter, what I'd term the "reflexively Right").
The last movie I saw was Alien Apocalypse, courtesy of PopeJohn. It has Bruce Campbell fighting giant termites, so if you like that kind of thing (I do) you should check it out. Also it's shot in Bulgaria, and most of the actors don't speak English, so the dialogue is horribly and hilariously dubbed in.
I've acquired a bunch of new music lately, most notably LAL's 10-year anniversary CD, Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom (thanks to outcastspice), and a very weird CD by Tim Buckley (thanks to culpster). I also discovered a great new band called Sunday Driver, a steampunk band with Indian classical influences. They have three free songs that you can download on their site, and I liked those so much that I bought the album (see, it works), which is hopefully in the mail.
Oh! TV. Well, I finished Deadwood and am now bereft, in the way I was when Oz and Six Feet Under ended. As in "what am I going to like as much now?" I suppose when Mad Men starts up again I'll have something, but really, Deadwood is a fucking masterpiece and why would they ever cancel something so great? And don't tell me to get into The Wire; I watched the first season and found it too triggering.
current music: the weird Tim Buckley CD
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(29 comments | comment on this)
(7 comments | comment on this) Sunday, December 6th, 2009
yallabaxna
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11:17p
Also, I'm so passive aggressive thatI injured myself
Since no one helped me out at work on Saturday when I really needed it, I hauled ass as fast as I could on Sunday so that I could leave early without helping anyone else.
I think I tore some shit up in my ankle but it was totally worth it to see the look on the lead tech's face when I walked(hobbled) out of there. Ha!
Pass the ice and the ibuprophen. Posted via LiveJournal.app.
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(comment on this)
yallabaxna
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10:33p
Resolution
On Friday I finally got the news that my dad's been diagnosed with ALS(Lou Gehrig's). It's such a relief to finally have an answer and I can feel all this pent up stress and anger just drain out.
Pretty horrible that it had to be a terminal illness though. At least I don't feel like I'm the crazy one anymore. Posted via LiveJournal.app.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
(6 comments | comment on this) Saturday, December 5th, 2009
sabotabby
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11:09a
THE BEST WEBSITE, ON THE INTERNET!!!!!
Via terry_terrible: I have no idea who this George Hutchins guy is but his website is a work of art. And by that I mean that before you click on the following link:
1. Make sure that you are sober. In particular, refrain from the use of hallucinogenic drugs, as you will almost certainly have a bad trip even without them.
2. Have a cup of coffee. I tried looking at it without the benefit of caffeine and—let's just say you need all your wits about you.
3. Put on some sunglasses.
4. If you have epilepsy, a heart condition, or a moderately developed aesthetic sensibility, this site is probably not for you.
Okay, here it is. Keep your hand on the back button of your browser at all times, just in case.
The forum is probably my favourite part, as it's 99% anonymous trolls making the lulz, 1% George Hutchins responding in ALL CAPS, and 1% George Hutchins responding under a different username in third-person.
( Highlights! )
P.S. He also advocates "more better jobs" and moving Hollywood to North Carolina.
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(38 comments | comment on this) Friday, December 4th, 2009
(13 comments | comment on this)
(7 comments | comment on this)
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