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miscellany

anime, miscellany

Admired, Inspired. 7.9.14

  • Crispin Freeman, one of my favorite [voice] actors, discusses the Myth of the Hero as it relates to the female, a topic we all know fascinates me. One of these days I really hope to attend one of his Mythology and Meaning panels.

    “As much as I love Joe Campbell, he does give short shrift to the female hero journey, and it’s very frustrating to me, so that’s part of why I developed my third anime mythology presentation, which is called ‘Mystics, Priestesses and Warrior Women.’ Traditionally, male hero journeys were more prominent because in traditional hunter-gatherer societies, a boy doesn’t become a man until he’s physically initiated… In those same traditional societies, a girl becomes a woman when she starts menstruating. When she starts menstruating, they put her in a hut and have her think about the fact she’s menstruating. Well, that might have worked back in hunter-gatherer times, but that doesn’t work now. That’s not enough to help girls now become self-actualized women. It’s vital we have female hero journeys—not just for girls, for boys, too. Boys and men need to understand the challenges women face as they go through their lives, and if men don’t, they’re doomed to perpetuate ridiculous chauvinism. It’s my personal flag I like to fly, because it’s about damn time that girls have more choices.”

  • Finally, the newest Geek & Sundry channel Player Piano is making me swoon! They’ve captured the eerie atmosphere and cyberpunk aesthetic of Akira so well. Can we talk about how badass that piano is too?
July 9, 2014
miscellany

How to Teach History

During my brief stint as a history major, my intended emphasis of study was in Early United States history. Why? C’mon now, suspicion, intrigue, and rebellion? It all makes for fascinating stuff.

If you have difficulty believing that history can be that compelling, let this video by Soomo Publishing convince you. It’s a bit old, but hey, history is old, and I haven’t gotten tired of it so far.

Still so good.

Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans! Stay safe tonight!

July 4, 2014
challenge, miscellany

2014: Connect, create, regenerate.

Alright, so it’s February and I’m just now getting to a “resolutions” post of sorts. It’s better than nothing, right?

Beginning with the eight of swords and moving clockwise, these cards represent the months ahead, with the center card as the overall year.

Beginning with the eight of swords and moving clockwise, these cards represent the months ahead. The center card is the overall year.

According to my own tarot spread, the first quarter will be a bit tumultuous (the eight of swords certainly summed up last month), but things start looking up. Of course, it’s all up to me to make things happen. And yes, that’s always true, regardless of any sort of fortune telling, but it’s nice to feel like its supported by something, no? Besides, look how gorgeous that art is!

In any case, while I should be more specific and choose things that can definitively be achieved by a certain date, instead I’m choosing goals that are so vague that I must be able to achieve them! Sorry GTD-ers! Enlarge the target, easier to aim and all that. ;D

As the title suggest, my basic goals are to connect, create, regenerate.

Connect

  • Travel.
    • Even within California, I’ve got great friends that live at least an hour away and I just really need to visit them. I’ve also got a lot of hopes to see the rest of the country, because I’ve only seen Seattle (when I was around… eight?), New York, and Washington DC, but the California coast takes top priority.
  • Engage more online.
    • For someone with a blog this may seem weird, but there are some social media networks that I’m on that I don’t use beyond their basic function, but I wish that I did. There are so many discussions that I want to get into on both goodreads and ravelry. Lately I have actually been on the latter more than before (Ysolda‘s “Follow Your Arrow” Mystery Knit Along has been keeping me busy!), and I’m slowly updating my notebook with the projects that I’ve done.
I need to get in the habit of photographing my work. So many projects aren't even listed!

I need to get in the habit of photographing my work. So many projects aren’t even listed!

Create

  • Record and release.
    • This has a bit of an overlap with “connect“, but that’s the point. Last year, I didn’t even share a single song! Okay, I never even got around to finishing a recording of one; either I kept messing up and never liking a single take, or just feeling like I needed more to add to a song. This year I need to learn to make the time to get it right, or to just let go and let it be the way it is.

Regenerate

  • Read at least 25 books.
    • As far as I’m concerned, reading– as well as comic books, television, video games, and really all other forms of media consumption counts, so long as one is mentally engaged– falls into the regeneration of the mind. It’s filling the inspirational well of ideas, you know? Anyway, I’m ashamed to admit that I haven’t been reading as much now that I’m no longer being assigned books. I’ve even fallen behind on my Vaginal Fantasy book choices! Like most things in my life, I start something and it quickly ends up on the back burner. Last year I failed to reach my Goodreads goal of twenty-five books and the disgrace of that weighs heavily. /end melodrama
  • Sleep more. Sleep better. (Iz, I really am stealing all of your resolutions now, I apologize!)
    • Despite knowing that a person needs 7-9 hours of sleep (sleep cycles!), I feel guilty when I’ve slept more than 6. It’s silly to feel that way, but all those years of all-nighters have made me feel like anything more than 5 hours means I’m not working hard enough. Dumb, I know, but hey, I’m not getting enough sleep, therefore I’m not thinking clearly. ;D

There you have it, my five general resolutions for 2014. It’s not the best format, but the set has a catchy-rhyme-y* title, so that should help me remember.

*Between this and the post title, I admit, I may or may not be on a Doctor Who kick right now. Not that that ever left me. Allons-y!

February 1, 2014
miscellany, philobabble

Goodbye 2013

Can’t believe we’re already at the end of the year! It’s been bizarre. There have quite a few changes– some inevitable, some absolutely unexpected (most of which I was completely unprepared for). All in all, it’s taught me that I need to get better at letting go. It’s not merely about letting go of the past, but also of releasing any preconceived notions ideas of the future and allowing everything to just… happen.

Here’s to the new year and new chances.

December 31, 2013
miscellany

Admired, Inspired 11.6.13

Earlier today I recommended TED.com to a friend and I realized that I had yet to share some of my favorites here. Seeing as how TED Talks epitomize the premise of the Admired, Inspired, it’s about time.

Without intending to, this particular set tends to lean toward creation/creativity and its effects; perhaps I’ll do another with a different theme (neuroscience! societal norms!).

Warning: TED Talks successfully fulfills the trope of the web video blackhole– you can’t stop at just one.

Continue Reading

November 6, 2013