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December 22nd, 2009
ketsugami
 | 07:25 pm
I'm off to NY for the holidays. Should have regular internet so you can reach me in the usual ways.
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December 21st, 2009
dialogue
 | 09:28 am - The Truth about Santa
I've got the germ of an idea for a post/essay about how the role of Santa Claus has changed from the time I was a kid, and how "believing in Santa" has become a bigger deal, and how all the Christmas movies where believing is a major plot point, even shown as a redeeming force of good against all the cynicism and evil in the modern world, or whatever. But so I'm not just basing it on my anecdotal evidence, I'm putting forward a slightly-more-scientific poll:
How old were you when you found out the truth about Santa, if Santa was ever part of your beliefs at all? Apparently, since I don't have a paid account anymore, I can't make it an actual poll, so please answer in comments. It'd also be helpful to know approximately how old you are now. Thanks!
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December 20th, 2009
syna
 | 03:22 pm - having seen Avatar, which had me on board for every damn cliche it pulled
The older I get, the more I agree with my 10 year old self. Fern Gully, Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, and every other badly-executed-but-well-intentioned movie about man fucking up nature is right. We are very sick, we are killing our mother, most of us are blind to it, and it must be stopped.
(I actually thought at one particular scene, "Hell yeah! Nature is going to kick some military ass!" Kudos, James Cameron, though you know nothing of shame.)
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December 18th, 2009
red_mage_jerry
 | 11:56 pm
Caution: When feeding rabbits Hourai Elixir, do not let them overeat :-P
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y183/Silent_sword/SF2%20Icons/ginny.gif) silly
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luna_manar
 | 09:48 pm - If this, then that.
From WebMD:
2 Keys to Understanding Autism Symptoms
According to experts, the first key to understanding autism is to recognize that it profoundly alters how a person perceives the world.
“You could think of a person with autism as having an imbalanced set of senses,” says Shore, who is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. “Some senses may be turned up too high and some turned down too low. As a result, the data that comes in tends to be distorted, and it’s very hard to perceive a person’s environment accurately.”
People who don’t have autism -- sometimes called “neurotypicals” -- are naturally good at filtering out what doesn’t matter. Their senses work in unison to focus on what’s relevant. “When an average person walks into a roomful of people, he notices who they are and what they are doing, and figures out how he fits in,” says Geraldine Dawson, PhD, chief science officer for the education and advocacy group Autism Speaks.
“But when a person with autism walks into the room, he notices things that aren’t as relevant – the sound coming from outside the window, a pattern in the carpet, a flickering light bulb,” Dawson tells WebMD. “He’s missing out on the relevant details that would help him understand the situation. So for him, the world is a lot more confusing.”
The second key is to understand that people with autism are desperately trying to make sense of this chaos. Experts see many autism symptoms that are difficult for others to understand as attempts to communicate or to assert control over a baffling and disorderly universe.
“Most of the time, these behaviors are really an attempt to convey something,” says Dawson. “As a caregiver, the important thing is to recognize that and try to figure out what it is.”
( And if you think it's normal, you must be one of them. )
Note: Written in spare time at work. Not responsible for misspellings/poor paragraph structure.
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ketsugami
 | 05:29 pm
On my way home from work today, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner. It was a pretty quick run, and I was tired, so I was hoping to get out and continue home as soon as possible. I cruised past the checkout lines and selected one in which the belt was clear and someone seemed to be in the process of paying. I put my stuff down, and someone else quickly stepped up behind me.
The person in front of me turned out to be an old woman in one of those motorized carts. I watched, fascinated, as she performed the transaction like some kind of parody of a clueless old person; as though a stand-up comic somewhere was narrating. First she fumbled through her wallet for a card, and then she couldn't slide it correctly. Then she punched debit instead of credit several times, getting the clerk confused. Finally she got it right, and instructed the clerk to put twelve dollars on the card, so she could pay the rest in cash. Then she digs around more in her purse, pulls out a bottle full of quarters, and hands it to the clerk to count. She finds her paper money, in a used brown envelope, and carefully counts it out. She seems satisfied, but the clerk tells her (of course!) that she's two dollars twenty cents short.
This performance has taken maybe ten minutes all told, and I've been watching because there's nothing else to do. The woman starts rooting through her basket and picking out items to return to the clerk in order to lower her bill. Thinking that this will probably require the whole payment/card-swiping process to begin again, I catch the clerk's eye and pass her five dollars. She rings up the purchase, gives the woman back her groceries, and gives me the change.
What I realize, almost immediately afterward, is that this is a woman who is in a bad economic place. Her card is probably a food stamp card, or a gift card, or something of that nature, and twelve dollars is all that's left. She pays in quarters because that's what she has.
So, am I a condescending yuppie, hurrying an old person out of my way because she's wasting my valuable time? Or was I being charitable and helping someone in a hard spot? Does it matter which I was thinking at the time? Can I really be happy about such a pathetically small act of charity -- I mean, as far as philanthropy goes, two dollars for some yogurt is pretty low-grade. Should I have given the woman the change?
Thought about it all the way home, still not sure.
Current Mood: contemplative
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luna_manar
 | 04:15 pm - Haven't seen it in 6 years...
IT SNOWED TODAY.
SSSNNOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://www.lunamanar.com/rremlies/energetic.gif) Ecstatic
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moocards
 | 04:12 pm - Holiday Shipping and Printing Dates
Well, the last order dates for the holidays have passed, and Santa's final sacks of festive MOOs are filling up fast. We're still taking new orders though, and we'll be shipping them out as fast as we can - so don't hesitate to order thank you cards for all your lovely pressies!
Just so you know, here's our warehouse and customer service closure dates over the holiday season.( More )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/smileys/working.gif) busy
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December 17th, 2009
draegonhawke
 | 06:21 pm - DreamWidth
All right, folken. If you have DreamWidths and I don't have you circled on there, could you tell me what your journals are? For the record, I've got magistrate as a personal journal and an_owomoyela as a professional one; only writing/professional journals will be followed on the latter, and onlyl journals of people I personally know and trust (with a preference on writing/professional journals) will be granted access to it. So if I know you and trust you and you have a writing journal, well, you may choose to inform me of this fact.
I'm not leaving LiveJournal. I mean, really, I'm not, unless they really divebomb. But I am going to try to maintain a professional journal at DW with automatic crosspostings to LJ, and this journal (this one that you're reading) will probably be mostly fandom stuff and little things. Honestly, given how infrequently I update this anyway, I doubt people will notice much difference.
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December 15th, 2009
December 14th, 2009
reverie_shadow
 | 11:50 pm - dexter spoilers holy fuck
Man, I had this strangest dream about Dexter last night!
( Spoilers: It's not really a dream. )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://rnwashburn.com/rmt/disappointed.jpg) disappointed
Current Music: "Love's Secret Domain" by Coil
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ketsugami
| 04:30 pm
In an effort to somewhat rationalize my life, I've adopted a new sleep schedule where I wake up around 7:30 AM and go to sleep before 11. (This as opposed to my 2 AM to 10 AM sleeping from before.) My theory is that the time in the morning is more valuable to me, because I'm actually awake enough to do something besides stare blankly at video games. So far it's working okay, although my upcoming trip to NY will probably screw everything up because of time zones.
This weekend, did a bunch of painting and a little bit of writing. Hoping to get that ratio closer to 1:1 but at least the Skorne army is coming along. Also took my phone to the store (note: when trying to think of the word "store" in this context, the first thing that came to me was "phone vet") and asked if they could please replace it because the sound is crappy. Unfortunately, the issue failed to repro in the store, which of course emits a magical "make things work properly" field. Le sigh. Not sure what to do about it now. I really like my new (Droid) phone, but it just doesn't sound as good when talking on the phone as my old one. Might try it with a headset, see if that helps.
Need to read more books. I got distracted reading through the giant compendium of every Far Side comic ever, which I picked up 70% off at an Amazon sale. The stack of books has risen intimidatingly high again though. Also need a new game of some sort, I picked up Armored Princess but haven't started it yet. We'll see.
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December 13th, 2009
December 11th, 2009
draegonhawke
 | 08:11 pm - So, I have had a *pretty awesome week*.
1) I got the job at the University! I am so excited to start. It will be so full of new challenges and new things to learn.
2) I got a story accepted for publication at ChiZine! This is the third of my stories to be accepted at pro venues, which means that I'm now eligible to join SFWA. I'm officially SFWA-Pro material.
3) I got a Christmas card from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rionaleonhart (and Pyramid Head)! And now I want to know if Riona just decided it'd be a good idea to domesticate a Pyramid Head, or if the roving bands of Viera supposed to be guarding her campus from Pyramid Head attacks just aren't doing their jobs. Either possibility is concerning.
4) Tomorrow we get a ryuu_no_hime! AWESOME. (Though why she wants to come to Iowa City in the month of OMGWHYCOLD is beyond me.)
There is something very wrong about having Sam Tyler contemplating the emptiness of his life in Manchester as my happiest icon. Hrm.
[Edit] 5) And then gracetherein got me more paid time! I love my friends. They are the best.
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December 9th, 2009
ketsugami
| 11:40 pm
More games of Hordes! Mostly for my own reference.
( Other people still don't care. )
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December 10th, 2009
luna_manar
 | 12:41 am - Rat
Boo the rat is done with her $600 surgery and she is resting comfortably. She is a little woozy from the pain meds, but she is doing well otherwise and is eating and drinking. Right now she's separated from her cagemates so they don't mess with her stitches. She is one exhausted, shaved rat, but she is already looking much healthier.
Thank you for well-wishes, and please don't take offense if all you get in the mail for the holidays from me is a card. ^^;;;
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://www.lunamanar.com/rremlies/relieved.gif) relieved
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