Okay, I'll bite...

[wordinista]

Yoinked from patchcat :

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on lima beans, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc.

In other, more annoying news, the uni is telling me I have an unpaid balance on my account. I'd... really like to know how that's possible, since I couldn't have gotten my fin aid refund until the bill was paid.  WTF?

Oh, and I think the neighborhood stray cat peed on our front patio.  Charming.

Comments

[la-reine-rien.livejournal.com]

Your puppies :)

[la-reine-rien.livejournal.com]

Okay, so technically you DO write about them, but I guess... introduce them to new readers of your journal >.>

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Hee, okay.

The menagerie actually consists of two dogs, Darwin and Sydney, and a cat, Kisa.

Once upon a time, there were two cats, Bronte and Kisa, and a little later on, we got Darwin. Unfortunately, about six or eight months after getting Darwin, Bronte got sick. Very sick. Aggressive feline anemia, actually. Through a blood transfusion and a lot of medication, we were able to prolong her life (and maintain her quality of life) for about 18 months. She passed away two years ago this past December, at four years old.

A month later, my husband and I had been told that the Humane Society had some really lovely hand-painted urns for people to keep their pet's cremains in, so we went to have a look-see. However, I got mixed up, and thought that the local county shelter WAS the Humane Society -- we went there, realized that we were at the wrong place, and decided to look around at the kitties before going. (It was too soon for another cat, and as it happened, none of the kitties there really grabbed me.) So, we were getting ready to go when my husband suggested we just walk through and see the dogs.

And through a completely random twist of fate, we met Sydney (named, then, "Sammy"). This was a Saturday. We both knew we were falling in love, so we left immediately.

I went back Monday and we adopted her. :)

Darwin and Sydney are both Australian Shepherds, and both about four years old. Darwin came to us at 8 weeks old from a breeder near Gainesville, FL, and is such a mama's boy, it isn't even funny. I run agility with him, and he is the dog in my default icon.

I sometimes refer to Darwin as my "heart dog." :) His unique facial marking is actually a flaw in coloring -- the breeder had only been expecting five puppies in the litter, but there turned out to be seven, and Darwin and his little half-white face popped out at the very last. Linda, my breeder, knew I wasn't looking for a show dog, and that we were working within a budget. She sent me a picture of him two hours after his birth, and I was in love. He was mine the moment he was born. ♥

Sydney was more of a challenge -- when we adopted her, she was 20 lbs overweight, had next to no training, and some exceptionally bad habits. Two and a half years later, she's starting a beginning agility class with my husband, and is the cuddliest, most affectionate dog I've ever known.

Kisa is mainly my husband's cat. Unfortunately, her littermate, Bronte, had taken to Darwin better than Kisa did, and Bronte's illness and passing have had a lasting effect on Kisa. She's a bit high strung and neurotic, but lately -- and maybe this is due to her age -- she starting to mellow out a bit. When the dogs aren't home, she wanders around, meowing. :)

[la-reine-rien.livejournal.com]

Why Anders should always wear a bell.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Ah, ah, ah~ This sounds too much like a fic prompt. ;)

[la-reine-rien.livejournal.com]

It's not.... >.> It's just a detailedly vivid description on why it is a fantastic idea for Anders to wear a device the emits a lovely *jingling* sound whenever he moves. That's all it is.

You see my icon? That is a kitty pressing the enable button. That's what it is.

[tarysande.livejournal.com]

And what are your thoughts on lima beans? ;)

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Not really my favorite bean, but tolerable when included in a mix of other veggies.

[tarysande.livejournal.com]

When my siblings and I were kids, we used to attach a ridiculous amount of luck to finding the lima bean in Campbell's vegetable soup. Because it felt like there was only ever one.

(Chocolate IS a superior bean in every way; I approve of your icon!)

[patchcat.livejournal.com]

Kitties! You never talk about kitties...and that makes this Kitty very sad. :'(

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Well, after Bronte passed away, I... don't know. I think I sort of distanced myself from cats. She was such an amazing, wonderful kitty, and she was so very mine, and Kisa ... really wasn't.

I can remember, though, when they were both kittens, and we were living in the apartment. I actually remember writing an LJ entry about how Kitties Are Better Than Cable -- I went back and found that entry not long ago, and it still made me laugh while at the same time wanting to make me cry.

There's a black cat that has appropriated the abandoned property across the canal from us. We've taken to calling it "Bronte Ghost," and joke that she's checking up on us. (We also joke that Bronte was the one who sent us to Sydney, and given how much of a handful Sydney was at the start, we're even MORE sure Bronte had a paw in that, because that just seems like the sort of thing that would have appealed to a feline sense of humor.)

[la-reine-rien.livejournal.com]

TEA. I just bought $50 dollars worth off Adagio. What are your favorite flavors? Any online stores I should know about?

AND YOU'RE FROM FL!?!? NOWAI! I'm originally from St. Augustine ^^;

I'm sorry.... >.> I'm very bored at work.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

LOL! Teeeeeeeeeea, yes. Loev tea.

I'm not a huge fan of the flavored teas, but I lurve http://www.peets.com for just about everything. They have some flavored-ish teas -- black currant, which I love, and a mango iced-tea brew that is pretty much ALL I drink in the summertime. I'm on an Earl Gray kick these days, and right now have a cup of Earl Gray with lavender right here that makes my mouth happy. Also a giant fan of oolong, and very recently have come around to pu-erh. Ummm, at the moment I have tins of Russian caravan, keemun, jasmine, Earl Gray w/bergamot, Earl Gray w/lavender, oolong, aaand darjeeling, I think. (And there's peppermint herbal tea and and lemon-rose tea up in the cupboard for days when I'm feeling icky.)

[wrytersblock.livejournal.com]

I'd... really like to know how that's possible, since I couldn't have gotten my fin aid refund until the bill was paid.

You'd think that would be the way it works, since you're a logical person and that's the logical way things should happen, right? But you're forgetting that universities don't behave logically. I fully believe that they would have sent you a refund and then tell you that you still owed them money--mine actually did this. This semester. Of course, the amount I owed was way more than the refund they sent me, but I resented that they cut me a refund check and then demanded I give it AND MORE back to them. I know it wasn't personal but it sure felt like it.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

I suspect the problem is that, because I'm making up an "I", I wasn't supposed to be registered for this one class, and yet I was, and I SUSPECT the error is theirs. Either way, I'm not looking forward to unraveling this little mystery. Ugh.

MORAL OF THE STORY, KIDS: NEVER, EVER TAKE AN 'I' IF YOU CAN HELP IT.

[wrytersblock.livejournal.com]

See, for me I think it was the fact that I'm dual enrolled at the university and one of the community colleges (because the university doesn't offer my second-language course, the CC does). So I'm guessing the university took the money THEY needed, gave me the rest, then realized, whoops, the system still needs more money, and thus demanded it (and more) back.

So the other moral is NEVER TAKE CLASSES AT MORE THAN ONE INSTITUTION.

[inusdemoness.livejournal.com]

Your icon!!!!! Is that Patty!?!?!?

[wrytersblock.livejournal.com]

It is! Back in the, uh, way beginning of that manga XD

[inusdemoness.livejournal.com]

Yay Soul Eater!

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

What are your thoughts on this article: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-04-20/tokyo-2d-child-porn-bill-delayed-to-at-least-fall

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Hrm. Honestly, the article didn't give me nearly as much information as I'd like, but I'll go with what you gave me. :)

That's a tough one, because I know I've seen some mind-bogglingly sexually graphic manga that wasn't even appropriate for MY eyes, never mind a kid's: ("OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT THERE? OH MY G-- WHAT ARE YOU-- AAAH.") So my gut instinct is that restricting the sale of that kind of manga wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. However, I do realize that I'm trying to ascribe my Western sensibilities to the situation (and I really can't do otherwise, when you get right down to it).

On the other hand, to oppose these restrictions seems... disingenuous, somehow. By opposing the restrictions, is that somehow giving extra leeway to manga as a... as a genre? Is it somehow okay for what basically boils down to "child rape" as long as it's in a medium so far removed from our own? It seems almost as if there's a degree of the old Orientalism in that line of thinking, by labeling it as "exotic" simply because it comes from an entirely different set of sensibilities.

Without knowing more one from one side OR the other, I'd have to say that I can't see any reason why a twelve year old kid of any persuasion would absolutely, positively need to possess a visual medium that depicts objectification/sexual brutalization/humiliation/aliententaclerape.

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

I'm torn on this one myself.

On the one hand I agree that there is no reason a minor should have access to material of this type. Though it would probably be like trying to restrict alcohol sales in this country, they'd just get someone older to do the buying. *shrugs*

On the other, I have a knee jerk reflex when it comes to censorship. It is such a slippery slope. Yes, banning virtual child porn seems reasonable enough, but once that is gone, other bans start to seem more reasonable as well. What's next, Yoai?

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Well, child porn vs. yaoi seems to me to be comparing apples and oranges. The problem with the former, as I see it, has as much to do with brutality as anything else. Yaoi is... well, consensual (except for when it's not -- now if certain yaoi manga fall under the rubric of "child porn" with rape and brutality, etc., etc., then there'll be bleedover).

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

My point wasn't really to compare child porn to Yoai, but to point out that both offend people. Child porn does offend a lot more people, naturally, but by banning one you open the door to banning others. It is actually one to the arguments against Gay marriage, since both are considered, by some, abnormal. Just about everything is going to offend someone, somewhere, somehow. So once you start banning things, where do you stop?

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Well, the main difference is that child porn is illegal, but I'd argue you actually can compare the two, since yaoi can potentially involve underage characters, at which point is becomes both yaoi and child porn.

For all that people find homosexuality offensive, it's not illegal, unlike child pornography -- and that's illegal not because people find it offensive, but issues of child endangerment. (Now, you can argue that it's not REALLY "child endangerment" because the "children" are drawn and thus not actually real, but I kind of feel that's an even slipperier slope.)

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm not really making myself clear.

Okay, try this. From a strictly biological stand point, there is nothing wrong with a young teen engaging in intercourse and conceiving a child. In fact as women age they have fewer eggs and a higher likely-hood of birth defects like Downs. But when you throw in morals, we get all squeamish because young teens are still considered children themselves.

The reason child porn is illegal is morals. The vast majority find it objectionable, so laws were passed to make it unacceptable by social standards. Basically, child porn is illegal because enough people find it offensive. So why can't the same thing happen to Yoai? There are certainly plenty of people who find it offensive.

My point being, one form of censorship inevitably opens the way to other forms. It sets a president.

My point

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Then I think we're looking at this from different perspectives insofar as "child porn" is concerned. When I think of kiddie porn, I think, basically, children aged 12 and under. Children.

Also, pornography doesn't have a damn bit of anything to do with sex from a strictly biological standpoint -- it's a fantasy, and in the case of kiddie-porn, fuels a philia. Pornography essentially fetishizes the object (women, men, children, sheep, whatev), emphasizing the thing that makes them what they are (women, for example, are trussed up in corsets and heels, emphasizing bust and hips and legs, creating a fantasy). Biologically, sure, younger women and teens are more fertile, but I don't agree that you can use biology to validate (not the best word choice, but it's all I can think of) pornography.

Now, there's plenty of porn out there that uses actual human models -- and those models are of legal age, but LOOK young, and they're the ones typically used in the "OMG HOT TEEN" kind of porn you get. They're creating a fantasy, but using young LOOKING women to do it, rather than minors.

The reason child porn is illegal is morals.

Mmmm, I disagree. Now, it may be because I'm close with people who were sexually abused as children, and that may play a big part in why I've got such a knee-jerk reaction to this. I think of child porn, and I relate it instantly to the kind of sick scumbags who would sexually abuse a child.

[emrlddragon.livejournal.com]

Ok, let's forget the child porn and Yoai. I think they are confusing the issue here.

My only point is that censorship in and of itself does nothing but lead to more censorship.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Yknow, there was a time I would have agreed with you, but now I'm not sure I do.

Example: back in the early 90's, there was a huge brouhaha about 2 Live Crew's song "Me So Horny." Censorship in music has been present since Elvis was on Ed Sullivan, but the uproar over 2 Live Crew was particularly rabid, and I recall clearly Tipper Gore and her "Parents Music Resource Center," which wanted to put warning labels on CDs with "offensive" lyrics.

Since then, I can't say I've seen that attempt at censorship lead to more censorship. On the contrary, popular music has continued to push the envelope, to the point where "Me So Horny" sounds tame compared to what I've heard on the radio.

Of course, I may just be old. ;)