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Many years ago, long enough ago that it was possibly while I was still in high school, I stumbled upon a web page called "An tInneall Mallachtaí: The Curse Engine." It would, as the name suggests, generate curses in Irish Gaelic Irish, based on selections made by the page's visitors. (An Irish acquaintance of mine—someone I know from my more active days in the X-Files fandom—insists that the proper name for the language is Irish; if I understand correctly, calling it "Irish Gaelic" is a mistake on par with calling a tomato a suspension bridge. And because this is her language and culture, I believe her.) Some of the possible combinations were quite funny.
Unfortunately, the page went down years ago. But someone's brought it back. I stumbled upon it this afternoon when I was taking a break from some rather serious reading that I was doing. And this means that even though I don't know how to pronounce it, I now know that "Go bpléasca na gráinneoga mioscaiseacha do chuid gruaige" means "May the malevolent hedgehogs blow up your hair!"
...I really should get back to my book. :)
Unfortunately, the page went down years ago. But someone's brought it back. I stumbled upon it this afternoon when I was taking a break from some rather serious reading that I was doing. And this means that even though I don't know how to pronounce it, I now know that "Go bpléasca na gráinneoga mioscaiseacha do chuid gruaige" means "May the malevolent hedgehogs blow up your hair!"
...I really should get back to my book. :)
Now that the Big Reveal has gone up, I have found out that my gift, To Catch a Thief, was written by the talented ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
talesofsnape. (I don't know her personally, but we have several mutual friends, and I have always enjoyed her work.) It is a truly delightful little story, and I'll definitely be going back to read it again.
As for my contribution, I can now confess that Squid Lake is entirely my fault—as well as the reason why I now know far more about squid than I had ever expected to learn. :) I have to admit that I'm not entirely pleased with the way that this story turned out, though I gave it my best effort, but its recipient (pieredaes_muse) seemed to enjoy it, and for that I am definitely thankful.
talesofsnape. (I don't know her personally, but we have several mutual friends, and I have always enjoyed her work.) It is a truly delightful little story, and I'll definitely be going back to read it again.As for my contribution, I can now confess that Squid Lake is entirely my fault—as well as the reason why I now know far more about squid than I had ever expected to learn. :) I have to admit that I'm not entirely pleased with the way that this story turned out, though I gave it my best effort, but its recipient (
pieredaes_muse) seemed to enjoy it, and for that I am definitely thankful.Ishka and the Hedgehog
Aug. 5th, 2012 04:43 pmWhat follows is the result of a combination of the Saturday Night Drabbles chat at The Petulant Poetess and karelia's recent account of finding a hedgehog in the garden and her dog Ishka's decision to bring the hedgehog indoors at night on at least two occasions. The scansion's not perfect, of course, and I had to add an extra verse in order to convey as much of the story as I could, but I'm rather pleased with the song anyway. linlawless, I know that you were particularly looking forward to seeing this, so I hope that it meets your expectations. And K, I hope that I managed to do the story justice. :)
--,--'--@ --,--'--@ --,--'--@
Ishka and the Hedgehog (Tune: The Bold Grenadier)
As I was a-walking one evening in July,
My dear canine companion a hedgehog did spy.
It had been in the garden; Ishka sniffed it then,
And we'd thought it was a visitor we'd not see again.
It was out in the garden by her favourite tree,
So Ishka started barking, tail wagging madly.
And then, before I knew it, my enthusiastic dog
Shot into the house and dropped the hedgehog on the rug.
I worried for a moment, but Ishka was all right,
And so was the hedgehog, though it had quite a fright.
Keeping Ishka inside, I brought it back to its tree;
Where the little hedgehog really lives, apparently.
I marvelled for a moment, and then I wondered why
Ishka seemed so set on bringing the hedgehog inside.
And then, I considered canine psychology:
It seems as if the hedgehog has become family!
As I was a-walking one evening in July,
My dear canine companion a hedgehog did spy.
It had been in the garden; the dog sniffed it then,
And we'd thought it was a visitor we'd not see again.
karelia's recent account of finding a hedgehog in the garden and her dog Ishka's decision to bring the hedgehog indoors at night on at least two occasions. The scansion's not perfect, of course, and I had to add an extra verse in order to convey as much of the story as I could, but I'm rather pleased with the song anyway. linlawless, I know that you were particularly looking forward to seeing this, so I hope that it meets your expectations. And K, I hope that I managed to do the story justice. :)Ishka and the Hedgehog (Tune: The Bold Grenadier)
As I was a-walking one evening in July,
My dear canine companion a hedgehog did spy.
It had been in the garden; Ishka sniffed it then,
And we'd thought it was a visitor we'd not see again.
It was out in the garden by her favourite tree,
So Ishka started barking, tail wagging madly.
And then, before I knew it, my enthusiastic dog
Shot into the house and dropped the hedgehog on the rug.
I worried for a moment, but Ishka was all right,
And so was the hedgehog, though it had quite a fright.
Keeping Ishka inside, I brought it back to its tree;
Where the little hedgehog really lives, apparently.
I marvelled for a moment, and then I wondered why
Ishka seemed so set on bringing the hedgehog inside.
And then, I considered canine psychology:
It seems as if the hedgehog has become family!
As I was a-walking one evening in July,
My dear canine companion a hedgehog did spy.
It had been in the garden; the dog sniffed it then,
And we'd thought it was a visitor we'd not see again.
Likes and dislikes (SSHG Exchange)
Jun. 4th, 2012 06:27 pm(For the person who got my SSHG Exchange prompts, since it's extremely likely that we don't actually know each other.)
So, here's what I like. I have to admit that I like some amounts of fluff, or at least as much fluff as an in-character Severus (or Hermione, for that matter) can manage. Humour is great; I tried to come up with prompts that would be open to some amount of comedy, whether high or low. I'm fond of clever innuendo, too. Angst is good as well—especially if all turns out nicely in the end. Speaking of which, I do like happy endings, but I'm also a sucker for open endings, and not-necessarily-happy endings, when they're done well.
As for what I don't like in fic...I don't like rape/non-consensual sex; it bothers me on a very deep level. I also really dislike romance-based fics in which Hermione is still a Hogwarts student, even as an "eighth-year," because of the professional misconduct involved; even if she's of age, the power dynamic between them is profoundly unequal if she's still his student. I'm also not a fan of fics in which Hermione is romantically involved with Ron at any point; they barely get along as friends most of the time. Still, Ron behaving badly is also not something that I like to see. I'm not exactly a Ron fan, but when I read fics with him in them, I do like to see him acting reasonably, even if he's still a bit immature and insecure. I'm also not fond of PWP, extreme explicit violence, or BDSM. Yeah, I know, I'm boring. ;)
And although I doubt that it will actually be a problem, you should probably know that I find negative remarks about people's weight, the use of the word "fat" as an insult, and diet talk/body policing in general, to be very triggering. Please avoid these things if at all possible.
Crossovers are fine, even if I'm not familiar with the characters and situations that come from other fandoms, though I'd appreciate a few hints about the non-HP characters and their histories if you decide to do a crossover. (The only exception that I can come up with to this rule is the Twilight series; I tried to read the first book in the series and ended up actually throwing it across the room out of sheer exasperation.)
If you've chosen to do one of my art prompts, anything from my lists of likes and dislikes that can apply to art does apply to it. I'm not particularly fussy, and (this goes for fic, too, by the way) I'll probably be thrilled with whatever you come up with. :)
All in all, I have my preferences, but really, I'm looking forward to seeing whatever you do with whichever of my prompts you choose, and I hope you have fun while you're doing it. :)
So, here's what I like. I have to admit that I like some amounts of fluff, or at least as much fluff as an in-character Severus (or Hermione, for that matter) can manage. Humour is great; I tried to come up with prompts that would be open to some amount of comedy, whether high or low. I'm fond of clever innuendo, too. Angst is good as well—especially if all turns out nicely in the end. Speaking of which, I do like happy endings, but I'm also a sucker for open endings, and not-necessarily-happy endings, when they're done well.
As for what I don't like in fic...I don't like rape/non-consensual sex; it bothers me on a very deep level. I also really dislike romance-based fics in which Hermione is still a Hogwarts student, even as an "eighth-year," because of the professional misconduct involved; even if she's of age, the power dynamic between them is profoundly unequal if she's still his student. I'm also not a fan of fics in which Hermione is romantically involved with Ron at any point; they barely get along as friends most of the time. Still, Ron behaving badly is also not something that I like to see. I'm not exactly a Ron fan, but when I read fics with him in them, I do like to see him acting reasonably, even if he's still a bit immature and insecure. I'm also not fond of PWP, extreme explicit violence, or BDSM. Yeah, I know, I'm boring. ;)
And although I doubt that it will actually be a problem, you should probably know that I find negative remarks about people's weight, the use of the word "fat" as an insult, and diet talk/body policing in general, to be very triggering. Please avoid these things if at all possible.
Crossovers are fine, even if I'm not familiar with the characters and situations that come from other fandoms, though I'd appreciate a few hints about the non-HP characters and their histories if you decide to do a crossover. (The only exception that I can come up with to this rule is the Twilight series; I tried to read the first book in the series and ended up actually throwing it across the room out of sheer exasperation.)
If you've chosen to do one of my art prompts, anything from my lists of likes and dislikes that can apply to art does apply to it. I'm not particularly fussy, and (this goes for fic, too, by the way) I'll probably be thrilled with whatever you come up with. :)
All in all, I have my preferences, but really, I'm looking forward to seeing whatever you do with whichever of my prompts you choose, and I hope you have fun while you're doing it. :)
"Nulla è più necessario del superfluo." ("Nothing is more necessary than the unnecessary.")
—Uncle Eliseo from "Life is Beautiful"
After the last couple of posts, I feel the need to write about something a little lighter, so I started going through my music collection to see what prompted chatter from the budgies when they were being quiet. This is what happens when I've got too much time on my hands and no weird fanfic ideas, apparently.
Music the budgies seem to like:
Livin' on a Prayer (Bon Jovi)
The One (The Backstreet Boys)
Bamboleo (The Gipsy Kings)
Songs of Love (The Divine Comedy)
Symphonies (Dan Black)
Don't Bring Me Down (Electric Light Orchestra)
I Like That You Can't Take That Away From Me (from "Take the Lead")
Star of the County Down (MacKeel)
Happy Boys and Girls (Aqua)
Beer Goggles (MacKeel)
Surrender (Madeleine Martin, from the soundtrack to the first season of "Californication")
Chanson d'Amour (Manhattan Transfer)
Ça plane pour moi (Plastic Bertrand)
The Bells of Dunblane (The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards)
Top Deck In Perth (different recordings by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the Victoria Police Pipe Band, though they were noisier when I played the original recording by the Vic Police)
Squirrels In My Pants (2 Guys in the Parque, from "Phineas and Ferb")
O Siem (Susan Aglukark)
Everybody to the Limit ("Strong Bad," from homestarrunner.com)
Desert Rose (Sting)
What I Got (Sublime)
She Caught the Katy (Taj Mahal)
Airlie's Big Day/Madam Bonaparte/Pump the Thump (The Victoria Police Pipe Band)
Rain (Vinnie Moore)
Black Suits Comin' (Will Smith)
Snow on the Hills/Xesus and Felisa (The Battlefield Band)
Harsh Realm Main Title (Mark Snow)
Stay (Shakespears Sister)
Pleasure of the Sky (Bone Poets Orchestra) (Hardly surprising, I suppose, since it prominently features a recording of geese honking)
So it seems like they prefer loud music, especially stuff with high-pitched noises or strong percussion. And, looking at this list of songs and tunes, maybe that's every bit as true of me. ;)
—Uncle Eliseo from "Life is Beautiful"
After the last couple of posts, I feel the need to write about something a little lighter, so I started going through my music collection to see what prompted chatter from the budgies when they were being quiet. This is what happens when I've got too much time on my hands and no weird fanfic ideas, apparently.
Music the budgies seem to like:
Livin' on a Prayer (Bon Jovi)
The One (The Backstreet Boys)
Bamboleo (The Gipsy Kings)
Songs of Love (The Divine Comedy)
Symphonies (Dan Black)
Don't Bring Me Down (Electric Light Orchestra)
I Like That You Can't Take That Away From Me (from "Take the Lead")
Star of the County Down (MacKeel)
Happy Boys and Girls (Aqua)
Beer Goggles (MacKeel)
Surrender (Madeleine Martin, from the soundtrack to the first season of "Californication")
Chanson d'Amour (Manhattan Transfer)
Ça plane pour moi (Plastic Bertrand)
The Bells of Dunblane (The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards)
Top Deck In Perth (different recordings by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the Victoria Police Pipe Band, though they were noisier when I played the original recording by the Vic Police)
Squirrels In My Pants (2 Guys in the Parque, from "Phineas and Ferb")
O Siem (Susan Aglukark)
Everybody to the Limit ("Strong Bad," from homestarrunner.com)
Desert Rose (Sting)
What I Got (Sublime)
She Caught the Katy (Taj Mahal)
Airlie's Big Day/Madam Bonaparte/Pump the Thump (The Victoria Police Pipe Band)
Rain (Vinnie Moore)
Black Suits Comin' (Will Smith)
Snow on the Hills/Xesus and Felisa (The Battlefield Band)
Harsh Realm Main Title (Mark Snow)
Stay (Shakespears Sister)
Pleasure of the Sky (Bone Poets Orchestra) (Hardly surprising, I suppose, since it prominently features a recording of geese honking)
So it seems like they prefer loud music, especially stuff with high-pitched noises or strong percussion. And, looking at this list of songs and tunes, maybe that's every bit as true of me. ;)
Today in Things That Make Me Feel Old Even Though I'm Still Going To Be In My 20's On My Next Birthday:
Hearing a remake of a song that was popular when I was fifteen.
(The song in question, by the way, was "Crush," originally by Jennifer Paige, and re-recorded by someone with a somewhat whinier voice.)
Hearing a remake of a song that was popular when I was fifteen.
(The song in question, by the way, was "Crush," originally by Jennifer Paige, and re-recorded by someone with a somewhat whinier voice.)
Mississippi Personhood Amendment
Oct. 13th, 2011 07:40 amOriginally posted by twbasketcase at Mississippi Personhood Amendment
twbasketcase at Mississippi Personhood AmendmentOriginally posted by gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood Amendment
Slightly modified from its original form to reflect my own views and personal circumstances.
Okay, so I wouldn't usually do this, especially since I'm a citizen of a country in which ideas like this don't generally have a whole lot of mainstream support, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is gettingvery little no attention in the American mainstream media.
Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.
This would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.
Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.
What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.
The reason I'm posting this here is because I believe that laws like this, that would criminalize women for trying to take control over their own fertility or for having a miscarriage (which, by the way, is the most common complication of early pregancy and happens to approximately 10% to 25% of pregnancies, dependng on what study you read), are deeply harmful. Miscarriages happen for a lot of reasons, and not all of these reasons have been clearly identified even now. And as for outlawing birth control...there are good reasons for a woman to want to use it. The power to decide when, if ever, one has children is absolutely necessary.
So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. I've known about this for awhile, because I read several feminist blogs, but I would likely not have heard about it otherwise. The mainstream media is not reporting on it to any significant degree.
If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.
What to do?
- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.
- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.
- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of your representatives aren't speaking out against this.
- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.
gabrielleabelle at Mississippi Personhood AmendmentSlightly modified from its original form to reflect my own views and personal circumstances.
Okay, so I wouldn't usually do this, especially since I'm a citizen of a country in which ideas like this don't generally have a whole lot of mainstream support, but this is an issue near and dear to me and this is getting
Mississippi is voting on November 8th on whether to pass Amendment 26, the "Personhood Amendment". This amendment would grant fertilized eggs and fetuses personhood status.
This would effectively outlaw birth control and criminalize women who have miscarriages. This is not a good thing.
Jackson Women's Health Organization is the only place women can get abortions in the entire state, and they are trying to launch a grassroots movement against this amendment. This doesn't just apply to Mississippi, though, as Personhood USA, the group that introduced this amendment, is trying to introduce identical amendments in all 50 states.
What's more, in Mississippi, this amendment is expected to pass. It even has Mississippi Democrats, including the Attorney General, Jim Hood, backing it.
The reason I'm posting this here is because I believe that laws like this, that would criminalize women for trying to take control over their own fertility or for having a miscarriage (which, by the way, is the most common complication of early pregancy and happens to approximately 10% to 25% of pregnancies, dependng on what study you read), are deeply harmful. Miscarriages happen for a lot of reasons, and not all of these reasons have been clearly identified even now. And as for outlawing birth control...there are good reasons for a woman to want to use it. The power to decide when, if ever, one has children is absolutely necessary.
So if you sometimes pass on political action because you figure that enough other people will do something to make a difference, make an exception on this one. I've known about this for awhile, because I read several feminist blogs, but I would likely not have heard about it otherwise. The mainstream media is not reporting on it to any significant degree.
If there is ever a time to donate or send a letter in protest, this would be it.
What to do?
- Read up on it. Wake Up, Mississippi is the home of the grassroots effort to fight this amendment. Daily Kos also has a thorough story on it.
- If you can afford it, you can donate at the site's link.
- You can contact the Democratic National Committee to see why more of your representatives aren't speaking out against this.
- Like this Facebook page to help spread awareness.
