It's always struck me as kind of odd that Saturnalia, the ancient Roman origin of Christmas, has become synonymous with debauchery and Pagan excess, when, back in the day, it was really all about giving silly presents and dreaming of a world with greater human equality -- which, of course, meant you were free to ignore equality the rest of the year, but still.
Lupercalia (The ancient Roman origin of Valentine's day), on the other hand, was traditionally celebrated by sacrificing goats, and flogging nude, newly married, women with the still-bloody strips of the goats' hides, to help them get pregnant, while the men of the village got drunk and ran naked through the streets.
And this is the holiday we push on elementary school kids, to inculcate them into the cultural expectation of heterosexual romantic pairings?
*Shakes head at the irony*
Still, just as with Halloween, and dreaming up costumes I could wear but never have the opportunity to, around this time of year, I like to think up crafts I could make with the valentine heart motif... I kind of use these musings the way some people use counting sheep, to fall asleep at night. Today, I was working out in my head how it would be possible to make a heart shaped box with individual compartments, like store-bought chocolate boxes... But putting other things in the box instead:
An assortment of cheeses and nuts, for those who don't like sweets.
An assortment of everyday "fun size" candy, for a chocolate assortment box that's a spoof of the more expensive fancy collections.
A collection of individual watercolor paint cakes, or colored chalks or crayons, for those who are more into crafts than food (you could slip a paint brush [or pen] through some slits in the lid, to substitute for the ubiquitous arrow)
A collection of things with different textures, for a piece of tactile art, just because...
(Reminder to Self: no matter how curious, do not read the comments).
Regarding the he/art (love the slash in that word): I was remembering our discussion back around Christmas about fabric books with pocket sleeves. And it occurred to me that the little paper (or foil) cups in a heart box are just variations on that same theme.
Never read the comments. Ever. Never. Doesn't matter about your curiosity or you have nothing at all to read.
Exceptions for the literal minded: LJ, DW, suitably modded blogs, and Ta-Nehisi Coates' Atlantic Blog, whose local feed is http://tanehisicoates-feed.dreamwidth.org/ for your Droll pleasure.
Well, I did get two thumbs up, and by that time the video had about 400 comments (it was one of vihart's -- who does the doodling in math class videos), so that was nice to be noticed in the crowd.
Her video was about algebra, and how algebra can be used to find paradoxes as easily as solutions, and her final line was "Sometimes, X is what X is." And my comment was: "Is this the mathematician's version of "[expletive deleted] happens?"
I admit that I think being a screen reader user is helpful in this regard, as my ears only hear where I put the focus cursor, instead of scanning around the page involuntarily as eyes do, being lured into all sorts of comment noise. I also believe that being blind while traveling the MBTA is very much more restful than the experience of my sighted friends, who are subjected to constant visual ads and people doing incredibly gross or rude thigns on the trains.
Given the ridiculously large number of web sites that offer the screen reading user nothing but frustration, I'm thrilled there's a benign side effect.
Indeed: in terms of pollution on the T, there are many very scary and ugly things to see, but the worst parts for me are the smells and the shrieking noise.
My major T annoyance is that so many of the trains have a broken or perhaps just not correctly used announcement system, so that you can hear that the driver is announcing a stop but you can't make out what he is saying. I wish they would just keep the automatic announcement system in good repair, or instruct the drivers how to use it correctly. Since being sued a few years back, the MBTA has gotten better about keeping the elevators and escalators in good repair, but lately a lot of the announcement systems often seem to be broken.
Indeed. It's no consolation, but I remember not being able to understand the Red Line driver's announcements when I was a wee rider in 1965. I think drivers get a course in Mumbletalk along with their car control lever.
What is really annoying is that the drivers always make sure to be really clear and coherent about the JFK stop on the redline, because any white people from Braintree completely *freak* if they accidentally end up going to Dorchester. Since the JFK stop always gets announced loud and clear, it just makes it more obvious that the rest of the stops are less clearly announced due to driver laziness. There is one driver on the redline train who is very funny and seems to be having fun occasionally varying his announcements. One evening when, for some reason, there was no Braintree train but only Ashmont trains and Braintree folks were being shuttled from JFK, this driver kept announcing endlessly that "This is an Ashmont *AND* a Braintree train!" (did I mention that Braintree folks absolutely FREAK OUT if they accidentally end up on an Ashmont train?).
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no subject
Date: 2012-02-14 08:16 pm (UTC)It's always struck me as kind of odd that Saturnalia, the ancient Roman origin of Christmas, has become synonymous with debauchery and Pagan excess, when, back in the day, it was really all about giving silly presents and dreaming of a world with greater human equality -- which, of course, meant you were free to ignore equality the rest of the year, but still.
Lupercalia (The ancient Roman origin of Valentine's day), on the other hand, was traditionally celebrated by sacrificing goats, and flogging nude, newly married, women with the still-bloody strips of the goats' hides, to help them get pregnant, while the men of the village got drunk and ran naked through the streets.
And this is the holiday we push on elementary school kids, to inculcate them into the cultural expectation of heterosexual romantic pairings?
*Shakes head at the irony*
Still, just as with Halloween, and dreaming up costumes I could wear but never have the opportunity to, around this time of year, I like to think up crafts I could make with the valentine heart motif... I kind of use these musings the way some people use counting sheep, to fall asleep at night. Today, I was working out in my head how it would be possible to make a heart shaped box with individual compartments, like store-bought chocolate boxes... But putting other things in the box instead:
An assortment of cheeses and nuts, for those who don't like sweets.
An assortment of everyday "fun size" candy, for a chocolate assortment box that's a spoof of the more expensive fancy collections.
A collection of individual watercolor paint cakes, or colored chalks or crayons, for those who are more into crafts than food (you could slip a paint brush [or pen] through some slits in the lid, to substitute for the ubiquitous arrow)
A collection of things with different textures, for a piece of tactile art, just because...
Etc.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-14 08:33 pm (UTC)I gave Alexx a Lego valentine, because nothing says "geek love" like a Lego valentine.
The best piece I read about Valentine's Day today is by Jeanette Winterson
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/14/money-gone-love-alternative-currency
--I especially like the line about how love should be a characteristic rather than an event.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-14 09:42 pm (UTC)(Reminder to Self: no matter how curious, do not read the comments).
Regarding the he/art (love the slash in that word): I was remembering our discussion back around Christmas about fabric books with pocket sleeves. And it occurred to me that the little paper (or foil) cups in a heart box are just variations on that same theme.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-15 04:07 am (UTC)Exceptions for the literal minded: LJ, DW, suitably modded blogs, and Ta-Nehisi Coates' Atlantic Blog, whose local feed is http://tanehisicoates-feed.dreamwidth.org/ for your Droll pleasure.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-15 05:06 am (UTC)(I feel so weak)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-16 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-16 07:47 pm (UTC)Her video was about algebra, and how algebra can be used to find paradoxes as easily as solutions, and her final line was "Sometimes, X is what X is." And my comment was: "Is this the mathematician's version of "[expletive deleted] happens?"
no subject
Date: 2012-02-15 12:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-16 01:02 am (UTC)Indeed: in terms of pollution on the T, there are many very scary and ugly things to see, but the worst parts for me are the smells and the shrieking noise.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-16 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-16 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-16 04:42 pm (UTC)