Thursday afternoon I find Cecil waiting outside our school. We are all very confused, but he just smiles brightly when I exit the school with my friends.
"Brilliant, I need to talk to you!" he says without even a 'hello'. "Uhh, alone, preferably. No offense."
"Oh, it's all good," Leea says with a grin and pushes Nick and My along. I glare at her for a moment and then turn to Cecil.
"How do you know what school I go to?" I ask before he has time to start. His face falters a bit.
"I, uh, I may have checked your info online, back in December. I checked all the choristers," he says, rubbing his neck.
"Oh," I say. Right. Of course. "So, do you need something?" Cecil blinks and then pushes up his glasses.
"Ah, yes! You don't have school tomorrow, correct?" he asks and I shake my head. "In that case, how would you like to go to Dublin with me?"
I stare at him. He is smiling like an idiot.
"What, now?" I finally blurt out. What is happening?
"Oh, no," he says. "Tomorrow morning."
I keep staring at him. "Are you kidding me?"
"Not at all! See, I called that colleague of mine in HUT and he said he'd be very interested in seeing for himself the amazing skill you have at dream manipulation and I promised him I would ask whether or not you would be interested in going to Dublin to meet him."
"Yes, ok, that makes sense," I say, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Cecil just asked me to go to Dublin with him. "But why tomorrow?"
"Ah, now that is an excellent question. You remember when I told you about the light phenomenon a few days back, yes?" This time he doesn't even wait for me to nod, he's so excited he just keeps talking. It's endearing, really. "Well, because they are predicted to be so strong this year, NALMC is hosting a big celebration on May 1st, starting with dinner and continuing with a viewing of the lights and going on... probably through the night or as long as people stay."
"And you want me to go with you?" I ask, and Cecil is smiling so brightly.
"Yes! If you'd like. I do get a plus one," he says and he looks so hopeful my heart melts.
"Well, I should probably ask mum... but yeah, I wanna go with you!" Cecil's smile turns even brighter.
"Oh, brilliant! You do need some kind of more formal clothes for the event, but other than that just pack what you normally would for a weekend trip somewhere. You don't mind If I take you for the whole weekend, do you?"
"No, that should be okay," I say. "You can show me around the place. Where you used to work and the library..."
"Yes, that would be great! You know, the hall that the party is being held actually has a glass ceiling, so we can see the lights from inside."
"That sounds amazing."
"It is..." Cecil pauses for a while, looking wistful but then seems to remember himself and focuses on me. "I have some preparations to make, I'll send you the details in an e-mail. I'll see you tomorrow morning!"
And he leaves with a wave and a smile. I stand there for a moment, until I notice that my friends have stayed to wait for me. I walk over to them and we go home. Leea teases me only a little.
_____________________________________________________________
What do you mean last one this isn't the last one this is where it gets exciting. The party does happen, but in like... the next one. I may have gone a bit overboard with this, but eh. I was thinking I'd write three more, so there'd be 10 which is a nice round number, so give me topics!
I do have to go now, bye~
Pie out.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Day 6 - Shoes
I don't even. This is the suckiest topic ever.
_____________________________________________________________
Cecil was very excited when I showed him my abilities in the dreamspace. Like, really excited. So excited that he was apparently going to call HUT immediately after waking up. I found it amusing and also a bit confusing. I'd had no idea I was somehow better than average in something like this.
After school I go with mum to get myself new running shoes. My old ones are all worn out at the heel and lacing is kind of screwed up as well. I haven't been spending a lot of time with mum recently, what with school work and choir and stuff, and I've been feeling a bit bad about it. This way, I get to spend time with her and also get new shoes.
The shop assistant is more than happy to help us find shoes (because that's what they're there for), and when he goes to the backroom to get the other shoe I'm trying on, mum looks at me in the way mums always do when they want to talk about something but don't know how to approach the subject without seeming too nosy. I wait patiently for her to stop fidgeting.
"So, honey," she starts. "You, uh, you've been a bit, how should I say... preoccupied lately. Is everything all right?"
I blink. Not exactly where I thought she was going with this.
"I know there's a lot happening in your life right now," she continues on, "what with school and finding a university and the whole thing with the, uh, elemental? And I don't mean to pry too much into it, I know you're 18 now and that makes you an adult, I'm just... worried. You have seemed, oh I don't know.... troubled?"
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about," I tell her. "There's just a lot of things to do right now, once summer holidays begin I'll be a lot more relaxed."
"Well that's good," mum says and I can see her deflate. "I was thinking it was love trouble."
"Mum, please," I say but I do feel a heat rise to my cheeks.
"Maybe that Leea girl...?" she suggest and I laugh. I full on laugh. The shop assistant comes back and looks very confused.
"Leea is just a friend, mum, oh god," I wheeze out. She shrugs, but she's smiling again, and we go back to buying shoes.
_____________________________________________________________
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't like it. But it'll have to do I'm running out of time and have 0 ideas. Also, about the summer writing thing, yeh let's do it! We need a schedule... Every other day is too much, but maybe like... We each write twice a week? Do you wanna do regular posts in addition to this? Like I make a story post on Monday, you write a regular post on Tuesday and a story post on Wednesday, I write a story post on Thursday and a regular post on Friday and you do a story post on Saturday and on Sunday no one does anything because
Is that too much? Three posts per week? I think we could do it. Maybe.... Probably.... I don't think I have a whole lot of stuff to do, but idk. Does this sound good?
But yeh, I'm going to bed bye.
Pie out.
_____________________________________________________________
Cecil was very excited when I showed him my abilities in the dreamspace. Like, really excited. So excited that he was apparently going to call HUT immediately after waking up. I found it amusing and also a bit confusing. I'd had no idea I was somehow better than average in something like this.
After school I go with mum to get myself new running shoes. My old ones are all worn out at the heel and lacing is kind of screwed up as well. I haven't been spending a lot of time with mum recently, what with school work and choir and stuff, and I've been feeling a bit bad about it. This way, I get to spend time with her and also get new shoes.
The shop assistant is more than happy to help us find shoes (because that's what they're there for), and when he goes to the backroom to get the other shoe I'm trying on, mum looks at me in the way mums always do when they want to talk about something but don't know how to approach the subject without seeming too nosy. I wait patiently for her to stop fidgeting.
"So, honey," she starts. "You, uh, you've been a bit, how should I say... preoccupied lately. Is everything all right?"
I blink. Not exactly where I thought she was going with this.
"I know there's a lot happening in your life right now," she continues on, "what with school and finding a university and the whole thing with the, uh, elemental? And I don't mean to pry too much into it, I know you're 18 now and that makes you an adult, I'm just... worried. You have seemed, oh I don't know.... troubled?"
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about," I tell her. "There's just a lot of things to do right now, once summer holidays begin I'll be a lot more relaxed."
"Well that's good," mum says and I can see her deflate. "I was thinking it was love trouble."
"Mum, please," I say but I do feel a heat rise to my cheeks.
"Maybe that Leea girl...?" she suggest and I laugh. I full on laugh. The shop assistant comes back and looks very confused.
"Leea is just a friend, mum, oh god," I wheeze out. She shrugs, but she's smiling again, and we go back to buying shoes.
_____________________________________________________________
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't like it. But it'll have to do I'm running out of time and have 0 ideas. Also, about the summer writing thing, yeh let's do it! We need a schedule... Every other day is too much, but maybe like... We each write twice a week? Do you wanna do regular posts in addition to this? Like I make a story post on Monday, you write a regular post on Tuesday and a story post on Wednesday, I write a story post on Thursday and a regular post on Friday and you do a story post on Saturday and on Sunday no one does anything because
Is that too much? Three posts per week? I think we could do it. Maybe.... Probably.... I don't think I have a whole lot of stuff to do, but idk. Does this sound good?
But yeh, I'm going to bed bye.
Pie out.
More thoughts on democracy
Oh, crap it was Tuesday yesterday.
For my defence, I had another news day at the university radio yesterday, so I was at the university for about nine hours, and all through that I planned how I'll write this the moment I get home. But then when I did get home I was hungry and had gotten a bunch of annoying e-mails over the day I had to answer first and then once I had the time to write, I had completely forgotten that it's a Tuesday.
Also for my defence, we've been doing this for almost two years, and this is my only missed post.
Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about yesterday was democracy for some more. Last week I talked about whether media is relevant to working democracy in today's world. Yesterday I want to talk about if democracy actually works at all. If its actually a good way to govern a country.
This thinking started when someone linked this article on facebook last week. (Ok, I've been thinking it about before too, but that's the reason I'm thinking about it right now.)
Basically the point in that article is, that you don't really get very good results and decisions with democracy, because people simply are not smart enough. The point is that people don't recognise better leadership skills than they have themselves, which means they vote for people who are not all that good at being a leader of a country, because they don't realise they're not, because they themselves are not.
I want to note right now that of course there are politicians who have excellent leadership skills and actually know what they're doing. The problem is not all of them do. And they still get through, because most people don't realise they actually have no idea what they're talking about.
Ok, let's take a moment to think about who we want making decisions in this country. Or any country.
We want them to be people, who think about the good of everyone, not just one group of people. Because when everyone's doing better everyone's doing better. Our tiny Finland isn't known for Nokia and Angry Birds because we force people to pay for school. It's because everyone can go an educate themselves and have brilliant ideas. More people doing well is good for the society, and economy, and science, and probably anything you look at.
You also want them (the decision-makers) to be people who actually know something about the thing they're making a decision about. Or, alternatively, that they're people who will find out things, the facts and the science behind what ever decision they're doing. It's ok not to know about the thing to start off with, but just find out everything you can before making a decision that affects five million people. In this country. A lot more in most other.
And I think this is the point that brings out the problem: the politicians don't actually have to know anything about anything in order to get elected. They just have to be convincing. (Ok, they probably do know anything about anything.)
But take examples:
They're thinking how to get the economy to rise. They are discussing whether to cut expenses or rise taxes, and who's taxes. The economists say (I'm not an expert on this, I might easily be wrong about what they actually say, because I don't know.) that cutting is a bad idea. It doesn't work. Don't do it. And then they do it.
Or another example, that I actually do know something about. The new law saying universities have have to have a lower limit for how many percent of freshmen are new applicants every year. And the one that I think didn't pass about not giving the student allowance for more than one bachelor's degree and one master's degree. Both of these are terrible ideas. I know what they're trying to do with them, get people fast in and fast out. But any university student, or anyone who's thinking of applying to a university can tell you what it actually does is that people stop applying to schools and stop graduating from schools, because as a result they're both bad business.
And I don't think this is at all what they're wanting to happen.
The point here was people who actually know about the thing that's being decided should make the decision. Or at least participate in the decision making and actually be heard. Because politicians simply don't necessarily know about anything other than politics. If even about that. When making a decision about nuclear power, you should take nuclear physicists, and you should take people who know something about the energy use in Finland, and ask them. And then do what they say. Because they know better.
When making a decision about how to let people into universities, you should ask the universities and the students, because they literally live in that world an know how it actually works.
When making a decision about health care reforms, you should ask the people who work in health care. Because they're the ones who know how it would work better. And then you listen to them.
Because people who spend literally their whole lives researching something or studying or working in the place that a decision is made about, they simply know better than the politician.
Politicians are not gods. They don't know everything about everything. They don't know everything about anything. They might be great at foreign relations, and that's good. They can take care of that. Meanwhile, let the people who know something real about today's health care systems or nuclear reactors make the decisions concerning them.
And of course there are a lot of things that make a difference as to what should be decided on a specific matter, but then you just need to take a bunch of experts from all the different fields that affect the thing, and you let them work it out. Because they know better.
I'm suddenly realising I sound like our dad...
What was I talking about...?
Oh, right. Democracy doesn't really work, because you don't get the best leaders with democracy. You get leaders some people think are the best leaders. And this close to an election it really seems like the only thing that's certain (aside from death and taxes, I suppose) is human stupidity.
Of course democracy stops completely crazy people from seizing power all to themselves, which is good, because that would suck worst, but I still think human kind could do better than choosing mediocre leaders from amongst themselves.
Or even if we had only mediocre leaders, those leaders would be smart enough to realise they don't know everything, and actually listen to people who know more than they do on a topic.
Because even though with democracy we do get rational, intelligent and reasonable representatives making our decisions, we all to often also get those who really are none of those things.
Also, as a last note, but this annoys me enough that I want to say it out loud. I get that keeping the promises that are made before elections is important, but politicians should be allowed to change their mind. If they realise mid-term that they've been simply wrong about something before, they should be allowed to change their mind and make better decisions based on the new facts. Because not admitting you're wrong simply because you promised to stick to the wrong or vague knowledge is ridiculous and does not help make the world better.
~matu
PS. A topic for you for today. Shoes.
PPS. Sorry I was late!
PPS. Are we going to do that whole story-thing over the summer and if yes, what will be our schedule for the posts and when do we want to start? Cause May is almost like summer. At least to someone in university. I mean, I only have like six days and a total of about 18 hours I have to spend at the university in the next couple of weeks and then that's it. Although I do have that one biology exam coming up (again) on the 21st. Anyway.
For my defence, I had another news day at the university radio yesterday, so I was at the university for about nine hours, and all through that I planned how I'll write this the moment I get home. But then when I did get home I was hungry and had gotten a bunch of annoying e-mails over the day I had to answer first and then once I had the time to write, I had completely forgotten that it's a Tuesday.
Also for my defence, we've been doing this for almost two years, and this is my only missed post.
Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about yesterday was democracy for some more. Last week I talked about whether media is relevant to working democracy in today's world. Yesterday I want to talk about if democracy actually works at all. If its actually a good way to govern a country.
This thinking started when someone linked this article on facebook last week. (Ok, I've been thinking it about before too, but that's the reason I'm thinking about it right now.)
Basically the point in that article is, that you don't really get very good results and decisions with democracy, because people simply are not smart enough. The point is that people don't recognise better leadership skills than they have themselves, which means they vote for people who are not all that good at being a leader of a country, because they don't realise they're not, because they themselves are not.
I want to note right now that of course there are politicians who have excellent leadership skills and actually know what they're doing. The problem is not all of them do. And they still get through, because most people don't realise they actually have no idea what they're talking about.
Ok, let's take a moment to think about who we want making decisions in this country. Or any country.
We want them to be people, who think about the good of everyone, not just one group of people. Because when everyone's doing better everyone's doing better. Our tiny Finland isn't known for Nokia and Angry Birds because we force people to pay for school. It's because everyone can go an educate themselves and have brilliant ideas. More people doing well is good for the society, and economy, and science, and probably anything you look at.
You also want them (the decision-makers) to be people who actually know something about the thing they're making a decision about. Or, alternatively, that they're people who will find out things, the facts and the science behind what ever decision they're doing. It's ok not to know about the thing to start off with, but just find out everything you can before making a decision that affects five million people. In this country. A lot more in most other.
And I think this is the point that brings out the problem: the politicians don't actually have to know anything about anything in order to get elected. They just have to be convincing. (Ok, they probably do know anything about anything.)
But take examples:
They're thinking how to get the economy to rise. They are discussing whether to cut expenses or rise taxes, and who's taxes. The economists say (I'm not an expert on this, I might easily be wrong about what they actually say, because I don't know.) that cutting is a bad idea. It doesn't work. Don't do it. And then they do it.
Or another example, that I actually do know something about. The new law saying universities have have to have a lower limit for how many percent of freshmen are new applicants every year. And the one that I think didn't pass about not giving the student allowance for more than one bachelor's degree and one master's degree. Both of these are terrible ideas. I know what they're trying to do with them, get people fast in and fast out. But any university student, or anyone who's thinking of applying to a university can tell you what it actually does is that people stop applying to schools and stop graduating from schools, because as a result they're both bad business.
And I don't think this is at all what they're wanting to happen.
The point here was people who actually know about the thing that's being decided should make the decision. Or at least participate in the decision making and actually be heard. Because politicians simply don't necessarily know about anything other than politics. If even about that. When making a decision about nuclear power, you should take nuclear physicists, and you should take people who know something about the energy use in Finland, and ask them. And then do what they say. Because they know better.
When making a decision about how to let people into universities, you should ask the universities and the students, because they literally live in that world an know how it actually works.
When making a decision about health care reforms, you should ask the people who work in health care. Because they're the ones who know how it would work better. And then you listen to them.
Because people who spend literally their whole lives researching something or studying or working in the place that a decision is made about, they simply know better than the politician.
Politicians are not gods. They don't know everything about everything. They don't know everything about anything. They might be great at foreign relations, and that's good. They can take care of that. Meanwhile, let the people who know something real about today's health care systems or nuclear reactors make the decisions concerning them.
And of course there are a lot of things that make a difference as to what should be decided on a specific matter, but then you just need to take a bunch of experts from all the different fields that affect the thing, and you let them work it out. Because they know better.
I'm suddenly realising I sound like our dad...
What was I talking about...?
Oh, right. Democracy doesn't really work, because you don't get the best leaders with democracy. You get leaders some people think are the best leaders. And this close to an election it really seems like the only thing that's certain (aside from death and taxes, I suppose) is human stupidity.
Of course democracy stops completely crazy people from seizing power all to themselves, which is good, because that would suck worst, but I still think human kind could do better than choosing mediocre leaders from amongst themselves.
Or even if we had only mediocre leaders, those leaders would be smart enough to realise they don't know everything, and actually listen to people who know more than they do on a topic.
Because even though with democracy we do get rational, intelligent and reasonable representatives making our decisions, we all to often also get those who really are none of those things.
Also, as a last note, but this annoys me enough that I want to say it out loud. I get that keeping the promises that are made before elections is important, but politicians should be allowed to change their mind. If they realise mid-term that they've been simply wrong about something before, they should be allowed to change their mind and make better decisions based on the new facts. Because not admitting you're wrong simply because you promised to stick to the wrong or vague knowledge is ridiculous and does not help make the world better.
~matu
PS. A topic for you for today. Shoes.
PPS. Sorry I was late!
PPS. Are we going to do that whole story-thing over the summer and if yes, what will be our schedule for the posts and when do we want to start? Cause May is almost like summer. At least to someone in university. I mean, I only have like six days and a total of about 18 hours I have to spend at the university in the next couple of weeks and then that's it. Although I do have that one biology exam coming up (again) on the 21st. Anyway.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Day 5 - Pasta
After school I run home for a moment and hitch a ride with Tony to the mall. Flame is clinging to the back of my shirt, tail swaying excitedly. It's always hard to tell whether or not she wants to come with me, half the time looking at me unimpressed and curling back into bed whenever I'm leaving. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I wish I could do the same.
Today she has just itching to come along when she realized I was going to go see Cecil. She would hardly sit still during the car ride and if it had been mom that was driving she would've thrown us out halfway there. Tony on the other hand doesn't give a shit.
The moment the door is open enough Flame jumps off me and dashes through. I can hear Cecil's delighted laugh when he sees her and I can't help the smile that rises on my face.
"Hey there, nice of you to drop by," Cecil says as he looks up at me. Flame is curled into a ball in his arms and she's making a soft purring sound.
"Hi," I say, smiling stupidly. Then I notice the trench coat he's wearing and the bag on his shoulders. "Oh, this isn't a bad time, is it? Are you going somewhere?"
"Actually, I was just about to step out for some late lunch, or I suppose early dinner," he says, glancing at his watch. "My, when did it get so late. You know, I got all caught up in my research. I've been studying this phenomenon that occurs once a decade, usually coinciding with May Day. There's these lights that appear on the sky, like aurora borealis, but much bigger and more colorul, and not just in the winter and the northern areas. It's happening again this year, and with the solar cycle at its peak, I think they will be very strong..." He trailed off and blinked. I watched him silently.
"I'm sorry, did you need something?" he finally says and looks at me so intensely I feel a shiver run down my spine.
"N-not really," I stutter. "I just wanted to drop by and y'know...."
"Oh! Well, why don't you join me for some lunch? Or dinner... Or whatever."
"I could eat," I say. It's been nearly several hours since school lunch anyway. Cecil smiles brightly at me.
"Excellent! Let's go."
~x~
Cecil takes me to a small Italian place down the road. I've walked past it several times but never actually tried it, but Cecil swears up and down that it has the best pasta in the whole town. The waiter immediately takes to liking Flame, who sings her a small song when she comes to ask us our drinks. She doesn't even mind when Flame sits on the table and starts to suck on the tall white candle that was on the table. In fact she seems to find this very endearing.
We order our food and Cecil picks up his explanation of the mysterious light phenomenon, which apparently are visible from all of the British Isles, though they often seem the strongest over Ireland. I do recall seeing some kind of pretty lights in the sky when I was a kid, but I never thought too much about what they were, especially since I never saw them since.
The pasta arrives and is every bit as good as Cecil said it would be. Cecil goes on to explain other kinds of things that might be uninteresting from someone else, but he has a way of making everything sound so exciting. I then tell him about the dream we shared with Rachel and Leea last night and then he gets really excited. He asks me to show him too and I agree to meet him in the dream tonight. He talks a little about his time at the NALMC headquarters and the work they did there, and at some point we fall into a companionable silence as we finish our meals.
We've walked all the way back to the tattoo parlour before I collect enough guts to say what I came here to say in the first place.
"Here," I say, digging out the small box I'd put the watch in from my bag. "Merry Christmas. Or something."
Cecil looks surprised, but happy and he opens the box. My palms are sweaty as he pulls out the silver watch from the chain.
"Oh," he says and then he smiles so brightly I fear I might go blind if I look directly at him. I stare at the watch, my ears burning.
"D'you like it?" I manage to ask.
"I love it, thank you," he says and he is so sincere, how can anyone be so sincere? I smile and then clear my throat.
"I, uh... Good." My throat is closing up, but luckily this is the point Flame decides to chime in, pulling at my pant leg. "Oh, I think Flame wants to go," I say, slightly relieved and only a bit disappointed.
"Right, I should get back to work too," Cecil says and places the watch carefully back in the box.
"Thank you for lunch. Or dinner. I'll see you tonight?" I say as I pick Flame up. She's singing impatiently. Cecil smiles.
"Yeah, see you tonight," he says and I leave before I say anything stupid.
_____________________________________________________________
I think you can see where I'm going with this. And there's nothing you can do to stop me muhahahahaa!!!!
Good night.
Pie out.
Today she has just itching to come along when she realized I was going to go see Cecil. She would hardly sit still during the car ride and if it had been mom that was driving she would've thrown us out halfway there. Tony on the other hand doesn't give a shit.
The moment the door is open enough Flame jumps off me and dashes through. I can hear Cecil's delighted laugh when he sees her and I can't help the smile that rises on my face.
"Hey there, nice of you to drop by," Cecil says as he looks up at me. Flame is curled into a ball in his arms and she's making a soft purring sound.
"Hi," I say, smiling stupidly. Then I notice the trench coat he's wearing and the bag on his shoulders. "Oh, this isn't a bad time, is it? Are you going somewhere?"
"Actually, I was just about to step out for some late lunch, or I suppose early dinner," he says, glancing at his watch. "My, when did it get so late. You know, I got all caught up in my research. I've been studying this phenomenon that occurs once a decade, usually coinciding with May Day. There's these lights that appear on the sky, like aurora borealis, but much bigger and more colorul, and not just in the winter and the northern areas. It's happening again this year, and with the solar cycle at its peak, I think they will be very strong..." He trailed off and blinked. I watched him silently.
"I'm sorry, did you need something?" he finally says and looks at me so intensely I feel a shiver run down my spine.
"N-not really," I stutter. "I just wanted to drop by and y'know...."
"Oh! Well, why don't you join me for some lunch? Or dinner... Or whatever."
"I could eat," I say. It's been nearly several hours since school lunch anyway. Cecil smiles brightly at me.
"Excellent! Let's go."
~x~
Cecil takes me to a small Italian place down the road. I've walked past it several times but never actually tried it, but Cecil swears up and down that it has the best pasta in the whole town. The waiter immediately takes to liking Flame, who sings her a small song when she comes to ask us our drinks. She doesn't even mind when Flame sits on the table and starts to suck on the tall white candle that was on the table. In fact she seems to find this very endearing.
We order our food and Cecil picks up his explanation of the mysterious light phenomenon, which apparently are visible from all of the British Isles, though they often seem the strongest over Ireland. I do recall seeing some kind of pretty lights in the sky when I was a kid, but I never thought too much about what they were, especially since I never saw them since.
The pasta arrives and is every bit as good as Cecil said it would be. Cecil goes on to explain other kinds of things that might be uninteresting from someone else, but he has a way of making everything sound so exciting. I then tell him about the dream we shared with Rachel and Leea last night and then he gets really excited. He asks me to show him too and I agree to meet him in the dream tonight. He talks a little about his time at the NALMC headquarters and the work they did there, and at some point we fall into a companionable silence as we finish our meals.
We've walked all the way back to the tattoo parlour before I collect enough guts to say what I came here to say in the first place.
"Here," I say, digging out the small box I'd put the watch in from my bag. "Merry Christmas. Or something."
Cecil looks surprised, but happy and he opens the box. My palms are sweaty as he pulls out the silver watch from the chain.
"Oh," he says and then he smiles so brightly I fear I might go blind if I look directly at him. I stare at the watch, my ears burning.
"D'you like it?" I manage to ask.
"I love it, thank you," he says and he is so sincere, how can anyone be so sincere? I smile and then clear my throat.
"I, uh... Good." My throat is closing up, but luckily this is the point Flame decides to chime in, pulling at my pant leg. "Oh, I think Flame wants to go," I say, slightly relieved and only a bit disappointed.
"Right, I should get back to work too," Cecil says and places the watch carefully back in the box.
"Thank you for lunch. Or dinner. I'll see you tonight?" I say as I pick Flame up. She's singing impatiently. Cecil smiles.
"Yeah, see you tonight," he says and I leave before I say anything stupid.
_____________________________________________________________
I think you can see where I'm going with this. And there's nothing you can do to stop me muhahahahaa!!!!
Good night.
Pie out.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Day 4 - HUT
Monday night and I still haven't given Cecil the watch. Every time I think about going over, I panic. Leea rolls her eyes at me whenever I ignore her questions about whether or not I've done something about it, but she doesn't try to force me. Which is nice.
It's half past twelve and I'm lying in bed, unable to sleep. Flame is curled up on a ball on my chest, and aside from the ticking of the clock her soft breathing is the only thing I can hear in the room. My mind refuses to stay still, running around with all kinds of thoughts about Flame and secret boyfriends and pocket watches and Cecil. Cecil...
I groan and rub at my eyes. Flame shifts on my chest, but doesn't wake up, settling down almost immediately. I stare up at the ceiling and decide.
The spell falls off my lips, quiet and steady. I know the words by heart, I've said them many times in the past. I do not know who I hope to see in the dreamspace, or if I hope to see anyone. I just want to...
I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
~x~
I don't feel like being cooped up in the old choir room, and decide to rearrange some things. It's amazing how easy it is to alter my surroundings as I walk around the dreamspace, sprouting trees and benches and grass until I've made myself a lovely park, complete with a duckpond and a merry-go round. I sit on a bench which is much more comfortable than park bench really are, and I watch as a flowerbed sprouts a few meters away from me. It is warm and sunny and I find myself relax.
"Wow, dude, that was some impressive building!"
I jump at the voice by my ear and turn around to find Rachel leaning on the back of the bench. She's grinning widely and looking around the park.
"I mean, we were just hanging out in the choir room and suddenly everything started to change behind the windows, all these trees growing around and the next thing I know there's a full park outside the door! You made this on your own?"
"I, yeah," I manage. "Why are you here? Who is 'we'?"
Rachel points her thumb behind her and I look back. Leea is climbing a tree a bit further away.
"I didn't know you two hung out," I say as Leea hauls herself up on the lowest branch. She waves at me when she sees me watching and I wave back. Rachel shrugs, still grinning.
"Sometimes," she says as Leea shouts: "Come climb with me, you two!"
I huff out a laugh and we walk over to the tree. Leea is up three more branches as I pull myself up. I don't even see Rachel move, but soon she is all the way over at Leea's side. She smiles widely.
"Come on then, you snail!" she shouts at me with a laugh. Oh, it is on.
The tree creak as I hoist myself up, new branches reaching out where I need to grab them and pushing my upwards at the same time. Leea is rendered speechless, and she stares with her mouth agape as I fly past her and Rachel, who looks surprised and actually impressed. In no time the tree has grown much higher than any of the others in the park and I stop to sit down on a unnaturally wide branch. The tree sways softly in the wind and I pat the trunk.
"Holy shit that was amazing!" Leea shouts as they catch up. I help pull her up next to me and she is positively beaming. Rachel sits on a branch that is a bit lower than the one we are sitting on. "I had no idea you were this good at manipulating dreamspace!"
"Really?" I said, surprised. "I mean, it's not hard, I just kind of... Dream thins up?"
"No, that is some next level skill," Rachel says and I scratch my neck. "It usually many, many hours to be able to control the space accurately, and the ease with which you did all this..?"
"It's like... decades of practice for most people," Leea continues, and Rachel nods. "Even I can't dream up anything aside small items and stuff!"
"Oh," I say. My cheeks have been gradually heating and I'm pretty sure I'm as red as a beet by now. "I didn't know. I mean, I've always remembered my dreams pretty well and I often have lucid dreams, and I always do all kinds of weird things whenever that happens."
"You know, Cecil has this.. friend, over at HUT who studies dream manipulation and he would be stoked to see you in action," Rachel says, looking out at the distance. We can see a skyline of an unrecognisable city beyond the park. I'm not sure there's actually anything in the city, but the view is beautiful none the less. "Cecil would probably be pretty excited too."
"Wait, what 'hut'?" Leea asks before I get the chance. Rachel blinks.
"Oh, it's the Howth University of Transcendence, just outside Dublin. They study dreams and out of body experiences and probably ghosts and shit. Y'know, spiritual stuff. Anyway, It's a subset of the NALMC and I think Cecil studied there for a bit, but he was much more interested in myths, so it didn't last."
"Speaking of Cecil," I say before I change my mind. "I found a pocket watch in a thrift shop the other day, and I was thinking of giving it to him. D'you think he'd like it?"
"Probably," Rachel says. "Although I'm pretty sure he'd like anything you'd give him."
I try not to smile too widely. I can feel Leea's eyes boring holes in the side of my face, but I ignore her. She doesn't say anything.
Tomorrow I'll go see Cecil again.
_____________________________________________________________
Yep yep. I had no idea how to make a story with a literal hut, so this is a thing that happened. Had some real problems with the name of the University, cause I couldn't think of a good term for things that are like dreams and shit, and I wasn't sure if I should use a real city or make up my own. Howth is a real place, just fyi. It's by the shore, like 30min drive from Dublin. So you think I should change it into a fictional place?
But yeh, I'mma go to bed, give me topics! Bye~
Pie out.
P.S. I see that we broke 200 posts. Yay. (the 200th was the "Reschedule" one)
It's half past twelve and I'm lying in bed, unable to sleep. Flame is curled up on a ball on my chest, and aside from the ticking of the clock her soft breathing is the only thing I can hear in the room. My mind refuses to stay still, running around with all kinds of thoughts about Flame and secret boyfriends and pocket watches and Cecil. Cecil...
I groan and rub at my eyes. Flame shifts on my chest, but doesn't wake up, settling down almost immediately. I stare up at the ceiling and decide.
The spell falls off my lips, quiet and steady. I know the words by heart, I've said them many times in the past. I do not know who I hope to see in the dreamspace, or if I hope to see anyone. I just want to...
I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
~x~
I don't feel like being cooped up in the old choir room, and decide to rearrange some things. It's amazing how easy it is to alter my surroundings as I walk around the dreamspace, sprouting trees and benches and grass until I've made myself a lovely park, complete with a duckpond and a merry-go round. I sit on a bench which is much more comfortable than park bench really are, and I watch as a flowerbed sprouts a few meters away from me. It is warm and sunny and I find myself relax.
"Wow, dude, that was some impressive building!"
I jump at the voice by my ear and turn around to find Rachel leaning on the back of the bench. She's grinning widely and looking around the park.
"I mean, we were just hanging out in the choir room and suddenly everything started to change behind the windows, all these trees growing around and the next thing I know there's a full park outside the door! You made this on your own?"
"I, yeah," I manage. "Why are you here? Who is 'we'?"
Rachel points her thumb behind her and I look back. Leea is climbing a tree a bit further away.
"I didn't know you two hung out," I say as Leea hauls herself up on the lowest branch. She waves at me when she sees me watching and I wave back. Rachel shrugs, still grinning.
"Sometimes," she says as Leea shouts: "Come climb with me, you two!"
I huff out a laugh and we walk over to the tree. Leea is up three more branches as I pull myself up. I don't even see Rachel move, but soon she is all the way over at Leea's side. She smiles widely.
"Come on then, you snail!" she shouts at me with a laugh. Oh, it is on.
The tree creak as I hoist myself up, new branches reaching out where I need to grab them and pushing my upwards at the same time. Leea is rendered speechless, and she stares with her mouth agape as I fly past her and Rachel, who looks surprised and actually impressed. In no time the tree has grown much higher than any of the others in the park and I stop to sit down on a unnaturally wide branch. The tree sways softly in the wind and I pat the trunk.
"Holy shit that was amazing!" Leea shouts as they catch up. I help pull her up next to me and she is positively beaming. Rachel sits on a branch that is a bit lower than the one we are sitting on. "I had no idea you were this good at manipulating dreamspace!"
"Really?" I said, surprised. "I mean, it's not hard, I just kind of... Dream thins up?"
"No, that is some next level skill," Rachel says and I scratch my neck. "It usually many, many hours to be able to control the space accurately, and the ease with which you did all this..?"
"It's like... decades of practice for most people," Leea continues, and Rachel nods. "Even I can't dream up anything aside small items and stuff!"
"Oh," I say. My cheeks have been gradually heating and I'm pretty sure I'm as red as a beet by now. "I didn't know. I mean, I've always remembered my dreams pretty well and I often have lucid dreams, and I always do all kinds of weird things whenever that happens."
"You know, Cecil has this.. friend, over at HUT who studies dream manipulation and he would be stoked to see you in action," Rachel says, looking out at the distance. We can see a skyline of an unrecognisable city beyond the park. I'm not sure there's actually anything in the city, but the view is beautiful none the less. "Cecil would probably be pretty excited too."
"Wait, what 'hut'?" Leea asks before I get the chance. Rachel blinks.
"Oh, it's the Howth University of Transcendence, just outside Dublin. They study dreams and out of body experiences and probably ghosts and shit. Y'know, spiritual stuff. Anyway, It's a subset of the NALMC and I think Cecil studied there for a bit, but he was much more interested in myths, so it didn't last."
"Speaking of Cecil," I say before I change my mind. "I found a pocket watch in a thrift shop the other day, and I was thinking of giving it to him. D'you think he'd like it?"
"Probably," Rachel says. "Although I'm pretty sure he'd like anything you'd give him."
I try not to smile too widely. I can feel Leea's eyes boring holes in the side of my face, but I ignore her. She doesn't say anything.
Tomorrow I'll go see Cecil again.
_____________________________________________________________
Yep yep. I had no idea how to make a story with a literal hut, so this is a thing that happened. Had some real problems with the name of the University, cause I couldn't think of a good term for things that are like dreams and shit, and I wasn't sure if I should use a real city or make up my own. Howth is a real place, just fyi. It's by the shore, like 30min drive from Dublin. So you think I should change it into a fictional place?
But yeh, I'mma go to bed, give me topics! Bye~
Pie out.
P.S. I see that we broke 200 posts. Yay. (the 200th was the "Reschedule" one)
Friday, April 24, 2015
School and summer and more writing stuff
So, I said yesterday I'd write a blog. So here I go, writing a blog.
It's the last day of Creative Writing today. It makes me really sad, because this has been the highlight of me weeks ever since Christmas. It's stupid that next Friday is Mayday so we don't have a class.......
On sort of related news, I suck at school. And by that I mean I have done absolutely nothing for any other class than this one since..... Easter. Ans that's bad, probably. I'm kinda in the point where I just don't care anymore, because summer is almost here, and it's Popcult tomorrow and it's just like... ehh, fuck it, you know?
I made buns today. There were considerably less of them than last time, but they are like... twice the size. Here's to hoping Tiinu won't eat six of them in one day like she did with the last batch.
Oh, the class is starting, I'll update this on the break again.
Hey, I'm back.
What was I talking about? Nothing important I see.
So summer is coming! I'm very excited, because summer! Warmth! Swimming! I found my old swimsuit finally (even though I've bought a new one) as well as a bunch of other clothes I've been looking for for a while now.
But yeh, summer. That means conventions and conventions are fun. I'm nor sure yet, but I was thinking of making a Rose Quartz cosplay for Animecon probably. She's from a cartoon called Steven Universe, and I highly recommend you watch it. It's cute and funny and sad and happy and just wow. The problem with the cosplay though is that she has insane hair. Like holy shit. I would probably have to buy two wigs and somehow attach them together. We'll see how that goes, eheheee.........
I have taken over the Carol universe. Like srsly. I accidentally combined it with another universe I have, that is The Caged Bird universe. Completely your fault for naming one of the kids "Nick". Also slightly my fault for naming Tony's friend Mike (which is Angel's real name), but mostly your fault. Anyway this universe is so great I love it. All the characters are amazing and I like the whole casual!magic thing and ahhhh yessssssss.
Anyway I'm gonna go eat some buns now. Bye.
Pie out.
It's the last day of Creative Writing today. It makes me really sad, because this has been the highlight of me weeks ever since Christmas. It's stupid that next Friday is Mayday so we don't have a class.......
On sort of related news, I suck at school. And by that I mean I have done absolutely nothing for any other class than this one since..... Easter. Ans that's bad, probably. I'm kinda in the point where I just don't care anymore, because summer is almost here, and it's Popcult tomorrow and it's just like... ehh, fuck it, you know?
I made buns today. There were considerably less of them than last time, but they are like... twice the size. Here's to hoping Tiinu won't eat six of them in one day like she did with the last batch.
Oh, the class is starting, I'll update this on the break again.
Hey, I'm back.
What was I talking about? Nothing important I see.
So summer is coming! I'm very excited, because summer! Warmth! Swimming! I found my old swimsuit finally (even though I've bought a new one) as well as a bunch of other clothes I've been looking for for a while now.
But yeh, summer. That means conventions and conventions are fun. I'm nor sure yet, but I was thinking of making a Rose Quartz cosplay for Animecon probably. She's from a cartoon called Steven Universe, and I highly recommend you watch it. It's cute and funny and sad and happy and just wow. The problem with the cosplay though is that she has insane hair. Like holy shit. I would probably have to buy two wigs and somehow attach them together. We'll see how that goes, eheheee.........
I have taken over the Carol universe. Like srsly. I accidentally combined it with another universe I have, that is The Caged Bird universe. Completely your fault for naming one of the kids "Nick". Also slightly my fault for naming Tony's friend Mike (which is Angel's real name), but mostly your fault. Anyway this universe is so great I love it. All the characters are amazing and I like the whole casual!magic thing and ahhhh yessssssss.
Anyway I'm gonna go eat some buns now. Bye.
Pie out.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Reschedule
Ok so here's the thing I forgot when I said I'd do this one-post-everyday thing: Popcult is this weekend. And that means 1. we are having someone over from tomorrow on, making it impolite for me to be on my computer much and 2. I don't really have much time to do it anyway because I'll be at Popcult all day.
SO, I will have to continue these things next week. I will write a post tomorrow, as per usual, but the rest of the 7 posts will have to wait until next week. Sorry about that.
K bye.
Pie out.
SO, I will have to continue these things next week. I will write a post tomorrow, as per usual, but the rest of the 7 posts will have to wait until next week. Sorry about that.
K bye.
Pie out.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Day 3 - Pocket watch
I'm walking down Central Street with Leea after school the next day. Flame didn't come to school with me today, staying curled up in the tiny nest she's made for herself in the corner of my room when I left in the morning. I bought her a basket so she wouldn't have to sleep in my knittings anymore, but she stuffed it full of scarves and socks anyway. I don't mind, it's not like I use any of them now that it's spring.
We're talking about summer plans when Leea suddenly stops. I walk two more steps and then turn back, giving her a confused expression. She's looking at a shop window with a smile and then tugs at my arm.
"Let's go there!" she says, pointing at the thrift shop that just opened up. There's all kinds of antique stuff on the display window, clocks and trinkets and silverware. She turns back to me, looking very excited and I shrug.
"Sure," I say and she pulls me in.
The shop isn't very big, just one room with four rows of clothes on one side and almost all of the other wall covered in bookshelves holding all kinds of items in addition to books. The back corner of the room has all kinds of magic devices stacked up on some tables and shelves. Leea lets out a delighted squee and hurries to the corner. I don't go after her, I have no interest in magic myself.
I wander around the clothes section of the shop for a moment, but nothing is the right size or bearable to look at, and so I drift over to the bookshelves. The owner (presumably) hovers behind my shoulder for a moment but I politely tell her that I'm not really looking for anything and that Leea would probably much more appreciate the attention. She stands there aimlessly for a moment more, but then slides over to Leea, and the next time I look into their direction they are in the middle of a rather intense conversation about something or other.
My fingers dance along the spines of the books as I stroll between the shelves, occasionally stopping to actually look at the books I'm walking past. In front of the window are tables filled with miscellaneous items, like toys and jewelry and the like, and I browse them as I wait for Leea to finish her business. A small pocket watch catches my eye and I pick it up.
It's silver and has a chain a good 30cm long hanging from it. There are spirally engravings in the cover, creating symbols that seem familiar but I cannot quite place. It fits nicely in the palm of my hand and I flip it open. The clock is fairly simple, its dial similar to the Great Clock of Westminster (that is, the Big Ben) in its design, and on the inside of the cover is an inscription.
"Ooh, pretty," says Leea from behind my shoulder and i jump a bit, slapping the watch closed. "You gonna get that?"
"What would I do with a pocket watch?" I ask, incredulous, but can't seem to put it down. I check the price tag on the other side. It's only seven quid. Leea makes a thoughtful noise and I feel my cheeks heating though I don't know why.
"I dunno," she says. "But I think you should get it."
"I don't even wear waistcoats, when would I ever use it?" I try to argue, but it's weak at best. Leea shrugs.
"We could hold a steampunk party," she suggests and I huff out a laugh. "Or you could give it to someone we know who does wear waistcoats. Just a suggestion."
She keeps staring at the side of my face, but my eyes are fixated on the small silver watch in my hand and think about Cecil. He does wear wear a waistcoat pretty often, and I could totally see him having a pocket watch. It could be a late Christmas present! A really... really late Christmas present... But would he like it? Maybe he'd think it's too corny, or-
"Wellllll?" Leea says and I look up at her. Oh, to hell with it!
We leave the shop a few minutes later, the watch heavy in my pocket.
_____________________________________________________________
Yaas, I dunno. When I read "pocket watch" I immediately thought that Cecil would totally have one, but I had some trouble getting it be an integral part of today's bit. But yeh, here it is.
Oh, in case you haven't noticed, these are going kinda real time. Like, everyday's story is a story from that day. Or something. Yeah.
I'm gonna bake a cake tomorrow, I think. Should I just do a chocolate cake, or should I try something fancier? I think a basic cake is fine... Our oven is kinda bad for baking stuff cause it simply refuses to heat up evenly, but well.....
Anyway, I'm gonna go. Toodels.
Pie out.
We're talking about summer plans when Leea suddenly stops. I walk two more steps and then turn back, giving her a confused expression. She's looking at a shop window with a smile and then tugs at my arm.
"Let's go there!" she says, pointing at the thrift shop that just opened up. There's all kinds of antique stuff on the display window, clocks and trinkets and silverware. She turns back to me, looking very excited and I shrug.
"Sure," I say and she pulls me in.
The shop isn't very big, just one room with four rows of clothes on one side and almost all of the other wall covered in bookshelves holding all kinds of items in addition to books. The back corner of the room has all kinds of magic devices stacked up on some tables and shelves. Leea lets out a delighted squee and hurries to the corner. I don't go after her, I have no interest in magic myself.
I wander around the clothes section of the shop for a moment, but nothing is the right size or bearable to look at, and so I drift over to the bookshelves. The owner (presumably) hovers behind my shoulder for a moment but I politely tell her that I'm not really looking for anything and that Leea would probably much more appreciate the attention. She stands there aimlessly for a moment more, but then slides over to Leea, and the next time I look into their direction they are in the middle of a rather intense conversation about something or other.
My fingers dance along the spines of the books as I stroll between the shelves, occasionally stopping to actually look at the books I'm walking past. In front of the window are tables filled with miscellaneous items, like toys and jewelry and the like, and I browse them as I wait for Leea to finish her business. A small pocket watch catches my eye and I pick it up.
It's silver and has a chain a good 30cm long hanging from it. There are spirally engravings in the cover, creating symbols that seem familiar but I cannot quite place. It fits nicely in the palm of my hand and I flip it open. The clock is fairly simple, its dial similar to the Great Clock of Westminster (that is, the Big Ben) in its design, and on the inside of the cover is an inscription.
"Ooh, pretty," says Leea from behind my shoulder and i jump a bit, slapping the watch closed. "You gonna get that?"
"What would I do with a pocket watch?" I ask, incredulous, but can't seem to put it down. I check the price tag on the other side. It's only seven quid. Leea makes a thoughtful noise and I feel my cheeks heating though I don't know why.
"I dunno," she says. "But I think you should get it."
"I don't even wear waistcoats, when would I ever use it?" I try to argue, but it's weak at best. Leea shrugs.
"We could hold a steampunk party," she suggests and I huff out a laugh. "Or you could give it to someone we know who does wear waistcoats. Just a suggestion."
She keeps staring at the side of my face, but my eyes are fixated on the small silver watch in my hand and think about Cecil. He does wear wear a waistcoat pretty often, and I could totally see him having a pocket watch. It could be a late Christmas present! A really... really late Christmas present... But would he like it? Maybe he'd think it's too corny, or-
"Wellllll?" Leea says and I look up at her. Oh, to hell with it!
We leave the shop a few minutes later, the watch heavy in my pocket.
_____________________________________________________________
Yaas, I dunno. When I read "pocket watch" I immediately thought that Cecil would totally have one, but I had some trouble getting it be an integral part of today's bit. But yeh, here it is.
Oh, in case you haven't noticed, these are going kinda real time. Like, everyday's story is a story from that day. Or something. Yeah.
I'm gonna bake a cake tomorrow, I think. Should I just do a chocolate cake, or should I try something fancier? I think a basic cake is fine... Our oven is kinda bad for baking stuff cause it simply refuses to heat up evenly, but well.....
Anyway, I'm gonna go. Toodels.
Pie out.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Day 2 - Cups
After the... incident at Christmas, the whole town knows about the elementals, which is nice because that means we don't have to keep Flame a secret anymore. It is also not nice, because now casual acquaintances and old class mates keep coming up to me, because apparently now I'm "cool" or something. Never knew I'd miss being the weird choir kid...
The best part of course is that Flame doesn't have to stay cooped up in my room all the time, especially when I'm not at home. This of course means that she clungs to the back of my coat as I was leaving to school and I was forced to take her with me. I got a lot of weird looks on the way, and now that I'm here everyone keeps gathering around my desk or not-so-subtly staring from across the classroom. At least Flame is feeling cooperative, deciding that she doesn't want to move from backpack where she sits during the lessons and munches on sticks and whatever dirt she finds from the bottom of my bag.
The girl behind me decides it would be funny to feed Flame pieces of her notebook and watch as it burns up in her mouth. I try to ignore whatever's happening behind me and focus on the teacher.
Finally, the merciful bell rings and I am the first person out of the class.
~x~
I end up at the tattoo parlour. I've been feeling guilty and avoiding it for the past months, which of course has made me feel more guilty and avoid it even more. I haven't seen Cecil since the concert. Well, that's not entirely true, but Cecil hasn't seen me since the concert. That I know of...
But with Flame perched on my shoulder, I think maybe it's time to go visit. If for no other reason than Flame, because surely Cecil wants to see Flame. He must know she's back, because Rachel is back too.
I swallow and push open the door before I get cold feet. The bell dings and Flame mimics the sound.
"Welcome!" Cecil says, as he looks up from the counter. "How may I - oh."
He stops talking as his eyes fall on the two of us and I give him a sheepish grin from the doorway.
"Hi," I say and Cecil's face splits into a grin. He walks around the counter. Flame jumps on his face.
There is a moment of scrambling to get Flame off Cecil's face. Again. Rachel comes from the backroom to see what the commotion is, but ends up being no help at all, laughing her ass of by the counter. Eventually Flame let's go off Cecil's face, opting to sit on top of his head. Rachel stays to man the counter and we move to the backroom with Cecil.
Cecil disappears through a side door that leads into a small kitchenette and I sit down on one of the sofas and look around. I've only been back here once and then my surroundings weren't really the top priority in my mind. Aside knowing the easiest escape route of course.
There's a lot of bookshelves around the room. Some of them about tattoos and pigments and making art with magic, but a great number of the books are actually related to Cecil's other profession. There's shelf after shelf on old legends and mythical creatures and gods and other deities, and also history and archeology. An amazing variety of topics but they're all still connected as they sit on the shelf.
Cecil places a cup of tea on the small table in front of me. It's red and has the logo of the shop on it. I huff out a small laugh as Cecil sits opposite me, taking a sip of his own cup.
"What?" he asks, amused.
"It was this cup that led me to you," I say, picking it up and bringing it to my lips. Earl Grey, of course. "You know, the first time."
"Oh," he says quietly. "I never knew."
"Hmm," I agree. We never did discuss how exactly we came to find tattoo shop with Leea. "It's funny, isn't it? If you hadn't been walking past us with this cup, we might've never found you."
"And if Rachel would stop giving blood stones as business cards it wouldn't have been an issue in the first place," Cecil mutters in his cup.
"Don't diss the stones!" Rachel shouts from the front of the shop and Cecil looks like a deer in the headlights for a moment, before he looks away and sips his tea. He's only slightly red. I hide my smile behind the cup.
"It's the littlest things that make the biggest differences, isn't it?" I say and Cecil looks over at me with soft eyes. Flame pushes against his arm with a purr and he scratches her behind the ear.
"Yeah. And I'm glad they did."
_____________________________________________________________
D'awww. I had this one part of dialogue planned where Cecil explains more about the symbol, how it's the old logo and that's why it couldn't be found on the internet or anything, but I think that's a good place to stop, don't you think? Sorry it's a bit late, I had a rather hectic day today. But yeah, bye~
Pie out.
P.S. Someone give me topics kthnxbai. Also, we had "Cup" as a topic in the main storyline, and this is completely drawn from that particular part. Yeh.
The best part of course is that Flame doesn't have to stay cooped up in my room all the time, especially when I'm not at home. This of course means that she clungs to the back of my coat as I was leaving to school and I was forced to take her with me. I got a lot of weird looks on the way, and now that I'm here everyone keeps gathering around my desk or not-so-subtly staring from across the classroom. At least Flame is feeling cooperative, deciding that she doesn't want to move from backpack where she sits during the lessons and munches on sticks and whatever dirt she finds from the bottom of my bag.
The girl behind me decides it would be funny to feed Flame pieces of her notebook and watch as it burns up in her mouth. I try to ignore whatever's happening behind me and focus on the teacher.
Finally, the merciful bell rings and I am the first person out of the class.
~x~
I end up at the tattoo parlour. I've been feeling guilty and avoiding it for the past months, which of course has made me feel more guilty and avoid it even more. I haven't seen Cecil since the concert. Well, that's not entirely true, but Cecil hasn't seen me since the concert. That I know of...
But with Flame perched on my shoulder, I think maybe it's time to go visit. If for no other reason than Flame, because surely Cecil wants to see Flame. He must know she's back, because Rachel is back too.
I swallow and push open the door before I get cold feet. The bell dings and Flame mimics the sound.
"Welcome!" Cecil says, as he looks up from the counter. "How may I - oh."
He stops talking as his eyes fall on the two of us and I give him a sheepish grin from the doorway.
"Hi," I say and Cecil's face splits into a grin. He walks around the counter. Flame jumps on his face.
There is a moment of scrambling to get Flame off Cecil's face. Again. Rachel comes from the backroom to see what the commotion is, but ends up being no help at all, laughing her ass of by the counter. Eventually Flame let's go off Cecil's face, opting to sit on top of his head. Rachel stays to man the counter and we move to the backroom with Cecil.
Cecil disappears through a side door that leads into a small kitchenette and I sit down on one of the sofas and look around. I've only been back here once and then my surroundings weren't really the top priority in my mind. Aside knowing the easiest escape route of course.
There's a lot of bookshelves around the room. Some of them about tattoos and pigments and making art with magic, but a great number of the books are actually related to Cecil's other profession. There's shelf after shelf on old legends and mythical creatures and gods and other deities, and also history and archeology. An amazing variety of topics but they're all still connected as they sit on the shelf.
Cecil places a cup of tea on the small table in front of me. It's red and has the logo of the shop on it. I huff out a small laugh as Cecil sits opposite me, taking a sip of his own cup.
"What?" he asks, amused.
"It was this cup that led me to you," I say, picking it up and bringing it to my lips. Earl Grey, of course. "You know, the first time."
"Oh," he says quietly. "I never knew."
"Hmm," I agree. We never did discuss how exactly we came to find tattoo shop with Leea. "It's funny, isn't it? If you hadn't been walking past us with this cup, we might've never found you."
"And if Rachel would stop giving blood stones as business cards it wouldn't have been an issue in the first place," Cecil mutters in his cup.
"Don't diss the stones!" Rachel shouts from the front of the shop and Cecil looks like a deer in the headlights for a moment, before he looks away and sips his tea. He's only slightly red. I hide my smile behind the cup.
"It's the littlest things that make the biggest differences, isn't it?" I say and Cecil looks over at me with soft eyes. Flame pushes against his arm with a purr and he scratches her behind the ear.
"Yeah. And I'm glad they did."
_____________________________________________________________
D'awww. I had this one part of dialogue planned where Cecil explains more about the symbol, how it's the old logo and that's why it couldn't be found on the internet or anything, but I think that's a good place to stop, don't you think? Sorry it's a bit late, I had a rather hectic day today. But yeah, bye~
Pie out.
P.S. Someone give me topics kthnxbai. Also, we had "Cup" as a topic in the main storyline, and this is completely drawn from that particular part. Yeh.
Thoughts on democracy and media
Good morning.
So we had the parliamentary election on Sunday. I am kind of terrified of what will happen next. Because it seems like we are going to have people in the government who really if you ask me should not be in the government.
A side note, today in Helsingin Sanomat there was an article where they interviewed some cultural people like writers and musicians and stuff about the election. They were all like "Wait, what, those are our biggest parties? Who in this country even votes for them? Because no one I know does..." And one of them said that the cultural and university people and researches basically vote for very much not the current biggest parties. Now, what does it tell you is the more or less objectively most intelligent people in this country don't think the ones who probably will be in charge should be in charge?
Don't get me wrong, you need difference of opinion in order to have democracy. You can't hear all the sides and all points of views to something everyone fully agrees on, so that would make democracy completely useless. So it's good people have different opinions. But there is a difference between having an opinion and being straight out wrong. Take the same-sex marriage law that passed last fall. Every argument against it I've heard I've been able to logically turn down. So it's not even about different values, which would be perfectly ok. It's about some people being plain wrong.
Ookay, anyway. Today I wanted to talk to you about democracy. Partly because of the election, but partly because I came across a pretty interesting idea about democracy while studying for a course. Basically that idea was that even though in today's society media does a lot of work to support and enable democracy, it's not necessary for democracy. The freedom of speech is.
And I'd like to disagree with this idea. Not with the bit about the freedom of speech, that is obviously one very fundamental thing that has to be present in order for there to be democracy, but about the bit that you don't really need media to maintain democracy.
Media, I think, is what enables the large-scale conversation in a society, and that's necessary for democracy to work. Without mass communication and media people would hardly hear about anything, not to mention having their own voice heard. So I think being able to effectively get messages around to people is a pretty necessary part of democracy. Of course representative democracy and elections worked also at a time without even a radio, but the people's knowledge they used to make the decision of who to vote was severely limited, because they pretty much knew only what someone in the village had told them. In today's society people can actually find out something about the people they're voting for, and the different alternatives, and vote for who they actually think is best for the job. And I think informed decisions are kind of relevant to democracy. And without proper media people can't be properly informed. Then again, a lot of people are too lazy to really get into the whole voting thing and just vote for someone one of those advice applications. But at least they have a possibility to make an informed decision.
I also realise that ancient Greeks are still the ideal model for democracy and got the whole thing going perfectly fine without any of today's medias. But I'd like to note that the city-states in Greek antiquity were a lot smaller than today's states. Getting the word around to everyone (who was allowed to have a say, meaning fee men) was significantly easier. Especially since everyone was pretty much socially obligated to stay up with the local political news and happenings and participate. So the mass of people was tiny, and everyone was actively looking for information. So unless you want to go back to tiny city-states, you need media for democracy to really work.
And then there's the other model country of democracy, that at least I think is pretty strong evidence you need media for proper democracy. Because their election system was developed in a time when the fastest way to deliver messages was by horse and they're apparently refusing to update to today's media, you can still (theoretically) win their presidential election with less than a quarter of the total vote. Yes, I've done the math myself. And I'm not sure if you can even call that a democracy. I mean sure, you hold elections, and everyone has equal say, only one vote. But the thing is everyone don't have an equal say. The votes of people from smaller states weigh more in the total decision than those of people from big states. Also the point of democracy is kind of listening to every one and all the points on views and then doing what the majority wants (which is hopefully what is best for everyone), and I don't think this is what happens in the US right now. In their system not only the minority votes are completely lost on the way, it's possible even the voice of the majority can be easily muffled if most of them happen to be from states where the other guy happens to be slightly more popular.
And that is why you need media for democracy to work in the huge states we live in today. Instead of using the electoral system that was outdated over a hundred years ago by the invention of radio and telegram (which are medias), you could just count the votes and send the actual numbers to the other side of the country to be summed up with all the other actual numbers in the fractions of a second.
Because that's the only way to know what the majority actually wants.
I'll hear from you... later today, I suppose?
No one gave you a topic yet, did they? Cups.
I'm going to Kuopio tomorrow, so I'll tell someone else to give you a topic then.
~matu
So we had the parliamentary election on Sunday. I am kind of terrified of what will happen next. Because it seems like we are going to have people in the government who really if you ask me should not be in the government.
A side note, today in Helsingin Sanomat there was an article where they interviewed some cultural people like writers and musicians and stuff about the election. They were all like "Wait, what, those are our biggest parties? Who in this country even votes for them? Because no one I know does..." And one of them said that the cultural and university people and researches basically vote for very much not the current biggest parties. Now, what does it tell you is the more or less objectively most intelligent people in this country don't think the ones who probably will be in charge should be in charge?
Don't get me wrong, you need difference of opinion in order to have democracy. You can't hear all the sides and all points of views to something everyone fully agrees on, so that would make democracy completely useless. So it's good people have different opinions. But there is a difference between having an opinion and being straight out wrong. Take the same-sex marriage law that passed last fall. Every argument against it I've heard I've been able to logically turn down. So it's not even about different values, which would be perfectly ok. It's about some people being plain wrong.
Ookay, anyway. Today I wanted to talk to you about democracy. Partly because of the election, but partly because I came across a pretty interesting idea about democracy while studying for a course. Basically that idea was that even though in today's society media does a lot of work to support and enable democracy, it's not necessary for democracy. The freedom of speech is.
And I'd like to disagree with this idea. Not with the bit about the freedom of speech, that is obviously one very fundamental thing that has to be present in order for there to be democracy, but about the bit that you don't really need media to maintain democracy.
Media, I think, is what enables the large-scale conversation in a society, and that's necessary for democracy to work. Without mass communication and media people would hardly hear about anything, not to mention having their own voice heard. So I think being able to effectively get messages around to people is a pretty necessary part of democracy. Of course representative democracy and elections worked also at a time without even a radio, but the people's knowledge they used to make the decision of who to vote was severely limited, because they pretty much knew only what someone in the village had told them. In today's society people can actually find out something about the people they're voting for, and the different alternatives, and vote for who they actually think is best for the job. And I think informed decisions are kind of relevant to democracy. And without proper media people can't be properly informed. Then again, a lot of people are too lazy to really get into the whole voting thing and just vote for someone one of those advice applications. But at least they have a possibility to make an informed decision.
I also realise that ancient Greeks are still the ideal model for democracy and got the whole thing going perfectly fine without any of today's medias. But I'd like to note that the city-states in Greek antiquity were a lot smaller than today's states. Getting the word around to everyone (who was allowed to have a say, meaning fee men) was significantly easier. Especially since everyone was pretty much socially obligated to stay up with the local political news and happenings and participate. So the mass of people was tiny, and everyone was actively looking for information. So unless you want to go back to tiny city-states, you need media for democracy to really work.
And then there's the other model country of democracy, that at least I think is pretty strong evidence you need media for proper democracy. Because their election system was developed in a time when the fastest way to deliver messages was by horse and they're apparently refusing to update to today's media, you can still (theoretically) win their presidential election with less than a quarter of the total vote. Yes, I've done the math myself. And I'm not sure if you can even call that a democracy. I mean sure, you hold elections, and everyone has equal say, only one vote. But the thing is everyone don't have an equal say. The votes of people from smaller states weigh more in the total decision than those of people from big states. Also the point of democracy is kind of listening to every one and all the points on views and then doing what the majority wants (which is hopefully what is best for everyone), and I don't think this is what happens in the US right now. In their system not only the minority votes are completely lost on the way, it's possible even the voice of the majority can be easily muffled if most of them happen to be from states where the other guy happens to be slightly more popular.
And that is why you need media for democracy to work in the huge states we live in today. Instead of using the electoral system that was outdated over a hundred years ago by the invention of radio and telegram (which are medias), you could just count the votes and send the actual numbers to the other side of the country to be summed up with all the other actual numbers in the fractions of a second.
Because that's the only way to know what the majority actually wants.
I'll hear from you... later today, I suppose?
No one gave you a topic yet, did they? Cups.
I'm going to Kuopio tomorrow, so I'll tell someone else to give you a topic then.
~matu
Monday, April 20, 2015
Day 1 - Sunshine
Reread Carol a few nights back and I'd forgotten how much I like the characters, so I'm gonna play with them a bit more haha. At least for today, we'll see what happens tomorrow. Cheerio~
Pie out.
_____________________________________________________________
It is spring. Finally. I can hardly believe it. Winter was so long and so cold, but finally it's warming up and soon all the snow will melt.
I drag myself up from bed at an ungodly hour and take a quick shower before hurrying to school. Not much actual learning happens in school anymore, but for some reason we still need to go there everyday. Well, at least I get to see my friends.
It's the first sunny day in months and we make the most of it, going out to the park with Leea and Nick after school. Nick doesn't stay very long though, telling us that he needs to go meet someone. He's been going off to meet with someone for a while now, but he refuses to tell us who it is. We don't pry, he'll tell us when he's ready.
"I do wonder though," Leea says after he's gone and we're sitting on the park bench, enjoying the warming rays of the sun. "I mean, why does he keep it a secret?"
"Maybe he's dating someone we know but doesn't want to tell us 'cause they're not ready yet," I suggest. Leea 'ooh's.
"A secret girlfriend!" she laughs.
"Or a secret boyfriend," I point out and Leea flushes.
"Or that," she admits. "Haven't really gotten gay vibes from him, but then again I don't get a lot of other vibes from him either..."
Nick is a very private person, and even though I've known him since elementary school, it wasn't until he started choir last year that I've gotten to know him better. Even still, there seems to be an awful lot of things in his life that he doesn't want to talk about....
"Who knows, it's not important now," I tell Leea, waving my hand. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Ooh, touchy subject?" she asks with a smile. I glare at her. "You have a secret boyfriend of your own, hm?"
"No!" I say, perhaps a bit too quickly. Leea purses her lips in a thoughtful expression. I sit still and wait as she looks me over.
"You have someone you'd want to be your secret boyfriend?" she asks, all sly and knowing. Damn her.
"I mean, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of dating someone," I say, trying not to be too obvious. "But I don't really want to date anyone in secret."
"Mmmhmmm," Leea says and I feel like sinking though the bench straight into the earth. Enough of this, I decide and turn the tables.
"What about you, huh? You wouldn't happen to be dating anyone in secret, would you?" I say and I can see a faint blush rising on Leea's cheeks. Of course it could be the still slightly cold air. "I mean, surely you'd tell me, your best friend in the whole world?"
"I would, if I were," she says, a bit more defensively than she'd probably been aiming for. "But I'm not. So I haven't."
We have a stare down then, lasting probably a full minute. Somewhere in the trees a blackbird sings, and we can hear the river gushing somewhere further away. My lips twitch. She breaks into a smile.
We laugh for a moment and then she sighs.
"You know, I do have someone I kinda like," she admits. "But I'm not sure if... I don't know. And I'm only 18, maybe I'd be too young even if..."
"Oh, Leea, you didn't fall for an old person, did you?" I say, mock horrified and she slaps my arm with a laugh.
"No! 24 is hardly old, but I mean... six years? Is that too much?"
I consider this for a moment.
"I think it's more about the maturity of the people involved than about the actual ages. Assuming you're over 18 of course," I add and she sniggers. "You know, just make sure there's no power imbalance and that they don't take advantage of your wide eyed youth."
She smiles at me and then turns to look ahead.
"Yeah, I guess so."
I stare at her for a moment. 24, huh..?
There is a loud, clear voice from somewhere. Both Leea and I perk up immediately. We know that voice.
It sounds again, closer this time and soon we can hear the soft pitter-patter of tiny feet on ground and we turn around and suddenly there is a flaming ball in my face.
I laugh and Leea squeals and I try to pry Flame off but she is determined to keep a hold on me. Eventually I get her off my face, but she clings to my head, standing on my shoulder.
"Yo, long time no see," says Rachel who evidently had been escorting the elemental as she reaches the bench we no longer are sitting on. Leea punches her in the arm. Rachel doesn't even flinch.
"It's been four months!" she exclaims. "You were in Dublin for four months! I thought you said it'd be a few weeks, tops!"
"Eh, the NALMC nerds had other plans," Rachel says with a shrug. Leea is still fuming, but soon she smiles, because how could she not. Flame reminds us of her presence then with a lovely note and Leea turns all her attention to the little creature currently pulling off my beanie and trying to put it on. It's too big and slips off. I catch it before it hits the ground.
"Flame! You're as cute as ever!" Leea says happily and Flame decides she's had enough of me for now and hops into Leea's arms. She scratches her behind the ear.
"So you're back now," I say to Rachel who moves to stand next to me while Leea and Flame entertain themselves.
"Evidently," she says drily but she's smiling. I scratch my head and pull my hat back on.
"So, uh, can I take Flame back home?" I finally ask. She looks at me with a funny expression.
"I'm not her mother," she says. "If she wants to go with you she will."
"Right," I say, not sure if I'm more relieved or concerned about that. "Of course."
What is Flame doesn't want to come with me? What if she decides she's had enough of being treated as a cute pet or being crowded by humans? What if she goes back to the forest or wherever she came from and I'll never see her again?
Flame looks at me and sings a small tune, happy and excited. I let out a breath and smile.
Flame, Leea and I walk home together, the sunshine warm on our backs.
_____________________________________________________________
P.S.
Pie out.
_____________________________________________________________
It is spring. Finally. I can hardly believe it. Winter was so long and so cold, but finally it's warming up and soon all the snow will melt.
I drag myself up from bed at an ungodly hour and take a quick shower before hurrying to school. Not much actual learning happens in school anymore, but for some reason we still need to go there everyday. Well, at least I get to see my friends.
It's the first sunny day in months and we make the most of it, going out to the park with Leea and Nick after school. Nick doesn't stay very long though, telling us that he needs to go meet someone. He's been going off to meet with someone for a while now, but he refuses to tell us who it is. We don't pry, he'll tell us when he's ready.
"I do wonder though," Leea says after he's gone and we're sitting on the park bench, enjoying the warming rays of the sun. "I mean, why does he keep it a secret?"
"Maybe he's dating someone we know but doesn't want to tell us 'cause they're not ready yet," I suggest. Leea 'ooh's.
"A secret girlfriend!" she laughs.
"Or a secret boyfriend," I point out and Leea flushes.
"Or that," she admits. "Haven't really gotten gay vibes from him, but then again I don't get a lot of other vibes from him either..."
Nick is a very private person, and even though I've known him since elementary school, it wasn't until he started choir last year that I've gotten to know him better. Even still, there seems to be an awful lot of things in his life that he doesn't want to talk about....
"Who knows, it's not important now," I tell Leea, waving my hand. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Ooh, touchy subject?" she asks with a smile. I glare at her. "You have a secret boyfriend of your own, hm?"
"No!" I say, perhaps a bit too quickly. Leea purses her lips in a thoughtful expression. I sit still and wait as she looks me over.
"You have someone you'd want to be your secret boyfriend?" she asks, all sly and knowing. Damn her.
"I mean, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of dating someone," I say, trying not to be too obvious. "But I don't really want to date anyone in secret."
"Mmmhmmm," Leea says and I feel like sinking though the bench straight into the earth. Enough of this, I decide and turn the tables.
"What about you, huh? You wouldn't happen to be dating anyone in secret, would you?" I say and I can see a faint blush rising on Leea's cheeks. Of course it could be the still slightly cold air. "I mean, surely you'd tell me, your best friend in the whole world?"
"I would, if I were," she says, a bit more defensively than she'd probably been aiming for. "But I'm not. So I haven't."
We have a stare down then, lasting probably a full minute. Somewhere in the trees a blackbird sings, and we can hear the river gushing somewhere further away. My lips twitch. She breaks into a smile.
We laugh for a moment and then she sighs.
"You know, I do have someone I kinda like," she admits. "But I'm not sure if... I don't know. And I'm only 18, maybe I'd be too young even if..."
"Oh, Leea, you didn't fall for an old person, did you?" I say, mock horrified and she slaps my arm with a laugh.
"No! 24 is hardly old, but I mean... six years? Is that too much?"
I consider this for a moment.
"I think it's more about the maturity of the people involved than about the actual ages. Assuming you're over 18 of course," I add and she sniggers. "You know, just make sure there's no power imbalance and that they don't take advantage of your wide eyed youth."
She smiles at me and then turns to look ahead.
"Yeah, I guess so."
I stare at her for a moment. 24, huh..?
There is a loud, clear voice from somewhere. Both Leea and I perk up immediately. We know that voice.
It sounds again, closer this time and soon we can hear the soft pitter-patter of tiny feet on ground and we turn around and suddenly there is a flaming ball in my face.
I laugh and Leea squeals and I try to pry Flame off but she is determined to keep a hold on me. Eventually I get her off my face, but she clings to my head, standing on my shoulder.
"Yo, long time no see," says Rachel who evidently had been escorting the elemental as she reaches the bench we no longer are sitting on. Leea punches her in the arm. Rachel doesn't even flinch.
"It's been four months!" she exclaims. "You were in Dublin for four months! I thought you said it'd be a few weeks, tops!"
"Eh, the NALMC nerds had other plans," Rachel says with a shrug. Leea is still fuming, but soon she smiles, because how could she not. Flame reminds us of her presence then with a lovely note and Leea turns all her attention to the little creature currently pulling off my beanie and trying to put it on. It's too big and slips off. I catch it before it hits the ground.
"Flame! You're as cute as ever!" Leea says happily and Flame decides she's had enough of me for now and hops into Leea's arms. She scratches her behind the ear.
"So you're back now," I say to Rachel who moves to stand next to me while Leea and Flame entertain themselves.
"Evidently," she says drily but she's smiling. I scratch my head and pull my hat back on.
"So, uh, can I take Flame back home?" I finally ask. She looks at me with a funny expression.
"I'm not her mother," she says. "If she wants to go with you she will."
"Right," I say, not sure if I'm more relieved or concerned about that. "Of course."
What is Flame doesn't want to come with me? What if she decides she's had enough of being treated as a cute pet or being crowded by humans? What if she goes back to the forest or wherever she came from and I'll never see her again?
Flame looks at me and sings a small tune, happy and excited. I let out a breath and smile.
Flame, Leea and I walk home together, the sunshine warm on our backs.
_____________________________________________________________
P.S.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Writing, dyeing, and missed blog posts
Yes hello, it is Friday. Apparently.
We only have one creative writing class left! It's terrible! Technically there's still school the next week but the Friday is Mayday so we don't have school! What do I do without the amazingness that is creative writing?
On similar news, I finally finished the first scene of the second Robin-chapter (third overall because there's one chapter in between which is from Colin's POV) and it's much better than the crap I tried to write the first time around. I think I'll try to write a little more of the chapter this weekend, cause I kinda wanna send it in for the final class, but I feel like where it ends now is kind of a bad spot.
Also, I've dyed my hair blonde. It's been a while since my hair's been light (aside from last year when it wasn't dyed at all) and it's kinda weird when I look in the mirror. The brown didn't come off completely, but I have a hairdresser's appointment on Sunday and I'll ask them to make it like... not strawberry blonde. Although I kinda do like the strawberry blonde, the roots are all really light and there's some patches where the dye didn't go at all oops... Luckily those are where my normal color had grown (that is, my temples) so I don't have dark brown splotches here and there.
You might wonder about this change of heart, because I've had dark hair since like.... 7th grade, and I really do like my hair dark. But next weekend (not tomorrow) is Popcult! Which is like a convention for western popular culture, that doesn't focus on just comics like Tampere Kuplii does. Me and Oona are gonna cosplay Crowley and Aziraphale. It's gonna be great. (BTW, they made a radio drama out of it and apparently Zira's name is pronounced like "azirafell". Haven't yet listened to the whole thing, but I've heard a clip or two. I have a lot of listening to do, I also have two eps of Welcome to Night Vale! Have you listened to it yet? You should do it.)
I feel like I had something else I wanted to say about that, but what was it hmmm.
On another note, I have decided to rectify my missing a lot of Fridays by writing one post once a day for a week. That is, I'm going to make my own little continuation story (or seven separate stories, whichever you think is better) where whoever comments first gets to decide the topic for the following day. I'm gonna start on Monday, so someone should give me a topic before that. If no one does, I'll use a random word generator to decide it. Yeah, I think I can do that.
Oh, have you been watching Supernatural? Because season 10 is great. Like you have no idea it's amazing.
Anyway, I think I'll go now. I hope I'll hear from someone before Monday.
Pie out.
We only have one creative writing class left! It's terrible! Technically there's still school the next week but the Friday is Mayday so we don't have school! What do I do without the amazingness that is creative writing?
On similar news, I finally finished the first scene of the second Robin-chapter (third overall because there's one chapter in between which is from Colin's POV) and it's much better than the crap I tried to write the first time around. I think I'll try to write a little more of the chapter this weekend, cause I kinda wanna send it in for the final class, but I feel like where it ends now is kind of a bad spot.
Also, I've dyed my hair blonde. It's been a while since my hair's been light (aside from last year when it wasn't dyed at all) and it's kinda weird when I look in the mirror. The brown didn't come off completely, but I have a hairdresser's appointment on Sunday and I'll ask them to make it like... not strawberry blonde. Although I kinda do like the strawberry blonde, the roots are all really light and there's some patches where the dye didn't go at all oops... Luckily those are where my normal color had grown (that is, my temples) so I don't have dark brown splotches here and there.
You might wonder about this change of heart, because I've had dark hair since like.... 7th grade, and I really do like my hair dark. But next weekend (not tomorrow) is Popcult! Which is like a convention for western popular culture, that doesn't focus on just comics like Tampere Kuplii does. Me and Oona are gonna cosplay Crowley and Aziraphale. It's gonna be great. (BTW, they made a radio drama out of it and apparently Zira's name is pronounced like "azirafell". Haven't yet listened to the whole thing, but I've heard a clip or two. I have a lot of listening to do, I also have two eps of Welcome to Night Vale! Have you listened to it yet? You should do it.)
I feel like I had something else I wanted to say about that, but what was it hmmm.
On another note, I have decided to rectify my missing a lot of Fridays by writing one post once a day for a week. That is, I'm going to make my own little continuation story (or seven separate stories, whichever you think is better) where whoever comments first gets to decide the topic for the following day. I'm gonna start on Monday, so someone should give me a topic before that. If no one does, I'll use a random word generator to decide it. Yeah, I think I can do that.
Oh, have you been watching Supernatural? Because season 10 is great. Like you have no idea it's amazing.
Anyway, I think I'll go now. I hope I'll hear from someone before Monday.
Pie out.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
In other news
Today I woke up at quarter past eight.
I took an hour and a half to plan this small few minute thing for the university radio. Meaning I had the interview already, and I just made (half) a script for the final edited version. Because I was too tired to do it last night after training.
Then I went to the university at ten to actually edit that thing. That took two hours. Would've taken more but I didn't have time. It turns out I should've done a whole script.
Then I had some lunch.
At one I went back to the radio and started writing some news.
At four I read the news on the radio for two and a half minutes. And at five. And at six.
Then I came home, ate a little something, played the flute for about fifteen minutes, answered some e-mail, did some school work, read the newspaper and finished some other small stuff I had left unfinished.
And suddenly it was about eight thirty, and both me and my roommate didn't care about doing anything any more, so we watched how Benedict Cumberbatch thought he saw a giant dog and then jumped off a roof.
And then I realised it's a Tuesday an I should write something.
But now I'm really, really tired, and since you (again) didn't write anything, I'm just going to go to bed. Because again tomorrow I need to get up at eight fifteen and do some school stuff I haven't had time to do, because my April is just so very full of everything. The positive thing all that everything is a lot of fun. Except at this time of night.
This time I will hear from you on Friday, ok?
~matu
I took an hour and a half to plan this small few minute thing for the university radio. Meaning I had the interview already, and I just made (half) a script for the final edited version. Because I was too tired to do it last night after training.
Then I went to the university at ten to actually edit that thing. That took two hours. Would've taken more but I didn't have time. It turns out I should've done a whole script.
Then I had some lunch.
At one I went back to the radio and started writing some news.
At four I read the news on the radio for two and a half minutes. And at five. And at six.
Then I came home, ate a little something, played the flute for about fifteen minutes, answered some e-mail, did some school work, read the newspaper and finished some other small stuff I had left unfinished.
And suddenly it was about eight thirty, and both me and my roommate didn't care about doing anything any more, so we watched how Benedict Cumberbatch thought he saw a giant dog and then jumped off a roof.
And then I realised it's a Tuesday an I should write something.
But now I'm really, really tired, and since you (again) didn't write anything, I'm just going to go to bed. Because again tomorrow I need to get up at eight fifteen and do some school stuff I haven't had time to do, because my April is just so very full of everything. The positive thing all that everything is a lot of fun. Except at this time of night.
This time I will hear from you on Friday, ok?
~matu
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Thoughts on groups
Apparently it's Tuesday again.
Today I want to talk to you about groups. Partly because next weekend I'm going to Kuopio to teach some kids how to lead scout groups and I'm avoiding trying to come up with something for Friday evening that would make the bunch of people that come there to form a group (a thing that I still after all these years of doing this suck at). And partly because how groups work is, I think, one of the most interesting things outside the natural sciences. Also a little because I need to build my group dynamics in Nocturne just right for any of it to make much sense, and trying to do that is a real pain.
One weird thing about groups is that they make more radical decisions than possibly any of the people in the group would make alone. It's called polarisation. And it's a really weird thing. And for some reason I can't remember why it happens even though I've read about it for at least two courses. I guess it has something to do with the fact that alone you can reach a decision, but when there are more of you, you can keep talking even after you personally have reached a decision, and the conversation easily shifts into one direction or another, so in the end the group's final collective decision is more radical than what the people would come to alone.
I apparently suck at remembering theories having to do with groups even though I'm really interested in them and actually want to remember them.
Possibly another thing that contributes to decision-making in groups is that people don't want to lose face. The politeness theory, that doesn't have anything to do with strictly groups, though is also applicable for groups, basically says people try to not lose face, but also try to save face for others, so that they aren't humiliated. You can use embarrassing or irrational reasons when making a decision yourself inside your head, but some things you might not want to share with a group. Then again, if someone does suggest something radical, you might not simply tell them their idea is idiotic, because it would be embarrassing for the person to be shot down like that, and so the whole group is shifted into thinking about more extreme options.
And yes, of course there are people who would tell the other person their idea is idiotic, but those people are easily seen as jerks, and most people don't want to be seen as jerks.
Groups are very complicated. In groups people want to look good, and they might agree with other people simply to fit in, whether they knew it or not. You can actually make people believe they are wrong about something very trivial that they are obviously right about, if other people in the group simply disagree. The people of the group don't even have to know each other. It's enough that you think you'll embarrass yourself by disagreeing with the others, because why would everyone else be wrong about something so very trivial? It must be you are wrong yourself. And even if you know you're right, when having your turn to say something, you might agree with the others, for the simple fear of being different.
That's what I guess a lot of the ways groups work boils down to. The fear of being different. To agreeing with the group simply to not lose face, to not get looked at weird, to belong to the group. And that is both stunningly terrifying, because you can make people do and believe things they would never consider doing if they weren't so desperately to fit in and be a part of something (and I note again: people don't necessarily try to fit in consciously, the need to belong to a group is too deep down in humanity for us to always even notice that's what we're doing), and sad.
It's sad, because if everyone in the world agreed on everything, the world would be a lot poorer place, There would be no innovation, no new things, ever. Just think about if all early humans had agreed just to fit in that fire is a dangerous and evil thing that you should never go anywhere near. We would still be living on an African savannah. Almost everything in the world we live today would not be there, if everyone had agreed with the group.
We wouldn't have democracy, if everyone agreed with the group. Because democracy is based on looking at different points of views, arguing rationally for and against all of them, and choosing the one that most likely leads to the best outcome for everyone.
Of course, if you look at current Finnish democracy, it doesn't exactly work like that. I still haven't seen that one election debate that I think came out on mtv3, but I've seen the headlines that came after and said that the party leaders in this country sound like ten-year-olds fighting in the sandbox. I guess they didn't try to fit in.
Though then again, maybe they were. They were (to my understanding) all acting the same. Even though they disagreed about the things they were discussing, the group very quickly developed itself a culture in which acting like a ten-year-old is ok.
I still keep wondering what would have happened if one of them had just sat quietly, raised their hand and waited for their turn while the others yelled irrationally at each other. But no, the group made everyone feel like they must talk while someone else was still talking in order to get their message through.
How did I get here?
Right, groups.
My point is, how groups work how their existence alters people's behaviour is infinitely complex and so very fascinating try to figure out.
I'll hear from you on Friday.
~matu
Today I want to talk to you about groups. Partly because next weekend I'm going to Kuopio to teach some kids how to lead scout groups and I'm avoiding trying to come up with something for Friday evening that would make the bunch of people that come there to form a group (a thing that I still after all these years of doing this suck at). And partly because how groups work is, I think, one of the most interesting things outside the natural sciences. Also a little because I need to build my group dynamics in Nocturne just right for any of it to make much sense, and trying to do that is a real pain.
One weird thing about groups is that they make more radical decisions than possibly any of the people in the group would make alone. It's called polarisation. And it's a really weird thing. And for some reason I can't remember why it happens even though I've read about it for at least two courses. I guess it has something to do with the fact that alone you can reach a decision, but when there are more of you, you can keep talking even after you personally have reached a decision, and the conversation easily shifts into one direction or another, so in the end the group's final collective decision is more radical than what the people would come to alone.
I apparently suck at remembering theories having to do with groups even though I'm really interested in them and actually want to remember them.
Possibly another thing that contributes to decision-making in groups is that people don't want to lose face. The politeness theory, that doesn't have anything to do with strictly groups, though is also applicable for groups, basically says people try to not lose face, but also try to save face for others, so that they aren't humiliated. You can use embarrassing or irrational reasons when making a decision yourself inside your head, but some things you might not want to share with a group. Then again, if someone does suggest something radical, you might not simply tell them their idea is idiotic, because it would be embarrassing for the person to be shot down like that, and so the whole group is shifted into thinking about more extreme options.
And yes, of course there are people who would tell the other person their idea is idiotic, but those people are easily seen as jerks, and most people don't want to be seen as jerks.
Groups are very complicated. In groups people want to look good, and they might agree with other people simply to fit in, whether they knew it or not. You can actually make people believe they are wrong about something very trivial that they are obviously right about, if other people in the group simply disagree. The people of the group don't even have to know each other. It's enough that you think you'll embarrass yourself by disagreeing with the others, because why would everyone else be wrong about something so very trivial? It must be you are wrong yourself. And even if you know you're right, when having your turn to say something, you might agree with the others, for the simple fear of being different.
That's what I guess a lot of the ways groups work boils down to. The fear of being different. To agreeing with the group simply to not lose face, to not get looked at weird, to belong to the group. And that is both stunningly terrifying, because you can make people do and believe things they would never consider doing if they weren't so desperately to fit in and be a part of something (and I note again: people don't necessarily try to fit in consciously, the need to belong to a group is too deep down in humanity for us to always even notice that's what we're doing), and sad.
It's sad, because if everyone in the world agreed on everything, the world would be a lot poorer place, There would be no innovation, no new things, ever. Just think about if all early humans had agreed just to fit in that fire is a dangerous and evil thing that you should never go anywhere near. We would still be living on an African savannah. Almost everything in the world we live today would not be there, if everyone had agreed with the group.
We wouldn't have democracy, if everyone agreed with the group. Because democracy is based on looking at different points of views, arguing rationally for and against all of them, and choosing the one that most likely leads to the best outcome for everyone.
Of course, if you look at current Finnish democracy, it doesn't exactly work like that. I still haven't seen that one election debate that I think came out on mtv3, but I've seen the headlines that came after and said that the party leaders in this country sound like ten-year-olds fighting in the sandbox. I guess they didn't try to fit in.
Though then again, maybe they were. They were (to my understanding) all acting the same. Even though they disagreed about the things they were discussing, the group very quickly developed itself a culture in which acting like a ten-year-old is ok.
I still keep wondering what would have happened if one of them had just sat quietly, raised their hand and waited for their turn while the others yelled irrationally at each other. But no, the group made everyone feel like they must talk while someone else was still talking in order to get their message through.
How did I get here?
Right, groups.
My point is, how groups work how their existence alters people's behaviour is infinitely complex and so very fascinating try to figure out.
I'll hear from you on Friday.
~matu
Friday, April 3, 2015
Thoughts on stuff
Hello, it's Friday again apparently.
I'm in Kuopio now, alone with Aatu and a friend of his. It's okay I guess. They don't really interact with me and I really don't mind, but I'm worried they don't remember to eat. I'm also worried we don't have enough food. We have a shit ton of cooked macaroni in the fridge, but we don't really have anything with it..... I could go to the shop, but ehhhh, I don't know if I wanna. I really want something to drink though (soda, not alcohol), so I might go anyway.
I've completely fucked up my sleeping... routine? schedule? whatever. I mean, I was planning on going to bed no later than 2 last night but it was past four until I finally did *sob*.... It's kinda hard to motivate myself to go to bed when I know I'm gonna sleep late anyway, and it's hard to motivate myself to wake up early, when there is no one awake before 12, or as it was the last two days, no one is home in the mornings (because of school and work y'know).... I'm probably gonna end up pulling an allnighter sat-sun night and going to bed early. I really don't wanna, but the way this is going, I'm pretty convinced it'll happen anyway.
I should be writing right about now. I have a lot of Robin on the top of my head and I should write it down before I forget it, and I have this Easter story I told myself I'd finish before Easter. And really wanna write continuation to Caged Bird, although that's not as pressing as the other two. But hnnnnn, I just wanna sleep. Which is bad, because I did sleep like 8+h...... I think....? Maybe I should go outside... Radical, I know.
Have you been watching s10 of SPN? Because it is good. Like Kripke-era good. Especially last night's episode, it was just filled with all these little brilliant things and ahh. And, and, next week Charlie will be back! And Cas has his own plot arc now that isn't "angel warrssss"! And there's so many super badass women doing cool shit and the Bechdel pass rate is at least 13/16. It's good. AND DEAN DOESN'T WANT TO DIE!!!!! AND HE WANTS TO EXPERIENCE "CERTAIN THINGS AND PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY MAYBE FOR THE FIRST TIME"!!!!! Sorry, I'm excited I'll just stop now bye.
Uhh. So. Not much is new, aside the whole "super emotional about Dean Winchester" which in itself isn't actually new either... Uhh. I dunno. I'm gonna go do shit now. Bye.
Pie out.
I'm in Kuopio now, alone with Aatu and a friend of his. It's okay I guess. They don't really interact with me and I really don't mind, but I'm worried they don't remember to eat. I'm also worried we don't have enough food. We have a shit ton of cooked macaroni in the fridge, but we don't really have anything with it..... I could go to the shop, but ehhhh, I don't know if I wanna. I really want something to drink though (soda, not alcohol), so I might go anyway.
I've completely fucked up my sleeping... routine? schedule? whatever. I mean, I was planning on going to bed no later than 2 last night but it was past four until I finally did *sob*.... It's kinda hard to motivate myself to go to bed when I know I'm gonna sleep late anyway, and it's hard to motivate myself to wake up early, when there is no one awake before 12, or as it was the last two days, no one is home in the mornings (because of school and work y'know).... I'm probably gonna end up pulling an allnighter sat-sun night and going to bed early. I really don't wanna, but the way this is going, I'm pretty convinced it'll happen anyway.
I should be writing right about now. I have a lot of Robin on the top of my head and I should write it down before I forget it, and I have this Easter story I told myself I'd finish before Easter. And really wanna write continuation to Caged Bird, although that's not as pressing as the other two. But hnnnnn, I just wanna sleep. Which is bad, because I did sleep like 8+h...... I think....? Maybe I should go outside... Radical, I know.
Have you been watching s10 of SPN? Because it is good. Like Kripke-era good. Especially last night's episode, it was just filled with all these little brilliant things and ahh. And, and, next week Charlie will be back! And Cas has his own plot arc now that isn't "angel warrssss"! And there's so many super badass women doing cool shit and the Bechdel pass rate is at least 13/16. It's good. AND DEAN DOESN'T WANT TO DIE!!!!! AND HE WANTS TO EXPERIENCE "CERTAIN THINGS AND PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY MAYBE FOR THE FIRST TIME"!!!!! Sorry, I'm excited I'll just stop now bye.
Uhh. So. Not much is new, aside the whole "super emotional about Dean Winchester" which in itself isn't actually new either... Uhh. I dunno. I'm gonna go do shit now. Bye.
Pie out.
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