I've always thought the word adultery has something to do with adults. Turns out, it doesn't. Adultery and adult have the same Latin base word "ad" which means toward. Adultery is followed by "alter" (other) and are (mark of a verb), while adult is followed by "alere" (to grow).
The point in this is mostly that today I realized I should be an adult. I recently turned 29, so I'm already going on 30. I was completely and utterly shocked. I've had a steady job matching my education for nigh on five years now. I own property together with my husband and we just celebrated our first anniversary. When did this happen? I mean sure the above is all true, but I'm also the kind of person who still checks the backs of wardrobes just in case there's an entrance to Narnia there. I'm still daydreaming about flying with dragons when I grow up.
I don't feel grown-up. Not even a little bit. It's like I've wondered down the rabbit hole and instead of Wonderland, I find myself in reality. Quite a trip let me tell you.
On the other hand, what does it mean to be ab adult? I'm perhaps not the best person to speculate this seeing as I'm not exactly feeling like an adult. As anyone would who's grown-up with internet, my first instinct was to check Wikipedia. No luck there. According to Wikipedia I've either been an adult for roughly 20 years or 11 years, so that's not really helpfull. I tried checking out the meaning of "mature" too, but that went nowhere. I'm pretty sure I share the view of Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) that adults are supposed to be the boring guys without imagination or impulsiveness. I can probably provide boring and lack of impulsiveness, but try as I may, I can't turn my imagination off. So on those grounds I can't be an adult.
I think I may have to conclude this ramble by referring myself to XKCD. I guess it IS our turn to define what being a grown-up means. And I agree that filling a room with play-pen balls is a good place to start.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Where are we going?
Warning, this post may be triggering and it will also contain possible spoilers of famous sci-fi series and movies (Dollhouse, BattleStar Galactiga, Terminator series, Firefly/Serenity)
I sometimes wonder what the future's going to be like. Where's all this technology going to take us? What will happen to free will or free speech? Could it be that we're heading towards a Terminator type world, where the machines start evolving, form a conscious "mind" and rebel? Come to think of it, it's the BattleStar Galactiga world as well. As an aside I'd like to note that I never quite got why they could travel to the stars but the humanoids they made were so poorly done? I mean, the humanoid robots nowadays are better than their first models.
But to continue; I sometimes wonder whether the Whedonistic approach is really the one that will get us in the end. We are so obsessed with making ourselves better. Making others better. You can see it in America every day. Half the country thinks that women should be enthusiastic and grateful mothers (I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, mind) and try to deny anyone who isn't the right to their own bodies. Very much like what happens on Miranda; instead of the normal terraformed planets with their problems the good people in the Alliance want a happy workforce with no riots or problems. They just want the best for them... by denying them the access to their own minds. I'm not saying Europe is any better. I mean we don't even have free speech provided by law, which is something that I find amazing, or more accurately; creepy.
We just finished watching the first season of Dollhouse and needless to say, it had an impact on me. I was expecting to hate it, having read countless reviews on how boring it is, Borehouse I think it was referred to by some. Anyway, just in case you haven't heard about it, the idea behind Dollhouse is programmable humans. Anyone of the volunteered Actives can be made to anything you want. Provided you have pockets deep enough. Need a master thief who'll never ask questions or come blackmailing you or indeed even know you exist? You got it. Always been curious about something sexual, but are too attached to your power to risk anyone finding out? Not a problem, not even the Handlers know the particulars about your engagement.
Humans as a commodity is hardly a new thing, but Dollhouse takes it to the next level. Needless to say, the issues around consent are at best, hazy and at their very worst left me at least feeling violated. In one episode Echo's soul (we are led to believe at least) wants to complete the mission that the man who engaged her wanted her to do. In a sense even I feel it's almost all right. The man wasn't always a millionaire, he was in love with the woman of his dreams and they were struggling. When he finally made it big, he bought her dream house and summoned her to it. On the way she was in a car accident and died instantly. He never got to tell her. So to live that moment, he hires dolls imprinted with her mind and memories. I can see why Echo/Caroline would want to give him that.
On the other hand, another doll is sent to the dollhouse by the man she said no to, simply because she said no to him. And now he rents her out to say yes to him. Sounds kind of what someone like Tucker Max would do doesn't it?
Technically it's all consensual, since we are lead to believe all the dolls are there by "choice". They've all signed the five-year contract and handed their bodies over to do with as the dollhouse sees fit. But if the dolls malfunction, they are sent to the Attic. Indefinetly. And in the final episode of the first season the Rossum Corporation decides to start offering upgrades to their clients ie giving away the bodies of the dolls.
So anyway, I've often wondered if that's not more likely the direction we're heading. We're so busy making everyone around us "better" and more fitting to our own image of what a person should be that we forget to wonder whether or not those other people have a different definition of what makes a good person. So many people are not happy with themselves, would like to be different, if just on the outside. I mean for goodness sakes, there's surgeries and coloring agents specially made for women's genitalia to look "more beautiful". I wonder, given the possibility, how many people would actually take the body of another human being, exhort their own wants over them, over the other persons right to exist. Well... I just described the act of rape, didn't I? And hey what do you know, out this week; BBC reported a study where majority of women felt that rape is the victims fault, at least sometimes.
It's thoughts like these that make me glad I'm not conventionally attractive. I mean if the technology existed, how many millions of people would there be in Halle Berry's body?
ETA; this post totally didn't go the way I envisioned it so I decided to change the heading.
I sometimes wonder what the future's going to be like. Where's all this technology going to take us? What will happen to free will or free speech? Could it be that we're heading towards a Terminator type world, where the machines start evolving, form a conscious "mind" and rebel? Come to think of it, it's the BattleStar Galactiga world as well. As an aside I'd like to note that I never quite got why they could travel to the stars but the humanoids they made were so poorly done? I mean, the humanoid robots nowadays are better than their first models.
But to continue; I sometimes wonder whether the Whedonistic approach is really the one that will get us in the end. We are so obsessed with making ourselves better. Making others better. You can see it in America every day. Half the country thinks that women should be enthusiastic and grateful mothers (I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, mind) and try to deny anyone who isn't the right to their own bodies. Very much like what happens on Miranda; instead of the normal terraformed planets with their problems the good people in the Alliance want a happy workforce with no riots or problems. They just want the best for them... by denying them the access to their own minds. I'm not saying Europe is any better. I mean we don't even have free speech provided by law, which is something that I find amazing, or more accurately; creepy.
We just finished watching the first season of Dollhouse and needless to say, it had an impact on me. I was expecting to hate it, having read countless reviews on how boring it is, Borehouse I think it was referred to by some. Anyway, just in case you haven't heard about it, the idea behind Dollhouse is programmable humans. Anyone of the volunteered Actives can be made to anything you want. Provided you have pockets deep enough. Need a master thief who'll never ask questions or come blackmailing you or indeed even know you exist? You got it. Always been curious about something sexual, but are too attached to your power to risk anyone finding out? Not a problem, not even the Handlers know the particulars about your engagement.
Humans as a commodity is hardly a new thing, but Dollhouse takes it to the next level. Needless to say, the issues around consent are at best, hazy and at their very worst left me at least feeling violated. In one episode Echo's soul (we are led to believe at least) wants to complete the mission that the man who engaged her wanted her to do. In a sense even I feel it's almost all right. The man wasn't always a millionaire, he was in love with the woman of his dreams and they were struggling. When he finally made it big, he bought her dream house and summoned her to it. On the way she was in a car accident and died instantly. He never got to tell her. So to live that moment, he hires dolls imprinted with her mind and memories. I can see why Echo/Caroline would want to give him that.
On the other hand, another doll is sent to the dollhouse by the man she said no to, simply because she said no to him. And now he rents her out to say yes to him. Sounds kind of what someone like Tucker Max would do doesn't it?
Technically it's all consensual, since we are lead to believe all the dolls are there by "choice". They've all signed the five-year contract and handed their bodies over to do with as the dollhouse sees fit. But if the dolls malfunction, they are sent to the Attic. Indefinetly. And in the final episode of the first season the Rossum Corporation decides to start offering upgrades to their clients ie giving away the bodies of the dolls.
So anyway, I've often wondered if that's not more likely the direction we're heading. We're so busy making everyone around us "better" and more fitting to our own image of what a person should be that we forget to wonder whether or not those other people have a different definition of what makes a good person. So many people are not happy with themselves, would like to be different, if just on the outside. I mean for goodness sakes, there's surgeries and coloring agents specially made for women's genitalia to look "more beautiful". I wonder, given the possibility, how many people would actually take the body of another human being, exhort their own wants over them, over the other persons right to exist. Well... I just described the act of rape, didn't I? And hey what do you know, out this week; BBC reported a study where majority of women felt that rape is the victims fault, at least sometimes.
It's thoughts like these that make me glad I'm not conventionally attractive. I mean if the technology existed, how many millions of people would there be in Halle Berry's body?
ETA; this post totally didn't go the way I envisioned it so I decided to change the heading.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
F.O. Tattoo socks
Pattern: Improvised vanilla sock pattern
Materials: Colinette Jitterbug
Amount: Roughly 3/4 of a skein
Needles: 2.0 mm
Finished Dimensions: I've got a European size 39-40 foot, so somewhere along those lines.
Started: 30.10.2009
Finished: 13.11.2009
Some of you might not know that I have a tattoo. A huge one in fact. It starts from my left shoulder, goes all the way down my back and ends on my other shoulder. It's of a dragon and a phoenix playing catch. Around four or five years ago I get the feeling that I really should get a tattoo. I've been wanting one since I was a teenager, but due to lack of money it was always put off. At that time I had just started in a relatively high-paying job (I wasn't even out of the polytechnic), I was between relationships and was just starting to come in to my own as a person. So I decided that it was time for a tattoo. I decided I wanted a phoenix. And it should be around the size of my palm.
As I do with every major decision in my life I started gathering information. How do you care for a tattoo? What's the experience like? Who does good work around where I live etc. I looked at flash art on numerous sites and felt like there had to be more. As if by accident I found Petri Syrjälä, who I contacted with trepidation. He agreed to take me on as a client even though he was doing less and less of such small work. I took him some pictures of phoenix birds I thought were cool and he drew me a sketch and we booked the first session. At the beginning of the session we did a stamp of the bird and slapped it on to my shoulder. It was way too small and I decided it would need to be enlarged to be anywhere acceptable. And it just sort of got out of hand. After that first ten-hour session the bird was done. I was going back for the background anyway and I got this idea of a dragon chasing the bird.
Now, a bit over four years since that first session, the whole tattoo is almost completed. The problem is, the shop is right next to Priima, my most-used provider of yarny goodness. So the time before the last one when I was there, Pete was running late and I was running earlier than I'd planned. So I got some yarn and some new needles and went into the waiting room and started knitting. In time, Pete finished his business and I moved my stuff over to the tattoo side of the parlour and kept on knitting. We laughed about how I was completely and finally destroying all that was left of his street-cred by knitting while being tattooed.
All this is a way of saying I made this completely boring pair of socks that I loved so much I wore them continuously day and night for probably two or three months even after I had walked holes in them and am now thinking about repairing just because I loved them so much.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Growing up
I'm a nerd. Just in case you didn't know. I'm the kind of person when looking at apartments or something always looks at the escape plan in case of zombie apocalypase. I find nature fascinating, but only from a distance. I LOVE computers and games and such. My hubby and I arrange and attend board game nights regularly. I used to LARP for chrissake.
This is relevant because that's also how I dress. Sometimes I seriously look like the Comic Book Guy and I'm not entirely happy about it. I'm almost 30 and honestly I've started to feel like that should mean I should start dressing like a grown up. You know, start wearing other things than jeans and t-shirts all the time.
So I've been reading up on style and how to get it. *LOL* Yeah yeah, 'cause it's just that easy. But even though this will sound conceited, I think I have good taste. I just don't use it. :D Everyone seems to agree that the five key elements of any stylish wardrobe are:
1. A suit, tailored and dark
2. Crisp white shirts
3. Pencil skirt although I'm not entirely convinced about this because in the aforementioned zombie apocalypse it would make me fodder immediately. You only have to run faster than the guy next to you and that's not happening in a pencil skirt. I'm letting it slide though due to the aesthetic aspects.
4. Well fitting, figure enhancing jeans.
And the pièce de résistance
5. LBD or Little Black Dress.
I plan to sew these pieces myself, mostly because I have a figure that defies fitting and flattering ready-to-wear garments.
"Problem" areas are at least as follows:
- weight: mostly at least in Finland anything bigger than size 14 (40 in Finland) is more closely related to moomoos than fitted garments.
- ass: I've got a protruding, JLo type ass. It looks nice, but it means that ready-to-wear garments won't close in the front or leave a huge gap in the waist band, that makes me look even fatter than I am.
After I've done these I'm planning on at least to trenches. One in a vibrant colour of bridal or duchess satin and a more regular, camel look.
Or that's the plan anyway. I'll try to post pictures along the way.
This is relevant because that's also how I dress. Sometimes I seriously look like the Comic Book Guy and I'm not entirely happy about it. I'm almost 30 and honestly I've started to feel like that should mean I should start dressing like a grown up. You know, start wearing other things than jeans and t-shirts all the time.
So I've been reading up on style and how to get it. *LOL* Yeah yeah, 'cause it's just that easy. But even though this will sound conceited, I think I have good taste. I just don't use it. :D Everyone seems to agree that the five key elements of any stylish wardrobe are:
1. A suit, tailored and dark
2. Crisp white shirts
3. Pencil skirt although I'm not entirely convinced about this because in the aforementioned zombie apocalypse it would make me fodder immediately. You only have to run faster than the guy next to you and that's not happening in a pencil skirt. I'm letting it slide though due to the aesthetic aspects.
4. Well fitting, figure enhancing jeans.
And the pièce de résistance
5. LBD or Little Black Dress.
I plan to sew these pieces myself, mostly because I have a figure that defies fitting and flattering ready-to-wear garments.
"Problem" areas are at least as follows:
- weight: mostly at least in Finland anything bigger than size 14 (40 in Finland) is more closely related to moomoos than fitted garments.
- ass: I've got a protruding, JLo type ass. It looks nice, but it means that ready-to-wear garments won't close in the front or leave a huge gap in the waist band, that makes me look even fatter than I am.
After I've done these I'm planning on at least to trenches. One in a vibrant colour of bridal or duchess satin and a more regular, camel look.
Or that's the plan anyway. I'll try to post pictures along the way.
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