Tactical Ninja

09:46 am - I get them all eventually..

Last week was a big week for me. It involved graduating, getting the wiring part of the Brainfart up and running, achieving a 30 second free handstand, and on Saturday, doing my first ever L-sit. Only for a second, but still the first time my feet have ever come off the ground. Maybe it's because I've finally turned the corner in strength and flexibility, maybe it's the protein, I don't care. I'll take it.

And yesterday, Derpy finally realised what catnip is for.

( Which resulted in thisCollapse )

Last night we watched Django Unchained. Other folks with more brains than me have written extensively about the problematic aspects of this movie, so I won't. It was very Tarantino - lots of gratuitous violence and blood overkill in amongst stunningly beautiful and often hilarious cinematography *ahem* the snowshoe gunfighter scene *ahem*. But mostly I just wanted to say this:

DJANGO DON'T NEED NO BRIDLE MOTHERFUCKER!

*cough*

05:04 pm - Gosh, it works!

The bulk of the soldering's done now and contrary to popular opinion *ahem*, making the Arduino talk to all those pixels through multiple data pins wasn't that difficult. I'd call it more, um.. quick and ugly? But look! It works!

01:51 pm - LJ is back yay! (your watch is not wrong, sorry I'm late)

I don't know if you've been following the Merida thing, but in short, the character of Merida from the Pixar movie Brave got made a Disney princess. Big woop, right? But as part of that process, she got, um, princessised. In other words, they sexed her up, gave her bigger boobs, a narrower waist, bigger eyes, poutier lips and a low cut dress, and took away her bow and arrow.

( Hilarity ensuedCollapse )

Yesterday afternoon, I had a scintillating scotoma. These are most familiar to people as the precursor to a migraine. I've been getting them since 2008, about every 4 months or so. Each time, they are followed by slight increse in the migraine symptoms that follow. This time, I got a mild headache of the vice-clamp variety, and felt vaguely nauseous.

When I was an adolescent, I used to get debilitating migraines (vomiting, lying in a dark room groaning for hours type debilitating) about three times a year from 13-17, then they suddenly stopped. I put it down to changing hormones. Now, it seems I am at the other end of that, and I'm kind of scared. First, the idea of having that level of migraine on a regular basis for the next few years leaves me completely cold. And second, it means my body is changing. I know it's inevitable, but I like my body the way it is now and I've no desire to go through a whole bunch of unpredictable changes that I don't know who I'll be at the end of them.

Yes, I know, get over it. I'll have to, won't I?

09:53 am - Next step, apply for scholarships.

Thank you to all the people who congratulated me last night. I feel like a bit of a knob replying to a heap of comments with "Thank you!" over and over again, so instead I'll do it here. THANK YOU!

Of course, I made the mistake of reading the comments on this article about graduation this morning. Thank you, haters. And because I'm not about to wade into Stuff comments, I would just like to respond here to get this off my chest. To the person who wrote this comment:

""WHY IS MY GENERIC ARTS DEGREE WHICH I PASSED WITH A C AVERAGE NOT GETTING ME 1 MILLION A YEAR STRAIGHT OUT OF UNI JOHN KEY."
-Every whining student, 2013"

Please kiss my straight-A getting, top tax bracket (thanks to my Arts degree) arse. Thank you.

( No idea who'd do such a thingCollapse )

Last night I dreamed that I talked my way onto a plane that had been chartered to take gay couples to be married in Palmerston North, using only my driver's licence - only to discover that I was actually supposed to be getting in the car to go visit Tinkering Josh in the Hutt instead, and everyone had gone without me. Wut.

Also last night, at handbalancing I kept my handstand unassisted for about 30 seconds, and it felt solid. I also managed to tuck up into a free handstand for the first time ever. Beginner class was a good idea - there are no assumptions being made about what I already know, so I'm getting some good basic tutelage that I wish I'd had when I started doing this. Maybe by this Christmas I'll be able to press?

05:50 pm - Proof!

09:09 am - I look like a bat

So I have my silly hat, silly robe and silly hood thing, and later on today I'll be processed and given my bit of paper, which I'm told is actually goat skin or something but I'm not so sure.

Apparently part of the ceremony involves singing Gaudeamus - a 'traditional university song'. I looked this up, and it turns out that it isn't just traditional for Vic, it's one of those European traditions that lots of Western universities do. It's about how you should enjoy life as a young student because you're a long time dead, basically. Also, it's from back when only men got to have an education, and there's a verse in there about the 'friendly' women who have made the student's lives better. I am all O.o that this is still a thing. Maybe they skip that verse, I dunno. And I won't know either cos it's all in Latin anyway.

University traditions are weird. *eyes silly hat*

( PinkCollapse )

Last night I downloaded all the gregorian electronica. All of it. Yep. I am a child of the 90s and I am not ashamed. Bite me.

Later today there will be letters after my name. Proper ones, like. No idea where I'll use them tbh. Right now I'm gonna do some soldering.

09:46 am - They should totally make a pirate game for this

Last night I went to the launch of A Forager's Treasury - not only written by someone I know and therefore more awesome than your average book, but also awesome in and of itself for its subject matter. Which is, basically, how to find food (ie wild plants) while out wandering around, and what to do with it when you find it. Unlike a lot of these sorts of books, it's a) New Zealand focused, and b) full of recipes that have been tested and found tasty, including one that's been a Top Secret family one until now. So yeah, you should buy it.

When I got home, I was fully expecting to find Dr Wheel lying on the floor wearing his Oculus Rift and cackling maniacally. Instead I found him on the bed wearing a cat blanket and feeling a bit seasick. So it turns out that it's realistic enough to give you motion sickness - which of course had nothing to do with how he'd spent over an hour playing with it instead of the recommended 10 minutes for the first go. Nope.

( So what is this thing anyway?Collapse )

However, the main aim isn't videogames. Dr Wheel has plans! Oooh, such plans! That I'm not allowed to brag about on the internet just yet. Boo. Also, I want a planetarium that I can fly around in. Please make me one, internet.

Tonight I have to go up to the uni and collect my silly hat. Apparently I can give it back after the ceremony without having to go back up to the uni - although in my dream last night I had to wait until there were only 5 people left at the Dean's reception before I could undress.

Question: What is a Dean's reception? Are they worth going to? I have a voucher for a free drink at it, is all.

09:09 am - Cats are for experimenting on, right?

ZOMG it's graduation week! Where I get to pick up my strangely meaningless piece of paper that says "I've got qualifications." I think it feels like that because the learning is all *points* back there and the application is all *points again* over there, and this bit is quite removed from any of that, and mostly just a ritual. However, that won't stop me framing it and hanging it on the wall next to Dr Wheel's one, nope. Or posting pictures of me in a silly hat. Because, well, you have to really, don't you?

I won't be doing the parade though - seems to me that's mostly for the folks who are graduating with their friends, and since most of the folks I started with graduated 2 years ago, I can't think of anyone I'd like to parade with. I think I'd feel a bit silly tbh..

( In which we give drugs to the catsCollapse )

Meanwhile, last night I had a sex dream about Daryl from The Walking Dead. I think this means I win. Seems that in my headcanon, he is (or, um.. was) a virgin. O.o

Also, Dr Wheel has had a developer version of the Oculus Rift on pre-order for a while. This morning it arrived. I suspect that this means I won't be seeing much of him for the next little while, other than the occasional burst of maniacal laughter from the geek room and periodic offers of "Here, try this!" I am excite!

09:33 am

The cats are winning. This morning:

Me: Hey, you're only cuddling me so you can reach the cat, right?
Him: *innocent look* No, I was cuddling you and then saw the cat.

A likely story. Also, I caught them sort-of sharing a chair. So that we-hate-each-other-so-you-have-to-grease-us-both-up game is up. Hah.

( Meanwhile, on a more serious note, possibly triggering IDKCollapse )

So, um. Maybe capoeira? Although, I get the impression that that's the realm of 20 year old boys - which would be aesthetically pleasing but I'd probably end up being their granny mascot or something.

Heh. The trials and tribulations of a frustrated adagio fan.

PS Hyperbole and a Half is back. It's worth reading.

09:45 am - Whiskers!

I have a chin hair.

There are arseholes some people on the internet who would use this as evidence that at 43, I am clearly about to become a hideous old hag because that's what happens to women as they age. However, internet arseholes people, I have news for you.

I have had this hair since I was 17.

( It's quite a nice hairCollapse )

It's taking a bit of getting used to for me, this recent trend for young men to grow beards. Or, um.. to try to. *cough*

So anyway, I've decided to stick with the beginner handbalancing. It contained new information that will be useful, and it's a small class (3 of us) so plenty of contact time. Also, the others are both advanced beginners too, not raw beginners, so the level is probably about right. Win!

The Criminology guy turned out to be one of those folks who looks at you expectantly and says nothing, and I had this weird response to that by basically, well.. babbling. I did manage to extract the information I needed, but left feeling like a right wally and as if I never want to see that guy again. It's been ages since I did that. WTF?

Finally, I am succumbing to the Cute of the Kitties. They have stopped being little arseholes to each other and are now working on teamtagging us with cuteness. Thus, there were two cats in/on/under our bed last night. I suspect an evil plot.

09:44 am - Oh what a difference one evening makes

I am fast coming to the conclusion that Derpy the Persian is either really, really thick - like maybe half his brain is missing in some bizarre squashy-faced space-creation exercise - or he's extremely Machiavellian. I haven't worked it out yet.

What I do know is that the tables have turned almost entirely from the previous evening. Also that every time I see the little orange blighter, the first words out of my mouth are "Oh god you're ugly!" and then I feel sorry for him and pat him.

( Master of political manoeuvring or rocks in the head - you decideCollapse )

Joking aside, Derpy is really ugly. And when Dr Wheel was bathing him, he was having trouble breathing. I have issues with the breeding of animals till they're so deformed they don't function properly, and I think Derpy's an example of where that's gone too far. Poor little bugger. *pats him some more* Oh shit..

Today at lunchtime I'm going to see the postgrad coordinator for Criminology up at Vic. He's apparently an expert in evolutionary psychology as it applies to criminal behaviour. Unfortunately I've been unable to access any of his work. As you know, I take evo psych with a grain of salt, but I'm the first to admit that that's because my experience of it has all been laypeople trying to use it to justify traditional gender roles that are disadvantageous to me personally, and I've never encountered it as an actual academic discipline. I will try not to let this colour my view.

But I did dream about him. In my dream he was a raving hippie with a house so full of plants that you couldn't move in it, and a dodgy way of avoiding actually talking about anything.

Hopefully it'll go better than that, eh?

09:13 am - Warning: this post contains poo

So Mum Wheel is off on the Great World Tour of 2013. Or, at least, I know she's going to Ireland and the Netherlands, and they are on the other side of the world, therefore it'll be at least half of a world tour.

Anyway, she has cats. Two of them. And we volunteered to look after them for the month she'll be away. Last night she brought them around, along with food and litter boxes and various cat paraphernalia. I am assuming they'll become famous in my part of the internet over the next month, right? So we might as well start now.

( Introducing.. well.. one of themCollapse )

I suspect this month will have more cat photos than usual in it. And possibly some cursing.

But it is nice to have one friendly cat? Even if he is being a dick to the other one.

10:04 am - I need a handbalancing icon

So on Friday I emailed DoomBoy and asked him to give my routine a good hard kick up the arse. I've been struggling with feeling like I'm not making a lot of progress, and that's caused my motivation to suffer, to the point where I've skipped the odd day. I know it's coming up to the dark time of year (and oh god is it dark out there today!), which is always harder to get off your arse in. Or it is for me, anyway. I figured revisiting goals and changing things around a bit might help.

I'm aware that when you're always operating right at the extent of your ability, lack of progress is a big mental challenge. But lately, I've felt I've just been going through the motions and not really pushing myself. So imagine my surprise when..

( Pancakes!Collapse )

In other news, the YoT has decided to give some circus stuff a go. He was inspired by a post-Fidels session on Friday in which people ended up rolling around on the floor doing party tricks (this happens surprisingly often) and wanted to do something that will make him both stronger and more flexible. So he signed up for one of the 'try it all' courses to see if there's anything there that inspires him to keep doing it. It'll be interesting to see how they cope with someone so big.

Meanwhile, I've been reading epic fantasy. The whole bit: swords, sorcery, battles, horses, evil Dark Lords trying to take over the world. Namely, Blood Song, which has been compared with Name of the Wind, although it's not a comparison I'd make. It's a good story, though it's independently published and the editing (particularly grammatical) errors are a bit jarring. But the trilogy's been picked up by Penguin so the rest should be better edited. Now I've started the Wheel of Time series. We'll see how far I get before I get bored with swords.

Oh, and I am kind of over soldering for the time being. Luckily, I only have a little bit of it left to do. And I'm way better at it than I was when I started! Brainfart loom part 2 status: nearly complete. One more afternoon and it'll be wired and ready to go.

09:49 am - Perspective altering moment

So yesterday I was in the gym doing my handstands, and there were these two guys staring at me. This isn't unusual - it seems few folks in this particular gym do much inversion type work, and whenever I do it I get funny looks. Often from people who are busy making pretzels of themselves in the stretch zone, weirdly enough. Huh. So anyway, these guys were staring at me, and next thing I know they asked if I minded if they joined me.

( Turns out they are yoga dudesCollapse )

Meanwhile, what do you think of this? PopSci article entitled "Is ecstasy safer when it's purer?" Propaganda? Balanced? Worthwhile? Stupid? It came in for some critique on the internet yesterday, and I'm curious what other people think.

And finally, in Reasons To Love Dr Wheel #217:

09:27 am - I am not ashamed, and my family are a bunch of enablers

Fun fact of the day: the 1st of May is the anniversary of the founding of the Illuminati. Back in Ye Olden Tymes, these folks were not so much with the shadowy world-domination scheming they are credited with today, they were apparently more about undermining the Roman Catholic church's stranglehold on public life, promoting scientific thought, and supporting the education of women. I am down with the original Illuminati. I am also down with sharing my birthday with it.

So much so, that I named my Kindle after its founder, Adam Weishaupt. Imagine my glee to discover that the headquarters of the Grey Wardens - the shadowy secret society that defends Thedas from the darkspawn in Dragon Age, is also named after this guy. There's much debate over whether this is a coincidence or not. Knowing as much as I do about this world, and its creation being developed from the idea of subverting fantasy tropes using themes from our own world, I think not. I think it's neat, though - and that kind of little detail is the sort of thing that makes me love it so much.

( Displaying my bootyCollapse )

For Happy:

09:14 am - Circumnavigating the sun, LIKE A BOSS!

Today, I am 43. That's PRIME! And you know what's even cooler about it? Dr Wheel is 31, which is also prime. And if you're into numerology, you can add our ages together, and then keep adding numbers till you get to 2, which is also prime. Together, we are METAPRIME!

So I fully expect this to be a prime year for us. Yup. This dude dares you to disagree:

grist

09:31 am

Last night when I got home I Ate All The Things. Then I crashed out at 8:30pm, and woke up this morning at 4:30am. These things combined are generally a warning to check in with myself, since normally I eat and sleep, well.. normally.

No idea what's going on tbh. I have no reason that I can think of to be stressing out. Quite the opposite, in fact. So this is the part where I give myself a slap and say "Get your shit together" because I can't think of anything else to do.

( On to the next thingCollapse )

Maybe. But I like to think it's part of my charm. Of course, the faculty folks might just think I'm an upstart and tell me to piss off. Thoughts from those who've been there?

Um, so, yeah. That non-academic rest period didn't last very long, did it?

08:57 am - I get a lot done when I'm being antisocial

We were supposed to go to Castlepoint this weekend, but I was feeling like Not Being Social after my whirlwind week of trying to charm strangers and come across as intelligent, and Dr Wheel was feeling laid low after having a flu shot, so we flagged the destination party in favour of home comfort and people we know well. It was the right choice.

TBH, I'm not sure how I feel about destination parties. It kind of obliges you to commit a lot more time and money to helping someone celebrate than you normally would - which is fine if it's a rare event to celebrate something Super Extra Special - but it also excludes those who haven't the resources to get to the destination, and when every event is a destination one, it also starts to feel like an unnecessary pressure. I want to support and celebrate X good thing, but I don't want to dedicate several hundred dollars and 2-3 days of my time to it on a regular basis, you know? Does that make me a bad person?

Anyway, we stayed home and it was just what the doctor ordered.

( TutuingCollapse )

This weekend I also planted bulbs. Thank you, Northern Hemisphere folks, for posting pictures of spring all over the show. It reminded me that if one wants tulips and daffodils in spring, one has to put them in the ground in late autumn. I fully expect glorious displays in a couple of months' time. You hear me, contrary pot garden? *glares at contrary pot garden* This is what I want:

10:21 am - Achievement Unlocked!

Finally!

After all these years of trying, I have finally managed to get into happyinmotion's pants.

( Proof!Collapse )

*cough*

03:37 pm - Submission on Psychoactive Substances Bill, draft 1

I know only a couple of you are that interested, but I'd be keen for feedback. I have till next Wednesday to get it down.

( Blah blah blah Kneecap HillCollapse )

The Bill in all its glory.