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Reading meme lalala.
Jan. 11th, 2012 01:06 pmBold the ones you've read COMPLETELY, italicize the ones you've read part of. Watching the movie doesn't count. Abridged versions don't count either.
( snip )
I pretty much never start books and don't finish them, so the italicized ones just mean that I'm in the middle of reading them (albeit very slowly in some cases, since I read a lot of books at once).
( snip )
I pretty much never start books and don't finish them, so the italicized ones just mean that I'm in the middle of reading them (albeit very slowly in some cases, since I read a lot of books at once).
State of the Iddy.
Dec. 24th, 2011 07:21 pmDespite the fact that I'm not a fan of a lot of the things LJ has done/is doing, I don't plan on quitting the site. That said! A large portion of my flist has moved over to DW, and so I'm going to start doing more stuff there too. For most entries, I'll probably post to DW and then crosspost to LJ, with commenting enabled in both places. As far as communities I participate in, I'll likely follow them wherever they go. As for the ones I mod: ![[livejournal.com profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
whatnancysaid and wickedchouette will stay where they are for the time being, though when comm porting goes up I might see about crossposting there too...? Either way I don't think it'll be a huge deal because neither of them have big memberbases, so I can basically do whatever I feel like there. dramadramaduck is still in the process of deciding whether or not to move but all y'all who are members/mods there know the story so I don't need to talk about that here.
K I THINK THAT'S IT.
whatnancysaid and wickedchouette will stay where they are for the time being, though when comm porting goes up I might see about crossposting there too...? Either way I don't think it'll be a huge deal because neither of them have big memberbases, so I can basically do whatever I feel like there. dramadramaduck is still in the process of deciding whether or not to move but all y'all who are members/mods there know the story so I don't need to talk about that here.K I THINK THAT'S IT.
Testing, testing, 1 2 3.
Dec. 24th, 2011 02:30 pmJuuuuuust testing this cross-posting stuff-- this entry is originally being made from my DreamWidth account (I'm iddylu there).
Writer's Block: Bah Humbug Day!
Dec. 21st, 2011 12:56 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
... Huh. I'm wondering if this Writer's Block was chosen for today on purpose.
... Huh. I'm wondering if this Writer's Block was chosen for today on purpose.
Iceland- Day 9
Dec. 19th, 2011 09:30 pmOH HEY REMEMBER ME? I completely checked out on putting up an entry about my last day in Iceland. Granted, I pretty much got up and then went straight to the airport, so this is mostly going to be an excuse to show off pictures of Greenland and Canada that I took from the plane.
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And that's all! After getting into Logan I fooled around for a while waiting to be picked up (there was a cool kinetic sculpture near the baggage checks that amused me for a while). Then we went to IHOP and I regaled my parents with stories. Whoooo.
( image-heavy! )
And that's all! After getting into Logan I fooled around for a while waiting to be picked up (there was a cool kinetic sculpture near the baggage checks that amused me for a while). Then we went to IHOP and I regaled my parents with stories. Whoooo.
Iceland- Day 8
Nov. 8th, 2011 12:19 pmLike my train trip in April, I'm ending up finishing these entries days after I've already returned home.
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I'll put an entry up for my last day (I've been lazy; the pictures haven't even hit Facebook yet) later today or maybe tomorrow. ... Probably. I'll do it eventually, anyway.
( image-heavy! )
I'll put an entry up for my last day (I've been lazy; the pictures haven't even hit Facebook yet) later today or maybe tomorrow. ... Probably. I'll do it eventually, anyway.
Iceland- Day 7
Nov. 4th, 2011 12:16 pmYesterday was my favorite day so far. I went on a Super Jeep tour that took us off-road and into places that most people can't go-- namely, right up to the foot of Eyjafjallajökull in the Þórsmörk valley.
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And so ends my favorite day in Iceland!
( image-heavy! )
And so ends my favorite day in Iceland!
Iceland- Day 6
Nov. 3rd, 2011 01:27 pmMaybe for the rest of my entries I'll just do them the day after, so that I don't have to think about saying up late to write them up.
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So, like I said, slow day. Today's entry will likely come tomorrow!
( image-heavy! )
So, like I said, slow day. Today's entry will likely come tomorrow!
Iceland- Day 5
Nov. 2nd, 2011 01:17 pmSorry this is late! After uploading ALL OF THE PICUTRES (ALL OF THEM) to Facebook last night, I was too tired to write up a journal entry, especially since yesterday was another pretty busy day. I'm glad that my camera was behaving and allowing me to take a buttload of pictures, but that did mean that it took ages to get them all online.
( image-heavy! )
And so that was yesterday! After the tour I went down near the Old Harbour area to have dinner (at Thai Reykjavík again, of course), and then I went into the visitor's center and got an Eyjafjallajökull t-shirt for Jenny (she would probably never wear it, but whatever). Then I went back to the hostel and began my battle to upload ALL THESE PICTURES.
( image-heavy! )
And so that was yesterday! After the tour I went down near the Old Harbour area to have dinner (at Thai Reykjavík again, of course), and then I went into the visitor's center and got an Eyjafjallajökull t-shirt for Jenny (she would probably never wear it, but whatever). Then I went back to the hostel and began my battle to upload ALL THESE PICTURES.
Iceland- Day 4
Nov. 1st, 2011 01:00 amBusy day today!
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We got back a little less than an hour ago, and I'm tiiiiiiiired. Going to take a shower and head to bed! Don't be surprised if my entry tomorrow starts out "So I woke up at noon..."
( image-heavy! )
We got back a little less than an hour ago, and I'm tiiiiiiiired. Going to take a shower and head to bed! Don't be surprised if my entry tomorrow starts out "So I woke up at noon..."
Iceland- Day 3
Oct. 31st, 2011 12:32 amAnother slow day today! It's Sunday, so the buses were on a reduced schedule. In the morning, I went down to an area called Grandi to Elko Electronics, where I hoped I'd be able to get a memory card reader so I could transfer my pictures to my laptop. And surprise, I got one! It took a while to get back because I couldn't figure out what exactly the Sunday bus schedule was, but I went back into the store and they let me use a computer to check the bus website and figure it out. (Apparently the Sunday schedules are the same as the holiday schedules, but they don't say that on the signs posted near the bus stops or on the brochures.)
Can I just say that I love the Reykjavík public bus system? It's all very well-organized, and even though the route maps and such are all in Icelandic, they're still fairly easy to read and figure out. The drivers I've encountered have also all been very nice and helpful; if I'm not sure what stop I need or what bus to catch, they've always either had an answer for me or been able to radio someone else and ask them.
Anyway, after that, I went back to the hostel to check and see if the memory card reader worked, and it did! So here are my pictures from the past two days before I jump into today.
( image-heavy! )
And that was basically it-- I got back to the hostel a little earlier than usual and just did some stuff here (the northern lights tour was cancelled again!). And now I'm tired so I'm going to finish this up and go to bed.
Can I just say that I love the Reykjavík public bus system? It's all very well-organized, and even though the route maps and such are all in Icelandic, they're still fairly easy to read and figure out. The drivers I've encountered have also all been very nice and helpful; if I'm not sure what stop I need or what bus to catch, they've always either had an answer for me or been able to radio someone else and ask them.
Anyway, after that, I went back to the hostel to check and see if the memory card reader worked, and it did! So here are my pictures from the past two days before I jump into today.
( image-heavy! )
And that was basically it-- I got back to the hostel a little earlier than usual and just did some stuff here (the northern lights tour was cancelled again!). And now I'm tired so I'm going to finish this up and go to bed.
Iceland- Day 2
Oct. 30th, 2011 12:22 amThe wireless connection is being weird and the French and British high school groups have turned the lounge into a rave party, so clearly this is the best possible time for me to write up this entry.
( cut because this is long-ish )
( cut because this is long-ish )
Iceland- Day 1
Oct. 28th, 2011 10:05 pmFirst of all, I'm starting this post by saying I wish LJ Juggler would work I'm 99% sure I forgot my camera cord, so while I'm taking lots of pictures I won't actually be able to upload them until I get home. But anyway, I arrived today, and even though I've been doing a lot of resting I'm still surprised that I'm not more tired than I am. Because my four-and-a-half-hour flight left Boston at 9:30PM and arrived in Keflavík at 6:20AM (ten minutes early, whoooo), I obviously didn't get much sleep. The bus ride to Reykjavík took about forty minutes, but I wasn't able to actually check into my room at Reykjavík City Hostel until 2PM. Luckily, they let me store my suitcase and hang around using whatever hostel facilities that I wanted, so I sat and read/used the free wireless for a while, then opted to walk a ways towards the center of the city to find breakfast instead of just eating it there. (I had yoghurt and a chocolate croissant at a convenience store, which was ~*obviously*~ super healthy.)
I didn't really do too much walking because I was (... and still am, sob) fairly fatigued; the city center is about a half hour on foot from the hostel, and I only walked about fifteen minutes each way. On the way back from breakfast I sat and read on some rocks near the ocean, which was pretty cool (and actually not too cold because I was wearing a sweatshirt and sat on my coat). After going back and sitting in the hostel lounge for a couple more hours I bought a bus pass and rode around the city for a while. I was intending to go to the BSÍ (the main bus terminal) to turn in my tour voucher for tickets, but I accidentally missed my stop and stayed on for a bit longer before switching buses and doubling back. This was actually pretty cool, because I got to see more of the city and eavesdrop on gossiping Icelandic teenagers coming back from school (does it count as eavesdropping if you can only understand a little bit of what they're saying?). After that I could finally check into my room, where I met my current roommates: a college student/National Guardsman from Pennsylvania named Lacey, and an older German woman whose name I can't remember at the moment. They were both pretty cool and I talked to Lacey for quite a while before doing more mundane stuff like showering and getting online and reading (by the way, I started and finished the book Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman; it was amazing and I highly recommend it).
After deciding to skip both lunch and dinner because I was too tired to go walking to buy some (sorry, Mom), I waited outside the hostel for about half an hour, waiting for the pickup to my northern lights tour... only to find out from some boys that it had actually been cancelled due to the overcast weather. Oops. Probably should have checked with the hostel desk to see if it was still going before heading outside. The good news is that I was not only able to reschedule it (for tomorrow night), but I was also able to reschedule the glacier climb tour (for October 31st), which I had thought had been cancelled for good instead of just for tomorrow. This is probably a good thing, because it means I won't be staying up until after midnight tonight only to get up at butt o'clock the next day.
Anyway, that's... basically all I did. I realize that that was probably pretty boring to read if you actually got through it all. Hopefully days where I actually do stuff will be more exciting! Until then, go read Pigeon English.
I didn't really do too much walking because I was (... and still am, sob) fairly fatigued; the city center is about a half hour on foot from the hostel, and I only walked about fifteen minutes each way. On the way back from breakfast I sat and read on some rocks near the ocean, which was pretty cool (and actually not too cold because I was wearing a sweatshirt and sat on my coat). After going back and sitting in the hostel lounge for a couple more hours I bought a bus pass and rode around the city for a while. I was intending to go to the BSÍ (the main bus terminal) to turn in my tour voucher for tickets, but I accidentally missed my stop and stayed on for a bit longer before switching buses and doubling back. This was actually pretty cool, because I got to see more of the city and eavesdrop on gossiping Icelandic teenagers coming back from school (does it count as eavesdropping if you can only understand a little bit of what they're saying?). After that I could finally check into my room, where I met my current roommates: a college student/National Guardsman from Pennsylvania named Lacey, and an older German woman whose name I can't remember at the moment. They were both pretty cool and I talked to Lacey for quite a while before doing more mundane stuff like showering and getting online and reading (by the way, I started and finished the book Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman; it was amazing and I highly recommend it).
After deciding to skip both lunch and dinner because I was too tired to go walking to buy some (sorry, Mom), I waited outside the hostel for about half an hour, waiting for the pickup to my northern lights tour... only to find out from some boys that it had actually been cancelled due to the overcast weather. Oops. Probably should have checked with the hostel desk to see if it was still going before heading outside. The good news is that I was not only able to reschedule it (for tomorrow night), but I was also able to reschedule the glacier climb tour (for October 31st), which I had thought had been cancelled for good instead of just for tomorrow. This is probably a good thing, because it means I won't be staying up until after midnight tonight only to get up at butt o'clock the next day.
Anyway, that's... basically all I did. I realize that that was probably pretty boring to read if you actually got through it all. Hopefully days where I actually do stuff will be more exciting! Until then, go read Pigeon English.
One of the books I'm reading right now is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ismael Beah. Discounting the fictionalization claims-- I honestly haven't looked into them much, so I don't really have an opinion on how accurate or inaccurate Beah's account is-- it really makes me sad to see some of the things that reviewers (particularly at Amazon.com) are saying about him, and child soldiers in general.
"Beah should be despised, not "addressing the U.N." True, he may have "forgiven himself" in some feel-good workshop, but I for one haven't forgiven him. Look, if they gave him a Kalashnikov when he was 7 or 8 and bullied him into shooting up the town, that'd be one thing. But 15? That's old enough to know the difference between right and wrong in any culture. Murderer."
Even excluding the fact that he was thirteen when he was forcibly recruited, not fifteen, I just think it's really impossible to make a judgement like that when you've never been in the situation yourself. Imagine that you grew up in a war-torn country, and were given a gun, and essentially told that your choices are to kill or be killed. On top of that, your head is filled with horrible imagery of what the people you'll be fighting have done (or supposedly have done, depending on the situation), and you're told that that sort of thing happened to your parents and families, and that you need to avenge their deaths. Can you really and truly say that your response to that situation would be "No, killing is wrong; do whatever you want with me but I refuse to fight for you"? I can't, and I'm a serious, serious pacifist who is against the death penalty in any circumstance and can't imagine being able to kill somebody.
"Beah should be despised, not "addressing the U.N." True, he may have "forgiven himself" in some feel-good workshop, but I for one haven't forgiven him. Look, if they gave him a Kalashnikov when he was 7 or 8 and bullied him into shooting up the town, that'd be one thing. But 15? That's old enough to know the difference between right and wrong in any culture. Murderer."
Even excluding the fact that he was thirteen when he was forcibly recruited, not fifteen, I just think it's really impossible to make a judgement like that when you've never been in the situation yourself. Imagine that you grew up in a war-torn country, and were given a gun, and essentially told that your choices are to kill or be killed. On top of that, your head is filled with horrible imagery of what the people you'll be fighting have done (or supposedly have done, depending on the situation), and you're told that that sort of thing happened to your parents and families, and that you need to avenge their deaths. Can you really and truly say that your response to that situation would be "No, killing is wrong; do whatever you want with me but I refuse to fight for you"? I can't, and I'm a serious, serious pacifist who is against the death penalty in any circumstance and can't imagine being able to kill somebody.
"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue (and ended up destroying entire cultures).
Oct. 10th, 2011 11:44 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
Can I just say "everywhere"? If I chose one place I'd end up thinking of tons more I'd want to visit just as much, anyway.
If I really have to pick just one I choose the Falkland Islands.
Can I just say "everywhere"? If I chose one place I'd end up thinking of tons more I'd want to visit just as much, anyway.
If I really have to pick just one I choose the Falkland Islands.
Questions.
Oct. 10th, 2011 01:43 am[Error: unknown template qotd]
I think the world is too big for that. But I also think that things can (will?) be a lot better than they are now.
I think the world is too big for that. But I also think that things can (will?) be a lot better than they are now.
I just poked around on AFC for a little while. Every time I go there I'm hit with a gigantic wave of nostalgia.
Delicious changes hands and deletes all old bookmarks unless you opted in to a transfer
Sep. 27th, 2011 06:59 pmAm I the only one who didn't know about this until it happened? I didn't get any emails and saw no indication on the site that this was going down.
If you're like me and you lost a shit ton of bookmarks/content, you might still be able to export and download them here (that feature was supposed to end on the 23rd just like the transfer option, but it doesn't seem to have yet). You'll get a list of all your links, but they won't be organized by tag or anything.
If you're like me and you lost a shit ton of bookmarks/content, you might still be able to export and download them here (that feature was supposed to end on the 23rd just like the transfer option, but it doesn't seem to have yet). You'll get a list of all your links, but they won't be organized by tag or anything.
