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lotus0kidAh, well, now I know where I'm going by the end of this month, which is nice. I have an aunt who's willing to put me up for a while. This will be interesting- it's a pretty big house she's got, but I'll be sharing with her, two of her sons, and another cousin I haven't seen since he moved to California as a boy. I'll be sharing a bathroom with him, actually. So, yeah, nice to have that somewhat settled, even if it makes the looming loss of my childhood home all the more concrete.
Anyway, I have a meme! From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zombres:
Respond to this post with "Interests, please" and I'll pick seven of your LJ interests for you to explain in a new post.
carbon leaf
This is a band who... I feel guilty for not listening to more often. I have their album, Indian Summer. Bought it ages ago. And I barely listen to it. In any case, they have a cool sound that Wikipedia describes as “Celtic/Bluegrass rock.” Here’s probably my favorite song of theirs: This is My Song. Very clever, interesting lyrics here, besides being a rollicking example of this so-called “Celtic/Bluegrass rock.”
dance hall crashers
Another band that I also don’t listen to nearly as much as I used to. They have a good ska/rock sound, which I always appreciate, and female lead and back-up vocalists, which makes for some really fun harmonies. Example: Next to You.
no reservations
Full title: No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It’s one of the two Travel Channel shows I catch when I can. I like it because Tony gets to experience a ton of places in ways that I never would, even if I went there myself. And Tony is a sarcastic bastard who is nonetheless capable of appreciating the general awesomeness of life and communicating it to his audience in a highly entertaining way. I’d say this is a typical scene from most any episode. Street food is a big part of No Reservations.
operation swashbuckle
Ahh haha, I had a feeling this one would be chosen. Operation Swashbuckle is a DVD video diary made by a trio of performers that I know from the Maryland Renaissance Festival: Hack & Slash (and Todd). It features their adventures while doing performances at various U.S. military bases in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. Hack and Slash are a comedy sword-fighting duo, and Todd is a juggler/acrobat-type known as the World’s Greatest Trickster. Basically they’re a bunch of dorks. Extremely entertaining dorks. Here’s Slash doing the traditional audience call. You know, this reminds me, I had a Hack & Slash bumper sticker on the car that got wrecked in March. I have to remember to ask them for a replacement at this year’s Rennfest.
ETA: Another vid, this one with a song they actually sing on the Operation Swashbuckle DVD.
taijitsu
Not long after I finished my required half-credit of gym class in high school, I started taking taijitsu classes at one of the local martial arts schools. It was a really great school that taught extremely valuable self-defense techniques I’m proud and comforted to know. Also, since the school had classes for all ages, there were really solid lessons on respect, honesty, perseverance, courage- all that good stuff. There was a student creed we recited and everything (I can still recite it, actually). I made it to first degree red belt while I was there, which is two levels below black. I hope someday I’ll be in a position to earn my black belt.
the real tuesday weld
One more band. Kind of an odd one- you know you’re out there when iTunes labels your music’s genre as “Unclassifiable” (I would be proud of that, personally). Here’s my favorite song off their album The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid, L’Amour Et La Morte.
terry pratchett
Oh, Terry Pratchett. He’s my favorite author ever, that’s all. Through the Discworld series he manages to create a fantastic and unique universe WHILE getting at the heart of our own crazy existence right here. And he does it in such a humorous, intelligent, clear-headed way... it’s just astounding. I first read Good Omens in high school, and just knew I had to get my hands on more of this Pratchett guy’s work. So I started devouring the Discworld series, and thank goodness I did. I really don’t doubt it’s made me a better reader, and it’s probably made me a better person too. I'll be reading his books for the rest of my life.
Also, a quick rec if, like me, you'd like an entertaining distraction.zarla has gamely screencapped and written commentary for a variety of video games and yaoi anime films. I've spent most of today reading her yaoi commentaries, and they are pretty priceless, while also being a good education in that whole weird seme/uke thing they've got going on over there. Quite honestly, I find the seme/uke stereotype kind of disturbing. Not to mention lazy and unimaginative on the part of writers who utilize it. It seems obvious that that kind of relationship only works in an entirely fictional world, and it worries me to think that there are fans of it who don't realize that. I'm just hoping like hell my own work is free of those seriously effed-up relationship dynamics.
Anyway, I have a meme! From
zombres:Respond to this post with "Interests, please" and I'll pick seven of your LJ interests for you to explain in a new post.
carbon leaf
This is a band who... I feel guilty for not listening to more often. I have their album, Indian Summer. Bought it ages ago. And I barely listen to it. In any case, they have a cool sound that Wikipedia describes as “Celtic/Bluegrass rock.” Here’s probably my favorite song of theirs: This is My Song. Very clever, interesting lyrics here, besides being a rollicking example of this so-called “Celtic/Bluegrass rock.”
dance hall crashers
Another band that I also don’t listen to nearly as much as I used to. They have a good ska/rock sound, which I always appreciate, and female lead and back-up vocalists, which makes for some really fun harmonies. Example: Next to You.
no reservations
Full title: No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It’s one of the two Travel Channel shows I catch when I can. I like it because Tony gets to experience a ton of places in ways that I never would, even if I went there myself. And Tony is a sarcastic bastard who is nonetheless capable of appreciating the general awesomeness of life and communicating it to his audience in a highly entertaining way. I’d say this is a typical scene from most any episode. Street food is a big part of No Reservations.
operation swashbuckle
Ahh haha, I had a feeling this one would be chosen. Operation Swashbuckle is a DVD video diary made by a trio of performers that I know from the Maryland Renaissance Festival: Hack & Slash (and Todd). It features their adventures while doing performances at various U.S. military bases in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. Hack and Slash are a comedy sword-fighting duo, and Todd is a juggler/acrobat-type known as the World’s Greatest Trickster. Basically they’re a bunch of dorks. Extremely entertaining dorks. Here’s Slash doing the traditional audience call. You know, this reminds me, I had a Hack & Slash bumper sticker on the car that got wrecked in March. I have to remember to ask them for a replacement at this year’s Rennfest.
ETA: Another vid, this one with a song they actually sing on the Operation Swashbuckle DVD.
taijitsu
Not long after I finished my required half-credit of gym class in high school, I started taking taijitsu classes at one of the local martial arts schools. It was a really great school that taught extremely valuable self-defense techniques I’m proud and comforted to know. Also, since the school had classes for all ages, there were really solid lessons on respect, honesty, perseverance, courage- all that good stuff. There was a student creed we recited and everything (I can still recite it, actually). I made it to first degree red belt while I was there, which is two levels below black. I hope someday I’ll be in a position to earn my black belt.
the real tuesday weld
One more band. Kind of an odd one- you know you’re out there when iTunes labels your music’s genre as “Unclassifiable” (I would be proud of that, personally). Here’s my favorite song off their album The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid, L’Amour Et La Morte.
terry pratchett
Oh, Terry Pratchett. He’s my favorite author ever, that’s all. Through the Discworld series he manages to create a fantastic and unique universe WHILE getting at the heart of our own crazy existence right here. And he does it in such a humorous, intelligent, clear-headed way... it’s just astounding. I first read Good Omens in high school, and just knew I had to get my hands on more of this Pratchett guy’s work. So I started devouring the Discworld series, and thank goodness I did. I really don’t doubt it’s made me a better reader, and it’s probably made me a better person too. I'll be reading his books for the rest of my life.
Also, a quick rec if, like me, you'd like an entertaining distraction.
zarla has gamely screencapped and written commentary for a variety of video games and yaoi anime films. I've spent most of today reading her yaoi commentaries, and they are pretty priceless, while also being a good education in that whole weird seme/uke thing they've got going on over there. Quite honestly, I find the seme/uke stereotype kind of disturbing. Not to mention lazy and unimaginative on the part of writers who utilize it. It seems obvious that that kind of relationship only works in an entirely fictional world, and it worries me to think that there are fans of it who don't realize that. I'm just hoping like hell my own work is free of those seriously effed-up relationship dynamics.
