![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
xannish's Friends PageLog in Create a LiveJournal Account Learn more
| You are viewing xannish's Friends Page Log in Create a LiveJournal Account Learn more | Explore LJ: Life Entertainment Music Culture News & Politics Technology |
 | |
|
<3 Hey, now you can find "Kaja & Phil Foglio" on Facebook, as well as "Girl Genius Webcomic" and I'm working on DeviantArt...--Kaja <3  |
|
| |
| |||||||
|
I have to confess, rather than being awed at the marvel of technology and engineering displayed here, I think the world's largest cruise ship is creepy and grotesque. Also check out Treehugger's take on the "greenness" of this behemoth. There are some computer-generated pictures of it in the concept and planning stage here. If it's really like this on board, I have to wonder what the point is of being on a boat at all?
|
|||||||
| |||||
|
Life, it is busy. Friday night was anime night at Amanda and Alasdair's. Friends, kitty, soft serve, anime, and Thai martial arts movies! Yay! On the down side, the Quest thing I thought would be really fun for Amanda and Alasdair is turning into a hassle. I feel really bad, because they're essentially doing me a favor. If I have to drive them back that night and miss Initiation, I will. But I really hope I don't have to.
|
|||||
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
<3 I finally got that Facebook page in the loop, so...uh... Find us on Facebook! (We're "Girl Genius Webcomic")--Kaja <3 |
|
| |
| |
| |||
I found the discussion of new interpretations of the 'goddess' figurines interesting. From the catalogue of the exhibition, Chapter titled 'THE FIGURINES OF OLD EUROPE': "The Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru figurine set has been interpreted as a cult complex, and the most accessible English language account calls it “The Council of the Goddess.” Similar terms and explanations are offered in the original Romanian reports... (p. 115) One could, of course, join the excavators of Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru and quickly find answers in the conventional understanding of prehistoric anthropomorphic figurines as goddesses and gods of cults and religions, or of ceremonies of fertility and fecundity. This indeed is how the late and widely followed scholar Marija Gimbutas scripted her responses to very similar questions. In a series of influential books, she laid out sweeping interpretations on a level that encompassed not only countries and continents, but even the very essence of being human... Over the past decade or so, intense research carried out by a number of scholars working independently has transformed the way in which figurines are studied and interpreted.7 Even before Gimbutas began to publish books on goddess rituals in Old Europe, some investigators questioned the reality of mother-goddess interpretations... (p. 117) A New Understanding It is one thing (and not an entirely brave or singularly worthwhile undertaking) to reveal the errors in traditional interpretations of Neolithic southeastern European figurines. It is quite another to produce a better understanding of those same objects. In a longer discussion presented elsewhere, I have offered one possibility. At the core of this new understanding, I redefined figurines in terms of what I recognize as their fundamental characteristics: They are miniature, they are representational, and they depict the human form. In this sense, I made no distinction among prehistoric, ancient, or modern miniature, anthropomorphic representations. I assumed (as is justified by our knowledge of human evolution) that the ability to make, use, and understand symbolic objects such as figurines is an ability that is shared by all modern humans and thus is a capability that connects you, me, Neolithic men, women, and children, and the Paleolithic painters of caves. In my work on the figurines of southeastern Europe from the Neolithic and Copper Age (6500–3500 cal. bc), I sought to understand what it was about these objects that would have made them succeed in their past functions (regardless of whether they were used as votives, toys, portraits, or the representation of divinities). In addition, I tried to understand what made them attractive to us in the present as objects for sale at auction, as material appropriate for exhibition in a museum, or as subjects for an academic essay such as the one that you are reading. Investigating a wide range of modern and historical objects that were miniature, I was intrigued to learn that contemporary psychological studies have shown that something very odd happens to the human mind when one handles or plays with miniature objects. Most simply put, when we focus our attention on miniature objects, we enter another world, one in which our perception of time is altered and in which our abilities of concentration are affected. In a well-known set of experiments, the psychologist Alton Delong showed that when human subjects were asked to imagine themselves in a world where everything was on a much smaller scale than everyday reality, or when they engaged in activities in smaller than normal environments, they thought that time had passed more quickly than in fact it had and they performed better in tasks requiring mental agility.16 Importantly, the subjects of these studies were not conscious of their altered experience of time or concentration. By following this line of argument—in other words, that things made miniature affect the ways in which people experience the world—I began to see Neolithic figurines, like those from Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru, in a new light. When the people of that Pre-Cucuteni community looked at their figurines, and when they placed the little bodies onto the little chairs, arranging (and rearranging) them into different scenes and settings, they were entering other worlds. It is entirely possible that these other worlds were spiritual, though I am not convinced that they were of the type that either Gimbutas or the excavators of Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru imagined. It is much more probable that the people who held these objects in their hands, who touched and saw them in their daily activities, were affected in other ways, most likely at a deeper, subconscious level. To understand these interactions and the stimulations effected by the miniature representations of bodies, we need to understand the world in which these people lived." (p. 122) |
|||
| |||||
|
安倍吉俊 ponders the failures of personal-savings self-help books (or at least one of them) Favourite quote (translated): "In the last minute of the audiobook, it said 'Pinching every last penny is definitely a waste of your life. Spending some extra money to save time is worthwhile.' But you just spent the last three hours yammering about how to pinch every last penny! Give me my three hours back!"
|
|||||
| |
| |
|
<3 zZzZzZzZzZz... Wha? What? Huh? It's December? ALREADY?! AUGH! (faints.) zZzZzZzZzZz... --Kaja <3 |
|
| |||||
|
Call for Submissions LITTLE BOY LOST: True Adventures of Men without Boyhoods Editor C. Michael Woodward is seeking submissions to Little Boy Lost (working title), an upcoming anthology by transsexual men on the longer-term psychosocial impact of transitioning from female to male. A note from the Editor ( Read more... ) SUBMISSION GUIDELINES ( Read more... ) About the Editor C. Michael Woodward is a writer, musician, speaker, consultant, political advisor, peer counsellor, and social justice advocate — in no particular order. He led the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance (SAGA) for more than five years and worked in variety of roles at Wingspan, southern Arizona’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgender community centre. Woodward currently serves as Co-Chair of the City of Tucson Commission on GLBT Issues and Chair of The University of Arizona President's LGBTQ Advisory Council. He is a former Board member of Female to Male International (FTMI) and is profiled on Lynn Conway's Successful Transmen, a prestigious website recognising leaders in the international Transgender community. Michael was a keynote speaker at the 2008 Southern Comfort Conference. Since 2003, Michael has presented training and information about LGBTQ and allied concerns to thousands of people across the country. In 2009, he formed lgbtQ&A Diversity & Inclusion Consulting, providing sexual orientation and gender identity cultural competency, best practices, and transition planning services to organisations and individuals nationwide. For booking information, contact michael@lgbtqa.com. In addition to more than a dozen how-to books on computer software, Woodward has published magazine articles, blogs, op-eds, and other writings on a variety of non-fiction topics. His latest book, Little Boy Lost: True Adventures of Men without Boyhoods, is currently in progress.
|
|||||
| |
| |
| |
tired
excited
okay