tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post4628846894432326128..comments2023-05-11T05:27:14.661-04:00Comments on Owl Reads: From Sea to Shining SeaOwlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129478506301722194noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-74140713388001162382011-08-02T08:32:05.368-04:002011-08-02T08:32:05.368-04:00... though mind you, nobody calls us that. Those a...... though mind you, nobody calls us that. Those are just our self-chosen usernames for various things. XDGilrandirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-44606557682598110732011-08-02T08:30:43.221-04:002011-08-02T08:30:43.221-04:00Re: aborigines> Because they tend to be low-tec...Re: aborigines> Because they tend to be low-tech, whereas people who have the ability to travel and conquer tend to be from (relatively) high-tech societies, and thus can easily overpower "the other" who are then painted as stupid savages because lol, they couldn't figure out gunpowder, lol lol lol. (I guess, off the top of my head.)<br /><br />Re: ancestors> Mom knows the story of her own family, and I think Doris looked up Dad's side in some sort of actual physical genealogy book, plus my grandparents (both sets) know their origin stories. Feel free to run with the manga idea and write something for it :P<br /><br />Re: parents> Now I'm tempted to have my mom call your mom and see what happens... XDDDDDDD<br /><br />Re: Shiny> It came about freshman year at HopSFA actually XD I went around chirping "shiny!" at everything as a descriptor (marbles? "ooh shiny!" chainmail bikini "shiiiiiiny~" fire "FIRE SHINY WAI WAI") and so that's what the HopSFA people started calling me. So that became the "interesting people" label, because a) HopSFA, JHAC, and the ACM were so damn incestuous, and b) everyone else (people I met in classes, other clubs, etc.) called me my regular name.<br /><br />Gilrandir came from high school. Actually probably middle school. My best friend and I were always book-crazy, and then we read LotR just in time for the movies to come out, so we hung around on LotR forums, we even started learning some Quenya (there are excellent online lesson books) and so she chose the name Elentiriel for herself, which means "star watcher" in Quenya, and I chose Gilrandir which means "star wanderer" in Sindarin. Actually we made full names of them - mine is Celebrinya Gilrandir (Silver-Maiden Star-Wanderer, I still use it for my e-mail if you've noticed XD) and I think hers was Elentiriel Morwen (Star-Watcher Dark-Lady).Gilrandirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-87306841794236798792011-07-30T23:37:00.174-04:002011-07-30T23:37:00.174-04:00@Kate
Ladyface, I’m counting on it. Btw, are you ...@Kate<br /><br />Ladyface, I’m counting on it. Btw, are you completely vegan now? I’ve been following some of the stuff you’re making and it looks sooo good.<br /><br />@Gilrandir<br /><br />I did get your comment. It’s like all blogging platforms have gone out of whack. Grrrr.<br /><br />Re: aborigines> Man, why does that happen like, everywhere? It’d be interesting to study.<br /><br />Re: ancestors> I laughed so hard when I read your summary. I had this image of a long line of Shinys (I know this is terrible of me) plonking their butts down and land and going “Mine.” And then staying there. And then becoming massively wealthy. And it was beautiful. And then I wanted an epic manga about the Jangs and Wangs, and the Jang son who has to adjust to a new house. How do you guys know so much about your genealogy? I tried asking my parents about mine and things get hazy starting with the grandparents. Probably because my dad went to boarding school when he was nine and wasn’t really around to hear the stories and my mom’s parents never really talked about China.<br /><br />Re: parents> I know! I do the voice thing too! Whenever I meet parents I’m all, halp halp LOVE ME PLZ. I think a lot of people do it. My mom gets all nervous when she talks to strangers on the phone in English. Since no strangers call our house in any other language I’m not really sure if it’s the language or the person.<br /><br />Re: Shiny> I’m touched that I’m in the interesting people group and a little sad at the same time because I can’t imagine you by any other name. Whenever I search for you in my phone/fbook I get confused because the first instinct is to type S. Then D. Were you Shiny in highschool? Actually, how did Shiny come about and who calls you Shiny?<br /><br />Actually where did Gilrandir come from?Owlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15129478506301722194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-72550091267386863052011-07-29T03:10:08.558-04:002011-07-29T03:10:08.558-04:00... dude, my comment disappeared again. I hope you...... dude, my comment disappeared again. I hope you got it, because I didn't save it. >_<<br /><br />Speaking of aborigines, I posted this on FB a while ago, dunno if you saw it at the time:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0okzIV9jCtw<br /><br />"Some dude riding his motorcycle along the coastal highway of Taiwan (I guess this is along the scenic/mountainous/sparsely settled east coast), with a camera strapped to his helmet. Set to Taiwanese aboriginal music."Gilrandirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-66295680371817844822011-07-29T00:25:21.025-04:002011-07-29T00:25:21.025-04:00I'll be home then. Can we please get... you kn...I'll be home then. Can we please get... you know the one restaurant (don't know how many identifying details you want me to give away heehee). I've been craving it but it doesn't feel right to go there without you! I'll ask my mom if she knows any sports docs. YAYKatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13928536342624338260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-13140431299857124442011-07-26T22:48:42.007-04:002011-07-26T22:48:42.007-04:00@Shiny
I blame blogger more, cause it def. made i...@Shiny<br /><br />I blame blogger more, cause it def. made it through to my gmail.<br /><br />Holy crap that’s fascinating. My knowledge of Asian history is disturbingly blank. This is the first I knew that the Dutch were in Taiwan. I thought they just stuck to Indonesia. So, what’s been going on with the Taiwanese aborigines? It sounds like they’ve gotten a pretty rough deal in this bargain.<br /><br />What caused your ancestors to come to Taiwan? When did they come over?<br /><br />I’m getting all fluttery hearted thinking about backpacking acround SE Asia. Just let me know your plans and we should be able to work something out. Caveat, I’m only allowed to be out of the country for two weeks at a time, and it seems more like there are lots of long weekends or days off, but not so much big chunks of time.<br /><br />I love meeting people’s parents! I never know what to say, but I love it, and I’m really sad that in college there’s so little opportunity to meet people’s families—you hear so much about them that you feel like you know them.<br /><br /> ...do people still call you Shiny?Owlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15129478506301722194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-10900353112630414702011-07-26T22:48:12.290-04:002011-07-26T22:48:12.290-04:00@Kate
Thank you! I’m…actually really really paran...@Kate<br /><br />Thank you! I’m…actually really really paranoid about posting these kinds of things because in my experience my perspective tends to be different/I’ve gotten yelled down. I also have a fair amount of cultural rage which doesn't help matters. I actually wrote, and rewrote and rewrote this piece. To start with it had this lengthy exploration of my cultural background and why it’s harder for me to be all like “whee American values are always good right and true” and then I chucked that out because it sounded too judgmental.<br /><br />It was a pretty awesome gathering of people and I think this feeling was mostly exacerbated by a godawful instructor. I mean so bad that a group of us started plotting about punching him in the face. But yeah...I was a little surprised by how AmericaAmerica it was for a gathering of people headed towards SE Asia. It'll be interesting to see how we all change. <br /><br />Shin splits.<br /><br />Ah, thanks for the advice! Post aside, I haven’t been able to run regularly since mid-June and it feels awful. I’m going to try stretching. I keep reading different literature on stretching, some people say it’s better not to stretch because stretching your muscles leads to tears…on the other hand starting like March this year I’ve had some really bad running luck, shin splints, hip issues, I’m wondering if there’s something screwy about the way I run.<br /><br />So my shin splints are mostly better (I think it was a shoe issue, I’d had mine for a year and a half), but I have this really weird hip thing going on. If I don’t do anything, it throbs mildly. If I run it aches a little bit, and then the for the next few days it aches. At first I tried to run through it but ended up messing up my gait to the point where I couldn’t walk. Any ideas/any chance you know the name of a good doctor/sports doc back at home?<br /><br />And, and, will you be around in the Aug. 12th timeframe? Couple days past? Still not sure when I leave, but at the very least I'll be homewards 12th-17th.Owlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15129478506301722194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-75364257892434126352011-07-20T13:37:33.408-04:002011-07-20T13:37:33.408-04:00"but the idea of going to Malaysia and "..."but the idea of going to Malaysia and "teaching" the girls there about how "liberated" we are here without our long skirts and headscarfs is pretty sad." <-- IAWTC. The Malaysian girls across the hall were super happy to shop for silk headscarves in the markets, both for themselves and for their sisters at home. They positively squealed over a leopard-print one. Also, they were crazy about shoes. Girly girls, Muslim-flavored.<br /><br />Also, they were pretty conservative. Like, disapproving of Lady Gaga, plugging their ears and shrieking (well, not quite, but almost) when Tom joked about "ladyboys" i.e. transvestites... it's just the way their culture is, I guess, and "liberating" them may not be the universal blessing that Americentric people might think. By all means, stand up against sexual harassment (oh yeah, make sure to make connections with, or at least know what authorities you can complain to for that), but don't harass the locals unnecessarily (IMHO).<br /><br />You'd look adorable in a potato sack. :D And monks are totally fun to look at (I admit to staring at these two monks in the animal hospital yesterday, one was sitting and reading a newspaper with his dog on a gurney with an IV in it, the other was talking on his cellphone and I was trying to figure out how the cloth sarong thingie worked/draped/stayed put on him). I dunno how I'd like living in a monastery, though, I think it'd involve a lot of vegetarianism (and begging for your food with a food bowl) and chanting.Gilrandirnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287848437808779650.post-45886546204773134142011-07-20T09:44:29.992-04:002011-07-20T09:44:29.992-04:00LOOOOVED this post. You must keep blogging...you m...LOOOOVED this post. You must keep blogging...you must! <br /><br />I particularly loved your commentary -- or your not commentary? one of the best parts of your writing is what you manage to say without saying much -- on modest clothing. I suppose it can be liberating in its own right. I am not very modest so I don't know. but the idea of going to Malaysia and "teaching" the girls there about how "liberated" we are here without our long skirts and headscarfs is pretty sad. Still, even for people who go abroad with no intention of learning, after a year, there isn't much of a choice. So there's hope. :) <br /><br />Re: shin splints, I know this completely goes against the whole point of your post but you've mentioned them in a few things lately and I just thought I'd share in case you ever go back to the gym again. be sure that after you run you're always stretching properly, particularly your calves and lower legs. I usually do 20 seconds in a lunging stretch against the wall with the leg straight out behind me, and 10 seconds with the leg straight and the foot pointing in, and 10 more seconds with the foot pointing out. Then I repeat all 3 but with the back knee bent to target the lower calf muscle. Then I stand with my toes on a stair and let my heels dangle off for a really good stretch. If you're interested in strengthening the fronts of your shins, some things you can do are 1) toe taps - just stand against the wall and tap your right foot like you are waiting for the bus, until it gets tired. repeat with left. 2) put a towel under your feet and move it back and forth using only your toes. 3) put small objects like stones (or pet rocks hahaha...small ones!) on the left side of your left foot, and use your right foot toes to move them to the right side, holding the rest of your right leg as still as possible. then switch. but don't do those exercises until the shin splints are healed, and definitely don't run on your legs until they are healed!!<br /><br />lurve you. send me an email soon ok!Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13928536342624338260noreply@blogger.com