beandelphiki

If you read fandom_secrets on anything approaching a regular basis, you know there are a lot of secrets posted about this web manga/anime thing(?) called, "Hetalia." Which seems to be about the world's nations...personified. I thought the concept was cute but odd, and basically ignored the secrets.

Yesterday, someone had a secret about wanting to get to know Canada/Canadians better, since they like Canada (named Matthew, or "Matty" in the series) a lot. This led to some discussion in the comments about why Canada is popular in the kink meme, and such.

I was curious enough to ask for a link to said kink meme. And then spent last night reading variations on pairings between Canada/Matthew, and either the U.K. (Arthur) or the U.S. (Alfred).

( Some quick samples: )

*DED*

Simply reading the lists of prompts is enough to inspire both shocked jawdrops and wild fits of giggling. For example:

Japan/N.Italy, schoolgirl outfit

S.Italy/N.Italy, awkward but sweet unification

Spain/S.Italy, foodsex [unfilled!]

And then this, which I think is about the ULTIMATE:

UK/America, teabagging

I MEAN. THE LULZ. I CAN'T EVEN.

(...I just had to tell SOMEBODY about that.)


Aside from the numerous lulz, I think I just got quite seriously sucked in - and I haven't actually even seen this series. Granted, I was a bit woozy from lack of sleep last night, but I spent some serious time arguing the finer points of Canada/U.K. with myself. I think the argument went something like, "Arthur would top," [as much as it pains my sense of national pride to say so], "usually, but Matty has a young, rebellious streak that would balance Arthur's stuffiness rather nicely." Or something like that. And of course, they're both a little knocked for a loop by Alfred - loud, obnoxious, annoying and pretty self-absorbed...but brilliant and beautiful despite all his flaws.

Also, I now have this weird desire to re-learn all the French I used to know when my family lived in Montreal. I lost it when we moved, and I've NEVER had the desire to re-learn it before, but I've downloaded a bunch of French language mp3s to my player now. (It's a little freaky to me how easily some of it is actually coming back.)

I think...I think I might have officially lost it.

I mean, I'm shipping NATIONS now. Personified, but still. I ship Canada/U.K.

SEND HELP.

...Paul Newman died?

Paul Newman? I thought he was like, immortal.

Paul Newman.

Damn.


Edit: Crap, now I'm thinking about stuff. Like, once he apparently filmed a movie in Calgary, and the impression our city made on him was so good that he remembered it years later when he was interviewed by a Calgarian journalist. "Calgary's such a wonderful city," he told her. "They don't even lock their doors there at night."

The journalist gently broke the news that we do, in fact, now lock our doors at night. In fact, some particularly despicable types of crime have higher rates in Calgary than anywhere else in Canada - we're known for being the hub of child prostitution up north, for example.

"Oh," he said. And he was so disappointed.


I read that story when I was a young teenager, and even just in print, it moved me deeply that we had disappointed him. I wanted to meet him someday and apologize on behalf of my city for not being as sweet as he remembered.

Dammit.

Been largely AWOL the past little while due to catching some STUPID virus which left me near death (or felt like it). Am finally returning to the land of the living.

...Well, technically, I was ready to return to the land of the living yesterday except for the part where I felt like I was absolutely made of LEAD. I tried calling in sick yesterday, and my boss told me she had no one to take my place, so I went in. Turns out there was another supervisor on SPARE (not even technically "off"), but because she's a lazy fucking bum, Boss Lady didn't bother to call her. *sulks a bit* So I spent the day letting the wall hold me up.

Oh, and hilariously, when I got to work, my boss wanted to know where my, "bug bite" was. Because when I first called in, I told her that I'd been bitten by some bug, i.e. caught a virus. But she took me literally and thought I'd ACTUALLY been bit by a poisonous spider or something. So she wanted to see the war wound.

Silly Boss Lady! (Although I admit to briefly entertaining Spiderman fantasies there.)


Aaaand, I've concluded that my attempt to go back to school is officially CURSED. I DID get into Mount Royal's BSc program, THANK GOD.

But...I can't register for my classes. Some glitch in the system says they think I haven't been admitted yet. I have the goddamn acceptance letter, but the system won't recognize me. My sister? Had no trouble registering.

So guess where I'm going now? *sighs*

Cursed, I tell you. I'm fucking cursed.

One of my coworkers is in a coma.

Even better, it's the Boss's Daughter.

She's barely been working at our store anymore; she got a higher position working at Bluenotes some time back, and only works the odd Saturday shift now. I'd forgotten she wasn't on the schedule this week, as I'd been more than half-expecting to see her today. I'd CERTAINLY expected to see my boss, because unless she's on vacation, Boss Lady is there every. single. day.

Instead, I get to work to find out that BD is in a coma and my boss hasn't been in at all since she's been at the hospital by her daughter's side since early in the morning.

Turns out that she went out partying to celebrate the Stampede, as it's that time of year again in Cowtown. She's always been a HEAVY partier and a heavy drinker (with aspirations to be a bartender), so I imagine she was doing more of the usual. She'd originally gone out with, "my Edo boys," the guys who work next door at Edo Japan; she's gone out to bars with them a lot in the past, and they introduced her to raves. But apparently they got separated at some point in the night (I don't think we know the full story on that yet, so I won't speculate), and sometime early in the morning BD was found by a kind stranger lying unconscious downtown.

Paramedics were called, etc. And when all was said and done, she's in an alcohol-induced coma...and not expected to make it.


Just...what a stunning thing to hear first thing when you walk in the door. I've spent most of today struggling to process this news.

Just last night, I saw her because she came running into the store just as I was about to leave and dropped off a shirt and a straw cowboy hat. (Which I gather she didn't want to take drinking with her.) Since the store belongs to her mom, BD has a tendency to treat it a little like you would your own living room, dropping off possessions in the back and picking them up on a whim.

She said, "'Night Dan, love you!" and went dashing off to meet a friend; I blinked at her back and probably said something like, Oh, you too. Um, goodnight. Mainly I was overwhelmed by the cyclone she can be. As introverted as I am, she can be hard to watch - she's the very definition of "extrovert." As much as I've griped about her in the past, it's because nobody ever tells BD off to her face. You can't. Despite being a spoiled princess, there is something almost forcefully likable about her. She is everyone's best friend. Since she's stopped working here, some things have run quite a bit more smoothly...but it's much, much quieter.

I'm much quieter. I have no one to talk to. Outside of the internet, she's the only person I might have vaguely considered a friend.

Just this morning I was thinking glumly that since House, M.D. is over until September, and Doctor Who is over as of today until...indefinitely...that work was going to get incredibly monotonous. (It's probably sad that the highlight of my week is a television show, but there you go.) Just same old, same old - my biggest fear right now is that I won't be accepted to any school I've applied to, and I'll be stuck another year making tacos for people.

Now, unless BD wakes up, I'm going to be working for a boss who's grieving the loss of her younger daughter. There's no earthly way in this situation that I could quit out of mere boredom, but I don't imagine work is going to feel comfortable for a while.

I keep thinking of things I might have talked to BD about. She hasn't put me on rail the past few Saturdays she's worked, so we're not even beside each other to talk much.

I also thought about how last Halloween she'd wanted me to go in drag, but I didn't because I wasn't prepared with anything suitable to wear. Admittedly, she didn't want this in order to see a boy wear a dress as a costume, but because she wanted to see, "What Dan would have been like as a girl." But I'm not totally opposed to the idea, and I was debating between that or dressing up as the Tenth Doctor for this coming Halloween. I was trying to conjure up some scenario where I might get completely dolled up for her, given that I don't party, wouldn't feel comfortable going out with some fraction of her very large circle of friends, and don't have any other friends I'm in touch with right now that don't live in a box.

Now she's probably never going to see me in drag at all. Or discuss the next season of House. And I might never get together with her to introduce her to Doctor Who, like I've been intending to. And we might never play Guitar Hero together, like we've been meaning to.

Just...


...shit.

Ganked from my friendslist:

Religious Americans: My faith isn't the only way
Survey shows growing religious tolerance when it comes to different faiths

Generally a thought-provoking article, but for one truly headdesk-worthy line:

Another finding almost defies explanation: 21 percent of self-identified atheists said they believe in God or a universal spirit, with 8 percent "absolutely certain" of it.

THIS JUST IN: 29 percent of Americans har, make that 21 percent of American atheists and ignore my math stupid (thanks cacahuate) ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE.

What part of "atheist" do these folk not understand?!

The prefix "a-" means "NOT" OR "WITHOUT," people!

IT MEANS U CANNOT HAS.

*HEADDESK*

0/1628, OMGWTFBBQ?!?!

SEED YOU VULTURES!

GOD.



...And so this isn't a totally pointless post, I'm currently re-watching Shaolin Soccer on YouTube. It's not a dubbed English version, sadly ("sadly" only because the dubbing is HILARIOUSLY bad, and I'm pretty sure that was done on purpose - and the badly mangled English in both the dub and the sub are cause for hilarity as well), but I'm nevertheless re-discovering how awesome this movie is.

If the concept of, "kung-fu comedy," puts you off, please don't let it. This movie is great. (Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 90% fresh rating!)

Here on YouTube: Shaolin Soccer, Part I. (And the page for the user who uploaded it.) YouTube has been a major pain lately, so you might want to load each next part in a separate window/tab while you watch.

Go watch it!

I keep getting school-related stuff in the mail, which is making me JUMPY. Yesterday I got a package from Alberta Ed., which made me panic, since I thought that maybe they accidentally mailed ME my high school transcripts, rather than sending them electronically to the University of Calgary like they were supposed to. But no, it was just an "unofficial" copy of what they DID send.

Then today I got a letter from the U of C admissions office, which also freaked me out, but it's to "acknowledge receipt for your application for admission." Uh, thanks?

WTF people, stop sending me unnecessary stuff!


Oh, and discovered that in my online records, I have outstanding transcripts for "Alberta Postsecondary." I assume that's Chinook College, which is adult high school upgrading. Meaning, they already HAVE those transcripts; it's part of the high school transcripts they got sent electronically on the 4th of April.

This is what happens when A REAL GODDAMN PERSON doesn't deal with these things. I guess I'm going to need to make a phone call to someone to get that sorted out.


Was looking through course information again, and realized I never once even glanced at the "overview of classes" for Biological Sciences (which is my first choice course that I applied for). I applied to Biology for no other reason than it fits best with my eventual overall plan for med school, so I didn't think to check what classes I'll actually be taking in the fall.

Evidently, some introductory bio, chem (neither of which I'm too stressed over) and...calc. Ah yes, this is why Math 31 is a strongly suggested prereq course.

Uh, it's been four years since I last took Math 31, and it was a nerve-wracking experience at the time. Methinks I should locate some brush-up material this summer for intro calculus.

This is all assuming I get in, of course.

Why does school suck so much?! Why is it so difficult to go to one?

I finally got an electronic request for my high school transcripts sent off to Alberta Ed. What a pain the ass!

In order to request transcripts, I need to register for an "Alberta Secure Login ID" or something like that. (Which didn't save properly or something the first time, so I ended up doing it twice.) As part of that TOS-blah-blah you have to agree to, they have something about keeping your own information up-to-date. Haha, I hope they don't actually expect to hold people to that. Like ANYONE is going to remember to update their "Alberta Secure Login ID" information when you only need that ID to, oh, order transcripts!

And I have to keep entering my legal gender for EVERYTHING! If it's only for "statistical purposes," why is my gender attached to my goddamned name for everything, and why don't I have the option not to enter it? FUCK YOU ALBERTA ED!

And in order to create the aforementioned ID, not only do they require your gender, but they REQUIRE you to enter the answers to six of their own security questions. As in, you don't get to choose the questions you answer. One of the questions is "mother's maiden name" (!). Uh, what if you don't have a mother?

I got a bit creative with some of the stupider questions, e.g.

What is the location of your dream vacation?

Gallifrey

Although, as my mother said, it's a bit crispy there these days.


Now, off to SAIT and MRC. Hopefully I can make it to both places and back to Chinook in time for work. Hopefully they'll mail my bloody transcripts in time! Although really, considering that my previous college courses have been for either a) theatre or b) journalism, only my high school transcripts REALLY matter in applying to Biological Sciences.


Maybe I shouldn't complain. At least I don't live in Germany. *eyes friendslist*

Holy shit, y'all.

I can't believe that I'm making YET ANOTHER post about stuff LJ/SA-now-SUP are pulling, but here we go:

Now lj is censoring interests from their "Most Popular Interests" page.

That is, these are still among the most popular listed interests on lj, but they don't APPEAR on that page. Non-listed interests include:

Sex

Ohmigawd! People like sex! We can't have THAT on a site which - like nearly all blogging sites and message boards - requires you to have hit puberty to use the service.

Boys, Girls

...Evidently, we're not supposed to be interested in each other. Especially not lj's teen userbase.

Fanfiction, Yaoi

Livejournal's thoughts on yaoi. They will not show you them.

(Livejournal doesn't REALLY hate fandom, though. That's unfounded paranoia, based on no solid evidence but the previous witch-hunts and other small spots of confusion and miscommunication like that.)

Hardcore, Porn, Bondage

Blah, blah, sex is BAD, mmmkay?

Faeries

SRSLY?!

Pain, Depression, Bisexuality

...


WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK, LJ?


(Sidenote: People have suggested that "pain" and "depression" were removed as interests too closely related to self-injury and suicide, but curiously, "blood" remains on the list. [Count: 63701]

Also, "intelligence" is third from the bottom on that list. I weep for future generations.)


Keep in mind - these are the most popular interests. There is no real logic to their disappearance from the "Most Popular Interests" page - advertisers who want this information can probably still get it. If it affects the sort of ads that will appear on lj, any "for appearances" reason lj might have had to censor these interests is entirely moot. The only people who now can't access this information are US, the USERBASE.

Really, what the HELL is going on? This just makes no damn sense.

Just logged in.

Jesus, is lj EVER going to stop with it's re-designing obsession?

And are lj design staff EVER going to actually consider people's real screen resolutions? Mine is a perfectly standard 1024x768 pixels, and the new intro page is WAY TOO WIDE. I prefer to have my favourites open and pinned along the side of my screen, and even if I adjust the window width to make my favourites as small as possible, I still can't fit all of the introduction page on my screen.

The moment I can't navigate lj without scrolling sideways, there will be HELL to pay.

WTF, lj.

JUST STOP.