110% Sicilian

[shanmonster]

I've been feeling pretty shitty for the past few days, mentally and physically. I think I'm still only barely warding off the cold/flu which has been hopping around the city. I called in sick on Saturday night because I was dizzy and disassociated. I felt no better this morning, but I went back to bed and slept a few additional hours, and now I almost feel normal. Hoorah for the palliative powers of sleep!

My Saturday daytime was enjoyable, nonetheless. I went sliding for the first time in about fifteen years. f00dave posted a video of one of our runs, if you'd like to experience it vicariously. Afterwards, instead of booking hotel rooms, I sat back and watched some very bad movies with snowy_kathryn, f00, Alex, and superbrad. At Kathryn's suggestion, we watched Lisztomania, and the movies became progressively worse. I had intended on going to bed early, I ended up going to bed even later than usual.

I'm on a day schedule for most of this week, and then I'm back to my night shifts. I'm finding the night shifts are wreaking havoc with my sleep schedule, even though I naturally keep late hours. I think the problem is caused by f00 being on day a day shift. When he gets up in the morning, it wakes me up a little. And since I'm already a little disturbed, the increasing invasion of sunlight only serves to sever my ties to Morpheus even more.

Someday, I may work a friendlier shift. It's not going to be for a long time, though.

In other news, my guestbook continues to provide entertaining, if worriesome, reading. Jo, who claims to be doing research on her son's report, writes

Are you crazy with those comments of "BABY KILLERS" !?!? Good things there are no stakes around or we would all be burning. I know that was done 100's of year ago,but I don't belive that now. I have certain "powers" given to me from birth being 110% Sicilian we are all born with the third eye and more.I would never think of hurting ANYONE and I tell people what they need to know and not a thing more. I think you need to relax and maybe watch some T.V. You could start with Charmed !

*cough*

I'm considering teaching myself Latin. Despite having a Classics degree, I never touched on Latin. I chose ancient Greek, instead. I think I'll make language study part of my morning routine beginning next week. I don't think there's much sense in starting this week, because I'm doing training all week at work, and I find eight solid hours of training a day leaves my head feeling wobbly and full.

And now for a few links:

Teen Punched Over Snowball: Snow rage.

Unique Rare Romanian Vampire Killing Kit, Dracula 1860: Here's your chance to own a genuine vampire slayer's kit.

School Board Bans Photo Of Girl Wearing Tux: And it wasn't even a tux with hot pants (thanks, rebelseahorse)!

Against the Migraine: "A procedure's serendipitous success hints that some headaches start in the heart" (thanks, John Wehler).

Designing Public Restrooms for the Muslim Culture: I prayed a lot as a kid, but I know I didn't pray before and after every bathroom visit. Something tells me this is something that only the fundamentalists might do. Am I wrong?

Longmire Does Romance Novels: Reimaginings of cheesy romance titles.

Comments

"Am I wrong?"

[node.livejournal.com]

Probably not. In my case, at least, I wasn't aware of the supplications until I was in college. A guy I knew gave away a small booklet of such prayers to a bunch of people.

I still have it, and I hope to put its contents online someday. The copyright foo says I can redistribute the contents if I don't charge for them.

On a somewhat related note, don't let a big huge snake bite your ass (http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/28/python_in_a_toilet.html).

Re: "Am I wrong?"

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Eek! I'm not normally afraid of snakes, but if I discovered a python in my toilet, I'll betcha a doughnut I'd shriek like a little girl.

[pulsdeslebens.livejournal.com]

About the restroom thing, the article is actually very accurate and quite detailed. Now, I don't know too many muslims, myself included when I was practicing, that actually did all of that. I would be cautious in the word "fundamentalist." When I think of fundamentalist, I think al-Qaeda. I'm sure that there are some very devout people that follow these practices. I'm also sure that conservative Jews probably have similar practices, but I can't be certain.

[fordmadoxfraud.livejournal.com]

Yes, orthodox Jews do have their own set of bathroom prayers. I know a couple people who say them (mostly college-educated women), and they're not even that hugely, crazily religious.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I suppose, if I always prayed before eating, praying before (and after) going to the bathroom is really no different, is it?

[ex-digitalis869.livejournal.com]

God bless this shit we are about to take?

Er. Somebody had to say it.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I mean fundamentalist in terms of believing every word of sacred writings as literal truth. I suppose conservative may also apply. I don't think al-Qaeda are necessarily fundamentalists, although they are extremists.

[kamomil.livejournal.com]

This is my two cents worth on fundamentalists and conservatives.

Fundamentalist Christians, for example, have scrapped all the non-Jesus-related dogma, and concentrate on interpreting the Bible. They have taken Christianity back down to its fundamentals, ie exactly what Jesus said.

Conservative Christians, eg. Catholics, concentrate on the dogma surrounding Christianity, ie worship of Mary, praying to saints, all the peripheral stuff that the fundamentalists tossed out. Conservative Catholics are conservative in that they are reluctant to change anything they do. Average Catholics may not have a good explanation for the religious things they do, ie they might not know that the rosary is symbolic of the 150 psalms (http://www.aoh.com/history/archive/rosary.htm) watered down for the common man. Toss it out and learn the psalms? No, because there have been many layers of meaning attached to the rosary since then. Now that's being conservative.

(I'm Catholic so I can say all that.)

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if it were fake. After all, it would seem several of them are available for purchase, and they look in remarkably good condition, hmm?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Never mind. I misread the information, somehow. I thought it was a multiple item auction, but my brain made that part up. Still, I do agree the authenticity is suspect.

[ex-digitalis869.livejournal.com]

By the way, thanks for that migraine article. I get migraines and the article was fascinating. I hadn't heard of that before.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

It's new to me, too.

[fullyarmdvishnu.livejournal.com]

I applaud your choice to learn Latin.


Scire aliquid laus est, pudor est nihil discere velle.
Translation: "It is commendable to know some things, it is disgraceful to refuse to learn." (Seneca)

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Carpe puga.

[fullyarmdvishnu.livejournal.com]

Deliriant isti Romani.

[indigopurple.livejournal.com]

Latin's easier than Greek to begin with, though some of the authors are much more annoying than anything I found in Greek. Tacitus is worse than Thucydides, and Horace never fails to confuse me. But hooray! More Latinists the better.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I found Greek much less daunting than Japanese. Both languages have left my brain, though (not that the Japanese was ever really there, anyhow).

[threemilechild.livejournal.com]

The yearbook thing reminds me of an experience I had in pre-school, actually. The School-Pictures people had the girls standing behind an ironing board holding a doll. The boys got to sit in a wooden truck. I wanted to sit in a wooden truck! Meh.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I would have wanted the truck, too.

[nugirlontheblok.livejournal.com]

I love reading the fascinating stuff you post, hope you don't mind. I came across your LJ through Abraxasrutrem's, and have been reading ever since! Do you mind if I add you to my flist? I'm an Aussie, and find the weird and wonderful a truly great read! Thanks for the entertainment!
Fiona.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Welcome!

[entropy156.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, did the 110% Sicillian happen to mention if she had a vestigial tail or an extra head or an incomplete parasitic twin? Something's got to account for that extra 10%. Perhaps she's a cannibal?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Maybe her Sicilian superpowers account for the additional 10%.

[entropy156.livejournal.com]

Perhaps! After all, she never really clarified what that percentage was in reference to. For example, she never said she was 110% Sicillian by mass. Maybe she's rated in the same way as the output of nuclear powerplants. It's possible she's able to acheive some kind of overdrive of her Sicillian-ness, thus accounting for the extra 10% of output...

[andrewwyld.livejournal.com]

Latin is fun.  I just watched The Wicker Man, and I studied the bit of Caesar's Gallic Wars which touches on that at GCSE ... there's a whole lot of cool stuff out there in Latin, not to mention mediæval Latin and neoclassical uses of Latin.