This blog is going to make me look very sad, and very pathetic and very silly, but I very much don't care.
USM does TNT every Tuesday. That's Tuesday Night Trivia. I like quizzes and have wanted to go, but I have a class Tuesday nights haven't been able to get to any yet. Until today, when I skipped classes to a) get a swine flu vaccination and b) go to the Harry Potter themed TNT.
So I'm sat there in a team with Meagan and Kaitlin and their friend who's name escapes me but who agreed with me several times so I like him very much. The quiz was quite cool. The format was impressive, and the questions were good, with a nice gradient from ridiculously easy to quite difficult. Our team came second, we won some plain old papermate biros. However, I don't think I'll be going to another one, even if my class suddenly gets moved to a different time. I have a couple of issues. Angry angry issues.
Ok, so there's this question...
"What is Tonks' most known feature/ability?"
My team writes down on our board "metamorphmagus". Caroline reveals the answer: "changing hair color". She doesn't give us a point, despite much argument. I accept, the answer to her question was "changing hair colour", however the ABILITY that Tonks had that allows her to change her hair color was that she was a freakin METAMORPHMAGUS!!! That's her ability! The question asked for Tonks' ability, and we gave it! We didn't get a point. I'm still fuming.
(I just wanna point out here that during our team discussion Kaitlin said that Nymphadora's skill was metamorphmagus, and Meagan said "no no she's asking about Tonks." We all laughed at her and threatened to throw her out of the obsessive Harry Potter fanclub.)
Anyway, I was just coming to terms with this frustration, when it happened again. Bonus question: "What does the K stand for in J. K. Rowling?"
Kathleen, Kathleen, Kathleen. I know that one! It's my sister's middle name. Kathleen, Kathleen, Kathleen!!! No. Wrong. Apparently JK has no middle name. The answer according to Caroline's quiz is "nothing."
Cue a lot more ranting from Cleo. Ok, maybe it's true that she doesn't have a middle name. I haven't checked, I don't care. The question didn't ask what her bloody middle name was. It asked what the K stood for. And in JK Rowling's nom de plume, the K stands for freaking Kathleen. If the question had asked for what the hell her middle name was and we'd have said Kathleen then we'd have been wrong, but it didn't. It asked what the freaking K stood for and the freaking K stood for freaking Kathleen!!!
I have some serious issues, I know this. It was just a game, I know this too. And both of these rants are basically a matter of how the questions were worded, but we were RIGHT damnit!!
Please tell me you agree!
Shuntbumping - Round 2
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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Otherwise known as... FAIL
I had a suspicion I'd fail round 2 as soon as I saw the pairings. My opponent has been crocheting for 30 years, and was the overall winner of round one. She finished her hat hours before I did. But, I kept my hopes up. Who knew? She could be delayed getting the pattern.
So, 1pm comes around and I'm happily sat at the computer waiting for the pattern release. CRAP. Mittens. Baby mittens. Beginning with crocheting in rows. I have never made gloves of any sort, in any technique, and I've never crocheted in rows. Screwed, screwed, screwed. But I started anyway, and did the cuff okay, I think. Just after I finished the cuff of the first glove, my opponent posted to inform everyone that she'd finished the first mitten already. Not good.
Then, as I was doing the rounds for the main glove, it started to shrink. I'm pretty sure it was meant to get wider. I'm screwed.
It's not over yet of course, my opponent hasn't posted. Is it wrong for me to wish she suddenly gets four thousand visitors and no time to stitch?
UPDATE: I lost. Here are my opponent's mittens.
For anyone interested, here is the pattern we had to follow, and this is what they were meant to look like.
Now go back and look at mine again. I might have been defeated by my opponent, but I won't be defeated by all the mittens in the world. When I don't have two papers to write, I'm going to find an adult sized pattern and have another go. I'll let you know if I succeed.
I had a suspicion I'd fail round 2 as soon as I saw the pairings. My opponent has been crocheting for 30 years, and was the overall winner of round one. She finished her hat hours before I did. But, I kept my hopes up. Who knew? She could be delayed getting the pattern.
So, 1pm comes around and I'm happily sat at the computer waiting for the pattern release. CRAP. Mittens. Baby mittens. Beginning with crocheting in rows. I have never made gloves of any sort, in any technique, and I've never crocheted in rows. Screwed, screwed, screwed. But I started anyway, and did the cuff okay, I think. Just after I finished the cuff of the first glove, my opponent posted to inform everyone that she'd finished the first mitten already. Not good.
Then, as I was doing the rounds for the main glove, it started to shrink. I'm pretty sure it was meant to get wider. I'm screwed.
It's not over yet of course, my opponent hasn't posted. Is it wrong for me to wish she suddenly gets four thousand visitors and no time to stitch?
UPDATE: I lost. Here are my opponent's mittens.
For anyone interested, here is the pattern we had to follow, and this is what they were meant to look like.
Now go back and look at mine again. I might have been defeated by my opponent, but I won't be defeated by all the mittens in the world. When I don't have two papers to write, I'm going to find an adult sized pattern and have another go. I'll let you know if I succeed.
Bad Stitching Day
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Cel'eena Cree
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Today has been one of those days when I couldn't focus on any of the work I had to do, so I've been working on various stitching projects. I have never had a stitching session go so badly.
First I got tangled and wasted half a roll of elastic trying to elasticate the holes of the wrist warmers I brought at the Common Ground fair. Then I spent a couple of hours making stitchmarkers for swaps, only to discover that my knots weren't big enough and watching them all fall apart. Two hours of work, one stitchmarker saved. Then I had to patch up my shorts. The shorts are patched, but in the process I managed to jam a sewing needle into my thumb nail. Halfway down. There's a nice red line under my nail now and it flipping hurts! Then the sodding needle broke ten minutes later. Then I managed to spill Sunkist all over the ________ I'd been making for my HSKS spoilee. Then I decided to make a granny square from the Malabrigo I got in a swap the other day, and managed to tangle the whole flipping skein. I'm about to spend the next three hours untangling it.
I am not having a good stitching day. Which is frustrating. When I have edgy days I have a few sources of safety. Neil is 3000 miles away. Jen is 3000 miles away. I've already eaten a ton of food today. And stitching is hating me!
First I got tangled and wasted half a roll of elastic trying to elasticate the holes of the wrist warmers I brought at the Common Ground fair. Then I spent a couple of hours making stitchmarkers for swaps, only to discover that my knots weren't big enough and watching them all fall apart. Two hours of work, one stitchmarker saved. Then I had to patch up my shorts. The shorts are patched, but in the process I managed to jam a sewing needle into my thumb nail. Halfway down. There's a nice red line under my nail now and it flipping hurts! Then the sodding needle broke ten minutes later. Then I managed to spill Sunkist all over the ________ I'd been making for my HSKS spoilee. Then I decided to make a granny square from the Malabrigo I got in a swap the other day, and managed to tangle the whole flipping skein. I'm about to spend the next three hours untangling it.
I am not having a good stitching day. Which is frustrating. When I have edgy days I have a few sources of safety. Neil is 3000 miles away. Jen is 3000 miles away. I've already eaten a ton of food today. And stitching is hating me!
HSKS 9 - teasers for my spoilee
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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Hey there Intarsia!!
I just wanted to write a quick note and let you know that the __________ I ordered from __________ for you finally arrived. They look ___________. And I did some more work on the ___________, it's looking good, but taking longer than I'd anticipated. Plus, I got some _________________ for the _______________ but it's looking like I didn't get enough, so I have to go buy some more.
How's your swap going?
Celeena Cree!!
I just wanted to write a quick note and let you know that the __________ I ordered from __________ for you finally arrived. They look ___________. And I did some more work on the ___________, it's looking good, but taking longer than I'd anticipated. Plus, I got some _________________ for the _______________ but it's looking like I didn't get enough, so I have to go buy some more.
How's your swap going?
Celeena Cree!!
Happy Birthday to Me....
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday dear Clllleeeeeooooooo, Happy Birthday to Me!!
Can you tell what day it is? I came into this wonderful world 27 years ago today. Yep, I'm old. It's been a reasonable day. I've had better birthdays and I've had worse. I really missed Neil, and Jen, and Jennie and Michaela and Mum. I wish I could've been with them today, especially Neil. We've been together nearly two years (on and off) and I haven't got to spend a birthday with him yet. Which kinda sucks, but still, there'll be next year.
So, the day started off great. My roommates came to see me at two minutes past midnight, apologising for being late. They gave me a card and a Halloween gingerbread house kit.
After farrr too much sleep and accidentally-on-purpose missing the two classes I had today, I woke up and spoke to Neil online for a bit. After that I went over to collect packages - I went a bit eBay happy a coupla weeks ago. One of the packages had a Royal Mail label on it and I got all excited. I think I squealed "that's from England!" It was a package from Mum with more cards and some pretty presents.
After that I went to support my teammates Aimee and Celia in an Iron Chef competition for Fall Fest. We won!! Their food was deliciously scrummily and delightful. They deserved to win. Completely. More food, time for dinner. A bit of sitting around, then off to the T-shirt decorating event. My first shirt was a big fail. I used little bottles of gluey paint, and it all seeped through, and I got it smoodged. It was not good. Second shirt I taped masking tape in a vague semblance of the Union Jack and Kate spray painted it for me.
That's the back. The front has a Fall Fest '09 logo. If I ever get around to wearing it I'll get pictured.
I got back to my room and found another card, and some candy and a little cake from Geni and Holly :-)
I also brought myself a little present, pretty pretty notebook.
Here are the cards I have so far. Three of those are from baby sister Michaela. Lol. Neil says there is one on the way from him, I'm looking forward to that.
Can you tell what day it is? I came into this wonderful world 27 years ago today. Yep, I'm old. It's been a reasonable day. I've had better birthdays and I've had worse. I really missed Neil, and Jen, and Jennie and Michaela and Mum. I wish I could've been with them today, especially Neil. We've been together nearly two years (on and off) and I haven't got to spend a birthday with him yet. Which kinda sucks, but still, there'll be next year.
So, the day started off great. My roommates came to see me at two minutes past midnight, apologising for being late. They gave me a card and a Halloween gingerbread house kit.
After farrr too much sleep and accidentally-on-purpose missing the two classes I had today, I woke up and spoke to Neil online for a bit. After that I went over to collect packages - I went a bit eBay happy a coupla weeks ago. One of the packages had a Royal Mail label on it and I got all excited. I think I squealed "that's from England!" It was a package from Mum with more cards and some pretty presents.
After that I went to support my teammates Aimee and Celia in an Iron Chef competition for Fall Fest. We won!! Their food was deliciously scrummily and delightful. They deserved to win. Completely. More food, time for dinner. A bit of sitting around, then off to the T-shirt decorating event. My first shirt was a big fail. I used little bottles of gluey paint, and it all seeped through, and I got it smoodged. It was not good. Second shirt I taped masking tape in a vague semblance of the Union Jack and Kate spray painted it for me.
That's the back. The front has a Fall Fest '09 logo. If I ever get around to wearing it I'll get pictured.
I got back to my room and found another card, and some candy and a little cake from Geni and Holly :-)
I also brought myself a little present, pretty pretty notebook.
Here are the cards I have so far. Three of those are from baby sister Michaela. Lol. Neil says there is one on the way from him, I'm looking forward to that.
New Thing # 34
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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date:- October 21st 2009
new thing:- go to a pep rally
Fall Fest here at USM is the equivalent of homecoming at other universities, but since we don't have a football team we can't actually have homecoming. There are lots of events going on - banner contest, pep rally and bonfire, midnight madness sports games, a quidditch match, and iron chef competition, a t-shirt making party, USM olympics, movie showings, scavenger hunts, pumpkin carving contest and probably some other things. And there are teams. I'm in the International Living and Learning Community (ILLC) team. We made our banner last night. We get points just for showing up to events.
This evening was the bonfire and pep rally. I went along, partly because we get points just for going, and partly because I've always wanted to go to one. I'm kinda obsessed with that typical American school experience thing, in case you hadn't noticed. It was okay. The bonfire was small but pretty. I met a giant husky, I got some pompoms. But the music wasn't really my style, and it was a little dull, so I was only there for half an hour. But I did get a really funky picture, by accident. I was aiming at the fire, and the camera was being an arse, and took the picture just as I was giving up.
new thing:- go to a pep rally
Fall Fest here at USM is the equivalent of homecoming at other universities, but since we don't have a football team we can't actually have homecoming. There are lots of events going on - banner contest, pep rally and bonfire, midnight madness sports games, a quidditch match, and iron chef competition, a t-shirt making party, USM olympics, movie showings, scavenger hunts, pumpkin carving contest and probably some other things. And there are teams. I'm in the International Living and Learning Community (ILLC) team. We made our banner last night. We get points just for showing up to events.
This evening was the bonfire and pep rally. I went along, partly because we get points just for going, and partly because I've always wanted to go to one. I'm kinda obsessed with that typical American school experience thing, in case you hadn't noticed. It was okay. The bonfire was small but pretty. I met a giant husky, I got some pompoms. But the music wasn't really my style, and it was a little dull, so I was only there for half an hour. But I did get a really funky picture, by accident. I was aiming at the fire, and the camera was being an arse, and took the picture just as I was giving up.
Ode to Neil
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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My darling boyfriend just brought me a ticket to see Blue Man Group during my trip to New York next month. The trip is my present to myself, the ticket to Blue Man Group is my birthday present from Neil. He is so lovely :-)
So, I just wanted to the whole wide world to know how wonderful he is and how much he has helped me.
Within two weeks of knowing me he handed over his credit card to a bailiff who showed up on my door wanting my belongings. He paid for my flight to come here to Maine, he's been letting me use his credit card to pay the student fees over here (and not complaining when I don't give him all the money right away). Neil has his issues and his flaws, and he is by no means the most perfect man in the world, but he is absolutely wonderful and he does so much more for me than I deserve. I would be completely and utterly lost without him.
He rocks. Just wanted the world to know.
So, I just wanted to the whole wide world to know how wonderful he is and how much he has helped me.
Within two weeks of knowing me he handed over his credit card to a bailiff who showed up on my door wanting my belongings. He paid for my flight to come here to Maine, he's been letting me use his credit card to pay the student fees over here (and not complaining when I don't give him all the money right away). Neil has his issues and his flaws, and he is by no means the most perfect man in the world, but he is absolutely wonderful and he does so much more for me than I deserve. I would be completely and utterly lost without him.
He rocks. Just wanted the world to know.
Tim Allen...
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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...is a genius!
It's just occurred to me that I've watch about seven of his movies in just a few days.
- Zoom: Academy for Superheroes
- Wild Hogs
- Toy Story
- Toy Story 2
- The Santa Clause
- The Santa Clause 2
- The Santa Clause 3 (I'm currently watching that one)
He's just fabulous. He's so versatile and funny.
I'm going to IMDB search him, to find out what other movies he's done so I can watch more. I'm already looking forward to Toy Story 3 next year. And ooo, Wild Hogs 2!! Okay, Tim Allen movies...
- Christmas with the Kranks (Oh, I have that on my computer. Make that 8 Tim Allen movies in a few days.)
- Galaxy Quest (a BRILLIANT MOVIE - unfortunately I don't have it here. Wonder if Ryan does.)
Not actually that many movies. But he's still fantabulous. And if Ryan has Galaxy Quest I'll be watching 9 Tim Allen movies in about three days :-)
And to sign off, a small selection of fantabulous Tim Allen quotes:
"As long as there is injustice, whenever a Targathian baby cries out, wherever a distress signal sounds among the stars, we'll be there. This fine ship, this fine crew. Never give up... and never surrender." - Jason Nesmith, Galaxy Quest
"You are a sad, strange little man. You have my pity." - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
"To infinity, and beyond!" - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
"You're mocking me, aren't you." - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story (delivered with a complete and utter straight face, hilarious!!
Ok, I'm done. Carry on...
It's just occurred to me that I've watch about seven of his movies in just a few days.
- Zoom: Academy for Superheroes
- Wild Hogs
- Toy Story
- Toy Story 2
- The Santa Clause
- The Santa Clause 2
- The Santa Clause 3 (I'm currently watching that one)
He's just fabulous. He's so versatile and funny.
I'm going to IMDB search him, to find out what other movies he's done so I can watch more. I'm already looking forward to Toy Story 3 next year. And ooo, Wild Hogs 2!! Okay, Tim Allen movies...
- Christmas with the Kranks (Oh, I have that on my computer. Make that 8 Tim Allen movies in a few days.)
- Galaxy Quest (a BRILLIANT MOVIE - unfortunately I don't have it here. Wonder if Ryan does.)
Not actually that many movies. But he's still fantabulous. And if Ryan has Galaxy Quest I'll be watching 9 Tim Allen movies in about three days :-)
And to sign off, a small selection of fantabulous Tim Allen quotes:
"As long as there is injustice, whenever a Targathian baby cries out, wherever a distress signal sounds among the stars, we'll be there. This fine ship, this fine crew. Never give up... and never surrender." - Jason Nesmith, Galaxy Quest
"You are a sad, strange little man. You have my pity." - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
"To infinity, and beyond!" - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
"You're mocking me, aren't you." - Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story (delivered with a complete and utter straight face, hilarious!!
Ok, I'm done. Carry on...
Shuntbumping - Round 1
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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Shuntbumping is all part of this Quidditch Hogwarts Swap I'm doing. Let me quote the blog:
"In the days before Quidditch became the most popular of broom games, the game of Shuntbumps was popular in Devon, England. This ancient sport was a crude form of jousting, the aim being to knock all other players off their brooms, the winner being the last person remaining on their broom.
We will be resurrecting this ancient pre-cursor to Quidditch by having our own Shuntbumps knockout competition in HSKS9. Each week we will have a Shuntbumps contest in which pairs of players compete to finish a knit or crochet project assigned by the Shuntbumping Co-ordinators. The winner of each pairing will be the first to POST A PICTURE of their finished item within this Shuntbumps arena. Winners go on to the next week’s contest and losers are knocked out. The overall winners will be the last surviving Shuntbumper in each league (knit/crochet) once all other’s are knocked out.
Completed projects can either be donated to SPEW, local charities, or used as holiday gifts for friends and relatives. And of course the overall Shuntbumps winners will receive a prize."
I entered in the crochet league, not expecting to get very far considering I've been crocheting for a month. I wasn't even expecting to pass the first round. Especially when I found out that my opponent has been crocheting for 4 years. But I waited (slightly obsessively) at the time the pattern was due to be posted, refreshing the page every five seconds. And as soon as it went up I dropped the project I was working on - Michaela's christmas present - and picked up my hook and some lovely blue yarn I brought today. Then I made this...
I posted the picture on the blog and, as far as I can tell, my opponent hasn't finished yet. That means I won! Woohoo :D
That is also, by the way, the reason I don't wear hats. Especially not beanies. I will probably be giving this to someone else. Although, my craftsmanship isn't good enough to wear I don't think. I may put little handles on it and call it a basket. Who knows.
Point is, I won!! GO MAGPIES!!!
"In the days before Quidditch became the most popular of broom games, the game of Shuntbumps was popular in Devon, England. This ancient sport was a crude form of jousting, the aim being to knock all other players off their brooms, the winner being the last person remaining on their broom.
We will be resurrecting this ancient pre-cursor to Quidditch by having our own Shuntbumps knockout competition in HSKS9. Each week we will have a Shuntbumps contest in which pairs of players compete to finish a knit or crochet project assigned by the Shuntbumping Co-ordinators. The winner of each pairing will be the first to POST A PICTURE of their finished item within this Shuntbumps arena. Winners go on to the next week’s contest and losers are knocked out. The overall winners will be the last surviving Shuntbumper in each league (knit/crochet) once all other’s are knocked out.
Completed projects can either be donated to SPEW, local charities, or used as holiday gifts for friends and relatives. And of course the overall Shuntbumps winners will receive a prize."
I entered in the crochet league, not expecting to get very far considering I've been crocheting for a month. I wasn't even expecting to pass the first round. Especially when I found out that my opponent has been crocheting for 4 years. But I waited (slightly obsessively) at the time the pattern was due to be posted, refreshing the page every five seconds. And as soon as it went up I dropped the project I was working on - Michaela's christmas present - and picked up my hook and some lovely blue yarn I brought today. Then I made this...
I posted the picture on the blog and, as far as I can tell, my opponent hasn't finished yet. That means I won! Woohoo :D
That is also, by the way, the reason I don't wear hats. Especially not beanies. I will probably be giving this to someone else. Although, my craftsmanship isn't good enough to wear I don't think. I may put little handles on it and call it a basket. Who knows.
Point is, I won!! GO MAGPIES!!!
Granny square progress
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Cel'eena Cree
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Here are the 9 granny squares I have already.
I have four more balls of yarn here at the moment, but I need a smaller hook. I may have given in and ordered some pretty aluminium ones from eBay that are winging their way to me as we speak.
And, I'm going shopping tomorrow - have to buy yarn for shuntbumping - so I'll have even more balls to make granny squares out of. Not that I'm really making squares at the moment. They're more like rounded, curved, odd square-like shapes.
I have four more balls of yarn here at the moment, but I need a smaller hook. I may have given in and ordered some pretty aluminium ones from eBay that are winging their way to me as we speak.
And, I'm going shopping tomorrow - have to buy yarn for shuntbumping - so I'll have even more balls to make granny squares out of. Not that I'm really making squares at the moment. They're more like rounded, curved, odd square-like shapes.
Stitch markers
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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In my knitting and stitching adventures (which are nearly a whole year old by the way) I have never had occasion to use a stitch marker. I think I read a pattern that required them once, and purchased a cheap-ass package from my LYS. Something like this...
But I never used any of them. They're floating around in my stitchwork drawer/box/folders/area at home. Then, I joined Ravelry. I entered the wonderful world of swaps and discovered this delightful craze of handmade stitch markers. Ones like this...
And these...
And these!!!
Those last ones are made by my fellow Magpie (GO MAGPIES!) Olive Bumblebirch - at some point I plan to spend a fortune in her Etsy store.
Anyway, people make these delightful stitch markers and send them in swaps. Some people use them, some collect them, some do both. I've never received any, but I do so many swaps I figured I'd buy the really cheap equipment needed so I can make some and send them to my swappees.
Today I started a Christmas present and normally when crocheting I just count, I don't mark the rounds like I know people normally do. But I'm doing a WHOLE lot of stitches in a round at this point and I need to start decreasing for one round and blah blah blah. Point is, I need a stitch marker!! So I made one. My first one ever...
Very quick and simple, and purple, naturally. But then I stumbled upon a problem. When knitting, the usage of such stitchmarkers is fairly obvious. You just slip the loop on to the needle and flip it over. But I'm not knitting this particular present. I'm crocheting it. I held the stitch marker in one hand, and my project in the other and hit a mental roadblock. I have absolutely no idea how to use it on a crochet project! So I stuck a safety pin on it.
I'm a zillion percent sure I'm using it wrong, but it'll show me where my rounds start, which is what I needed it for.
But I never used any of them. They're floating around in my stitchwork drawer/box/folders/area at home. Then, I joined Ravelry. I entered the wonderful world of swaps and discovered this delightful craze of handmade stitch markers. Ones like this...
And these...
And these!!!
Those last ones are made by my fellow Magpie (GO MAGPIES!) Olive Bumblebirch - at some point I plan to spend a fortune in her Etsy store.
Anyway, people make these delightful stitch markers and send them in swaps. Some people use them, some collect them, some do both. I've never received any, but I do so many swaps I figured I'd buy the really cheap equipment needed so I can make some and send them to my swappees.
Today I started a Christmas present and normally when crocheting I just count, I don't mark the rounds like I know people normally do. But I'm doing a WHOLE lot of stitches in a round at this point and I need to start decreasing for one round and blah blah blah. Point is, I need a stitch marker!! So I made one. My first one ever...
Very quick and simple, and purple, naturally. But then I stumbled upon a problem. When knitting, the usage of such stitchmarkers is fairly obvious. You just slip the loop on to the needle and flip it over. But I'm not knitting this particular present. I'm crocheting it. I held the stitch marker in one hand, and my project in the other and hit a mental roadblock. I have absolutely no idea how to use it on a crochet project! So I stuck a safety pin on it.
I'm a zillion percent sure I'm using it wrong, but it'll show me where my rounds start, which is what I needed it for.
Movie quiz help!!
Posted by
Cel'eena Cree
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I got linked to this quiz from the Empire magazine twitter feed ages ago (15th September) and it's bugged me ever since, because I can't get all the answers. I can't find anywhere on the site to get answers from, and I'm stuck stuc stuck!!
So far I have the following...
1) Spiderman
2) Dead Poet's Society
3)
4) Mean Girls
5)
6) Kes
7) Pleasantville
8)
9) Meaning of Life
10)
11)
12) Clueless
13) Heathers
14)
15)
16) Breakfast Club
17) Wild Things
18) Karate Kid
Can anyone see any others? By the way, I DON'T want answers!! Please, please, please just give me clues so I can get them on my own!!
So far I have the following...
1) Spiderman
2) Dead Poet's Society
3)
4) Mean Girls
5)
6) Kes
7) Pleasantville
8)
9) Meaning of Life
10)
11)
12) Clueless
13) Heathers
14)
15)
16) Breakfast Club
17) Wild Things
18) Karate Kid
Can anyone see any others? By the way, I DON'T want answers!! Please, please, please just give me clues so I can get them on my own!!
Studying the Holocaust
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Cel'eena Cree
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One of the modules I'm doing here at USM is The Holocaust: Policy, Practice and Response. Every Tuesday evening I spend two hours in a classroom in Portland hearing about the history behind the Holocaust and the events during those horrible years. And every week I have readings to do from various books. One of those books is a selection of documents and first hand accounts, and it is completely harrowing.
I've just been sat reading personal accounts by SS about the gas chambers, and I feel ill. I had Monty Python music playing in the background, in an attempt to not get quite so dragged into it. It kind of worked. My feet have been tapping away to the music quite happily, but the rest of me has been feeling horrible. I read an account of how men would stand atop the gas chambers and tell the people that they were to take showers, and receive hot soup before being assigned well paying jobs. The people willingly undressed and hurriedly went into the chambers. The person who wrote that particular document - Filip Muller, a part of the Sonderkommando - could hear the cries for help, the prayers, the banging and knocking and desperate scraping on the doors. I don't understand how anyone could do that to another human being. I've read the documentation, I know the history and the theory behind the Holocaust, but it still completely astonishes me.
I'm not the most compassionate person in the world, I harbour grudges. But such hatred astonishes me. It isn't even hatred. To hate someone you have to consider them to be a person. Urgh! I can't even think straight.
I started to keep these reactions in a separate blog, as I thought I needed to keep a reactionary journal for the module. I don't, so I'm closing the blog, but I'm going to post here what I've written. I love this blog, I love getting my thoughts out to the world. There are things that I can't write about. Issues with people who might read the blog, for instance. But my personal feelings can be, and will continue to be, published on this blog and shared with the world. Someone out there might feel the same way.
I read a lot of blogs, and I'm aware that not everyone will agree with some of my opinons, or my ways. And those people have a write to disagree, I just hope I don't get the abuse that other people have gotten. I guess as long as my blog has such a small readership I'll be okay.
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Posts from Reactionary Journal blog...
Saturday, 12 September 2009
I'm not entirely sure why I chose to study the holocaust. I've known about it since high school, and the events of those years have always appalled and astonished me, but I have never studied it in depth. Up until this semester, all I knew of the Holocaust I learned from movies and television and books. Not necessarily accurate. I started this module with the hopes of learning the truth. So far the things I have learned are disturbing, but I don't regret enrolling. My only regret is that our lectures are late on a Tuesday evening. After class is over, I have nothing to do but wait half an hour for a bus, and wallow in the depressive fugue that the lectures so far have left me in.
In our first lecture, on September 1st 2009, we watched two short videos. The first was called "Night and Fog" and was made my a French director in 1955. It toured a concentration camp as it stood today (or 1955), and showed a lot of footage and still photography from concentration camps when they were in use. The video was interesting and fascinating and absolutely disturbing. Seeing the footage of the people who were tortured was bad enough, but the image that most affected me was one from 1955. The director, Alain Resnais, showed us the ceiling of one of the gas chambers. The camera showed us, close up, the grooves and scratches and furrows made in the concrete ceiling by the people trapped in the chamber. Seeing that ceiling, and those marks, made my stomach climb into my throat. Even writing about it now I'm still feeling a little sick. Those marks are the last imprint on earth of people who were rounded up, tortured and murdered just because of who they were. Because of situations beyond their control, they were punished and killed in such a way that they scratched grooves in a concrete ceiling in attempts to escape. It makes me feel guilty for being alive and for taking my freedom for granted.
I get abuse and insults because of who I am, and I complain about it regularly. Now I feel like I have no right to complain. Nothing that has ever been done to me is anywhere near as bad as what those people went through.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
We have a book to read entitled "Sources of the Holocaust," edited by Steve Hochstadt. It contains 84 different documents from history regarding the holocaust and each week we are required to read a certain number.
This week I had to read 10 of them, and my reactions were quite strong. I thought I'd note them here, since this is what the journal is for. I'll also note any reactions to the documents I've read previous to this week.
Some of the first documents we had to read included excerpts from Martin Luther's "On the Jews and Their Lies" (1543), a Papal bull about Jews from Pope Paul IV written in 1555 and parts of an article entitled "Jewish Morality" which appeared in a Vactican newspaper in 1893. These documents display so much hatred towards the Jews. I don't quite understand it. I see the reasons before me, I know logically why these people were against the Jews, but I don't quite understand how you can hate an entire race of people based purely on their religion. It seems unfathomable to me, the whole thing does.
One of the groups of people targeted by the Nazis were handicapped people. There are a few documents in this book that reflect that. All of them refer to people with handicaps as "unworthy of life". Having sufffered a mental handicap myself, and having a hadicapped mother, this is a sensitive area for me. One of the documents I've just read was notes from a meeting of German mayors concerning murder of the handicapped.
What appalled me most was that I could kind of see their logic. The words and terminology that they use. "They are nothing but a burden," "there is no possibility that these people will ever become healthy," "they only take nourishment away from other, healthy people." I was appalled with myself, very angry and very guilty, until I realised that this was the point. The Germans used terminology like this deliberately to make people forget. The phrases make the people they plan to murder sound like people on life support, who have no hope left. They make their plans sound like a form of euthanasia, rather than a plan to kill people who would be considered healthy and relatively normal by today's standards.
Two documents later was a table of money saved by murdering the handicapped, from 1941. Dr Eduard Brandt worked out that by "disinfecting" over 70,000 people the German government saved nearly 9 million Reichsmarks. I don't know how much that is in English money, but I imagine it's a lot. The Germans did everything they could to justify their actions.
Another document that made me feel a little ill was an excerpt from the Memoir of Dr Paula Tobias about the boycott of Jewisih businesses on April 1st 1933. Dr Tobias was a Jewish doctor, and whilst some Jewish businesses were treated violently and dramatically during the boycott (there were bloody riots and arrests all over the place), Dr Tobias and her husband planted potatoes whilst their son went to school and their chauffeur yelled at the SA guards stood at their door.
My instant reaction was that we only really hear horror stories from the war and the holocaust, and that surely not every Jew could have had it so bad. Then I felt guilty again.
This course is creating a lot of guilty feelings and things in me. I feel kinda weird now. I'm disturbed about my own morality. Is this normal?
I've just been sat reading personal accounts by SS about the gas chambers, and I feel ill. I had Monty Python music playing in the background, in an attempt to not get quite so dragged into it. It kind of worked. My feet have been tapping away to the music quite happily, but the rest of me has been feeling horrible. I read an account of how men would stand atop the gas chambers and tell the people that they were to take showers, and receive hot soup before being assigned well paying jobs. The people willingly undressed and hurriedly went into the chambers. The person who wrote that particular document - Filip Muller, a part of the Sonderkommando - could hear the cries for help, the prayers, the banging and knocking and desperate scraping on the doors. I don't understand how anyone could do that to another human being. I've read the documentation, I know the history and the theory behind the Holocaust, but it still completely astonishes me.
I'm not the most compassionate person in the world, I harbour grudges. But such hatred astonishes me. It isn't even hatred. To hate someone you have to consider them to be a person. Urgh! I can't even think straight.
I started to keep these reactions in a separate blog, as I thought I needed to keep a reactionary journal for the module. I don't, so I'm closing the blog, but I'm going to post here what I've written. I love this blog, I love getting my thoughts out to the world. There are things that I can't write about. Issues with people who might read the blog, for instance. But my personal feelings can be, and will continue to be, published on this blog and shared with the world. Someone out there might feel the same way.
I read a lot of blogs, and I'm aware that not everyone will agree with some of my opinons, or my ways. And those people have a write to disagree, I just hope I don't get the abuse that other people have gotten. I guess as long as my blog has such a small readership I'll be okay.
---
Posts from Reactionary Journal blog...
Saturday, 12 September 2009
I'm not entirely sure why I chose to study the holocaust. I've known about it since high school, and the events of those years have always appalled and astonished me, but I have never studied it in depth. Up until this semester, all I knew of the Holocaust I learned from movies and television and books. Not necessarily accurate. I started this module with the hopes of learning the truth. So far the things I have learned are disturbing, but I don't regret enrolling. My only regret is that our lectures are late on a Tuesday evening. After class is over, I have nothing to do but wait half an hour for a bus, and wallow in the depressive fugue that the lectures so far have left me in.
In our first lecture, on September 1st 2009, we watched two short videos. The first was called "Night and Fog" and was made my a French director in 1955. It toured a concentration camp as it stood today (or 1955), and showed a lot of footage and still photography from concentration camps when they were in use. The video was interesting and fascinating and absolutely disturbing. Seeing the footage of the people who were tortured was bad enough, but the image that most affected me was one from 1955. The director, Alain Resnais, showed us the ceiling of one of the gas chambers. The camera showed us, close up, the grooves and scratches and furrows made in the concrete ceiling by the people trapped in the chamber. Seeing that ceiling, and those marks, made my stomach climb into my throat. Even writing about it now I'm still feeling a little sick. Those marks are the last imprint on earth of people who were rounded up, tortured and murdered just because of who they were. Because of situations beyond their control, they were punished and killed in such a way that they scratched grooves in a concrete ceiling in attempts to escape. It makes me feel guilty for being alive and for taking my freedom for granted.
I get abuse and insults because of who I am, and I complain about it regularly. Now I feel like I have no right to complain. Nothing that has ever been done to me is anywhere near as bad as what those people went through.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
We have a book to read entitled "Sources of the Holocaust," edited by Steve Hochstadt. It contains 84 different documents from history regarding the holocaust and each week we are required to read a certain number.
This week I had to read 10 of them, and my reactions were quite strong. I thought I'd note them here, since this is what the journal is for. I'll also note any reactions to the documents I've read previous to this week.
Some of the first documents we had to read included excerpts from Martin Luther's "On the Jews and Their Lies" (1543), a Papal bull about Jews from Pope Paul IV written in 1555 and parts of an article entitled "Jewish Morality" which appeared in a Vactican newspaper in 1893. These documents display so much hatred towards the Jews. I don't quite understand it. I see the reasons before me, I know logically why these people were against the Jews, but I don't quite understand how you can hate an entire race of people based purely on their religion. It seems unfathomable to me, the whole thing does.
One of the groups of people targeted by the Nazis were handicapped people. There are a few documents in this book that reflect that. All of them refer to people with handicaps as "unworthy of life". Having sufffered a mental handicap myself, and having a hadicapped mother, this is a sensitive area for me. One of the documents I've just read was notes from a meeting of German mayors concerning murder of the handicapped.
What appalled me most was that I could kind of see their logic. The words and terminology that they use. "They are nothing but a burden," "there is no possibility that these people will ever become healthy," "they only take nourishment away from other, healthy people." I was appalled with myself, very angry and very guilty, until I realised that this was the point. The Germans used terminology like this deliberately to make people forget. The phrases make the people they plan to murder sound like people on life support, who have no hope left. They make their plans sound like a form of euthanasia, rather than a plan to kill people who would be considered healthy and relatively normal by today's standards.
Two documents later was a table of money saved by murdering the handicapped, from 1941. Dr Eduard Brandt worked out that by "disinfecting" over 70,000 people the German government saved nearly 9 million Reichsmarks. I don't know how much that is in English money, but I imagine it's a lot. The Germans did everything they could to justify their actions.
Another document that made me feel a little ill was an excerpt from the Memoir of Dr Paula Tobias about the boycott of Jewisih businesses on April 1st 1933. Dr Tobias was a Jewish doctor, and whilst some Jewish businesses were treated violently and dramatically during the boycott (there were bloody riots and arrests all over the place), Dr Tobias and her husband planted potatoes whilst their son went to school and their chauffeur yelled at the SA guards stood at their door.
My instant reaction was that we only really hear horror stories from the war and the holocaust, and that surely not every Jew could have had it so bad. Then I felt guilty again.
This course is creating a lot of guilty feelings and things in me. I feel kinda weird now. I'm disturbed about my own morality. Is this normal?
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