Human behavior

I knew I was naive (are you naive if you know it?), but it surprises me to find in what ways I'm naive (which stands to reason).  It has something to do with why I... "connect" with Spock and Dr. Sheldon Cooper – I just can't comprehend human behavior.  It's not that I, myself, have such prefect habits, but it still baffles me when I see people reacting or doing something in ways I had not prepared for or expected.  For example, this is not BU, right?  It's not a big college, and its filled with Catholic, reasonably responsible young adults.  So when they tell you three times not to put your room trash in the bathroom trash or else the custodians might slack off, you'd think they'd take the hint!  And then a girl on my floor does this or that, and I find that my mind is in rather a befuddled state.  Don't misunderstand – it's not that I didn't know people did these things.  But my intellectual, logical, slow, unemotional, introverted, contemplative, reserved way of approaching social situations (and other situations) is not adhered to by others, or it just doesn't seem to apply at all.  I have encountered this everywhere, of course, but until now, I could be all that and still get along in life.  Now, I have to be so concerned to not simply shut people off, that the only logical thing to do is to be moderately dramatic, so far as I am concerned.  Having a reserved and intellectual but informative conversation at lunch with Marian from Alaska, sixth of seven, was very refreshing.

~Meggy

William Gandalf

With respect and deep regret, we say goodbye to Dixie, a good friend and amiable rabbit.  He died of unknown causes, but he lived to a fair age.

Now, on my sister's birthday, we went to a shelter to get a new rabbit Dovahkiin whom my sister has renamed Davulcan.  I was instantly attracted to the cats, as I knew I would be.  But there was one -- this one kitten in with three others, grey all over, that stole my heart.  I thought not much of it right away, knowing the impracticality in begging for a cat on the eve of my departure for school.  The subject came up naturally, however, and next thing I knew, I was holding him.  Then I was sharing uncertain glances across the room about whether we could go ahead and adopt him.  He was so quiet, amiable, and lovable.  Then, my mother was signing the adoption papers.

What would my father think?  That was a serious question; but there was enough reason to believe that he would approve of the idea.  Well, he would have to now.

Three months old, fluffy grey, and originally a stray -- what would be a proper name for him?  Our first cat was named Shakespeare.  Someone -- perhaps my mother or sister -- suggested William.  My brother seemed to take to the idea.  Certainly, the Doughnut name he came with hardly seemed appropriate.  Stormcloud was cliche.  Weathertop was unfavorable to my mother.  Gandalf the Grey -- she loved that, and so do I.  However, my brother simply adores that cat and somehow Willy seems to have stuck.  I have to admit, for some reason, it just works.  (It also has the virtue of not sounding silly when you're calling for him, like when I'm calling for my dog Baby Girl.)

We all agreed the name would be up to my father, but Willy, he said, was working for him.  So Willy it is; but we compromised and named him William Gandalf, and honestly, there's no reason we can't call him whatever we like.  My sister's rabbit Dixie was called Dixie, Bunny, Bob, and Bun-bun; whatever she was called, everyone knew who was meant.

But he's so sweet, Willy is.  As yet, he doesn't quite like our simple dog, which is understandable, but he himself is very amiable to quiet people.  Some day, they'll be fast friends I hope.  He loves to cuddle and rub against you, nibble your fingers and purr, and likes belly rubs.  He also loves my brother and my brother's room, which more than suits my doting brother.  Willy likes to be under the bed, and he climbs up into the box springs.

Unfortunately, my brother has never been so stuffed up in his life, but he doesn't care, and he is willing to go to any lengths for this cat.  It's so cute to watch them together.

Dovahkiin (and I stubbornly call him by some pronunciation of his original name) is equally cute, if not as entertaining.  He has lived inside all his life, but eventually we intend to have him live out in Dixie's hutch.  But this little guy loves to just sit on your lap and be petted -- he's content to do so for hours, as my sister can attest to (with a de-stressed look on her face).

(He loves my brother's baseball cap.)

It's just my luck that my family starts raising a farm after I'm all set to leave.

~Meggy

(These videos belong to me, courtesy of my brother, and as such I am responsible for them.  Do not take, borrow, or steal them or from them.  They contain images of friends and family, and neither you nor I am authorized to unnecessarily spread their likeness throughout the web.  Thank you.)

Nímmoh'ín

....

But it was not fickleness or lack of affection or even a lack of love for him which drove him from her mind; there were many important goings on in Wassying.

First there was an epidemic, which kept Dr. Jacobi busy for some weeks, well into November, just as the first snows were falling.  Kate offered her help wherever she could and soon found herself as stretched thin as the doctor, who came down with it himself before it was all over.  Almost everyone recovered, but they lost Mrs. Mason’s Trisha, aged five, and Mrs. Alford’s baby Emma, aged not yet one year.  The ceremony, for each was put together quickly before the ground froze solid, and it was a great community affair.
 

As the children were laid together in a barrow, Trisha’s sister Margaret and Emma’s sister Lilly sang an old burial song, the origins of which no one knew anymore.  It was in a language the Wassy did not know or understand, and the exact translation was long forgotten, but it went like this:

Pelela, pelela, pelelæ jah’esones
Ŧehloh cauŧuvav, iëmen elnon heï æċo
Rúd orætín hah élo
Planeg jokæ læjonahes jenàæl heï hesanaiën
Pelela, pelela, pelelæ jah’esones
Honem shúgélo f’élo en’lebenon’emen
En’la’élo’shúgeg roshengœ ŧenges

Loosely, it meant:

Peace, peace, peaceful may you rest
Beneath the earth, so dark and cold
Time hath taken of your breath
Locked it someplace concealed and old
Peace, peace, peaceful may you rest
But leave to those left behind
A memory soft and kind

It's a language that I've invented called Nímmoh'ín.  The accented 'i' sounds like long E, and the H, because it comes at the "end", sounds something like 'ache' in the German 'ache, du leiber' or like the Scottish 'loch'.  It ends in a raspy breath.  Don't let the O get drowned out -- it's long, but it does get slightly toned down by the H.

(The excerpt comes from a novel I am writing that I have mentioned in previous posts.)

~Meggy

laudate dominum: All things have their season, and in their times a...

laudate dominum: All things have their season, and in their times a...: A ll things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven.   [2]  A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant...

I especially like this verse from Ecclesiastes that Constance posted on her blog.  It sounds like prophetic words of wisdom taken right out of Lord of the Rings or something.  Or is it that Lord of the Rings sounds like it was taken right out of the Bible?

~Meggy

Hodge-Podge

It's nearing seven o'clock in the morning and I've been up for a very quiet hour.  I'm a morning person these days and I wouldn't go back to being a night owl, even though I sometimes try to be both, because of the hour or two I have to myself in the morning.  It also gets the day rolling so much earlier.  In the afternoon, even the people who are just kicking into gear get into a kind of "spiraling toward bedtime" routine.  At about three or four o'clock, at least one person will start watching TV, which means it's almost time to start dinner, and after dinner, "productive" stuff starts, but undoubtedly even the night owls aren't their most active.  Everyone's reading, watching TV, or on their computer - not doing anything terribly important, just passing the time until they must be in bed.  Since my dad got a new job and comes home later, the day has gotten that much longer as well because our "after dinner" routine doesn't start until much later.  We also don't have as much time before bedtime so there are fewer movie nights.  But anyway, the whole point of the paragraph was to say that I like getting up earlier in the morning (and if you need to tell your readers that, you're usually in pretty bad shape).

I can't see the sunrise from my window.  Although I get the morning sun on my side and we live on a hill, we are closely surrounded by trees and it isn't until about 7:30 in the morning at this time of year that the sun comes over the trees and lights up my room.

I've been busy getting ready for college and being ill for the last time for several months (I hope).  I've also been getting my school books in the mail.  I bought them on Abe Books using the ISBN number given when I looked up the text books on the Franciscan bookstore website.  Franciscan's prices were horrendous, especially when I could go over to Abe Books and get a new copy for less than Franciscan's "used" price.  My only concern is having the right edition, but I figure that, worst comes to worse, I can go to the bookstore on campus and buy it, right?

I'm a Listener, with a capital L.  In social situations, I like to listen to you talk.  I don't know why.  It is not logical as far as I can see, and I have no theories; but I'd just as soon listen to you instead of be involved in conversation.  Perhaps this is because my experience has been that people talk to me about me, which is my least favorite subject.  I will soon be leaving for college - in just under two weeks, in fact - and so college is the only thing anyone wants to talk to me about.  I value their advice, but I loathe repeating the same canned lines over and over: "The twenty-third.  ....  Driving.  ....  Yeah, I am.  ....  Just my parents.  My siblings are staying with friends."  And the worst part is acting like its the first time anyone asked me.  Them: "When do you leave?"  Me: "Uh... the twenty-third, a Thursday I think."  I know perfectly well that it's a Thursday.  Ideally, I will simply tell them what's on my mind, but not being a social person, I've programmed myself on how to respond to questions, and deviating from this method is almost like trying to make a computer think for itself - I'm far more likely to succeed than a computer, but I usually don't try.  My response should be something like, "Sometimes I'm nervous, sometimes I can't wait, and most of the time I'm just like 'eh, whatever'."  I actually did answer like that once, but it was to a close friend who was not just asking because it's the only subject we have in common.

Do you see the picture to the right?  Isn't it the cutest hat you've ever seen?  I'm knitting it with some gorgeous muted-red yarn I picked up some time ago.  It's really quite simple if you've had any experience knitting.  Even if you haven't, after you get the hang of knitting, I recommend this pattern.  I've linked the picture to the site if you're interested.

So there's just one more thing, I think.  Is anyone a fan of Dr. Who?  A lot of bloggers who share many interests with me also like Dr. Who.  Since I consider them to be generally sane and even wise at times, I trust their interest in it.  However, I have never seen anything of it, and upon trying to find something of it online, I came up empty and more confused than before.  It seems that generally speaking, everyone is interested in one particular "phase" of the show, if you will.  If I were to find a way to watch it, and on TV does not appear to be an option, what would I look for?

I haven't been having many comments lately.  None since the beginning of July - the seventh of July to be precise.  And upon closer examination, it was my own comment (in response to someone else).  Interestingly, my blog viewing is up, however.  I've reached new highs.  So, what, are you guys all on vacation???  I realize it's summer but let's not get sloppy, okay?  Undoubtedly some of my work deserves recognition - recognize it!  ;P  I do have a question, though.  Have I deviated from subjects that interest you?  I can honestly say that I like everything I've been writing about, but of course I do.  What I want to know is if I've been writing too much about Star Trek and other geeky subjects.  Looking back, I haven't posted anything except "Supplementing Your Summer" for several weeks.  Perhaps you had not personal interest in the subjects I chose?  I'm just curious.

~Meggy

Supplementing Your Summer: Character Final

I picked Spock as the character that I studied.  He is quiet and careful in his choice of words.  He is loyal and knowledgeable, but naive and doesn't understand when logic doesn't get the job done.  At his best, I found him to be a cross between Thomas Aquinas and the Little Flower, but obviously he doesn't have their level of virtue.

I had other characters in mind as well, but as we go into August, I can see that I don't have time.  If you're lucky, you might get an analysis of a LOTR character but I am rapidly running out of time.

Did you pick a character and do one as well?  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, try reading Learning to be Like Your Favorite Characters series explained and the first in the installment: Supplementing Your Summer: Character.  If you did this, please tell me about it!  I haven't had much time to study any other characters (so it'd be great if you did the work for me...) and I'd be interesting in seeing what you've come up with.  TV show and movie characters are the easiest because it usually takes a lot less time to watch something than to read and study a book.  Even so, books and even comic books are allowed in this game.

If you haven't done this, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to do so.  It is really quite fun.  Emulating people I admire has always been part of my character, more so than in most other people, I'm realizing, and so this process of analyzing character may be easier for me than for some other people.  Even so, I think you might find it fun!

(I should mention that my Book Binding posts have been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.  I will give you the last installment as soon as I can.)

I hope you had a pleasant summer, and may the rest of it be bright and gay!

~Meggy

Quick to leaf, you'll come to grief; slow to shoot will bear you fruit.