_phoenixrising - In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

The subject of banning books came up in the LJ News feed recently, as part of one of their writer's block sections.

The question got me thinking; it was "What books (if any) should be banned from Highschool Libraries?"

I am in flux between ALL and NONE..... while I disapprove of censorship in general, I also appreciate that one of the reasons I have quite good literacy and vocabulary is down to the fact I was reading at a young age.... (I even read Jules Verne when I was 11, and had a dictionary on hand to explain to me what all the long words were)

There is a real problem with reading at present; not enough people do it. Things like Harry Potter, Roald Dahl, and Stephanie Meyer and so on have done an awful lot to encourage reading, and I have seen a lot of people who "hadn't read a book in their lives" picking up books and reading them. This is a good thing!

Another thing that irritated me extraordinarily at high school was being made to read shakespeare... It totally ruins it. I cannot actually stand to watch Romeo and Juliet because I've ripped apart the characters so much. Similarly, Midsummer Night's Dream has none of the madcap tomfoolery because of the literary equivalent of "giving it too much radio-play".

A wonderful thing though about my High School library was that the librarian (a 50-something lady with scary moustache and photographic memory) was into SF.... As a result there was Julian May, John Wyndham, Arthur C Clarke, and several other authors that I have gotten into since, and really enjoyed at the time.

So anyway, I am still somewhat in two minds. On the one hand, having a totally uncensored library is a good thing; on the other hand, getting people to read is an issue that needs addressing.

So, I propose the following; Public libraries are open as normal, uncensored and so on. However, High School Libraries only contain the textbooks that are used in school; and anyone who is under 18 is not allowed to buy books, or borrow them.

Perhaps this will lead to the kind of situation where adults are hounded outside libraries to get youngsters the new Terry Pratchett :D

Yay! New Icon.......

Recently I have been pondering again.

Essentially there have been a range of things that have spurred this, among them a recent flip in my own life, and also a range of thoroughly unpleasant people. Basically, I am wondering to what extent one can change one's core beliefs and "gut responses".....

For instance; everyone holds opinions. These are cognitive ideas that are given credence by ourselves because they resonate in some way with ourselves, or are in some other way judged and adopted over a range of views. This type of thing can be reasonably easily changed, depending on how "invested" one is in the opinion.

A little deeper we have beliefs and values. These I find are actually quite hard to change, but it happens; for instance, I have changed beliefs several times in my life on a religious level.

Deepest still we have those responses that are almost involuntary; for instance, phobias, sexual and romantic responses, etc.

What if we were able to alter those? I guess it would be something like self-brainwashing or something like that; would that be a true response, or would it be somehow seperate? If you are hypnotised to not like chocolate, for instance, does that remove the core liking for chocolate, or simply overlay a response on top of that?

Are you able to force yourself to be in love? Be attracted to someone? Or would that be like the equivalent of a robot outputting particular responses to different stimuli? On a negative level, could one "reprogram" something like a peadophile? Or would that simply be a negative response overlaid on top of a core attraction?

I admit, I say this because I have been very odd of late (not peadophilia, no need to worry), and I am worried. Is this a response I'm teaching myself, or a change in my core? Essentially, are the attractions there because that's a normal response for someone "in love", and that's a response I've taught myself, or is this a change in my core attractions?

I guess Jack the Bodiless is a decent metaphor right now.

Blowed if I'm asking my dad for memories of all his sex life though.

Happy birthday to lydiasings  :)

And happy birthday to me as well :D

Bury the hatchet with a smile and a curse
The world is big enough for both of us
The pack's been shuffled now - we've got different hands
There's different enemies for both of us now
There's no one round here who remembers those times
When we were little kings of our own different sides
Was I the punk who stole your thunder
Or was it all just the other way round?
Chorus:
Now it's gone, done, the feud is over
Funny how vendettas just turn into a bore
Gone, done, the feud is over
I really can't be bothered anymore
Bury the hatchet with a smile and a curse
The world is big enough for both of us
But oh how that bitching was fun while it lasted
Until I got to realise no one really cared
Chorus:
Now it's gone, done, the feud is over
Funny how vendettas just turn into a bore
Gone, done, the feud is over
I really can't be bothered anymore
It's such a waste of my time, thinking of you
And all the stuff that I hear which may or may not be true
I never did like you, probably never will
But I bet you can live with that fact pretty well
People get to drinking, they get sentimental
Maybe I'm a bastard human after all
Bury the hatchet with a smile and a curse
The world is big enough for both of us
The pack's been shuffled now - we've got different hands
And this whole thing is just ridiculous

Well, the last few days have been interesting. Looking after schrody turned out to be fun, even if he decuded to be a sod and not come home to scare everyone... *sigh* Ah well, no harm done. Friday night was spent in the dinge impulsively, which was fun :) Even more amazing, met up with Heather and co, and many others :) I did spend some time flirting outrageously with Debbie and Emily though ;p. Saturday as a result I spent with them in town looking for bits. I did a bad thing and bought a squad of 40k terminators... however they are grey knights, and so are very cool,and will help keep me occupied in the coming weeks. I also found a beautiful chest in army surplus... perfect for re-enactment. I had to coome back for it later though... and got myself clamped in the process :( So I was really upset, and so spent sat at the dinge too... after having been sorted outby deb and ems who were brilliant :) I got rather tipsy, although not as much as some :P Having sorted out my car, I spent sunday night gaming with Alex and Andi. Necromunda is much better than I first thought.

All these terrorists trying to bring england to a standstill...... just think, all it took was a little weather.... who knew, all they had to do was ask God.... (Chris)

Hoovering is much more fun if you put on a pilot helmet, put on the top gun soundtrack and swith the lights off, to pretend you are a fighter pilot....

The Loof is a small furry parasitic creature, whose native habitat is upon the heads of pretentious people (most notably, those of the Gothic subculture). It is alone among the animal kingdom firstly in its curious pelt, which refracts the visible light spectra in such a way as to completely elude visible detection; secondly, in its rather fascinating habit of pulling upward on the hosts' nose, so as to cause an exaggerated appearance of superiority or condescension.

Fig 1; a Loof in its natural habitat.




* Drunken taxi conversation

A very interesting article on New Scientist about committees, beauracracy and the maths behind them....

Tonight anyone?

Padded jack not going well. Having finished stuffing enough to definately ascertain it is too small, I started making side inserts. Unfortunately these are proving a bitch to attach, as the stitching has to be stronger than I can manage by hand :(

I think I may end up using eyelets, sewn with carpet thread out of sight, and lacing.

I have to finish it though considering it's £100 for one on ebay right now!

It takes a surprising force of will not to move.

But he did not dare move. Not even to speak. For if he did move, bringing himself to a halt would require more effort and energy than he had. And he was desperately afraid of what would happen in the meantime.

So he remained still, as a storm raged internally, as it crashed again and again against the walls of his soul, as it threatened to overwhelm; sweep away everything. It battered, beat, and when force proved ineffective, caressed, tempted, seduced, bargained, before relenting. After a time, subsiding, frustrated, but spent.

Still he remained motionless; pouring all his will into not moving a muscle.Unheeded, a drop of sweat crawled down his forehead, stinging his eyes which did not blink. The hate, anger and fear, all redirected, re-assigned, given new targets for now.

Time passed, feeling like a week. He relaxed, having poured all his energy into those few seconds. He could hardly move now even if he had wanted to.

This time, he did not move. This time.

Ouch.

Just remembered why I don't get burgers for lunch from the justrolls van.

ONION AHOY!

I feel awful.

In other news - is anyone up for training tomorrow?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_St_Edmunds

The town council election on 3 May 2007 was won by the "Abolish Bury Town Council" party.^[10] The party lost its majority following a by-election in June 2007 and, to date, the Town Council is still in existence.<sup>[11]


*HEADDESK*</sup>

Also.... ( You are all very special people.... )
Try out this Meme
Brought to you by NardVille

Right....

Those of you interested in Tribe of Frog...

 have booked a 4 bed Dorm in this place - http://www.fmbristol.co.uk/

Basically, Premier inn wanted 2 night minimum booking, pushing the price per person up to £56 instead of £28.

So.... I booked this place after finding that they are even closer - and the good news is, it's only £17.50 per bed per night!

I am booking my own Ticket, plus Jeans, as she has asked me to.

You will need to find your own ticket - http://www.tribeoffrog.co.uk/

The e-tickets are £10, I've used them before, they're no hassle at all. Paypal FTW. You get one by clikcing the "home" link on the Froggie Menu on the left, and then on the same menu, click "Party tickets"... then "buy now"...

For some reason the Website is a little screwy this month - meh.

So, those of you who want to go, will need to let me know soon. Currently 2 spaces - that is spaces in the car to and from and beds in hotel...

So far I have:

Me
Jean
Little Claire


Claire/Bekki - You guys have first refusal on the beds and car spaces, but please let me know soon! I don't necessarily need the money until the actual night, so if there is paydays etc then that's fine :)

 

EDIT - 1 SPACE FREE - Really this is a very cheap way of doing it!