In Which I am Once Again Reminded I Have a Strange Mind

I had a queer dream.

In this dream, I was in Philosophy class. Mr. Mayer was there, along with some random extras (a.k.a. nobody i recognized or knew) and we were talking about philosophy and music. But mostly music, I think. Then zombies showed up. And Mr. Mayer may or may not have given me a bottle of pills (zombie repellent?) and then left, returning as Robin Goodfellow in some epic-looking armor and helped us (me and the extras) escape from the castle (which the school had somehow transformed into) full of zombies. It gets confusing around that point.

And there was a sub-plot about some people who had holed up back at the castle, watching TV and hiding from zombies. I think a couple of them may have been vampires, because there was some blood-sucking going on later and stuff. The dream kept flashing back to them at random intervals, but it was boring and nothing really happened. Just some people watching TV. Not a bad way to spend a zombie apocalypse, I suppose.

We escaped on these flying lizard things (not dragons, but they were interesting and i may go into more into detail about them in a later post) to this...island? Oh, and at around this point, Aladdin and Jasmine had hijacked the dream for some sort of zombie survival love story. I don't know. *shrug*

So Mr. Mayer/Robin Goodfellow officially vanished from the storyline at this point. And we were safe for a while.

And then the zombies (which walked and talked like the people they previously were, except rotting away and hungering for the flesh of the living and being very unapologetic about it) implemented a plan that involved them falling from the sky onto the island. Somehow, this worked. And there was a massacre and Aladdin was running around, avoiding zombies and trying to find Jasmine (they'd gotten separated in the general panic created by raining zombies) and I was running around, somehow managing to avoid being eaten by these rather smart and agile undead, and feeling very uneasy and upset about this whole thing. And then I woke up, feeling very uneasy and upset about that whole dream.

And then I went to bathroom.

Blog Neglect (and a little aside on my stupidity)

I have been very neglectful this month. October just hasn't given me a lot to blog about. (i lie, i'm just too lazy and forgetful) But I intend to do better from now on. Really.

The plan is that I'll blog at least once a week. No matter what, I'll post one update a week. If I post more than that awesome, but this way there will be updates. So expect a lot of randomness in my upcoming posts. But I know that's a goal I can reach and I'd hate to see my blog wither away simply because I don't post for stupid reasons.

After all, I made this as a place for me to write my thoughts and feelings. They don't have to be profound or meaningful. I can gush about my favorite movies and books and things, or vent about a stressful event or friend, or just ramble on and on. I can share my stories here, or art (if i ever get around to scanning it into the computer). This is a place for me. I don't want it to be a pathetic little thing because I don't take advantage of it. So, yeah. Sorry for the drought (if anyone cared). I'll do better in the future.

(and i realized a couple days ago that i misspelled "gimcrack" as "grimcrack" in my blog's url. it's really embarrassing and further reinforced the fact that i can be a real idiot)

The Virgin and the Monster

This is tied with the Disney version as my favorite movie retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It's a much darker and macabre version, but it's so amazing. And the re-imagining of the Beast (known as Nevtor in this version) is superb!

The title for this post is taken from the literal translation of this film's title. It's a great way to welcome the October month.

Watch it. You won't regret it.

The Temporal Mechanics Union a.k.a TMU

So I finally got to join TMU at my school! For those of you who don't know (which are many, I'm sure) TMU stands for Temporal Mechanics Union. It's an organization that gathers like-minded individuals to make music, taking influences from around the world and whatever our imaginations can offer. It's fabulous!

I wanted to join as soon as I found out what it was they actually do. (and it doesn't hurt that one of the head honchos is my favorite professor, hands down) But my CNA class and hectic schedule kept me from being able to join. Until recently.

This was the first rehearsal I went to, and while triplet is no longer a real word in my head (on account of how often i muttered it under my breath to keep time) I think I was starting to learn my parts somewhat correctly by the end of the meeting. I was playing on one of the handmade instruments. It's one of many, but this instrument was called Copperhead most likely due to the fact that it was made of wood and copper. It looks like a glorified xylophone, but it's very interesting. It has sharps and flats and double flats and double sharps and regular notes. I'm very impressed by the work and ingenuity that went into it.

I even got to mess around with the bass instrument known as the Medusa Oblongata, so called for it's many tentacle/snake-like pipes. You hit the openings of the tubes with the flat of a ping pong paddle to force air through them and make sounds.

And then I learned how to play a Conga drum (pronounced with an "oo" sound, so it would sound like Coonga). It was fun and fascinating and my instructors were very forgiving and patient.

Now I just need to learn how to play my part by heart before December 8th, so as not to shame the rest of the TMU members. I think I can do it.

Early Morning Deer Spotting and State Tests

This morning I walked out of my dorm and saw three deer.

Now, that doesn't sound very impressive but it was mystical experience. The crisp early morning air, the radiant colors of the dawn sky, the dew making the grass a richer green, and a startled doe, close enough for me to tackle.

However, I restrained my impulse to tackle said deer.

So.

I looked at the deer. The deer looked at me.

It seemed I had startled the doe with my presence, and it decided that it could find just as tasty food, without the human pest, across the road. It began to walk away when another deer appeared from behind a tree, almost like magic.

They greeted each other, then stared at me. I stared back.

A third deer joined the starefest.

After a quick huddle, it seemed they all agreed that the grass was greener on the other side (of the road) and trotted away, while a car decided that now was the time to appear. They made it to the neighbor's lawn before the car reached them, thus avoiding destroying the beautiful morning calm with a horrific crash and deer guts splattered across the street.
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On another note, I took the State CNA test and I feel pretty good about how I did. However, I'm not sure I understand the logic of the test that says "you are worthy of being the person who takes care of multiple persons' essential and daily needs" being 100 multiple choice questions. Don't get me wrong. It's a heck of a lot easier to do than, say, 100 essay questions.

Still, wouldn't actually putting us in our working environment and having us show that we have the skills and knowledge needed be a better and more accurate test of our abilities? But I suppose that's what the class is for. To prepare us for the actual job, and the test is a formality.

A formality that determines whether or not you actually are a CNA. Which is kind of the opposite of a formality. But, whatever. I should know whether I passed or not in the next 3-4 weeks.

Mimes and the Trees That Fall on Them.

So, my friend (of Stupid Decisions Anonymous fame) asked me this age-old question.

If a tree falls in the forest, and hits a mime, does anyone care?

To which I replied, "The mime cares. But probably no one else does. Except maybe scavengers like vultures and stuff."

And he promptly returned with, "Do mimes have feelings?"

Now that was a good question.

So I thought. And I pondered. And I speculated. I even tried to get into the mind of a mime, to be a mime, so to speak. It was a cold barren place, devoid of life. I will not go there again.

After I recovered from my self-induced torture, I replied.

"They were originally human, so I imagine it's like becoming part of the Borg. Under the right stimuli they can remember what it was to feel. And if they're really lucky, they'll experience a flicker of feeling again. But then they return to their respective Borg/mime mindset as if nothing happened.

 But that's all speculation. Most likely they're nothing more than an empty shell."

"Is being smashed with a tree the right stimuli?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking more emotional stimuli, like being ordered to torture your former family or something. But a tree would be painful. I think a mime can still feel pain, because that's not an emotion," I said after a couple moments.

"True," answered my friend, "but could they care that they feel pain?"

I pondered some more.

"That I don't know. I would imagine that they want to stop the pain. And that would entail getting away from what's causing you pain. Which would be hard to do if there is a tree on top of you..."

At which point we abandoned the conversation and talked about other things and my other friends kept commandeering my computer and I had to beat them off with blunt instruments because it's my computer, dangit!

But I kept thinking about this hypothetical mime under this hypothetical tree in the back of my mind. And I realized that I was looking at this all wrong. The mime's (not) feelings didn't matter so much. The tree's did.

The tree would care.

The tree would care because it fell. And not only did it fall, it fell on a creepy former-human, which may or may not be able to feel pain. Who knows what mental and emotional trauma comes from falling on a mime? It would be deeply disturbed and distressed by this turn of events in it's life. How did come to fall in the first place? Was it a freak storm? A lumberjack? Was the said mime responsible or just an innocent in this affair? (as innocent as a mime can be) What was this mime doing in the middle of a forest anyway?

And there is a very severe lack in details about the tree that fell. Is it old? Is it deciduous? Was it healthy? Did creatures live in/on it?

There isn't enough to go on, to truly understand what happened.

I will never know what happened in that hypothetical forest, where a hypothetical tree fell on a hypothetical mime. But I will always wonder.

Toilets and Tampons

My dorm toilets are picky. They'll take a massive load of crap, but if I need to flush a tampon, suddenly they can't handle it. It's a freakin' tampon.

It must be a man's toilet.

So now I have to throw my used tampons in my trashcan, which is pretty gross for any visitors I might have. (actually, i never have visitors, so it's all good) And it's annoying to be ready to answer the call of nature and suddenly having to scurry into my room with my pants around my ankles, to drag the trashcan back to my bathroom praying I don't drip, just to throw away a tampon.

Fortunately, I only have to go through this once a month. But I can't wait until I get a house with a toilet that isn't a pansy.