memories that never were

Just spotted this marvellous meme on Quaker Pagan Reflections, which Cat got from Walhydra's Porch (it was lying under the recycling), who got it from Igraine:

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now (even if we don't speak often or have never met), please post a comment with a completely made up, fictional memory of you and me.

It can be anything you want - good or bad - but it has to be fake.

When you're finished, you could post this little paragraph in your blog and see what your friends come up with...

Remember when we found the door to another world at the bottom of the garden? Or when we invented a perpetual motion machine, but lost the plans in a freak accident with the athanor?

annoying

According to the quiz at Am I Annoying.com, I am moderately annoying (hurrah! I wouldn't want to be completely bland)

You can also vote there for the annoyingness of celebrities. Alas, Trinny and Susannah (two of the most annoying celebrities on the planet) are not on there. They do have historical figures on there, though; for instance I just voted the Emperor Constantine as annoying for embracing Christianity and making it the state religion of the Roman Empire when it was much better as a rather subversive non-statist little cult. You can also find new people to get annoyed about that you'd never even heard of, like Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Just for balance, I also voted Richard Dawkins annoying. It's a pity it's just a straight choice between annoying, not and don't care, as for some people (like Constantine, and Henry VIII) I'd like to rate them as extra annoying. Humph, Henry VIII isn't on there, but both his daughters and his dad are. I'm annoyed with his brother as well, for dying young and letting Henry VIII get the throne. He caught a chill in Ludlow Castle, or something. I once had the satisfaction of going up to his tomb and telling him that I was annoyed with him for dying early.

meet Yseult...

Hahahahaha! Just tried out the hilarious new Pagan name generator (don't worry, this is an example of Pagan self-mockery, it's not serious).

Its suggestions so far:

Gender-neutral: Wolfe Nightshade Artemis
Female: Yseult Autumn Amber
Male: Ossian Midnight Bear

Clearly I need a pretentious moniker like one of these. That's where I've been going wrong all these years, using my real name.

I'm so geeky

72% Geek

This is quite an improvement on my previous score.

name meme

1. ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car): Spicy Passat

2. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite Kind of shoe): Ginger Doc Martens

3. HIPPY NAME: (what you ate for breakfast, fav tree): Jordans Birch

4. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Angharad Southampton (I haven't actually got a middle name but my dad wanted to call me Angharad)

5. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Abu Yv

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink): Green Green Tea

7. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers/grandmothers): Felix Harold Mildred Doris

8. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Ylang-ylang Winegums

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 4th grade teacher’s last name, a city that starts with the same letter): Evans-Teush Edinburgh

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Beltane Cherry-blossom

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Sharon Hoodie

(Found at Copper's Klatsch and Catch-All)

a new decalogue

Pope Crys at the Complaints Department has issued a list of commandments. This seems like a fun thing to do, so I'm going to join in...

1. Thou shalt not exceed thy carbon footprint
   
2. Thou shalt worship Ceiling Cat and all his furry minions
   
3. Thou shalt not build inaccessible webpages
4. Thou shalt not wear too much perfume in a built-up area
   
5. Thou shalt not drum into the wee small hours
6. Thou shalt not write interminable bad poetry
7. Thou shalt not put the toilet roll back-to-front on the holder
8. Thou shalt not pollute thine ears with Chris de Burgh
9. Thou shalt honour LGBT people, especially the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
10. Thou shalt not publish thy rants upon YouTube, unless they are about contraventions of the first nine of these commandments.
    

extended book meme

I just had an idea for a slightly random extended version of the meme:

Pick the first noun in the second sentence of the passage you have produced from the first book, and use that as a search term in Google Books (use Advanced Search and check Full View to get whole books, otherwise you may not be able to see page 123). Pick the third search result, and repeat the first meme with the online book.

I tried it with mine, but the word was "parking" which produced some exceptionally dull results, so I'm going to do it with my blogger profile, which gives me the word "archaeologist".

Result: The Works of Thomas De Quincey, 1863

For surely Dr Parr, on any subject whatever barring Greek was as competent a scholar as Master Heyne. And on this particular subject, the jest is apparent, that Parr was, and Heyne was not, a schoolmaster. Parr had cultivated the art of teaching all his life; and it were hard, indeed, if labours so tedious and heavy might not avail a man to the extent of accrediting his opinion on a capital question of his own profession.

I love 18th century prose, it's so convoluted.

random book meme

Lifted from Chas Clifton:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

My book is Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps, lent to me by a friend. I still haven't got around to reading it because I object to its biologically deterministic model of gender, but it is the only non-technical work to hand. So, here goes:

The best parkers are German men with 88% doing it successfully on the first attempt. Parking tests at driving schools show that women generally do better at reverse parking than men during driver training, but statistics show women perform worse in real life situations. This is because women are better than men at learning a task and successfully repeating it, provided the environment and conditions under which they do it don't change.

What a load of pseudo-scientific psychobabble. What about the other variables in the situation; and look at the way that the authors have made an unjustified conclusion based on a few random statistics which may mean something completely different than what they say they do! "Statistics show women perform worse in real life situations" does not justify the conclusion that women work better under circumstances that don't change, or necessarily suggest that that is the cause of it. It could be caused by the fact that some women tend to process many stimuli at once rather than focusing in on one particular stimulus.

Anyway, I tag Liz Williams, Joe Gordon, The Silver Eel, Methodius and Balador to do the same (and post a link in the comments when you've done it, if you choose to accept).

my daemon is...

RAVEN - Your daemon may be a member of the crow family. You are intelligent, observant, and gregarious. Just as a crow or raven picks shiny objects out of the dirt, you pick up tidbits of information or ideas and store them away. You have a good sense of humour, but sometimes lose patience with people who are antipathic to your nature. You are swift to alert others when you find the truth, and you have no tolerance for those who would hide it.

Take this quiz!
Quizilla

His Dark Materials

I am Che

...hear me roar!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I used to have a photo of me aged about 14 wearing a beret and looking like Che (only without the beard) but unfortunately I lost it.

[meme via gamoonbat]

I'm MIT

I'm the Massachusetts Institute of Technology!

People have often said about you that the odds are good, but the goods are odd. You're definitely good at knowing what the odds are in any situation, even if you might have trouble expressing what they are to a crowd of people. You see the whole world in numbers and have even argued that it might be beneficial to replace peoples' names with numbers in all situations. It would seem that you are odd after all. But brilliant. You make a serious effort to never go outside.

What university are you? Take the University Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

I'm quite happy to be a university full of geeks with a solstice sunrise alignment in my corridors...

which lolcat r u?

Your Score: Longcat

85 % Affection, 33 % Excitability , 35 % Hunger

Protector of truth.

Slayer of darkness.

Loooooong.

Longcat may seem like just a regular lengthy cat, but he is, in fact, looong.

It is prophesized that Longcat and his archnemesis Tacgnol will battle for supremacy on Caturday. The outcome will change the face of the world, and indeed the very fabric of lolcatdom, forever.

Be grateful that the test has chosen you, and only you, to have this title.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 98% on Affection

You scored higher than 7% on Excitability

You scored higher than 22% on Hunger

You scored higher than 0% on Felinity

Take the test (NB - have to sign in to site to get results)

political

ACCORDING TO YOUR ANSWERS,

The political group that
agrees with you most is...

.

LIBERAL

LIBERALS usually embrace freedom of choice in personal

matters, but tend to support significant government control of the

economy. They generally support a government-funded "safety net"
to help the disadvantaged, and advocate strict regulation

of business. Liberals tend to favor environmental regulations,

defend civil liberties and free expression, support government action

to promote equality, and tolerate diverse lifestyles.

The RED DOT on the Chart shows where you fit on the political map.

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 100%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 40%.

Found at "Oh Taste and See". Take the quiz.

my muse

I took the "The Nine Muses" quiz on gURL.com

My muse is...
Calliope
Calliope is the patron goddess of epic poetry. She is often depicted holding a writing tablet and wearing a golden crown, for she is the oldest of the muses and their leader. Her name means "The Fair Voiced," but Calliope inspires eloquence in writing. Read more...

Who is your muse?

57% sinful

Your Deadly Sins

Gluttony: 80%

Lust: 80%

Sloth: 80%

Greed: 60%

Envy: 40%

Wrath: 40%

Pride: 20%

Chance You'll Go to Hell: 57%

You'll die from food poisoning - and then the natives will feast on your fatty limbs.

How Sinful Are You?

(Found via Sionnach, who only got 28% - lightweight...

supervillain me

I am Dark Phoenix

Dark Phoenix 74% Mystique 72% Poison Ivy 71% Apocalypse 65% Venom 57% Catwoman 52% Green Goblin 48% Juggernaut 48% Mr. Freeze 46% The Joker 46% Magneto 44% Dr. Doom 40% Two-Face 40% Kingpin 25% Riddler 22% Lex Luthor 20%

A prime example of emotional extremes: Passion and fury incarnate.

Which Supervillain are you?

Via Hal Duncan, aka Magneto

m-m-m-mad

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?

Quiz by Rum and Monkey.

(meme snagged from Chas Clifton)

mooning around

I am The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.