(no subject)

[changeling]

Family thing today was good. It was nice to catch up with Rosemary, Charlotte and Charlotte's younger brother whose name still escapes me. We talked lit crit and the internet and comics and xbox and history and it was great. It ended all too soon.

I got lots of spiffy presents today, notably a digital camera from the Ps and Monty Python and the Holy Grail from Nyssa. I've seen Camelot in Lego, now. Kara got me a black wristbandy thing with my name in silver letters on it. 'tis pretty.

My dad told me there's a book called The Four Agreements that I must read (and so should everyone, according to him). One of the four agreements is that you try not to take everything personally. I really need to try doing that, because there have been people hurting me recently who I hope have no intention of same.

I have a new Wackiness up. Took me a bit more than two hours. It was time I was going to spend wrapping presents for tomorrow, but hey. Sleep's for wusses, right? It'll be finding the presents again that I've carefully hidden around my room that'll take the time, I suspect.

Return of the King tomorrow. I'm excited. I double-hog dare you to post the most outlandish fake spoilers you can in the comments of this post. Go on, dare ya.

Comments

[notfudge.livejournal.com]

*clicks on wackiness link...reads wackiness...squeeeeeees wildly*
OMIGOD
i'm in wackiness...(report to alaanja for a full account of my reaction)

p.s.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBIESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

I thought it might amuse. ^__^

[notfudge.livejournal.com]

also, that book, my yoga teacher lent it to me and it is good. but i couldn't read it.

too close to the bone.

[burningskyfire.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. There was much squeeing over wackiness.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Which is a Good Thing.

[burningskyfire.livejournal.com]

Muchly.

[shinyandnat.livejournal.com]

THAT'S IT.

I'M WEARING THAT SKIRT TOMORROW.

Or I would, if it wasn't at Chris and Sara's. *sulks*

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Maybe on Sunday. ^_^

[shinyandnat.livejournal.com]

Yes! Then!

[dorukai.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a potentially useful book.
Another one that our doctor recommended which is really good is called "Your Eroneous Zones" (pun intentional).
The Road Less Travelled is also excellent, sort of the archetypal self-help book.

Uhm.

It turns out that Sauron has actually been Bill the Pony the WHOLE TIME. When they turned him loose before Moria he got lost in the wilds on the wrong side of the Misty Mountains, which is why he wasn't able to notice a pair of hobbits practically climbing up his rear nostril.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Hmm. *nods* There's another one called "Emotional Intelligence", which is all about how our first response is emotional, because that's our survival system.

*snerks* Evil Bill!

[billradish.livejournal.com]

Just so long as everyone remembers that I am not a horse. Nor am I related to them by any direct means.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

*snerks* Sure.

[billradish.livejournal.com]

The joke was made previously. Several times.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor Bill. I'm sorry. *pets you*

[burningskyfire.livejournal.com]

*has definitely seen it*

They don't show the bit about the king returning because it's like, not important. They cut it out and go straight to the bit where Gollum catches Frodo and eats him.

(LOTR: Return of the King. What king? Erh, sorry, the actor left halfway through the shooting. In the end credits the movie is renamed to "LOTR: Return of the Hobbit. Inside the Gollum."
Uhh, except for the part where the Gollum is actually a hobbit.)

[burningskyfire.livejournal.com]

I didn't think of this. Really. It was all my brother.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

*grins* 'Tis an excellent spoiler nonetheless.

RotK spoilers

[mclittlebitch.livejournal.com]

It turns out Pippin actually wants to rule Middle Earth and that whole 'I'm such a cute dumb stoner' thing is a total act.
Also, Aragorn and Legolas end the film with a charming Elven wedding.

Re: RotK spoilers

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

HA! I knew it!

Does Elrond also confess his secret love for Aragorn, or does he continue pretending that he's trying to break up Aragorn and Arwen because he knows that Aragorn is secretly shaggin Legolas?

Re: RotK spoilers

[mclittlebitch.livejournal.com]

The second one, I think... He's just trying to be a good dad. "Hon, I know you love Aragorn, but there's no way to compete with those cheekbones and extreme sports skills. Okay, so Legolas might communicate in statements of obvious facts, but he does have the witty sidekick Dwarf, whereas you just whine a lot."

[melieltathariel.livejournal.com]

Pippin and Merry conspire to overthrow Aragorn and begin the Republic of Gondor, which garantees the right to food, ale, and singing silly drinking songs. Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo teach Gollum how to crochet doilies in an attempt to civilize him. Legolas gets a zit and hurls himself into an abyss in despair. Gimli buys platform shoes and marries Arwen, and Gandalf renovates Osgiliath into a retirement home from which he can fly fish.

[parakleta.livejournal.com]

I read that book. It's not so much that it's a book everyone should read, but it's got quite a bit of stuff in it that everyone should know/think about. It's not necessarily the best book for the content that's in it, but it's certainly easily accessible.

There are other books from which you can glean the same information, but they tend to be much subtler, or much harder reading. The Four Agreements only took me about 90 minutes to read. I bought it at the airport after I'd checked in, and finished it before I'd made it to Newcastle.

I didn't quite appreciate it's 'in your face' kind of approach, it doesn't leave you to do much searching for yourself, to figure out much for yourself. It more or less just says 'this is how you should think, it's the best way', the books I prefer tend to point out faults with how you currently think, and offer the beginnings of other alternatives, and encourage you to walk your own path.

That said, I can't think of any single book that I'd recommend about this kind of stuff, beyond "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", but it's only loosely related to the stuff in "The Four Agreements". The Mars trilogy has some good philosophical stuff in it, but beyond that I guess my understandings have come from reading widely from a lot of sources, and doing a lot of thinking.

I wish I could articulate well enough to write a book like that, only subtler, one day.

[delirieuse.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Heh, I know dad's read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"... he told me I was too young when I expressed an interest. Mind you, I was probably about 12 at the time. ;)

[parakleta.livejournal.com]

I was 18 when I first read it, half way through first year. It was a good time for me to read it actually, because I was doing some soul searching at the time. My first year of Uni was an amazingly significant point in my life, for so many reasons.

Anyway, I recommend "Zen and the Art.." over "The Four Agreements". I think it's a much subtler and more interesting book. I think the best journeys are those you make yourself, it's like comparing going on a holiday to watching the footage of someone else's. Always better to go yourself.