For those of you following the Bionicle storyline, what are your thoughts on the Order of Mata Nui? To me, it seems they've been taking almost an attitude of "The ends justify the means" in this so-called Destiny War. In the latest update, Axonn and Brutaka actually contemplated killing Nektann in cold blood. The only reason they didn't was because he would be more useful alive.
To me, this whole Destiny War is a complicated affair, very much a conflict between ideologically and politically o
In all the infinite vastness of space, there is only one
Tuan Taurëo.
Where she has been, where she is going;
these are mysteries.
For in this moment it is enough
to feel the wash of intergalactic particles on her silver skin,
each one carrying its own unique flavour and a tale too long for words.
She is content to observe the motions of the heavenly bodies in their eternal spiraling dance;
they are titans, but they are also her friends.
The song they sing is in her blood.
There is no
I took the liberty of renaming my blog. Because I could. Because Finnish is such a cool language. Because real hedgehogs don't live on mountains. Because, if I want to scale the mountain, I have to get up the hill first. That's right. Call me low on ambition, but right now I have trouble thinking of life in terms of a mountain. It's too daunting an image. I've got to start small.
I've taken the first small steps towards conquering my inner ills. I visited a psychiatric nurse last Friday and wi
I'd just like to thank everyone who's weighed in with their comments here at Hedgehog Mountain. It makes a difference to me knowing that my tortured, complicated, heavy, dry, self-absorbed, pointless ramblings are getting read and appreciated by a few people out there in Internet Land.
The five-star rating is nice, too. Wonder what the result would be if it were compulsory to submit a rating? Much lower, I daresay. I'm glad people are charitable enough to abstain from giving out the twos and
BZPower Blackout 2006 is over. It wasn't the strictest of blackouts, but it achieved what I had intended.
For 18 days, I refrained from posting any and all messages on this site. Despite my self-imposed silence, I did keep up with the news and occasionally read a blog entry or favourite topic without signing in. The total time I spent here, however, was minimal.
What did I do with the extra time? Time for another BClist! kept up with studying and schoolwork enriched my social life signific
"The Defence of the Sampo" by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, out of copyright
So I finally got acquainted with the town library today. I think I came down with something, some bug bite. Call it the Kalevala bug, an older relative of the Tolkien bug.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out on Wikipedia.org.
Fascinating stuff, practically required knowledge for any Tolkien buff worth his salt. And that goes double if the Tolkien buff also happens to be of Finnish descent.
Incide
So I spent another mostly-solitary Saturday at the residence. Started building a Bionicle epic in my mind. Far-future clashes between Matoran factions, Toa vs. Toa across the solar system, fate of everything in the balance, deep world-view issues, yadda yadda. I amuse myself in strange ways.
I also sketched a Matoran of my own design. Showed it to my manga-hating dorm-mate whose main interests are parties and movies, he was genuinely impressed. Apparently, I can draw.
Wait, does this entry
THE HORROR
Yellow and Keetorange do not play well together!
Oh well. At least it'll be a good parts pack. Possibly. And that waist config looks interesting in its own right.
... more properly referred to as Bionicle® Lillipütties!
The idea of this project is simple enough: Build a massive horde of cookie-cutter Bionicle figures. But why?
Why not?
I've established my rep as a MOCist. I'm not very prolific, but I do have a rep. I've done some cool stuff in the past, and I will most likely continue my sporadic output of BCii-brand MOCs. This project is my particular little pet, the black sheep of the family, if you will. I'm aware that it scores a zero for ori
Mixed Choir Twinkle just gave its first Christmas concert of the season. The church was packed, more so than at the same event last year. We performed together with a children's choir and a few soloists. The highlight of our choir's portion was a cantata, "Come, Lord Jesus," with words by a well-known poet who was sitting in the audience, and music composed by our own director. It was rather an awesome experience to perform it for the first time. We get to do it again this Sunday.
The childr
For those of you interested in typifying the human psyche, here's a delicious little theory for you: The Fox and the Hedgehog
The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.
Archilochus (7th-century b.c.e.)
Despite my apparent deep-seated bias towards hedgehogs, I'm actually (le gaspe!) a fox. Snicker snicker. Bet you didn't see that coming.
Which type are you?
-BC
Lately, a most annoying bug has been putting a major crimp on my Internet experience. It's one that's been around since April and STILL hasn't been squashed, as far as I know.
The lowdown: Mozilla Firefox 3 and Adobe Flash 9 do not play well together.
Until I jump through some techy hoops to fix this, I may just have to watch my videos with Internet Explorer. *feels dirty*
*because of IE, not the videos*
-BC
E and I had a long talk last night. The upshot of it is, I need help. I need to learn how to love myself. E convinced me that this matter can't wait for an easier time. I must deal with it now because as long as I suffer from the poor self-esteem and poor self-confidence that I've always lived with, she suffers for me too. Today, in actually just a few minutes, I am going to give my school counsellor a call. She will be able to point me in the right direction.
Let the healing begin.
Oh, an
within my being
no boundaries
a galaxy
or a speck of dust
can you see me
can you face yourself
forgive the hypocrisy
make it all
right again
break what you thought
and let it be, 'cause
you can't control a thing
resist, hold back, flee
back to the dark
in your imagined self
rejected and alone
want to die from the pain
is that who you really are
or is there something more
something real
something worth being born
and living for
your body's going to rot
and you'll leave it b
Do you know... the ancient Mesopotamian origins of the Ring mythologies of Saxon and Norse folklore? the real historical people behind our ideas of elves, fairies, pixies, goblins, gnomes, sprites, and leprechauns? who invented vampires and why? the true meaning of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel? The Arthurian legends? what mutual connection the above questions share? For the answers to these questions and a whole lot more, go here.
-BC
I was counting on receiving income from three different sources right around now. None of them have come through. Now I have no money.
Oh.
Crud.
...
Time to engage those sources and SHAKE 'EM DOWN LIKE A BANDIT.*
* Said shaking down will involve more Paperwork, Talking to Bureaucrats, and Waiting. >.<
More depressing philosophy. =D
I've often found myself thinking along similar lines, how profoundly inadequate are our symbolic modes of expression, i.e. language and art, when compared to the naturally occurring, genuine, living article they attempt to define and represent.
The symbol ought not to be preferred over the true presence and direct experience of that which it represents, of which it is the merest shadow.
The map ought not to be mistaken for the path itself.
Art = artif
Even years ago, in my teens, I remember how I used to long for something that was missing from my life. Inner peace, serenity, a connexion to the center of my being. Now, looking back, I wonder how I went so long without actually doing something about it.
In more recent times, I've known about the benefits of meditation and I've sought information on various techniques. I've tried out a couple of recordings that were supposed to help achieve the Alpha state of mind, where "conscious" thought
I finally got my student grant approved. I have money now. What a difference that makes in life, eh? Superior Finnish social insurance, I love you. Mwa-mwa-mwah.
-BC
Mouseover texts are still flashing for a microsecond and disappearing. This bodes ill.
Update: Looking at software called WipeDrive. That should do the trick. DIE MALWARE DIE!
Update II: WipeDrive is top-notch, conforms to the Department of Defense standard, and costs $39.95. Active@ KillDisk is free and should be plenty good enough.
Update III: Just as I thought: wiping the hard drive does nothing. Am now considering going hardcore and flashing the BIOS. As soon as I figure out how to
I wrote a poem. Aren't you surprised?
The Deep
Weightless, motionless,
Bright waves racing overhead.
Timeless, endless,
The surface I ever must tread.
I think I am dreaming.
I am weary of the waves,
Their froth and their fury.
I let myself relax.
Every bone and nerve, relax.
The light deepens
Through green,
And blue,
And darker blue.
I have attained the depths!
My flesh is cool, immobile.
Oh, less than that:
It's hardly even there.
I see the bumpy, ragged,
Stu
I'm not going to Canada or Spain or Africa or wherever the dickens I might have wandered off to if I'd left where I was. I'm still here. Looking for an apartment and a job at the moment. Massage therapist training at the local vocational academy starts in January. I intend to be there among the 16 accepted applicants at that time. Only took me eight years to figure out for myself what I was told by a computer program back in senior year. Hooray!
Life is awesome, life sucks. And that's the way
