What I Did On My Anti-Holidays

Where "anti-holidays" = "lots and lots and lots of work".

And I'm not going to make excuses for my blogging hiatus, because – *mysterious hand-waving* – there was no hiatus! Okay, this blog may have been looking all tumbleweeds and dust for a while, but I can assure you that I was in fact blogging the whole time over on this other blog. It was part of this postgrad course that I've been doing, you see. (Also, because I'm too lazy busy to do more than one blog at once while also working part-time and studying full-time. As long as I'm doing all my blogging for free, at least . . .)

But: my anti-holidays are now over, so here I am again. Welcome Back Me. I've also grabbed some of the blog posts that I liked from my other blog and re-posted versions of them here (complete with original comments!), to fill in the two-month gap between now and the beginning of this (non)-hiatus. Hooray for blogspot import/export!

That's enough meta-blogging for now. Real content to follow, soon, I promise :)

---the Summertime Thoapsl

Tuesday Tact Tract

Human relationships can be difficult. Here, Marvex The Super Robot has trouble responding to a compliment.

What might be a more appropriate, tactful response?

A. Thank you, Clara. You are the most wonderful man I know.

B. I reject your statement. You are incorrect.

C. *wistful smile*

D. I like your hair. I like your hair.

E. [other]

(Discuss with colleagues.)

• • • • •

Appropriate behaviour is, in fact, quite simple. When responding to compliments, you should always stare deep into the closest eyes and think of the Three Eees:

Embarrassment

Effusivity

dEfensiveness

And always remember: Tact, Tact, Tact. It's just that simple.

--the Tactful Thoapsl

(is having an odd day today)

Gosh

Yes. Things have been busy. The future keeps on happening, damn it, but that's alright. It's better to be busy than bored, right? (On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I haven't been bored since the late '90s.)

In the meantime: more words to follow. I'm going to be working (real-working) more intensively than usual over the next few months – various new endeavours, see – but I'm still going to aim for at least one post each week, or so. What do you reckon? Time will tell, huh...

Anyhow.

Hiatus, what hiatus?

There will always be more Mistakes Being Made!

--Thoapsl

Friday Is Out Of Context

Yeah man, who cares. Like, tell me about it.

What's even better: the full title is officially listed at a site you could purchase it from as:

Who Cares About Elderly People ? ((Who Cares Ser.))

Of course "Ser. means the "series" it's a part of – see also – but am I the only person who instinctively reads the full list title as:

Who Cares About Elderly People ? ((Who Cares, Seriously.))

This Friday Is Out Of Context Thoapsl Says: A rhetorical question is not always questionable?

What's wrong with Juno?

JUNO

So I saw Juno a while ago, sure, and I enjoyed it. It was well done, it made me laugh; and it had some very good acting, I thought... the character arcs for Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner were especially clever and not overstated. Ellen Page's Juno was lovable as hell.

However: while a lot of other people absolutely adored the film, *woo awesome unreservedly*, – I just didn't. I couldn't get behind it without something nagging at me, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Folks, I am not wholehearted in my appreciation of Diablo Cody's cinematic accomplishments. But it's taken me a little while to figure out why this is so. I mean hey, I liked the film, already! Why couldn't I just praise it without feeling off?

Well, I think I've figured it out. So, okay, hear me out: the character of Juno is, at heart, a very clever and canny girl. She's funny and she's smart, the whole way through the film. Secondly: her decision to have sex is her own, it's (implied to be, more or less) a premeditated act, and she isn't drunk or otherwise distracted at the time. So: why does an otherwise intelligent young woman decide to have sex without using any fucking protection? Seriously, what's up? I just don't get it. Surely she knows that she's likely to get pregnant by doing this, so what the hell is she thinking? Juno isn't drunk, she isn't having sex against her will, the event isn't especially spur-of-the-moment – what on earth is her excuse? I am genuinely mystified, here. Don't all teenagers live more or less in mortal terror of pregnancy? I know the concept worried me a hell of a lot, when I was 16. (Heck, I'm 26 now and I'm still not unconcerned).

Is this an American thing, perhaps? Is sex education genuinely so lax there, are condoms genuinely so difficult to obtain (if you're a teenager)? I'm boggling. That an otherwise intelligent girl would be as reckless as Juno seems to be – it may or may not be realistic (and it's a movie, anyway, 'realistic' is not necessarily the point or the aim), but either way this aspect of the premise jarred my suspension of disbelief no end. I could never get totally absorbed into the film without it nagging at the back of my mind. I still can't.

Maybe I'm being unreasonable, or there's something obvious that I'm overlooking. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much. Maybe I should track down Diablo Cody and ask her...

nifty name, 'diablo'. can't deny that.

--the Cinematic Thoapsl