Hallo meine freunde!
So I have been on a German kick recently. I actually really love the sound of the language, and I have also always had a HUGE crush on Kurt Wagner. Anyways...I have been attempting to learn the language as a fun endeavor recently, and so far I have featured in two of my friends' German projects. They had to film German movies, and...well I got a part! Please feel free to view below if you haven't seen them.
German 101
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9smbaLBzYMs
German 102 (A German Kung Fu Spoof)
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1mChWf5lRg
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OrpyEvchR8&feature=related
So that's fun. I've begun the process of moving home, so I'll be relocated there soon. A fresh start, and a temporary reboot are just what the doctor ordered. Hopefully Dr. Watson....
My inspirational video of the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU
I'll post again soon!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
I Knew I Would Fall Off....
*slinks in akwardly*
Ahem...so...yeah, about posting, if the Devil can't make you bad, I suppose he'll make you busy....
So I apologize for my absence, and now ON TO FUN THINGS AND UPDATES!
So, like the rest of the world, money has almost caught up to me. I will be moving back home with my parents coming up in May. Mostly to save up for the next adventure. A friend and I are trying to find a flatshare in the DC/NOVA area...which is proving to be an arduous task. Also, due to my sight loss, we need to be within walking distance of the Metro, creating another issue entirely. One can either get something too far from the Metro at the price and quality you want, or one can afford something near the Metro that's terrifying. We are opting to save up more money and see where time gets us.
Most people in their early 20's do not wish to move home, however it is a reality for many of us. In fact, I know a lot of people that are still at home just because of the economy and job market. I am lucky to have the part-time job I have, I just wish I were on my feet less (And actually doing what I want to do).
So....continuing on a more serious vein, or at least an interesting one...this video was recommended to me. If you have a few mintues, it is an extremely interesting listen for those of you who are budding neurologists. For us peasent-folk, it is still interesting, but not as job-centered. Basically it is a newer interview about a researcher who became involved with blindness and cures for it. She is also endearingly akward at times so you have been forewarned. But seriously, it is interesting, as are the rest of the interviews on this site if you are interested in that kind of thing....
http://www.gocognitive.net/video/ione-fine-neuroplasticity-part-ii-sight-recovery-late-life
And onto things I am excited about:
Sherlock Holmes II
Harry Potter 7 Part II (and also incredibly sad)
Captain America The First Avenger
X-Men First Class (If you screw this up again X-men film makers I will find you...)
THOR
Things I am not excited about:
The re-surfacing of the 3D phenomenon...why 1950's? WHY?
The direction of pop music
The vernacular of contemporary humans
People who get paid to be singers who can't sing....ahem....
Metrorail
More fun updates to come, thanks for hanging in there all! I'll write more when I figure out what I did to my shoulder (keeping my arm in a sling a lot of the time). I pulled something or other, it's on the mend though...just add it to the list...
Cheers,
Gnomey
Ahem...so...yeah, about posting, if the Devil can't make you bad, I suppose he'll make you busy....
So I apologize for my absence, and now ON TO FUN THINGS AND UPDATES!
So, like the rest of the world, money has almost caught up to me. I will be moving back home with my parents coming up in May. Mostly to save up for the next adventure. A friend and I are trying to find a flatshare in the DC/NOVA area...which is proving to be an arduous task. Also, due to my sight loss, we need to be within walking distance of the Metro, creating another issue entirely. One can either get something too far from the Metro at the price and quality you want, or one can afford something near the Metro that's terrifying. We are opting to save up more money and see where time gets us.
Most people in their early 20's do not wish to move home, however it is a reality for many of us. In fact, I know a lot of people that are still at home just because of the economy and job market. I am lucky to have the part-time job I have, I just wish I were on my feet less (And actually doing what I want to do).
So....continuing on a more serious vein, or at least an interesting one...this video was recommended to me. If you have a few mintues, it is an extremely interesting listen for those of you who are budding neurologists. For us peasent-folk, it is still interesting, but not as job-centered. Basically it is a newer interview about a researcher who became involved with blindness and cures for it. She is also endearingly akward at times so you have been forewarned. But seriously, it is interesting, as are the rest of the interviews on this site if you are interested in that kind of thing....
http://www.gocognitive.net/video/ione-fine-neuroplasticity-part-ii-sight-recovery-late-life
And onto things I am excited about:
Sherlock Holmes II
Harry Potter 7 Part II (and also incredibly sad)
Captain America The First Avenger
X-Men First Class (If you screw this up again X-men film makers I will find you...)
THOR
Things I am not excited about:
The re-surfacing of the 3D phenomenon...why 1950's? WHY?
The direction of pop music
The vernacular of contemporary humans
People who get paid to be singers who can't sing....ahem....
Metrorail
More fun updates to come, thanks for hanging in there all! I'll write more when I figure out what I did to my shoulder (keeping my arm in a sling a lot of the time). I pulled something or other, it's on the mend though...just add it to the list...
Cheers,
Gnomey
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine's Day (and Single Awareness Day) to all!
Since I no longer have the grand pleasure of buying CVS out of valentines and candy to give my classmates...I decided this year to do some backround research on where the commercial Valentine's Day makes its birth. (Thank you Will Turner...) I also had work until 9pm...
Also, this blog post is about learning how Gnomes can link to things! Feel free to visit links I put in this post...but do be warned...it's me.
Okay, so on further conversation with my father I learned that Valentine's Day is indeed a Christian holiday. Februrary has long been a month of romance apparently, including the Roman rites, Victorian English traditions, and of course the modern Valentine's Day. So, who the hell was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with ancient Roman rites? The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred, so let's see who possesses the proper credentials. I picked the priest serving in Rome during the thrid century, and I found three possible stories that make him a sympathetic and loveable Valentine.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest under the Roman Emperor Claudius II. Claudius decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families. All the single soldiers, all the single soldiers, all the single soldiers, put your hands up! The emperor outlawed marriage for younger men--the obvious pick for efficient soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the new decree, flipped Claudius off and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered Valentine be put to death.
Another story suggests that Valentine may have been killed for helping Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were beaten and tortured...ah early Christianity...
According to the other legend I found, Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting card himself. He was imprisoned, and while there it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl--who may or may not have been the jailor's daughter (oops). She visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine." This expression is still a great marketing success.
As I mentioned before, regardless of the truthfulness of the tales, Valentine presents a romantic picture. By the Middle Ages, Valentine's Day was very popular in England and France (also because by then Christianity had hit it pretty big, and there wasn't a lot of fun things to do). Why Februrary 14th then? Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. There had been a Roman festival (Lupercalia) before then...but it was more a springtime, goat-sacrificing, young woman lottery system for romantic pairings...so it was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, in the Middle Ages, it was believed in France and England that February 14th was the beginning of birds' mating season, which apparently led to the idea that the middle of February--Valentine's Day--should be a day for romance.
On a final history note (has this been interesting at all?) the oldest valentine still in existence today is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection at the British Library in London, England (been there!!!). Only a few years after that, allegedly King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois. I personally have a few Harry Potter valentines lying about somewhere...
So...curiosity killed the cat, but I'm not dead yet, so apparently...I'm not a cat? I hope that this was enjoyable or at least remotely revealing for some of my readers, and I look forward to my next post (most likely with less links...although I can't promise anything, this is super fun).
Happy, happy week to all, and I shall write again soon!
Cheers,
Gnomey
Since I no longer have the grand pleasure of buying CVS out of valentines and candy to give my classmates...I decided this year to do some backround research on where the commercial Valentine's Day makes its birth. (Thank you Will Turner...) I also had work until 9pm...
Also, this blog post is about learning how Gnomes can link to things! Feel free to visit links I put in this post...but do be warned...it's me.
Okay, so on further conversation with my father I learned that Valentine's Day is indeed a Christian holiday. Februrary has long been a month of romance apparently, including the Roman rites, Victorian English traditions, and of course the modern Valentine's Day. So, who the hell was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with ancient Roman rites? The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred, so let's see who possesses the proper credentials. I picked the priest serving in Rome during the thrid century, and I found three possible stories that make him a sympathetic and loveable Valentine.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest under the Roman Emperor Claudius II. Claudius decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families. All the single soldiers, all the single soldiers, all the single soldiers, put your hands up! The emperor outlawed marriage for younger men--the obvious pick for efficient soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the new decree, flipped Claudius off and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered Valentine be put to death.
Another story suggests that Valentine may have been killed for helping Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were beaten and tortured...ah early Christianity...
According to the other legend I found, Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting card himself. He was imprisoned, and while there it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl--who may or may not have been the jailor's daughter (oops). She visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine." This expression is still a great marketing success.
As I mentioned before, regardless of the truthfulness of the tales, Valentine presents a romantic picture. By the Middle Ages, Valentine's Day was very popular in England and France (also because by then Christianity had hit it pretty big, and there wasn't a lot of fun things to do). Why Februrary 14th then? Pope Gelasius declared February 14th St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. There had been a Roman festival (Lupercalia) before then...but it was more a springtime, goat-sacrificing, young woman lottery system for romantic pairings...so it was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, in the Middle Ages, it was believed in France and England that February 14th was the beginning of birds' mating season, which apparently led to the idea that the middle of February--Valentine's Day--should be a day for romance.
On a final history note (has this been interesting at all?) the oldest valentine still in existence today is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection at the British Library in London, England (been there!!!). Only a few years after that, allegedly King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois. I personally have a few Harry Potter valentines lying about somewhere...
So...curiosity killed the cat, but I'm not dead yet, so apparently...I'm not a cat? I hope that this was enjoyable or at least remotely revealing for some of my readers, and I look forward to my next post (most likely with less links...although I can't promise anything, this is super fun).
Happy, happy week to all, and I shall write again soon!
Cheers,
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Testing...Testing...
So let’s give this the good ol' college try! Or rather the good ol' post-college try...I have decided that in order to keep up with my writing, and endeavor to keep those I love informed....I should invest time in a blog. Yes everyone laugh; I have caved to your century briefly as a doppelganger.
I can never seem to keep a diary or journal, so we’ll see how this goes. I would love any feedback as most of you are aware of my visual impairment, and as such I cannot really judge the aesthetic of this blog. Feel free to let me know, or just say hello!
Here I plan to keep the related world abreast of my current and past situations, and post videos and pictures that I have taken on my travels. Often times I will comment or narrate videos, so get ready for legally blind, gum-chewing, audio-described tours deemed “Gnome BBC Adventures.”
I must say I am simply chuffed to bits to be starting something new for myself, and I am even more elated that I will be able to share my videos from performances, London, Paris, California, and much much more! Here’s to a good week from the East Coast, and get ready to start reporting here regularly! ;)
The game, Mrs. Hudson, is on!!!
Cheers,
Gnomey
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