dendritejungle

So! *rubs hands* Have recovered from Pride and a lovely houseguest this week, trinity1986 (she of the Great Pride Parade Shoe Disaster), and so am finally updating. First up, the promised intro post for new folk, then out for a few hours :D, then coming back to catch up with all of YOU, and then a treehouse-and-transformer post. Then sleeeep. \o/

*surveys flist in astonishment* Good grief! Between random meetings, that friending meme a couple of weeks ago and Pride, I seem to have garnered over a dozen new friends. So, with no further ado, welcome *deep breath* amizada, aphrodite33, betgirl, crism79, dante_the_mouse, flawedamythyst, iamnotkris, kittyfauxpas, morphing_lanes, neeuqdrazil, onci_dium, petit_rhino, sacredwhimsy, shing, shippyflo, softgraysky, the_great_waka, trinity1986, yue_ix to the Jungle! I can't wait to get to know you all better. *gestures to a comfy seat, hands you a beverage of your choice*

Rather than boring you all with me talking about myself for an intro post, I prevailed upon themoderatrix who was my roommate for several years in university and dear, dear friend for...good grief, over a decade now...*feels old* to bring you all an insightful and amusing commentary on yours truly by way of introduction. She has done an outstanding job with no other instruction than the fact that "RUN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" was already taken. :D

And yes, it's all true. Except for the gills. Obviously. *shifty eyes*

DendriteJungle had virtually no scarring from the surgery.

But she still misses her gills.

DendriteJungle is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a vest. Okay, she took off the vest. One thing you can be pretty sure about Den is that she will remove all clothing the minute she gets the chance. Except for the undies, which stay on to keep the sofa clean.

DendriteJungle survived university by showering her various culinarily gifted roomies with outrageous compliments and offers of marriage. This is how she ate for four years. Her incredible powers of survival sensed that the most efficient way for her to eat was through flattery, and this became her mission through her entire undergraduate career.

DendriteJungle likes to fold small things into smaller things that are pretty neat. She likes to cram (in an orderly, catalogued kind of way) as much into her a) home b) mind c) life as she can get away with and then some. To visit Den's den is to spend hours just looking at all... the... cool... little... things... Same thing goes for her brain. And, natch, her life.

DendriteJungle will ditch her work and travel fourteen hours to be at your mom's funeral. Then she will have a lively discussion about dildos with your uncle at the wake.

DendriteJungle will collapse at your feet in gratitude if you bring her chocolatines from Montreal.

Den likes chocolate, paper, cats, treehouses, knots, bullwhips, dolls, wood, leather, books, garlic, cheese, writing, reading, fanfic, the web, TV, growing things, sleep and warmth.

DendriteJungle is the only person to whom I have given a voodoo doll of myself.

Nuff said.

Really, what more do you need to know? *beams, smishes her* ( And just because I love commenting, a few notes apropos of the doll, clothing, chocolatines, food symbiosis, and wake conversations about dildos )

ANYway, I'm always happy to blather on about myself, so if you have any questions, burning or otherwise, just let me know. And anything you want to share about yourselves (links are fine) I would love to know more about you too!

I've had an interesting week.

There have been lots of wonderful real-life things going on too: brunch with my awesome bro and his S.O. last Sunday, volunteering with the youth group and Taize meeting with coffee afterward, then gaming on Monday night, last anthology workshop Tuesday night, and a fascinating evening with an artist whose work I kinda idolize on Wednesday night.

But what has taken most of my mental energy and spare time this week has been my immersion in the virtual Supernatural fandom. This little monstrosity (2600-odd words at last count - and this is the edited version) was my way of cataloguing my experiences from the past week. But hey, it's an interesting little glimpse into my life and a corner of the internet most of my Viewing Audience(TM) doesn't really know about, so come on in! I've even written a little primer for you.

( I'm glad I took the blue pill: musings from the Supernatural fandom )

Responses to Supernatural 2-13: Houses of the Holy
This week's episode, which as I noted in my previous shut-up-brain post, tripped a ridiculous number of my hot buttons. (No, no, not that kind of hot button. Well, okay, fine, that too, but it's not really what I meant.)

( Backgrounder for non-viewers: the show. )

( Background for non-viewers: the episode. )

( General responses )
( Personal responses (musings about faith and old Angst) )

Warning: there are minor spoilers for Fullmetal Alchemist.

I've had a scene running through my head from Fullmetal Alchemist, an anime television show currently running on YTV. It's very good, but rather dark in parts and this particular scene is no exception.

The scene is a flashback to an uprising that took place some 15 years before the "present time" of the story. In it, one soldier who we have come to know as driven and rather arrogant, is so distressed that he executed two doctors that he comes very close to taking his own life. He is stopped by another soldier who is himself so guilt-ridden over his role in the larger action against the "Ishbal Uprising" (which basically turned into a massacre by the military) that 15 years into the future, he remains haunted by his actions.

This short scene, only about 30 seconds long, brought a few different things to mind.

Firstly, given that most anime plots generally revolve around fights or violence of some kind (*sigh* I guess we can't all love anime like Haibane Renmei all the time), I've been impressed with the number of anime shows I've seen in the last little while that don't glorify the violence itself. The main characters in Gundam Seed, for instance, are drawn into battle with the greatest reluctance, and only to protect their friends. The show makes very clear not only the psychological toll on them, but the costs on both sides of the conflict. Then there's Vash the Stampede from Trigun, a committed pacifist who resorts to using his gun as a last resort, and refuses to kill.

Aside from these basic ideas, there are the various moral and ethical dilemmas which the shows spin out: how do you react when you realize too late that you've committed an act you can never take back, even if you thought it was the right thing at the time? How do you live you life from that point forward? What actions are worth taking to defend peace? What are the moral responsibilities of a pacifist, if his actions (or lack thereof) lead to more people being injured or killed?

We HAVE to do an anime discussion day with the youth groups. And people wonder why I find these shows so interesting!

So. Last Friday night I got to meet twistedhip's newborn baby girl. He's right - she is the softest thing I have ever felt. It's like the skin on her shoulders isn't even there, it's so soft. I've been trying to think of a good nickname for her in my blog, and came up with "Val" for "Valvoline", since I was thinking if there were just some way to patent that frictionless essence, you could make a million selling it as engine lubricant!

They very kindly let me hold Val while we watched the Corpse Bride, and I was trying SO hard not to move because I didn't want to wake her up. After the movie, when I told them this, they chuckled knowingly and demonstrated that you could probably whirl her around your head or use her as a drum and she still wouldn't wake up until she was darn ready. (I should perhaps point out that they didn't demonstrate this by actually DOING these things - it was more of a supported rocking up and down motion, really.) But man, that kid was out!

It never quite ceases to amaze me how I can be quite dotty about other people's kids and still genuinely not think, "wow, I gotta get me one of these." I am so thrilled whenever I see the couple of kids I am honoured enough to have in my life. I have a pretty highly developed sense of wonder, and have seen some amazing stuff in my 31 years, but knowing the parents-to-be going through the pregnancy and then watching these babies change and grow every time I see them, and knowing they are happy and loved and well cared-for and how much joy they bring their parents - well, it's been the neatest thing in my life, bar none.

I worry, sometimes, that something is profoundly wrong with me, and that the desire to have kids will kick in with a vengeance at some totally useless time like, say, 60, when there's not a durned thing I can do about it, and I'll end up all sad and regretful. If I weren't also blessed by the presence of several very cool kidless women at work - most of whom, like me, genuinely like kids and I assume are pretty good with them (they just strike me that way), but don't actually want to have their own - I would have to assume I am quite, quite mad and should go into some sort of therapy program to make me crave the babies I'm supposed to want for myself.

For a long time I also worried that when people around me started having children I would feel left out somehow, like the River of Life passed me by and I'm stuck circling in a little stagnant eddy somewhere as they all go rushing by me to...uh, the sea, or whatever the appropriate metaphor would be. I have been delighted and relieved to discover that I have't felt that way at all. I've been really touched when the parents invite me over and I get to hold them and play with them and even read them stories. It's FUN, dammit, and I really value being part of their lives, however peripherally.

I think it's like visiting someone's cottage: I always have a great time when I go, and i can see why people love them enough to want to own them and embrace being responsible for their upkeep as part of the deal. I get it, I really do. I just don't crave that constant contact strongly enough to want that kind of commitment for myself.

But I sure do love those visits.