Because I'm both bored and clinically insane
mood: 
working
workingmusic: "Night Boarders" - Jerry Goldsmith
I'm in a complete funk at the moment for reasons I won't go into here, and one of the things that makes me happy at times like these is doing things for other people. So, because I apparently don't feel like I'm making enough Hogswatch gifts for people these days, I've decided to offer the following little contest/literary scavenger hunt thingie:
I'm writing my paper for Medieval Literature, and I keep envisioning Jamie Bamber, Jane Leeves, Carole Ann Ford, and one of the Gators' former center/forwards.
The first person to tell me what two texts I'm writing about gets her/his choice of either a Sculpey figure or a box of homemade cookies (like the ones I made for Captains Savvy and Chaotica). Starting tomorrow, I will add one hint every day until I get a correct answer.
Now, back to my paper, after which I will be almost done with this semester and able to reply to some of these comments and such that have piled up lately. Happy hunting!
UPDATE:
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
bizarreoptimism asked a very good question that didn't dawn on me when I dreamed this up during one of my brownie breaks (I finally got some baked ^_^), so I've decided to clarify/modify the rules in the following way:1) Participants are allowed one guess per 24 hour period. Because I don't feel like worrying about time zones and working out the times that comments are posted on DeviantArt and all that, I will base said 24-hour period on the time between postings. So, if Biz Op guesses at 8:03 tonight, then she can guess again at 8:03 tomorrow night; if Hillary guesses at 10:47 tomorrow morning, then she can guess again at 10:47 on Tuesday morning.
2) Because there are two texts involved, there will be two prizes. I considered offering cookies for the more well-known one and a figure for the more obscure, or letting the first person to guess correctly choose, but there's really no reason to worry about that; it's not like I've only got one box of cookies and one Sculpey figure. So, the first person to correctly identify the first text gets to choose a prize, as does the first person to identify the second. If someone identifies both, that person gets any combination of the two prizes. If you want two boxes of cookies, so be it.
3) As it's Hogswatch, I am willing to giftwrap prizes and/or ship them to someone else, if you want to use it as a free shopping trip sort of thing.
And now it's time to get back to the paper. I've got to learn to FOCUS.
12/15 Hint #1: My class is called "Studies in Middle English Literature," but my professor assigned a small handful of Latin texts (translated, thank goodness...) to show the literature that might have influenced the Medieval works we studied.
UPDATE: Another new rule - I will answer one question per person per day, so long as it is asked in either the comments here or on the DeviantArt entry. I reserve the right to refuse to answer any question I deem too specific, but I will try to vaguify as many of these as possible.
12/16 Hint #2: The poems are both retellings of much older stories.
UPDATE: The fantastic
magpieinthesky identified the first text as "Apollo and Daphne" from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Far from resting on her laurels, though, she rather surprised me with her second post of the day. Is the Supertemp going to win the whole thing?12/17 Hint #3: Just over three months ago, I posted an entry about my professor and mentioned his last name. He's got a nice webpage.
Something tells me this is just about over, now.
And it is!
bizarreoptimism's research classes may have seemed pointless and interminable at the time, but today they have paid off...in so much as they helped her to win a hunk of clay that will probably break before it gets to her. She correctly identified the second text as the "Pistel of Swete Susan" (or Susannah, as my professor mysteriously called it on the syllabus), an anonymous fourteenth-century poem based on the thirteenth book of Daniel...which I found out after a somewhat heated quasi-argument with my sister and one of her church buddies is not in Protestant bibles. Oh, apocrypha...For those of you still pondering that bit about the Gators, the star basketball player the two years UF won the NCAA title was Joakim Noah. I know this only because Hillary and my parents would always freak out a little when we happened to be in Steak and Shake at the same time as him, and because I used to get stuck behind him walking down one of the narrow sidewalks on campus when I was trying to book it from one class to another and he was leisurely strolling along with his girlfriend, who was roughly 2.5 feet shorter than him.
Anyway, point is, Joachim was Susan's husband.
Thanks to all who participated, and I'm pretty sure there will be another opportunity to win some more garbage next time I need something to keep my mind off of how much I hate engineering.
(I am firmly addicted to your Sculpy figures, ergo I'm taking this quite seriously. XD)
Also, it makes me very happy that Jane Leeves is in your envisioning. It also leaves me desperately wanting to guess, but I can't risk a wrong guess until I've got the contest rules down ... ;-)
(*is mad at her lack of Buffy icons and resolves to fix things in near future*)
Haha... I don't know enough people to play by those rules.
Thanks for the question - I'm going to clarify the rules, now. And I am SO going to start Buffy as soon as I've gotten back to the padres' next weekend...which is not to say I won't be getting back to Justice League then, too, so no worries for my DC buddies who have been extremely patient with me this semester ^_^
So, speaking of Hrotsvitha -- is it one of her plays? (*knows full well that this general a guess is totally cheating*) Perhaps "Gallicanus?"
(Yes, I remembered her name. No, I did remember the titles of any of her writings and in fact had to look them up. Just so we're clear. XD)
TRANSLATED Latin ... that knocks down my two instinctive guesses. Well, we'll see how this one does and go from there ...
And proceed cautiously with Buffy. I avoided her for so long precisely because I feared I'd be immediately, forcefully, overwhelmingly sucked in, and that's exactly what happened. The only reason I have any money left at this point for Christmas presents, without selling a major internal organ, is because Borders keeps having 40%-off-DVD-box-sets sales. ^_^
* I was going to change that because it sounds so academically corny, but it also sounds very GILES, so I'm leaving it. XD BTW, not only was Giles in "Who," but he was one of the possibilities for the Eighth Doctor before it ultimately went to Paul McGann ... not that I'm trying to sway your opinion here, or anything. XD
I think I have decided that I will also answer one question per person per day, so long as it is asked in either the comments here or on the DevArt journal entry. That said...
We actually did not read any of Hrotsvitha's plays. Aside from the Latin texts and one _possibly_ Flemmish play (which, regardless of _where_ it was written, _was_ written in Middle English), everything we read was British.
And I _of course_ know the dangers of watching Buffy and the inevitability of my mad love for Giles. I mean, I watched Dr. Horrible about a dozen times in the first week that I had it, and I've been inexorably drawn to everything Whedon since then. It was only a matter of time, really, and I doubt I would have been able to put it off this long if I hadn't been FORCED my my classes. But I appreciate the warning ^_^
I don't think I ever read any of Hrotsvitha's plays either, but then again, I only just remembered her name, so who knows for sure. XD This contest is making me think of not only how much I've forgotten from college, but also how SPECIFIC from knowledge is when it comes to what I DO remember. If you have a question about Grace Paley, apocalyptic literature, or Beethoven, I'm your gal. Other than that ... (*grins*)
(That said, I'm glad we're allowed to research our answers, or I'd be out already. XD)
Yah -- I like to space my obsessions out (it was very annoying, for instance, to have my initial PotC honeymoon 'flush' knocked out of the way in its later months by the discovery of Harry Potter Love; while Jack Sparrow has of course endured, it's always nice to stretch out that period of intial obsession and discovery as long as possible, after all) -- so a warning as to "Buffy" was in order. But as long as you know the risks, you'll be alright. XD
Giles is wondrous, wondrously wonderful, and I alternate between wanting to date him, and simply wanting to hang out with him in a platonic Companion-like fashion and research vampires and demons and what-not. Although I suppose he is not TRULY my absolute favorite character of the show (though he's in a very-very-VERY close second). See, I want to hug Giles. I want to BE Buffy.
And speaking of being characters -- while my own initial reaction to Willow was, "Oh my dear freaking Gawd, they must have had a camera on me during high school because this is ME! She even has the LONG HAIR!! Shove a DNA novel in her hand and glasses on her face and SHE IS HIGH-SCHOOL-ME!" -- I'm not sure yet that she's you.
I mean, Season!One!Willow is certainly not me as I am NOW, because I've changed so much -- but on the other hand, if Whedon continues being as spectacular as he's proven to be in this first season, Willow's not going to be the same character in six more seasons, either.
So suffice it to say, right now, she does not strike me as you. If she reminds you of yourself in high school TOO, however -- well, I'll leave that to you to judge. :) And I'll have to let you know if she reminds me of either of us in a few more seasons ...
(I do <3 Willow. And Xander. And Giles. And BUFFY!)
That is an excellent question. In fact, it's one that I can't actually answer for sure. One of them is decidedly _not_. The other _could_ be, I suppose, but I doubt it.
And I'm definitely looking forward to being able to confirm or deny the Willow similarities myself.
I'll try to reply to your email more thoroughly later tonight once my room is clean and I've spent a bit of time with my G'ville buddy, who I haven't been able to spend proper time with in about a month. But the short answer is "yes, of course." ^_^
(Anonymous)
Do you know, we've had no heat since last night? And this WOULD have to be one of our rareish _real_ winters. It was 19 degrees last night (I know, I know, that kind of weather wouldn't even PHASE the Midwest--if we were still living in Iowa, we'd be _dead_ by now) and I currently have a candle on my desk just so I can get my fingers working again by warming them over it! Wow, updated version of Bob Cratchitt warming his hands over the lantern so he can keep writing, or what? :P
I'm wearing my woolen cape, my soft around-the-house shoes 'cos my socks are worthless (I ADORE your Sock of Awesome, by the way) and am considering putting on my stripey scarf, too. That wouldn't help with the hand problem though. Wow...
I just got a new expansion pack for the Sims, (at a discount--my mom decided to let me have an early Hogswatch present 'cos she's interested in hearing about this one too!) and it not only solved some problems I've been having with the game lately, but has a TON of awesome new stuff. But my hands are too cold to play it!
Ah, modern life...
Did you see the picture I took of Six and Peri being "Christmasy" by the fire with mugs of hot chocolate? Heh. (As Christmasy as you can get when it's actually, like, fall...)
...Notorious
You are a stronger person than I - I cannot STAND being cold and would probably just stay in bed under as many blankets as I could find until the heat came back. Not to mention the fact that it would be incredibly uncomfortable, what with my current soldering iron injury... I really hope that gets fixed soon! I would send you some of my unseasonably muggy weather if I could (I wish it would MAKE UP ITS MIND so I don't keep getting surprised when I walk out my door and either broil in a jacket or freeze in short sleeves...)
I did see your Sims picture and will be commenting soon, and you should be getting an email by the end of the week, as well. Yay for school almost being done for the year!
As for the contest thingummie, you're actually on the right track with that line of thought. Google and Wikipedia are your friends ^_^
(Anonymous)
I don't know how "strong" I am...everything is this bad and I stay home attempting to play video games. But I WOULD have been in my bed if I didn't have to be awake to call and wait for the heater guy.
(I also have to ask..._soldering iron_ injury..?)
...Notorious
And I seriously cannot keep track of who I've told what and where I've posted things and yada yada... Basically, I dropped my soldering iron on my hand because my BASTARD of a partner stole my stand*, so I was using half of a hamster ball. The fact that I was in my 25th hour of being awake certainly didn't help anything. But, yeah, it made enough contact and stayed on long enough that chunks of flesh came off on the iron, and then, because I had no choice but to keep working, I had to smell it burning for the next hour. Luckily, I have an aloe plant, and I got some of that slapped on it almost immediately and have been cleaning, reapplying aloe, and bandaging it with a rather paranoid amount of regularity, and it doesn't seem to be infected or anything. The top layer of charred skin finally finished peeling off tonight, so I'm in that nice interim phase where I just have slightly raw skin for a bit before it starts itching like all hells and peeling constantly. I will almost certainly have a great big equal sign-shaped scar at the base of my thumb for the rest of my life. Somehow it only seems fitting that my major left physical scars along with the emotional ones, and that I was literally branded as a math geek before engineering was done with me.
* ...and my good iron, and my spool of solder, and my brand new soldering iron tip, and my spool of stereo wire, and about a dozen switches I had to special order... But whatever; I never have to deal with him again. Fucking asshole.
I really hope I'm not wrong. I also have no clue who you're referencing re: the Gators and football, so this is my best guess. Wheeeeee....
AW, SHIZ
Re: AW, SHIZ
We _did_ read the AMA. And Susan is, indeed, sweet.
Re: AW, SHIZ
Re: AW, SHIZ
This narrows it down considerably, but ... for no other real reason than to not appear that I was simply cheating entirely, I'm going to guess "Pistel of Swete Susannah" and hope for the best. XD (Well, not JUST that -- you did say they were both retellings of much older stories, and my other obvious guess, while old, is not necessarily MUCH older.)
It's a good thing I have off today, 'coz otherwise I would have made myself late to work. BUT MAGRATPUDIFOOT SCULPY FIGURES ARE AT STAKE!! I have my priorities!!!!!!! XD
... and speaking of priorities, I'm off to watch "Buffy."
"Are you deducting...?"
I'm really not at all sure why my professor called it "Pistel of Swete Susannah" on the syllabus, as it is very definitely _Susan_ on the cover of the book, and she is referred to as Susan throughout, but there you have it.
On my own list of priorities, I have my last exam tomorrow afternoon, and I should really at least make a show of studying for it. But, see, I decided last night to make absolutely for certain that my answer to your email was "yes," so I watched "Welcome to the Hellmouth." And now watching "The Harvest" has taken priority over actually answering your email, much less any of the other things I have to do in the next few days. Who could have seen THAT coming from a league away?
ANYway, point is, you won your Sculpey figure (and it's gratifying to see that this the sort of thing that warrants multiple exclamation marks ^_^), so let me know when you have decided what you would like. Something tells me that you've probably already got something in mind...
Re: "Are you deducting...?"
But! Anyways:
ANYway, point is, you won your Sculpey figure (and it's gratifying to see that this the sort of thing that warrants multiple exclamation marks ^_^),
It is and it does!! XD
so let me know when you have decided what you would like. Something tells me that you've probably already got something in mind...
I have decided to be uber-generous and let you decide between a Buffy the Slayer figurine and a Giles the Watcher-Librarian figurine, . 'Coz I'm just a nice person like that. XD (Also because, if you're being nice enough to make me one, I feel I ought to at least let you have a LITTLE say in what you're making.) (Also because _I_ am so torn in deciding. XD)
... and, seriously, not only do I need to respond to your email (short version: THANK YOU!) and reply to your Buffy post, but ... I NEED to work on a few Buffy posts of my own. I watched a Season Two episode last night that still has me _reeling_ ...
At any rate, whee for winning a Sculpey figure, and thank you very much! *grins*
Edited at 2008-12-23 12:26 pm (UTC)
Re: "Are you deducting...?"
And ARGH! Decisions! I can't even make _little_ decisions, much less something on this magnitude ;^P
Or perhaps I'm just being melodramatic. I think I've figured out what I'll do, and I'm going to get on it and Mags' cookies just as soon as I'm done with the slightly more pressing gift I'm working on at the moment. Which should be done soon. Yay for progress!
A winner is you! Let me know when you've decided what you would like me to make for you, and I'll get on it this weekend.
(Anonymous)
(Anonymous)
But congratulations to the winner(s)! You certainly knew more than me. :P
...Notorious