Five More Words

[firstfrost]

Five somewhat belated words from dpolicar. If people want me to pick words for them, comment below.

• Marriage
  From the general to the specific. I do have strong opinions about marriage, which mostly seem to come to the surface when talking about gay marriage. I believe in the importance of the social ritual, and the ritual between two people, and I believe in the importance of the legal arrangements. I think that it's remarkable that society and law continue to evolve in directions I approve of, even if we aren't perfect yet. One of the bits that I think is most impressive is spousal immunity - it's hard to see how that really benefits the government, but nevertheless this is a thing that the government has decided is important for me to have. Even if I've done something terrible, I can decide to trust my husband with it. We can team up against the world if necessary. (And, this is one of the ones that really doesn't work for getting the government out of marriage and making it all contract law.)
  
  Getting married was a great time. harrock and I got good at working together and deciding things, the stuff we delegated to our friends turned out amazing, some things went wrong but made for better stories than the alternative... it was all good. We toyed with the idea of having me vow to love, honor, and obey (because I am by nature somewhat disobedient), but it probably would have made appalled some of the guests.
  
  Being married is also pretty great. I will avoid waxing too rhapsodically sappy (does anyone wax anything other than rhapsodic? At least, without using actual wax?). I know it's supposed to be hard work, but the worst it's ever gotten is "cranky for ten minutes" a couple of times. One of the best things is that I get to outsource half my coping, and it just gets Taken Care Of. Everything pesky is twice as easy. And, he's outsourcing half of *his* coping, but I only have to do the things that I already thought were easy to deal with, so it's not like that's any harder than it was as a single person. You see how the trick works, of course, but it's not like we're trying to fool anyone.
  
  
• Gaming
  I don't play board games so much any more. I think this comes about for several reasons: I don't like losing, and winning doesn't make up for it. I really don't like bitter recriminations, which our social gaming circle is slightly too prone to for me. Role-playing games are still great, though. Running RPGs also tie in to my Project obsessiveness; being a GM is probably not as much an intrinsic part of my nature as it is for tirinian, but it is my favorite hobby. I have found that I am a better GM as part of a team than by myself; I am good at world-building and character channeling, but a little uninteresting at quick improvisation. I also like computer games, though I play less of them since I went over to the Mac side.
  
  
• Knitting
  I talked about this here, but I have waited to post this until I could include new pictures.
  
  
• Octopus
  I originally liked Call of Cthulhu; somehow this got turned into liking anything with tentacles. I think this is just one of those things that happens as a social snowballing effect, when people think you collect things (that caused rifmeister to declare "No more pirates!"). But I've grown to admire the octopus for reasons other than tentacles - they're very clever, and have leet mimicry skills. And I like art with curves, which octopus art tends to be all about.
  
  Octopus Wars was also one of the most fun out-of-control projects ever. Things like making an octopus for the park ranger who rescued my mom's octopus, and seeing the pictures he took six months later... projects with tentacles just keep accreting!
  
  
• Password
  Changing passwords for people when they have forgotten them is probably the best iconic example of half of my job - using computer superpowers to fix things that people have broken or locked themselves out of. I have a bunch of these superpowers, and, like being a Master Assassin, I promised to use them Only for Good and Never for Evil. The other half of my job involves actual troubleshooting; this is harder, sometimes more frustrating, but heaven knows more challenging and keeps my brain from atrophying.
  I used to answer the phone "Hello, Athena User Accounts"; too many people kept waiting for the beep, so I have changed to saying "Hello, Athena User Accounts, this is Laura", and more of them believe I am an actual human. Apparently I have a good phone voice.

Comments

[navrins]

I like to think I sometimes wax eloquent. Some people wax nostalgic.

[desireearmfeldt]

Yeah, I agree: I've seen "wax X" where X is something other than "rhapsodic" (and "eloquent" was one that sprang to mind).

Really, it's like "growing X" only more so. ("Growing" in the sense of "getting large" rather than "becoming," I guess. Meaning that the X has to be something that is...big, expansive, expandable? hm.)

[dpolicar]

I wax rhetorical from time to time.

[navrins]

Oh... like the moon! (Which does not wax rhapsodic, but does spend half its time waxing, without using actual wax.)

Actually I don't often hear "wax rhapsodic," but I do hear "wax poetic."

[desireearmfeldt]

Exactly! :)

[fredrickegerman.livejournal.com]

How about "waxing wroth" (about which desireearmfeldt's great aunt once had an amusing story about "vexing vroth").

[navrins]

Vexing? It's got my troops all over it; that makes it mine.

[kelkyag]

Note to self: Get firstfrost random Lovecraft-y things rather than random octopus things.

Have you seen this Cthulhu ski mask?

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

You got me one of my best Lovecraft-y tchochkes ever!
Hmm. I wonder where the heck it is.

(And yup, I'd seen the mask, though wearing the Squid Hat for Halloween probably was similar. :) )

[kelkyag]

Did I mention that it becomes animate occasionally? I never did figure out the trigger conditions for that. It's probably hiding under a bed or cupboard waiting for an opportunity to snag someone's ankle.

[treiza.livejournal.com]

I think the vest looks great!! Actually, my mom and I will be coming to Boston over Labor Day weekend + days on either side. Will you be around be taken to dinner?

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

I am away for the actual weekend days (my brother is getting married, woo!) but will be here for the days on either side and can do dinner. :)

[kirisutogomen.livejournal.com]

One can wax enthusiastic. And occasionally someone wax summa deez guise.

(Remind me I want to rant about marriage.)