The Daily Adventures of Mercat

(The title has nothing to do with anything except that I just took a practice GRE and "gremlins" was the first word to pop into my head starting with "gre-".)

Forgive me for just nearly missing the daily-post--deadline by a few minutes, because I just finished a GRE practice test. How sad is it that engineering has made me excited to take a standardized test?! I work well within boundaries and certain expectations, or no boundaries at all, apparently. I don't know how well I am cut out for slightly-open-ended design work. Which is not good, because that is pretty much anything engineering is. I mean, there are the laws of physics, and the laws of the land, but the problem is that the former is very mathematically complicated and the latter is just very convoluted and you only come to know it really through exposure and experience. Neither of which I really have. And not to mention, mayhaps my brain just doesn't work that way, because I never seem to know where to find the equations/set-up I need for engineering projects. Which makes working in groups good for me because then the other people are good at starting the project, and I'm good at checking things and thinking (maybe a little too far) outside the box.

So... menial desk job or very creative in-charge job for me, I guess. Strange. ANYWAY. Onto the prompt.

My favorite meme of the moment... I don't think I currently have one. Being gone all summer I kind of missed Double Rainbow and Hide Ya Kids and I don't really... "get".... either. Although I think I saw Antoine Dodson a while back but never saw the Bed Intruder Song? I don't know.

Does Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear count as a meme? Because it was probably more that than real political activism (or anything) and I kind of liked that (despite people being bitchy for it). However, it's not quite as wild as Anonymous' protests, so idk.

I guess I don't have a favorite meme right now, so I hope something comes along soon. In the meantime, I'm always a sucker for EFG and since the 5th of November was just a few days ago, let's say that. Even though it was nothing to do with anything, legitimately.

MOVING ON. I was thinking about password access, which led me to think about where you keep that kind of information so that it's safe with you but easily found by others in the case that you were to die. Which led me to think about wills, and the fact that while my mom has every once in a while talked about what she wants (donated organs iirc) and my dad has mentioned his wants (a big party), they don't really know my beliefs in terms of my... lack of faiths... (BUT NOT LACK OF MORALS... byuh) ANYWAY. I don't need any kind of fancy burial, I'll be dead. I've kind of always been about pragmatism, and even when I was really young (early gradeschool) I remember considering the pros and cons of cremation. So this is my current set of considerations: (And let's not call me morbid here, because I honestly approach a lot of what most people would consider "morbid" as just purely interesting. Death is the natural extension of life. Morbid for me is a whole other level. Perhaps I disdain that word... I'm more of a naturalist than a goth? And science is nature, so. )

1. If there's any hint of foul play just preserve as much as possible. Not that I expect this to happen but being slightly paranoid from reading too many detective novels and watching too many crime shows, if there was any hint of foul play I hope there's a really good twist! Which probably means exhuming the body at least once. (...Maaaaaaybe that's morbid. BUT SO ARE CRIME SHOWS)

2. If not, donate any usable body parts to organ donor programs and/or to science. Basically get as much practical use out of it as possible.

3. Bury any remains in a manner as natural as possible because it seems pretty pointless to be dumping lockboxes filled with chemicals into the ground just to sit there and be preserved for... ever.

3b. Plus this ensures that I will never be Undead. (Zombie, vampire, etc.)

4. Possibly do something awesome with the remains such as:
a) use the bones for something awesome such as art, Yorrick's skull in a production of Hamlet, a modern reliquary, et cetera,
b) include them in a treasure hunt/puzzle or as a geocache (WITH ONLY AWESOME TREASURE INSIDE. If I am to be a buried treasure, I fully expect it to be a goddamn bitchin' one.)
c)...et cetera. Basically I think skeletons and eyes are pretty cool things from a design aspect and have many interesting and beautiful (if slightly morbid) options. (BUT I'M OKAY WITH THE SLIGHT MORBIDITY HERE. AT THIS POINT THE MORBIDITY BECOMES MORE WUNDERKAMMER-CURIOUS THAN NATURALIST-CURIOUS BUT IT'S STILL AWESOME.)

5. A really cool headstone. Some classic-and-slightly-creepy design, with a totally clever and awesome epitaph. Like the headstones at the Haunted Mansion, with their Victorian-Gothic-slightly-disquieting style and the totally awesome epitaphs (at least out front--I've never studied the epitaphs inside the ride).

OKAY TOTALLY DONE WITH MY MORBID MOMENT NOW, for those of you who may not like that sort of thing... er... sorry for the lack of warning... =/

At any rate. I have a rant but I don't really want to rant about it right now. Let's just say, between people going back on my Halloween party invite, and being whiny about the party, and my friend failing to do the one thing I asked him to do for the senior show (i.e. leave an appropriate mid-movement moment for the dead-bug), which I told him a month ahead of time when we were planning it as a group, but do people just blow me off when I make comments a few months in advance? BECAUSE I HAVE ACTUALLY THOUGHT THESE THINGS THROUGH, and I mean them. If I change my thoughts, I WILL ALSO BRING THAT TO YOUR ATTENTION.

Do I just... scream "IGNORE ME" or something? (Heh.)

Yeah. Anyway.




...Also I went to trivia tonight for the first time in a good while and I wore by awesome retro-rainbow Star Wars shirt that I bought from Target's boy section last year. The usual awesome trivia guy wasn't there, and the girl taking his place was not as fun. Plus, a lot of the questions were wrong tonight. "A one-note instrument made popular at the world soccer games this summer"? Vuvuzela, except that like all other objects with a natural frequency, if you halve, double, or otherwise multiply that frequency you will get other notes. Octaves, for simplicity, or perhaps... partials... if the instrument is more complicated. Say, like a trumpet. Speaking of trumpets, "a cornet most resembles this musical instrument". Maybe a cornet? It's actually a legit instrument.

And then Pat, being his normal uppity Classics-major self, called out the trivia girl on the question "what famous temple site on the Acropolis?" by screaming "Which temple do you want?! There are at least nine different ones!"

However I also learned that the F22 Raptor can go supersonic without having to use its afterburners which is called "supercruising". Also, the evil wizard on Smurfs is Gargamel and the cat is Azrale. (NO IDEA if I spelled those right, also don't care much.) And the compact disk was invented in 1965 (we guessed floppy disk).

Also-also I cleaned my room today. Go me!

So I was just scrolling through my last posts on the main page and noted that the big bad thing that might have been headed my way is currently on delay, hopefully until a time when it is no longer such a big bad thing. =)

You know what I find to be one of the weirdest things? I want to say "when younger people die" but that's not the weird part. When a person dies, and they leave behind their facebook or their livejournal or whathaveyou. I mean it doesn't really matter what age they are, it's just weird. Because that part of them is frozen in time, and it's like another face, but one that isn't dead, just permanently stopped. For example this kid who went to my gradeschool hanged himself last year, and it's just weird to see posts on a facebook go from "hey X! how've you been [insert inside joke] lol you're crazy" to "you were a good guy, I'm going to miss you" or the even weirder (to me) third person "X was a great guy and I wish we'd had more time with him." Because then you are adressing him, his digital online self, but you are talking about him and not to him.

Yeah... I don't know if that made any sense to you. It just reminded me of a journal someone posted a long long time ago about a LJ user they knew who they thought committed suicide. Someone they did not know at all in real life, and never heard from again. And it's weird because the journal just sits there, not updating. (Although it might be weirder if it did update, you never know, haha.) But I mean, what happens? In 200 years if humanity's still around and our life length is about the same, what are companies like facebook and livejournal going to do with all these old pages? Probably delete them, but that's weird to me because it's practically living history. It's basically history unaltered. And honestly I think it'd be pretty cool to go digging through abandoned LJs for facts from the past, you know? On a related but tangential note: friending your parents/children on facebook? Kind of weird. It's just kind of one of those "they are creepy or trying too hard to be cool" type situations. I mean rarely there are parents who actually fit in with that scene, but generally not. In this case I told my mom to set up a facebook so she could see pictures when I post them, but I would block a lot of stuff. Not because it's bad, but... I dunno. It's weird to me? Maybe I'm just too paranoid about Big Brother type situations.

But back to the subject: This is the whole thing that started it (sort of). And apparently the girl who died wants everyone to wear their favorite shoes to her funeral. I can't quite explain why this sort of thing makes me feel relaxed, because death is really a big thing for me. (Look here, I almost cried in Indy IV and they only even MENTIONED that someone had died.) (By the way I plan on digging out my favorite pair of shoes to wear as well, just because. Guess sort of a Memorial Day thing. I have no idea which ones are my favorites though, maybe my LLAMA SHOOOOES) But it just reminds me of what my dad said about getting old, that he doesn't want to just sit around in a retirement home with the TV on. I remember him saying he wanted drum corps music blasted as loud as possible (because he'll be pretty deaf anyway), and I can't remember if he said it or if I made it up but that he wanted a model train running around the room. I also remember him saying he wants a HUGE crazy party when he dies, with all the family and friends, I think maybe just because it's an excuse for a party, and he doesn't want us to be sad. (When I think about things like that, it makes me wonder how religious my parents are. I mean my mom is away at a retreat but I've always got the impression from my dad that he doesn't really care as long as you're being nice to someone, except that he goes to mass every week and encourages Laura too as well. I dunno. I want to know but at the same time I can see it getting very awkward in any type family situation if they knew I was semi-agnostic. Seriously, you have no idea how big of a pressure point religion is in my family. Pretty much automatic HUGE FIGHT if it's us and my cousins and my grandparents.) ANYWAY, and then the other day we went to visit Nana and Papa's graves (and George's, and Grandma/Grandpa's parents, I forget which, the Cwioks) and we were talking about how we wanted to be buried. Laura started it like she always does, being cynical, but I can't remember exactly what she was critiquing. But I mentioned that I'd like my organs to be donated and the rest of it put to science and if I didn't die in any unusual way then to be buried in a natural way, just the pine-coffin-in-the-dirt thing. Put what you can to good use and the rest of it let it go back into the system. I really see no benefits to locking my body up with a bunch of preservatives so I can look good as a DB (lol) hundreds of years from now, whoopdefreakingdoo. I'd rather be remembered for what I did (crazy architecture? something awesome and Disney/COSI-like? something House On the Rock-ish?) and maybe have a wacked-out grave marker. Maybe.

Also, this topic always reminds me of my bequests from my senior year of Carroll when I was getting "killed" by the bass drums and all my stuff was going to band kids. ;) All I remember is like crazy socks to Alicia and my visor to Domer. Lol. Good times. (It also makes me usually think about exercising more so I can still maybe even run when I'm ooooold.)


And now for something completely different. Does anyone know how Burger King runs their toy promotions? I got the ant-box about two weeks ago (that thing actually surprised the shit out of me because I wasn't paying attention when I opened it) and then the boulder on Tuesday, and then the whip yesterday and today. After going from boulder to whip so fast I was kind of excited it was random because then there was less chance I missed the ones I wanted, but I don't know. Hopefully they will just show up at garage sales and stuff for super-cheap. ;D (The blacklight journal is my #1, and then the two temple-things. The others aren't particularly interesting.)

[EDIT]Woah, the monarchy of Nepal is now gone, it's Communist. Totally random but we had the princess of Nepal visit my first grade class. ( the article because yahoo deletes them )

Sooo... Heath Ledger's dead.

I dunno how I feel about this. I was kind of shocked, because he seemed to have pretty good movies and be generally a pretty good guy. And I'm sort of upset because I have a lot of respect and love for the Nolan brothers' Batman, and his Joker looks awesome. (Are they even finished filming? I'd think so, with the trailer out...) But at the same time, the only other movie I could have told you he was in was Brokeback Mountain, although Brothers Grimm and A Knight's Tale are ones I've seen as well, which I like very much. (Just didn't realize it was him--if I don't particularly like an actor, their movies tend to not stick in my head. Heck, even if I do they don't.) So, I never really watched for news of him or anything, so it doesn't really affect me much, other than making me a little upset that Dark Knight and Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus might be affected. =/ That's probably seemingly rude to say, but it's not like I knew this guy on any sort of personal level. ([EDIT3] Oh, and I'm Not There, which I really wanted to see because Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett were in it, as well as Ledger who I had recognized as being awesome for being chosen as the Joker. But I still seem indifferent, and if less so only because I didn't realize how much faith I put in the Nolan brothers after watching the amazing plotlines of Batman Begins and The Prestige, even though I totally knew I did.)

So honestly, it's just rather surreal, and not even in a paranoid "something's not right here" type of way. It's just... huh. Odd. Like it should have been someone else? Like I should care more, rather than just turning around and going about my business? Something like that. *shrug*

It really is sad for his two-year-old daughter, though. =( I bet it would be weird to be watching successful movies and going "hey, that's my dad," and that being the only way you know him. That's fucking creepy, and sad.

Sadder/creepier? It seems like the emotion he put into his work--really living the character--is what did him in. From everything I've read so far (I know, it's been less than 24 hours, how reliable are these sources), it seems like playing such a psychopathic and strange Joker really messed him up. Apparently he did an interview saying that his "inconsistency" (to make it scary) caused him to sleep terribly, and that taking two Ambien only helped him sleep for an hour or so. Which, if you look at that fact next to the fact that he died next to a bunch of sleeping pills, seems very tragic and unfortunate, but it does say something for how dedicated he was to his work, and why he was such a good actor. ([EDIT2] Apparently he was researching for a drug-addict role as well? Even more tragic, but I still can't look at it with anything more than a studious interest.)

Um, so... yeah. Life goes on? I will watch the Dark Knight and will probably think about how surreal it is that he's no longer alive, but that's because I do have that weird morbid twinge. (So it's interesting that I'm compelled to write this much--I think I should care more than I do.)

Huh.

[EDIT] Actually, it kind of reminds me of how I felt when someone told me (Saturday morning before a football game) that Steve Irwin had died. More like it was a trivia fact than anything, and it seems tragic for the rest of your life every time you think about it, but not at first.

Still. Huh.

[EDIT4] Apparently he'd had pneumonia, too. Which really just makes it more of a tragedy, almost a Victorian one, in my mind. What a loss.

I really need to do my homework. =/

It's the sixth day of Christmas! Hooray! New Year's Eve Eve. Not much of a huge deal. Just saw Sweeney Todd, though! ( cut like a knife (spoiler warning) )

And now, after that stint into morbidity, it's the sixth day of Christmas, and I come bearing KITTENS!

On the sixth day of Christmas, my LJ gave to me--tiny kittens miaowing,





CHRISTMASYYYY MIIICHAEEEEL CRAWFOOOOOORD
Chicago and some children,
Straight No Chaser singing,
God Rest Ye lights a-blinking,
and a "happy holidays" so merry!

Also, I watched Blues Brothers today, for the first time in a long while. That is a great movie. Noticed a lot of the same cameos as in Austin Powers, I'm guessing because they perchance happened to work with the same people on Saturday Night Live? Anyway, Spielberg and whoever played that US General were in both. (Funny, huh?) Also, I decided I probably should have gone to the Winter Dance my senior year as The Blues Brothers with someone, but the fact that I chose the superheros we did (Da Chicken characters) and NOT Indiana Jones already says something for the way I was thinking at that time, in regards to that; a.k.a. I don't think it would have happened. Also I forgot how many characters and pop culture references there were in the third one! Britney Spears! The Osbournes! Um... what's his face before he was a crazy Scientologist! John Travolta being creepy! Yeeeeah. *shudder* I also decided I need to pick up a smallish, black fedora, so that if I ever have the need for insta-Blues Brothers, I can.

[EDIT] Also, Elwood would make an awesome name for a Tuxedo Cat. Like the one I found outside today, you ask?! Well, not exactly. I wish. =/ Yeah, I know. I just happen to like Dan Akroyd better than John Belushi. Ghostbusters + Indiana Jones = Awesome. Bet you didn't know he was in Temple of Doom, did you? Eh, you probably don't care... But it will probably come up later on when I start posting INDIANA JONES TRIVIA! (I bet you're all wishing you'd never friended me right now. Eh? Eh?!) =P