Words...Words...Words.

Here's a list of words that I find interesting. It's quite long because I've been collecting them for quite a while. :)
Scrinium (noun, Latin): A case or chest for books or papers.
Loquacious (adj): Talkative.
Euphonious (adj): Pleasing to the ear.
Manichean (adj): Of or relating to a dualistic view of the world, deviding things into either good or evil, light or dark, black or white, involving no shades of
gray.
Billet-doux (noun): A love letter.
Ebullient (adj): 1. Cheerful, high spirited, full of energy. 2. (archaic. Poetic/literaty) boiling or agitated
Quiescent (adj): In a state of inactivity or dormancy.
Banneret (noun) 1. A knight who commanded his own troops under his own banner. 2. A knighthood given on the battlefield for courage.
Isthmus (noun): A narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land.
Chimerical (noun): A thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusionary or impossible to achieve. Something imaginary or fanciful.
Elysium (noun) A place of perfect happiness. Greek Mythology: The place at the ends of the earth to which certain favored heroes were conveyed by the gods after death.
Intermediary (noun): A person who acts like a link between people in order to try to bring about an agreement or reconciliation.
Martinet (noun): A strict disciplinarian.
Excoriate (verb): Censure or criticize severely.
Susurrus (noun, poetic/literary): Whispering, murmuring, or rustling.
Bonhomie (noun): Cheerful friendliness; geniality.
Mendicant (adj): Given to begging. (noun): A beggar.
Knave (noun): Dishonest or unscrupulous man.
Raconteur (noun): A person who tells stories in a skillful and amusing way.
Archaic (adj): Very old or old fashioned.
Byronic (adj): Characteristic of Lord Byron or his poetry; Alluringly dark, mysterious, or moody; One who is melancholic, passionate, and melodramatic, and disregards societal norms.
Clinquant (adj): Glittering with gold and silver.
Aureate (adj): Denoting, made of, or having the colour of gold; (of language) Highly ornated or elaborate.
Dwale (noun, archaic): Deadly nightshade or belladonna; a soporific drink made form this.
Aubade (noun): A poem or piece of music appropriate to the dawn or early morning.
Dysphoria (noun, psychiatry): A state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life. The opposite of euphoria.
Ephemeral (adj): Lasting for a very short time.

The feeling of places

As with most of my posts, this is something I have been thinking about for quite a while.
For most of my childhood I have traveled with my mother across America (venturing into Canada and Mexico on occasion) and I have noticed that each place I go, (even if was a long time ago) had a...feeling. It's difficult to explain exactly what or why it is and I have no idea if any other people experience this. But I've even felt this in my recent travels to New York and Maine. So, to the main point of this post. As anyone who reads this blog would know, I am obsessed with England and would very much like to travel there. And being the air headed person that I am, I think about it quite often. Oddly, it isn't just the places that I have been to that have feelings attached to them. Whenever I see a picture of England (or any other place that I want to go to, for that matter) I have this...odd sensation, almost as if I can feel the air in that country. And it is because of these feelings and thoughts that I think that I'm going mad. Lately I've been wondering what these countries actually feel like, if the air is the quality of which I imagine.
Now is the difficult part of coming up with a way to document the preconceptions and actual air of the place.
Of course, this could just make no sense and I really AM going mad.

Also, This video is lovely: The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On
It makes me happy. :)

Making knitting patterns...

Lately, I've been trying to write some of my own knitting patterns, since I can't find the ones that I need for specific designs. As it turns out....this is not as easy as people make it out to be. Or maybe I'm just stupid.
Anyway, so far I've designed a yarnbomb colourwork with words on it, a medic colourwork swatch, and some short fingerless gloves for a costume. Only one of these things worked out fairly well. Currently, I'm working on a revised version of the fingerless gloves, which I have had to rip all the stitches out of previously. This version doesn't seem to be working out too well, either.

This (and similar experiences) has lead me to think about self confidence in regards to projects. It seems that every time I go into a project thinking that it will mess up, it invariably does. Though, sometimes it still messes up, even if one is confidant the whole way through.

So, I suppose the lesson of this post thingy is:
"If at first you do not succeed, try again. And again. And again. And again. And again. and if you still do not succeed, throw your knitting across the room and pout."

Personal bladybla

I can't really post this on Facebook, because there are people that I don't like on there, and plus I've been complaining quite a bit in my statuses, but...

I MISS MAINE

Every week or so, I have a massive internal meltdown because of it. This time it was because of the Common Ground Fair.
I think that it's because that besides Vermont (which I'm tired of) and New York (which I miss quite a bit as well, but it's only 2 hours away, so...), Maine is one of the only places where, though we haven't lived there for many years, feels very much like home.

And, so, there, yes. I believe I shall now drown my sorrows in tea, knitting and Harry Potter books on tape.

History and Loathing of this century.

I must be bold, though rather monotonous and say how much I despise this century already. We aren't even 12 years into it and I'm already wishing with all my soul for a time machine.
Not even as far back as the 90's, we were free from the clutches of the world wide web and of major technology (mostly, at least.) When we got lost from our friends in a mall or parking garage, we couldn't just whip out our iPhones and call them. (And of course, being only 18 years of age, I use the term "we" in reference to people in general, not myself personally.) Children played with jump ropes, board games, chalk, imagination, dolls...Not with web games and iPhone apps.
Going back farther, there is more need of things like the postal service and telegrams. It was necessary for people to learn skills such as farming, sewing, proper writing, knitting, manners, forging, weaving, mechanics, different languages...Things that we have either disregarded or have intrusted to other people. The things that we needed in order to survive are now merely considered "hobbies" and weird ones at that. (Even with all of the knitting revival, I've gotten some disbelieving comments on the fact that I knit. Which makes me weep bitterly in disgust.)

For most of my life I've been taught skills that most school children would never learn. Such as herbal healing, farming, wilderness/urban survival, ect, by my mother. Now that I am of an age to pursue knowledge with more of a passion, I have been learning so many of the skills that have been dropped by this and several generations previous. Even seemingly useless skills (embroidery, for example) are just another connection to history.

And on a note, as I have seen many a comment about this by ignorant people: I do not romanticize history. I know that it was bloody, and harsh. That people died from things that could easily be remedied nowadays. That the majority of people were racist, sexist, close minded, superstitious and the majority were rather stupid. But I honestly don't care. People try to compare the "idiots of the past" to the "progress" that we have made as a people, but that's a lie, isn't it? We are still racist, sexist, close minded, superstitious and stupid. The only thing that has changed is that we have gotten fatter. (That's not to say that there hasn't been a fair amount of progress. But the fact remains that humans don't change. So I'll take the tight corsets, long trips to get across the state, famine, and hard work, thank you very much.

Life Without the Internet...

....would be SO much better.
Allow me to shed some light on this subject. *evil grin*
Thinking about all of the people in history that I admire, people who accomplished SO much in a short time, I sometimes wonder if they would be the same had they lived in the age of the internet. Hahah, NO.
There is a reason that there are internet"oholics" groups. It's fun, and easy and interesting and makes you feel connected to the rest of the world without stepping outside your door.
All fine and good. Sort of.
People spend SO much time on the internet (myself included), rotting their brains with useless information and drivel. "Filling up their attics with shoddy and broken furniture" as Sherlock Holmes would say.
We could be spending our time learning new skills or speaking face to face with a friend with whom we would normally be "IMing" on the computer, or even just taking a nice walk.
Of course, despite the honestly terrifying amount of useless things on the internet, there are some good things. But mostly those involve getting off your lazy ass and using your hands and your brain. Things like instructions for knitting or gardening or traveling around Europe with little money.

Personally, if I had a remotely ideal situation (e.g. My best friend lived close by, I had a farm and/or owned my own shop, or at least it was easy to travel across states, ect) I would GLADLY give up the internet. But that's sort of impossible, seeing as I need Etsy to sell things, Gmail to talk to people and DeviantArt to discover new artists. Also taking into account the "internet friends" that I've made, whom I like very much... Oh well. *sighs*

Anywho, it's 2am and all of my steam has run out. La'erz!



Ironic that I'm posting this on a web blog, eh? *wry smile*

Celebrities

I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. I just recently saw a video of Benedict Cumberbatch signing things for fans and he looked miserable. This lead me to think about how people tend to freak out about famous people. Now, I am going to be a tad biased, because I rather disapprove of most of the celebrities in the US, since most of them got their fame by being dramatic and weird and not by possessing talent. ANYWAYS. Though I do think it would be wonderful to meet the famous people that I admire, it would certainly be better to go about it in a different way. Objectively, I can see how people would freak out about seeing (still using this example) Benedict Cumberbatch, I mean, he's a lovely person, he's gorgeous and far above all, EXTREMELY talented. But they should still respect everyone's wishes and personal space. It seems as though, because they are on TV or in magazines or what have you, people tend to objectify famous people and therefore disregard the fact that, despite having recognized talent, they are human, the same as the rest of us.

In addition, I've been noticing that this has been happening to famous YouTube people like charlieissocoollike. I've seen a video of him being...kind of surrounded by fangirls, and looking rather uncomfortable.

I don't know why this annoys me so much, but it does. (This is actually one of the reasons I left Tumblr.)

Mostly it's the invasion of privacy and alienation and hype surrounding these things...