interesting meme

[helenic]

(from blackmetalbaz)

1. Does my username suit me?
2. Is my journal's title cryptic or descriptive? What do you think it means?
3. Does my journal expand your knowledge of me?
4. Do you think my bio describes me well? If you knew me in real life and found it, would you be able to guess who it was describing?
5. Which of my interests surprises you the least?
6. Which of my interests surprises you the most?
7. Which of my interests needs explaining?
8. Which of my userpics suits me best?

Comments

[sisuphos.livejournal.com]

1. As far as i know you, yes
2. Cryptic and descriptive. It's a rather nifty punctuation mark. If the question is what it meant to you when you chose it? Perhaps because it is a name that represents a symbol that represents a word, and you like ciphers; perhaps because it suggests an ongoing thing - a live journal; because you like how it implies something open-ended; possibly it simply had an aesthetic appeal, in which case it just means you have good taste; it could be some strange BDSM or RPG symbol; or something else entirely.
3. Yes, but i was starting from a pretty low base.
4. Probably. Probably.
5. None thus far, but I didn't really have any preconceptions about somebody I didn't know.
6. Ditto.
7. Hmm. No idea.
8. The one of you being strangled I think is pretty sexy. Not sure what this says about me. No idea if it suits you best.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

1. Bugger. I should point out that I have a huge Latin-shaped whole in my brain. Never learned any, at any level, save what I've picked up from singing in choirs and Asterix and Shakespeare and Counter-reformation meditative poetry and things. :) Clearly something to do with books though? In which case, yup, it suits you. *grin*

2. Which name? Ampersand is a mystery to me. I'd take your journal title and subtitle together, and that's reasonably descriptive but with a cryptic air that suggests it may still mean more to you than it does to your humble readers. :)

3. Yes, I'd say so.

4. Obviously I've met you after encountering you on LJ so it's harder to tell. It's Cambridge-orientated but then there's nothing wrong with that! I think if I'd happened to meet you as one of Catriona's friends in Cambridge, I would be pretty sure that that bio was describing you.

5. bookishness, eccentricity, bdsm, read-throughs!

6. peanut butter on toast. You mad, mad girl!! ;)

7. some of the names I don't recognise. Also, what is "burnination"? And which Scottish pebble beaches are you referring to? Got to say I'm more a fan of Scottish sandy beaches, but pebble beaches are good too. Scottish beaches in general = Good Thing.

8. Thumbellina. Combines the abstract beauty of your more "arty" icons, with a lovely photo of you. They're all gorgeous though. You're probably my favourite icon-designer. :)

Mm. Meme before lunch.

[translucent.livejournal.com]

A little skewed by only knowing you this way, obviously.

1. Certainly more you now than either of the previous two would -- though I'm not doubting they suited your writing at the time. There's a little less whimsy about it, not that that's a bad thing...
2. What sisuphos said for ampersand.
3. Of course!
4. Yes; yes. I'm waiting for the day when I meet someone & then find a LiveJournal by which I can recognise them. It's like seeing someone you met once on television.
5. Things like classics, for obvious reasons. Of the more eccentric ones: men in poloneck jumpers!
6. I remember laughing when I saw trogdor and burnination amongst them. All the piano-orientated ones surprised me at first, because it's not something you mention. More recently I've been pleasantly surprised to see sir alanna of trebond (takes me back!) & flanders & swann.
7. becoming accountable, & for the most part shostakovich not slipknot. There are a couple of names & references to literature I know I don't get. Also, wouldn't mind knowing which industrial power-ballads ;)
8. Every time I made a choice, I realised it was just the icon I'd seen you use most, or one of those I recognised from when I first started reading you (polkadot! & poloneck -- though I did think they were you for a long time), or ones I liked most. Mix all that up, and we get ... skywatching; wintry days; restlessness.

[theobscureone.livejournal.com]

1. Certainly, from what's displayed here.
2. I find it amusing, but cryptic. (ampersand) The other title I simply love, and find more descriptive than cryptic.
3. Definitely.
4. Yes, in text, and online. But in person, perhaps not.
5. academia.
6. simon goldhill's beard, sir alanna of trebond, probably.
7. see #6
8. working space or poloneck; fragility, I'd say.

I think I'll lift this meme, if you don't mind.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

as far as ampersand goes; you're pretty much on the mark. I hadn't thought of the "cipher" thing before, but then that also appeals. It's certainly not a cryptic code-name for any of my more obscure tastes.

I think the reason I chose it was because so many of the trendy girls on the internet use &s all the time, not only in their writing but in lists, or layouts, or as link-symbols. I used to do it too before I realised I was just being a sheep. Writing the word in full rather than "&" is intended to be ironic, as well as lightly self-mocking for the times I do use the symbol. The aesthetics thing is also true.

As for the "submission" icon - it certainly suits a part of me. (the picture it's from is here (http://img5.photobucket.com/albums/v14/xtasca/erotic/?action=view&current=Dogstar_7117.jpg), if you're interested)

thanks for filling this out - it's horribly self-indulgent, I know, but I was curious :)

[robert-jones.livejournal.com]

1) Ampersand: Yes, I think so.

2) libellum: Definitely cryptic. I seem to remember that before I met you I posted somewhere saying that I was intrigued as to why your name was in the accusative. So that, and having an attractive icon made me ask after you. Probably your comments were interesting too. I think it's an excellent name, although it forces me either to violate both grammar and sense by using libellum to refer to you, or to adopt a circumlocution to identify your live-journal. (I've just checked, and it was this entry (http://www.livejournal.com/users/robert_jones/25115.html).)

3) I would say that, considering how little I know you, it expands my knowledge of you surprisingly little. More often it seems to be developing themes of which I was previously aware. It's fascinating though.

4) The first paragraph is great, of course, but hardly descriptive of you. The second reads rather like the dust-cover of a novel, and, yes, I would hazard a fairly certain guess that it was you.

5) Of course many of them surprise me not at all, but I would have to go for "melancholy beauty" as seeming to me the most characteristic. The odd question is why it is not on my own list?

6) "Hegel's universal consciousness".

7) "Shostakovich not slipknot".

8) You expect me to remember them all? Some certainly suit you better than others. I let you know next time I see a particularly good one.

[verte.livejournal.com]

1. I like your username because it says so little about you, other than suggest that you might be a classicist! And the simplicity of it means there's no preference for it suiting you or not. Obviously it suits the journal...
2. I like the fact that it kind of means the joining of things, or perhaps even transition.
3. All journals do this, but yes, most definitely. And it handily keeps me up to date on what you're doing!
4. Yes, and yes. I meant to tell you that it's a good bio - mine still needs a little work...
5. spiritual awareness
6. college scarves - wouldn't have thought all that silly malarky was your bag (baby)
7. Well, I don't know what epicurean physics is...
8. miles away dead of night - but that might just be because it's my favourite. I don't like icons with text on them, generally.

Woohoo! Stealing this!

[libellum.livejournal.com]

1. libellus is the diminuitive form of liber, which does indeed mean "book". A libellus is, specifically, a small "chapbook" of poety vanity published by Roman writers. The less well-known ones would stand on street corners reciting their poetry and selling libelli to anyone who was interested. I also reckon that if there were a word for "notebook" in Latin, libellus would be it.

It's in the accusative because, well, I'm the subject and it's the object, but also because libellus is too masculine, and I wanted something non-gender specific.

2. The subtitle is from a Sundays song, I can't wait. I really like the line "when there's more in your head than you find in your life" - it suits me so well.

6. what's wrong with peanut butter, pray?!

7. "burnination" is what Trogdor (http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html) does. the Scottish pebble beaches thing refers to a) a distant memory of going to Iona aged 4, b) the scene at the end of Iris where she throws all her pages to the sea, and c) a personal idyll that's all about grey skies and restlessness and melancholy beauty.

8. Ooh, you flatterer! it's a very old photo - from my 19th birthday here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/libellum/16304.html), and the text from my favourite track on the last Tori Amos album, Wednesday. thankyou though :)

ps. eep! my favourite icon! *swoons*

Re: Mm. Meme before lunch.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

6. I'm much more of an internet geek than I let on. I read webcomics! I've played the piano since I was 3 so it's very much a part of my identity, but since I stopped lessons at 14 and then came to uni where there isn't one, it's been much less a part of my life. My fingers still itch when I see one though, even though I probably couldn't play anything by memory any more. And .... Alanna! you read those books too?! wow. they're among my favourite childhood books - I re-read them all over Christmas and it was incredibly feelgood. George rocks my world.
7. "becoming accountable" originally referred to relationships, wherein I always used to take the affection of my partner somewhat for granted and was never accountable to them, i.e. for when I abused it ... it also refers to being accountable before God, and (more recently) being accountable for my bad eating habits. For me it's about acknowledging when I go wrong and trying to do something about it. "shostakovich not slipknot" refers to the Reading Festical of 2002 (http://www.livejournal.com/users/bohofaery/2002/08/26/), which verte and I only attended the first two days of because Slipknot were headlining on Sunday night and we decided to give it a miss and go back to London, where Shostakovich's Symphony no. 4 was playing at the proms. The "industrial power-ballads" refer to things like NIN's "We're in this together" and a lot of Metallica. I'm a sucker for big, emotional chord sequences.
8. I'm really glad that's your favourite. It's mine too.

Re: Mm. Meme before lunch.

[uisgebeatha.livejournal.com]

Have only looked at the meme, but I reckon your journal is great. Really complex, multilayered reading. Not like mine :D

Your website is lovely, by the way. Have you seen mine? It's a bit crap, and full of injokes. Oh well...

I'm intrigued by the photo that spawned the 'submission' avatar. If you don't mind a nosey parker asking, how did that come about?

*toddles drunkely to bed*

[entangledbank.livejournal.com]

Dear Helen Judith L., I don't know you at all except from the extraordinarily fascinating snippets you give us in this journal, which renders about 1.-7. moot. My knowledge of you is gained from those; it is very complex, as you are, and constantly surprising. I like the impression more and more, as new aspects hove into view.

I have a certain ambition as a writer. I have created a Judith, who is all sorts of things I idealize plus many idiosyncrasies, and sometimes I think it's absurd to put so many virtues and vices into her. I should be realistic instead. Then I encounter someone like you: well, aha, good, people like that can be real.

Icons: 'skywatching' and 'stasis' and 'solitude' and 'contemplation' convey how you feel, in a consistent view of a certain character. 'pollux & castor' is beautiful. Something subtle in the combination, which I don't want to pin down to one, makes me want to know you.

[sisuphos.livejournal.com]

Ook. Just looked at your picture. And I find that my decision not to follow the link at work was probably for the best, even if it might have shaken some of my workmates out of their torpor. Anyway, erotic it definitely is. I feel quite faint. Nice breasts.

[entangledbank.livejournal.com]

Erratum: heave into view.

I thought I should try again with the interests, but really they almost all do match the way you come across. I admit surprise at 'Hegel's universal consciousness', but I'm glad you've got Epicurus in there.

Anything I've never heard of I assume is the name of a pop group: so that disposes of Burnination, Shostakovich Not Slipnot, Simon Goldhill's Beard, Sir Alanna of Trebond, Spittalfields Shawls (though they could easily be a kind of shawl), Tori's Piano Sex, and Trogdor; so they're excluded from consideration.

Is the Kerewin the one with tower and the jade? If so I greatly approve of that detail of taste, along with virtually all the others.

Re: Mm. Meme before lunch.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

*is pleased by compliment*

the website needs taking down. It's so out of date. I'e been meaning to change it but wanted to put something up in its place and haven't got round to it yet. But I mean, it's pre-break-up still. Something needs to be done... maybe I'll just take it all down and put up a one-page filler instead.

That photo came from a photoshoot (which that link also leads to) taken at _aredhel's old house in london,and she's the other person in the picture. she's a model and her friend Robin, who's a professional photographer, offered to take some pictures of us for free. This icon is from that set as well.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Simon Goldhill is the Professor of Greek Literature and Culture, and is a wonderfully poetic and charismatic lecturer with a booming, resonant voice which befits the fact his facial hair (http://www.art-fag.net/lj/goldhill.jpg) is rather reminiscent of Zeus. He's a very popular classicist (particularly his work on Greek tragedy) and never fails to make everything seem terribly, wonderfully meaningful. Stories abound of his debauched drinking parties at Kings at which he was the most decadent person present and forced his students to stay until 5am when they were flagging and he was still going strong ...

Alanna is a character in a wonderful children's fantasy series by Tamora Pierce called The Song of the Lioness. She disguises her gender for her entire adolescence and lives as a man in order to be knighted, whereupon her identity is revealed. It's wonderful stuff, not for its originality of plot, but for the humour of its characterisation and dialogue, the subtlety of its sexuality and unambiguity of its feminism, and sheer scope of imagination. They're silly and childish but unadulterated escapism, and an unfailing mood-lifter if I ever re-read them. Plus she's a fantastic, dour, generous, sarcastic, pangendered character whom I admire, inasmuch as you can admire people from fiction :)

[libellum.livejournal.com]

4. The second reads rather like the dust-cover of a novel

I'm amused but also intrigued. how do you mean?

6. I've haven't read much Hegel, but the glimpse of his idea of a universal consciousness which I got during A-level Theology, Philosophy and Ethics was really what got me thinking along the lines that led to my current idea of God. I really need to find time to read about it more thoroughly, as I might have misunderstood it entirely.

7. This is explained above :) verte has it on her interests too.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

College scarves are great in Cambridge. Wearing them outside either term or the city is beyond pretentious. I like being able to identify people by them, and in a way I quite like the cliqueyness of the college system, if only because it's such a big, inclusive, meaningless clique. I very nearly bought a choir scarf, which is Downing colours (black and purple) with two smaller stripes of white, but I decided I didn't need both. It is silly, but it still appeals (with a healthy amount of irony, of course).

As for Epicurean physics ... it's basically early atomism. Epicurus was an Hellenistic philosopher who was a very material metaphysicist (even the soul was made a particular kind of atom, he claimed, and sensory experiences were caused by the transfer of atoms from the object to, for instance, the eye), reasoned empirically, and had a hedonistic ethics (although his definition of "pleasure" was the avoidance of pain, rather than any decadent extremes). When we were first lectured on it last year I was just stunned by how advanced the physics was, especially since it was all conjecture rather than the result of experiments.

anyway yar, lesson over. I'm meant to be thinking about Horace - the essay's going nowhere fast. Gah.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Is Judith your name? Or is she a genuine "creation"? I think writing is one of those occasions when pretending something is true until it is can actually work - you are never going to sound interesting if you do not at least pretend to believe you are. This is difficult in livejournal, though, where the level of pretense can be confused with deceit - what do you mean exactly? Have you "created" your interests, your activities? (which I doubt) Is it just an idealised persona which enables you to operate online more effectively? I'm intrigued.

Many thanks for the compliment. Obviously there are discrepancies between my online and real-life self (as will be attested by anyone who knows me) but I think they are circumstantial rather than intentional.

As for the icons - and the rest of my journal, I suppose - I am whimsical and I do feel deeply, but I'm constantly trying to temper this with self-mockery and mention of less "meaningful" character traits so it doesn't become tiresome. Yes, I am deeply emotionally affected by the sky. I find certain forms of melancholy and loneliness inexpressably beautiful, and others merely depressing. I also drink too much and use American slang and smoke weed and read webcomics. In trying to attain a sense of self (which is a necessary evil of a livejournal) the one is not more important than the other. I try and reflect that in my icons.

You really are very bad for my ego. I'll try not to take you too seriously ;)

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Kerewin is indeed that cynical gender-neutral genius of New Zealand. She's another fictional character I admire and envy and want to be. Everything from the guitar to the cooking self-foraged foods to the games of chess. Although I was shocked by how easily Simon/Haimona forgave them both ...

As for the rest of the interests: Trogdor (http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=trogdor) and burnination (http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=burnination) are the result of this (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html); Shostakovich not Slipknot (http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=shostakovich+not+slipknot), Simon Goldhill's beard and Sir Alanna are all explained above; Spittalfields is a market in London which sells, among other things, beautiful shawls, and Tori's piano sex refers to the intense sexuality of Tori Amos' piano-playing when she performs live. It really is a extraordinary thing to witness.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

thankyou :)

after all, it's silly to have erotic photographs of oneself online but pretend they don't exist. why not celebrate? there's nothing wrong with eroticism, or the female form.

(This is a fact I need reminding of, especially when my current reaction to that photo is a desperate need to assure you that I'm not that fat any more, I'm lost quite a bit of weight since then, and it was a bad week anyway. Evidently I'm not fat in it (that wasn't a fish for compliments, just a bit of wry fun-poking at my own neuroses), but nor am I perfectly toned and skinny. I don't want to present an air-brushed version of myself. And it doesn't matter if I'm happier with my body now than I was then. It's still me. It's still a nice photograph. Anyway yes. Apologies for the self-justification; I know you didn't as for it.)

[karajanks.livejournal.com]

As though using American slang is a bad thing. . .
:)

I can't answer most of these since I've never met you, but as for icons: I especially like the one of the girl sitting in a doorway reading, the cat looking out a window, and the Italian model gripping her wrist. Those are the three I associate with you the most, though in the case of the last it's probably because that was the icon that cropped up most frequently when I first started reading your journal-- default at that time, perhaps. I really enjoy all of your user pictures, though.

Least surprising interests are 'endless cups of tea', 'curled up on windowsills', and 'dark oak bookcases'.

Most surprising would be 'pentatonic scales' and 'androgyny'.

Industrial power-ballads?

[mostlyacat.livejournal.com]

I'll post this before looking at the other replies...

1. Ooh - does it mean little book as in journal? I can't remember much latin. It sounds neuter though which I guess you're not. I only really know you from the Peter Pan party and LJ of course (I know your feet quite well too!), but I reckon the current name does not encapsulate enough about you. Mind you, my name isn't exactly great and no name is perfect. :-)

2. It sounds thoughtful and arty. It sounds quite lonely I think, which I'm sure isn't true of you now. Artiness is good.

3. Oh yes, lots. Again, there's the "only from Peter Pan" thing. Your journal is very well written and thoughtful. I tend to just post random things like aggpajar - I should give mine more thought. Grr need more time. Being open about myself isn't something I'm renowned for though.

4. Your bio describes you well. When I met you I kind of didn't expect that you were a classicist, but when you told me I wasn't surprised. I don't know how that one works! :-) My first girlfriend was a classicist at Pembroke.

Wow, you have some funky interests!

5. Surprises least: second hand bookshops! mirabehn is the same - she has tonnes of books.

6. Surprises most: life-changing lecturers, cooking at 3am yay!

7. Needs explaining: aardman animations, burnination, dialectic (I read it as dielectric and I know what that one is), epicurean physics, john henderson's ellipses, kerewin - I can make up words too illigom, garsindag ;-), marc chagall, minoan linear a (as opposed to minoan linear b no doubt), simon goldhill's beard, sir alanna of trebond, spittalfields shawls, the inklings, the story of o, trogdor biglorz, kredgekip, venus in furs (mmm)

I need a lot explaining. Poor ignorant me. ;-)

8. Oh you have loads! And they're a bit amazing. Hides I think clearly wine, not because of the wine but because of the expression on your face.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

*huggggggggggggs*

Just wanted to say that having looked at all those photos, you look absolutely beautiful in them, with a gorgeous figure and wonderful breasts especially.

I know you weren't fishing for compliments here, but I was looking for a space in which to say this. :)

after all, it's silly to have erotic photographs of oneself online but pretend they don't exist. why not celebrate? there's nothing wrong with eroticism, or the female form.

You're so right. :)

[robert-jones.livejournal.com]

Thanks to Elly, I've now found all your user-pics. "Melancholia", "Sky watching", and "Miles away dead of night" are all beautiful. I hadn't realised I was such a sucker for the sky. The default picture I think is just right for libellum and "clearly wine" has a profound wisdom, but I would have to say that "internal dialectic" suited you best, even though it is rather gloomy.

overdue, but still

[translucent.livejournal.com]

6a. Hooray for internet geekery! Though a lot of mine is mainly confined to b3ta and other related bastions of extreme silliness. I find it incredibly weird to discover bits of said geekery in pretty much anyone, regardless of their general apparent "geek" quotient -- I was most amused to find myself at a party where people were singing/quoting the Tales of the Blode at 3am once, though that was a while ago, and I should have learnt by now :)
6b. I feel terribly guilty for being another "played the piano since I was three" person and still being pretty awful, but the number of them is quite fantastic. Viva la musica, indeed.
6c. I happened upon them by accident in what might have been Year Eight or Nine, when I was librarian-ing & thought "Ah, this looks interesting..." -- the Tortall scene was my first and only experience of dodgy Internet roleplaying. (That is to say, I haven't encountered the non-dodgy version yet...)

7. Classical over rock = plus plus, just on iconoclastic principle! Though I'm missing the chance to go to Glastonbury free for two years in a row now to pursue various singing things. "Debussy not Radiohead" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. One day...