5 words meme
Snabbled from cordelia_v, who gave me the words Hellenism Snape/Hermione birthday presents! nursing cons. Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.
Hellenism: It's very strange how I've fallen into Hellenism. TL; DR version is here. Short version is that my rather diverse pantheon includes two Hellenic deities, Apollo and Pan. So when I came across mention on an email list of something called "The Hellenic Temple of Apollon, Zeus, and Pan" and found out it's less than an hour's drive away ... I was so there. Because as much as I seem to need to carve out this weirdly eclectic path, I also deeply crave non-fluffy group worship. More and more, I'm finding that this framework really resonates for me. There's room for people who worship other Gods as well. In fact, there's historical precedent for having shrines to "foreign Gods." The rituals, then, are not eclectic themselves, but have room for eclectics to participate. That's a far different experience than I've had in deliberately eclectic Pagan groups in which all too frequently things ended up feeling either like spun sugar or lukewarm dishwater. I like having the structure and the backdrop of tradition. Not unbroken tradition by any means, and frequently adapted heavily to fit modern circumstances. But I like the balance that this temple's priest keeps between grounding in what we know of historic practices and what adaptations make sense in light of our modern lives. Of course, after the first time I went, it was years before I made it back again, but now I've been participating regularly, and it is definite food for my soul. I do worry at times that I'm going too heavily in that direction and not giving enough time to my other Gods, particularly my Patroness, Kwan Yin, but that's a wibble for another day.
Snape/Hermione: This is, you realize, at least partly your fault, cordelia_v. It was a bit of meta about Snape being "the other man" that pointed me to But You Alone, which is sadly no longer available online. My first reaction to it was, "People write Snape as heterosexual? Really?" Because I'd actually only read Snarry up to that point. By chapter 4 or so, I was a pile of fangirly goo, and once I'd finished it, I was off to find more. Why did this ship hook me so thoroughly? Probably in large part because I identify heavily with Hermione. Actually, Hermione is far better socialized than I ever was in high school. I pretty much went to school, went home, and wrote classic BSG and CHiPs fanfic. (I only wish I were kidding about the CHiPs fanfic, and it's probably a good thing for my sanity that afaik no trace of any of my teenaged fic remains anywhere.) So between that and the ineffable allure of Snape, it was probably destined.
birthday presents: One of the things I like about fandom is this idea of writing each other stories or making each other art as gifts. It's a completely bizarre concept when I try to explain it to someone outside fandom. No, seriously, you should see the looks I get when I say, "I'm writing this for so-and-so's birthday." Never mind trying to explain birthday or other occasion gift comms like shivalry, droxy_fangirls, or bambu_love. Of course, it's not possible to write something for absolutely everyone, and I'm shit at keeping track of dates even with LJ's reminders, so I took a page out of ubiquirk's book this year and started doing the first of the month "happy birthday, prompt for ficcage" posts. I enjoy writing things for other people as much as I enjoy being munched on by my own plot bunnies, though sometimes, as right now, my plot bunnies get all jealous and won't let me do other stuff for awhile, and I end up late anyway.
nursing: It's been a long and weird road, let me tell you. I used to read the "Cherry Ames, Student Nurse" books when I was a kid, but while I went through phases of wanting to be a "candy striper," I thought I'd be too grossed out to ever deal with actual nursing. Fast forward to the year 2001. I'd been largely unemployed and underemployed since moving to CT, and the diner I'd been working at was closing its doors, so I had to start looking. I'd trained in Reiki in the meantime, which had sort of opened me up to the possibility of doing something health care-ish. I found two ads that looked intriguing, both for per diem jobs, one at a hospital as a patient sitter, one at a psychosocial rehab agency. I applied for and got both and spent the next couple of years playing "whoever calls me first gets me" as I explored both places. I found myself getting frustrated with the limitations on me as a sitter. I wasn't allowed to actually touch or do anything for patients, even if they just needed to get on a bed pan. So I went and got certified as a CNA, then got the hospital to hire me as a per diem patient care tech. After a couple of years of that and people forever assuming (because I was always asking too many questions, I guess) that I was already a nursing student, I decided to check that out. I mean, obviously I was way past the "ew gross!" issue, because it's the CNA's and PCT's who really get the brunt of that. Besides, I'd regretted for years that I hadn't taken more science in college, so I might as well at least take the prereqs and by the time I was done with them I'd be sure, right? Right? Well, no. I'm still not always sure this is the greatest idea. But it is the path that seems to make the most sense for me, so I keep at it, though you've probably heard my periodic, "Wait, am I just going with the flow or is this what I really want to be doing?" wibbles.
cons: I am a bad, bad geek. For someone who did her senior thesis on aliens in literature, you'd think I could've managed to attend a con sometime before I turned 40. Well, if you did think that, you'd be wrong. And with arisia practically in my backyard when I was in Boston, too! I've been to two so far, Portus and LeakyCon. For me, both of them were more about meeting up with fellow fans than the actual programming. The same will undoubtedly be true for Infinitus, which I hope to attend next year, which I hope will have some of the more author-track stuff I heard about at Terminus and am hearing about for Azkatraz. At some point, though, I do want to make it to broader cons like Arisia and New York Comic Con, not to mention WriterCon. There is, after all, life outside HP. (No, really. I read a book about it ...)
Hellenism: It's very strange how I've fallen into Hellenism. TL; DR version is here. Short version is that my rather diverse pantheon includes two Hellenic deities, Apollo and Pan. So when I came across mention on an email list of something called "The Hellenic Temple of Apollon, Zeus, and Pan" and found out it's less than an hour's drive away ... I was so there. Because as much as I seem to need to carve out this weirdly eclectic path, I also deeply crave non-fluffy group worship. More and more, I'm finding that this framework really resonates for me. There's room for people who worship other Gods as well. In fact, there's historical precedent for having shrines to "foreign Gods." The rituals, then, are not eclectic themselves, but have room for eclectics to participate. That's a far different experience than I've had in deliberately eclectic Pagan groups in which all too frequently things ended up feeling either like spun sugar or lukewarm dishwater. I like having the structure and the backdrop of tradition. Not unbroken tradition by any means, and frequently adapted heavily to fit modern circumstances. But I like the balance that this temple's priest keeps between grounding in what we know of historic practices and what adaptations make sense in light of our modern lives. Of course, after the first time I went, it was years before I made it back again, but now I've been participating regularly, and it is definite food for my soul. I do worry at times that I'm going too heavily in that direction and not giving enough time to my other Gods, particularly my Patroness, Kwan Yin, but that's a wibble for another day.
Snape/Hermione: This is, you realize, at least partly your fault, cordelia_v. It was a bit of meta about Snape being "the other man" that pointed me to But You Alone, which is sadly no longer available online. My first reaction to it was, "People write Snape as heterosexual? Really?" Because I'd actually only read Snarry up to that point. By chapter 4 or so, I was a pile of fangirly goo, and once I'd finished it, I was off to find more. Why did this ship hook me so thoroughly? Probably in large part because I identify heavily with Hermione. Actually, Hermione is far better socialized than I ever was in high school. I pretty much went to school, went home, and wrote classic BSG and CHiPs fanfic. (I only wish I were kidding about the CHiPs fanfic, and it's probably a good thing for my sanity that afaik no trace of any of my teenaged fic remains anywhere.) So between that and the ineffable allure of Snape, it was probably destined.
birthday presents: One of the things I like about fandom is this idea of writing each other stories or making each other art as gifts. It's a completely bizarre concept when I try to explain it to someone outside fandom. No, seriously, you should see the looks I get when I say, "I'm writing this for so-and-so's birthday." Never mind trying to explain birthday or other occasion gift comms like shivalry, droxy_fangirls, or bambu_love. Of course, it's not possible to write something for absolutely everyone, and I'm shit at keeping track of dates even with LJ's reminders, so I took a page out of ubiquirk's book this year and started doing the first of the month "happy birthday, prompt for ficcage" posts. I enjoy writing things for other people as much as I enjoy being munched on by my own plot bunnies, though sometimes, as right now, my plot bunnies get all jealous and won't let me do other stuff for awhile, and I end up late anyway.
nursing: It's been a long and weird road, let me tell you. I used to read the "Cherry Ames, Student Nurse" books when I was a kid, but while I went through phases of wanting to be a "candy striper," I thought I'd be too grossed out to ever deal with actual nursing. Fast forward to the year 2001. I'd been largely unemployed and underemployed since moving to CT, and the diner I'd been working at was closing its doors, so I had to start looking. I'd trained in Reiki in the meantime, which had sort of opened me up to the possibility of doing something health care-ish. I found two ads that looked intriguing, both for per diem jobs, one at a hospital as a patient sitter, one at a psychosocial rehab agency. I applied for and got both and spent the next couple of years playing "whoever calls me first gets me" as I explored both places. I found myself getting frustrated with the limitations on me as a sitter. I wasn't allowed to actually touch or do anything for patients, even if they just needed to get on a bed pan. So I went and got certified as a CNA, then got the hospital to hire me as a per diem patient care tech. After a couple of years of that and people forever assuming (because I was always asking too many questions, I guess) that I was already a nursing student, I decided to check that out. I mean, obviously I was way past the "ew gross!" issue, because it's the CNA's and PCT's who really get the brunt of that. Besides, I'd regretted for years that I hadn't taken more science in college, so I might as well at least take the prereqs and by the time I was done with them I'd be sure, right? Right? Well, no. I'm still not always sure this is the greatest idea. But it is the path that seems to make the most sense for me, so I keep at it, though you've probably heard my periodic, "Wait, am I just going with the flow or is this what I really want to be doing?" wibbles.
cons: I am a bad, bad geek. For someone who did her senior thesis on aliens in literature, you'd think I could've managed to attend a con sometime before I turned 40. Well, if you did think that, you'd be wrong. And with arisia practically in my backyard when I was in Boston, too! I've been to two so far, Portus and LeakyCon. For me, both of them were more about meeting up with fellow fans than the actual programming. The same will undoubtedly be true for Infinitus, which I hope to attend next year, which I hope will have some of the more author-track stuff I heard about at Terminus and am hearing about for Azkatraz. At some point, though, I do want to make it to broader cons like Arisia and New York Comic Con, not to mention WriterCon. There is, after all, life outside HP. (No, really. I read a book about it ...)