31 day meme
The 31 day meme continues.
Day 1: Introduce yourself, a recent picture, 15 interesting facts.
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
When I set up this LJ, I already had two others - a personal one and my writing journal (pendragonsrealm) - but I had recently come to understand what was behind my desire to be a boy for all of my childhood and I wanted a place where I could work out my thoughts regarding my gender identity and possible future transition. My writer side loves names that have meaning so I wanted the journal's name to be a pertinent one. Unfortunately ganymede had already been taken (annoyingly it had never been used, and still hasn't 6 years later) but a friend said that Ganimede was an accepted spelling so I picked that instead. (Good job really, the other name I was considering was Cesario and I'm not sure I could have pulled that off.)
There were three main reasons why I chose Ganymede/Ganimede. Firstly, the Greek mythology reference. In Greek mythology, Ganymede lived on the island of Crete where he tended sheep. One day, Zeus happened to see this handsome young boy and thought that he would be the perfect addition to his court so he changed into the form of an eagle, swooped down to pick up the boy and carried him away to Mount Olympus without so much as a by-your-leave. Zeus then installed him as the gods' cupbearer and later on he became Zeus' beloved companion. And 'beloved companion' is generally considered to mean 'shagpiece'. As my sexual orientation at the time was very much in the gay shade, the name Ganymede fitted quite well.
The second meaning is from Shakespeare. In the play As You Like It, the character Rosalind disguises herself as a boy and uses the name Ganymede. A young man called Orlando has fallen in love with Rosalind and while she is disguised as Ganymede, she manages to persuade Orlando to act out a relationship with her (Ganymede) in order to cure him of his love for her (Rosalind). In addition, a young girl sees Rosalind while she is dressed as Ganymede and falls in love with him. So it's pretty much typical Shakespeare with lots of people in disguise and mistaken identities and girls falling in love with boys who are actually girls and boys falling for girls who are actually boys *head explodes* But the main thing for me was that Rosalind called her male self Ganymede and as I was addressing my male self, it seemed like an appropriate name.
The final meaning is the geeky meaning. Ganymede is the name of one of Jupiter's moons and is a popular location for various science fiction things. One of my favourite TV programmes is Red Dwarf and it features the Ganymede Holiday Inn in the episode Stasis Leak. Plus, there's the lovely ditty that Lister is heard to sing occasionally throughout the first series which has the opening lines, "To Ganymede and Titan, yes sir, I've been around..."
So there you have it. Ganymede - or rather Ganimede - represents my newly found gay male geek self. And 6 years after I created this journal, the gay male geek is now a queer Trans geek. Ah, at least, the geek factor is constant!
Day 3: Picture of your home
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: Your siblings
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Pets
Day 8: A place you've travelled to
Day 9: A picture of your friends
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favourite TV shows
Day 12: Something you believe in
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture you love
Day 15: Favourite movies
Day 16: Favourite books
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Something you regret
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Picture of yourself
Day 22: Favourite city
Day 23: Dream vacation
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: 10 songs you love
Day 26: Picture of your family
Day 27: Favourite foods
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: Something that inspires you
Day 30: Things you'd like to do in 2011
Day 31: Wrap it up, free-for-all
Day 1: Introduce yourself, a recent picture, 15 interesting facts.
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
When I set up this LJ, I already had two others - a personal one and my writing journal (pendragonsrealm) - but I had recently come to understand what was behind my desire to be a boy for all of my childhood and I wanted a place where I could work out my thoughts regarding my gender identity and possible future transition. My writer side loves names that have meaning so I wanted the journal's name to be a pertinent one. Unfortunately ganymede had already been taken (annoyingly it had never been used, and still hasn't 6 years later) but a friend said that Ganimede was an accepted spelling so I picked that instead. (Good job really, the other name I was considering was Cesario and I'm not sure I could have pulled that off.)
There were three main reasons why I chose Ganymede/Ganimede. Firstly, the Greek mythology reference. In Greek mythology, Ganymede lived on the island of Crete where he tended sheep. One day, Zeus happened to see this handsome young boy and thought that he would be the perfect addition to his court so he changed into the form of an eagle, swooped down to pick up the boy and carried him away to Mount Olympus without so much as a by-your-leave. Zeus then installed him as the gods' cupbearer and later on he became Zeus' beloved companion. And 'beloved companion' is generally considered to mean 'shagpiece'. As my sexual orientation at the time was very much in the gay shade, the name Ganymede fitted quite well.
The second meaning is from Shakespeare. In the play As You Like It, the character Rosalind disguises herself as a boy and uses the name Ganymede. A young man called Orlando has fallen in love with Rosalind and while she is disguised as Ganymede, she manages to persuade Orlando to act out a relationship with her (Ganymede) in order to cure him of his love for her (Rosalind). In addition, a young girl sees Rosalind while she is dressed as Ganymede and falls in love with him. So it's pretty much typical Shakespeare with lots of people in disguise and mistaken identities and girls falling in love with boys who are actually girls and boys falling for girls who are actually boys *head explodes* But the main thing for me was that Rosalind called her male self Ganymede and as I was addressing my male self, it seemed like an appropriate name.
The final meaning is the geeky meaning. Ganymede is the name of one of Jupiter's moons and is a popular location for various science fiction things. One of my favourite TV programmes is Red Dwarf and it features the Ganymede Holiday Inn in the episode Stasis Leak. Plus, there's the lovely ditty that Lister is heard to sing occasionally throughout the first series which has the opening lines, "To Ganymede and Titan, yes sir, I've been around..."
So there you have it. Ganymede - or rather Ganimede - represents my newly found gay male geek self. And 6 years after I created this journal, the gay male geek is now a queer Trans geek. Ah, at least, the geek factor is constant!
Day 3: Picture of your home
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: Your siblings
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Pets
Day 8: A place you've travelled to
Day 9: A picture of your friends
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favourite TV shows
Day 12: Something you believe in
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture you love
Day 15: Favourite movies
Day 16: Favourite books
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Something you regret
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Picture of yourself
Day 22: Favourite city
Day 23: Dream vacation
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: 10 songs you love
Day 26: Picture of your family
Day 27: Favourite foods
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: Something that inspires you
Day 30: Things you'd like to do in 2011
Day 31: Wrap it up, free-for-all