Inspirational headlines
If I should ever feel a lack of inspiration, I only have to go to Wikipedia. Yes, that unreliable source I was bad-mouthing only yesterday. I don't want to think about all the hours I've spent there, clicking on links. Sometimes I'd check my browsing history afterwards, and it was hilarious, because almost anything as a starting point could lead to almost anything else. I may have told some of you about this, but once, a couple of years ago, I suddenly took a look at the clock on my computer at 01:30 AM and realised that I was reading about heirs apparent and presumptive, a distinction I apparently needed to get clear before going to bed:). As Wikipedia puts it,
"An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession.
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive, by contrast, is someone who is currently in line to inherit a title but whose claim can be displaced at any time (in legal terms, is "subject to divestiture") upon the occurrence of one or more events or sets of events for which the system of inheritance allows, such as the birth of a more eligible heir."
This is an important distinction,
since the heirs and heiresses presumptive to a throne might find it to their advantage, if some of the people who stand to succeed to the throne were to die. It has caused many tragedies, but of course there needn't be any bloodshed. Look at Great Britain! Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of her reign today, which means that it's been 60 years since her coronation. The Queen Mother only became queen after Edward VIII abdicated to be able to marry the divorcée Wallis Simpson, and his brother became king. No tragedy there.
Talking of abdications, it's been a 100 years today since Puyi, the last emperor of China, abdicated after the revolution. I love the Bernardo Bertolucci film The last emperor, which tells the story of Puyi. It must have been an extraordinary life. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it.
It's been snowing for most of the day, which means it's getting less cold. I hope we'll have fine weather on Tuesday, since that's when my cousin and her family is moving. I think the perfect moving weather would be just a bit windy, and in summer. Rain must be the worst possible weather to move in.
I practised earlier, and before that I watched two episodes of Boston Legal. It's such a great series, and I really want to buy seasons 3 and 5, since I have all the others. I don't even mind that they changed the supporting cast every season, at least some of them. It may be an advantage that I'm not American, because I understand that the leftist tendencies in the series became a bit tedious by the last season. There are of course a lot of soap-box speeches, but the characters are entertaining and the cases vary a great deal. I really don't think they used the same plot twice.
Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours trying out journal styles, and I finally came up with this one. With a paid account, I would have more alternatives to choose from, but I don't want to pay for having a journal, even if it is online.
You know the one thing on LJ that really bugs me? It's the people who advertise for readers, and then start by telling potential fellow writers what they may or may not write about. You know, "I don't want to hear about your love life, your boyfriend, your religious or political views, you can't use memes, I don't want to read your poems or fan fiction, please don't tell me about your illness". Fine, if you don't want to read about it, then don't, but don't tell people what they can write in their own journal. I understand that on Facebook, for example, it's annoying when someone only writes status updates about their problems. But as I see it, the point of blogging isn't only to keep the readers amused (although that's a bonus), but to give writers the chance to write about what they like. To paraphrase Craig Ferguson again, criticising something like that is like criticising other peoples' curtains: they're none of your business.
I'm not sure what to do for entertainment tonight. I have too many alternatives for watching or listening. I think I'll go with an audioplay, then a movie, then some Late late show with Craig Ferguson, and finish off with some reading before bed. Have a great week and see you tomorrow!
"An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession.
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive, by contrast, is someone who is currently in line to inherit a title but whose claim can be displaced at any time (in legal terms, is "subject to divestiture") upon the occurrence of one or more events or sets of events for which the system of inheritance allows, such as the birth of a more eligible heir."
This is an important distinction,
since the heirs and heiresses presumptive to a throne might find it to their advantage, if some of the people who stand to succeed to the throne were to die. It has caused many tragedies, but of course there needn't be any bloodshed. Look at Great Britain! Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of her reign today, which means that it's been 60 years since her coronation. The Queen Mother only became queen after Edward VIII abdicated to be able to marry the divorcée Wallis Simpson, and his brother became king. No tragedy there.
Talking of abdications, it's been a 100 years today since Puyi, the last emperor of China, abdicated after the revolution. I love the Bernardo Bertolucci film The last emperor, which tells the story of Puyi. It must have been an extraordinary life. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it.
It's been snowing for most of the day, which means it's getting less cold. I hope we'll have fine weather on Tuesday, since that's when my cousin and her family is moving. I think the perfect moving weather would be just a bit windy, and in summer. Rain must be the worst possible weather to move in.
I practised earlier, and before that I watched two episodes of Boston Legal. It's such a great series, and I really want to buy seasons 3 and 5, since I have all the others. I don't even mind that they changed the supporting cast every season, at least some of them. It may be an advantage that I'm not American, because I understand that the leftist tendencies in the series became a bit tedious by the last season. There are of course a lot of soap-box speeches, but the characters are entertaining and the cases vary a great deal. I really don't think they used the same plot twice.
Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours trying out journal styles, and I finally came up with this one. With a paid account, I would have more alternatives to choose from, but I don't want to pay for having a journal, even if it is online.
You know the one thing on LJ that really bugs me? It's the people who advertise for readers, and then start by telling potential fellow writers what they may or may not write about. You know, "I don't want to hear about your love life, your boyfriend, your religious or political views, you can't use memes, I don't want to read your poems or fan fiction, please don't tell me about your illness". Fine, if you don't want to read about it, then don't, but don't tell people what they can write in their own journal. I understand that on Facebook, for example, it's annoying when someone only writes status updates about their problems. But as I see it, the point of blogging isn't only to keep the readers amused (although that's a bonus), but to give writers the chance to write about what they like. To paraphrase Craig Ferguson again, criticising something like that is like criticising other peoples' curtains: they're none of your business.
I'm not sure what to do for entertainment tonight. I have too many alternatives for watching or listening. I think I'll go with an audioplay, then a movie, then some Late late show with Craig Ferguson, and finish off with some reading before bed. Have a great week and see you tomorrow!