Icons and Interests
This is in response to snowaltz who also did this at her journal. Basicly you pick 3 icons and 3 interests of mine and ask about them. If you take part then I get to ask the same of you, which you then answer in an entry at your journal. :D I think it's a cute way to get to know everybody better.
So here are the icons I was asked about, Inari, Rainy Day, and Happy Music.
Inari, is a Japanese deity who uses kitsune(fox spirits) as her messengers. When I started this journal I actually had a bunch of fox icons to fit the "foxy theme" of the layout and mood and whatnot. But they didn't really display a variety of meanings/emotions/etc. So I ended up scrapping all of them for other various icons. But I had also searched the net for interesting pictures of Inari-sama, thinking maybe I could find a beautiful Japanese woodcutting or something...I didn't, but I did find this piece over at Cika's Deviantart and thought that the human visage with the kitsune stage mask was so perfect! I couldn't resist snatching it. I've been moving away from the foxes EveryWhere feel, but I'll keep Inari around. :)
Rainy Day, has two main points. One, that it is art from the Japanese edition of Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling. An absolutely phenomenal set of novels that I heart very muchly. The other being that well, when stuck inside on rainy days I have a tendency to post with some sort of superfluous time waster while staring out the window like, "Come on, clear up already!" But I definitely rec Stalking Darkness and the rest of the series to anyone who enjoys reading a good book. Great characters, fabulous situations, intrigue, all the works of a great story!
Happy Music, is actually a random icon of a woman wearing headphones. The art makes me think of Ai Yazawa's and I really enjoy music, my daughter and I keep something going almost all day. (She loves to dance!) And growing up in a musically inclined family, but having no aptitude beyond singing and writing lyrics I became a great appreciator of listening to the skill of others and really enjoy getting lost in a song. So, for when I write about my latest musical find or obsession, I felt the icon was perfect.
As for my three interests: buddhism, coffee, and psychology -you managed to pick some interesting ones!
As for Buddhism, I began practicing when I was eleven years old, attending at the local Kwan Chao Temple in Cherry Hill. Since moving away from the area as a child I have continued to study on my own and my current belief system jives closest to Zen Buddhism. Recently I've found myself looking more and more into Japanese Buddhism, as well as, Shintoism, but we'll see if that goes anywhere. It's funny because I honestly have no idea what got me started on it. As an eleven year old kid in south jersey I was mainly surrounded by Catholics and the few Buddhists I did know weren't exactly on street corners waving Sutra at people and chanting...*snickers at the mental image she just created* Maybe we were learning about different religions in social studies class in school at the time. Or I ran across information about it in Encarta or a physical encyclopedia(YES! I admit it, I was The Geek! ;p) In fact, as I think about it, Encarta is probably a really good guess. I used to stream-of-consciousness my way through there. But the ideas of it always made much more sense than the stricter doctrines I had been exposed to before. I never stopped studying various religions, but Buddhism has really stayed the most influential.
Coffee...is the elixir of life, dammit!!! Heh, I...love coffee...I'm not sure what to say beyond I like lots of different kinds. Coffee flavoured coffee like we would brew at the Auto parts store I used to work for, fruffy mocha lattes(LATTE DAMMIT NOT CAPPUCCINO!! NO FLUFF! ;p), to canned coffee. I realize that starbucks was the first American company to jump on the canned coffee band wagon with their little double shots, but I'm talking about yummies like Mr.Brown and Hello Boss! XDD I love that stuff! And no brewing...ahhhh...heh...yes, all coffee talk invariably becomes spaztic. Heh...Yeah, I just have a love affair with coffee, basicly. I like the way it tastes.
Psychology, another interesting one. My father was a psychology buff and so growing up the books were always laying around the house(or on bookshelves) and I invariably picked them up occasionally and read through them. Continuing with my uber geekness, my second home was the library so once I got an interest in it I started to read up more, but I found most texts worshiped Freud, who's entire set up of classifications was designed around validating his own mental problems. "Oh, I love my mom in a not-regular way, so everyone does!" - "I don't feel like my penis is big enough, so that means that all behaviour is motivated by this jealousy of others. ESPECIALLY in women who don't take any aggressive patterns to their behaviour unless they are trying to pretend they are men..." ... >.< Such a weirdo. So, I spent most of my time observing people with a meticulous air...aided by the fact that as a kid almost no one noticed me. I have my own ideas about what makes people tick, but the interest was largely sparked by outrage at the ridiculous misinterpretations that had been spread as holy grail... So, my interest has continued to today, and even my favorite author on the subject, I have dissagreements with. But I would say that is regular, or atleast I hope it would be. After all, it's just a side effect of thinking for oneself? Hm, anyhoo...there's that. Chii!
Okay, in a little bit I'll be posting part four of Of Blood. :D Just going to take a quick break.
So here are the icons I was asked about, Inari, Rainy Day, and Happy Music.
Inari, is a Japanese deity who uses kitsune(fox spirits) as her messengers. When I started this journal I actually had a bunch of fox icons to fit the "foxy theme" of the layout and mood and whatnot. But they didn't really display a variety of meanings/emotions/etc. So I ended up scrapping all of them for other various icons. But I had also searched the net for interesting pictures of Inari-sama, thinking maybe I could find a beautiful Japanese woodcutting or something...I didn't, but I did find this piece over at Cika's Deviantart and thought that the human visage with the kitsune stage mask was so perfect! I couldn't resist snatching it. I've been moving away from the foxes EveryWhere feel, but I'll keep Inari around. :)
Rainy Day, has two main points. One, that it is art from the Japanese edition of Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling. An absolutely phenomenal set of novels that I heart very muchly. The other being that well, when stuck inside on rainy days I have a tendency to post with some sort of superfluous time waster while staring out the window like, "Come on, clear up already!" But I definitely rec Stalking Darkness and the rest of the series to anyone who enjoys reading a good book. Great characters, fabulous situations, intrigue, all the works of a great story!
Happy Music, is actually a random icon of a woman wearing headphones. The art makes me think of Ai Yazawa's and I really enjoy music, my daughter and I keep something going almost all day. (She loves to dance!) And growing up in a musically inclined family, but having no aptitude beyond singing and writing lyrics I became a great appreciator of listening to the skill of others and really enjoy getting lost in a song. So, for when I write about my latest musical find or obsession, I felt the icon was perfect.
As for my three interests: buddhism, coffee, and psychology -you managed to pick some interesting ones!
As for Buddhism, I began practicing when I was eleven years old, attending at the local Kwan Chao Temple in Cherry Hill. Since moving away from the area as a child I have continued to study on my own and my current belief system jives closest to Zen Buddhism. Recently I've found myself looking more and more into Japanese Buddhism, as well as, Shintoism, but we'll see if that goes anywhere. It's funny because I honestly have no idea what got me started on it. As an eleven year old kid in south jersey I was mainly surrounded by Catholics and the few Buddhists I did know weren't exactly on street corners waving Sutra at people and chanting...*snickers at the mental image she just created* Maybe we were learning about different religions in social studies class in school at the time. Or I ran across information about it in Encarta or a physical encyclopedia(YES! I admit it, I was The Geek! ;p) In fact, as I think about it, Encarta is probably a really good guess. I used to stream-of-consciousness my way through there. But the ideas of it always made much more sense than the stricter doctrines I had been exposed to before. I never stopped studying various religions, but Buddhism has really stayed the most influential.
Coffee...is the elixir of life, dammit!!! Heh, I...love coffee...I'm not sure what to say beyond I like lots of different kinds. Coffee flavoured coffee like we would brew at the Auto parts store I used to work for, fruffy mocha lattes(LATTE DAMMIT NOT CAPPUCCINO!! NO FLUFF! ;p), to canned coffee. I realize that starbucks was the first American company to jump on the canned coffee band wagon with their little double shots, but I'm talking about yummies like Mr.Brown and Hello Boss! XDD I love that stuff! And no brewing...ahhhh...heh...yes, all coffee talk invariably becomes spaztic. Heh...Yeah, I just have a love affair with coffee, basicly. I like the way it tastes.
Psychology, another interesting one. My father was a psychology buff and so growing up the books were always laying around the house(or on bookshelves) and I invariably picked them up occasionally and read through them. Continuing with my uber geekness, my second home was the library so once I got an interest in it I started to read up more, but I found most texts worshiped Freud, who's entire set up of classifications was designed around validating his own mental problems. "Oh, I love my mom in a not-regular way, so everyone does!" - "I don't feel like my penis is big enough, so that means that all behaviour is motivated by this jealousy of others. ESPECIALLY in women who don't take any aggressive patterns to their behaviour unless they are trying to pretend they are men..." ... >.< Such a weirdo. So, I spent most of my time observing people with a meticulous air...aided by the fact that as a kid almost no one noticed me. I have my own ideas about what makes people tick, but the interest was largely sparked by outrage at the ridiculous misinterpretations that had been spread as holy grail... So, my interest has continued to today, and even my favorite author on the subject, I have dissagreements with. But I would say that is regular, or atleast I hope it would be. After all, it's just a side effect of thinking for oneself? Hm, anyhoo...there's that. Chii!
Okay, in a little bit I'll be posting part four of Of Blood. :D Just going to take a quick break.