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Happy Solstice! It's Rooth's 43rd!
12 years ago
General
Click here for 55 awesome artists, and links to their favorite artists! (and 30 more from 2013) (and 32 more from 2014)Back this giant monster Game, Kaiju Combat, and you can play Aram's sister-in-spirit, DragonLotus! At around 1711 GMT or so, if memory serves, the Earth will experience yet another Solstice. Winter up here in the northern hemisphere, when the north pole is pointed as far away from the sun as it'll get. We also are a couple of weeks away from perihelion, the point at which our planet is closest to the sun.
On top of all that: 43 years ago, at approximately Tea Time in the UK, I was born (though in New England, not England). My goodness, but I don't FEEL this old. Reportedly I don't even LOOK this old. Like, at a dinner table of twentysomethings at NDK this September, halfway through the meal the
Yes, that's right all you furries, merchants, and tourists -- for about half of you, I'm the same age as your parents. Now, I'm hardly the oldest furry on the block. A few of you who follow me might well be old enough to be my parent. The beloved Uncle Kage only has me beat by several years, though he was calling himself Uncle before he hit 30 (I know, 'cause I was there in the lobby of CF6 back when he would tell his stories and dozen or two people would just randomly stop and listen for a while). This fandom now has 3 or even 4 generations in it. I make no pretense about being some old fart, or fandom dinosaur. But I'm up there, a sigma or two above average.
What does this mean? You peeps need to stop unaging! And I'm gonna take a minute to be shameless here, 'cause it came up over dinner the other night, plus I'm running out of time: This fandom is fast becoming too young for me to have any hope of finding romance among the ladies here. Not that it's the only reason I'm here, not by a long shot, but I've always been open to the idea. 'course, it doesn't help that I'm Captain Oblivious. You could slap me in the face with a wet fish and shout, "I really like you, dammit!", and I'd be all, "I don't remember there being rain in the forecast!" I'm notoriously bad at detecting hints of interest, partly because my mental furniture is made by the knockoff Mykea, but also because the handful of times I thought I was picking up on it, I was FLAT WRONG.
I'm also notoriously good at convincing myself that whatever girl I might have interest in is unavailable, or somehow out of my league. So ... if you're that one girl who thinks I was rebuffing your subtle signs of interest, just assume I'm the ignorant child I appear to be, and throw salmon at my face. It might work this time. If the interest is requited, I'll buy myself a nice sharp knife, and we can have home-made sushi together to christen our journey.
I've got 43 years behind me, and I really hope I can squeeze out another 43 before I'm done with living. I've done a heckofalot with the first half -- I've traveled the world, saved it once or twice (sorta), and I've given a lot of it back. I can imagine what amazing things I can do with the second half, especially since I don't have to spend two decades dragging my tail through school. :) I just need to find someone to share the journey -- it's tough to pilot this thing by myself.
'night y'all!
I always thought your listed age was that for some other reason, like throwing off the overly-promiscuous. But hey, don't worry about it. You're young at heart and don't act your age. You have fun, and that's what matters. Someone will pick up on that. I have faith in you.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, UD.
Thanks, dude!
P.S Its United Kingdom, not England---the Welsh, Irish and us Scottish wouldn't bet happy with you if you called us England....especially the Scottish
But I do prefer correctness to whimsy, so I'll fix.:)
I'm not far behind you in age, and I'm right behind you in most of what you have to say! (Most notably the saving-the-world part; can't say I've done that.)
Thanks, Derecho.
Thanks, Drgn8D. :)
So negative on life expectancy! Did you see the article about how Australian and American scientists managed to reverse the aging process on a mouse? Immortality is the word of the century!
Thanks. :)
Utunu and I met through a good old fashioned pen and paper RPG. So stranger things CAN happen! Just keep looking, but funny thing is when you stop, THEN you'll find someone. hehe
Grey muzzles? I've never been called that, either. Is that a thing they use now? I have a few greys on my sideburns, but that's it so far. There's an American Indian woman I met who was in her 80s and had pure black hair still (undyed). I wonder what even causes greys...
funny thing is when you stop
Heh, I've been told that for decades. I've recently decided to never ever say that. Not looking is never a good strategy for successful finding. It can happen, if you're lucky, but one should never plan for it. That said, I haven't really been looking, even recently. This journal is the closest to it I've come in literally 10 years, when I did the eHarmony dance. We'll see what 2014 brings ...
(BTW, what game was it you were playing, again? I think you two have told me this story before, but spark my memory?)
...Just because someone has some gray in their hair, hrmph!
Just one of my pet peeves.
.... ONLY 43!!! };=)
Another Dec. birthday here as well. You're only just getting started!
...good point! }:=)
SP
Yes, Winter solstice. I recently realised that the day of the Winter solstice does not fall the shortest day of the year. Taking an example, the shortest day fell December 16th in Tokyo. (The sun rises at 06:44AM, and sets at 04:28PM local time), but on the day of Winter solstice, the days have already started getting longer.
I think the discrepancy comes from rounding or something.
The thing is, the Solstice is defined as the point in our orbit at which the poles are tilted farthest or closest to the sun -- for December 21st, the north pole is farthest, and the south pole is closest. This makes for the shortest day in the northern hemisphere and the longest day in the southern hemisphere (*). As the north pole begins "tilting" closer and closer to the sun over the next 179 days, the arc of Tokyo's latitude that is in daylight will get longer and longer, approaching exactly 12 hours on the Vernal Equinox, and then growing longer until the Summer Solstice, when it will reach 14h 34m 40s. This is just how the geometry of really any planet's orbit around a light-emitting center works, provided its axis is tilted to any degree. Weird planets like Uranus notwithstanding. ;)
(*) -- excepting the tropics, from the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere, to the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere, as I believe their days are always 12 hours long. Not sure about that, though; I'd look it up, but it's time for Big Bang Theory with my favorite roommate. ;)
The blue grey Roo wishes you a merry Christmas and a happy new year as well.
By the way, do you live in Japan? And if so, have you ever been to see the glowy ice sculptures up north (I forget where; Sapporo maybe?)
What you said got me thinking. I have seen this fandom from the vantage of your age, and now from the vantage of a veteran, and I now understand what people meant back then when they pointed at us youngins and said, "You will shape the face of this fandom." It lives and breathes with the interests and the energy YOU provide. It is infectious, it is seemingly bottomless, and yes, at times, wanton, but also essential.
There are many who think like you, like they haven't decided whether or not they'll be "tourists" or "residents". Individually, it doesn't much matter either way -- some have stayed, and regretted it. Some have left, and regretted it. It'll vary from person to person. But those who stay genuinely help shape it. If there's something about the fandom you don't like, or find lacking, you are empowered to change it -- much more so at your age than at mine, for change takes momentum, which takes time, time you have more of than I do.
I've seen behind the curtain, seen how cons are planned, how decisions are made, and how those decisions shape the feel of a convention. Some would argue that conventions are just a sliver of the fandom and don't really have any control over it, but I say conventions are a reflection of the fandom, and what conventions choose to celebrate or suppress changes the public face of the fandom, which in turn changes the public perception, which in turn determines which kind of people this fandom is more likely to attract. I play a very small role in this cycle, but I play a role, and quite often it's really interesting and exciting to watch this thing grow, and occasionally nudge it a little in my own way.
I hope you choose to stay, even if only to participate in something once or twice a year. You're eloquent and respectful, and the fandom could always use more of you.
Merry Christmas. :)