The Return Of Padparadscha!

[bloodyrosemccoy]

*BAMF*

Ha ha! Do not adjust your computer monitor! It is indeed I, padparadscha, and I having recently in my travels discovered the source of the internet in Kenya! I am back!

See, we’re on the last and most dangerous part of the program, where we’ve stopped barging up and down the coast and have settled in for a month of independence doing our study project—so, naturally, here I am in an internet café, ready to keep an eye on you and see what you’ve done in the months I’ve been gone.

And what in the name of Diamond Balloon Fire Clock Milk HAVE you people been up to? I’m gone for two and a half months and you people go nuts. ursulav publishing Nurk and joining the slightly groggy Effexor club. kittikattie working at XCORP (huzzah!). Writers striking just as Stephen Colbert tries for the presidency. Transformers in my family’s front yard. bean_bunny off committing grand theft auto. Velociraptors’ feathers becoming solid fact. And Futurama coming back. Dammit, can you people hold still for just a couple of months?*

Of course, whenever you go off for a while and are out of touch, you’re always a little bit annoyed that people didn’t have the decency to wait till you came back before doing stuff again. But of course, people never have the decency to go along with that. So while I’m catching up reading current things and commenting, it’ll be impossible for me to go back and read everything.

So, instead, I entreat all of you to help let me know: what have I missed? What do you think I positively cannot live without knowing? Point me toward important things in your own blog—life-changing events, funny anecdotes, even just a reflection you think you wrote damn well and want to share. Is there a hilarious website you’ve found? A cool scientific breakthrough? Let me know!

On my side, boy do I have things to tell you about. I didn’t just spend the whole time lying around, you know.** I’ve been considering the best way to present all these stories in my journal to you, and I think I’m gonna go with the advice “Begin at the beginning, and when you get to the end, stop.” So, I will start at the beginning, when I first showed up in Mombasa and wondered what the hell I was doing here. When I get back to the States this might become a bit of a Schrödinger’s blog, with some of my entries in the present in America and some from The Past set in Kenya. But it shouldn’t be hard for you clever sonuvabitches to tell which is which. So! Expect to see at least a few more entries on here in the next month!

I’m back, baby.


*And what the blazes happened to the word “moist”? Offensive to women? What? I always hated the word because it is simply an ugly sound, but I never associated it with anything. I hate the word “purse” with an equal passion, to the point where I actually go out of my way to avoid saying it, but I don’t find the meaning offensive, just the shape of it in my mouth.

**That was only when I had malaria.

Comments

[bluetara2020.livejournal.com]

woohoo! see also: we missed you.

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

Welcome back to the internets!

1) Dumbledore is gay (straight from Rowling's mouth).
2) I got into Park University in Parkville, MO after getting my Associate's at the end of next semester. I'll be majoring in math.
3) I changed my LJ name (I was hlynna).

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Huzzah! Go kick ass at the math! Hope it turns out well for you!

I did get a bit puzzled at "Ruisseau," but figured it was a name change. Good to know. Is it after the famous Rousseau?

My friend mentioned Dumbledore to me last night. "And ...?" I said. "And the fan communities exploded." Oh, I'm looking forward to hearing about THAT.

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

It's French for brook. My old LJ name was Old English for brook. I originally chose Hlynna because it's the word the name Lynn is derived from. Lynne is my middle name.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Ahh, gotcha.

Also, that icon is ridiculously cute.

[liquidjewel.livejournal.com]

Nice to see you again - good luck with the final leg of the stage, and I hope the malaria's over and done with. ^_~

[piper-lee.livejournal.com]

Wow, I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

[annotated_em]

Welcome back(ish)!

Not much new. Am progressing through first semester of grad school; have discovered that grading papers is The Great Evil.

Have two cats now, Fraser and Kowalski; Kowalski has the devil in him and Fraser aids and abets him.

*reflects* Yeah, that's about it.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Cats are always news!

I'm considering avoiding grad school for just that reason.

[locatei.livejournal.com]

Welcome! Can't wait to hear all your stories!

As for me... Working a lot and I became completely obsessed with bicycling! Just look at my journal and you'll see like 90% of the entries on my first page is about bicycling! Other than that, not much is new.

[luinmir.livejournal.com]

HI!
Here's my stuff:

1) It's an Amelia week! I just got the postcard you sent me and it's ten kinds of wonderful.

2) Sometime in September, my mom went to northern South Africa on a whim, had an intense spiritual experience, and apparently started learning Zulu from her computer. (Since it approximates the language--someting-Shangaan--that was spoken in the village she went to.

3) Meanwhile, not knowing that my mother WAS in Africa (I always am the last to know about these things. Figures.) I saw a huge cloud formation in front of the setting sun that looked like a juvenile African elephant with its trunk held aloft. I immediately thought of my mother. When I told her this, later, she told me she'd been in Africa and sent me a draft of a chapter from her next book talking about it.

4) I saw this cloud formation on the way back from sitting on the grass watching a birdfeeder with a girl I'd just recently begun dating. As we sat we talked about spirituality and nature. I pointed out all manner of passerines to her--the finches, the doves, the verdins--and then a hawk perched in the boughs above us. She immediately identified it as "a Cooper's hawk. Maybe a sharp-shinned. It's hard to tell the difference." (She rehabilitated raptors for four years.) I fell a bit in love.

5) A steady diet of progressively more intense meditation, (thanks to my Psychology of Consciousness class) falling in love, and feeling safe in my network of friends (the best of which is male--I've never had a male best friend before) has caused all my father issues to come flooding to the surface.

6) If you only have time to read two of my entries, this one and this one are the most telling/well-written. I think.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

The postcards are arriving? Thank goodness!

Now, going to Africa on a whim took me nigh two years to accomplish. I'll never understand people who can just drop everything and go, but it's reassuring that someone can.

It sounds like despite the father issues things are smoothing out for you. True? I hope so. I'm the kind of person who likes it when things go smoothly.

I read the first entry and it's lovely, heartfelt, and indeed telling and well-written. The capricious computer here refuses to upload the second, but I'll get to it!

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

Let's see. Rev Fred Phelps (god hates fags) got sued for everything he's worth and then some, but it likely won't stop him.
Madelaine L'Engle died.
More Republican gay bashers have been outed as gay, mostly by trying to pick up guys in public restrooms.
lx created a webcomic on Facebook using the Graffiti app, which allows you to replay the entire comic making process. It's not currently the big rage, but I think it has possibilities. I'll find it for you later.
shaenon Garrity did an Edward Gorey version of Star Trek's The Trouble With Tribbles which completely rocked.
I spent 6 weeks in Iowa, met thewrongcrowd and came home. (See, nothing happens to me.)
Oh, and I got your postcard, which were awesome!

Welcome back to Teh Intartubes!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Good to be back!

Nah, now Phelps will just believe he's a martyr being persecuted For Great Justice.

I was never as fond of L'Engle, but I think she's one of those writers that is ostensibly for kids but actually is beloved more by grownups. which means I should go back and have another look.

Six weeks in Iowa? Was there anything to do?

I'm relieved the postcards are actually getting there. They've been fun to write!

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

Yay! Glad to see you and glad the trip is going well. Isn't Africa amazing? I'd love to go back!

No really huge things in my neck of the woods - got my committee together finally, but everything is just steps along the same path. Those steps that will add up to a Ph.D. eventually, but at this point, they're not very spectacular. Life is good!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Where did you go in Africa? And yes, it is verily amazing!

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

Photo safari, mostly Tanzania. We did hit a bit of Kenya, though. But when we went, the migration was all in Tanzania.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

BAD! BAD AMELIA! Didn't I tell you NO MALARIA! NO BISCUIT!

and I never do anything, and someone told you Dumbledore's gay, so I think we're good.

Here, though, this is good for absolutely hours of fun.

http://blog.esaba.com/projects/facts/index.php

Amelia always knows the EXACT location of Carmen SanDiego.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Malaria, ew. Internets, yay!

The only real news in my small corner of the world is recent, and that's that Molecule is apparently a girl.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Awesome! That's news enough.

You know what else would be awesome? If you named her "Molecule." Although that's not a very pretty name ... maybe a middle name ...

Sorry. The heat's getting to me.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Her name will be Alice, but I suspect that my mother and quite a few of her internets aunties will be calling her Molly for a long time yet.

[skadi98.livejournal.com]

YOU'RE BACK *_*!!!

*BIG HUG*

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*BIG HUG BACK*

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

Ew, Malaria.

I got my job, as you know, at XCORP. I redid my braids and documented the process. I'm working on this year's Nano novel, and it's wonderful. Talk Like a Pirate Day this year on my end involved ninjas. My birthday came and went, with gifting from several.

On the Doll front, Imagestation is shutting down, which means albums for dolls are shifting everywhere (I'm slowly uploading mine to my domain space). Julie and Ivy came out of the closet, along with other new shit, and I think a lot of Julie's shit will become Mod Squad stuff. Childthursday, who is awesome, GOT ME ADDY'S TRUNK.

And I think that's the major stuff. Minus my, you know, daily ripping into the stupid.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I got the e-mail from Imagestation. I hope I'll be back in time to scoot my albums over to somewhere or other. Bean sent me a letter that discussed some of the new shit, which I've been perusing--I may even get a bit of it, since Summer could easily fall into the vaguely-hippie vibe. (Summer, for the record, also has a pen pal in Africa now. I may not get an actual doll to make African, but dammit I'm gonna do something.) And bonus points to Childthursday.

The Nano novel is fascinating me, since for some reason temporal castaways have become a motif while I'm here--there's my own out-of-touch-ness, your novel, a Poul Anderson short story where I found the term "temporal castaway" (god, I'm book-starved), and my iPod, which has begun playing James Taylor's weirdly poignant "Frozen Man" every chance it gets. ("My name is William James McPhee, I was born in 1843, hidden in ice for a century to walk the world again--Lord have mercy on the Frozen Man!") So I've been reading it with interest, and am hoping you'll post the entire thing at some point!

[nixve.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're back! And that the malaria was not fatal, eep!

For me, I went away to Montana which was a... mixed bag of experiences but oh my goodness worth it for the mountains and the wildlife. Then I came back here to Seattle to attempt to get a job, thus far no progress. And I'm doing NaNoWriMo, and it is going pretty well.

[chibicharibdys.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! I look forward to reading about your travels.

Malaria?! D:

Also, I got the postcard. <3 <3

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

A very good way to be, I feel. Glad your mom doesn't object to the gecko, given her past with the reptiles.

[chairman-wow.livejournal.com]

Hello thar! I've been thinking it was about time to hear from you again soon. :P

Um.... the only exciting thing that's happened to me is that I went to a comics festival and now I'm very probably going to submit a short strip to a little tiny n00b-comic publisher. Which is pretty damn exciting to me, but probably not many other people. XD

Oh, also, I read your Doctors in Space stories, and they are incredibly cool. I'm afraid I haven't got anyhting more constructive to say as I was enjoying myself too much to be bothered with reading critically.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Ooh, ooh, I wanna see the comic! That's very exciting!

Your response to my stories is the highest form of flattery! I'm working on another in the small bits of time I get to do things like that--I had some really good ideas while I was here.

[chairman-wow.livejournal.com]

Well, I keep all the rights to the comic (I don't get paid, so.), so I'm definitely putting it up on my website when it's done.

Ooh, I look forward to reading the new story. :D

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

Welcome back.

Wait...Malaria what?

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

All in good time, my friend.

[vogtalicious.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! malaria...guess no more blood donations (if any).

Liz and I are hatin' on the GREs, taking the most retarded class ever for AAD (in which we literally do nothing), and I'm enslaved to my honors thesis/grad school applications. Have you ever had any experience with old Norse as a language?

[kurupira.livejournal.com]

ahhhh, you had malaria, too?! man that sucked. I was watching House with my roommates a month or so ago, and as usual we were trying to figure out what obscure disease the patient had, and he kept developing all these disgusting symptoms, so I was like "oh! maybe he has malaria! all that stuff happened to me when I had malaria.." and I think I officially traumatized them.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*grin* I got the Victorian Heroine version of it, then--absolutely NOTHING gross happened to me, other than loads of sweat. It was the least horrible malaria ever--it was like a REALLY bad case of The Blahs. But maybe it's because we caught it early. I dunno, but lucky me!

[wyndfire.livejournal.com]

Hello!!! (Yes, I'm late to the party, normal.) Glad to hear from you! Cant wait to hear of your adventures. Now get your tush out of the internet cafe, and go have some more! :)

[gryfindormia.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! I have nothing exciting or different going on in my life except more school and stress and work and great impatience over getting done with it all, but it'll be good to see more of you on my flist again. Can't wait to hear everything.

ALSDKFJLA;F MALARIA.

[michellerz.livejournal.com]

No news from me (psh I live in the States and I'm STILL behind pop culture 24/7...) but just a "Welcome back!" :) Can't wait to hear about your Kenya adventures!!!

[viizou.livejournal.com]

Hey! It's great to read you again!

You didn't miss anything terribly exciting on my personal end, just a couple of growth-related experiences:

-I've started teaching a university class and have so far survived by hiding my real age from my students;
- my thesis defense is happening exactly a week from now;
- there are serious plans for a PhD in humanities;
- I've picked up knitting and crochet;
- my pet rabbit has developed a taste for dirty underwear.

Looking forward to reading all about the past few months! (And I hope you're kidding about the malaria...)

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Yay! You're back! I've missed your posts. In the meantime, I have done absolutely nothing of note, and very little that is interesting has happened to me. Or if it has, I forgot. I'll leave the stories up to someone interesting like you.