Thoughts on Perception

[ceitfianna]

On Saturday night, I saw The Secret of Kells that's a beautiful movie that really looks like a children's book that's been animated. As I was watching it, I was thinking about some of the things I've been reading and learning in terms of how are big ideas presented. Also I was thinking about alas_a_llama and what's he's said about Irish stereotypes. I want to put in a little clarification here for anyone who doesn't know the plot, this movie is about the creation of the Book of Kells and its amazing illuminations. The part that really struck out for me and this isn't that much of a spoiler is that the Northman/Vikings were quite beastlike, they were drawn in a simple style with the horns of their helmets seeming like their horns and they grunted and asked for gold. This was honestly a little distracting for me, because a major part of the cast of characters was this wonderfully diverse group of monks who were the scribes and from all over the world, so that made the beastlike Northman more startling. I would recommend this movie, but if I went to it with kids, I'd make sure to try and balance it by going to see How I Trained My Dragon or go read a book about how the Vikings really were. In terms of how stereotypically the Irish were presented, I think there was some of that, but I don't know enough to say for sure. Eric, have you seen this movie and if you have, what were your thoughts?

I've also been thinking about perception and ideas of what's beautiful, because my hair has been growing out and I'm really liking it a lot better. Its still not exactly what I would have chosen, but now that its longer and not as flyaway, I can appreciate it and how it shows off my earrings and face. Also I need to go clothes shopping, which I'm not looking forward to. I realized yesterday that a big thing holding me back from trying on things is this worry that it just won't work. I don't this at all, I'm working on losing the weight but in the meantime I want to be happy with how I am. Though this is something that honestly our culture doesn't make easy at all. Thanks to sotto_voice and agonistes for links to some great blogs about feminism and just society in general. Its odd, I went to an all woman's college, where I felt I learned so much about feminism and creating a strong sense of what feminism means for me, but then I just didn't keep learning. It feels good to have some fascinating blogs to read and help me think about how I can help create safe spaces in the libraries I work in and just changes I can make in my own life.

I'll post some pictures of how neat my apartment is looking and my hair either today or later tomorrow. I want to go take some shots of the lovely Spring flowers in Ann Arbor, but I keep forgetting my camera since its kind of big. For my birthday, my parents have offered to get me a new, smaller camera so I was wondering if anyone had recommendations. I prefer cameras that have a good zoom along with being a solid point and shoot.

I seem to be writing a lot of slightly serious posts lately, I think its because I have more time and so my ideas have time to get in order. Plans for my internship are coming together quickly and life is good. Last night was a bit of a pain, because the person who has the last shift at the library showed up an hour and a half late, I've been promised brownies for staying late which is nice. The weather here is also really beautiful and feeling like Spring and Summer and I'm starting to think about my birthday. For anyone who's in the area or might be thinking about a road trip, first week of June is my birthday and Ann Arbor is a great place to visit.

Comments

[alas-a-llama.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen it, I'm afraid.

[ceitfianna]

I honestly have no idea if you'd like it or not, but I thought of you during it.

[alas-a-llama.livejournal.com]

It's about Vikings, though, so I'm not sure why there'd be a huge connection with Irish stereotypes?

[ceitfianna]

Actually the Vikings are part of the plot, I didn't do a good job of explaining that. Its actually about the creation of the Book of Kells and the Viking are the terrifying enemies who are coming to destroy Kells. The main character is a young monk who's fascinated by illumination but his uncle the abbot is more concerned with building a wall against the Vikings.

The boy, Brendan ends up venturing out of the fortress atmosphere of Kells into the forest and meeting a mystical spirit who helps him learn about the beauty of the world outside the walls. So there's a lot of hints about druids, magic and also Christianity that tie in around the illuminations in the Book of Kells.

[yakalskovich]

Any Casio Exilim Z-model is always a good recommendation; take the one that's not the most recent one, and rather go for display and zoom than megapixels. Megapixels have already gone far beyond what is useful. Nobody needs ten, especially not if you want to post pictures online, rather than have large prints from them.-

[ceitfianna]

I'll remember that. I don't think I've ever had a Casio before. My past cameras have been Nikons, an Olympus and a Canon.