My So-Called Life
the random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek
My So-Called Lifethe random and not-so-random musings of a twenty-something history geek |
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| About Lizzie: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lizzie is a fully qualified history teacher having finished her course at Canterbury Christ Church University. She's also a geek who was secretary of the University of Kent Computing Society during her three year BA at the University of Kent. She is very much in love with her shiny Husband, though she is sad that he doesn't glow bloo :( More about her on her website: http://carina.org.uk |
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| Dec. 3rd, 2008 @ 08:29 pm Proposition 8, The Musical | |||
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I've been pretty wound up about Proposition 8 (with good reason), but I felt we could do with a lighthearted but pointed interlude to giggle over for a bit :) And so, without further ado, I present: Proposition 8, The Musical starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... From various sources, but the one that actually prompted me to watch to and then post was Boing Boing. Cross posted to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} exmormon |
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| Nov. 7th, 2008 @ 08:42 pm Milestones | |||
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Firstly I feel I should mention the US election. Yay! Obama won! :D I wanted him to win, and have thrown aside my cynicism for now to become really excited by a politician. A terribly important milestone too - the first black president of the USA :D I hope he could be like Kennedy for my generation. Except for the sleaze. And the Assassination. Definitely don't want those bits. So maybe not like Kennedy, maybe more like staying as awesome as he seems now when he's actually President. The less said about Prop8 in Cali and an organisation I was formerly a member of, the better. Now that's out of the way, two rather important milestones happened to me today. I. I turned 25 sometime around midday today. I suppose I'm now officially on the wrong side of 25 now ;) . I have had a lovely day, and got some lovely presents and cards. Huge thanks to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday so far :) (Various on irc, some via text, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} alisondh and moonhot97 on lj, and a couple via facebook). Thank you all - they were really appreciated.II. My final appointment with Nikki the Mental Health nurse was today, and we talked over some stuff about keeping well, dealing with triggers, preventing relapse and what to be aware of in terms of signs that I might be relapsing. Also lots of stuff about rebuilding trust in myself and my wellness, so one bad day doesn't panic me or those close to me. I'm told this is pretty much the last thing that comes back. I'm feeling pretty positive tonight at least, and I'll be happy if I maintain this level of okayness for a year. If I do, then comes the Big Scary of coming off the pills. But that's in the future. I want to use this space now to thank everyone who has supported me over the last 18 months or so. I couldn't have done it without you guys, whether you are aware of having helped or not. Now the Black Dog is banished to his Kennel. I hope he stays there. So for tonight I'm celebrating two huge milestones for me - being 25 and being discharged from the Mental Health team. Yay! Come celebrate with me :D Drinks on someone else!  |
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| Apr. 19th, 2008 @ 12:42 am Poll: Coffee | |||
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A discussion a mormon mailing list about a member's first coffee led me to create this poll. I'd appreciate everyone's answers :) Poll #1173459 Coffee Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 31 What age range are you in? How do you feel about coffee?
View Answers I hate it I could take it or leave it I like it I really love it - can't get enough other (explain below) Explain your "other" from the previous section How old were you when you first tried coffee? What was your first impression? If you didn't like it, or only liked it a little, did it you keep trying it? If you didn't like it, or only liked it a little, what caused you to keep drinking it? Do you like it better now than when you first tried it? As most of you know, I used to be a Mormon & never drank coffee. Now I can drink it, but I don't like the taste. Should I keep trying? Why should I keep trying? Any suggestions to make it more palatable? Tickybox
View Answers tea > coffee hot chocolate > coffee hot chocolate > tea tea > hot chocolate tickybox |
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| Feb. 13th, 2008 @ 03:55 pm Book a Week Challenge 2008 - 4/52, Wives and Sisters by Natalie R. Collins | |||
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Wives and Sisters had been sitting around on our bookcase waiting for me to get around to reading it after no1typo recommended it to me. I reorganised our bookcases the other day, which was no mean feat, and in the process I found this book again. The story is one of a girl who grew up mormon, went through various traumatic experiences which she was not supported through, and started to try and find her way out of the church and begin to heal herself. The response of the male characters of the church in response to any queries she makes about the experiences she has undergone is to pray and to get over them because they are in the past. Honestly it would be funny if it wasn't so tragic and true to life. The book itself is full of suspense, as the main character, Allison, begins her journey out of Mormonism she also begins her journey to find the people responsible for the traumatic incidences in her childhood. The author, Natalie R. Collins, is an ex-mormon herself. I was pleasantly surprised by her writing and the way mormonism features in her book. I possibly appreciated it more than others because I recognised so many of the incidences as being part of my own childhood, for example, the excerpt below about prayer. I found that particular passage very funny, I think largely because I recognised the situation as one I had been in so many times (not the actual outing, but the the praying morning, noon and night, the words used and the trying to make prayers different so they would stand out.) ( Excerpt ) I would really recommend this book to people wanting to find out more about mormonism while also reading what is essentially a crime novel. The author is very good at inserting details of Mormon beliefs and cultural life into the narrative without interrupting the flow of the novel. I would really like to read more by her. CBB Book a Week challenge 2008 1/52, Stasiland by Anna Funder 2/52, The Nazis, A Warning from History by Laurence Rees 3/52, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett |
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| Feb. 5th, 2008 @ 11:35 pm New camera! (also, Shrove Tuesday) | |||
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I am currently suffering from pancake overdose, having had a three course pancake meal (started with pancakes with OJ and sugar, main was pancakes with cheddar cheese, pudding was pancakes with chocolate sauce and ice cream!) After that I doubt I'll be eating them again much before next Shrove Tuesday ;) I spent the afternoon playing with my new camera, and took the opportunity to take lots of pictures of our two gerbils which we've had for about four months now but which I have not blogged about before. Pictures of our gerbils, Stan and Nibbler. Stan is the caramel one, and named after a Canadian folk singer called Stan Rogers. Nibbler is the grey (and he does have red eyes - it's not just my crappy photography! ;)) and I named him. Which is possibly why he isn't named after a Canadian folk singer! I don't think they loved me very much for taking pictures though - after a while they went and hid in the back corner of their tank! ( Stan and Nibbler ) By the way, before anyone else pastes me the URL - I have seen the BBC's "Mormon" story about the Preston Temple/MTC. My response is at the bottom of this LJ entry for anyone who is interested. Finally, a meme, stolen from hopeful_rose. You are breakfasty, like a pile of pancakes on a Sunday morning that have just the right amount of syrup, so every bite is sweet perfection and not a soppy mess. You are a glass of orange juice that's cool, refreshing, and not overly pulpy. You are the time of day that's just right for turning the pages of a newspaper, flipping through channels, or clicking around online to get a sense of how the world changed during the night. You don't want to stumble sleepily through life, so you make a real effort to wake your brain up and get it thinking. You feel inspired to accomplish things (whether it's checking something off your to-do list or changing the world), but there's plenty of time for making things happen later in the day. First, pancakes. It's great because it talks about Pancakes. On pancake day! Hurrah! |
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| Jan. 27th, 2008 @ 05:34 pm Exmormon LJ icons | |||
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I was bored today, so I made some LJ icons based on some mormon icon templates (except one - can you guess which? :P) Shared in case any of you are interested :) (plus, I am proud of my handiwork ;)) ( Exmormon LJ icons ) |
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| Dec. 27th, 2007 @ 04:46 pm Christmas writeup | |||
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Since December started I have been burning my advent candle: opening my advent calendar (from Thorntons, mmm :)):  and looking at how pretty our tree is:  .Pressies were brought and wrapped and on ( Christmas Eve ) ( And so Christmas Day dawned ) ( Boxing Day started bright and early... ) ( And then the Mormons turned up ) In the evening we watched part of Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds in Concert and then I switched over to watch ( Ballet Shoes ) Phew. That was a very long update. If I updated more often then I daresay I would not post such long rambling entries. Ah well :) |
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| Feb. 7th, 2007 @ 10:10 pm Such a ridiculous religion - how do you explain it to others? | |||
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I hang around in a number of IRC channels and am the only person in most of them who has ever had any sustained contact with the Mormon "religion" (and I don't hide that fact), so people often come to me with queries. Here's an exchange that took place the other day and made me realise that it's such a ridiculous religion that it's virtually impossible to explain its kinks to outsiders. It honestly makes me wonder how people believe this stuff. When you say it in all seriousness to anyone else it's laughable. Luckily my friends are pretty down to earth :) I'm "Trapper". 21:36 < InsomniaCity> Trapper: I saw someone at work with caffeine-free coke.. 21:37 < InsomniaCity> a) I thought that had disappeared? 21:37 < InsomniaCity> b) Are they a Mormon? 21:37 < Trapper> a) no it hasn't 21:37 < Trapper> and b) it's possible 21:37 < Trapper> ;) 21:37 < InsomniaCity> hehe 21:38 < Trapper> if you get close look to see if they look like they wear a tshirt under their shirt 21:38 < Trapper> then it;s more likely 21:39 < InsomniaCity> :o 21:39 < InsomniaCity> whys that then? 21:39 < Trapper> garments 21:39 < Trapper> (magic underwear) 21:39 < InsomniaCity> :O 21:40 < Trapper> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mormon+garments&btnG=Google+Search <-- InsomniaCity 21:40 < Trapper> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_gar 21:40 < Trapper> some really devout mormons even have sex while wearing them 21:40 < Oziris> Trapper: o.O 21:41 < Trapper> Oziris: seriously 21:41 < Trapper> you couldn't make this shit up 21:42 < ka> sure you can, look at scientology! :P 21:42 < Oziris> lol 21:42 < Oziris> when tom cruis is your prophet... you know youre dommed 21:43 < Oziris> [seriously he claims to be a prophet for scientology r summin] 21:44 < ka> sham religions ++ With wacky stuff like "Magic Underwear" and the polygamy in heaven I sometimes wonder at how they ever managed to get as many members they have... |
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| Feb. 5th, 2007 @ 04:11 pm Baptism for the Dead on Reuters | |||
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Mormon Baptism for the Dead featured on Reuters Oddly Enough news section, under the headline of "Will Pope Benedict become a Mormon after he dies?" That's one fucked up religion. Cross-posted to exmormon |
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| Jul. 1st, 2006 @ 07:12 pm Found through one of my LJ communities | |||
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An animation made to show what Mormons believe. If you can see through the overt evangelical christian hyperbole (think chick tracts) it's remarkably true and disturbing. They do really believe that stuff. It makes me absolutely certain that mormons suspend the functions of some parts of their brains while members. Interesting viewing anyway. Ta to the person on one of my LJ communities for the link. In other news...the English Football team suck. So much. I got worked up again. I'm gutted we lost, especially as it was to penalties again. ARGH. I'm going to go be annoyed with them over there ---------> |
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| May. 21st, 2006 @ 02:28 pm Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints = Matrix? | |||
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Today I was experiencing one of my odd and periodic pangs of wishing that I still believed and still belonged. I don't know why these happen, they just do sometimes and I came to the conclusion that being in the Mormon church is like being in the Matrix. Mormons have their own reality that is fed to them by the powers that be who leech power and money off the faithful. This reality is so seperate from the real world and the actual truths of the church that once you are out and know the truth you can never go back in. The two worlds are just too far apart. I find this thought oddly comforting. It's nice to know that what I know now is real and not some flaky ideal created for me by some old paternalist patriarchs far divorced from the real life that I and others lead. It's my life and I have control. It's thoughts like this that get me through my weird days where I almost feel like I want to belong again. Cross posted to we_have_fallen and exmormon |
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| Apr. 19th, 2005 @ 09:02 am Stuff | |||
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Mostly feeling:
I feel rather better now about the mormon thing I mentioned in my last post, largely because of something ben said ("We should be glad he's in the top 100, after all he proves at least one fiftieth of the United States to be idiots"). amusedNow Playing: Barenaked Ladies: Enid Last night at work was funny. Becky was doing an international week quiz for school. One of the questions was "Where was Mozart born?" ( Becky said... ) I asked Tom if he knew. ( Thomas said... ) ( Mozart was really born in... ) The other amusing answer was to the question "Which country has two official languages, English and French?". ( Becky guessed at... ) Was a very amusing evening :) I'll miss those kids :| |
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| Apr. 19th, 2005 @ 12:42 am Oh dear lord | |||
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Mostly feeling:
It would seem the Mormon campaign to have old Joe crowned "Greatest American" may well succeed - AOL TV Channel have him listed in their top 100. Go to "Salk to Truman" and make sure you have a vomit basin at hand. cynical*sigh* Bloody mormons... (stolen from lisaofdoom's journal) |
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| Feb. 26th, 2005 @ 10:12 pm My Mormon Exit story | |||
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Mostly feeling:
Well, I finally wrote it. For those of you who are interested I have put the story of my life as a mormon and my exit story here. accomplishedNow Playing: Comic Aid Cross posted to exmormon |
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| Nov. 16th, 2004 @ 10:00 am Cryptic | |||
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Mostly feeling:
Well, I know now what I have to do. distressedNow Playing: Phantom of the Opera: Notes Now I just have to find the courage to do it... |
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| Apr. 14th, 2003 @ 09:26 am Religiony rant type thing | |||
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Mostly feeling:
I've been looking into mormonism more since I requested my name be removed from the records and the more I read the more I'm convinced that I made the right descion. The pat couplea days I've been reading an online book that I've found really interesting. It's about two people's journey out of mormonism. thoughtfulNow Playing: Kilroy (twat) onna TV They talk a lot about the testimony of little children. How they what they have whispered in their ears by parents or have be taught by rote. And it's true. I used to think I had a testimony. I would stand up in front of the congregation in my pretty sunday dress with everyone "aaahing" and proceed to garbel out a variation on "I would like to bear my tesimony. I know the church is troo, I beweve that Joseph Smith was a pwoffit and that Ezra Taft Benson is a pwoffit. ISayTheseThingsInNameOfJesusChristAmen." Things only started to change for me after my father died, leaving the family without a priesthood holder (a vital thing in the Mormon church where the patriarch is everything) and our family largely isolated. Suspicons probably started a bit before that, the seed being sown when I was 7 or so and an incident happened that scarred me psycologiaclly, but the real cracks didn't appear till after daddy died and we were largely abandoned. I started to learn other things and doubt what I'd been taught. I developed a streak of feminisnm that told me the inherent sexism in the church was wrong. Eventually by the time I was 16 I knew for certain that the church was not true. It took me another 3 years before I was ready for name removal. The issues I had with this largely revolved around my father. During the period I was inactive no less than 3 people came and told my family that they'd had visitations from my father requesting that we be brought back into the fold. One was a friend from church but not one we had a lot of contact with. The second was a friend of my father's who had been out of contact for 20 years. The third was a complete stranger. The family feeling was that if it was my father's will then he would visit us himself and tell us. Which is why a certain paragraph in that book stood out. "A few months later, my grandfather died. Shortly after his passing, I received an anonymous call from a man in California, claiming to be carrying a message to me from my grandfather from beyond the grave. He said my grandfather had appeared to him in a dream and commanded him to tell me he wanted me back in the church. I figured if my grandfather had regained enough of his senses in the afterlife to communicate with someone in California he didn't even know, he sure as hell could have contacted me himself." WHat can I say? It struck a chord with me. I've come to the conclusion over the past two weeks that the descion I made was absoluetly the right one. Here endeth my off stream of conciousness rant. Which reminds me, I'm still waiting for the letter from the bishop... |
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| Apr. 5th, 2003 @ 12:18 am *Yawnies* | |||
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Mostly feeling:
Bin a busy ole day for me. accomplishedNow Playing: Travis: The Invisible Band I went back to bed afta the school run cos I was dead tired. Slept for 4 hours then got up and obeyed my whim to drive to Purley and get kfc. Which I then ate watching Buffy 7x10. When that finished I printed off my letter, jumped in the car and drove to Phil's school to pick him up. Got there early and it a lovely day so locked up car and sat underneth a cherry tree with my book until his nibbs put in an appearence. Started driving off to get some petrol and mamma from work when Phil announced that one of his friends from CU was inviting him to a weekend on the isle of wight with his church. Phil decided he wanted to go, so mucho calling of people from mobile phone and then gettingpetrol and dumping him at home to sort out his stuff. Dumped him in banstead and signed some forms for him. Picked up mum. Arrived back home at 5.20pm to find church dood already there. I grabbed my stoof and we went to a park and we walked round and round it for a long time. I explained my position. He: * said as a friend he was honour bound to try and convince me I was wrong * said as a bishop he needed to ask some questions. One of which was if I had broken the laws of chastity * said that my request would take more than 30 days to go through even tho I said I was willing to waive this * said that everyone would be judged in heaven * said that he thought my descion was wrong and he was sad for me There was other stuff about heaven and the church being the one true church nad things. And i just kept saying it was my descion and my mind was amde up and i felt fundimentally oposed to a number of the concepts (especially views of women and gays...) Eventually I handed him my letter which he read and said he'd start the paperwork. Next stop being the steak president, who was one of the main people who didn't halp after my father died. That should be fun for him to read cos he was the bishop at the time. Anyways, it's all started moving :) Soonish I should be out and free :D BAck here. Found I was a celebrity on a forum I never post on. I'm not even a member of...odd...Ordered a cd-rw... tired now...maybe sleep is called for... |
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tired
0 (0.0%)
full of pancakes
peaceful
restless