I have discovered what my problem is

My problem is that everything sounds like fun to me.

We went to the War of the Lilies on Saturday, and now being in the SCA sounds like fun. We talked about church stewardship in Gaia's ritual for business Saturday morning, and now re-starting the Stewardship Committee sounds like fun. I was thinking about the Sacred Arts thing that I want to start, and all of the things we could do with that, and that sounds like fun. Being a ritualist is fun. Starting a pop-culture occultism group sounds like fun. Learning to decorate cakes sounds like fun. Learning Welsh, or German, or Spanish, or Yoruba -- that sounds like fun. Running my D&D campaign is fun. Making jewelry is fun. Costuming is fun. Pottery classes? Sounds like fun. Fencing? Sounds like fun. Glassblowing? Yep, fun. Flaunts and parties? Fun. Graphic design? Fun. And on and on in that manner. (I'm going to have to turn in my goth card, clearly.)

So the next time I think, "Why is all my time so packed? Why do I come to work on Monday not remembering what happened on Friday?", I know the answer. Everything sounds like fun. And, barring Fotamecus' intervention, there are only so many hours in the day. Sigh.

I have discovered what my problem is

My problem is that everything sounds like fun to me.

We went to the War of the Lilies on Saturday, and now being in the SCA sounds like fun. We talked about church stewardship in Gaia's ritual for business Saturday morning, and now re-starting the Stewardship Committee sounds like fun. I was thinking about the Sacred Arts thing that I want to start, and all of the things we could do with that, and that sounds like fun. Being a ritualist is fun. Starting a pop-culture occultism group sounds like fun. Learning to decorate cakes sounds like fun. Learning Welsh, or German, or Spanish, or Yoruba -- that sounds like fun. Running my D&D campaign is fun. Making jewelry is fun. Costuming is fun. Pottery classes? Sounds like fun. Fencing? Sounds like fun. Glassblowing? Yep, fun. Flaunts and parties? Fun. Graphic design? Fun. And on and on in that manner. (I'm going to have to turn in my goth card, clearly.)

So the next time I think, "Why is all my time so packed? Why do I come to work on Monday not remembering what happened on Friday?", I know the answer. Everything sounds like fun. And, barring Fotamecus' intervention, there are only so many hours in the day. Sigh.

Cultural Competence? Moi?

We watched The Wicker Man last night, the original one. As unlikely as it seems, I'd not seen it before. I'm guessing that this is a film that plays very differently depending on the cultural context the viewer has. About halfway through, I'm looking at triadruid, and saying "What kind of movie is this supposed to be?". He reads the box blurb to me; "The Citizen Kane of Horror Films," is what it says. I take a moment to consider what Citizen Kane would be like as a horror film. Then I realize he's saying that the movie we're watching is a horror film. I would not otherwise have realized this, mostly because it's full of folk-singing, and happy children skipping and dancing. Somebody did not study at the Edgar Allen Poe School of Single Effect, I'm thinking.

Anyway, who are we supposed to be sympathetic to in this film? Sgt. Howe does get killed at the end of the film, but he's also sort of an ass throughout. The Summerisle people get most of the film's attention, with all their little cultural oddities, and they seem like a pretty likeable bunch. But then, you know, human sacrifice (and particularly the sacrifice of someone who doesn't buy into their system), which is not fun times with the family. And, as triadruid points out, it's difficult to imagine Christopher Lee in a role where he's not the bad guy.

All in all, it was a little like watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show, except that RHPS is morally ambiguous and promotes the 'bad guy' over the 'good guys' on purpose, where this seems to stumble into it accidentally. Ah well, maybe it's just the 70s.

Cultural Competence? Moi?

We watched The Wicker Man last night, the original one. As unlikely as it seems, I'd not seen it before. I'm guessing that this is a film that plays very differently depending on the cultural context the viewer has. About halfway through, I'm looking at triadruid, and saying "What kind of movie is this supposed to be?". He reads the box blurb to me; "The Citizen Kane of Horror Films," is what it says. I take a moment to consider what Citizen Kane would be like as a horror film. Then I realize he's saying that the movie we're watching is a horror film. I would not otherwise have realized this, mostly because it's full of folk-singing, and happy children skipping and dancing. Somebody did not study at the Edgar Allen Poe School of Single Effect, I'm thinking.

Anyway, who are we supposed to be sympathetic to in this film? Sgt. Howe does get killed at the end of the film, but he's also sort of an ass throughout. The Summerisle people get most of the film's attention, with all their little cultural oddities, and they seem like a pretty likeable bunch. But then, you know, human sacrifice (and particularly the sacrifice of someone who doesn't buy into their system), which is not fun times with the family. And, as triadruid points out, it's difficult to imagine Christopher Lee in a role where he's not the bad guy.

All in all, it was a little like watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show, except that RHPS is morally ambiguous and promotes the 'bad guy' over the 'good guys' on purpose, where this seems to stumble into it accidentally. Ah well, maybe it's just the 70s.