capri0mni | Sundry Stuff for Saturday... (Reply)

The other day, prompted by ysabetwordsmith, I opened TV Tropes, and clicked on Applied Phlebotinum; upon reading the article therein, two thoughts sprang to mind:
1. "Phlebo & Tinum" sounds like the title of a silly webcomic! and
2. "'Phlebo' sounds familiar... as if it actually means something."
So I looked it up, and indeed, it's a prefix from the Greek for "vein" (a Phlebotomist is a physician that practices bloodletting as a treatment). Since the word got its origins in the writers' room for a vampire show, I don't think it's as much a "nonsense" word as TV Tropes makes it out to be...

But I'd still expect a webcomic titled "Phlebo & Tinum" to be quite nonsensical.
From the files of Folktale Hacking:

The other day, I picked up a collection of folktales I had that I'd nearly forgotten about. And the very first story featured a disabled protagonist, Ivan (hunchback, with crooked legs). Although he was both ugly and poor, he was smart (at foraging for food when there was none at home), talented (at drawing pictures of things), and happy. ...Until he falls in love with the blue-eyed, golden-haired daughter of the richest man in the village and she laughs at him (Well, thought I, that's a Truth -- about 97% of our suffering comes from the disdain we're burdened with by the Privileged). So, then, of course, the rest of the story is about Ivan's adventures in search of Beauty and Wealth, so the girl of his crush will marry him. Which he gets (to his credit, by means of his own talent and smarts). And so, handsome and wealthier than her dad, he marries her, and lives happily ever after -- hooray!

("Oh, Ivan!" I thought, "You're too good for the likes of her.")

I want to hack that story where he finds someone who loves him as he is, and they have an awesome adventure together...

And I was reminded afresh about why I lost heart doing my disability in folklore blog: because it just keeps being more of the same old bigotry, and eventually, there's nothing new to say about it.
In honor of NASA's announcement of Kepler-452b, these videos are my favorites about the Fermi Paradox (Especially part two): The Fermi Paradox: Where are all the aliens?
- Part One
- Part Two
And here's a video that tickled my inner geek. It's a brief introduction to a family interactive science museum, where all the exhibits include native sign language interpretation:
Awti in Paris: Science + Signs = Power!. My favorite part is where the museum guide describes how complex scientific concepts are translated into natural French Sign Language.
A couple of lines from a poem I'm working on:

But Pity is only Hatred
When it's wearing Mercy's skin