A Sad Product of the Sedentary Age

I'm not the only cliché high school brainy kid who's had issues with P.E., but that definitely doesn't make it any easier. I am the slowest, the weakest and the shittiest at throwing balls in my entire class (much of this tragically proven through horridly public tests whose results were then to be compared with an average, oh the trauma). The overweight and asthmatic alike whoop my unathletic ass. I dislike exercise and hardly ever do any, so when we got this assignment to create a training plan (to be followed six days a week for two months) and then show improved results at the end of the period, I wanted to break down and cry. No wait, I did. (I didn't do the assignment and was - actually legitimately - absent on the re-test day, so I may be in some deep shit, but that's another matter.)

The thing is that it's not the exercise itself that deters me, it's the way the whole thing is organized. We just finished a painfully short dance unit, comprised of three lessons, which was really, really fun - not competitive, easily adaptable for both groups and individuals, alterable exertion levels, and a design where the performance itself is intrinsically more important than the final score. Come next lesson we'll be doing invasion sports instead. COOPERATE. SCORE. WIN!!!! Yay.

When you're pretty bad at P.E. and are playing team sports against people who're average, you learn to stay out of the way. If you know that if it were up to you, the team would lose every time, things tend to lose their appeal. Plus, there's no help to be had for a subject like this - no support groups or anything like there are for math or English. Which should be logical since it's not academic at all ... but apparently you have to pass to become eligible for university. Which also wouldn't be a problem - participation used to be enough - but at this school, not only do they give us homework, but homework that is more difficult and at least twice as time-consuming as that for any other subject. And then there's the whole thing about how public everything is - being red-faced, unable to breathe, and so sore the fillings in your teeth hurt (which actually happened once) is, in my opinion, slightly more humiliating then looking disappointed after a bad test score.

yeah pretty much

I'd love it if they had some sort of alternative P.E. class with a larger focus on individual activities, like dancing, yoga, or even aerobics-type exercise. I might even enjoy Physical Education then. But for now I guess it's back to the sidelines. Not just because of self-pity either, mind you: I dislike the thought of my glasses shattering from the force of a stray projectile.

Lobbing flying projectiles!!! Whoever invented organized sports was a sadist, I tell you.

Did you guys have issues with Physical Education, or was it just another subject, or even one of your best subjects? Was there anything you'd rather have done during this time? (Such as actual schoolwork???)

Bluh. Gonna get off my own case now and go do something productive. Like dance. Or read.

...yeah, read.

Meet the Mugs!

As someone who enjoys drinking tea, cocoa, and other hot beverages, as well as the merciless devouring of chillier concoctions such as ice cream, it's a good idea to have plenty of appropriate vessels on hand. I have accumulated several mugs that are exclusively mine. Let me introduce you.

On the far left, we have a large purple number bearing the likeness of Minnie Mouse, Veil of Veronica-style. It was acquired many years ago, possibly for a birthday, and used as a pen holder for most of that time. A profound redecorating scheme led me to return it to its original purpose, a decision that proved wise since this baby holds twice as much ice cream as any normal-sized mug. Tankard territory, brothers.

To the right of Minnie is another very old cat-themed cup. Since it was a gift, I don't have any kind of personal bond or story to go with it, but "Cats!!!" will have to suffice as an explanation for greatness.

Turning our gazes to the bottom right corner, we are met by the cheekily cheerful visage of one "Happy." Part of the Mr. Men series, Mr. Happy was discovered by me during my two-week internship at the English Bookshop. I was immediately taken in by his indomitable joviality and felt the instant need to own something with his face on it. Since I was a good worker, I even got a discount off the ridiculous amount I paid for this mug, but I don't regret a penny of it. Mr. Happy never fails to brighten a morning (or afternoon or night), and is probably my most favorite mug of all time.

Let's scurry across that gap back to the left, making sure to heed the warning advising us to mind it. Bought at Heathrow Airport during a visit to London, this Underground mug comes with a sector of tube map whose primary function is to let people point and shout "I've been there!!!" The cheap make of this mug is disliked by my mother, who is somewhat convinced it is full of lead, but I will not be deterred from adoring it. It is particularly fun to drink out of when accompanied by my matching "Mind the Gap" tee shirt.

At the top right we can see a (very recent) sixteenth birthday present, a Dunoon stoneware Zodiac mug full of symbols and keywords representing my sign, Pisces. The story of this mug contains a fair bit of coincidence, as I had seen and admired it on multiple occasions, unbeknownst to my mother who later purchased it for me. A stroke of luck was included too, as the Pisces mug in particular is nearly always sold out at the shop (possibly because Pisces is the only sign gullible enough to actually buy stuff with zodiac motifs). It's a lovely mug, although the placement of its handle makes it difficult to let the teabag steep and I'm afraid to put it in the dishwasher should the gold parts rub off, but it's so nice to look at that its slight awkwardness is irrelevant. (Get your own here!)

Last but not least, smack in the middle we have the newest addition to the group - a rainbow polkadot mug from the hardware store. It was a bargain at only 19 SEK, which I paid with a 500:- bill. The clerk was pissed as he handed over the 481:- worth of change, but I was in good spirits and have remained so ever since with this retro burst of color to greet me every day.

Now you are familiar with all my beverage vessels, and with this meeting, your life has been profoundly enriched (whether you know it or not). Heads up: it is only the first of many odd collections to come! Fare ye well, I'm outie.

*sips hot tea*

Very Important PSA

Regarding the recent nagging questions about whether or not I am joining this blogging A-Z Challenge thing.

Well, here is my final answer.

I will be joining.

And yet, I will not.

Thing is, I learned the hard way that posting something every day - without some serious advance planning, which wasn't possible in this case - is not the way for me to go. I'd put something up that I wrote in ten minutes, read through the whole thing eight times, and then either heavily edit it or delete the whole thing depending on how many people had already seen it. On this blog, I've been scheduling posts days in advance, and so I have time to go in and fine-tune them and try my best to think of interesting topics to post over a period of time instead of just bombarding y'all with four good posts in one day and then putting up ten crappy fillers the following week.

So, to elaborate? I won't be officially joining (full reasons for why will show up in one of the posts; I'm starting out with some tentative topic planning already) or following the Real Rules. So instead of just doing No Post On Sundays, I will follow the schedule I designed for myself (before I started putting up little PSAs like this, oops) and give you a post every other day. The challenge will stand, though - I will do my best to put up a post whose theme is centered around each subsequent letter of the alphabet.

The things I do for quality.

Okay, see you guys around. /goes off to think of post titles

it shall begin

Please stand up and remove your hats!

I'm totally into national anthems now.

Bet you never thought you'd hear anybody say that.

But really, they're awesome. So pompous and stately and proud! And vastly superior to the contemporary pop song when it comes to singing VERY loudly. Yes, I do cruise YouTube listening to national anthems. This is a thing with which I occupy myself. 'Tis the truth. My favorites are Russia's, America's, and incidentally Sweden's, but that might just be bias and understanding-the-lyrics. Japan's is lovely too, although it's a bit of an exception; it's softer and more folkly and doesn't, well, shout at you. Nice and ambient. There's this one video that has a bunch of beautiful imagery from Japan as well. At one part, the scenery of sakura blossoms and Mt. Fuji suddenly switches to cute Japanese girls, which was hilarious at the time and very incongruous, although I suppose cute girls never did any harm. But I digress.

This new international interest has made me extra sad that there is so much tension between nations, what with wars and immigration issues and all. Anthems are pretty much the most nationalistic thing on earth, and not everyone feels very flattered if you start belting out your allegiance to the great motherland, especially if said motherland massacred their people or something. Singing the Swedish anthem is considered - if not racist - then at least somehow disrespectful to multiculturalism by some overhyped über-leftists, since the populist party has gained influence and use all the traditional Swedish symbols to promote "healthy" cultural values. Duh, so a lot of those guys are assholes (racist ones, too), but this is the Kingdom of Sweden (fancy, eh?) and it's not like the song itself is condemning anyone. Actually, the lyrics are pretty melancholy. "Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar" can be loosely translated as "'Hardcore Vikings of the North' is over. We're being neutral now. Days of glory and being a pillaging berserker are now things resigned to our dreams, so off with your helmets and put on your POLITICALLY CORRECT HATS!"

Plus, Sweden is the least of my worries. What of America? I can't exactly walk the streets bellowing "AND THE ROCKETS' RED GLAAAARE, THE BOMBS BURSTING IN AIIIIR, GAVE PROOOOF THROUGH THE NIIIIGHT THAT OUR FLAAAG WAAAS STIIIILL THEEEERE!!" Because, uh, that is just not a thing that people do. (And that's not the kind of song that people should write - I believe the lyrics are from wartimes, and stayed on for some inexplicable reaso--no wait they're still fighting a bunch of wars, nevermind - but I can't help that the tune is catchy, now can I?)

Here I go about politics again. I just can't seem to keep my nose out of the sort of topics that people on the internet like spewing hate about. Ah, oh well. I'll stop being so self-proclaimedly controversial and instead share some lovely orchestral scores! They are both humorous and unironically epic. OK then, Sophia out!

And then there will be cake~!

It's white chocolate vanilla raspberry, because I know you were going to ask.

I made the mistake of telling my mother about the famous line from Portal, so she had fun with that to no end today. ("We can't get a cake. It's a lie!! Ohohoho!") Yes I hang out with my mom on weekends, problem?

Anyway, this is a short post to announce that from now on, posts will be coming up every other day! If there is a change or an attack of sudden sloth, I may or may not tell, but this is what the schedule is going to be like for the foreseeable near-future. I've got several posts all drafted and ready, so make sure you check in!

Y-you know. I-if you want to.

See ya! :D