30 November 2009

CONTEST: Start Voting!

I have just opened the poll for the WeeBeast naming contest. It's pretty hard to miss; I am displaying it at the top of my blog at all times. So, for those of you reading this on Facebook, check out my blog, Culture on a Budget, to vote!
See you at the polls!
~Sushi

The Google Image Meme Mashup

One of the newest internet crazes is the Google image meme, which I will be showing you shortly. When I found out about it, I figured that there would be one universal version. I was so very wrong. When I looked it up, on Google of course, every page I went to had a different version. So, with five different versions, I present to you, with no repeats, the...
Ultimate Google Image Meme
Age on your next birthday

A place you'd like to travel

The name of the town where you were born

The name of the town where you live now

Your favorite place

Your favorite object

Your favorite animal

Your favorite color

Your favorite food

Your favorite drink

Your favorite song

Your favorite smell

Your favorite flower

Your favorite holiday

You pet's name [past or current]

The name of a past love

Your best friend's nickname

Your nickname: well, I have a lot, so I'll give you three



Your first name

Your middle name

Your last name

Your grandmother’s name

Your screenname

Your first grade teacher's last name

Your best subject at school

The best thing to do

Your first job

Your major in college


Did you learn a little about me? Good.
~Sushi
P.S.
Brought to you by the following sites:
The Sleepy Reader
The Passionate Ailurophile
Flickr
BabyCenter Community
Deviant ART

29 November 2009

Enlighten Me / CONTEST: Day, uh, I lost count....

My family moves a lot, and whenever we do, and even occasionally when we haven't, we do what my mom has dubbed "church shopping." We are Missouri-Synod Lutherans, and there are a lot of our denomination's churches in my state, despite the fact that it's not actually Missouri. Every time we go to check out a new church, there are always a gaggle of supposedly-Christian people staring at us like we're outsiders, unwelcome in the house of God. I'm a paranoid person to begin with, and having people that I'm supposed to be in fellowship with staring at me like I'm oozing pus does not help the fact that we change churches quite a bit. Add in the fact that my sisters don't know how to behave, and it's a nightmare to go anywhere.
I bring this up because today, Spock and I went downtown to Chicago to visit a Buddhist temple, as part of my world religions class. Instead of the glaring that I am so accustomed to receiving whilst "church shopping" in the Christian community, the Buddhists welcomed us, and were very accepting, even though neither of us had ever practiced before. As a part of their meditation practices, first-timers are required to go through a short instruction. Spock and I learned how to properly meditate, as well as the proper mudras [hand positions] to do at certain times, and then we joined the Buddhists in a 35-minute meditation period, followed by chants and a dharma talk. Dharma talks, from what I experienced, are the equivalent of a sermon, though instead of reading and interpreting one book of scripture, it would seem that Buddhists take lessons from a number of different books, by many different authors. More interesting still, these books weren't all written thousands of years ago; some of them are quite contemporary. For example, today's dharma talk was an interpretation and discussion of some passages from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki; it was written in 1970. Following the talk, we all participated in cleaning the zendo, which is the place of meditation, as well as the rest of the temple. Each person does their part to clean the temple silently, in reflection. It's very peaceful. And then, in a tradition mirroring that of Lutheranism's "cookies and coffee in the church basement" tradition, we all had tea and cookies in the kitchen, which also serves as a lending library and fellowship hall. If you are picturing great amounts of people, you are sorely mistaken. Including Spock and myself, there were nine people present.
During the tea and cookies, I talked about my background, and asked the Buddhists about theirs. They were very cheerful and open about it; that was relieving. I've always heard not to talk about religion and politics, but religion seemed to be quite an wasy subject for them. They had stories about experiences with Christianity, about how they came to Buddhism, and even offered to e-mail me with more answers! This is definitely going to help me write that paper.
Spock enjoyed himself as well, and I think he was glad that I woke him up at 4AM so we could get there on time.



On a different thread, this contest is going very badly. There have been no new entries, so I'm going to assume that six is all I'm going to get. The poll will be opening on December 1st.
I'm not really up to a list today.
~Sushi

28 November 2009

At the Opera Tonight

Yesterday night, or rather, very early this morning, Spock and I, as well as another couple, went out to Crown Point, Indiana, to see a midnight shadow-cast of Repo! The Genetic Opera. It was a long night, and we got lost multiple times, but it was definitely worth it. My close friend, Faythe, played Graverobber, as well as some other bit parts, and her Twin, whom I dated at one point, had six different roles, none of which he had rehearsed for. He did spectacular, no lie. In fact, the entire show was amazing. The turn-out was disappointing, though. Only about twenty people came, and they really weren't too active. My friends and I sat in the second row, and we were as loud and raucous as a midnight show calls for. After the show, we hung out for a bit before getting back on the road, and getting lost even more. Hurray for being lost!

It looks so much cooler in person


And on that thread...
Seventeen Reasons to Watch Repo! The Genetic Opera
1. Paris Hilton's face falls off

2. Sarah Brightman, the original Christine from The Phantom of the Opera, plays Blind Mag

3. Pretty much everybody wears black. All the time.

4. People pop out of dumpsters

5. JOAN JETT!
"Seventeen"
6. There are drugs in people's brains...

7. And that fictional drug has its own website.

8. That guy's spine just got repossessed.

9. Sweet-ass Japanese poster!

10. Everyone in this picture is crazy. As if you couldn't tell.

12. DJ Granny!

13. Do you have what it takes to cut people open and rip out their guts?

14. This amazing song

15. Genterns. 'Nuff sad.

16. Raising the roof is still cool in 2057

17. And this awesome song

And then some!
~Sushi

26 November 2009

P.S. You're an Idiot / CONTEST: Day 4

My baby sister's birthday, as well as the over-glorified American tradition of Thanksgiving. I'm not a big fan of holidays that revolve around the farcical relationship between Native Americans and Pilgrims, that centers solely around the devouring of a hideous bird. And even if it is hideous, the turkey still deserves to live, rather than being bred and overfed by remorseless corporations who care nothing about the humane treatment of animals.
Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system...
The contest isn't going so well. I've gotten six entries, and none more. Not too many people seem very interested. It makes me sad. So, keep those names coming! Only four more until the poll opens.


Eighteen Humorous Pictures of Turkeys
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4.
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18.
May your delicious meal not taste too much of wanton bloodshed.
~Sushi