Things That Are Annoying Me Currently

[brigdh]

1. People, if you are going to post to a community which has a membership in the thousands and which is orientated towards somewhat vaguely polished products rather than off-the-cuff remarks, maybe you could... I don't know... run fucking spellcheck on your posts. Particularly crack_van. I cannot believe anyone would attempt to recommend someone else's work with an incoherent, punctuation-less run-on sentence.

2. I've read two historical books in a row now where characters were described as "cousins" and who I therefore assumed were not suitable romantic partners for one another. In both books, of course, these characters ended up in love.

Oh, changing definitions of incest. How you freak me out.

Also, I could do without the random antisemitism, you same books.

3. Sitting around before the-class-that-really-annoys-me started, I vaguely listened to two classmates discussing some of the articles we'd read this week, but didn't pay much attention because I was doing something else. "Oh, I hope you didn't criticize that article too much in your paper! The professor really likes him; I've heard her go on and on about him previously," one said. "Really? That's good to know," the other replied.

I didn't think much about this until around an hour later, when the same article came up in discussion. When prompted by a request for any other comments on it, the second girl replied, "I just enjoyed reading this article so much. I found his writing to be utterly clear and comprehensible, and his ideas were so interesting. I just... really enjoyed reading it."

PEOPLE. I AM PRETTY MUCH QUOTING DIRECTLY. I JUST- WHAT. First of all, who even says something like that? Secondly, I wonder if such express obsequiousness causes one to hate themselves. I can only hope.

Things That Are Not Annoying Me, But Are, In Fact, Awesome: I have a new coffeshop with free wifi! And it is way closer to me than the previous ones I've been going to. Hooray!

Comments

[rm.livejournal.com]

Cousin marriages have been at various times (and in many modern cultures) preferrabe because you know what you are getting into. My grandparents on my father's side were first cousins.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I like cultures that have really specific definitions of it, too: like, your mother's nephews are appropriate marriage partners, but your dad's nephews would be just wrong.

But it just bothers me when I'm surprised by it; both of these books I thought were set too late for cousin-marriage to be okay in Western culture, and then when suddenly people start falling in love I'm like, "Wait! Can they do that? Maybe I am reading too much into this. ...no, I guess they can do that."

[rm.livejournal.com]

Cousin marriage, while looked down on has I think pretty much consistently been legal. Also, granted Sicily is the West Virginia of Europe and my father's parents were peasons withut more than a third grade education, but no one gave a crap about that, which would have been around 1920 I think.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

The whole small town/peasant thing makes cousin marriage much more common, too. I mean, if you're related in one way or another to nearly everyone you know, it's not like you have a lot of other options.

[rm.livejournal.com]

This is true. Also, Sicily -- backwater central.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

You could marry a cousin on your trip there! It would be a memory you'd never forget.

[rm.livejournal.com]

No. My family is scary. You are bad.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. Challenge them to a duel, then? Equally exciting, but less of the bad touch.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha. Oh god.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Nothing like a little blood to celebrate family togetherness, I always say.

But it would certainly be more memorable than any of my family's activities, which pretty much consist of 1) eat or 2) spread malicious gossip about anyone not present.