(no subject)

I put on the cartouche pendant ceph got me in Cairo, this morning, and headed out to get breakfast (which was, er, a Frappucino. Go me and my health resolutions). Standing in the line in the student store (Entropy, AHAHA), I notice an older guy -- thirties? -- staring at my chest.

Er, I think. Do I know this guy?

And then he starts sounding out my cartouche -- it's my name in hieroglyphics.

Which was kind of cool, and at least explained why he was staring at my chest, even if it didn't make it a hell of a lot less weird.

"Well I feel like an ass," said his friend behind him (slightly younger, also staring at my, uh, cartouche). He was wearing a T-shirt with a cartouche on it. "If I'd known, I would've worn something different."

Turns out that Hierglyphic Reading Guy runs a group that discusses Egyptology, tarot, mysticism -- "Anything that falls under the category of 'weird shit,'" as Cartouche Shirt Guy put it. I expressed some enthusiasm, and now I'm on their mailing list. I have yet to decide if I really want to go to a group run by a guy who introduces himself to you by staring at your . . . cartouche.

---

"Dramaturgos -- it's Greek, and it just means theater maker. ... There are a few words that survive, like metallurgist. That's someone who takes raw ore and makes it into metal. Or a thaumaturg, who takes raw power and makes it into magic. ... We take dramatic literature and we make it -- into theater."

"You've probably heard us tossing around the term ghost light. What is a ghost light for? ... To give light in a dark theater, right. That's what dramaturgs do. We go into the dark places to get information, like shamans."

(no subject)

I'm working on a reaction post to "Women's Work," finally (I'm done with my homework, so my analytic brain is still working and has nothing to do). I watched the vid again, to remind myself of what I'm working with, and then I started reading some of the discussion threads, to find out what I'd be trying to refute/support.

And then I started working on the essay. And as I'm working, I'm finding myself coming up to defensive points that sisabet and sockkpupett have taken into account and addressed, accurately, thoroughly.

And I still keep trying to justify the defensive points.

It's extraordinarily uncomfortable to be swinging at my own prejudices.

Doc told us this morning in Dramaturgy I that if we're uncomfortable, and nauseous, we're doing it right, but that doesn't change the fact that at the moment I'm uncomfortable and nauseous. So I'm putting it aside for a moment, giving myself a breather. I'll come back when I'm comfortable again, so I can start all over.