Know thyself...

I did another personality test: the Visual DNA Personality Test.

Most such tests call me something like "The Idealist", but this one called me something I like even better: "The Seeker".

Feels right.

Boxes...

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it. - Terry Pratchett

Can I or can't I?

Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you're right. - Henry Ford (1863-947)

Mansfield Park...

In a world that loves Jane Austen novels, I'm a person who doesn't, much. Except Persuasion. Now, I know I read Mansfield Park once upon a time. What I remember of it is the names, and the lovely illustrations in the library edition I had, that reminded me of Kate Greenaway. Googling now... Yes, here they are, by Charles E. Brock:



So this evening maaseru and Ysolde were watching the 1999 movie version and I decided to watch them. I may not like Jane Austen stories much, but I do like period dramas. While watching, I found myself searching my memory for the events in the book. The names were the same. There were some familiar bits. But the excepts form Jane Austen's writing, the subplots about the slaves and publishing her book - I couldn't remember any of that. I am relived, looking at Wikipedia, that they say it's "loosely" based on the book and added scenes.

And as so often happens with Jane Austen's movies, it seemed an odd mix of 1806 authenticity and wild anachronisms. I thought Frances O'Connor was lovely as Fanny Price - she has a lovely smile. Because of this I liked her more than I'd liked Fanny Prince in the book, but she didn't seem really authentically Austenish to me because of that - she smiled so much. James Purfoy was a little wasted, no pun intended, since we rarely see him when he isn't unconscious or drunk.

And frankly, I liked Henry Crawford more than the stuffy Edmund Bertram, and I thought Fanny treated Henry badly.

It also began to bother me that the said her name so often, "Fanny Price" every few minutes through the whole movie.

Harold Pinter was cool as Sir Thomas Bertram. Why does he look so familiar to me?

Ah, well. I liked it more than I thought I would. Maybe I can call this my quota of Jane Austen until 2013?

Gardens of Time...

No, I'm not becoming a game addict or a Facebook groupie, honest. But it's fun to play Gardens of Time when I can't sleep in the middle on the night, and once I saw that they have a Panda Garden - toraks has one - I was hooked. I want one.

But I'm fumbling over the rules and just like anything on Facebook, finding it somewhat difficult to figure out. How do I avoid the links where they ask me for money? Why am I not finding the places to go to for the quests I'm sent on? How do I find neighbours? How do I make a group of neighbours? What does Lulu have to do with it? How do I get the medieval stuff?

To do some research, I found some links I can browse:

1. A getting started guide
   
2. Quests
   
3. list of buildings
   
4. Game Guide on FB
   
5. Garden Guide
   

On a quick browse, I don't see the answers to my immediate questions:

1. how do I earn more energy? I see I can get more by waiting, or by asking my friends for it. Are there other ways? Is it connected to quests?
   
2. When the Time Society gentleman gives me quests, I don't know how to get to the scenes he mentions
   
3. How do I find the panda gardens? I want the pandas! I need to see how much I need to earn or save up, or what level I have to get to.
   
   
   
   
4. How do I create a wish list, and add things to it?
   
5. How do I convert silver to gold or vice versa?
   
6. Can silver or gold be applied to energy?
   
7. What does the check mark mean on some of the pictures of my neighbours?
   

Livejournal...

Seems it's taken me five days to realize my posts here are not appearing automatically on Livejournal any more.

Huh.

That's... annoying.