My life is a ship called the Mary Celeste.
She drifts on the Strait of Gibraltar.
She has no Captain, no crew and no passengers.
All she has to show are half-eaten food, a cigar still burning and the Captain’s log.
Still, she sails onwards with no destination, at the mercy of the sea, pulled by the tides.
Maybe she’ll drift forever in search of her crew, until one day she sinks beneath the waves.
In a recent wander thru Wikipedia I got reading about a central European family of aristocrats called the House of Habsburg, I’m not sure how I ended up there, sometimes I just follow the links on Wikipedia and see if any topics catch my eye.
The Habsburgs were a hugely powerful and extensive dynasty, at one point controlling much of central and eastern Europe as well as Spain and parts of France and Italy. One Habsburg caught my eye, as he was the last of his line of Habsburgs, not long after his death the family were completely extinct.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Charles II of Spain was the product of extensive inbreeding, this family tree shows how over four generations (or more) almost all of the family could be traced by blood back to Philip and Joanna of Castile. The Habsburgs had always exercised a degree of inbreeding to maintain political power in the family and were already prone to genetic defects including the Habsburg jaw, an exaggerated overbite and enlarged jaw possibly caused by acromegaly.
Charles was born a sickly child who was expected to die young, a great many of his siblings died before their first birthday or were stillborn. As he grew, it became obvious that he was extensively mentally and physically disabled (the Habsburg jaw was so pronounced that he couldn’t chew) but he nonetheless became King of Spain after his father’s death. His reign was disasterous, he never fathered any children due to either impotence or sterility and on his death the Spanish line of Habsburgs ceased to exist.
40 years after Charles’ death, the last male of the Austrian line of the Habsburgs (who ruled over much of central and eastern Europe) died, meaning the effective extinction of the Habsburgs and their once massive empire. The collapse of both the Spanish and Austrian lines of succession resulted in wars over the two crowns.
Been loving this song for quite a while now, I just keep discovering more and more great tracks by The Damned. It’s pretty cheesey but, to me at least, that just adds to its charm. Apparently this was recorded at that time when every guitar band in Britain had to feature some saxaphone.
The Damned - Street of Dreams from the album Phantasmagoria
So all this means… I’m screwed?
I’ve been reading up on my Jungian personality type. The concept’s pretty simple, that you’re one of each of the following:
- Extraverted or introverted
- Sensing or intuitive
- Thinking or feeling
- Judgemental or perceptive
The combination of these four gives you your personality type. I’m introverted, intuitive, feeling and judgemental - INFJ also referred to as counselors. A simple tried-and-tested quiz determines what your type is by identifying your four preferences listed above.
Counselors
My personality type, INFJ, are described as looking for meaning in the world to try to understand people better. We build up a clear solution and then aim to make that solution happen, seeing a problem as reason for a creative plan. We’re quiet, private and avoid the limelight but are always interested in others’ wellbeing and easily understand complex issues. We prefer one-on-one relationships and not large groups.
We have complex and colourful minds but are reluctant to share that with others but are outwardly friendly and emotionally perceptive. We’re commonly thought of as trusted, close friends. Despite that we don’t often share our feelings, especially around new people and friendships grow slowly. We’re sensitive and easily hurt and may withdraw socially to guard ourselves.
Despite being quiet, we’re often leaders and have have great hidden depths. Inwardly we’re intricate, complex and mysterious, even puzzling ourselves sometimes. We have an ordered view of the world but are mentally so complicated that only we can understand ourselves. We communicate in convoluted ways and tend to be very creative but are also well suited to sciences.
Now I don’t normally put too much importance into personality tests and generally I find it hard to believe that you can classify people so easily but I don’t think I’ve ever been described so well or so thoroughly as that. It explains some stuff I’ve wondered about for a long time.
Lately I’ve been listening to the Pixies and The Damned pretty obsessively. As proof / a way to recommend the songs I love, here’s the top 10 from my media player.
- Pixies - Hang Wire
- Damned - Street of Dreams
- Damned - Grimly Fiendish
- Pixies - River Euphrates (B-side version)
- Damned - History of the World Part 1
- Jesus & Mary Chain - Blues from a Gun
- Manic Street Preachers - Picturesque
- Manic Street Preachers - Faster
- Pixies - Gouge Away
- Pixies - Levitate Me (Live @ the BBC)
I know it’s a bit nit-picky that I have favourite versions of River Euphrates / Levitate Me but listen to them beside the studio album versions and I’m sure you’ll see why.
Dear Tumblr,
I realise I’ve neglected you lately. It’s not just you either, I’ve neglected my friends, my social life, my life as a whole. I’m shrinking, pulling away from life to the point that I’m not even sure I want to live any more, I’m sick of fighting, of trying to find reasons to keep going, something that even vaguely resembles hope. I don’t trust anyone or anything now, I don’t confide in anyone, I’m just about all I have in my life and I don’t even trust myself.
I’ve always been happy with my own company but I’ve gone too far, for as long as I can remember I’ve felt that personal strength was being able to cope without anyone else, never needing to ask for help, never showing weakness or vulnerability even at the expense of my own peace of mind. I’m not as smart as I’d like to think, altho I’ve never doubted how stubborn I can be.
So to all of the friends I went cold on: I’m stupid and I’m sorry. Please get in touch if I don’t get in touch with you first.
To my followers: I’m gonna do my best to bring Mortality the Dog back to life like Lazarus. If we don’t know each other then drop me a line, even if it’s just one word. Make it a good word tho, like ‘lichen’ or ‘trapeze.’
To all of you, peace and love, stay beautiful,
Cas x
(Source: maudit)
Tried to access The Pirate Bay (www.thepiratebay.se) just now only to find this page. Since when did it become ok for ISPs to deny access to sites like that?? I thought only countries like China censored internet browsing, I don’t like this development one bit.
This is why I shouldn’t take personality tests
“You are manipulative and demanding, and you expect quite a lot out of a relationship, whether it be friendly or romantic. Furthermore, whether conscious or not, you have a tendency to mediate your attitude toward others in an attempt to get the better of those around you. You are very intelligent, but also suspicious.
You feel a sharp lack of appreciation from the world around you. There is a rising sense of anger and frustration that your friends or loved ones do not respect you or that they treat you with disdain. Often this will be the result of a hostile workplace. The loneliness that comes with this struggle for admiration will often sap your will or make decision making difficult.”
Wow, how true!
http://www.hypnoid.com/EM_entropy/
Someone posted this as an image on facebook but it looked terrible, so I’m typing it out instead:
An English professor wrote the words
“A woman without her man is nothing”
on the chalkboard and asked students to correctly punctuate it.
All of the males in the class wrote
“A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
All of the females in the class wrote
“A woman: without her, man is nothing.”
Punctuation is powerful!
