(no subject)

[dr_pretentious]

I don't want to get sucked into any lj memes, dammit. Won't! Won't!

Oh, okay. You win.

Ten things I've done that you probably haven't:

Been in a food fight with a Korean mafioso

Successfully taught the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods to junior high school students

Given a paper at the Parliament of the World's Religions

Been propped up on a 20-foot-long phallic symbol by drunken Shinto priests

Visited Nelson Mandela's old prison cell on Robben Island

Eaten springbok pie

Read all the unpublished fiction of the poet H.D. (Hilda Doolittle, 1886-1961)

Hissed the poet Amiri Baraka mid-performance for blatant antisemitism

Read all of the Silmarillion, twice

Made Joyce Carol Oates laugh

Comments

[shakti-lemaris.livejournal.com]

Okay, completely jealous of the Korean mafioso, Shinto priests and 2x Silmarillion. (I couldn't do once!)
Totally in awe at the Parliament of World Religions thing and your amazing teaching skills.
Um...what's springbok pie? I know I could look it up, but your definition will be way cooler.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

A springbok is an antelope common in South Africa. The name's in Afrikans, with the Dutch roots showing: "bok" like "buck," which they apply to pretty much any deer-like creature, and "spring" in the sense of "jump." They're especially bouncy antelopes. The springboks in this particular pie were quite literally antelopes. You're more likely to see the word go by in newspaper articles that mention South Africa's soccer team, capital-S Springboks. Nelson Mandela's a huge Springboks fan. Why do I know that? Because my brain picks up weird random junk and won't let go.