Comments on: We all need some randomness

By: Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw Puzzles — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:52:13 +0000

You just can’t beat those old vintage jigsaw puzzles, thats a good one

CJ: Thanks, glad you liked it.

By: museditions

museditions — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:49:28 +0000

cj, I meant to get back to you about this because you were so VERY interested in my blanket! No, it was not quite like in Narnia, however, at the time I had my blanket I was first exposed to The Tales of a Thousand Nights and One Night otherwise known as Arabian Nights. I was completely entranced by the stories, many of which featured flying carpets. I would sit on my blanket, and close my eyes, and imagine flying here and there. (Did I really “imagine” that?)

Regarding the name of your wonderful invisible duck: I don’t know how he acquired his name, but it sounded Asian to me, perhaps Chinese, I thought. (I have, at times, been immersed in Asian culture). It turns out those words are Vietnamese. You may already have looked it up, but I found the most frequently referenced use of those names together in this:

Fire Dragon Festival, North Vietnam, early February [celebrates the] victory by which King Quang Trung defeated the Quing invading army, in 1789.

So it appears your duck has quite a noble lineage, strength, courage, and even a balance between two opposing sides.

CJ: Well, you mentioned the blanket so mysteriously, Muse, I couldn’t just let it go. That’s interesting, though, so the blanket was still an imaginative device, in that it took you away into this other world of the stories… and who’s to say what we imagine is any less real than what’s around us? I used to love One Thousand and One Nights too, the stories of Aladin, Ali Baba, Sinbad… I found it again later with my studies of mythology, and the themes are fascinating, particularly the similarities with other myths and tales.

I think Quing Quang came from childish talk, but maybe I picked it up from a tv special or something like that… if not, it’s a funny coincidence! The opposing sides is interesting because I always thought it sounded like Yin and Yang, as a child might mispronounce them… interesting, I’ll have to give it some more thought. I know my favourite toy was a monkey called Dum Dum, which I think came from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Maybe I have a history of doing it, eh?

By: Free Rice « I Must Be Dreaming

Free Rice « I Must Be Dreaming — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:30:32 +0000

[...] Posted on November 14, 2007 by Jamie Thought I’d share this with you all. CJ mentioned this link to FreeRice.com, which is basically a vocabulary quiz, sponsored by Macy’s, [...]

By: museditions

museditions — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:58:09 +0000

Well, you are a little bit weird, cj. I woulda tagged you meself, but sulz got us both at once. I thought all your “facts” were worth reading, and gave us a little more insight into your character, but #s 4 & 7 had me laughing out loud! (I had to spell it out, LOL, just wouldn’t do here.)
I had a somewhat imaginary bff who hung around my favorite blanket–but with that I at least could follow in the footsteps of the great Linus. I do not sit in pumpkin patches though. But “an imaginary duck. Quack friggin quack.” –hehehaha!

And: “until this guy falls down on me”. Well, that may not be everyone’s fantasy. I’ve experienced similar misunderstandings, but that one’s a hoot!

CJ: Maybe eccentric is a good word for me, eh, Muse? I’m one of the people who likes memes; the good ones seem simple, but if you look at them closely you learn a lot about the author. That’s what I was trying to do with this; to show a bit of my personality, and that shone through with yours as well.

Heh, I’m curious about the blanket now! Did it open a portal to another land like Narnia? I love that we never see The Great Pumpkin in Peanuts as well; I’d actually forgotten about that, so that brought back some memories! I suspect the reason I imagined Quing Quang had something to do with water; I didn’t learn to swim until I was older, so Quing Quang was probably comforting to a three year old near water.

And yes, I’m still living that one down! I suppose sky and guy sound similar; Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze has the line “scuse me while I kiss the sky”, which a lot of people swear is really “scuse me while I kiss this guy”. So at least I’m not alone!

By: timethief

timethief — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:16:11 +0000

Ahhh … so you are addicted to jigsaw puzzling. I am too. The most challenging way to do them is to dump all the pieces out and hide the box away so you do not really know in any detail what the picture is. Try it.

CJ: Yes, I’m totally addicted; glad I’m not the only one! My main problem is that I like getting them finished, rather than leaving them up for a week or so; 500 pieces is good for that, not so much 1,000 or 5,000… I normally put the box away the second time I do one, but I’ll have to try that more. It’s definitely a challenge.