ASL, Party in the USA, and demonic Furbies...just another normal post.

How is everyone? Good, great, crappy?
Obviously, I can't stay away from you all for more than 5 days at a streak.

Lucky you. XD

Today, I start with my first ASL class. It's through Skype video chat, a new medium of "class" as is were, so that will be fun.

I've been practicing, so I can finger-spell my name (W-H-I-M-S-Y), and I know the alphabet by heart, and a few signs that aren't finger-spelling (Examples: meet, girl, world, tired, beautiful, music, pain, help, wish, slow).

I've been watching this youtuber perform songs in ASL on a suggestion from my tutor. This lead to my finding of Jonathon Coulton.

Why, oh why have I not seen this brilliantly hilarious person before?
I have been watching "I Feel Fantastic" and "Re: Your Brains" nearly non-stop.

But mostly, "I Feel Fantastic", or as my sister and I have taken to calling it "that tripping-out-on-drugs song".

Here's the version that I've been playing, so you can be as addicted as I am.

I'm excited to start, because I think it'll be fun to learn a "foreign" language, especially one that's not French, or Spanish like EVERYONE and their brother learns in high school.

I've never been one to do what EVERYONE does, as can be evidenced by my life.

Not to say that I do what I do, and I am who I am just to be contrary to the rest of the world, oh no. Even if it were the "popular" thing to be who I am, I'd still be who I am.

This is not to say that I don't take pride in being as unique as I am, oh no.

When I'm going to a new class, I almost always make sure that I'm wearing all my most Whimsy-est things.
I figure it's better to introduce myself when I look most like me, that way, if someone's not going to like me, they decide that they don't like me from seeing who I am. I'm not going to tone it down for anyone. That's not who I am.

I must admit, though, if something becomes "popular", then I automatically like it less. It's not the best personality trait, I know, because there are plenty of mainstream-ish things that are good/fun/interesting, but the fact that EVERYONE likes it makes me not want to say I like it. I guess I'm afraid that people will think I like something just because EVERYONE likes it.

For example, Party In The U.S.A.
I don't want to like it, but I do.
Almost every time that song has been played around me, it's been in connection with pretty dang awesome stuff.
Infinitus (the Harry Potter convention) True Colors, Queer Prom, a 5ag video, various drag queens...you get the idea.
Not only that, but it's got a catchy beat, and hell, I'll say it. I think it's sweet.
(Also, somewhere, on someone's camera, there is a video of The Whimsy dancing and lip-synching to that song at Infinitus. I can't find it on the internet (yet), but who knows...)

Secretly, I think that more people like that song than will actually admit to it. Why else would it be so popular? Why else would everyone scream with joy and rush the floor EVERY TIME it's played at a dance?

Yeah, thought so.

There have been very few times that I've actually fell into the Pit Of Popular Things That I Must Have.

One of those times was Furby '98. I don't know if you all remember Furbies, but they were animatronic pets that looked like a cross between a bird and a rodent. (Wikipedia says Owl and Hamster, which I understand.)

For my 6th birthday, the one thing I wanted above anything else was a Furby. Every other child also wanted a Furby, as well. I thought they were SO CUTE, and I desperately wanted a cuddly big-eyed pet that I could shut off whenever I wanted. ^_^

Well, I got a Furby.

His name was Oo-chi.

I thought he was the best thing EVER, I adored Oo-chi.

I found out that if I left him in a sunbeam, he'd fall asleep.
...or if I turned him upside down, he'd say "Oo-chi scared, me no like."
...if I stuck my finger in his mouth, he's say "yummy!"
...if I left him alone, he's start to sing.

The Oo-chi infatuation didn't last all that long.

I recall one day, I woke him up again, and again, and all he would say was "Me sleep again." and then start snoring.

On another day, I had left him, alone, turned off, and he turned back on again.
What to do with my newly-possessed Oo-chi? Give him to my little sister, of course.

She tired of him faster than I had, and before I knew it, Oo-chi was wrapped up in newspaper, and put on a table for a gift swap. (To be clear, I was not sad to see him go.)

Oo-chi was switched off and everything, but as people put things on the table, the newspaper started rustling and started to sing. In the dark. To himself.

After that, I decided that the hype surrounding "popular" toys was pretty much bull.

So, questions:

Did you have a Furby/did you want one?
Do you know another language/do you want to?

~Whimsy