The short version is that the “blue” and “green” colours that seem so clearly distinct are actually exactly the same colour, a blueish green. It’s all to do with context and how the adjacent colours affect how the brain perceives the same shade of green differently in different places. Bad Astronomy has a full explanation.

I used to be rather fond of optical illusions, but I’ve never seen this one before. Fascinating stuff.

Clearly this wasn’t created by someone who opposes same-sex marriage. Still, it’s interesting to see many of the points for and against laid out like this. The bluntness of the arguments may perhaps be due to the fact that the arguments were “transcribed from many facebook polls”.

I can’t off the top of my head think of arguments against gay marriage that aren’t briefly touched upon in this diagram – and it outlines most of the arguments for that can be used to combat them. So far the only non-countered anti argument that I’ve spotted is “I’m not religious but I still need a category of humans I can look down upon”. Which I think falls down as a logical argument all by itself.

I’m sure there’s more that can be added, and it’s marked as a work in progress. Things like this, that draw attention to how silly the anti-gay-marriage arguments are, are worth promoting, in my opinion. Plus it’s a handy reference guide next time you get bogged down in a debate over the issue.

via Alas, a blog.

Brilliant.

via the f word.

But my gut feeling is still this. Laws should protect people. There should be laws to protect a small group of people (who aren’t hurting anyone) from a larger group of people who dislike them on spec. And upholding a proposition in which a majority voted specifically to remove rights from a minority is just wrong.

For any given individual, the worst-case-outcome of legalising gay marriage is this: nothing changes. That’s the worst thing that could happen. I don’t know how anyone, knowing that, could have voted in favour of Proposition 8. The fact that over half the voters did makes me sick to my stomach. This is the sort of situation that the checks on the system should prevent. The fact that the California Supreme Court upheld the proposition shows that we still have to fight for LBGTQ rights.

But Proposition 8 has acted as a wake-up call, not just in California but around the world. People will fight back. This is not over.

And for those that need cheering up, here (via Alas, a blog) is a video of a variety of people literally saying “Fuck You” (using Lily Allen’s song) to anti-gay bigots.

Mandolin said it better than I could have:

It’s beyond me how anyone can look at such joyful profusion, so much color and joy in the way they dress and act and exist, and see something threatening or disgusting.

I hope that Proposition 8 is the last time those people who see LBGTQ people as disgusting get their way.

Anyway, this means I have the day off, more or less. I still have to sit in the staffroom this morning, and at my desk in the main office this afternoon, but I’m left to my own devices. I’ve been using the time to catch up on my Japanese studies, since the JLPT is coming up in a couple of months and I want to pass level 2 this time.

I was plodding along quite happily, writing out corrections and going through listening scripts from an example exam paper, when I found this lovely dialogue. It’s a conversation between a new employee at a company (a woman) and a slightly more senior employee (a man), which takes place during the lunch hour.
Here it is in its, with my translations in italics:

男：ねえ、何読んでるの？
Man: Say, what are you reading?
女：あ、これ？パソコンのマニュアルです。難しくって。
Woman: Oh, this? It’s a computer manual. It’s difficult.
男：ふーん。熱心だね。
Man: Really? You’re keen, aren’t you?
女：ええ、何と一人で使えるようになりたいんです。
Woman: Yes, but I want to do something so that I can use the computer by myself.
男：ま、慣れるまでちょっと大変だよね。僕でよければ、いつでも教えてあげるよ。
Man: Yeah, it’s difficult until you get used to it, isn’t it? If you like, I can give you a hand.
女：えっ、いいんですかぁ？よろしくお願いします。
Woman: Really, would that be alright? That would be great!
男：そうだ。あれ、読んだ？『涙なしのぱそこん』。
Man: Sure. Have you read “Computers Without Tears”?
女：いえ、読んでません。
Woman: No, I haven’t read it.
男：じゃあ、『パソコンのすすめ』は？
Man: Well, how about “Computer Advice”?
女：すみません、読んでません。
Woman: Sorry, I haven’t read that either.
男：何もあやまることはないさ。でもさ、そのマニュアル１０回読むよりきっとよくわらるよ。
Man: You don’t need to apologise. But, reading those is certainly better than reading the manual ten times.
女：そうですか。わたし、本って雑誌か恋愛小説ぐらいか読まないから。
Woman: Is that right? I read nothing but magazines and romance novels.
男：ははは。大丈夫。どっちも絵がたくさんあって、わかりやすいから。じゃあ、あした持ってきてあげるよ。
Man: Haha. That’s OK. Whichever one has the most pictures will be easier to understand. Well, I’ll bring them for you tomorrow.
女：はい、ありがとうがざいます。読んでみます。
Woman: Thank you very much. I’ll try to read them.

(emphasis mine)

If you’re interested, the question was:

What kind of books is the woman going to start reading from now on?

1) Computer manuals
2) Computer handbooks
3) Magazines
4) Romance novels

I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to work out how the script could have been trivially rewritten so as to not be offensive to half the people taking the test. It annoyed me so much that it threw off my studying for the morning, and I had to come here instead.

Sexism – we’re soaking in it.

Luckily I have Sarah Haskins to remind me that I’m abnormal and that all women love laundry. At least that’s what the TV would have me believe.

It also reminds me that I really need clean sheets this weekend, sigh.

I don’t hate laundry as much as I hate ironing, though. I don’t think I even own an iron.

via I Blame The Patriarchy

Here’s three days’ worth of medicine. Two types of pills, two types of powders, one of each to be taken after every meal.

For me, having grown up in the UK with NHS doctors who would have told me to take a couple of painkillers and stay in bed for a few days, it seems a little overboard. But at least I don’t have H1N1. Hopefully.

I’m perfectly fine, as long as I don’t have to do anything taxing like stand up. So my plans to drive to Hyogo tonight for a football tournament this weekend have had to be cancelled. Hopefully the team (come on the Wanderers!) will do well without me. I’m not much good at footie anyway, but it would have been fun to play.

But being stuck in my flat for the last couple of days has resulted in a lot of poking around the internet, and the realisation that I made the first post here exactly a year ago. Happy first blogiversary!

This year I’ve clocked up 56 posts. That averages out to be more than my self-imposed goal of one a week. If you ignore those months in the summer where I posted nothing for weeks on end, that’s fairly respectable. Still, I aim to do better this year.

And I’ve also had 48 comments, which is about 47 more than I was expecting. Thanks to everyone who took the time to leave comments, and to everyone who just read what I wrote. Though this was never (and still isn’t) meant to be more than a sounding board for my own thoughts, it’s good to know that people do read it occasionally. 1,576 pageviews is pretty small in the grand scheme of the internet, but it seems like a large number to me!

So, more posts. I’m setting myself a slightly harder challenge. For the next year, I’ll aim for five posts a month. That’s more than one a week.

First I have to fight off this cold, though.

2) Dolphin steaks.

I’m finally getting round to reading everyone else’s posts. Here are some of the entries that I liked, that made me laugh, or that made me think.

Lady Bracknell discusses fire evacuation plans in her office building and how they affect disabled employees.

Deb talks about the fine line between special needs and special treatment.

JaneB writes about being an academic with mental health issues.

Megan talks about her experiences with support for students with mental illnesses.

Jo Tamar draws a distinction between “making accommodations” and “achieving equality”.

Meowser writes about how society’s impossible standards create disabilities for many people.

Wheelchair Dancer talks about how to feel empathy, but not pity, for disabled people.

The Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton has a post about sexual violence directed towards women with disAbilities.

Fleecy discusses communication in relationships where one partner is autistic.

Never That Easy writes about friendships and chronic illness.

Quick Sketch writes about being too disabled for a disability-based TV programme.

Kiri Amaya discusses how the needs of people with disabilities can be ignored by people who think they’re trying to help.

The Pickards talk about the difference between professing equality and actually doing something towards achieving it.

Astrid discusses the difficulty in distinguishing between symptoms of mental illness and the effects of living in an institution.

William Peace writes about learning to fight for disability rights.

Zan talks about how her disability has affected her life plans.

M writes about coming to terms with her depression in a family of people affected by mental illness and disability.

Melissa talks about her struggle to accept that her PTSD is a disability.

And The Goldfish herself discusses how, and what, people who are not disabled can learn from those that are.

These are just a few of my favourites. Around two hundred posts have been written for BADD09; go read them all.