Tagged by soullessflyer - a meme on relaxation.

[annwfyn]

I think it seems unlikely that I'm going to make it in to Oxford today, which means that any day now the History Library ninja hit squad will arrive on my doorstep to reclaim 'A History of Lycanthropy' and 'The Art of the Byzantine Empire'. I'm beginning to feel deeply guilty about those books. They are now two weeks overdue, and I just seem to have no ability to return the bloody things.

On the other hand, despite my staying in London today and trying to load pierot on to a plague cart regularly (he really is ill - shivers and some muscle convulsions, not to mention horrible icky stomach pains) I have had a fairly productive day. I now know much more about eytmology, I understand the significance of goats in Celtic mythology, and I understand why 'welsh' actually means 'slave' if you go back to the original meaning.

It's good to know such things.

I'm also having an internal argument with myself on social policy. This happens sometimes. I saw this article, originally in The Sun and then elsewhere and it's been bothering me, mostly because it has left me less able to scorn the Vile Littlejohn than I would like. He wrote a standard vile column talking about these three teenage mothers, who are living on benefits with their mum, after having gotten pregnant at 16, 14 and 12 respectively. He ranted about bringing back the workhouse etc, and of course he is fairly grotty, yet...

There is something wrong about this situation! A mother has allowed all three of her daughters to become pregnant while horrifically young. The youngest daughter was twelve when she got pregnant. Twelve years old. That shouldn't be happening. The oldest had already been pregnant three times before actually giving birth this time, when she was only sixteen. And now these children are being left in a situation where their mother takes no responsibility for having allowed this to happen, and I tend to agree with Mr Littlejohn that there is a fairly high chance that these girls are going to get pregnant again.

So, what should have been done?

On one hand I do think that the Good Old Days, in which girls like this would have been pressured quite heavily towards adoption, were fairly cruel. Pressuring unmarried mothers into giving up their children is a horrible thing to do, and yet did it mean that babies born into bad situations were given more of a chance? Would it be a bad thing if girls in situations like this were at least made more aware of options such as adoption? And to be honest, I can also see an argument for putting the youngest daughter at least into some kind of care. If she was sexually active at the age of 12, with her mother's acceptance, isn't that close to criminally negligent parenting?

Or am I being a horrible middle class snob? Am I lacking compassion? I don't know. I just know that the thought of twelve year old children having children themselves scares me, and I'm not convinced that better sex education in schools, as suggested by the mother in this case, is the answer. Or is it? So what should be done?

And finally...from soullessflyer

List 10 things you do to RELAX!
Not because you have to, but because you WANT to! Things you enjoy, even when no one around you wants to go out and play. What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level? Make a list, post it to your journal... and then tag 5 friends and ask them to post it to theirs

• Role playing in all forms


• Walking. Walking anywhere, but preferably in the outdoors near somewhere green and fresh.


• Writing bad fiction of assorted forms. At the moment I'm writing up complicated political systems for imaginary worlds, which kinda comes into my fiction category.


• The cinema. There is nothing in the world which isn't made to seem better with the application of flickering lights, hot dogs and popcorn.


• Cooking. I like cooking. I like making nice meals, and topping it all off with a good dessert.


• Eating. Preferably something interesting that I can't cook myself, which is why I like sushi places, preferably in company.


• Reading. Although I don't do this nearly often enough, mostly because it's something I have to do so much of for my masters.


• Watching DVDs - preferably of all the TV series I never get enough time to watch. At the moment it is the West Wing, but I tend to default to CSI, or Poirot or other such shows.


• Cocktails. The only kind of alcohol I truly truly love. Preferably big and poncy cocktails with umbrellas in them


• Going somewhere new, whether it be by train or plane or just driving around. I like going to places.

I won't tag anyone, coz I tend to think that people should answer memes if they want to, but feel free to add this to your LJ if you want.

Comments

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

History of lycanthropy is still being used. The 'art of Byzantium' isn't at the moment, which I feel very guilty about. The only redeeming feature about that is that I know the same book is available in the Sackler and in the Bodleian at the moment and is only really ever used by Byzantine Studies people as a first term text.

But yes. I do feel guilty and I am being shit. The even more pathetic bit to this story is that I spent all of last week when I was in Oxford saying 'OK...I'll return these books', and still failing. I managed to get books back to the Sackler, get more books out, have a tutorial and STILL haven't made the History Department library.

I now have a goal to get them back today. *looks determined*

[chrisvenus]

Good girl. :)