Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: thoughtful
  • Music: Moxy Fruvous, "King of Spain."

In which Seanan is superstitious and going to Australia.

I am weirdly superstitious. I say "weirdly" because the things about which I am superstitious tend to be, well, weird. I think black cats and the number thirteen are lucky, but I won't walk under a ladder (at least in part because I don't want anyone dropping paint on me). Finding a penny on the street is cause for celebration and declarations that all day long, I will have good luck. (Finding a nickle, dime, or quarter is cause for a ticker-tape parade, as people tend to be more careful about their silver.)

I count crows, I count cherry pits, I hunt for prime numbers and multiples of nine. I use my slide show screensaver as a funky sort of personal oracle. Get the concept? Superstitious and weird, that's me. So...

Yesterday, I found out that Hugo voting (and hence Campbell voting) is open to Supporting Members of AussieCon, and that voting is open until July 31st (along with registration for Supporting Members). Details are here, in case you're curious. That was pretty cool, as people have been asking me about it for a while now, and I like having answers.

Yesterday, I went to Borderlands Books to pick up the three most recent Repairman Jack books (I had a craving). As I was walking down 4th Street to the BART, I saw a coin on the sidewalk. I'm always on the lookout for coins; they might be pennies. So I stopped and picked it up.

It was an Australian two-dollar piece.

I'm weirdly superstitious, and found money is always a cause for making guesses about the intent of the universe. Last night, I dreamt about Australia. Who's surprised? Not me. And not the pony-sized huntsman spider I was riding around Sydney, either.
Tags: australia makes you die, contemplation, folklore is awesome, going for walks, support local bookstores, travel
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  • 29 comments

sysrae

July 1 2010, 23:32:14 UTC 7 years ago

A point of potential interest: in my family, we refer to huntsmen and other big hairy spiders as triantewobagongs. I suspect this is not so much a little-known Australian slang term as it is definitive proof that I come from a crazy clan of word-maker-uperers, but even so. Also: my father is the only person I have ever met who addresses all animals - but particularly spiders - as 'sir'.

princess_kessie

July 2 2010, 02:50:48 UTC 7 years ago

Heh. I suspect that term started from the poem by CJ Dennis: The Triantiwontigongolope, and your family just reinvented it by adding another Aussie animal, the wobbegong (a type of carpet shark, for those non-Aussie readers). I personally have not heard the term before, but there is every possibility it could be well-known vernacular in your local area :)

I think it fits well :B

sysrae

July 2 2010, 04:50:28 UTC 7 years ago

OK, that makes PERFECT SENSE. My dad is a CJ Dennis fan, and I suspect that we originally did say triantiwontigong, but that I made a malapropsism of it as a kid: thus, triantewobagong, which I personally prefer. I've never heard anyone use it outside our family, but then, CJ Dennis isn't exactly well-known among the younger generations, given that he died in 1937. But Songs of a Sentimental Bloke still = great stuff :)

seanan_mcguire

July 6 2010, 15:14:25 UTC 6 years ago

Hee!