Mememememeeeeeme

[sholio]

A meme from sovay, in which I asked for and received three things to talk about "that I may or may not know or care about." I was given:

1. Sunglasses

... are becoming increasingly necessary as I get older, but are also a bit of a pain because I wear glasses with a very strong prescription, SIGH. I've never gotten myself a pair of prescription sunglasses because for years my prescription changed so fast that it wasn't worth paying for. Normally I just wear the over-the-top kind. At this point my prescription has settled down so I probably could, but the last time I changed my glasses I decided to try that coating where it darkens automatically in sunlight.

So far, I hate it. I hate it most of all because it's responsive to UV light, and since UV light is blocked by glass, therefore the time when I need sunglasses most of all -- when I'm driving -- it's completely useless. The rest of the time, it makes bright sunny days look mildly overcast, and since I'm sensitive to daylight levels in a seasonal-affective-disorder kind of way ... yeah. Well, it was something I felt I should try once in my life. I think maybe automatic sunglasses you can't take off would work better in a place where the sunlight is brighter and less attenuated than it is this far north. The only time when it actually feels useful is in the very middle of the day on extremely bright sunny days, especially when I'm somewhere with a lot of pavement or rocks where the light is very bright. And we just don't get a whole lot of that here.

2. Midsummer

A very big deal at 65 degrees of latitude! It's not an official holiday because Alaska is culturally attached to a nation where it isn't a big deal, but we have a solstice festival in town (basically a street fair) and a number of associated activities -- there's a 10K race at midnight (the Midnight Sun Run), a midnight baseball game, and stuff like that. Basically, it's light all night, so why not? It stops getting dark in early May and doesn't start again 'til late July. We aren't quite far enough north for the sun to actually stay up all night (you need to be at the Arctic Circle for that, and we're not quite there - 66.33 vs. 64.8), but at this point it's definitely light enough to read a book outside at midnight*, and instead of darkness we get a few hours of pink sunset/sunrise sky. Our official sunset/sunrise times right now are 12:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., although the sun actually sets a bit earlier at my house because we're north of town in a valley.

*If you don't mind losing a pint or two of blood; the mosquitoes are terrible this year.

3. Pecans

My parents are from Oklahoma, and my grandmother had a pecan tree in the yard. Every year at Christmas they would send us a large bag of pecans from their tree. I'm not sure if this is why, but I absolutely love pecans to this day, and pecan pie is one of my favorite desserts. One of my regrets now that she's gone is that I'm not sure if we ever properly thanked her for them, especially now that I'm aware of the work that must have gone into collecting and shelling them.

(Either that or they always bought pecans at the store and claimed they were from their personal pecan tree. I guess I'll never know now.)

If you would also like three random things to talk about, just let me know!

Comments

[yhlee]

I would like three things, in the spirit of continued procrastination!

Mmm, pecans.

[sholio]

I would like three things, in the spirit of continued procrastination!

Happy to aid and abet your procrastination. :D

Horses, typewriters, obsidian!

[sovay]

It's not an official holiday because Alaska is culturally attached to a nation where it isn't a big deal, but we have a solstice festival in town (basically a street fair) and a number of associated activities -- there's a 10K race at midnight (the Midnight Sun Run), a midnight baseball game, and stuff like that.

That's really cool.

(I had no idea about the pecans and I'm glad to know.)

[sholio]

I'm glad you asked about them! It's interesting that you picked the one random kind of nut that I actually have a neat story about. :D

[schneefink]

Mosquitoes -.-

I would like three random things :)

[sholio]

The mosquitoes are really THE WORST this summer. I hope they'll be a little more under control now that the swallows and dragonflies and other mosquito-eaters are starting to show up.

I would like three random things :)

Sea shells, dinosaurs, wingfic!

[lokifan]

I love the summer solstice :) My mum's having a months-belated 60th on the 22nd this year, mostly in the garden. We're not Alaska-levels, but even in the south of the UK it's not dark til 10pm or so.

I don't like the automatic glasses either - they don't go very dark, and also they're a bit over-responsive and it makes me look like a sunglasses-inside wanker.

Gimme 3 things!

[sholio]

it makes me look like a sunglasses-inside wanker.

YES, THAT TOO. My husband says that's been especially weird for him to get used to.

Gimme 3 things!

Trains, Daleks, the color blue!

[ellenmillion]

I'll take three!

[sholio]

I'll take three!

Dandelions, velociraptors, skateboards!

[sheron]

I too wish for sunglasses. I actually have those tinted eyeglasses and I love them. It *is* bright enough to wear them here, and the lack of light doesn't really bother me at my latitude so it works out. I wish for huge trendy sunglasses though, but alas...

Yay, Midsummer! :D

I too really like pecan nuts, and have a couple basically daily.

[rmc28]

I have "transition lenses" and likewise I like them. They do take a little while to transition back to clear, which means people are a bit confused at me for the first 5-min or so after I've been outside.

It's bright enough in southern UK for them to be worth it. I *did* get warned about them not being good for driving, and I have a separate pair of prescription sunglasses if I am driving. Tbh the main reason I got the transitions was because I was fed up of manually swapping when arriving at / leaving work. Now of course I run home a few times a week and don't wear the glasses at all then (my prescription isn't very strong and I'm fine without them if I don't need to read lots of close text all day).

[sheron]

For you: travel, rain, cats!

Also I'll take three myself :-)

[sholio]

Heeee! It might take me awhile to answer these ...

As for three random things for you:

gardening, Polaroid cameras, kittens ;)

[ilyena_sylph]

sure, ask me random things please!

[sholio]

Okay! Lemme see:

koalas, wildflowers, architecture

[chelseagirl]

I would also like to have a go at three random things.

[sholio]

Okay! Let's see.

headphones, mountains, Jane Austen

[recessional]

Sure, hit me. <3

[sholio]

Hmm, how about:

iced coffee, Russian moose farming, coconuts

[rose_griffes]

Ordering prescription sunglasses online works well; I like the pair I got, anyway.

I'm from Oklahoma, and I miss the pecan trees we had in the yard. My family hasn't lived in that house for many years, though.

[sholio]

I never even thought of doing it online! Hmmmm.

[chomiji]

I would like three things, please!

[sholio]

How about:

lawns, spaceships, My Little Pony

[hamsterwoman]

I had no idea Alaska celebrated midsummer like that -- that's really cool!

I got to spend a couple of days in the summer above the Arctic Circle in Norway, including going outside to look at the actual midnight sun. That was very trippy! -- I found I had no sense of time at all. On the other hand, when we got lost by wandering off our hiking trail, at least I felt comfortable that it wasn't going to get dark before we found our way out, so there was that :)

[sholio]

It is SO trippy. That's cool that you got to experience it! I really do love the all-night light for things like doing stuff in the yard - and yes, camping/hiking, though the problem for me is that I have trouble sleeping in a tent when it never gets dark!

[timespirt]

Have you ever seen the sunglasses that clip on to the front of your own glasses? That might help you out and cost less.

[sholio]

Yes, I know about those and have several pairs. As mentioned in the post, the ones I typically use for over-the-top-of-lenses sunglasses are the wraparound ones that cover not just the lenses but also the sides - better sun-blocking coverage and they look (marginally) less ridiculous.

[magistrate]

I feel like this may be one meme I can actually conceivably do. Sure, three things me!

Pecan pie is one of the few pies I actively enjoy, mostly due to the twin factors of (1. Not liking cooked fruit, and (2. Having a grandmother who made a seasonal dessert WAY better than pumpkin pie. That knocks out most of the common American pies, right from the gate. ...I do like chocolate cream pie, and pecan pie, and that's pretty much it.

Candied pecans: also amazing. I had these brown sugar and rosemary pecans at one point and they were SO GOOD.


Also, one day, I do hope I get to go to the Arctic Circle at solstice with you.

[sholio]

I hope you do, too!

Pecans are excellent in every form. I'm also not all that fond of most fruit pies; I'll eat them, but they aren't my favorite. I prefer pies of the chocolate variety as well.

What was the dessert?

Random meme items:

Snow, the telegraph, sharks!

[lazaefair]

I’d like three things! If you’re still up to providing prompts.

[sholio]

Three things: winter, zebras, New York City! :D

[holdouttrout]

sunglasses! One of the BEST things about wearing contacts was cheap sunglasses stashed everywhere. And then I kicked out and had clip ons for my glasses that precisely matched my glasses shape and didn't look ridiculous but I didn't get myself a prescription pair this last time, and am KICKING MYSELF. I need to get that taken care of, but have I? (I have not.)

[sholio]

Ahhh man, yeah, I FEEL THAT FEEL about finding the clip-ons/wraparounds that fit perfectly and don't look stupid. My favorite sunglass wraparound were exactly the right size for my last frames but don't fit these, and theoretically I thought I wouldn't need them but I actually DO need them when I'm driving. Sigh.

[lunabee34]

I'm in the same boat! I don't wear sunglasses because getting a prescription pair seems perhaps not worth the expense. Also, my prescription seems to worsen incrementally year by year, so IDK how long a pair would last. But I want some! LOL

[sholio]

It would just make life so much easier ... in some ways, but then I'd probably lose them. It fascinates me that after getting steadily worse every year, my prescription seemed to level off in my late 30s, though. I guess there had to be some advantages to losing my up-close vision ....

[scioscribe]

I absolutely want pecan pie now. And would like three random things to talk about!

[sholio]

Three things: hot cocoa, Pluto (the planet), soulbonding!

(Now I want pecan pie, too ...)

[rachelmanija]

Okay, gimme.

[sholio]

Let's see! Three things:

Alexander Hamilton (the real person, not the fictional one!), fireflies, tentacle accidents

[booksarelife]

We had a family vacation to Alaska a few years ago in July, and it was so weird that the sun never went down when we were awake (except when it was raining and there was no sun). I’m pretty sure the only reason I managed to sleep in a tent when we were doing a camping thing was that I had an eye mask and the rain was soothing, though I kept thinking it was thundering quietly but that turned out to be the nearby glacier doing its thing (we were in a national park, having taken a boat out and then kayaked a while)!

I’d love three things if you’re still doing the meme!

[sholio]

Yeah, camping in the summer is challenging. XD You are much more prepared than me, bringing a face mask! I tend to forget such things and then ... not sleep.

Three things: rabbits, Coke vs. Pepsi, snowball fights.

[umadoshi]

May I have three things?

[sholio]

(That icon is adorable. XD)

Three things: tomatoes, penguins, Newfoundland!