merah darahku, putih tulangku

[whynot]

+ OH MY HOLY FUCK: steampunk_nusantara -- a communal worldbuilding thingie for a STEAMPUNK SOUTHEAST ASIA. It kind of reminds me of a play-it-by-ear Museum at Purgatory. We inventory made-up artifacts! Fictional non-fiction! EXCUSE ME WHILE I HAVE THE VAPORS.

STEAMPUNK. SOUTHEAST. ASIA. My first contribution is a positive review of a questionable book. My first thought was actually, "Steampunk jeepneys would be so badass." Jeepneys* are already pretty trippy to begin with. Xzibit can learn a thing or two from them about pimping one's ride. And jeepneys all steampunked up? LIFE, PLEASE PROVIDE.

* Jeepneys are what happens when the American jeeps left in the Philippines after WW2 are pimped out for public transportation. Which begs the question: steampunk WW2?? GIMME. Keysmash capslock forever! \o/


+ In sorta related news, here's an experiment. Said experiment is me writing interrelated drabbles in French and Bahasa Indonesia. I'm not super comfortable in either language, but writing anything in them has been something I've wanted to do for a while, just to see if I can, to maybe ease into it. If you speak either of these languages, please feel free to correct my grammar and phrasing and stuff! I would love to improve. (Fic: making me engage in things I would otherwise never get around to.)

So I guess the drabbles could be missing scenes from Bring Out Your Dead, or something. Or otherwise, just 219 words about two guys road trippin' through the End of Days. I'm not quite sure what to think of the fact that I seem to be more comfortable writing in French than I am in Indonesian. I'm that estranged from my mothertongue, it seems.

Comments

[fahye.livejournal.com]

As far as I know it's commonly The One Language taught in primary schools, because it's so phonetic and one can build up a fair vocabulary and range of phrases without running into grammar issues straight off the bat. And I know a lot of high schools offer it as a continuing language option, though mine didn't -- our Offered Asian Language (most schools seem to only offer one) was Japanese. If it'd been offered I would definitely have kept it up, because I really enjoyed Indonesian lessons in primary school.

[lexhibition.livejournal.com]

Randomly butting into this thread, but oh yes, I loved Indonesian lessons in primary school! The mindless chanting of 'Baik baik saja, terima kasih!' when our teacher asked 'Apa kabar?', the swimming pool song (Renang, renang, di kolam renang!), getting the giggles when we had to describe what we were wearing and I used to wear lots of rings (cincin-cincin is amazing to say).

GOOD TIMES. I miss it!

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

:D Did you sing the pelangi song? Or the balonku ada lima?

I love that to pluralize, we just say things twice. It's why my boyfriend's favorite thing to say in Indonesian is teeth (gigi-gigi).

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

That's really cool, I never knew that. I can see it. Totally, B. Indo's grammar and conjugation are pretty straightforward.

I took Japanese in high school and have retained less of that than when I took two years of French. Alas, Japanese: the one that got away!