Got to see a couple of them close-up

[EricKei]

because I thought it would be interesting to read Beowulf and the like in their original text.

That's why I took a course on Chaucer, myself. Granted, I WAS an English major, but I had always wanted to be a CompSci major >_< The only reason I didn't go CS was because our college required Completion of college-level Calculus and some other similar math course first -- despite the fact that, according to my friends who ended getting a CS degree there, they never used anything even close to Calculus-level complexity in anything they did, even in Senior-level proggy courses. The official word was that they wanted to weed people out "make sure they could think logically" ...But I've never met anyone who would intentionally pursue CS as a "blow off major", EVER; if you sign up for a major like that, chances are that you already have a fair grasp of logic. Bah. I would up getting a CIS degree elsewhere after I graduated.

[Andara Bledin]

^ Um, what? I thought you were a 20-something!

Nope! I turn 40 this year. But don't feel too bad; until I tell them, or they get clues from references I make, most people assume I'm 20-something.

The only reason I didn't go CS was because our college required Completion of college-level Calculus and some other similar math course first...

One of my friends (that I met in that archery class, actually) had the same issue. He wanted to get into Comp Sci, but because the math requirements were way overboard, he ended up in a computer graphics program.

I'm another that liked to take interesting classes to round out my requirements. Hence Archery, and Music Composition as part of my choices.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

The original ends to German fairy tales are violent, as in Goldilocks dies.

Yup. I like to tell people "Well they call them Grimm for a reason" My "official" encounter with the Grimm boys was actually via a Linguistics course -- one of the major Laws in the field is called Grimm's Law. Guess what they did for a living when they weren't transcribing local fairy tales ^_^ (hint: same profession as the dear Professor Tolkien)

I was always under the impression that the olde-school fairy tales were more to keep kids in line and keep them OUT of the (legitimately dangerous) forest/wilderness areas -- which makes perfect sense to me -- as opposed to the American notion of entertaining the kiddles. Heck, ever read the original Red Riding Hood? They deal with the wolf by cutting him open (not sure why he doesn't wake up), pulling Grandma out (still alive o_O), and stuffing his gut full of large rocks until he can barely move, complete with the implication that he will eventually starve to death as a result...

The Little Mermaid bites it, too (fails in her mission and dissolves into sea foam); and the witch gets the boy, but that's Hans Christian Andersen, I think.

[Andara Bledin]

The Little Mermaid bites it, too (fails in her mission and dissolves into sea foam); and the witch gets the boy, but that's Hans Christian Andersen, I think.

The Little Mermaid is Hans Christian Andersen, and the mermaid bites it, but becomes an air spirit and will eventually get a soul (which is really what she wanted all along) as long as little kids are good, but it will take longer if they're bad. The boy in that one marries another girl and he lives happily ever after, none the wiser as to who the silent maiden entertaining him really was.

^-.-^

[dalesys]

The Little Mermaid bites it, too (fails in her mission and dissolves into sea foam); and the witch gets the boy...

Let me tell you something about Hans Christian Andersen: Screwed-Up People Make Great Art. (Groovelily on YouTube from Striking 12)

That fiddle has 6 strings... And the fiddler is an ex-Army Lieutenant.

[EricKei]

^-.-^

Hrmm. Maybe it's been too long since I read it. But the point is made, all the same

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Ngyaaahh~! other language nerds!
:3 ... hai.

[Geek King]

One of my friends (that I met in that archery class, actually) had the same issue. He wanted to get into Comp Sci, but because the math requirements were way overboard, he ended up in a computer graphics program.

We had to take the equivalent of a math minor in my college's CS program--sixteen credit-hours. The rationale then was that many programs would involve programming the computer to replicate higher mathmatics. Considering they suggested courses like Advanced Geometry and Statistics, it seemed to make sense at the time. Also, to be fair, our programming assignments did use some of of it, but equasions were provided for those who hadn't done the courses yet.

On wierd electives: I also took theatre appreciation, which was mainly for theatre majors, but anyone could take it for their "arts" credits. I even got kudos from the proffesor for doing my term project on Kabuki theatre. He said no one had ever done that one for the final in his entire tenure.

Honestly, I chose Kabuki mainly because I've always admired how they do their stagework. Yes, I admired their theatre for the engineering. Geek to the end, I guess.