Sweet Perdition

Who are you?

I’m Tera. I’m 28 years old and I like video games and horror/cult/just plain weird movies. (“I saw the most disgusting movie ever–and thought of you!” is something I hear a lot). I am also disabled; an MRI done when I was 12 found some periventricular leukomalacia and I fit the nonverbal learning disability (NLD) profile. Part of that involves visual and spatial impairments. I’m not very good at leaving the house by myself–I don’t know where most places are–so someone usually takes me where I need to be. Some cognitive leaps happened after I graduated from college and my mom was suddenly able to teach me where a couple places were around town. (So I have lots of adventures). All this stuff–my drive-in mutantness, gaming, and my interest in disability–intersects way more often than you’d think it would.

Why are you writing this blog?

For purely selfish reasons, I assure you. I don’t initiate conversations very well. I have the same problem with writing; 95 percent of the stuff I write on e-mail lists is in response to something another person said, whether a comment or a question. This isn’t so much a problem in school or when I volunteer writing reviews, either because I have definite parameters (”Write a 20-page paper organized in this specific way about either Vanity Fair”; “Review Super Mario Galaxy“), or because having someone slap me with a deadline puts the fear of God in me.

So this blog is basically my way of pushing myself to write more. And of inviting people to challenge me so I learn more. Not everything I think is right ;-).

Why’s your blog called Sweet Perdition?

Because that phrase captures everything I hope this blog will be about. “Perdition” comes from the Latin word perditus, which means “ruined,” “laid to waste,” or “lost.” I hope to examine a lot of things that are popularly considered wastes of time and without artistic merit. Some of them have even been “lost” in the literal sense. Not to mention all the horror movies–and video games–that are actually about Hell in some way.

The Latin verb perdere (which perditus comes from) is still used in Italian, and it still means “to lose.” But instead of denoting some horrible catastrophe, it can simply mean losing anything–from one’s keys to one’s way. As someone who’s used to being lost, I’m always amused by all the Really Bad Things that lostness is a metaphor for (sin, death, eternal damnation). If this is Hell, I don’t need Heaven.

Some of your posts about movies or games or books are “reviews” while others are “essays.” What’s the difference?

Spoilers. Reviews won’t spoil any endings or plot twists; the essays will. (Like the essays you wrote in literature class–since you were writing for someone who’d already read the book under discussion, you could talk about any plot twists you wanted).

Do you always ask yourself questions and then answer them?

No. Only about 60% of the time.