Via ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
slobbit: If you comment on this post, I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.
And that, is a wrap.
slobbit: If you comment on this post, I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.My answers . . .
I kinda didn't realize I'd gotten a response. I don't know why, but I do not consistently get email notifications. You also tagged eight items, so I selectively dumped single malt scotch--something I enjoy, but so rarely these days that there's not much interesting for me to say. (I'm no expert.)
adventure -- I love adventure stories. I grew up on tales like Robin Hood, King Arthur, and other such historical and fantastical accounts of adventure. As a kid, I often led others on our own little adventures, as much as you might find in a suburban landscape. The beauty of being a child, is that your mind can make the adventure seem real, even when trekking through backyards, or drainage pipes. I think that's why my favorite Tolkien book is still The Hobbit. It's an adventure, plain and simple. Lord of the Rings might be the grander, ultimate of his works, but I can sit and read The Hobbit just about any time. It's also why I've been playing D&D for nearly thirty years.
cheese -- cheddar, mozzarella, gouda, brie....the list goes on and on. I love cheese. There are meals that are not in someway improved by the presence of cheese. Not necessarily in every dish. But as an appetizer, or after. Especially accompanied by a good wine, and the right kinds of bread or crackers. Joy. My wife has to practically drag me past the cheese section at the Wegman's. I think she's resigned that when she sends me off to shop alone, I will invariably end up with some sort of cheese. The only kinds of cheese I'm not much a fan of are the blues. There are some I'll eat. Others I might tolerate, and over time, I admit I'm maturing my taste for them. My old adage of "No fungus, spores or molds" is being slowly nibbled away.
embroidery -- I did my first needlepoint at age five. My grandma taught me (she lived with us.) I don't know what happened with that one, but I recall it was a still life of two onions on a brown background. I've done a number of other projects since then. I have an uncanny knack for needlework in general, and I've done some embroidery for costuming. And a few pieces that are meant as tapestries. Now, mostly I just draw something free hand, and embroider what I like on top. I prefer Medieval style items, since that's something I love.
renaissance music -- I've been a musician since third grade when I first picked up the clarinet. I love all types of music, and I developed an ear for this stuff when I was doing reenactment. I played some in college with a group of musicians for a while, though my guitar skills were not quite up to the real task. I have a nice book of Ren music transcribed for guitar still. Since a lot of what I studied in college was medieval and renaissance history, and a lot of what I write has influences thereof, I tend to listen to it when I write. Having music on when I write is something I have done since junior high. Helps me tune out everything else. The advantage of this style of music is that most of what I have is either instrumental, or not in English, so I can't get sucked in to sing along. Should my French, Italian or German improve that might change. If I ever get off my butt and learn Latin it could also be trouble, though then I'll be singing along with the gregorian chant too. Two particular favorites, are the groups Anonymous 4, and Medieaval Baebes.
swordsmanship -- I blame Errol Flynn. How can I grow up on movies like The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, or Robin Hood, and not want to fight with swords. By my teenage years, you get iconic movies like Princess Bride, and Highlander. Again, who doesn't want to fight with swords. My brother got to take fencing in college. I'm a little jealous, because when I got there, they changed the rules, and I couldn't take fencing. So, I ended up doing medieval reenactment. Lots of fun, if not exactly accurate. There were some aspects of it that help me when I think about sword fights for writing purposes. Being on the field at Pennsic, in an army of a thousand plus, charging across a field at a similar sized force, or holding a bridge. That can't be easily replaced with the real thing (and live). Recently I've been reading and learning more historically accurate Western Martial Arts. Particularly the german schools and fighting manuals. Unfortunately, I'm doing too much reading and not enough practical work. Must get out and do.
sushi -- raw fish. mmmmmmmmm. I love sushi, sashimi, maki. All of it. In college when I belonged to the Japanese Cultural Association, I came to love sushi. We held a make your own sushi fundraiser. We got to teach people how to make rolls. (We only got to make non-raw fish items. Those had to be brought in, for safety's sake.) From that fundraiser on, I was hooked. Still not a fan of certain things, squid or octopus for example. But, I can just devour a huge plate of tuna, salmon, mackerel. Mmmmm. Thankfully, we have a lot of good restaurants local.
unitarian jihad -- In the Jihad, I am known as The Claymore of Sweet Reason. As far as I'm aware, it stems from this article. I'm a Unitarian Universalist (UU). Not long after the article came out, this spread through UU congregations, via email, chats, etc. The article is both humorous, and serious. It's a statement against religious extremism. I firmly support the notions in the article of tolerance, and calls to rationality. Not in the sense that one must be rational to the exclusion of faith, but that one should not use faith as an excuse to ignore rationality. And of course, it's fun to click on the Unitarian Jihad Name Generator. You can find more details about the concept and UU here.
I kinda didn't realize I'd gotten a response. I don't know why, but I do not consistently get email notifications. You also tagged eight items, so I selectively dumped single malt scotch--something I enjoy, but so rarely these days that there's not much interesting for me to say. (I'm no expert.)
adventure -- I love adventure stories. I grew up on tales like Robin Hood, King Arthur, and other such historical and fantastical accounts of adventure. As a kid, I often led others on our own little adventures, as much as you might find in a suburban landscape. The beauty of being a child, is that your mind can make the adventure seem real, even when trekking through backyards, or drainage pipes. I think that's why my favorite Tolkien book is still The Hobbit. It's an adventure, plain and simple. Lord of the Rings might be the grander, ultimate of his works, but I can sit and read The Hobbit just about any time. It's also why I've been playing D&D for nearly thirty years.
cheese -- cheddar, mozzarella, gouda, brie....the list goes on and on. I love cheese. There are meals that are not in someway improved by the presence of cheese. Not necessarily in every dish. But as an appetizer, or after. Especially accompanied by a good wine, and the right kinds of bread or crackers. Joy. My wife has to practically drag me past the cheese section at the Wegman's. I think she's resigned that when she sends me off to shop alone, I will invariably end up with some sort of cheese. The only kinds of cheese I'm not much a fan of are the blues. There are some I'll eat. Others I might tolerate, and over time, I admit I'm maturing my taste for them. My old adage of "No fungus, spores or molds" is being slowly nibbled away.
embroidery -- I did my first needlepoint at age five. My grandma taught me (she lived with us.) I don't know what happened with that one, but I recall it was a still life of two onions on a brown background. I've done a number of other projects since then. I have an uncanny knack for needlework in general, and I've done some embroidery for costuming. And a few pieces that are meant as tapestries. Now, mostly I just draw something free hand, and embroider what I like on top. I prefer Medieval style items, since that's something I love.
renaissance music -- I've been a musician since third grade when I first picked up the clarinet. I love all types of music, and I developed an ear for this stuff when I was doing reenactment. I played some in college with a group of musicians for a while, though my guitar skills were not quite up to the real task. I have a nice book of Ren music transcribed for guitar still. Since a lot of what I studied in college was medieval and renaissance history, and a lot of what I write has influences thereof, I tend to listen to it when I write. Having music on when I write is something I have done since junior high. Helps me tune out everything else. The advantage of this style of music is that most of what I have is either instrumental, or not in English, so I can't get sucked in to sing along. Should my French, Italian or German improve that might change. If I ever get off my butt and learn Latin it could also be trouble, though then I'll be singing along with the gregorian chant too. Two particular favorites, are the groups Anonymous 4, and Medieaval Baebes.
swordsmanship -- I blame Errol Flynn. How can I grow up on movies like The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, or Robin Hood, and not want to fight with swords. By my teenage years, you get iconic movies like Princess Bride, and Highlander. Again, who doesn't want to fight with swords. My brother got to take fencing in college. I'm a little jealous, because when I got there, they changed the rules, and I couldn't take fencing. So, I ended up doing medieval reenactment. Lots of fun, if not exactly accurate. There were some aspects of it that help me when I think about sword fights for writing purposes. Being on the field at Pennsic, in an army of a thousand plus, charging across a field at a similar sized force, or holding a bridge. That can't be easily replaced with the real thing (and live). Recently I've been reading and learning more historically accurate Western Martial Arts. Particularly the german schools and fighting manuals. Unfortunately, I'm doing too much reading and not enough practical work. Must get out and do.
sushi -- raw fish. mmmmmmmmm. I love sushi, sashimi, maki. All of it. In college when I belonged to the Japanese Cultural Association, I came to love sushi. We held a make your own sushi fundraiser. We got to teach people how to make rolls. (We only got to make non-raw fish items. Those had to be brought in, for safety's sake.) From that fundraiser on, I was hooked. Still not a fan of certain things, squid or octopus for example. But, I can just devour a huge plate of tuna, salmon, mackerel. Mmmmm. Thankfully, we have a lot of good restaurants local.
unitarian jihad -- In the Jihad, I am known as The Claymore of Sweet Reason. As far as I'm aware, it stems from this article. I'm a Unitarian Universalist (UU). Not long after the article came out, this spread through UU congregations, via email, chats, etc. The article is both humorous, and serious. It's a statement against religious extremism. I firmly support the notions in the article of tolerance, and calls to rationality. Not in the sense that one must be rational to the exclusion of faith, but that one should not use faith as an excuse to ignore rationality. And of course, it's fun to click on the Unitarian Jihad Name Generator. You can find more details about the concept and UU here.
And that, is a wrap.
Tags: