Getting to know you weirdos meme

[attackfish]

Ganked without attribution from people on other people's f-lists

I know very little about some of the people on my friends list. Some people I know relatively well. But here's a thought: why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: "Ah, there's Parker ...she likes money and cereal." I'd love it if everyone who's friended me did this. (Yes, even you people who I know really well.) Then post this in your own journal [only if you feel inclined]. In return, ask me anything you'd like to know about me and I'll give you an answer*.

*Providing it's answerable/suitable for public posting.

Comments

[wolfs-lament.livejournal.com]

Hi, umm I'm terrible at these kinds of questions. I've spent my childhood in the US and UK. Consequently, my spelling (which is bad anyway) periodically switches if I'm not careful.

... also I like bunnies.

Where in the World, if you had no limitations financially or otherwise, would you most like to travel to? (can be a place you've been to, or a place you want to go)

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Every time somebody tells me they like bunnies, I think of Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her terror of them.

There will be no spelling shame here. I can't spell worth a damn, and I have only recently improved to the point where spellcheck knows what I'm trying to say.

This is actually a difficult question, because my first consideration is always my poor health, but I would like to travel to Russia, and also to the Middle East, especially Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. I speak Russian, Hebrew and Arabic, and it breaks my heart that I can't travel to where those languages are spoken in every day conversation. Maybe Israel someday. They have good anti smoking laws.

Bunnies, bunnies, it must be bunnies!

[wolfs-lament.livejournal.com]

I guess that's why Anya and I will never be compatible. Which is a shame, because she is amazing.

Wow. My language skills are pretty poor, but if I could speak multiple languages, I'd want to be able to use them in their native countries too. Here's hoping you get the chance. Health really does put a damper on things. I have several friends who need to really plan before travelling because their illnesses mean that insurance costs a huge amount.

[floranna.livejournal.com]

I wish I could become a sea captain or a Hollywood actor.

But I can't and it breaks my heart.

What would be your ultimate dream job, no matter how 'silly'?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

YA fantasy writer in the south of France.

You would make an awesome sea captain.

[konrai.livejournal.com]

I live in Malaysia and have for the past 20 years though I grew up in California. My husband thinks I'm crazy 'cause I read so much:) Have you ever lived in another country than where you do now?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

No way, that's awesome!

No, and in fact, the only times I've even been outside the US were a day trip in Tijuana, and a stopover in Vancouver on my way to Alaska.

[konrai.livejournal.com]

Yeah I love it here. It's a beautiful place with amazing people and is home now with my kids and all here.:)

[somariel]

I have ideas for a bunch of original fiction stories as well as ATLA fanfics. (I have name lists for 16+ stories)

What's your favorite food?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Me too. My novel (and my tendency to delete whatever I wrote the day before) is becoming a running joke in my family.

I'm a huge foodie, and very culinarily adventurous (within the constraints of my illness) so trying to give a favorite food is nigh impossible. The one thing that I would be most absolutely devastated if I could never eat again, however, are honeybells. We had a tree in my yard when I was a kid, and I used to pick them and leave their shredded bodies all over the yard. My family nicknamed me "the orange vampire".

[iamhere23.livejournal.com]

Yey! I like this. I always feel like I don't know much about people in my friend list.
I'm studying Veterinary Medicine. I have two crazy dogs, Wallace and Cooper. I'm socially awkward most of the time.

What do you do for a living? Work? Study?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

That's so cool! Between us, my family and I have eleven dogs and seven birds. Two of the dogs and Five of the birds are mine, but since we live together, the distinction isn't that important.

I'm finishing my Political Science degree and working on applying for part time work for a first job.

[iamhere23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's pretty cool. I very much love what I do and study.
You must have a lot of space to handle that many pets! I would imagine it's kind of chaotic and lovely at the same time.
Hey, my brother studied Political Science too! He worked with the Mayor of my city for a couple of years, but he started his own coffee business afterwards. It has absolutely nothing to do with political science, but they are just so corrupted in my country that it's really hard to be involved in politics here (I live in Guatemala).

[lalunatique.livejournal.com]

I'm a freelance lawyer and translator working on my Ph.D. in law. My goal this year is to write my dissertation and the first draft of my first novel. I'm trying to work up the courage to start because I'm pretty sure I'll fail.

What books did you like when you were twelve? (Apropos of this: http://www2.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=16743 )

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I'm a few years behind you, translating and working on my bachelor's and writing a novel. Trying to get trough my fears of failure too.

I'm not sure it's that books can't have the same power on me that they did when I was twelve (and deeply socially isolated, let's face it) but it takes better books to do it. I was much more willing to trust an author and let them take me through the story. I was more willing to let my emotions be stripped raw by a book. When I want that same intensity now, I write.

Anyway, the actual answer was pretty much the ones I like now. I was reading the Abhorsen series, Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Theif books, Redwall, Harry Potter, Tamora Pierces Tortall books and Circle of Magic books, Lloyd Alexander, The Moorchild, Robin McKinley, The Chocolate War...

[lalunatique.livejournal.com]

I discovered the Abhorsen series in my early 30s and quite liked the books. I probably would have enjoyed them better in the target age, but as it were I was critical of some of the plot developments and the evident deus ex machina elements. I really enjoyed the fantastic setting and the unique look at death and necromancy, though.

I read Harry Potter throughout my university and post-university years (which shows my age) and was part of the fandom for a while. I read the first book in the Prydain series when I was in my young teens, then read them piecemeal as I found more books (pre-internet days--God I'm old). The conclusion to the series was a little bit of a letdown; it's another case of a book I probably would have enjoyed better as a young person.

Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown was a book I actually read in the target age, and it really did shake me to the foundations. Together with The Lord of the Rings, which would shortly become my teenage obsession, and Ivanhoe, another book that affected me deeply (though I think I'd have laughed at it if I were older), H&C started a lifelong obsession with strong heroines, fantasy, chivalry, and big sweeping stories.

[(Anonymous)]

I love going to shrines in Japan to buy amulets. They sell all sorts of amulets for everything, from luck in love to staying safe in traffic to getting pregnant to having success in your exams. I always buy the amulets that say they'll make money come your way.

What's the one story (fic, original, whatever) you'd be writing right now, if there was absolutely nothing stopping you?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

*pokes* who? Nele, is that you?

That's a difficult question, mostly because I generally don't hold myself back from writing what I want to write. However, if I didn't have a White Lotus fic, a Hurricane Sandy fic, and the #$@*& White Collar slavefic to write, I would be filling Kindle the Wind prompts. That's what sounds the most like fun right now. As far as fanworks more generally, if I had the computing power, I would make two vids, one set to Bryan Adams's (Everything I Do) I Do It For You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqoGmRM6ED8 about the horrible lengths Azula and Zuko to in order to compete for Ozai's love. The other is a vid set to Sara Bareilles's King Of Anything: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR7-AUmiNcA about Ursa and Ozai.

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

Is this for everyone or just people on your friends list?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

This is for everybody who reads this. Except possibly the couple of people who read this because we went to school together. I know more about them than I want to. ;p

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

I think more than is wise about scenarios where I would be disabled again, up to and including a zombie apocalypse.

What makes you read-- and, having read, like-- a fanfic?

[danceswithwaves.livejournal.com]

I came back to this because I wasn't feeling very inspired the other day. Basic stuff about me would be...I lived on a boat last year and will do so again this coming spring, and I hope to go to grad school for Marine Policy.

But what I really want to do is write novels, and while I'm currently between jobs and school (after I finish applications), I'm trying to finish my second ever novel. (The first one I started in middle school and never finished -- it's currently in my file cabinet and not coming out anytime soon.) I'm afraid I won't actually finish it ever.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

My grandmother lived on a boat with her second husband for a while.

You and me both. I'm a political science student, but if I could do anything, it would be to write YA fantasy novels. I finished my middle school novel in 9th grade, and I reread bits of it on occasion, when I need a reminder that I've gotten better. I hope...

[water-soter.livejournal.com]

Well, I was born in the US but was raised in Mexico, right at the border. I'm fluent in Spanish and I taught myself to write in English so I could become an author. I'm also studying film since I want to be a screenwriter, director, editor, animator and novelist. Heh, I can also cook, so if you ever need some good recipes, I'm your gal! :-P

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I grew up on just the other side of the border in New Mexico. I'm also a really good cook, and it's what I do to de-stress, so I might have to take you up on those recipes.