Interests? Interesting, that!
Sep. 19th, 2005 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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juno_magic:
Look at your LJ "interests" list.
If you have fewer than 50 interests, pick every fifth one. If you have between fifty and seventy-five interests, pick every seventh one. If you have over seventy-five interests, pick every tenth one. If you have fewer than ten, pick all of 'em.
List them on your LJ, and tell everyone exactly what it is about these things that interests you so much.
1. Al Qadim
OK, I'll say it out loud. I'm a gamer. Honestly, I really a recovered non-gamer. ;) I started playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 6th grade, and I've been hooked on role playing games ever since. I currently run a D&D game that my daughter plays in, and sharing that game with her is one of the great joys of my life. Al Qadim was the AD&D "Arabian Nights" setting that I played in college and loved so very much. I'm always looking for an excuse to bring that setting back to life. The setting hasn't been revived for 3.5th Edition D&D, but spearheading a fan-based revival is high on my "wish list" of things I wish I had time to do.
2. Bedlam
As a dyed-in-the-wool Renaissance Faire playtron, I'm a fan of many Ren Faire bands. Bedlam is one of them. I have oft heard them referred to as "the Simon & Garfunkel of the Ren Faire circuit." I'm particularly fond of the drummer that used to tag along with them...
3. Ethnic Food
If it's something I haven't tasted yet, I want to try it! I have been accused of nurturing a Wanderlust, and I suppose ethnic food is how I feed that habit between journeys. I am especially drawn to new spices, beers, meats, and fruits.
4. Good Eats
This is my favorite TV show in the entire world. It's the first show listed on my TiVo. If I had been camera-oriented instead of math/computer-oriented, this is the TV show I would have made. It's quirky and retro in style while merging chemistry, physics, food history, nutritional anthropology, and cooking technique to give the audience a holistic understanding of each episode's featured ingredient/dish/technique. The host, Alton Brown is my hero. He describes himself as a "really groovy home economics teacher." He is nothing short of genius with visual aids and non-traditional teaching techniques. The teacher in me is soooooo jealous!
5. Kurt Busiek
Once upon a time, I almost gave up on comic books. My favorite artist and writer was John Byrne, hereafter to be know as "That Fickle Bastard." He was half of the duo that launched The X-Men to their current superstar status, and went on to revive the Fantastic Four and make the She-Hulk the sexier than Wonder Woman. He completely retooled Superman, invented Alpha Flight, and dabbled in the creator-owned publishing fad with John Byrne's Next Men. He's a phenomenal writer, pulling in themes from classic literature (classic here means Greek, not Golden Age Superman). He also has a short attention span. He would breathe life into a new or previously dead franchise, and then just when it got good, it would just stop.
That Fickle Bastard had just deserted me One More Time and I went into my local comic store (Graham Crackers in Chicagoland) to bitch and moan. The proprietor listened to my tale of woe, commiserated some, and offered me a new title. It was Astro City by Kurt Busiek. He said, "This title is exactly what you're looking for. I guarantee it. If you don't like it, return it and I'll give you your money back." I never returned it.
Kurt is one of the great writers in comics today, and not because he writes in a non-comics vein. Kurt takes the depth of the styles you find in Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and That Fickle Bastard and brings it to bear on good, old-fashioned superhero stories. It's a more postmodern look at the superhero (not unlike Superfolks or the Disney/Pixar remake called the Incredibles) that makes the five-color newsprint character a human depth. In this way, the out-of-this-world powers and scenarios become a comfortable context to explore human issues. Busiek transmutes comics into postmodern myth. Lately, he's been writing Conan for Dark Horse and he recently restarted Astro City for DC/Homage. Read him.
6. Nigella Lawson
Wow. She's only the sexiest personality in cooking today. Nigella is the only person higher on my list of "Who I want to cook with" thanskiafoxmorgan. She's not a chef, rather she got her start as a party planner. That makes her take on food and the kitchen much less academic and more about the experience. Her work is laden is sensualist imagery, relating food to colors or sounds in a gourmand's synesthesia. Her first book was "How to Be A Domestic Goddess," and everything about her, her shows, and her writing is pure ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
food_porn. *sigh*
7. Renaissance Faires
Way back in time, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, some college friends of ours were dabbling in the Society for Creative Anachronism. They dragged us to our first Ren Faire at Bristol, Wisconsin (outside of Chicago). We quickly fell in love with the whole anachronist scene, but didn't really immerse ourselves. Years later, when we moved to Florida, it was February and we hadn't really made any friends yet. We found our local Faire, FlaRF and found many of the same performers that we remembered from the Faire in Chicago. That's when the Ren Faire became home, and we began the long slide into playtrons (and now forginger_rose and robyn_badfellow, performers). I was just remarking last week that I didn't feel "normal" without my garb any more... I'm just not fully dressed without my big floppy yellow sleeves!
8. Rennies
You can't spend much time at the Faire without falling in love with Rennies. I've had old Rennies tell me that they never found the community that they sought in the 60's until they started the Ren Faire circuit. There is something very seductive about the artsy, anachronistic, neo-gypsy subculture of the Rennie. Maybe it calls to my "conservative hippie" upbringing, maybe it's the Lorelei calling me away from my Dilbert-esque eternity in Limbo, I'm not sure. I don't think I can ignore the call for much longer...
9. Strangers in Paradise
There is something very special about this comic. Strangers in Paradise isn't a superhero comic. It's about a small handful of people and their relationships. It explores the edges of alternative lifestyles in a very approachable, human way. Terry Moore is a phenomenal writer, and I dare you not to fall in love with Katchoo, Francine, and David.
10. Women
I have been blessed to know some incredible women in my life. Many of them are on my LJ Flist. What can I say? I've learned that I enjoy being surrounded by strong, intelligent, beautiful women. If it weren't for our long-time houseguest, Zed, I'd be the only male in the house.
11. Wyldefyre
OK, I had to cheat a little to make this fit the pattern of "sevens," but I'm still the only person on LJ with Wyldefyre as an interest. I plan to remedy that by listing it here. Wyldefyre is a local South Florida Rennie band that sings "traditional music of the British Isles." Their new CD should debut at the Sarasota Faire on 15 OCT 05, and maybe I'll be able to actually get my own copy of their music then... HINT!! HINT!!
juno_magic:Look at your LJ "interests" list.
If you have fewer than 50 interests, pick every fifth one. If you have between fifty and seventy-five interests, pick every seventh one. If you have over seventy-five interests, pick every tenth one. If you have fewer than ten, pick all of 'em.
List them on your LJ, and tell everyone exactly what it is about these things that interests you so much.
1. Al Qadim
OK, I'll say it out loud. I'm a gamer. Honestly, I really a recovered non-gamer. ;) I started playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 6th grade, and I've been hooked on role playing games ever since. I currently run a D&D game that my daughter plays in, and sharing that game with her is one of the great joys of my life. Al Qadim was the AD&D "Arabian Nights" setting that I played in college and loved so very much. I'm always looking for an excuse to bring that setting back to life. The setting hasn't been revived for 3.5th Edition D&D, but spearheading a fan-based revival is high on my "wish list" of things I wish I had time to do.
2. Bedlam
As a dyed-in-the-wool Renaissance Faire playtron, I'm a fan of many Ren Faire bands. Bedlam is one of them. I have oft heard them referred to as "the Simon & Garfunkel of the Ren Faire circuit." I'm particularly fond of the drummer that used to tag along with them...
3. Ethnic Food
If it's something I haven't tasted yet, I want to try it! I have been accused of nurturing a Wanderlust, and I suppose ethnic food is how I feed that habit between journeys. I am especially drawn to new spices, beers, meats, and fruits.
4. Good Eats
This is my favorite TV show in the entire world. It's the first show listed on my TiVo. If I had been camera-oriented instead of math/computer-oriented, this is the TV show I would have made. It's quirky and retro in style while merging chemistry, physics, food history, nutritional anthropology, and cooking technique to give the audience a holistic understanding of each episode's featured ingredient/dish/technique. The host, Alton Brown is my hero. He describes himself as a "really groovy home economics teacher." He is nothing short of genius with visual aids and non-traditional teaching techniques. The teacher in me is soooooo jealous!
5. Kurt Busiek
Once upon a time, I almost gave up on comic books. My favorite artist and writer was John Byrne, hereafter to be know as "That Fickle Bastard." He was half of the duo that launched The X-Men to their current superstar status, and went on to revive the Fantastic Four and make the She-Hulk the sexier than Wonder Woman. He completely retooled Superman, invented Alpha Flight, and dabbled in the creator-owned publishing fad with John Byrne's Next Men. He's a phenomenal writer, pulling in themes from classic literature (classic here means Greek, not Golden Age Superman). He also has a short attention span. He would breathe life into a new or previously dead franchise, and then just when it got good, it would just stop.
That Fickle Bastard had just deserted me One More Time and I went into my local comic store (Graham Crackers in Chicagoland) to bitch and moan. The proprietor listened to my tale of woe, commiserated some, and offered me a new title. It was Astro City by Kurt Busiek. He said, "This title is exactly what you're looking for. I guarantee it. If you don't like it, return it and I'll give you your money back." I never returned it.
Kurt is one of the great writers in comics today, and not because he writes in a non-comics vein. Kurt takes the depth of the styles you find in Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and That Fickle Bastard and brings it to bear on good, old-fashioned superhero stories. It's a more postmodern look at the superhero (not unlike Superfolks or the Disney/Pixar remake called the Incredibles) that makes the five-color newsprint character a human depth. In this way, the out-of-this-world powers and scenarios become a comfortable context to explore human issues. Busiek transmutes comics into postmodern myth. Lately, he's been writing Conan for Dark Horse and he recently restarted Astro City for DC/Homage. Read him.
6. Nigella Lawson
Wow. She's only the sexiest personality in cooking today. Nigella is the only person higher on my list of "Who I want to cook with" than
skiafoxmorgan. She's not a chef, rather she got her start as a party planner. That makes her take on food and the kitchen much less academic and more about the experience. Her work is laden is sensualist imagery, relating food to colors or sounds in a gourmand's synesthesia. Her first book was "How to Be A Domestic Goddess," and everything about her, her shows, and her writing is pure food_porn. *sigh*7. Renaissance Faires
Way back in time, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, some college friends of ours were dabbling in the Society for Creative Anachronism. They dragged us to our first Ren Faire at Bristol, Wisconsin (outside of Chicago). We quickly fell in love with the whole anachronist scene, but didn't really immerse ourselves. Years later, when we moved to Florida, it was February and we hadn't really made any friends yet. We found our local Faire, FlaRF and found many of the same performers that we remembered from the Faire in Chicago. That's when the Ren Faire became home, and we began the long slide into playtrons (and now for
ginger_rose and robyn_badfellow, performers). I was just remarking last week that I didn't feel "normal" without my garb any more... I'm just not fully dressed without my big floppy yellow sleeves!8. Rennies
You can't spend much time at the Faire without falling in love with Rennies. I've had old Rennies tell me that they never found the community that they sought in the 60's until they started the Ren Faire circuit. There is something very seductive about the artsy, anachronistic, neo-gypsy subculture of the Rennie. Maybe it calls to my "conservative hippie" upbringing, maybe it's the Lorelei calling me away from my Dilbert-esque eternity in Limbo, I'm not sure. I don't think I can ignore the call for much longer...
9. Strangers in Paradise
There is something very special about this comic. Strangers in Paradise isn't a superhero comic. It's about a small handful of people and their relationships. It explores the edges of alternative lifestyles in a very approachable, human way. Terry Moore is a phenomenal writer, and I dare you not to fall in love with Katchoo, Francine, and David.
10. Women
I have been blessed to know some incredible women in my life. Many of them are on my LJ Flist. What can I say? I've learned that I enjoy being surrounded by strong, intelligent, beautiful women. If it weren't for our long-time houseguest, Zed, I'd be the only male in the house.
11. Wyldefyre
OK, I had to cheat a little to make this fit the pattern of "sevens," but I'm still the only person on LJ with Wyldefyre as an interest. I plan to remedy that by listing it here. Wyldefyre is a local South Florida Rennie band that sings "traditional music of the British Isles." Their new CD should debut at the Sarasota Faire on 15 OCT 05, and maybe I'll be able to actually get my own copy of their music then... HINT!! HINT!!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 07:47 pm (UTC)That's so awesome that you play it with your daughter!
How about a few YouSendIts? So we can get to know their music? And do they ship to Europe?
(Oh, and who is Zed?)
no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 08:24 pm (UTC)But seriously, I agree. It's another "revenge" upon my parents. They couldn't celebrate this part of my life with me, so I shall celebrate it with my own children. ;)
If I can get my hands on their music, I'll send you something. Their webmistress,
Zed is a nickname that my good friend Rico earned serving hard cider and rum runners at our local Ren Faire this year. We were in college together when my girls were small, and he worked with me for a while in Chicago. Right now, he's between jobs and going to nursing school while living in our guest room.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-19 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-20 05:18 am (UTC)You didn't already have <> on your interests list????
Oh, I am so ashamed. I have failed in my training of you as a proper Wench.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-20 01:47 pm (UTC)