Interview meme!

[beandelphiki]

Blah, there's been some big weather changes in my area lately - I mean, totally bipolar weather changes. Icy, foggy snowfall which then rebounded back to warm, slushy temperatures. My wrists are stiff and hurty because of it, and the Boss's Daughter is having so much trouble with her back that she basically only worked four hours on Thursday, despite being scheduled to work all day. It SUCKS.


Also, I finally managed to find the time and energy to write down the answers to the questions euclase asked me for an interview meme. These are damn good questions, too:

I know you're an Ender-verse fan. Which book of the series is your favorite? Which characters are your favorites?

(Mild spoilers follow.)

It's probably fairly apparent that my all-time favourite character is Bean. Simply because of Bean, then, my favourite Enderverse book is Ender's Shadow. I acknowledge Ender's Game as the technically better book (in fact, it's an utterly brilliant book), but Shadow is my truest, imperfect love.

Other people have found the way Shadow meshes with Game to be trite, and to undermine what made the latter so special. I disagree with that; I suppose that's partially because I wasn't as enthralled by Game in the first place. But mostly, I think that what made Game work is untouchable by Shadow. So what if Ender has been re-written into a scheme partially created by a member of his own army? He was always part of a game he didn't fully realize the extent of - that's the whole point. Ender is a hero despite - and in many ways, because of - his ignorance.

Bean was never meant to be a character to "show up" Ender. He's superior to Ender in many ways, true, but I don't think Ender was ever necessarily meant to be the most intelligent student (although it was certainly made clear that he's among the smartest), any more than he was the strongest or the fastest. He was the best leader.

And so I've always liked Bean because I so related to him - always the smartest, but never the best, and certainly never the hero. (Also the ways in which young Bean thinks are very similar to the way I thought as a child: his inner "voice" sounds eerily like mine.) Simply being the smartest is never enough; Bean somehow lacks a certain aura which makes Ender what he is. And he KNOWS it, which is a significant difference right there between him and Ender.

(As if this answer isn't long enough, I thought I might add that I suppose this is part of what I adore so much about House - that here is another character who is frighteningly similar to me, and yet without being an Ender, he IS the hero.)

When did you first come out? Was it difficult for you? Anything you would've done differently?

It was a lengthy process, but I started by coming out to a good friend of mine during summer vacation before eleventh grade...so a month or so before my sixteenth birthday.

It was not a picnic, and I went through a bout of depression that I very much would never want to see again. I dropped out of school and hermitted myself in my bedroom to the point that I lost the ability to speak at a normal conversational volume (which I had to re-learn). I chose to end my self-imposed retreat from the world when I learned that I couldn't force myself to speak to my parents above a scratchy whisper - that scared me very deeply. I thought, That's what crazy people are like! And I've always been terrified beyond words at the idea of being crazy.

But I DID go back to school, found myself a little niche in theatre; and even by the time I first got this lj, was much more self-assured.

And I truly don't know what I would have done differently, except that I wish I had progressed with a bit more patience, and a little less angst and hormones. But don't we ALL wish that of our teenage years.

You've had a really shitty day. What music do you put on?

I'm a mood-music person. I very rarely actually try to change my mood with music...I prefer my music to reflect how I feel.

So that said, there's a good chance it would be some of the very little rock I own. My favourite thing to play when I'm pissed or upset is probably the Hedwig and the Angry Inch show album. In particular, "Tear Me Down."

In general, I just suck at owning "angry young man" music. Or even "angry young woman" music, although I may have more of that. My sister refers to my collection as, "that elevator Muzak," to give a clue.

I do really, really love to play Hedwig when I'm pissed, though.

Were you more likely to build forts or climb trees as a kid? (Or neither like me? Lol)

I was a Calvinball/Spaceman Spiff/trusted stuffed animal kid. Had no friends and dragged my teddy bear Peabody everywhere with me. We were always outside, so we did whatever the outdoors offered - I think that was mainly climbing trees (because the backyard at our Saskatoon home had a line of very climb-able crab apple trees stretching to the back gate), but in the winter we made snow forts.

Of course, when my family moved to Calgary, we discovered that the trees out here are very scrawny and useless.

So naturally then, I became a champion fence-scaler.

What's the car of your dreams? What's in the glovebox of the car of your dreams?

Ah, this one's tough. I don't really have a dream car. I do want to own a pickup truck someday. (Can't explain why...just love pickups.) In the glovebox...hmm. Probably several maps of different kinds. Less because I like the idea of road traveling than because I can't seem to consistently read maps well, and I'd want to cross-reference my routes. (I have decent visual-spatial skills, and a good sense of direction, but both seem to desert me when I'm looking at a map.)

Also in the glovebox: probably several books I have on the go and have shoved in there and forgotten about. A snack - like a granola bar, or a bag of pumpkin seeds. Various pills - pain pills, Tums, I AM known for being a bit of a walking pharmacy. Probably a small collection of old movie tickets. A drug reference guide, maybe my anatomy flash cards - they'd probably be handier in there than anywhere else. A lightsabre magic wand sonic screwdriver multitool of some sort, I'm sure.

I don't know, really! That's not really a "dream" glovebox (that one would play my personal theme song whenever I opened it), but that is probably what would be in it. Oh, and it would be taped shut to keep it from exploding.

/interview


And although the interview meme has been done before, I've never participated before, so I extend this to my flist. Comment and say you want to be interviewed, and I'll ask you five questions.

I don't promise them to be as good as these were, though.

Comments

[katster.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested in participating.

Also, I like the Shadow books, because they expose a different part of the story, namely, how did Peter go from being the asshat we see in Game to Hegemon? Besides that, seeing Bean from a different angle made the books completely worth it. I don't think they detract from Ender -- I think they tell parts of the story we would have otherwise not heard.

-kat

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Besides that, seeing Bean from a different angle made the books completely worth it. I don't think they detract from Ender -- I think they tell parts of the story we would have otherwise not heard.

Absolutely. Ender's side is more tightly focused, which works. But it's nice to have more of the background, too.

Okay, sorry for the delay re: the questions. I can't brain at all after work most days.


1. Since we kicked this off with Enderverse: if you had to name your top five sci-fi authors, who would they be and why?

2. NaNoWriMo - you've been a lot more successful than other people on my list at keeping up the crazy pace required for that. What's your secret? And what have you done with the stuff you've written?

3. I gotta ask - why is the city you live in (I'm assuming it's a city) called "Antelope"? (If you don't actually know, feel free to make shit up.)

4. What are the first three career goals you can ever remember having? If none of those are your current career, why did you abandon them? If one is, what made you stick with it?

5. MBTI type? You may or may not have answered my poll on that some time back - as I tend to say though, I've got a memory like a goldfish. And did you decide yourself what type you are, or take the actual MBTI?

[teyla]

You don't have a dream car! Omg!

Hee, I love cars. Always have. Sadly, I have a very expensive taste, so I probably won't ever be driving my dream car (which is an Alfa Romeo Spider and looks like this - mhmm, so pretty *purrs*). Also, one of the main reasons I keep watching Supernatural is their Chevy Impala. Sigh... xD

Right! Questions! I'd love some, if you don't mind :D.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I'm purely practical about possessions. Because I WANT them. And I will HAVE them. It's compulsive. LOL. Therefore, best not to want anything too expensive, lest I someday sell everything I own just to have a pretty car.

Okay, questions...I'm not so creative as Licia, so this was way harder than I anticipated, but I finally got some!


1. Any fandom, including fiction and RPF (if you read any): what's the most bizarre pairing you've ever read? Written? Read and enjoyed, and wished it was canon?

2. How far back do your current career ambitions go, i.e. do you remember what made you want to be a screenwriter?

3. How did you learn English? What method/resource helped the most? Oh, and was it harder to learn to listen to/speak it, or read/write it?

4. You've invented a new alcoholic drink. What does it taste like, and what do you call it?

5. You are granted the power to change one thing about yourself. BUT it cannot be physical, and it can't be something that would universally be seen as negative (e.g. a nasty temper, alcoholism, etc.). What trait, if any, would you change?

[haleth.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't mind being interviewed... I don't think, anyway.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Wow, your questions were the absolute hardest to come up with for some reason. I think it has something to do with having known you longer/better than other people who've asked. Huh.

1. As much as you can put it into words, what's the best thing about being a parent - the thing that makes everything worth it?

2. If you could play ANY musical instrument in the world - assume talent, cost, etc. are non-issues - what would you choose to play? Why?

3. You have your house and the day completely to yourself - what do you do?

4. How did you learn to knit, and how old were you? What was the first thing you can remember knitting?

5. You can revisit ONE memory of your life, and re-experience it (without altering it, that'd cause a paradox!). Which memory do you pick? (That you're willing to publicly admit, anyway.)

[euclase.livejournal.com]

I *adore* your answer to that first question. And I agree with most of it. I usually think of Ender's Game as being a history for the other books in the series and not necessarily the book or even the best book. It's like The Hobbit, in a way. And I like Ender's Shadow, too, although I have to admit my baby is Speaker for the Dead. ;)

However, I'm appalled that you don't have a dream car. *stern look*

J/K. At least your glovebox will be completely fascinating. XD

Thank you for answering all of these questions so thoughtfully, my dear, and for sharing some moments from your past. Oh, and no questions necessary for me. Unless there's something you're desperately curious about! And if that's the case, I can probably just answer it here. ♥

[siegeengine.livejournal.com]

Lamborghini Murcielago, or a mid '80s Countach, definitely. Er... ye don't have to interview me, though... we've probably covered all that already.