colorlessgreenideas

1. What is your favorite sport to watch?

I like a few, and none of them enough to pay much money for. I like a number of Olympic events, but I like the Olympics itself more (I'm a sap for it). I love women's soccer, but mostly for the women. Oh, and ice hockey. And speed skating.

2. What is your favorite sport to play?

Hockey. It was the only sport I was ever any good at, and the boys actually wanted me on their team. I play left-handed, which comes in handy. Stupid PMS splitting up the teams... *grumbles*

3. Favorite sports team?

Nah. Don't have one. But, I'm not generally any kind of fan of the teams native to wherever I'm living.

4. Favorite sports player?

Abby Wambach. She's phenomenal as a player, but that's not the big reason. I like her attitude and her style.

5. Why do you enjoy watching/playing your favorite sport?

I like watching sports that flow, or have some sort of grace about them. I don't like football, but oddly, I don't like basketball, either. I don't know; some sports just feel better than others do.

1. What smell brings you a fond memory?
The smell of marshes in warm weather makes me all nostalgic for Poquoson and Chincoteague. And the smell of almost-but-not-quite open sewage makes me think of Germany.

2. What song makes you nostalgic?
Frank Sinatra by Cake makes me all nostalgic for winter afternoons with Leslie in Saalfeld, and for the day I clung to the back of her bike as we went up to one of the old manor houses that overlooked the city.

3. What taste reminds you of school?
Taste, hmmm.... I suppose cheap chocolate milk would do that.

4. Which season makes you remember the most things in your past?
Right between late summer and early fall, as schools go back into session.

5. Which memory do you treasure?
Just one?? Lordy, I don't think I could even narrow it down to just 100...
But, for the sake of brevity, I'll pick a random one. When I was 17, I came out to myself during the summer between 11th and 12th grades. I went to the bookstore and bought queer themed books, the best being a collection of lesbian short fiction. I didn't feel comfortable reading at home, so I went over to the Nolan Trail, hiked halfway, and tucked myself into a bench overlooking the water. It was hot, so I took my shirt off (it was a semi-secluded spot), and just read the whole book there. Much of that summer felt like I was coming alive for the first time.

1. What's something you're really good at doing?
Putting things off until the last minute. Hence, still waiting for my laundry to finish when I had planned to leave for VA at 9.

2. What's your best character trait?
Empathy. Most of the time.

3. What do people often compliment you about?
Being easy to talk to.

4. What's one of the nicest things you've ever done for someone?
Hm. I'm not sure that the things I did for my kids count, since, even though I wanted to help them, it was still part of my job. And really, I tend to overthink the not-nice things I do far more than the nice ones. But the other day I gave a bag of chips to a homeless lady.

5. What's your best physical attribute?
My feet and ankles.

Comment with BLUE SNOOD and I'll give you five questions to satisfy my curiosity. Go post the answers on your journal with these instructions and spread the madness! (Although really, I don't have many friends here, and I don't feel like cross-posting this, so I'm not expected much in the way of responses.)

So, my questions, courtesy of everchangingmuse are as follows:

1. What language do you wish you were fluent in that you've not yet studied, and why?
French. It's so widespread around the world, and I'd love to travel more in languages other than English. It's one of those Cultural languages, in a way, with a capitol C, that makes me think of cafe and museums and Fancy Things. And I just feel like I should know it, in a way, so it confuses me sometimes when I run across French and don't understand it.

2. What is one skill you've always wished you had time to learn, and why?
Auto repair. It's so useful! And so masculine and hands-on! There's something so satisfying about doing that sort of thing myself, but I'm at a total lose whenever I open the hood. I manage to feel silly even just checking the oil. And being underneath a car that's only up on those little riser things? Terrifying. It's the sort of thing that someone would need to really hold my hand and lead me through each and every step, and be very patient with me.

3. Are the winters in Georgia as bad as the ones in Virginia?
I'd say they're moderately more pleasant, but I've only lived in this one part of GA. I haven't been to the mountains here or the coast. We got snow once last winter, compared to the epic dumping that VA got. But neither VA nor GA compares with Colorado or Germany in terms of winter.

4. To where are you hoping to relocate when you've finished with grad school?
I'm torn between Denver and Virginia. I'd love to go back to VA, since most of my family and so many of my friends are there, but I hate the idea of not being out at work, especially if I work in a school. Denver (last I checked) has more GLBT protections, at least at the local level, and the city is generally more progressive than most cities in VA. I'm not ruling out the possibility of going somewhere completely different, either, even to a different country, if a good job is there.

5. Who is the hottest sci-fi character of all time?
Oh MAN! This is hard!! I'm not going to be the best judge, either, since there's so much sci-fi I'm not very familiar with. Also, so many female characters start off with such potential, then the writers decide to make them all stereotypically female and hook them up with the male lead/ get them knocked up/ put them in dire peril such that the male lead must rescue them. I think, though, that I'll go with Inara from Firefly. Yes.

Day 9: A song from your favourite band.

Trouble with this one is, I don't have a favorite band. Really. The artists that show up most frequently on my Top Rated playlist are individuals, not bands. On my Top 25 Most Played playlist, the only band with more than one entry is Maná. So I guess I'll go with them (and I do have a Pandora station for them that I've been listening to a lot of lately).

Maná - Ojalá Pudiera Borrarte

Ojalá y te me esfumaras de mis sueños, vida mía
Para no volverte a ver
No, ni en sueños


In other news, I'm once again torn regarding my upcoming NaNo. The story I'd "settled" on hasn't been excited me as much as I'd hoped, and I'm still all excited about last year's story. I'm wondering if the second installment of Things Falling From the Front actually has more potential. I can throw in crazy inbred recluses, if necessary, and even an Immortal (must come up with better name, though). Sure, Book One still needs hella revisions, but those revisions don't need to happen before Book Two gets going. Basically, Book One needs to be broken down and built back up again, boot camp style. Something to do this spring, I guess. If I take on Book Two (which includes the former Book Three), it may not so much matter than I don't have characters the way I want. It's NaNo. I can figure out the reality of how everyone got there, then twist it into the realty/mythology of the people living there now. Documents will have been destroyed, oral histories have been twisted over the generations. I already have a firm grasp on the 5 visiting travelers. Since it's NaNo, it won't, by definition, be in it's perfect form, so I can experiment as I did with the first Book. All 5 voices can be heard, and then some. I can tell stories from perspectives of dead people.

All right, I think I've talked myself into another novel flip-flop.

Day 07 - A song that you can dance to

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
I can no longer deny my love for Lady Gaga. Not despite her crazy as hell lyrics and outfits, but because of them. Because soldiers dance to her songs and post videos on youtube, because she speaks out against DADT, and because I find myself singing along to her songs and loving every second of it.

I want your ugly
I want your disease
I want your everything
as long as it's free
I want your love


McCreary midterm tomorrow afternoon; Chinese midterm on Monday. Semantics will be offered next semester, which makes me sad because I might not be able to take it, but I'm sure I can sit in and learn something anyways.

All I want to do right now is novel.

A song that reminds you of somewhere

Toploader - Dancing in the Moonlight
I saw this song live at the St. Gallen music festival in Switzerland. Wyclef Jean was there, too, and there were inflated condoms in the air.

Dancing in the moonlight
Everybody's feeling warm and bright
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody dancing in the moonlight

1) What is your favorite mode of travel? (Car, train, plane, etc).
Train. You can see all the scenery going by, and get up to use the bathroom when you need to, or nap if you want to, and not worry about driving.

2) Where is the northernmost place you've traveled? The southernmost?
Northernmost: Germany
Southernmost: Costa Rica

3) What is the last place you visited for the first time?
Um... Lawrenceville? Or maybe Decatur? Yeah, it was Decatur.

4) Of all the places you've traveled, which is your favorite?
Unfair question! If this means, where would I return for another visit/stay if I could, I think I'll pick Dresden.

5) Where would you most like to travel to next?
Istanbul.

I don't think I ever posted the whole list for the writing meme here, so here it is, for sharing purposes.

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.
2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?
3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you're writing about fictional places)?
4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!
5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?
6. Where are you most comfortable writing? At what time of day? Computer or good ol' pen and paper?
7. Do you listen to music while you write? What kind? Are there any songs you like to relate/apply to your characters?
8. What's your favorite genre to write? To read?
9. How do you get ideas for your characters? Describe the process of creating them.
10. What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!
11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?
12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you'd like to share?
13. What's your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing? ;)
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you've never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let's talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there's nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!