(no subject)
Mar. 20th, 2008 02:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowanberriesI'm off for Easter weekend tomorrow - going to the Isle of Wight to see relatives, get rained on and eat too much. Therefore, I should really do that meme I said I would ages ago. Right then! That Blogger Meme, let's go.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
matgb asked about my political leanings. To be honest, politics tend to worry me - it often seems like they'll all promise anything to get into power, then spend the next four years paralysed by terror that if they do anything slightly risky, they Won't Get Re-elected. It'd really be better if they made the most of their time and really went for what their real beliefs were, even if it was unpopular with some of the electorate. Then at least we'd know. It also worries me that it seems impossible for anyone apart from huge, pre-established, commercially-funded parties to have a shot, meaning they are and always will be dependent on private companies. Mostly, though, it worries me because I know so little about it, and makes me feel bad when I vote - which I still do, that's a right I'm very proud to have, thanks - and makes me feel guilty, too. What if I help vote in someone who screws up further down the line? I do, however, feel that we've improved a great deal, politically. My area of study is post-War Britain, and ouch. We could be doing worse.
agonistes asked 'What are you doing your degree in and why?' I'm studying single-honours History at the University of Sussex. It's... going to sound stupid, but I essentially settled on History because it's what I did best in at A-level and GCSE. :S I also, however, really got interested when I was sixteen and we suddenly studied actual themes. It was like a book or movie plot that was obligated to make sense! Because it's real! I'm also uncomfortably aware that I'm very unsure as to what I want to do with my life so far, so a degree that kept my options open-ended seemed like a good idea. Picking my course and university was a little arbitrary, but worked out very well - the University of Sussex houses a large amount of research, most notably the Mass-Observation archive. Although we've studied a huge variety of periods over the three years, my dissertation is on the 1950s housewife, so the diaries and interviews contained therein are extremely useful. :)
apiphile asked... 'Tell me about the novel you'd write if you had all the time in the world, and someone to keep you paid while you wrote it, etc.' Oh man, there are so many. But the one I like most at the moment is the one where a secret society based on a UK university campus start recruiting/contacting random people as they start demonstrating telepathic or empathic abilities. Nobody has any idea why, and in most cases, they barely affect them/other people at all, so it becomes a massive (but secret!) investigation to try and figure out who's unconsciously influencing other people, who's just really persuasive, and who the hell else knows about this? 'Cause there's got to be an evil opposing force or what's the point? They also train people once they find them to work in pairs, (projected emotions + subtle telepathy = practically indistinguishable from target's own thoughts. Yay morally questionable behaviour!) become psychic ninjas and go influence corrupt trials and corrupt politics and stuff. Because there's no way that'll backfire. My main characters are ridiculously ordinary, except for one, who's ridiculously good and true and moral and unusually strong for a telepath, and another one, whose empathy is initially off the scale, uncontrollable, and makes them cruel, pissy and dysfunctional. Guess which two get paired up to fight the most important crime? *Happy sigh* And now I shut up.
*Laughs*wanderlustlover asked, 'What are your thoughts on yaoi? Or tell us of your favorite underwear and why you love them so?' Others have answered the yaoi question far better than I, so I shall simply say that I have no problems with it, and pretty boys are a very reasonable interest. Onto the knickers! My favourite undies are, first and foremost, comfortable. Screw thongs. There is nothing sexy about a string up the jacksy, thanks. Instead - ones that fit really well. Seriously. They're skin-tight, and show off practically all the skin in the world anyway, while still being comfortable under a skirt or jeans, or whatever. Mostly, mine are either red or black, and so long as they're clean, fit, and the elastic isn't going, they're awesome. Um. Other underwear is obviously bras, being a girl. Bras are awesome: again, if they fit. My favourite pair at the moment is actually white, breaking my formerly all-black collection. It fits, it's comfortable, is supporting - if you don't know this for some reason, VERY IMPORTANT - and also has tiny little sparkles on it, for some reason. I can forgive it's not being red or black for sparkles.
And finally...
birdseyeview asked, 'Sports! Like them, don't like them, don't care?' Ummm. Mostly that third option. I like playing most sports - my hand-eye coordination is okay, and exercise endorphins always make you feel nice and worthy after playing for a bit, and I have a competitive streak. What bores me is watching them - particularly on TV. Yawn. ('Oh look. I have no idea who that is. He's kicking a ball. Now somebody else is. Now somebody's scored. Which side? Ah. Who are they? And are we supporting them? Can I go now?') No. I'll go watch somebody I know play. I'll happily play myself. But the huge culture around popular teams, particularly football... nah. Boring. I'll be on the 'net.
matgb asked about my political leanings. To be honest, politics tend to worry me - it often seems like they'll all promise anything to get into power, then spend the next four years paralysed by terror that if they do anything slightly risky, they Won't Get Re-elected. It'd really be better if they made the most of their time and really went for what their real beliefs were, even if it was unpopular with some of the electorate. Then at least we'd know. It also worries me that it seems impossible for anyone apart from huge, pre-established, commercially-funded parties to have a shot, meaning they are and always will be dependent on private companies. Mostly, though, it worries me because I know so little about it, and makes me feel bad when I vote - which I still do, that's a right I'm very proud to have, thanks - and makes me feel guilty, too. What if I help vote in someone who screws up further down the line? I do, however, feel that we've improved a great deal, politically. My area of study is post-War Britain, and ouch. We could be doing worse.agonistes asked 'What are you doing your degree in and why?' I'm studying single-honours History at the University of Sussex. It's... going to sound stupid, but I essentially settled on History because it's what I did best in at A-level and GCSE. :S I also, however, really got interested when I was sixteen and we suddenly studied actual themes. It was like a book or movie plot that was obligated to make sense! Because it's real! I'm also uncomfortably aware that I'm very unsure as to what I want to do with my life so far, so a degree that kept my options open-ended seemed like a good idea. Picking my course and university was a little arbitrary, but worked out very well - the University of Sussex houses a large amount of research, most notably the Mass-Observation archive. Although we've studied a huge variety of periods over the three years, my dissertation is on the 1950s housewife, so the diaries and interviews contained therein are extremely useful. :)apiphile asked... 'Tell me about the novel you'd write if you had all the time in the world, and someone to keep you paid while you wrote it, etc.' Oh man, there are so many. But the one I like most at the moment is the one where a secret society based on a UK university campus start recruiting/contacting random people as they start demonstrating telepathic or empathic abilities. Nobody has any idea why, and in most cases, they barely affect them/other people at all, so it becomes a massive (but secret!) investigation to try and figure out who's unconsciously influencing other people, who's just really persuasive, and who the hell else knows about this? 'Cause there's got to be an evil opposing force or what's the point? They also train people once they find them to work in pairs, (projected emotions + subtle telepathy = practically indistinguishable from target's own thoughts. Yay morally questionable behaviour!) become psychic ninjas and go influence corrupt trials and corrupt politics and stuff. Because there's no way that'll backfire. My main characters are ridiculously ordinary, except for one, who's ridiculously good and true and moral and unusually strong for a telepath, and another one, whose empathy is initially off the scale, uncontrollable, and makes them cruel, pissy and dysfunctional. Guess which two get paired up to fight the most important crime? *Happy sigh* And now I shut up.*Laughs*
wanderlustlover asked, 'What are your thoughts on yaoi? Or tell us of your favorite underwear and why you love them so?' Others have answered the yaoi question far better than I, so I shall simply say that I have no problems with it, and pretty boys are a very reasonable interest. Onto the knickers! My favourite undies are, first and foremost, comfortable. Screw thongs. There is nothing sexy about a string up the jacksy, thanks. Instead - ones that fit really well. Seriously. They're skin-tight, and show off practically all the skin in the world anyway, while still being comfortable under a skirt or jeans, or whatever. Mostly, mine are either red or black, and so long as they're clean, fit, and the elastic isn't going, they're awesome. Um. Other underwear is obviously bras, being a girl. Bras are awesome: again, if they fit. My favourite pair at the moment is actually white, breaking my formerly all-black collection. It fits, it's comfortable, is supporting - if you don't know this for some reason, VERY IMPORTANT - and also has tiny little sparkles on it, for some reason. I can forgive it's not being red or black for sparkles.And finally...
birdseyeview asked, 'Sports! Like them, don't like them, don't care?' Ummm. Mostly that third option. I like playing most sports - my hand-eye coordination is okay, and exercise endorphins always make you feel nice and worthy after playing for a bit, and I have a competitive streak. What bores me is watching them - particularly on TV. Yawn. ('Oh look. I have no idea who that is. He's kicking a ball. Now somebody else is. Now somebody's scored. Which side? Ah. Who are they? And are we supporting them? Can I go now?') No. I'll go watch somebody I know play. I'll happily play myself. But the huge culture around popular teams, particularly football... nah. Boring. I'll be on the 'net.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 03:06 pm (UTC)Yeah. Exactly.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 05:02 pm (UTC)I, um, studied the maths on that as part of my degree, very scary stuff.
In Ireland and other sane countries, this is lessened because the system is more reliant on your actual supporters not the middle ground. So I got involved in campaigns to change to that system.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 03:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 05:27 pm (UTC)