interview meme

[helenic]

questions from maga_dogg

1. How is it humanly possible to use 'darling' as an adjective and keep a straight face?
Have I ever done this? I don't think it is; when I have used the word in that sense, it's definitely been at least intended to be with self-conscious irony. Particularly effective with gushy hand-clap and posh voice.

2. Say you can spend autumn anywhere except Cambridge. Where and why?
A small Scottish island - no particular one - or simply on the northern coast of Scotland, in a small house by a pebble beach. I would have a coal fireplace inside, and walk along the beach wearing warm scarves in the wind, watching the grey skies and the tossing sea; or on the less windy days I would sit on a rock and write feverishly into cheap notebooks. When it rained I would sit inside reading novels and hearing the sound of it hammering on the roof - or run barefoot along the edge of the sea, depending on mood, and most likely catch pneumonia.

3. Speaking of which, is King's genuinely the college with the most minging students, or is this opinion just the result of our self-effacing irony?
Actually, most of the people I know at Kings are alright, in a curly-haired, hippyish sort of way. I'm not sure whether any college actually has a reputation for throwing out minging students; if it does, I'm not up to speed with the gossip. That said, the Pembroke first years are a bit of an unsightly bunch. Don't quote me on that.

4. Ever punch anyone for real? Elaborate, with reference to the Mohists. (Oh, and are you practising wristlock number 1 in that userpic? Your technique's a little out).
Unfortunately, no - although I once slapped a girl in the year above when I was fifteen. She and her little friends had been following me for weeks trying to goad me with their unimaginative insults and I just lost it. My technique was appalling, but it shocked her into silence if nothing else. (the icon isn't actually of me - it's a picture of Italian model Maria Carla Boscono. I imagine she's just delicately holding her wrist in a fragile sort of way, rather than in any sort of militaristic stance.)

5. What's the first time you can remember that you cried at the beauty of something?
This is easier, on reflection, than I thought it would be: I was nine, I'd just finished Lord of the Rings, and the Grey Havens chapter reduced me to tears. It always does. That quality of unbearably beautiful melancholy is one I've always been a sucker for - hence my answer to (2).

If anyone wants to continue the meme, post here and I'll interview you...

Comments

[maga-dogg.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to ask for a return match, since I'm sure you'd come up with interesting questions... but I've probably done far too many reciprocal interviews in a meme that's intended to go one-way. Oh, flip a coin or something.

And wristlock no. 1 isn't militaristic, it's... er... militaristic, but old and Japanese, which makes it okay. Though I suppose it's quite a good choice to illustrate fragility, since it does rely quite heavily on the wrists being snappy things.

Mmm. Scotland is wonderful. But it does get a great many midges in autumn.

[secretxstar.livejournal.com]

Hey!! Random question and a little cheeky, I know, but is there anyway, if you have any free time over the summer, you could give me a little help with website type stuff, since i've offered to attempt to make the femsoc website bearable? If not, that's fine, but you're the first person i thought of that could possibly help since your's is so pretty. i can just about do links, so any help that you could give me at all would be great.
xxx

"interview"

[oranges.livejournal.com]

volunteer!

[beeswing.livejournal.com]

*hand up in the air* me, me!

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Interview me, please!

[verte.livejournal.com]

Oi!! Two of my friends are at Kings and neither are minging. Nick's quite gorgeous, really. You'd think, since it's full of gay boys, it would have quite the opposite reputation.

I'd like to be interviewed, but I don't mind if it's not by you. xoxoxx

[maga-dogg.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, I'm at King's, or I wouldn't have been so impolite about such a fine establishment. And it's not just full of gay boys; it's also full of grody state-school communist druggies.

Naturally, I would never dream of including myself in the above classification.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

1. Okay, the standard impossible one: favourite work of literature? When answering this sort of question do you go for different categories of interest and enjoyment, or do you find they're usually the same?

2. seeing as it's something of a theme with you, do you read your own writing aloud, either while you are writing it or reading back?

3. out of all the countries you've lived in or visited, which do you prefer?

4. you say that you tend to adher to others' expectations of yourself. Do you define yourself in terms of your friendships and relationships? Is that a good or bad thing?

5. and a frivolous one for my own curiosity - how did you and Simon get together?

[libellum.livejournal.com]

1. If you could have coffee with anyone, alive or dead, who would you choose?

2. What do you think are the greatest flaws in modern Western society? Do you think it's possible to change them?

3. do you have any embarrassing "geekinesses" (eg. closet Star Trek/anime/c++ fan)?

4. what are your ambitions?

5. and finally one more for my benefit than yours, really - are you glad you went to Cambridge? Was it, overall, a positive and healthy experience, despite the levels of pressure, perfection and over-analysis?

Re: "interview"

[libellum.livejournal.com]

1. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses (if one can say that) of photography as an artform?

2. What is your favourite fragrance?

3. Do you believe in "true love"?

4. Who is your favourite female poet, and why?

5. Would you describe yourself as a feminist?

[libellum.livejournal.com]

hmm! tricky. I've been thinking for a while now and I can't come up with much that isn't terribly personal or terribly frivolous. So these are quite vague, and you don't have to answer them if you don't want to.

1. Who would you say has had the greatest influence on your life?

2. Have you ever tried composing? Would you do it again?

3. Which languages would you like to learn, and why?

4. Do you think cinema is having a destructive influence on theatre? Do you think the former is an extension of the latter, or that they are entirely different art-forms with different objectives?

5. If you had a cat, what would you call it?

[libellum.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind, I'll pass - to be honest I can't think of much that hasn't been asked already.

re. wristlock no.1: is this a ninja thing, or something??

[maga-dogg.livejournal.com]

Jiujitsu, although ninjitsu's closely related to jiujitsu so I'd assume it's used in both.

Re:

[verte.livejournal.com]

Hurrah. I don't know how to go about answering these without sounding trite. It needs some thinking about, but I'll come back with answers tomorrow...

xo

[libellum.livejournal.com]

what kind of thing do you need help with? graphics, design ideas, html? I can only really answer specific questions, but in the meantime here are some resources:

html tutorials
webmonkey (http://http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/)
Dave Raggett (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/Overview.html)
NCSA (http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerAll.html)

free photography resources
image-cafe.net (http://www.image-cafe.net)
photonica (http://www.photonica.com)
gettyone (http://www.gettyone.com)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_pyrexia/]

i dunno if you remember me, but i'm of thisdrenchedsky and i found you again. i so missed your words.

[z-e-r-o.livejournal.com]

"on the northern coast of Scotland, in a small house etc." - this is how I plan to retire, and soon. you may visit.

I thought the interview meme a trifle - till i came here and realized i would be afraid of the questions you would ask.

That's not an invitation.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

soon? is that a self-deprecating age joke, or do you have some cunning plan to stop work thirty years early? are you plotting to run away and become a full-time penniless artist? I'm intrigued.

But don't worry, I won't put you on the spot any more than normal unless you ask me. I'll take your fear as a compliment instead. Besides, wouldn't it be a little futile asking questions of z_e_r_o, the latest incarnation of your fake internet alter-ego? He may be amusing, but if I was going to demand that one of you explain yourself I'd be far more interested to hear the answers of A than Z. (are the letters a deliberate alpha/omega thing, by the way, or just coincidence?)

xx

"the answers of A than Z"

[z-e-r-o.livejournal.com]

Q:soon? A:both
Q:plotting? A:perhaps - If I can remain unattached and chaste for a full five years I will consider it a viable option.
Q:Futile? A: they are the same person, the difference being that where Z is taciturn and vague A is just normal and would answer freely.
Q:just coincidence? A: part of the childish secret that was not so secret lj code - (tho I didn't choose "zero" because it began with a z.)

Well that was a very painless interview, I was wrong to be afraid!

xx