Interview

[raven]

I'm taking a break from essay writing - actually, I lie. I'm not. I have dispensed with essay-writing, as I had two plans to do this week rather than one essay for Politics. I write shite, omg! I did a vaguely okay plan on party dividing lines since 1945, and a hideously awful one on representativeness of parties since 1945. The hard bit is not writing a history of the Labour and Conservative parties since 1945, which would be of the boring, yes. Although there are some good bits in the books - one of them suggests Robin Cook didn't run for Labour leader in 1992 because of his resemblance to a "wee Scottish garden gnome", and another one, published in 1992, solemnly intones: "We must accept the fact that the British Labour party is doomed to electoral extinction."

Enough. I'm being boring. So before I go onto the maths, I'm taking a break and doing memes. First of all, daegaer gave me interview questions ages ago, and I've only just got around to answering them. Here goes:

1. Do you want to be Prime Minister when you grow up?

Well. After a point, I got fed up of people asking me what I want to do with my life, and now my stock answer is the sweetest smile I can muster up at the time and two words: "World domination." And when I'm being less facetious, I say I want to be Prime Minister. And when I'm being less facetious even than that, I say I don't know. My political ambitions are not very well-defined - I mean, I'm an Asian woman; being Prime Minister is not a realistic ambition for me - but one thing I do plan to do is to sit the exams for the British civil service and thereby exclude myself from political office for the rest of my life. Strangely enough, my grandfather always wanted one of his grandchildren to follow him into the civil service (the Indian Adminstrative Service in his case, although the name change after independence was purely cosmetic). I think he meant one of the boys, but never mind.

I do have such a tendency to ramble. Moving on:

2. What is your all-time favourite song?

I think it's still Konstantine. There's lots of songs I love, but that one is special.

3. What's the most unexpected fandom you found yourself falling into?

M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H is a fandom? I'm still surprised myself. But even more unexpectedly, it was my best fandom experience ever. TThere was a period of six months back then that was just my best time in fandom ever, because the people were so wonderful and the fic so fantastic and everyone so damn talented. And more than that, the people I met then are still with me now; they make up most of my flist, despite the fact most of us have moved onto new fandoms and other pastures new. All good stuff.

4. Is there any food you can cook particularly well?

Not really, but you can see my cultural influences in everything I cook. I loathe what you might call traditional British food - I mean, meat and vegetables, boiled, bland, no spices, urrgh. I like spices - chilli powder and turmeric and cumin and cardamon and ginger - and detest boiling things. Next year, when I'm living in either Cowley or Jowett, I plan to really get into cooking properly. Right now I've only ever really cooked for me, so it's going to be a fun challenge.

5. How many languages can you speak? Are there others you'd like to learn?

Good question. About one and three quarters, is the answer. When I was younger, I was bilingual with English as my second language - nowadays I speak English best, understand Hindi well but lack the grammar to speak it very well, and I have some basic GCSE French. I also did a lot of Latin at school, which I adored. I'd love to go back and learn Latin properly, as well as improve my Hindi and my French, as then I'd be able to speak to most of tbe world's population. After this degree, I'm thinking about making tracks. I might take a job with one of my aunts and spend a year living in India. I'd like that, and it would do my lingustic skills no end of good.


Now. Back to work. I'll interview the first five people who ask - the last time I did this I ran out of questions, hence the limit! - while I'm trying to do my maths. I feel like I've done no work today, though I obviously have. There is a document flying around somewhere entitled "What The College Expects From You", that always makes me feel very inadequate, because it discusses in very precise terms how much work I ought to be doing. Not "lots" or "a substantial amount" or even "day and night"; it actually specifies 40 hours a week. 40 hours a week is a lot. This week I counted. As it's now only two hours short of being a week since I started counting, it looks like I do, in a good week, 33 hours of work. See the inadequacy.

Anyway! Maths. In fact, differentiation and optimisation. Why, oh why didn't I do Maths A-level?

Comments

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

40 hours a week is a LIE purported by people who do not SLEEP. Tell them to GET STUFFED.

*is passionate about this*

Interview me?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*g* That's what I tell myself. Damn my inadequacy. :)

Interview, yes!

1. Is St Andrews all you thought it would be? How about the course?
2. What's your favourite episode of Doctor Who? Why?
3. For some reason or other, the Scottish Parliament votes to ban all spirit and mixer combinations but one. Which one would you want it to be?
4. Tell me your favourite literary quote.
5. What do you believe in?

[dougs.livejournal.com]

> 3.

Goodness me. That's a huge compliment. A huge collection of compliments, in fact. Thank you.

Ah, you could interview me, unless you get five other more interesting people first.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Meant every single one. *g* It was a wonderful time.

1. What's your favourite food?
2. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. Do you have any phobias?
4. Where's the furthest from home you've ever been?
5. Tell us the best joke you know.

[potatofiend.livejournal.com]

- FORTY HOURS A WEEK?!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I KNOW!

[potatofiend.livejournal.com]

...that is insane. I get two essays and a translation every week and no way does it take me that long, even with reading. English students at Balliol (of which an old friend is one) seem to get no work at all, so God knows how they're supposed to fill that quota.

Interview me?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I get two essays and a problem sheet every week, and it should take me that long, I know. I just don't do that much work. (It does count lectures and the time you spend in tutes, though.)

Who's the old friend at Balliol?

1. So, it's the end of Michaelmas. High points? Low points?
2. You seem very interested in war and war literature. What interests you about it?
3. Why is Stephen Fry your greatest living hero of all time?
4. What's your favourite flavour of ice-cream at G&Ds?
5. What are you going to do after your degree?

[potatofiend.livejournal.com]

Oh, it counts lectures and tutes? That might up it a bit, but not enough, I don't think.

Ashleigh Collins...small, dark hair, Northern accent? I use 'friend' in the loosest sense of the word; we were at school together.

1. High points:

Matriculation. OU3FS. Oxford being just as quaint and beautiful as ever I thought it would be. All the boys in long coats and scarves. Bicycling to and from the English Fac in the sunshine. Going for scones with Sophie. Meeting my tutor, who is the most fabulous woman in the world. Sleeping on Emma's floor after a night at the Folk Society. Showing my parents to The Turf, and being desperately proud of knowing how to find it. Walking over Magdalen Bridge with all the bells pealing. Having my photograph taken by random tourists and being so proud to be an Oxford student.

Low points: ...all this work interfering with my being an Oxonian, I suppose. I bet Sebastian Flyte never went to lectures.

2. The people! I don't know; I've always been fascinated. My father's incredibly interested, and I read an awful lot about it at a very young age, and it became my specialist subject, so to speak. And then I fell desperately in love with Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, and the rest was history.

3. Oh, God. I wrote him a three-page effusive letter explaining this; I don't know how easily it can be condensed, but I'll try: he's quite simply one of the most intelligent men I can think of, and he's just so nice. He's funny and kind to his fans and writes back to people personally and everything he tries his hand to, he's good at: acting, directing, writing, producing, presenting. There seems to be nothing he can't do. And he's pulled himself back from the brink so many times; he's my inspiration.

And of course he's adorable.

4. The one with Twixes in it! Or maybe Dime Bar Crunch.

5. Haha! Ahahaha. Er. I have little to no idea in the long term, but in the short term: do an MA, hopefully still at Oxford, and then move out to the USA until my girlfriend finishes her MA, and after that, we shall see. :)

[balthaser.livejournal.com]

Because I hardly get to talk to you, interview me?

[balthaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, & when you look at most academic places they say they expect you to do so much work per week, I mean, MTGS had an expectation & nobody ever did that amount. Granted you get a lot more work in uni but still.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Your wish is my command. :)

1. It's a cliché, so I won't say three wishes: I'll say one. You get one wish. What is it?
2. What about Classics interests you?
3. It occurs to me that I've never actually met Chris. How would you describe him?
4. What's your favourite kids' tv show?
5. What happens after we die?

I am academically paranoid. It is an affliction. I never did as much as Merchants' wanted though, you're right about that. :)

[me-ves-y-sufres.livejournal.com]

*counts*

Interview me?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Hee.

1. Are you looking forward to your interview? Why did you apply to Oxford?
2. What does "me_ves_y_sufres" actually mean?
3. What's the last song you listened to?
4. What was your first kiss like?
5. Can you cook?

[me-ves-y-sufres.livejournal.com]

1. Yes, because if nothing else, it will be a break from college.

I'm not quite sure why I applied. Originally, I think, it was because of the desire to be looked upon as intelligent. I've got a pretty big ego.

Then I spent some time in the city and actually started to love it. The people are (mostly) wonderful. The libraries are to die for. I like the idea of being connected with traditions going back for centuries. I like that, uh, kinda indefinable Oxford-ish feeling that you don't really get anywhere else. The buildings are such a radical departure from Dudley, where the dominant architectural style is usually "grey, scummy and oppressive". In fact, all of Oxford is a radical departure from Dudley: if you wanted to find mirror opposites, they would fit the bill, and I hate Dudley.

2. It means "see me and suffer", it's a woefully angstful line from a book I happened to be reading at the time I got the account: Vernon God Little of the Booker Prize fame. It is also, apparently, the name of a song by the Hope of the States.

3. On my iPod right now I've got a playlist of seasonal songs, because I am an absolute sucker for that kind of thing. (I was a sobbing wreck by the end of the West Wing ep In Excelsis Deo). I just listened to the best and most miserable Christmas song in the world, I Believe in Father Christmas by Greg Lake.

(Having typed all this, however, I've just finished listening to Seeing Other People by Belle and Sebastien, which is not a Christmas song but is lovely and was the "song" of my last relationship.)

4. Messy.

5. Yes. Yes-ish. I'm learning: so far I can cook curry and chilli reasonably well, stir-fry, bread, lots of kinds of soup. All vegetarian, because last time I cooked meat I damn near gave myself food poisoning.
If I keep adding to my reportoire I'll be able to not die of scurvy when I start uni next year. There's this little urban legend in a Douglas Coupland that freaks me out, it's about a student who thought he would save money if he ate only ramen noodles every day, and ended up dying of malnutrition before he graduated.

[me-ves-y-sufres.livejournal.com]

...oops. Ignore the crazy italics.

[apestaartje.livejournal.com]

Can I still be interviewed? I want to be interviewed too! ::jumps around::

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*looks stern* Just this once... *g*

1. You are so very matter-of-fact about being trilingual. How come? Is it not a big deal where you're from, or are you just oblivious of your brilliance? :)
2. Why Criminology? What does it involve on a day-to-day basis?
3. Tell me about Veronica Mars. What's it about?
4. Are you going to do NaNo again next year?
5. Where in the world would you visit, given a ticket to anywhere?

[apestaartje.livejournal.com]

Are those 40 hours separate from the times you have lessons?
According to the amount of hours we're supposed to spend on a subject per semester we should be studying 79 hours a week. If I do half of that it's a lot. But when it's exams I probably do more.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

No, they're not, thank god.

And, OMG. 79 hours? Are they insane? There are only 168 hours in a week!

[apestaartje.livejournal.com]

I think they count the lessons in those 79 hours and I have about 25 hours a week. But, yes, they are insane. We aren't even allowed to use the internet for anything that could possibly be fun (which is everything that isn't studying). That's why they have a download limit of 5GB per month. If you're clever you can still download quite a lot but you have to know when to stop.
We don't get homework or tests (besides the occasional evil assignment) or anything so people don't usually do so much but when it's exams it's normal to start at 7 in the morning and to stop after midnight with short breaks for food and then still think you haven't done enough.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

#3: hell, yes. I've been in or semi-in a couple of fandoms since, and M*A*S*H was by far the most positive experience.

Forty hours is a lot, especially if that's what they're saying officially. I'm certainly not doing forty hours of work a week here. And thirty-three is still impressive, so I really don't think you need to feel inadequate.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

Oh, and also, I got your fic for beta. Have read it once and made preliminary comments, and I'm planning on getting it back to you by the end of the weekend, since I have to get back to work after that.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*g* Those were the halcyon days of fandom. Looking back, that's when I really felt a part of the whole fandom enterprise and not just a newbie.

The scary thing is, there are people here doing forty hours of work a week. Personally, I like sleeping too much for that. But, yes, sleeping, and playing poker and reading and going out dancing and geeking and wandering through Oxford; I think you've got to live as well as work.

In answer to the other comment: thank you very much. I really appreciate it. :)

[me-and.livejournal.com]

Too slow. Oh well. I'm still amazed that there's an Advanced Wars fandom, let alone that people write fanfic for it.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

What is Advance Wars? I confess to having no idea.

[me-and.livejournal.com]

Advance Wars (http://www.advancewars.com/)

It's a game for the GameBoy Advance. Ask foulds for the full rundown -- he's far more of a geek than I about it.

[thiswaltz.livejournal.com]

I know it's already been said, but FOURTY HOURS A WEEK? That's just cruel! Thank goodness you aren't required to in any way *prove* and *record* that you've done all those hours... (believe me, I've had experience with it...)

Yays for M*A*S*H fandom! aside from The West Wing, it's got to be one of the sanest fandoms on the interweb :-).

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Oh god, now that would be BAD. I do no work. No work at all. I don't know why they even let me in.

You were in M*A*S*H fandom? *ears prick up* Under what name? I pride myself on knowing all the old BNFs. :P

[eternalwings.livejournal.com]

I was gonna ask if you want to interview me but 23 comments- agh.
And I still think you could be Prime minister, you know my mother will vote for you and me!....When i can vote :P

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Because I'm a nice person (and I'm going to see you next week!):

1. Are you ever going to let your hair go back to its natural colour?
2. Turns out one of the various shows we watch is real. Which one do you want it to be?
3. Your maturity level seems much higher than your contemporaries', and you've made friends easily with people a few years older than you (and very fond of you we are too). Why do you think this is?
4. What would be your perfect gig? That is, who'd be the main act and who'd be the support?
5. What are you going to do after your GCSEs?

[eternalwings.livejournal.com]

Oh yay I'd not realised it was so soon!
1) Possibly, I quite like the black and it (apperantly) suits me so I think it will stay like this. I am planning to dye my fringe bright red next year though!
2)Doctor who- Because travelling through time and space with the Doctor would be amazing and also- Captain jack being real= LOVE
3)I think it's probably due to my parents and grandparents. My Grandmother was practically my mother until I went to school and she took me to plays, gave me lots of books, played scrabble with me, taught me to read etc. And my parents have always treated me as an adult so I guess it's really my upbringing.
That and the fact I don't watch things that my class watch, things that rot the brain like The OC.
4)I think my perfect gig would be The Rasmus *shock horror* With the City drive, Something corporate, Muse annnnnd MCR supporting! Oh and I'd get to meet Lauri of course and he'd take me off on tour with them :P
5) After GCSES, I'm probably goign to stay on at Merchants for sixth form. I quite want to do something with politics so I'm not sure about uni but I am going to go. Probably will leave Liverpool, not sure though. Job wise- Oh Prime minister definitly! Well either that or television/movie script writer.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Mmm, M*A*S*H :)
xx