Memes!

[raven]

Someone tagged me, I can't remember who. Anyway, here we are: seven random things about me:

1. I'm too hot. Yes, not exactly a surprise nowadays. I just wanted an excuse to say it again.

2. I think Remus/Lily would be a good idea. No, really.

3. I am not bilingual, but I'm working on it. In just the last few weeks, I've been making a conscious effort to speak Hindi, and slowly, slowly, it's coming back. The most hopeful sign, at least in my opinion, is that every so often I'm having a passing thought or there's comment by my internal monologue that's actually in Hindi. Very short things, like pani chhaiye rather than I'm thirsty, but I hope it's the beginning of a trend.

4. I get very, very geeky over television episode titles. Life On Mars doesn't have episode titles at all, and it actually makes me twitchy. I probably don't know the title of every episode of every show I've ever watched, but hell, let's say seventy-five percent. *g*

5. I always type out numbers in full. Even on MSN and AIM. I don't know why, I really don't. It's got to the point where it's quicker for me to type "three" than to move my typing fingers up to "3".

6. I arrived in the world three months ahead of time. (By rights, my birthday ought to be at the end of March.) Apparently it was a one in a very large number chance that I wouldn't be born with brain damage.

7. I get Scouse when I'm nervous. No, I really do. Back in economics tutes last term, I don't think Forder realised it wasn't my natural state of being, but he probably found it pretty horrifying regardless. I couldn't stop myself. Not that I actually object to it in itself; it's the fact that most people find the idea of me being Scouse hilarious (Pat, for one; she keeps catching my eye and collapsing into quiet hysterics). I don't think I blame them, to be honest.

Um, that's it. My life is currently spent sleeping, walking, working, writing, and being mildly agoraphobic, none of which are very interesting to people who aren't me. The most exciting thing that happened to me all day was an unexpected gift of chocolate cake, which was nice but not really worth blogging.

In fact, I rather think the next thing of any note to happen to me will be my short time with amchau at the end of the month. She and I have decided to spend two days doing nothing but eating ice-cream and watching stupid amounts of television, and I'm looking forward to it. More now that I don't have a driving test straight after - I've pushed it backwards because OMG I CANNOT DRIVE I DRIVE INTO THINGS. Okay, not so much any more. Actually, I would be able to drive just fine if I didn't panic. Today, some complete bastard trying to drive away without paying for petrol came within a hair's breadth of ripping off my left wing mirror - he overtook me on the inside and nearly gave me a heart attack in the process - and I sort of spun into neutral and freaked. I sometimes wonder if I should really bother with manual transmission, but hell, I learned this way, I'm bloody-minded enough to stick with it.

What worries me is that if I don't pass it first time, I won't get another chance to take it. And I've never heard of anyone passing their driving test first time, leaving alone my total mechanical incompetence. Anyway, I think I'm getting distracted. Barring amchau and the driving test of doom, life gets dull again for quite a while. Me going solo around Europe should be fun if I don't get lost, and then comes September, the States and the Visit of OMG. The last of which creeps into my head at all times of night and day - yesterday in the shop, I spent the morning going through the parcels received through ordinary post, not from wholesalers. The three national wholesalers provide every book that you can get easily - think bestsellers, textbooks, the vast majority of books in print that people want. Other books are provided by more arcane sources, sometimes Amazon marketplace, sometimes through contacts in other countries, sometimes direct from publishers overseas, it's all a bit of a treasure hunt. Anyway, I was cutting through the packaging on a battered parcel from an independent American bookshop, and noticed it was postmarked Chicago, Illinois and it made me squee a bit. I actually am still fascinated by the postal service - how do four lines of text get a parcel anywhere in the world? How does an obscure book make it from an American city across six thousand miles to a tiny bookshop in the middle of nowhere?

(And why would anyone go to that much effort for a book called "The Light At The End Of The Carpal Tunnel", but I digress.)

Anyway. I fully appreciate all this is very, very dull. Therefore I'm turning to a meme of sorts. I've been on LJ since April 2002, but this particular LJ since July 9th, 2002. So in honour of having been here for four years, I ask you: what brought you here? How'd we meet? Anything you've always wanted to ask me, or tell me? What about you? If I don't know already, where are you from and what are you into? Tell me all.

Comments

[garnettrees.livejournal.com]

1. *hands Raven some icecream* You could cut the heat in Ohio with a knife. Awful, awful.

2. *turns head* I can see this. But then, my HP pairings are all very weird. ^_^

6. I had no idea about this. Wow-- I'm glad being premature didn't do any realy damage, because you're a truly lovely Raven as you are.

"The Light at the End of Carpal Tunnel"? ... Um, no.

I came to LJ through the MASH slash fandom. Since I had such an amazing time on the list, I thought it would be worth while to get to know these people better. And it completely was! I still keep in touch with a lot of people from those days. *hugs* You're awesome, darling.
-Meredith

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*dives into ice-cream headfirst* Oh, dear. Too hot. And yes, your HP pairings all are very weird. *g* I have never written Lily/anyone, but this is one I've always meant to do one of these days.

6. *loves you* Not many people do know about it, because it ceased to be an issue so many years ago. But it's not something I could ever forget.

The mash-slash list was a million varieties of awesome, I swear. And I'm so glad you did make that jump onto LJ! *schnoogle*

[amchau.livejournal.com]

And yet I have written Lily/Remus *for you*. Why have you not yet written Lily at all? If you weren't finishing one story and looking at a ficathon story, I'd demand that you write some Lily now.

I came to lj via mash-slash as well, though I also knew people at buffistas.org who kept talking about it. The chance to combine both sets of people into one handy reading list was too much to be resisted, though it actually turned into three things to read instead of two (I now have it down to two again-- I don't read the mash-slash list unless it's fantastically interesting, and I only skim a few of my favourite threads on b.org).

[rosariotijeras.livejournal.com]

I honestly have no idea how we became LJ friends, but we have been for a very long time. I believe my ancient LJ fragility_lily was where it all started.

Good luck on the Bagel. See, on The West Wing, they don't say inflation because that's bad karma. They say Bagel. So here, good luck on your Bagel and good karma.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Ah, I remember this! Back when I first got to grips with LJ - and had a flist of twelve people - I had a poke around one of those ghastly "add me" communities. I made a post, got replies, added quite a few people - and summarily defriended all of them shortly afterwards. Except you! Because you are marvellous! And have been marvellous for four years! (Was it fragility_lily? I have some weird idea that it was nixale - or was that someone else?)

Ah, thank you. Right now I honestly believe I know more about inflation than about not driving the wrong way round roundabouts. I also honestly believe the latter is a more important life skill.

[rosariotijeras.livejournal.com]

My goodness. I guess it really was as long ago as nixale! Time flies. You've been wonderful these four years yourself, my dear.

[manynames.livejournal.com]

My mum passed her driving test first time, as she likes to remind me. I passed fourth time but I know two actual real life people who both managed to pass first time within the last year. As far as I can see the trick is to be completely and utterly cavalier and aware that you're going to fail it miserably.

So, erm, good luck with that.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

My father likes to claim he would have passed first time if his examiner had not had a heart attack mid-test. Sadly, I can only hope. :)

[icepixie]

How come you can't take the test again if you don't pass the first time?

I'd send you my state's testing structure if I could. When I took my road test. I literally drove around the mostly-residential block the testing center was located on. For real, the hardest thing I did was make a left turn (would be right turn for you) at a traffic light, with a left-turn arrow. I was in the car for under ten minutes. I have heard of people driving over the curb and onto the sidewalk and still passing this test.

And they wonder why we produce such horrible drivers...

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Because my test is on August 30th, and I leave for the States on September 1st. I'm away from home, and my car, for the next four months. In December I could take it, but would be taking it having not driven for those four months, which would most likely be a disaster, and after that, my theory test pass will expire and I'll have to retake the whole thing from scratch, not just the practical.

OMG. OMG, seriously? That is just too awful to be true. *cries* Where do you live? Why do I not live there? Waaaah.

[icepixie]

Dates: Aw, that sucks. One good thing about getting a permit at 15 and the license at 16 is that I wasn't away at college at the time, so there was no trying to take the test in a brief window of time without practice.

Good luck on your test, though!

OMG. OMG, seriously? That is just too awful to be true.

Unfortunately, a drive around anywhere in this state will quickly convince you that it is most certainly true.

Where do you live? Why do I not live there? Waaaah.

Nashville, although I assume the rest of Tennessee has similar practices as far as the test goes. It's got to be one of the most lenient in the nation. I didn't even have to parallel park or do a three-point turn or anything. (Still can't parallel park, actually.)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Here, you can drive at seventeen. Leaving it for a year was a really stupid decision, I think; it's not like I had any reason, I just never got around to it!

I need to learn to parallel park in the next two weeks. I foresee disaster. *g*

[icepixie]

God, I am still TEH SUCK at driving, and I've been allowed behind the wheel of a car for more than seven years now. Not being able to do it at all while away at college for the last four years didn't help, but I just really dislike it anyway, and try to avoid having to drive at all. (There are idiots on the road, my depth perception/observation skills suck, and most importantly, I can't READ while I'm driving. If I could take public transportation for the rest of my life, I'd gladly do it. Gladly. Too bad we DON'T HAVE ANY here that will get me anywhere useful.)

[calapine.livejournal.com]

My little sister passed first time (and with half of the lessons I had.)

I, ah, passed third time, on account of running a red light in one test and coming a few inches from hitting the car in front of me in the next. I maintain neither of these things were quite my fault.

Third test, a cyclist was desperately trying to get himself run over by me, but I cunningly avoided him and passed.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Aha. So it is possible. But I have had ridiculous amounts of lessons. I hold no hope. *sighs* I think it shall be fourth or fifth or possibly eleventh (happened to one girl I knew!) time for me.

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I'm driving-phobic too, to the point where I turn into a quivering wreck if I have to travel farther than ten or fifteen miles. And the thought of trying to drive a manual transmission is very panic-inducing (my dad tried to teach me when I was a teenager -- once was enough), so I'm duly impressed.

So, umm. I expect I'm here because you friended me, because I'm usually shy about friending people, and I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and I like old books and fresh peaches and crape myrtle trees.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I'm told that over the pond, people routinely don't learn with manual transmission. Is that true? Here it seems to be the case that even given sufficient length of time with the manual, you're still fucking it up, they switch you over.

Chapel Hill? My dad did a visiting fellowship (or something; not exactly sure what it was called) at UNC and came back raving about the entire place and how beautiful it was and how nice the people were. He now does everything he can to engineer another trip out there, so I reckon it must be a lovely place. That is apart from you living there, of course. *g*

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

I'm told that over the pond, people routinely don't learn with manual transmission. Is that true?

Most people's parents or older siblings teach them the basics before they take a formal driver's ed course*, so it really depends on what kind of car your family has, but yeah, driving schools will generally start you with an automatic transmission unless you request otherwise.

And yes, it's a good place to live :)

* This was a bad, bad idea in my case, as my mom is prone to Sudden Fits of Panic That Involve Yelling, and this probably accounts for how generally traumatized about the whole business I am. If I ever have kids, I'm leaving it to the professionals.

[cedara]

It's less a what brought me here but more a who brought me here. A girl in Australia, who by now isn't even using lj much anymore (she moved back on her boat).

I think we met somewhere in the Who comms.

Actually, atm, I have no idea what to ask you. And I think you might know that I'm from Germany, live in a town in the north near the Baltic Sea.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Back on her boat? Wow. That's kinda cool.

I knew you were from Germany, but didn't know where. And now I do, which is good because I sometimes think I know woefully little about people. So thank you for that. :)

[cedara]

Well, if you ever wanna know something, feel free to ask. :-)

[pinkishmew.livejournal.com]

none of which are very interesting to people who aren't me.
[laughs] I have yet to learn the distinction between the two on my own LJ. I talk crap, daily.

what brought you here? How'd we meet? Anything you've always wanted to ask me, or tell me? What about you? If I don't know already, where are you from and what are you into? Tell me all.
I can't really remember how we met. I'm pretty sure we've been friends for a couple of years, and it was lovely that time we met, even if I was a bit fraught and twitchy. My recollections of it seem to go something like this:
ME: "Hi. I'm an emotional wreck. HUG ME. [clings]"
YOU: "Er- o..kay. [pats]"
Oh, my. Well, generally I wonder if you're ok and hope you are. I have a question! What are you planning or pondering in terms of a career?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, but you are interesting. *g* I enjoy what you write.

I think we met through a Red Dwarf community. I may be wrong, it was a very long time ago. And I think we should meet again! Make it less fraught this time. :)

Me, in terms of career? Something important, that matters. In context of my limited talents, that means civil servant, diplomat, attaché, something like that. I found out how to apply to MI6. I have never quite been able to delete that bookmark. Take that as you will. *g*

[tmpe5t.livejournal.com]

People who take more than one attempt to pass their driving test have less accidents. Fact (probably). The trick is not to look at the thing you don;t want to drive into. Our brains are programmed to navigate us to where we're looking, so what you need to do is look along the line that you want to travvel. Riding a bike in traffic is good practise, and also makes you more considerate of cyclists... Wear a helmet. And maybe some body armour....

And: I am here because i've been stalking your LJ looking for Girl!doctor stories for ages, and i couldn't help butting in occasionally.. :_D

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm pretty good on a bike on traffic. Doesn't stop me causing chaos behind a wheel, though.

[anachronistics.livejournal.com]

I have a similar attitude to titles of things, although I mainly get twitchy over untitled or haphazardly titled fanfiction. Good titles can just sum up or describe the mood of a story so perfectly and title-less things seem a bit incomplete to me.

As for how I ended up here, that was initially due to the Who fandom and LoM fandom but I also found your descriptions of your life really interesting.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Yes, same here! I think things need titles. They need good ones, at that. I particularly hate the classic cliché titles shared by hundreds of fics (although write at this minute I can't think of an example, huh).

Aww, thank you! It's good to hear I am not boring people.

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

I have been on LJ since I was thirteen, albeit not always on this one. I feel old and pathetic now. But that is not the reason I commented - that is to ask if you'd email me your home address, please? *schemes* *in a good way* xxx

PS - Remus/Lily is great and wrong. Yes.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Aha, before you I am clearly a n00b. Address: it shall be done. *is intrigued*

And YES. I will write it one of these days.

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

I get very, very geeky over television episode titles. Life On Mars doesn't have episode titles at all, and it actually makes me twitchy.

That bothers me a bit too. I love the show, but I would certainly be happier if the episodes had titles. :)


How'd we meet? Anything you've always wanted to ask me, or tell me? What about you? If I don't know already, where are you from and what are you into?>

Let's see... We were on one or two of the same Doctor Who communities, but I mainly became aware of you through the 9th Doctor Ficathon, which was great fun, and after that through your girl!doctor writings.

There's not much to say about me (and most of that's covered in my profile (http://cscott.livejournal.com/profile/)). I'm interested in a pretty wide range of things (probably a bit too many things really), and I don't actually post nearly as often (or as interestingly) as I'd like to.

I will leave with One Weird Fact About Me:

During my youth, I suddenly hit on this crazy notion to switch hands (I was previously right-handed). For a year, I did everything (including writing -- very poorly, at first) with only my left hand.

I eventually reached the point where I could write quite legibly with either hand (although I was never able to write as quickly with my left as with my right).

What I found oddly interesting was that when I stopped my little experiment, everything didn't revert back to my right hand. Writing did, but lots of other activities (such as opening things, throwing a ball, etc) shifted to my left hand instead.

Since then, I have always done some things right-handed, and some things left-handed. To this day, I can also still write legibly with my left hand, but I rarely do, simply because I am far too impatient.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Episode titles are love. *g*

And, wow, that's really very interesting! Why did you decide to switch hands in the first place?

(When I was about eight, I tore off the tip and nail of my right thumb. In the months it took to heal, I learned to do everything left-handed. But I lost all of my new abilities when I finally got to take the bandages off! So I'm doubly impressed.)

[cscottd.livejournal.com]

Why did you decide to switch hands in the first place?

I'm not really sure, to be honest.

I was always doing weird stuff like that, when I was young.

Several years later, I suddenly decided that I didn't like my handwriting, and I spent a ridiculous amount of time actually designing a new one (including how the letters looked and connected to each other) and practising, until it became the way I wrote.

I often think that if I'd ever bothered to put half as much energy into doing actual worthwhile things as I did silly things like that, there's no telling what I might have accomplished. :)

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

What brought me here: Fandom and Jane :D
How'd we meet: See above! In terms of real life, by turning around and waving at each other.
Anything you've always wanted to ask me, or tell me?: Okay, where did you and Jane get this gorgeous, eloquent, dripping with class prose and I still write like a fishwife? XD
Stuff about me: I'm assuming you know already, after four or so years ;). Hehehe :D

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Fandom and Jane are both marvellous. *g*

Hee, I remember that! I don't think we interacted much at school, but I missed you and Jane so much once you'd gone. Also, you do not write like a fishwife! I only wish I'd ever shared a fandom with you, so I could be exposed more to your writing. :)

hi

[minstrelofdeath.livejournal.com]

/end lurking.

i haven't actually friended you, but i probably should because i read your journal regularly (and i realise it's a bit creepy). i think i found you through icons or possibly placebo, read a few entries and couldn't help being drawn in.
i'm from perth, australia and obviously i'm into icons and placebo, but also new doctor who, lost, sylvia plath, marilyn manson, rocky horror, and lots of other random things.

Re: hi

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Hey, not creepy at all! Glad you enjoy what I write, and it's nice to meet you.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

I get very, very geeky over television episode titles.

Yes! Me too! I think less so as my television obsessions multiply (seriously, at any given moment I am probably fixated on half a dozen shows and it is SAD), but whenever an episode of, say, M*A*S*H or Star Trek comes on the television, I can still call out the title within five seconds.

Driving is horrible, horrible, horrible. I could've been driving more than four years ago, and only now am I attempting it in earnest. And it is horrible.

THE VISIT OF OMG. I also end up thinking about it far more than can be healthy. It is often my Happy Thought before I fall asleep. :)

As for the meme: I guess I've known you on LJ almost all of those four years; certainly I've known you four years, but I think that mass mash-slash exodus to LJ happened a few months into my stint on the list, and that was when I friended you here. So that's how we met and what brought me here. And, hmm, this isn't really so much a personal question, but you're so much more of a globe-trotter than me that I'm curious: what do you think is the most beautiful place in the world you've visited?

You know almost everything there is to know about me! Everything important, anyway.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! I love episode titles so much, and I love clever and witty ones even more. Buffy used to be good for that - its best episode title, I think, is probably "Doppelgangland" - and just this week I was watching an XF episode called "Gethsemane" and paying careful attention to the dialogue, thinking if she betrays him three times I will die of squee and she did, and I, uh, did. *g*

Driving is the most horrible thing ever. I drove over a level crossing in fifth gear today. I will hear the screeching sounds in nightmares. How come you're taking up driving again? Last thing I remember your driving school wasn't actually accredited, or did I make that up?

OMG. OMG YES. I keep thinking about it and smiling at the most inappropriate times. And yesterday my mother was on the phone to my great-aunt, who's supposed to be visiting us in Indiana, and I heard her say something like, "No, Iona isn't there that day. She's going to Chicago to visit internet friends or something." Except, you know, in Bengali. It was so weird. When did fandom get to be something Indian grandparents talk about?

I like that question. It's impossible to answer, but still! Um. There are a few contenders. I loved Vancouver, with the mountains and the Pacific in the same field of view. I loved the Tidal Basin with the cherry blossom. There is a place in the north of India, Shimla, which is an old colonial city with quaint ninteenth-century architecure against the background of the Himalayan foothills.

Um. Actually, I think I will link you to this picture:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Picture_of_the_day/July_20%2C_2006

It was Wiki's featured picture a couple of days ago, and is on the same stretch of coastline as the bit I'm on here. It's beautiful. And I think it counts as visiting, as it's a good twenty-minute walk away!

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

Oh, SQUEE on "Gethsemane." I need to watch this show so much.

And I hear you on loving shows with those lovely, complex, allusive episode titles. The West Wing also did a great job with that. I mean, how can you not love an episode called "Dead Irish Writers"? Or "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail"? Or "The Crackpots and These Women"? It's such brain porn.

How come you're taking up driving again? Last thing I remember your driving school wasn't actually accredited, or did I make that up?

Initially I took up driving again because I thought it would facilitate having a pet during school. Seriously. I am kind of an impulse decision-maker in these matters. :) That fell through, but now that I've started, they won't let me stop! And I suppose I ought to know how to do it, just in case. My driving school of some three years back was, indeed, shut down because it wasn't properly accredited--this after I took all the requisite classes and drove with instructors. It was unbelievable.

Awwwwwww. I can't even imagine explaining the Visit of OMG to my parents. This is why having my own apartment will be amazing.

I have mentioned, haven't I, how jealous I am that you live near the ocean? So jealous.

[tau_sigma]

6. I arrived in the world three months ahead of time. (By rights, my birthday ought to be at the end of March.) Apparently it was a one in a very large number chance that I wouldn't be born with brain damage.

Wow. I'm so glad you were born ok. And grew up into such an amazing person. It's always so odd to think of the way things could have been.

So in honour of having been here for four years, I ask you: what brought you here? How'd we meet? Anything you've always wanted to ask me, or tell me? What about you? If I don't know already, where are you from and what are you into? Tell me all.

Well, what brought me here and how we met are rather the same: Doctor Who! I think I have said this before, but I was googling for DW fic, and your LJ was the first link I clicked on. I don't think I found any actual fic at that point, strangely enough, but I was intrigued by this site which I'd never found before, and the window into the life of someone my own age, having many of the same experiences of A-levels and impending university; and you wrote (and still do write) about your life so eloquently and beautifully that I was soon quite hooked, and I think I probably read your LJ for a good few weeks before finally making the step of getting one of my own (which actually sounds awfully creepy, oh dear), and friending you; and the rest, as they say, is history.

And I wish I could think of something interesting to ask or tell you! I never can when these sorts of memes come up, though, and currently I really should be in bed, so if I think of anything later, it'll have to be a very belated reply. *g*

[tau_sigma]

Oh, I knew there was something else I was going to say. (As if my comment weren't already long enough!) One of my friends passed her driving test first time! And I passed fourth. Um... oops? Good luck, and I really hope it goes well; it does sound rather awkward for you if you don't pass first time.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

It's always so odd to think of the way things could have been.

Oh, this is very true! I didn't know this myself until a few years ago, and it was a very strange experience learning about it now. I hate the phrase, but sometimes I guess you can only murmur there but for the grace of God and leave it at that.

I think I probably read your LJ for a good few weeks before finally making the step of getting one of my own (which actually sounds awfully creepy, oh dear)

*laughs* Not creepy, but oddly flattering. I've said it before I know, but I am very glad you're here and reading. I'd all but given up on reciprocal friending when I met you, but I ended up reading your LJ off its main page instead, which was sort of missing the point a bit. *g*

[megoddess2.livejournal.com]

OK, I realise I'm posting this late, and apologise. :-) Hi!! I've been lurking here for a while(ish) and finally plucked up the courage to say hi and stuff. I live in Liverpool and i love sci fi in all its forms, im a professional ballet dancer and im a student at Bristol uni, although as i said, hail from liverpool. Hope its ok to say hi!!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Hello! Of course it's all right to say hi. Nice to meet you. All the best people are from Liverpool, after all. *g*