Character sketch - Ada
Trying the character-sketch thing again, because I don't really want to go home yet and I certainly don't wanna do my paper. Stolen from out_lines via biztheinsane:
Questionnaire #1 - The Basics
1. Your Name: Ada
2. Your age: 15
3. Describe yourself: I never know what to put here, because it's such a broad question. Umm...I hack computers? I like to read. I hate not having enough information. I don't seem like a loner, but there's a lot about me that my friends don't know. Oh, and I have dark bra-strap length hair that I'd like to complain about but have no reason to, and a flat stomach, and no breasts to speak of.
4. Describe your mate (if applicable): I wish! But my ideal one would be tall, dark, and handsome, wouldn't mind my occasional hackery, and would be well-read in just about everything.
5. Where (and when) do you live? 3 Oak Hill Rd, Winthrop Collective, Northeastern North America. It's one of the few private houses left on the continent, and the property encompasses some of the last privately-owned forests in the region.
6. What's your favourite sweet? Maple syrup
Questionnaire #2 -- Favourites
What is your favourite...
1. Season? Fall. Love the crispness in the air.
2. Food? Probably will come as a surprise to most people, but rhubarb stew.
3. Animal? Squirrels
4. Colour? Green
5. Time of day? Past midnight, when everything's quiet
6. Weapon? Umm...my HyperNet connection?
Questionnaire #3 - Background
Tell us about...
1. Your place of birth. I think I may be the last person who was born at home. Actually, my grandfather's home, which I'm living in now. My parents were up for Solstice, and I decided that I didn't want to wait. I was delivered on the library floor.
2. Your childhood. Another awfully broad question, eh? I remember the playroom my parents set up for me, with all the mobiles and blocks and curly metal things. I'm sure some of them were brand-name, but I was blissfully ignorant back then. I remember grandpa giving me circuit boards to play with, and then my parents getting all mad because they had little electronic components that could be bitten off. I remember my nanny, or actually nannies, because I scared the first 4 off, that I spent most of my time with because my parents were at work. I remember visits to my grandfather's, and how he would hold me on his lap in the library and read to me. I remember the first time I used a computer - I think I was about 3, and my grandfather taught me to program by having me move this little bug around the screen.
I remember the day my grandfather died. And I don't want to get into that.
I don't remember all that much of the rest of elementary school, though I know I read a lot and tried to learn everything I could about programming. I felt I owed it to my grandfather.
I remember how I hated middle school and had no friends, and how I programmed Blaise (my AI friend) out of boredom when I was 11. I really had no idea that AI was an unsolved computer science problem, and of course now I've gotten too attached to Blaise to turn him over to the professors. He comes in handy too; tends my garden when I don't have time to.
And then in high school, I finally found friends and tried to be normal. But I'm sure there's another question on that.
3. Your parents. My dad is a bioengineer for Vivitek Inc. My mom is a lawyer for InstaWin Legal Services Inc. They both work really long hours and don't have all that much time for me.
4. Your siblings. Have none. I used to want a little brother, until I found out how annoying little boys could be.
5. Your (current) home. It's my grandfather's old place - my parents moved in after he died because they couldn't bear to sell it. It's really big for a house nowadays. It was built in about 2025, soon after my grandfather cashed out much of his HyperNet stock. It's huge and meandering, and has many nooks and crannies. It's also got some of the region's few remaining private woods, where my garden is.
6. Your favourite "hang out". Public or private? My favorite private hangout is the crawlspace between the library and the upstairs hall, because I don't think anyone else in the world knows about it. Public hangout is probably Starbucks, as it's better than the fast-food joints with their smell of boiling fat.
Questionnaire #4 - Skills
1. Can you read? A lot.
2. Can you write? Yes.
3. Can you sing? Umm. No. (I've heard my voice isn't that bad, but I can't carry a tune at all.)
4. Can you play an instrument? See above re: carrying a tune.
5. What languages do you speak? Erlang, Haskell, Scheme...oh, you meant human languages. What, there're languages besides English?
6. What weapons can you use? My deadly Twiddle-O-d00m and a 'net connection.
Questionnaire #5 - Secrets
1. Are you good at keeping secrets about yourself? Yes
2. What is your best kept secret? *shifty eyes* Like I'd tell you.
3. What is your worst kept secret? That I have a huge crush on Zaheer. Ooops.
4. Are you good at keeping secrets about others? Yes, surprisingly. You'd think that with the whole freedom-of-information thing, I'd blab everything to everyone, but usually I just don't care enough.
5. What secret about someone else have you kept and wish you hadn't? I wish I'd told my grandfather about the car I'd seen on the street the last time I saw him.
6. What secret about someone else have you not kept and wish you had? I wish I hadn't told the whole school that Mr. Bohenan was actually a woman according to his birth certificate.
Questionnaire #6 - Sex
1. Are you a virgin? *sigh* Alas, yes
2. Do you mate for life? I hope to eventually, but not for a very long time.
3. Who was your first lover? (or, if you are a virgin -- Who would you like your first lover to be?) I think practically everyone knows who I want it to be. See the worst-kept secret.
4. Who is your current lover? *pouts* I wish I had one?
5. What is your favourite sexual position? On top. *blush*
6. What are your kinks? *blushes* I always wanted to do it in the library stacks. Actually, any public place is kind of hot.
Questionnaire #7 - Best and Worst
1. What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you? My grandfather dying.
2. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you? It's hard to tell, this early in my life. Probably creating Blaise.
3. Who is your worst enemy? The Corporation. But that's rather abstract. If I had to pick a
4. Who is your best friend? Zaheer, probably
5. Tell us about your worst kiss. Oh, if only I'd had one.
6. Tell us about your best kiss. See above.
Questionnaire #8 - Mornings
1. What time do you wake/get up? As late as possible! Which, unfortunately, is only about 7:00 on school days and can be as late
2. What's the first thing you do upon waking? Curse the alarm clock.
3. Are you a morning person? No. Absolutely not.
4. What is your typical morning like? Get up, throw some clothes on, brush teeth etc, grab breakfast, run out the door.
5. Do you drink coffee? Yes.
6. Do you need coffee? No. It's more of a social thing, for group get-togethers and stuff.
Questionnaire #9 - Are you?
Are you...
1. Smart? Yep.
2. Arrogant? A tad, maybe
3. Good-looking? No. Well, maybe.
4. Sexy? I try to be. I usually fail miserably.
5. Capable? Usually.
6. Dangerous? You bet. Let me near your networks, baby, and you're going down.
Questionnaire #10 -- Marks
1. Do you have any scars? One, from when I fell on the stairs at grandfather's house and scraped my shin when I was 7.
2. Do you have any piercings? Ears pierced, two holes in each. Nothing else.
3. Do you have any tattoos? No. Eww.
4. Do you have any other markings? There's a small birthmark on the back of my left shoulder.
5. Do you wear any jewellery? Occasionally a bracelet or a choker, and I love the flash memory rings.
6. Have you ever broken any bones? Same incident that gave me the scar.
Questionnaire #11 - Grab Bag
1. What is your favourite mode of transportation? Bicycle, actually. But it's so hard to get around in one in a vehicular world.
2. Can you cook? Yeah, decently. I usually end up cooking for myself because my parents are shameless carnivores.
3. Do you have big feet? No. They're quite petite, actually
4. What is the square root of 169? +-13
5. If you could change your name to anything you wanted, what would you change it to? Liss. And not short for Elizabeth or anything. I just like the sound of it. It's almost like Lisp, too, which is a nifty benefit.
6. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Depends if it's hooked up to a VR machine.
Questionnaire #12 -- Rituals
1. Do you believe in a higher power? I'm...not sure. I'm almost certain that one didn't exist, but occasionally I have doubts.
2. Do you belong to a formal religion? Absolutely not. Sham and a crutch for weak minds.
3. Do you have any religious rituals? Is gardening a religious ritual? Cycling? Hacking?
4. Do your people have any sort of coming of age ritual? Getting picked on in middle school? Shamelessly exposing (nonexistent, woe) bodyparts to the opposite sex in hopes of getting them to pay attention.
5. Do you have any personal rituals? Maybe this is where "religious rituals" should go.
6. Do you have any sexual rituals? If I had sex, I probably would.
Questionnaire #13 -- Your lover
If you do not have a lover/mate/significant other/spouse, please answer the questions about your best friend.
1. How long have you been together? 2 years
2. What do you like to do together? Program computers?
3. What do you do to make your lover friend potential lover happy? I...don't know! I'm a horrible person. Maybe this is why he's not my lover yet.
4. What do you do even though it upsets your lover? Bitch at Kerry
5. If someone was going to meet your lover for the first time, what one thing would they need to know? He's Muslim? And he's actually a - God forbid - honest person?
6. What's your absolutely favourite thing about your lover? He's always there for me, and always knows what to say.
Questionnaire #14 - If you were...
If you were a _____ what would you be?
1. A metal. Silicon, because it either lets current flow or doesn't. It's a semiconductor; that's close enough.
2. A plant. Moss, because it grows in the dark.
3. A fault. Impatience, probably, because I always take the easy road if something looks the least bit difficult.
4. A virtue. I'd like to think it's justice. I try to do the right thing.
5. A colour. Midnight blue, and no, my favorite is green.
6. A season. Early spring, even though my favorite is fall.
Questionnaire #15 -- What is your most distinctive...
What is your most distinctive...
1. Physical feature? Eyes. They aren't quite Asian, but they aren't really Caucasian either. It's somewhere in between. (I'm 1/4 Japanese, the rest being Russian/Polish/English/Irish/Swedish)
2. Physical mannerism? Standing up, it's that my hands are always in my back pockets. Sitting down, probably that my eyes will always glance off to the peripherals periodically.
3. Character trait? I sometimes get really excited - as in, obsessed - by something, and then quickly try to hide it.
4. Turn of phrase? "No way"
5. Pet peeve? Stupid people in large groups.
6. Habit? Hacking. It's addictive. Though few people know I do it.
And that's enough for now.
Questionnaire #1 - The Basics
1. Your Name: Ada
2. Your age: 15
3. Describe yourself: I never know what to put here, because it's such a broad question. Umm...I hack computers? I like to read. I hate not having enough information. I don't seem like a loner, but there's a lot about me that my friends don't know. Oh, and I have dark bra-strap length hair that I'd like to complain about but have no reason to, and a flat stomach, and no breasts to speak of.
4. Describe your mate (if applicable): I wish! But my ideal one would be tall, dark, and handsome, wouldn't mind my occasional hackery, and would be well-read in just about everything.
5. Where (and when) do you live? 3 Oak Hill Rd, Winthrop Collective, Northeastern North America. It's one of the few private houses left on the continent, and the property encompasses some of the last privately-owned forests in the region.
6. What's your favourite sweet? Maple syrup
Questionnaire #2 -- Favourites
What is your favourite...
1. Season? Fall. Love the crispness in the air.
2. Food? Probably will come as a surprise to most people, but rhubarb stew.
3. Animal? Squirrels
4. Colour? Green
5. Time of day? Past midnight, when everything's quiet
6. Weapon? Umm...my HyperNet connection?
Questionnaire #3 - Background
Tell us about...
1. Your place of birth. I think I may be the last person who was born at home. Actually, my grandfather's home, which I'm living in now. My parents were up for Solstice, and I decided that I didn't want to wait. I was delivered on the library floor.
2. Your childhood. Another awfully broad question, eh? I remember the playroom my parents set up for me, with all the mobiles and blocks and curly metal things. I'm sure some of them were brand-name, but I was blissfully ignorant back then. I remember grandpa giving me circuit boards to play with, and then my parents getting all mad because they had little electronic components that could be bitten off. I remember my nanny, or actually nannies, because I scared the first 4 off, that I spent most of my time with because my parents were at work. I remember visits to my grandfather's, and how he would hold me on his lap in the library and read to me. I remember the first time I used a computer - I think I was about 3, and my grandfather taught me to program by having me move this little bug around the screen.
I remember the day my grandfather died. And I don't want to get into that.
I don't remember all that much of the rest of elementary school, though I know I read a lot and tried to learn everything I could about programming. I felt I owed it to my grandfather.
I remember how I hated middle school and had no friends, and how I programmed Blaise (my AI friend) out of boredom when I was 11. I really had no idea that AI was an unsolved computer science problem, and of course now I've gotten too attached to Blaise to turn him over to the professors. He comes in handy too; tends my garden when I don't have time to.
And then in high school, I finally found friends and tried to be normal. But I'm sure there's another question on that.
3. Your parents. My dad is a bioengineer for Vivitek Inc. My mom is a lawyer for InstaWin Legal Services Inc. They both work really long hours and don't have all that much time for me.
4. Your siblings. Have none. I used to want a little brother, until I found out how annoying little boys could be.
5. Your (current) home. It's my grandfather's old place - my parents moved in after he died because they couldn't bear to sell it. It's really big for a house nowadays. It was built in about 2025, soon after my grandfather cashed out much of his HyperNet stock. It's huge and meandering, and has many nooks and crannies. It's also got some of the region's few remaining private woods, where my garden is.
6. Your favourite "hang out". Public or private? My favorite private hangout is the crawlspace between the library and the upstairs hall, because I don't think anyone else in the world knows about it. Public hangout is probably Starbucks, as it's better than the fast-food joints with their smell of boiling fat.
Questionnaire #4 - Skills
1. Can you read? A lot.
2. Can you write? Yes.
3. Can you sing? Umm. No. (I've heard my voice isn't that bad, but I can't carry a tune at all.)
4. Can you play an instrument? See above re: carrying a tune.
5. What languages do you speak? Erlang, Haskell, Scheme...oh, you meant human languages. What, there're languages besides English?
6. What weapons can you use? My deadly Twiddle-O-d00m and a 'net connection.
Questionnaire #5 - Secrets
1. Are you good at keeping secrets about yourself? Yes
2. What is your best kept secret? *shifty eyes* Like I'd tell you.
3. What is your worst kept secret? That I have a huge crush on Zaheer. Ooops.
4. Are you good at keeping secrets about others? Yes, surprisingly. You'd think that with the whole freedom-of-information thing, I'd blab everything to everyone, but usually I just don't care enough.
5. What secret about someone else have you kept and wish you hadn't? I wish I'd told my grandfather about the car I'd seen on the street the last time I saw him.
6. What secret about someone else have you not kept and wish you had? I wish I hadn't told the whole school that Mr. Bohenan was actually a woman according to his birth certificate.
Questionnaire #6 - Sex
1. Are you a virgin? *sigh* Alas, yes
2. Do you mate for life? I hope to eventually, but not for a very long time.
3. Who was your first lover? (or, if you are a virgin -- Who would you like your first lover to be?) I think practically everyone knows who I want it to be. See the worst-kept secret.
4. Who is your current lover? *pouts* I wish I had one?
5. What is your favourite sexual position? On top. *blush*
6. What are your kinks? *blushes* I always wanted to do it in the library stacks. Actually, any public place is kind of hot.
Questionnaire #7 - Best and Worst
1. What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you? My grandfather dying.
2. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you? It's hard to tell, this early in my life. Probably creating Blaise.
3. Who is your worst enemy? The Corporation. But that's rather abstract. If I had to pick a
4. Who is your best friend? Zaheer, probably
5. Tell us about your worst kiss. Oh, if only I'd had one.
6. Tell us about your best kiss. See above.
Questionnaire #8 - Mornings
1. What time do you wake/get up? As late as possible! Which, unfortunately, is only about 7:00 on school days and can be as late
2. What's the first thing you do upon waking? Curse the alarm clock.
3. Are you a morning person? No. Absolutely not.
4. What is your typical morning like? Get up, throw some clothes on, brush teeth etc, grab breakfast, run out the door.
5. Do you drink coffee? Yes.
6. Do you need coffee? No. It's more of a social thing, for group get-togethers and stuff.
Questionnaire #9 - Are you?
Are you...
1. Smart? Yep.
2. Arrogant? A tad, maybe
3. Good-looking? No. Well, maybe.
4. Sexy? I try to be. I usually fail miserably.
5. Capable? Usually.
6. Dangerous? You bet. Let me near your networks, baby, and you're going down.
Questionnaire #10 -- Marks
1. Do you have any scars? One, from when I fell on the stairs at grandfather's house and scraped my shin when I was 7.
2. Do you have any piercings? Ears pierced, two holes in each. Nothing else.
3. Do you have any tattoos? No. Eww.
4. Do you have any other markings? There's a small birthmark on the back of my left shoulder.
5. Do you wear any jewellery? Occasionally a bracelet or a choker, and I love the flash memory rings.
6. Have you ever broken any bones? Same incident that gave me the scar.
Questionnaire #11 - Grab Bag
1. What is your favourite mode of transportation? Bicycle, actually. But it's so hard to get around in one in a vehicular world.
2. Can you cook? Yeah, decently. I usually end up cooking for myself because my parents are shameless carnivores.
3. Do you have big feet? No. They're quite petite, actually
4. What is the square root of 169? +-13
5. If you could change your name to anything you wanted, what would you change it to? Liss. And not short for Elizabeth or anything. I just like the sound of it. It's almost like Lisp, too, which is a nifty benefit.
6. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Depends if it's hooked up to a VR machine.
Questionnaire #12 -- Rituals
1. Do you believe in a higher power? I'm...not sure. I'm almost certain that one didn't exist, but occasionally I have doubts.
2. Do you belong to a formal religion? Absolutely not. Sham and a crutch for weak minds.
3. Do you have any religious rituals? Is gardening a religious ritual? Cycling? Hacking?
4. Do your people have any sort of coming of age ritual? Getting picked on in middle school? Shamelessly exposing (nonexistent, woe) bodyparts to the opposite sex in hopes of getting them to pay attention.
5. Do you have any personal rituals? Maybe this is where "religious rituals" should go.
6. Do you have any sexual rituals? If I had sex, I probably would.
Questionnaire #13 -- Your lover
If you do not have a lover/mate/significant other/spouse, please answer the questions about your best friend.
1. How long have you been together? 2 years
2. What do you like to do together? Program computers?
3. What do you do to make your lover friend potential lover happy? I...don't know! I'm a horrible person. Maybe this is why he's not my lover yet.
4. What do you do even though it upsets your lover? Bitch at Kerry
5. If someone was going to meet your lover for the first time, what one thing would they need to know? He's Muslim? And he's actually a - God forbid - honest person?
6. What's your absolutely favourite thing about your lover? He's always there for me, and always knows what to say.
Questionnaire #14 - If you were...
If you were a _____ what would you be?
1. A metal. Silicon, because it either lets current flow or doesn't. It's a semiconductor; that's close enough.
2. A plant. Moss, because it grows in the dark.
3. A fault. Impatience, probably, because I always take the easy road if something looks the least bit difficult.
4. A virtue. I'd like to think it's justice. I try to do the right thing.
5. A colour. Midnight blue, and no, my favorite is green.
6. A season. Early spring, even though my favorite is fall.
Questionnaire #15 -- What is your most distinctive...
What is your most distinctive...
1. Physical feature? Eyes. They aren't quite Asian, but they aren't really Caucasian either. It's somewhere in between. (I'm 1/4 Japanese, the rest being Russian/Polish/English/Irish/Swedish)
2. Physical mannerism? Standing up, it's that my hands are always in my back pockets. Sitting down, probably that my eyes will always glance off to the peripherals periodically.
3. Character trait? I sometimes get really excited - as in, obsessed - by something, and then quickly try to hide it.
4. Turn of phrase? "No way"
5. Pet peeve? Stupid people in large groups.
6. Habit? Hacking. It's addictive. Though few people know I do it.
And that's enough for now.