Five things memememememe
lathany gave me Margaret Atwood, knitting, swimming (not in swimming pools), socialising and cooking risotto...
Marget Atwood
I don't have stable favourites in most things, but Margaret Atwood is probably my favourite author on more days than any other author, and The Robber Bride is probably my favourite book more often than any other book. Atwood writes twisty-turny non-linear narratives, populated by strong, well-developed characters: two of the things I most want in fiction. She's a feminist (although my love of her predates my own self-definition as a feminist), and she writes about women without lazy gender stereotypes about sex and shopping, and without writing boring chick-lit. She gives friendships the same weight and depth as romantic relationships; I've often been disappointed by popular portrayals of friendship as a milder, gentler, less important thing than romance, because that doesn't fit my experience at all.
Knitting
I don't talk much about knitting here, because I expect that anyone who's interested is already reading my knitting blog or friends with me on Ravelry, but I spend quite a lot of time knitting (and, lately, spinning and weaving as well). I learnt how as a child, but never did anything with the knowledge, and I can't remember what prompted me to take it up again a few years ago, but it's become my major hobby (and one of my major expenses!) The way I think about it is very similar to the way I think about web design, and I wish I knew someone else who does both, so I could talk about the similarities to someone who'd understand. Like web design, it sits on the boundary between technical skill and creative flair; I'm not particularly technical or creative, but I'm good at things in the meeting-place between them; it's where I'm happiest, and where you'll find lots of the things I most like to do. Knitting also seems like a very efficient pastime - I get both an activity I enjoy, and a useful finished item. And handknitted socks are so much warmer, more comfortable and generally nicer than bought ones :-)
Swimming (not in swimming pools)
I have a life-long love affair with swimming in the sea (that's me in the icon, in Northern Ireland). I like swimming in pools too, but it's a pale shadow of 'real' swimming. Something about the vast expanse of water, the waves, the sky, the relative absence of other people; even the most crowded beach has sea much less crowded than your average swimming pool. Even the cold - most of my sea-swimming has been in the UK - adds something to the experience, an extra edge. I don't really have the words to describe how glorious it is.
Despite my established feelings about the sea, it took me until last summer to think about non-salty outdoor swimming (well, apart from Lake Michigan, but that's so big it might as well be the sea). On holiday last June, kauket and I spent a lot of time in the lake near our holiday cottages, to the amusement of most of our companions, and I suddenly realised that this was nearly as good as the sea. Better in some ways (like numbers of other people). At home I managed several more river swims before the weather got too cold (including one in my clothes after a long, hot walk around town with some colleagues, which ended with a picnic on Osney Island with water too enticing to resist despite my lack of swimsuit). I failed to buy a wetsuit in time for my holiday in the Lake District with smiorgan, but plan to make another attempt this year.
Socialising
I like people (individual people, you understand. People-in-general are gits ;-). If I was stuck at home on my own with no internet and no phone, I'd go crazy in less than a day. I don't do very much going-out-and-socialising any more, so the internet fills a lot of my social needs - I spent yesterday evening, for example, hanging out with kauket, who was sixty miles away (I love the internet).
Cooking risotto
Cooking's another one of those borderline technical-creative things, and cooking risotto perhaps more than most - there's a set formula to making a risotto; they're all basically alike in structure, but once you've mastered the technique, the only recipe you need is "risotto with x and y" (separation of style and content!), and you can throw creativity at the exes and the whys. It's simple, but pleasantly fiddly to make, and it really shows up quality ingredients - I make most of my risottos with homemade stock, and we eat roast duck and chicken in part because we want good stock to make risotto (the roast is a happy side effect ;-)
If you'd like to play, ask in comments, and I'll tell you five things I associate with you.
Marget Atwood
I don't have stable favourites in most things, but Margaret Atwood is probably my favourite author on more days than any other author, and The Robber Bride is probably my favourite book more often than any other book. Atwood writes twisty-turny non-linear narratives, populated by strong, well-developed characters: two of the things I most want in fiction. She's a feminist (although my love of her predates my own self-definition as a feminist), and she writes about women without lazy gender stereotypes about sex and shopping, and without writing boring chick-lit. She gives friendships the same weight and depth as romantic relationships; I've often been disappointed by popular portrayals of friendship as a milder, gentler, less important thing than romance, because that doesn't fit my experience at all.
Knitting
I don't talk much about knitting here, because I expect that anyone who's interested is already reading my knitting blog or friends with me on Ravelry, but I spend quite a lot of time knitting (and, lately, spinning and weaving as well). I learnt how as a child, but never did anything with the knowledge, and I can't remember what prompted me to take it up again a few years ago, but it's become my major hobby (and one of my major expenses!) The way I think about it is very similar to the way I think about web design, and I wish I knew someone else who does both, so I could talk about the similarities to someone who'd understand. Like web design, it sits on the boundary between technical skill and creative flair; I'm not particularly technical or creative, but I'm good at things in the meeting-place between them; it's where I'm happiest, and where you'll find lots of the things I most like to do. Knitting also seems like a very efficient pastime - I get both an activity I enjoy, and a useful finished item. And handknitted socks are so much warmer, more comfortable and generally nicer than bought ones :-)
Swimming (not in swimming pools)
I have a life-long love affair with swimming in the sea (that's me in the icon, in Northern Ireland). I like swimming in pools too, but it's a pale shadow of 'real' swimming. Something about the vast expanse of water, the waves, the sky, the relative absence of other people; even the most crowded beach has sea much less crowded than your average swimming pool. Even the cold - most of my sea-swimming has been in the UK - adds something to the experience, an extra edge. I don't really have the words to describe how glorious it is.
Despite my established feelings about the sea, it took me until last summer to think about non-salty outdoor swimming (well, apart from Lake Michigan, but that's so big it might as well be the sea). On holiday last June, kauket and I spent a lot of time in the lake near our holiday cottages, to the amusement of most of our companions, and I suddenly realised that this was nearly as good as the sea. Better in some ways (like numbers of other people). At home I managed several more river swims before the weather got too cold (including one in my clothes after a long, hot walk around town with some colleagues, which ended with a picnic on Osney Island with water too enticing to resist despite my lack of swimsuit). I failed to buy a wetsuit in time for my holiday in the Lake District with smiorgan, but plan to make another attempt this year.
Socialising
I like people (individual people, you understand. People-in-general are gits ;-). If I was stuck at home on my own with no internet and no phone, I'd go crazy in less than a day. I don't do very much going-out-and-socialising any more, so the internet fills a lot of my social needs - I spent yesterday evening, for example, hanging out with kauket, who was sixty miles away (I love the internet).
Cooking risotto
Cooking's another one of those borderline technical-creative things, and cooking risotto perhaps more than most - there's a set formula to making a risotto; they're all basically alike in structure, but once you've mastered the technique, the only recipe you need is "risotto with x and y" (separation of style and content!), and you can throw creativity at the exes and the whys. It's simple, but pleasantly fiddly to make, and it really shows up quality ingredients - I make most of my risottos with homemade stock, and we eat roast duck and chicken in part because we want good stock to make risotto (the roast is a happy side effect ;-)
If you'd like to play, ask in comments, and I'll tell you five things I associate with you.