So Many Letters

So a while back, I received some blogging awards, which to my ever-lasting shame, I never got around to actually filling out. I finally decided that I would start with the most intimidating tag first, to get it out of the way, and also because filling everything that it needed took me a really long time.

So the first award I’m going to address was given to me by the lovely Becky, for Awesome Blog Content. Which is very sweet, and made me feel horribly embarrassed that I’ve been slacking off so much on my posting. I have some book reviews coming up, so I promise that I will be getting back to regularly scheduled posting soon.

Anyway, the task for this is to come up with an A-Z list of things that fit my personality. Which took me a really long time. But here it is, and I hope you find something new about me here!

A: Antihero, one of my favorite tropes in fiction. I can hear my dad howling half-way across the country for saying this (he and I have had arguments about antiheroes before) but I can and have defended this, and am hoping to do so here shortly. Suffice to say, I’m really drawn to someone struggling to be good, and love protagonists who have to do this as part of their character and development.

B: Books. I don’t think that’s a surprise to anyone, but books are my favorite forms of entertainment and learning, and I honestly feel like you can never have too many. (I’ll probably regret this when my storage bill comes in.)

C: Choleric. Of the four temperaments- choleric, melancholic, sanguine, and phlegmatic- I match up most readily with this one, as my younger brother never fails to remind me when my dad and I are arguing about something. Given that I have very strongly held opinions and don’t give them up without pitched battle, I guess it fits.

D: Dark- probably my biggest fear. I freak out when I get tossed into a darkened room, and if you think doing that to me for a joke would be funny- you had better pray you are not in reach when I get out.

E: Elizabeth Proctor, from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. I played her in my senior year of high school, and to this day, I think it’s the best acting I’ve ever done. Though I don’t participate in theater anymore, I still miss acting often, and playing this role is a huge part of the reason why. She’s a great character,  who goes through a ridiculous amount of suffering, and remains strong in the face of all of it.

F: Fanfiction- how I got back into writing. No, there is no porn a la Fifty Shades of Grey, though there are a lot of laughable sentences. And no, I will not be posting links. Over my dead body does that pseudonym ever come out on this blog.

G: Glaring. It’s my standard practice in dealing with anyone creepy, and I have to say it seems to work well. It also comes into play whenever I’m furious with something or someone.

H: History. Probably one of my favorite subjects of study ever, I’ve kept a ton of my history textbooks from college, and routinely lug around a gigantic World War II book. I really enjoy military history, (hi, The Guns of August! You’re awesome) and seeing it through the ages is pretty cool, not to mention it sheds a lot of light on current events.

I: Ice Hockey. One of my favorite sports. I’ve only been playing it for three years now, but I’ve been following it since high school, and hitting things with sticks has been part of my schtick since middle school. I love the fast pace of it and the physicality, even half the time it’s just me getting unceremoniously steamrolled.

(I couldn’t find any good pictures of my playing, so have one of me looking goofy on the sidelines from two years back.)

J: Journalism. It’s my major, and I’m really interested in the process of collecting other people’s stories and presenting them well. I also love the backstory process of writing things and putting them up for other people’s consumption, and trying to figure out ways of getting people to talk about your stuff, short of stealing interviews, fabricating sources, or dancing the Macarena naked on a crowded freeway*.

*I haven’t heard of this happening for journalism, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone tries it.

K: Knitting. I love this, it’s relaxing and calming and gives me a chance to experiment with patterns and accessories in a way I otherwise couldn’t. Granted, most of the time I end up making scarves, but I am in the middle of the second sleeve on what I think will be a very pretty sweater.

L: Losing. I hate it. So much. This is one of my biggest fears or anger issues, depending on the circumstances. I am immensely competitive and am always torn in things like board games or pick-up sports, because I love having an opponent. On the other hand- I hate to lose.

M: Memory. I have a pretty good one. Not photographic, but it’s pretty sharp, especially when it comes to things people have said (useful for lectures and interviews) and for things I’ve read. Incidentally this is one of the biggest reasons I will never, ever, drink or use drugs to excess. No amount of good feeling could make up for the possibility of blacking out and not remembering what happened.

N: Names. I am really, really bad at remembering them. I can remember who people are and what I talked about with them, and what classes they’re taking, but I can never keep people’s names straight for the life of me.

O: On Writing. One of the best books on the subject that I’ve ever read. Even if you hate books on writing, go read this one. I swear to you, it is immensely helpful, and has really good advice about how to approach spinning words and art in general. Check out Becky’s enthusiastic review if you don’t believe me.

P: Pirates of Penzance. This is my favorite musical ever (Sweeney Todd is a very close second, and yes, I am aware that the two have almost nothing in common). I love the songs, the wordplay, the silliness, and the music. I mean, listen to this. (yes the video quality isn’t great, but still)

Q: Quality. Something I strive for on this blog. I do not always achieve it. (Why are there so few things for ‘Q’?)

R: Red-Headed League. Yes, this is a mangling of the actual title, which is The Adventure of the Red-Headed League, but it doesn’t really matter. This was the first Sherlock Holmes story I ever read, and my first intro to the detective who remains one of my favorites, both in mystery and really in all literature.

S: Superheroes. Since I already mentioned Sherlock Holmes above, I thought it only fair to give a mention to another kind of story I love- that of the superhero. I’m not really a big comics reader; most of my acquaintance with superheroes comes from the movies made of them, but I love the concept of superpowered humans struggling to come to terms with their powers and how to be good people in face of the fact that they have gifts everyone else doesn’t.

T: Tolkien. I still can’t measure the impact this guy’s stories have had on me. He’s the reason I love fantasy, the reason I love and look for good worldbuilding, and the reason I admire heroes who are far too weak and yet still keep on with their goals. Yeah… I could talk about him for a while, but this post is already ridiculously long.

U: Ulysses. I prefer Odysseus as far as naming, since I am not referring to the Joyce book here- I’ve never read it and it sounds terrifying. But Odysseus is one of the most interesting mythological characters I know, and I really enjoyed reading about his adventures in The Odyssey.

V: … Vocal. I tend to get this way when I’m mad? Look, I don’t know. ‘V’ is hard, okay?

W: Within Temptation. A band I like very much, even if their lyrics sometimes feel like they were produced by throwing random clauses into a sentence generator. English isn’t their first language, so I forgive them. And they’ve produced some very good/pretty songs.

X: I’m going to copy Becky on this and go with The X-Files. I love this show, and would really like to be Dana Scully when I grow up.

Y: Youth. I’m not very old? I guess that counts.

Z: Um… Zombieland. I really loved this movie. Tallahassee captured my entire outlook on coconut in one line:

…

Wow, if you successfully read all that, I salute you. It took me ages to write up, a lot longer than I actually thought it would. Hopefully you learned something about me that you didn’t know before!

And for this blog, I want to nominate Marie Erving, who does book and webseries reviews, takes on science in fiction, life in the lab, and generally has very awesome content that needs appreciation. She often links to really cool stuff and does a really good job explaining why she likes the things she does. Highly recommended.