FanFic Ask Me Anything ~*~ Version 3.0 Daily Questions (See list on pg 164 or 1)

Probably Israel. I have several friends-of-friends who live there, and I would indeed want to stay a bit in order not only to socialize with them but also to get a taste of the culture, maybe improve what little spoken Hebrew I have, and of course eat lots of tasty food and hear lots of music.

 

I tried out a BB gun once a very long time ago, but I've never shot an actual firearm, and to be honest, I'd be rather afraid to! I've never really shot a bow and arrow either; I think I may have tried once at summer camp long ago, but that doesn't totally count.

Lightsabers are of course lovely and, as Obi-Wan says, "elegant." But I've always found the various energy staff type things, like those used by the Imperial and Senate Guards and the shockprod and discharger staves favored by Gand findsmen, very interesting too (and underused).

Well, one of them would have to be my own instrument: the organ. It's the "queen of instruments" (a phrase coined by Mozart) for good reason: it's got the biggest pitch range of any instrument and the biggest timbral (tone color) range, too; it's played with both hands and both feet; and it can play some of the most complex music ever written. I'm fond of all keyboard instruments, really: piano, harpsichord, clavichord, celesta, etc., and I like harp too. I'm not sure I have a least favorite instrument, though possibly that honor might go to some of the out-of-tune, badly maintained, cobbled-together, just plain nightmare-inducing mechanical instruments at The House on the Rock.

I really enjoy the part of the spring we're in right now: when the trees are covered with flowers and when flowers are just starting to come up in gardens (though that's happening late this year, at least here in Wisconsin, since our winter was so harsh). But pretty much any time of the year that short sleeves can be worn is fine with me.

 

Probably Obi-Wan—as the wise, gentle teacher who's also got his enigmatic side, he's the kind of Jedi Master I'd want if I were studying to be a Jedi. And he's portrayed so wonderfully by both Alec Guinness and Ewan MacGregor.

Oddly enough, I've never actually been skiing. I grew up in Chicago, so even though the winter is long there too, there aren't a lot of skiing opportunities (for one thing, the terrain is very flat). Plus, I'm really much more of a warm weather person; even though having growing up in the Midwest has gotten me used to cold weather, being used to something and liking it are two different things.

And the Harz are lovely—my travels in Germany included at least three very fun visits to the extremely charming town of Goslar.

 

That would be Vader—the original, the archetypal! The menacing look, the voice, the Force-choking, the not-sure-how-human-he-is quality... there's no wonder he's become the gold standard for sci-fi and fantasy movie villains since 1977.

I'd say it's a toss-up between ANH and ESB. The former is original and archetypal, too, of course (and is just so plain old fun and exciting!), but the latter takes that story to all-new levels of depth.

I enjoy them here and there, but my schedule doesn't usually leave me with a lot of time for them. Most have been PC-type adventure games—I cut my teeth on the King's Quest games as a young 'un, and then went on to enjoy the Myst series and similar exploratory adventures. I recommend very highly the offerings of Wadjet Eye Games, which combine top-notch gaming experiences with extremely well-crafted and thought-provoking stories. Of their stuff I've played (and mightily enjoyed) The Shivah, Gemini Rue, and Primordia (actually developed by Wormwood Studios). I'm also fond of those Inform text adventure games like Curses, Jigsaw, Christminster, the very Lovecraftian Anchorhead, and of course Lost Pig.

Yes, I did have oral qualifying exams. I was extremely nervous while taking and preparing for them, and as a result I remember them being more like intellectual gang rape than anything else (though my confidence rose markedly in the final third or so). Part of it was the particular group of professors I had, though; other colleagues of mine with different people on their committees said theirs were more like fun conversations and less nerve-wracking than they'd thought. So it probably has much to do with who's on the committee. (Are you a Ph.D. or Ph.D. student, too, K'Tai? )

My favorite well-known composers for the organ are probably J. S. Bach (1685–1750) and Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707), but in addition to them I have several favorites among more obscure composers of the same period. (I have a particular interest in Renaissance and baroque music, so that makes up most of what I play, though I venture a little bit into later repertoires too.) I am not much of a piano player myself, but I do enjoy Mozart's and Mendelssohn's piano pieces quite a bit, and Schumann too.

Yes, indeed! I loved the Rammelsberg mine tours, and they were a large part of why I went to Goslar to begin with. I was inspired to do so after a fun conversation with one of the mine guides at his booth at the Wolfenbüttel city fair, who greeted me with a loud "Glückauf, meine junge Frau!" when I arrived at the museum for my tour. Besides being extremely interesting in its own right, the place actually (oddly enough) gave me an epiphany into the musicological project I was starting at the time. (Also, some of the ore-processing buildings have fantastic acoustics, so I made recordings of myself singing in them.) I was there in the summer, around August or so, so unfortunately not around Walpurgisnacht.

No, not yet (some of them scare me, too!). I'm not yet at the point in my karate training where I would be starting to do anything with weapons—that's well into brown-belt level, and I'm currently at the earlier of the two green-belt levels.

 

In the US, it's been mostly weighted toward local history in the Midwest, including various Lincoln sites in and around Springfield, IL, the Cahokia Mounds of Illinois, and any number of houses by Frank Lloyd Wright in both Wisconsin and Illinois. On a trip to New England during my high school years, we visited the oldest restaurant in the US, the oldest synagogue in the US, and the houses of Hawthorne, Emerson, Alcott, and Mark Twain. My mom's a big history buff, so just every trip she and I have ever taken together from my earliest years onward has included visits to various local historical sites (not all of which I can now remember).

In the UK, among other historical places, I had the opportunity to visit a couple of castles in Scotland (including the one where Mary, Queen of Scots met her end), Sir Walter Scott's house, the Brontë sisters' hometown and childhood home, and at least one very historic pub (the Cheshire Cheese in London, which dates from 1538). Again, there were so many historical sites on that trip that I've probably forgotten many of them!

I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know who that is.

A good villain can be a joy, too.

 

I have to take a moment to say that your interview has just been downright fascinating so far! Wow.

Alrighty, for my question: What chore do you absolutely detest doing? Which one don't you mind?

 

Thank you, that's very kind.

I don't particularly like cleaning the bathroom, but fortunately my husband doesn't mind doing it. I don't mind cooking, since I find it a fun, creative thing to do (that's the one my husband detests).