Let me tell you about myself
1. What are your favourite and least favourite things about living in Edinburgh?
Edinburgh, to me, is very much a compromise. I grew up in Kent, in a town that was basically one big commuter area for London, and in many ways I feel more comfortable in that kind of quiet setting. I used to visit London every couple of months, and every time I'd feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, buildings, traffic, and general hubbub. On the other hand, cities are where things happen. If you want to have access to shops, cinemas, theatres, museums, etc. (or at least a decent selection of them) then you need to be at least close to a city.
One of my reasons for staying in Stirling when I graduated was that moving back home would almost certainly mean working in London, and the thought horrified me. I worked in Glasgow for about three years over the next decade, and disliked it intensely (I am aware that Glasgow has nice bits, but I largely associate it with huge swathes of concrete and tarmac).
I actually resisted moving to Edinburgh too - Erin had lived here, and really wanted to move back, but I was very nervous about it. But visiting her and Hal on various trips showed me that Edinburgh (a)isn't actually that large and (b)is much less crowded than many cities (except for during the festival, when the population doubles for a month of entertaining hell). It's basically a city that I can cope with.
And so my favourite and least favourite things about Edinburgh are basically the same thing - it's a city, with all of the awesome possibilities, unpleasant realities, and everyday compromises that entails.
2. How do you feel about having been to an all boys school? Would you pick single sex education for your future children?
Hell no. I find the idea that people should be separated out according to their gender apppalling. For me (and a lot of other people I knew) it meant that they never associated with a person of the opposite sex until they were 18. I'd like you to imagine the kinds of ideas that people form about those people that they never encounter in real life, and the massive shock of then learning the details about this new type of person only upon reaching university. People ought to be _normal_ to each other - they should be mixing as much as possible all the way through their lives, so that they can see them as they really are, rather than forming twisted mythologies about them.
One of the most unpleasant ideas that still has traction in society is that Men can't understand Women. Because it prevents them from even trying to do so. "Those are women, therefore any ideas, wants, demands, or feelings they have are, by definition, unknowable to me." I can think of few things more othering, or liable to make relationships insanely hard (the inverse, whereby Men are seen as simple, base creatures who cannot restrain their desires, is equally harmful, of course).
Combatting these ideas is tricky at best, but made almost impossible if you're never actually around members of the opposite sex.
3. Who is your favourite Endless and why?
Death is the easy choice, as she's likeable and friendly. But she's just too busy to get serious time with.
Dream is too difficult to deal with. Opaque, highly-strung, and wrapped up in his moods and responsibilities.
Delirium is a mess. Easy to feel sorry for, entertaining to watch from a safe distance, but impossible for a mortal to deal with on a regular basis.
Despair is just creepy. We never see enough of them to form a deep idea of their character, and that's probably a good thing.
Desire will burn your life to the ground and then laugh in the ashes.
Destiny is his duty personified. Too subsumed by his book to form any attachment to.
Destruction cut the bonds that held him, and became his own person. I like that, and I like him.
4. How do you feel about being an introvert?
I'm not convinced I am one. But it depends on your definitions. If by "introvert" you mean "someone who doesn't like being around people", then I'm not an introvert at all, as I love being around people. I get lonely very easily, and when there's nobody at home then I'll be setting up things to see people, or dropping in to say hi. Julie's and my stress over the last couple of years has significantly decreased the amount I go out, and I'm looking forward to seeing people more again after the wedding. Providing they haven't all forgotten what I look like, of course.
On the other hand, if what you mean is "Someone who gets worn out by being around people who they don't feel entirely comfortable with." then I most definitely am one. I have the whole geek thing of finding small talk very hard, and silent chunks of time where I feel I ought to be saying something, but I'm not sure what, incredibly painful. I can do it, and I can fake it well enough that most people don't think of me that way (I have dozens of backup conversation starters worked out), but after an hour or so of doing it I just want to go and curl up somewhere nice and quiet with a book/the internet and get some of my own energy back.
I do get annoyed by people who think that _everyone_ is faking it, and that nobody really enjoys small talk (because I think actually the majority of people do), and also by people who don't understand that not everyone finds it easy.
5. What book or books have had the most influence on how you see the world?
God, that's a hard one. And probably a highly embarassing one. The biggest thing was probably the writing of Robert Anton Wilson (particularly The Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy), which did a great job of taking someone who believed that there was a Right Answer to problems and converting them into someone who recognised that It's More Complicated Than That. Obviously, this goes along with a whole bunch of other reading, philosophy courses, etc. but it was his work that got me to strip some of the ideas that were stopping me from looking at the world as it is, rather than the world as I want it to be, and stop taking any of my beliefs seriously. If you're not the kind of person who does that then they won't have that kind of effect on you, of course :->
(Questions via alitheapipkin, who asked them over a month ago.)
Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
comments there.
Edinburgh, to me, is very much a compromise. I grew up in Kent, in a town that was basically one big commuter area for London, and in many ways I feel more comfortable in that kind of quiet setting. I used to visit London every couple of months, and every time I'd feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, buildings, traffic, and general hubbub. On the other hand, cities are where things happen. If you want to have access to shops, cinemas, theatres, museums, etc. (or at least a decent selection of them) then you need to be at least close to a city.
One of my reasons for staying in Stirling when I graduated was that moving back home would almost certainly mean working in London, and the thought horrified me. I worked in Glasgow for about three years over the next decade, and disliked it intensely (I am aware that Glasgow has nice bits, but I largely associate it with huge swathes of concrete and tarmac).
I actually resisted moving to Edinburgh too - Erin had lived here, and really wanted to move back, but I was very nervous about it. But visiting her and Hal on various trips showed me that Edinburgh (a)isn't actually that large and (b)is much less crowded than many cities (except for during the festival, when the population doubles for a month of entertaining hell). It's basically a city that I can cope with.
And so my favourite and least favourite things about Edinburgh are basically the same thing - it's a city, with all of the awesome possibilities, unpleasant realities, and everyday compromises that entails.
2. How do you feel about having been to an all boys school? Would you pick single sex education for your future children?
Hell no. I find the idea that people should be separated out according to their gender apppalling. For me (and a lot of other people I knew) it meant that they never associated with a person of the opposite sex until they were 18. I'd like you to imagine the kinds of ideas that people form about those people that they never encounter in real life, and the massive shock of then learning the details about this new type of person only upon reaching university. People ought to be _normal_ to each other - they should be mixing as much as possible all the way through their lives, so that they can see them as they really are, rather than forming twisted mythologies about them.
One of the most unpleasant ideas that still has traction in society is that Men can't understand Women. Because it prevents them from even trying to do so. "Those are women, therefore any ideas, wants, demands, or feelings they have are, by definition, unknowable to me." I can think of few things more othering, or liable to make relationships insanely hard (the inverse, whereby Men are seen as simple, base creatures who cannot restrain their desires, is equally harmful, of course).
Combatting these ideas is tricky at best, but made almost impossible if you're never actually around members of the opposite sex.
3. Who is your favourite Endless and why?
Death is the easy choice, as she's likeable and friendly. But she's just too busy to get serious time with.
Dream is too difficult to deal with. Opaque, highly-strung, and wrapped up in his moods and responsibilities.
Delirium is a mess. Easy to feel sorry for, entertaining to watch from a safe distance, but impossible for a mortal to deal with on a regular basis.
Despair is just creepy. We never see enough of them to form a deep idea of their character, and that's probably a good thing.
Desire will burn your life to the ground and then laugh in the ashes.
Destiny is his duty personified. Too subsumed by his book to form any attachment to.
Destruction cut the bonds that held him, and became his own person. I like that, and I like him.
4. How do you feel about being an introvert?
I'm not convinced I am one. But it depends on your definitions. If by "introvert" you mean "someone who doesn't like being around people", then I'm not an introvert at all, as I love being around people. I get lonely very easily, and when there's nobody at home then I'll be setting up things to see people, or dropping in to say hi. Julie's and my stress over the last couple of years has significantly decreased the amount I go out, and I'm looking forward to seeing people more again after the wedding. Providing they haven't all forgotten what I look like, of course.
On the other hand, if what you mean is "Someone who gets worn out by being around people who they don't feel entirely comfortable with." then I most definitely am one. I have the whole geek thing of finding small talk very hard, and silent chunks of time where I feel I ought to be saying something, but I'm not sure what, incredibly painful. I can do it, and I can fake it well enough that most people don't think of me that way (I have dozens of backup conversation starters worked out), but after an hour or so of doing it I just want to go and curl up somewhere nice and quiet with a book/the internet and get some of my own energy back.
I do get annoyed by people who think that _everyone_ is faking it, and that nobody really enjoys small talk (because I think actually the majority of people do), and also by people who don't understand that not everyone finds it easy.
5. What book or books have had the most influence on how you see the world?
God, that's a hard one. And probably a highly embarassing one. The biggest thing was probably the writing of Robert Anton Wilson (particularly The Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy), which did a great job of taking someone who believed that there was a Right Answer to problems and converting them into someone who recognised that It's More Complicated Than That. Obviously, this goes along with a whole bunch of other reading, philosophy courses, etc. but it was his work that got me to strip some of the ideas that were stopping me from looking at the world as it is, rather than the world as I want it to be, and stop taking any of my beliefs seriously. If you're not the kind of person who does that then they won't have that kind of effect on you, of course :->
(Questions via alitheapipkin, who asked them over a month ago.)
Original post on Dreamwidth - there are
comments there.