User Interest Meme
Oh, I do love memes. They are the wanky, self-important stuff of which LJ is composed. This one's from kasche.
Comment on this post. I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.
After seeing what other people have listed (gay married fish, Chaucer's indie cred, poncy Londoners), I have determined that my user interests are exceedingly unimaginative. :) So I can't blame kasche for finding only five of mine particularly compelling. Here they are:
arthouse/foreign cinema - In my hometown, there's a delightful little cinema that serves as a welcome alternative to the nearby multiplexes. It's been around for ages, but in recent years it's come to specialize in small-scale and foreign films, or films that none of the money-churning movie theaters will take. In other words, this is where they show the good stuff, the movies that aren't just aiming to make a fast buck by pleasing the masses. My friends and I have become eager and frequent patrons of Kimball's Twin Peak cinema, and so while I may not be able to chat away with my classmates about the latest action-packed blockbuster, I do like to think I'm getting the better deal. A few favorites: After the Wedding, The Motorcycle Diaries, I Capture the Castle, The Royal Tenenbaums, A Very Long Engagement and (of course) Amélie
being a walking anachronism - I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard some variation on this phrase: Hannah, you were born in the wrong century. It's only too true. I think like a Jane Austen character, my friends joke that I'm incapable of reading anything written after 1920, and my speech contains unmistakable traces of archaism. This is why, every summer, I take refuge from the modern world by working as a tour guide at a local historic house. My duties include wearing full Edwardian costume, talking history with tourists, and generally pretending I wasn't born anytime after 1890. Not a difficult task.
contra dance - Contra dance is a form of social dancing influenced by English folk and country dances. It's particularly popular in New England, where I attend school. The basic idea is that you have two lines (men and women) facing one another, and everyone dances formations up and down the lines for a good fifteen minutes per song. Think of any dance scene in a Jane Austen film adaptation, put modern clothes on the dancers, and you've got a pretty good idea of the way contra dance works. It's an excellent way to meet new people, get a workout, and have a damn good time doing it.
overdressing for the occasion - I'm so nostalgic for the days when people actually put some effort into what they wore - suits and ties for family dinners, elegant gowns for an afternoon spent sitting in your living room. So while my fellow students come to class in their pyjamas (a practice I won't censure), I regularly show up in button-down shirts, skirts, and pearls. Not to be pretentious, mind you! I just enjoy the fiction that we haven't yet left the year 1910.
random acts of kindness - There are few things that make me feel better than the knowledge that I've made someone's day a little brighter. Whether it's picking up litter so the groundskeeper won't have to deal with it, or helping a disabled person get on a bus, or making a meal for a friend, I love to do things for other people. One of my favorite memories is of my most recent birthday, on which a bunch of friends and I stood on street corners with signs reading 'Free Hugs'. Every person we hugged that day went away with a grin, and my, did it feel good!
Comment on this post. I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.
After seeing what other people have listed (gay married fish, Chaucer's indie cred, poncy Londoners), I have determined that my user interests are exceedingly unimaginative. :) So I can't blame kasche for finding only five of mine particularly compelling. Here they are:
arthouse/foreign cinema - In my hometown, there's a delightful little cinema that serves as a welcome alternative to the nearby multiplexes. It's been around for ages, but in recent years it's come to specialize in small-scale and foreign films, or films that none of the money-churning movie theaters will take. In other words, this is where they show the good stuff, the movies that aren't just aiming to make a fast buck by pleasing the masses. My friends and I have become eager and frequent patrons of Kimball's Twin Peak cinema, and so while I may not be able to chat away with my classmates about the latest action-packed blockbuster, I do like to think I'm getting the better deal. A few favorites: After the Wedding, The Motorcycle Diaries, I Capture the Castle, The Royal Tenenbaums, A Very Long Engagement and (of course) Amélie
being a walking anachronism - I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard some variation on this phrase: Hannah, you were born in the wrong century. It's only too true. I think like a Jane Austen character, my friends joke that I'm incapable of reading anything written after 1920, and my speech contains unmistakable traces of archaism. This is why, every summer, I take refuge from the modern world by working as a tour guide at a local historic house. My duties include wearing full Edwardian costume, talking history with tourists, and generally pretending I wasn't born anytime after 1890. Not a difficult task.
contra dance - Contra dance is a form of social dancing influenced by English folk and country dances. It's particularly popular in New England, where I attend school. The basic idea is that you have two lines (men and women) facing one another, and everyone dances formations up and down the lines for a good fifteen minutes per song. Think of any dance scene in a Jane Austen film adaptation, put modern clothes on the dancers, and you've got a pretty good idea of the way contra dance works. It's an excellent way to meet new people, get a workout, and have a damn good time doing it.
overdressing for the occasion - I'm so nostalgic for the days when people actually put some effort into what they wore - suits and ties for family dinners, elegant gowns for an afternoon spent sitting in your living room. So while my fellow students come to class in their pyjamas (a practice I won't censure), I regularly show up in button-down shirts, skirts, and pearls. Not to be pretentious, mind you! I just enjoy the fiction that we haven't yet left the year 1910.
random acts of kindness - There are few things that make me feel better than the knowledge that I've made someone's day a little brighter. Whether it's picking up litter so the groundskeeper won't have to deal with it, or helping a disabled person get on a bus, or making a meal for a friend, I love to do things for other people. One of my favorite memories is of my most recent birthday, on which a bunch of friends and I stood on street corners with signs reading 'Free Hugs'. Every person we hugged that day went away with a grin, and my, did it feel good!