I make them good girls go bad

[klena]

Meme from the beautiful blindeadmcjones
* Leave me a comment saying "We used to be French but now we are underwater"
* I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
* Update your journal with the answers to the questions. Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

Here were her questions for me

1. You are granted the power to become a virtuoso in any instrument, a master of any art form, fluent in any language, a top athlete in any sport etc. Which one specifically would you choose?

2. Who is your favourite writer/author and why? Have they influenced your own writing?

3. Pick one line from a song that means a lot to you, and let us know why!

4. Tell me a little something-something about Dave. A habit, favourite flavour crisp, a way he makes you happy or mad or anything!

5. I know you've been super busy recently. How do you let your creativity out? Are you still drawing and writing? Or does it all get channelled into the amazing costumes I see on facebook?



1. My instinctive reaction was to go with being a virtuoso, which is strange considering I don't actually play any instruments anymore. I have my flute and guitar with me in Leeds, but beyond that, the most I do is sing. That was quite strange in it's pull. But I think that'd be the right choice, especially as my second choice would be to be a master of art. My reasoning seems to be because of how art and music influence people. I'd love to be fluent in languages but I don't think I have the aptitude for it (flashbacks to first-year Japanese, thanks Caroline Rose!). Art or music are where my heart lie, because of the response they provoke in people. Art infuriates people, it stimulates debate, it causes people to disconnect from their lives for a period and just appreciate the aesthetic. Music also stimulates amazing debates, it brings people together, it speaks to you at a particular moment of your life so that years later, hearing a simple hook can take you back to being 16 and fearless or 22 and heartbroken and also, watching live music performed is one of the great joys of life.

2. I think my favourite writer is still Neil Gaiman. I love the wit of Oscar Wilde, with a passion and the intensity of James Joyce and the strange tranquility of Japanese writers, but a Neil Gaiman book is one that I can pick up and instantly fall in love with again, feeling myself topple into his worlds. I don't think many writers have influenced my writing style. I've also joked about my Joycian/Woolfian stream-of-consciousness ramblings because I do write very much like my brain functions. I'm not one for intense intellectualism, or at least, complex intellectualism. In seminars, I usually phrase my comments as they form in my mind, without refining them. And that makes me sound less intelligent than I am, but sometimes intellectual bullshit just really gets to me. And with writers, I think because of my degree I find it really difficult to isolate writers that might influence me due to the sheer quantity of books that I have to read. At least a different writer/book/poet every week, and therefore it's hard to locate inspirations. Sometimes I underline phrases in books as they inspire me or stimulate me, but otherwise I can't tell. One of my post-degree plans is to read my university course books again and try to really enjoy them.

3. Oh God, worst question ever. Purely because, I love music and lyrics are one of my massive passions. If you noticed (probably not because it is ridiculously dorky), almost every entry I've posted in the last year (at least) is a song lyric from the song I'm listening to as I write my entries. And my song!love changes constantly. I have other 12,600 songs in my iTunes library, and I try to listen to them all at least twice. I will throw some lyrics at you, regardless, based on songs I've been listening to most recently
-"I would gladly stay an afterthought, just bring back some nice reminders"
-"And is it getting harder to pretend that life goes on without in the wake?"
-"Just my luck, they found your upper half, it's a very nice reminder." - All three from "Astronaut" by Amanda Palmer. The song is about the Columbia shuttle crash, which makes it even more poignant but it's the way she sings it. It's simple and heartbreaking.
-"Do you suppose they swap their blood for wine? Like you swapped yours for ink"
-"I'll soon forget what was never there, your words are ash and dust, all that's left is the song I've sung, the breath I've taken and the one I must"
-"People of letters, your warning stands clear - better heed to your heart and not to your wit, don't say in a letter what you can't in my ear" - "The Wrote and the Writ" - Johnny Flynn. I had to stop myself at those because the entire song is fucking poetry. It's a warning and "people of words" applies to so many people, it applies to myself. "Heed to your heart and not to your wit" might be part of my next tattoo because it's sound advice.
-"Now your life's no longer empty, surely Heaven waits for you" - Kansas, "Carry On My Wayward Son". This is my Supernatural song and the line breaks my heart because it's a comment on life, on how hard you fight and the reward you may never get.
I am stopping there because that is getting excessive! In conclusion, most songs I love have lines that mean the world to me

4. A little something-something about Dave. I'll give you five, in the interests of the meme.
a. He's fucking dedicated to his work, almost to the exclusion of everthing else. His ambition is admirable but also worrying, because he can and does work 12-16 hour days.
b. He doesn't really like going out anymore, feels happier staying in and chilling out
c. Dave is shocking at getting up. I have watched him reset an alarm 6 times, with 15 minute gaps. He is not a morning person
d. He's very open to new things (nudge nudge wink wink). No, that's crass of me. He's willing to try new things, and judge after he's experienced them. He's tried sushi with me, he wants to see places, he's willing to being bullied towards watching movies etc etc
e. He never used to be a dessert man, it was generally starters and mains when he was younger. Now, he is very much a dessert/ice cream/biscuit man

5. That has been a point of stress for me! Because, generally I haven't been doing creative things. Sometimes, I dress up for uni and do my hair and make-up to let some of it out, but I haven't been seriously creativity in a long while. That may be about to change, as I'm part of the recently founded Animesoc Draw Your Own Manga group and may be designing a t-shirt for Dave. I think a lot about art and costumes and writing but I just have very little energy for it all anymore, and the energy I don't spend on uni typically ends up focusing on watching shit TV in the evening with my housemates. Tragic times! But there are still things twisting in my head. Maybe I'll start to get on them soon....


I was going to ramble about Valentines Day and university and music now but I have a doctor's appointment in an hour and a half and I need to grab things for the manga meet after, get dressed, take off nail polish, wash dishes and pick up an essay, so that's all for the minute!

Comments

[spruce-moosk.livejournal.com]

<3 I was never 16 and fearless. And I'm glad you have animesoc manga as excuse to draw again >_< I still want to see more photography and stuff on your dA though :)

[marlinkhylacat]

TOTALLY with you on #1 re: people's reactions! That's how you know you're doing something right, when people react strongly to the work itself. XD

[hartclanpaladin.livejournal.com]

"We used to be French but now we are underwater"

:D