Still more answers
Aug. 20th, 2003 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deathpixieAh yes, more answers dredged from the explosion that was my work email on Monday...
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1. Rossi the Aussie: how much do you play up the Ocker Outback Sheila when outside of Australia, and is it self-defense or unnoticed? (BTW: I will subject you to 'Finding Nemo', and I will laugh at you... a lot.)
I guess I do play it up a bit... not out of self-defence, but because it's almost expected of me - "Hey, you're Australian, say something Aussie for me" kinda deal. I'm also one of those people that don't pick up accents easily, and I do have a fairly thick rural Australian accent from my years in Myrtleford, so yeah, I am a bit of a walking cliche. ;)
And I have no idea what you're talking about, beyond "Finding Nemo" as one of those Disney movies, yes?
2. Tell me about your home. Not the current one, but the home you've always wanted to have. Location, size, furnishing, style, etc.
You realise this is the retirement villa... Somewhere on the Queen Charlotte Islands, probably in Queen Charlotte City, a little cabin-type house near the water. It's kind of old and very simple, two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom. One bedroom is mine, again simply furnished with the essentials (bed, somewhere to put clothes) with my old government-issue desk under the window which looks out over the sea, with my computer set up on it and papers stuck all over the nearby walls. My Dad's old Army trunk, which he's given to me, is at the foot of the bed, covered with one of my grandmother's quilts.
Second bedroom is the guest room, with bed, chest of drawers, small wardrobe. Again, lots of light, window perhaps facing the opposite direction of the main bedroom, over the backyard and the garden, which is full of herbs and flowers, and a veggie patch in the corner. The living room has an open fireplace, and is furnished with comfortable, slightly battered furniture which is more about letting people relax than about making a statment. Lots of bookshelves, full of the books I've collected over the years, and odds and ends that have either sentimental meaning, or are just interesting to look at. In the kitchen there's a solid wooden table for eating at, lots of space, and again, lots of light, looking out over the garden.
There's also a shed in the garden, fully lit and heated and with a darkroom, where I do my creative things.
*grins* Of course, this will all be in another thirty years...
3. You have been given the job to cast THE TASMANIAN BABES FIASCO, and through some retooling (i.e kicking the bloody snot out of it) of Frito's mind control rays, any actor can speak fluent Aussie. Who do you cast?
I'll answer this one when I read the book again - it's been about four years and I really can't remember specific characters. Question for you - casting with ficcers or actual actors?
4. Give me an ideal in the next five years. Something you'd like to be doing, and where? Plausibility can be stretched for it.
Working for something like the Lonely Planet Guides in a full time capacity as an editor and writer, travelling often for research purposes. Perhaps working somewhere in Europe, maybe Sweden, having decided to do so during my Grand European Tour of 2005. Earning enough to travel without struggle, but not mega-bucks - it would be doing something that I enjoy that would be the best reward. Planning to ride the Tour De France route, if haven't already done so. Probably still single, but looking fabulously youthful for 38. ;)
5. You get Fanficcer X over to Australia. What's the first thing you want to show them?
Melbourne. Spend a day wandering around the city (the Vic Market, the Gardens, maybe Melbourne University, depends on the person's interests, really), go down to St Kilda for lunch and a leisurely beer at the George or the Esplanade, wander along Southbank as the sun is going down and playing in the Casino fountain, dinner at the Blue Train and then up to the Portland Hotel for winding down.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1.) Of all the places you've visited on your walkabout, which did you enjoy the most? In what place did you feel most "at home?"
It's hard to nail down one place as the most enjoyable. Pretty much everywhere was amazing. As for the "at home", I'd say either the Canadian Rockies or the Queen Charlotte Islands - I really loved both of them, and felt really comfortable. Toronto, too, feels like home - mainly because it's so much like Melbourne to me.
2.) How did you wind up getting into cycling?
Living on a small farm 10km away from the nearest store with parents who worked full time meant that if I wanted something from the shop, I had to ride. I've always had a bike, and it was a perfectly natural thing to do as a kid to ride everywhere that was too far to walk.
As I grew up, I met BRM in my first year at university, and as he was seriously into cycling, he sparked my interest in it as more than a means of transport. He put together my touring/commuting bike, and I discovered having a decent bike with a good set up meant that riding was far more comfortable. Being students we were too broke to go away during holidays, so we'd do cycling tours, carrying what we needed and camping out or staying in caravan parks.
3.) I realize this is a generalization, but indulge me for a moment: What essential cultural characteristic do the American people seem to share with Aussies? What is the biggest cultural difference between Americans and Aussies?
Share: The mobility, the acceptance of travelling huge distances to get anywhere, and thus a fairly casual attitude towards doing so. It's something that I take for granted until I talk to Phil. ;)
Difference: Americans have nothing like the Tall Poppy Syndrome, or the cultural cringe. It's not the done thing in Australia to boast about one's achievements, and so when an American does so, it comes off as appalling arrogance to an Aussie. This doesn't extend to sport, for some reason - I guess there's always an element of luck, as well as skill, involved, and if you're lucky, it's okay to say so.
4.) Circumstances dictate you have to leave Australia and not return. When you're finished your travels, where do you decide to settle?
If the Gnome is re-elected for another term, I might just be in that situation. ;) Um, since there's a lot of places I haven't been yet, I'd probably say, for now, Toronto. I have friends there, Canada is one of my favourite places, and Toronto is a lot like Melbourne. Of course, I might find somewhere else I like better. ;)
5.) What do you find was the easiest part of ending your long-term relationship with BRM? The hardest part?
The easiest and hardest part is that he ended the relationship, not me. Easy because it took the decision out of my hands (and to be 100% truthful, it would have taken me another year to realise that was the only thing to do), and hard because it's exacerbated the issues I have with rejection. And being dumped by someone as manipulative and hurtful as BRM had become wasn't exactly good for the ego - he had me convinced he was the only one who would ever want me, and then he didn't want me. Ouch.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1) You have two days left to live before the world ends. What do you do?
Get all my friends together in a pub somewhere and drink and talk and make merry until it doesn't matter any more.
2) How do *you* cope with the loneliness? I'm not doing a good job at it.
And I am? *grins* I try to keep busy - it becomes hard to deal with when I'm sick or have nothing going on, because then I'm alone with my thoughts and those usually move towards the morbid. If the solitude is getting to me I'll take the laptop and/or a book to my local pub or coffee shop and just absorb the atmosphere, talk to people, that kind of thing.
3) If you had to choose between living a safe, mediocre life and living a kickass life with lots of roller coaster ups and downs, which would you choose?
Considering I'm living the safe, mediocre life at the moment and hating it, I'd have to choose the kickarse life with the rollercoaster ride. I can survive the downs by reminding myself of the ups, and I'd generally be so busy I wouldn't have time to notice the downs so much anyway...
4) Would you write smut for Smut Peddler? I know you could scrounge up an artist somewhere.
What is this Smut Peddler? *grins* Seriously, I don't think I could write smut worthy of submission to anyone, or worth putting into pictures. I get the giggles halfway through and start making jokes about wet patches and condoms, and my thing for realism would make for very pragmatic nookie scenes. ;)
5) Which of the musicians do you like would you have an affair with and which would you want to marry?
Wild torrid affair with Tim Friedmann or Moby, marry maybe David Bridie or Neil Finn, if they weren't already very married.
One more to go, but I need to go find something I can eat and go to Medicare and get a refund for my doctor's appointments. I'm not sure where the energy is supposed to come from - all I want to do right now is curl up under my desk and sleep...
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1. Rossi the Aussie: how much do you play up the Ocker Outback Sheila when outside of Australia, and is it self-defense or unnoticed? (BTW: I will subject you to 'Finding Nemo', and I will laugh at you... a lot.)
I guess I do play it up a bit... not out of self-defence, but because it's almost expected of me - "Hey, you're Australian, say something Aussie for me" kinda deal. I'm also one of those people that don't pick up accents easily, and I do have a fairly thick rural Australian accent from my years in Myrtleford, so yeah, I am a bit of a walking cliche. ;)
And I have no idea what you're talking about, beyond "Finding Nemo" as one of those Disney movies, yes?
2. Tell me about your home. Not the current one, but the home you've always wanted to have. Location, size, furnishing, style, etc.
You realise this is the retirement villa... Somewhere on the Queen Charlotte Islands, probably in Queen Charlotte City, a little cabin-type house near the water. It's kind of old and very simple, two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom. One bedroom is mine, again simply furnished with the essentials (bed, somewhere to put clothes) with my old government-issue desk under the window which looks out over the sea, with my computer set up on it and papers stuck all over the nearby walls. My Dad's old Army trunk, which he's given to me, is at the foot of the bed, covered with one of my grandmother's quilts.
Second bedroom is the guest room, with bed, chest of drawers, small wardrobe. Again, lots of light, window perhaps facing the opposite direction of the main bedroom, over the backyard and the garden, which is full of herbs and flowers, and a veggie patch in the corner. The living room has an open fireplace, and is furnished with comfortable, slightly battered furniture which is more about letting people relax than about making a statment. Lots of bookshelves, full of the books I've collected over the years, and odds and ends that have either sentimental meaning, or are just interesting to look at. In the kitchen there's a solid wooden table for eating at, lots of space, and again, lots of light, looking out over the garden.
There's also a shed in the garden, fully lit and heated and with a darkroom, where I do my creative things.
*grins* Of course, this will all be in another thirty years...
3. You have been given the job to cast THE TASMANIAN BABES FIASCO, and through some retooling (i.e kicking the bloody snot out of it) of Frito's mind control rays, any actor can speak fluent Aussie. Who do you cast?
I'll answer this one when I read the book again - it's been about four years and I really can't remember specific characters. Question for you - casting with ficcers or actual actors?
4. Give me an ideal in the next five years. Something you'd like to be doing, and where? Plausibility can be stretched for it.
Working for something like the Lonely Planet Guides in a full time capacity as an editor and writer, travelling often for research purposes. Perhaps working somewhere in Europe, maybe Sweden, having decided to do so during my Grand European Tour of 2005. Earning enough to travel without struggle, but not mega-bucks - it would be doing something that I enjoy that would be the best reward. Planning to ride the Tour De France route, if haven't already done so. Probably still single, but looking fabulously youthful for 38. ;)
5. You get Fanficcer X over to Australia. What's the first thing you want to show them?
Melbourne. Spend a day wandering around the city (the Vic Market, the Gardens, maybe Melbourne University, depends on the person's interests, really), go down to St Kilda for lunch and a leisurely beer at the George or the Esplanade, wander along Southbank as the sun is going down and playing in the Casino fountain, dinner at the Blue Train and then up to the Portland Hotel for winding down.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1.) Of all the places you've visited on your walkabout, which did you enjoy the most? In what place did you feel most "at home?"
It's hard to nail down one place as the most enjoyable. Pretty much everywhere was amazing. As for the "at home", I'd say either the Canadian Rockies or the Queen Charlotte Islands - I really loved both of them, and felt really comfortable. Toronto, too, feels like home - mainly because it's so much like Melbourne to me.
2.) How did you wind up getting into cycling?
Living on a small farm 10km away from the nearest store with parents who worked full time meant that if I wanted something from the shop, I had to ride. I've always had a bike, and it was a perfectly natural thing to do as a kid to ride everywhere that was too far to walk.
As I grew up, I met BRM in my first year at university, and as he was seriously into cycling, he sparked my interest in it as more than a means of transport. He put together my touring/commuting bike, and I discovered having a decent bike with a good set up meant that riding was far more comfortable. Being students we were too broke to go away during holidays, so we'd do cycling tours, carrying what we needed and camping out or staying in caravan parks.
3.) I realize this is a generalization, but indulge me for a moment: What essential cultural characteristic do the American people seem to share with Aussies? What is the biggest cultural difference between Americans and Aussies?
Share: The mobility, the acceptance of travelling huge distances to get anywhere, and thus a fairly casual attitude towards doing so. It's something that I take for granted until I talk to Phil. ;)
Difference: Americans have nothing like the Tall Poppy Syndrome, or the cultural cringe. It's not the done thing in Australia to boast about one's achievements, and so when an American does so, it comes off as appalling arrogance to an Aussie. This doesn't extend to sport, for some reason - I guess there's always an element of luck, as well as skill, involved, and if you're lucky, it's okay to say so.
4.) Circumstances dictate you have to leave Australia and not return. When you're finished your travels, where do you decide to settle?
If the Gnome is re-elected for another term, I might just be in that situation. ;) Um, since there's a lot of places I haven't been yet, I'd probably say, for now, Toronto. I have friends there, Canada is one of my favourite places, and Toronto is a lot like Melbourne. Of course, I might find somewhere else I like better. ;)
5.) What do you find was the easiest part of ending your long-term relationship with BRM? The hardest part?
The easiest and hardest part is that he ended the relationship, not me. Easy because it took the decision out of my hands (and to be 100% truthful, it would have taken me another year to realise that was the only thing to do), and hard because it's exacerbated the issues I have with rejection. And being dumped by someone as manipulative and hurtful as BRM had become wasn't exactly good for the ego - he had me convinced he was the only one who would ever want me, and then he didn't want me. Ouch.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1) You have two days left to live before the world ends. What do you do?
Get all my friends together in a pub somewhere and drink and talk and make merry until it doesn't matter any more.
2) How do *you* cope with the loneliness? I'm not doing a good job at it.
And I am? *grins* I try to keep busy - it becomes hard to deal with when I'm sick or have nothing going on, because then I'm alone with my thoughts and those usually move towards the morbid. If the solitude is getting to me I'll take the laptop and/or a book to my local pub or coffee shop and just absorb the atmosphere, talk to people, that kind of thing.
3) If you had to choose between living a safe, mediocre life and living a kickass life with lots of roller coaster ups and downs, which would you choose?
Considering I'm living the safe, mediocre life at the moment and hating it, I'd have to choose the kickarse life with the rollercoaster ride. I can survive the downs by reminding myself of the ups, and I'd generally be so busy I wouldn't have time to notice the downs so much anyway...
4) Would you write smut for Smut Peddler? I know you could scrounge up an artist somewhere.
What is this Smut Peddler? *grins* Seriously, I don't think I could write smut worthy of submission to anyone, or worth putting into pictures. I get the giggles halfway through and start making jokes about wet patches and condoms, and my thing for realism would make for very pragmatic nookie scenes. ;)
5) Which of the musicians do you like would you have an affair with and which would you want to marry?
Wild torrid affair with Tim Friedmann or Moby, marry maybe David Bridie or Neil Finn, if they weren't already very married.
One more to go, but I need to go find something I can eat and go to Medicare and get a refund for my doctor's appointments. I'm not sure where the energy is supposed to come from - all I want to do right now is curl up under my desk and sleep...
