Interests Meme

[jedibuttercup]

Got my list from kaylashay81:

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.

1. 1812

1812: Rivers of War is the first of a series (only two books so far, but I have hopes for more) by Eric Flint, that posits an alternate history beginning with Sam Houston not being badly injured at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and charts the paths that might have been taken in order to avoid the Trail of Tears.

Having spent the first 10 1/2 years of my life in Texas, growing up on stories of Sam Houston and the Alamo, and also having a Cherokee ancestress in my family tree back in the early 1800's, not to mention my interest in alternate history in general-- that novel pressed all kinds of buttons for me. I eagerly await future novels in the series.

2. freedom isn't free

There's a quote out there that goes: "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm" or some variation on that theme. I have a brother in the Air Force, and a grandfather who served in the Army in World War II; I have records on other ancestors who fought in the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. I'm politically an independent, but I have a conservative streak a mile wide in this particular area and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Due to the-- diverse-- political makeup of my flist, however, I'll refrain from going into any more detail on the subject.

3. kittens

I love domestic animals of all kinds, but I have a particular affinity for cats. My parents acquired a black kitten when I was eleven that they named Licorice, who adopted me as her human, slept on my bed every night, and at one point gave birth to a litter of kittens in my wardrobe before they managed to get her fixed. She lived fourteen years, and I loved her very much. Their current cat, a haughty sleek grey thing named (sense a theme here?) Earl Grey, is also inordinately fond of me; he's about four. But he's not fond of the kitten a friend gave me last year, a white and black striped girlcat I named Berúthiel whose day is not complete until I've let her cuddle in my lap for at least half an hour. ♥

4. number 5 is alive

I was eight years old when the movie Short Circuit hit theaters; Number 5 is the name of the robot in the movie who unexpectedly becomes sentient after an electrical accident. I can't count the number of times I watched it as a kid; it's one of those total nostalgia flicks for me, like Princess Bride or Return of the Jedi or Robin Hood: Prince of Theives, that I grin every time I see.

5. robin hood

See previous entry. Although, I was pretty much hooked on Robin Hood before that movie ever came out. I can't remember my first encounter with the legend-- I don't think it was the Disney cartoon, because I remember being disappointed by the typical Disney simplification of the story the only time I ever sat through the whole thing-- but I don't think it was the classic 1932 Henry Gilbert novel either, because I was surprised and depressed by the ending of it when I found a copy as a teenager. Maybe it was the Errol Flynn movie? Dad went through an Errol Flynn phase when I was a kid. Anyway, I own several different novels now based on that theme, and had you been present in my mother's house the day the "Q-Pid" episode of Star Trek: TNG aired, you would have been deafened by the shrieks of glee.

6. society for creative anachronism

See: 1812 answer re: alternate history buff. I took AP US History and AP World History in high school, and tested out with 5's on both: enough to qualify for a full 12 semester credits of history in college. Thus freed from the standard req's, I had space in my schedule to fit in medieval history instead, feeding my old robin hood fixation. And stumbled across the SCA doing research. I don't have the funds or time to play in the "Current Middle Ages" very often, but maevebran and her husband earcmacfithil are heavily involved, and I enjoy tagging along occasionally.

7. the princess bride

Again, see entry #4. I was nine years old when this movie came out, and it's been a favorite ever since. Not to mention, it enjoyed "cult status" while I was in college, and constantly made the dorm lounge rotation (along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, of course) when I was a sophomore. I can still quote large sections of this movie word-for-word, and even wrote a Mal-as-Buttercup Firefly version of the story for a valentine ficathon. Still one of the top ten stories on my personal proud-of list, despite the fact that I consider myself primarly a gen writer, and it was for a slash request.
~

Comments

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

I'll play.=)

[jedibuttercup]

Like there's much I don't know about your interests! But the rest of your f-list should have fun with it, so answer me these:

broadway musicals, carpe noctem, dracula 2000, duct tape, jane austen, refugees from the normality, shire of mountain edge