stuff and fuss

Went and bought a new season 1 Highlander. Am feeling v. smug about it, too. :) Ted got some game which will doom him for all time (Star Wars: An Empire Divided) and we had dinner out, all luxurious-like. Other than that, I’ve been doinking around on the computer all evening, so here, behind the cut tag, are a couple more interviews from Laura and Mary Anne.

questions from Laura:

1. Assuming cost is no concern, where are the top 5 places you have never been to before that you would like to visit?

The pyramids. Australia. New Orleans. Antarctica. The moon.

2. If you could meet any one person currently living and talk with him/her for 2 hours, who would it be and what would you talk about?

…I would like to be morally superior and say something like, “Jimmy Carter, about the state of the world,” but I’d probably rather talk to Bill Panzer and pitch Sarah’s and my Highlander series, or maybe pitch Legion.

3. If you could be any mythological creature, what would it be and why?

*blinkblink* Um. Jeez. Um. Something that can fly! A gargoyle or a gryphon! (I considered saying a pegasus, but the whole idea made me cringe with the girliness of it all. And I don’t really want to be one.)

4. Do you think the world is a better place now than it was in the past? Do you think the world of the future will be better or worse than the world today? Why?

Yes, I do think it’s a better place, overall, than in the past. It’s a far cry from perfect, but it’s better. And I think the future will ultimately be a better place than now is, because I think society evolves. I fear it’ll take another few hundred years to evolve into a relatively ideal world, and maybe that won’t ever happen, but I think the future will be better than today. (Optimist, anyone?)

5. What that you have personally experienced filled you with an intense sense of wonder (it doesn’t have to be a comprehensive list)?

Wild Horse Monument. Whales breaching. Thunderstorms. Denali. Redwoods. Stonehenge.

questions from Mary Anne:

1. If you could have one “do-over” in your life, what would it be and why?

Mmph. Tough question, because I’m pretty happy with my life as it is and any do-overs would probably change things pretty significantly. But probably if I were going to choose something, it’d be to have not screwed around in college as much as I did. If I hadn’t screwed around and done poorly I’d have graduated before I turned 21, and I think that would’ve been kinda cool. Would’ve changed things a lot, I think.

2. Sometimes we meet people and we know we’d like to get to know them better, but never get the chance to, for whatever reason. Who is one person like that for you and why?

My Grandpa Malone. It’s not that I didn’t know him well. It’s just that I’d like to have known him better.

3. What was the hardest thing about not living in Alaska, one from your first foray out here to the DC area, and one from your second foray down to CA?

The bloody *crickets* in DC. I *hate* crickets. Can’t freeping *sleep* with the stupid damned cheep cheep chirp chirp squeak squeak bugs going off all the damned time! And the heat in CA. I’m just not good with heat. I missed my quiet cold nights, darn it. :)

4. What are three things, not including writing, on your life “to do” list?

Bike across the country. Live in Ireland for a while. Visit New Orleans.

5. What is the average airspeed of an unladen swallow…. Oh, wait, no, that’s not the real question…. Who is the one writer you most admire?

*stares* That’s a doozy of a question. I would kill to be able to write just one book like Guy Gavriel Kay. I’d love to write one villain as utterly delicious as Gerald Tarrant in C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire Trilogy. I’d like to be able to get down into the nasty psyche of humanity the way Warren Ellis does. I’d like to write something as memorable and telling about our culture and society as Huck Finn. And while we’re at it, let’s throw in the lasting power of Shakespeare. There are too many authors I admire to pick just one!