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Looky, Questions
Nov. 24th, 2009 11:06 am* Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
* 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.
From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spectatrix:
1. Why rats?
They are very personable little creatures, yet easy to take care of. They like attention, but they don't need it on any kind of fixed schedule, so they're okay if you are suddenly very busy or head out of town for a weekend. They're a lot of fun to watch; my favorite is when I've just cleaned the cage and rearranged everything, so they are immediately compelled to climb in, on, over, under, and through every single box, bag, stick, ladder, hammock, and piece of paper in the cage.
That said, between Hera's tumors, Aphrodite's whatever-the-hell-that-was, and Calypso's brain tumor we are thinking maybe no more rats for a while. I've thought that before, and it has not to date survived the application of cute little ratty faces, but perhaps the chickens will distract me.
2. I know you have a bio degree and have worked in various part-time jobs. What are your future school/career plans?
I don't have future school plans; the more I hear from folks in academia the less I want to be involved. It is possible that I will at some point be struck with a vocation and head back for a degree to support it, but I was kind of hoping that would happen when I went off to work after getting my BS and no signs of secret life purposes have made themselves known yet.
Likewise, I'm not strongly career-driven. I like working -- I seem to function best when I'm working (including any commute time) somewhere between 25 and 50 hours a week -- but it isn't the one thing I live for. So my plans are largely based around finding niches where I am being appreciated for doing something I'm good at, that is ideally generally positive for the world as a whole or some part of it, and that does not eat the rest of my life. There are quite a few different fields in which there are things I can be useful doing, so I expect I will continue to bob in the gentle currents of serendipity, which have been pretty good to me so far.
3. Ice cream vs. frozen yogurt (ala Pinkberry, not TCBY). Which is your preference?
Ice cream, but I can't say as I've ever seen a Pinkberry. Maybe it's good too.
4. You've mentioned future hellspawn -- er, offspring. How many do you want to have and when? (Chris is pushing for in our 40's... lol)
First one some time soon -- "by 30" was my original plan, and 30-ish seems to be reasonable timing from the closer distance here. Could be later, biology not being super-predictable, but I expect we'll at least be trying by then. I will have to see how the first one goes before making any decisions about follow-up offspring.
5. Favorite sci-fi and/or fantasy authors/series?
Let's see. Lois McMaster Bujold is good; both the Vorkosigan series (science fiction) and the Chalion books (fantasy) are eminently rereadable. Steven Brust is pretty cool. Peter Watts' Blindsight rocked my socks. Vernor Vinge (A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon the Deep) is also quite good. Charlie Stross (the Laundry books, if you want a series). Neil Gaiman. Terry Pratchett. Elizabeth Bear (she's got a broad range of different things, so poke around a bit to find a setting you like). Emma Bull. Jo Walton. I have recently discovered Tanya Huff, who appears to write very commercial standard urban fantasy, but so far it's pretty good standard commercial urban fantasy. I liked The Enchantment Emporium, which isn't a series (yet), but most of her other work seems to come in chunks of at least 4 books. Tim Pratt. China Mieville. Octavia Butler's shorter works.
... that's probably enough. I expect I am leaving out a great deal of awesome that didn't happen to wander across my brain at just this moment, and will feel silly when I think of it. (Peter S. Beagle!) (Nalo Hopkinson!)
* 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.
From
spectatrix:1. Why rats?
They are very personable little creatures, yet easy to take care of. They like attention, but they don't need it on any kind of fixed schedule, so they're okay if you are suddenly very busy or head out of town for a weekend. They're a lot of fun to watch; my favorite is when I've just cleaned the cage and rearranged everything, so they are immediately compelled to climb in, on, over, under, and through every single box, bag, stick, ladder, hammock, and piece of paper in the cage.
That said, between Hera's tumors, Aphrodite's whatever-the-hell-that-was, and Calypso's brain tumor we are thinking maybe no more rats for a while. I've thought that before, and it has not to date survived the application of cute little ratty faces, but perhaps the chickens will distract me.
2. I know you have a bio degree and have worked in various part-time jobs. What are your future school/career plans?
I don't have future school plans; the more I hear from folks in academia the less I want to be involved. It is possible that I will at some point be struck with a vocation and head back for a degree to support it, but I was kind of hoping that would happen when I went off to work after getting my BS and no signs of secret life purposes have made themselves known yet.
Likewise, I'm not strongly career-driven. I like working -- I seem to function best when I'm working (including any commute time) somewhere between 25 and 50 hours a week -- but it isn't the one thing I live for. So my plans are largely based around finding niches where I am being appreciated for doing something I'm good at, that is ideally generally positive for the world as a whole or some part of it, and that does not eat the rest of my life. There are quite a few different fields in which there are things I can be useful doing, so I expect I will continue to bob in the gentle currents of serendipity, which have been pretty good to me so far.
3. Ice cream vs. frozen yogurt (ala Pinkberry, not TCBY). Which is your preference?
Ice cream, but I can't say as I've ever seen a Pinkberry. Maybe it's good too.
4. You've mentioned future hellspawn -- er, offspring. How many do you want to have and when? (Chris is pushing for in our 40's... lol)
First one some time soon -- "by 30" was my original plan, and 30-ish seems to be reasonable timing from the closer distance here. Could be later, biology not being super-predictable, but I expect we'll at least be trying by then. I will have to see how the first one goes before making any decisions about follow-up offspring.
5. Favorite sci-fi and/or fantasy authors/series?
Let's see. Lois McMaster Bujold is good; both the Vorkosigan series (science fiction) and the Chalion books (fantasy) are eminently rereadable. Steven Brust is pretty cool. Peter Watts' Blindsight rocked my socks. Vernor Vinge (A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon the Deep) is also quite good. Charlie Stross (the Laundry books, if you want a series). Neil Gaiman. Terry Pratchett. Elizabeth Bear (she's got a broad range of different things, so poke around a bit to find a setting you like). Emma Bull. Jo Walton. I have recently discovered Tanya Huff, who appears to write very commercial standard urban fantasy, but so far it's pretty good standard commercial urban fantasy. I liked The Enchantment Emporium, which isn't a series (yet), but most of her other work seems to come in chunks of at least 4 books. Tim Pratt. China Mieville. Octavia Butler's shorter works.
... that's probably enough. I expect I am leaving out a great deal of awesome that didn't happen to wander across my brain at just this moment, and will feel silly when I think of it. (Peter S. Beagle!) (Nalo Hopkinson!)
