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Oceans, part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4, WIP, Bertie/Jeeves, Jeeves and Wooster, by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madlovescience.
Not fic, but the cliche/theme list for Blind Go is up!
***
Words fromsvz_insanity
Birds
Speaking as someone who's had the same bird icon ever since I got on LJ, I... like them? Not so much for real-life birds, actually, but I love birds in children's fairytales. Princesses who are turned into swans or nightingales... well, beats being turned into a frog.
Knitting
It's rapidly becoming a real hobby, instead of being one of those things that I just dabble in and then put away. The attraction for me--other than producing one useless scarf after another ('useless' for the tropics), and keeping my hands busy where they might otherwise reach for snacks while watching TV--is that it really does relieve stress. It was an amazing discovery. I can be in a towering rage, or feeling strung out enough to weep, but just let me start knitting, and I start to calm down after about ten minutes. I think of the times I used to sulk for days... well! It's invaluable for my peace of mind, even when I end up making mistakes. Of course, the dark side of knitting is that it addicts you to things like knitting books...
Jay Chou
I get fixated on one singer/entertainer for a number of years and start memorising all their songs, while ignoring everybody else. I think it started with Leslie Cheung, then Jerry Huang, then Jackie Cheung for the longest time. (And Andy Lau.) When Jay Chou started becoming famous with his first album, I was all "bah, these young 'uns"--and then I heard a Jackie Cheung song that Jay wrote, which got me interested enough to actually listen instead of swinging my walker. And there we go, instant fixation. I do think he's sometimes silly and he's not as good--sometimes--as he likes to make out, but that's fine. We all make allowances for the ones we love. A couple of my fics that are actually songfics of Jay Chou's songs, though I have of course craftfully deleted any overt reference.
Korean dramas
When they first started to become popular, I absolutely loathed them, mainly because most of the ones that I watched were romantic dramas comprising mostly of two girls and two boys and a lot of angst. Those stuck in the craw, and even today I still can't stand dramas that feature (mainly) a cast of four. (Stairway to Heaven? Ugh. Full House? Meaningless. Princess Hours? Dumb--if very pretty and affecting.) Then Dae Jang Geum came along, and it was good. And then my parents got hold of DVDs of historical Korean dramas (for variable value of historical) and those kicked ass for really good (if melodramatic) storylines and character development. For modern day dramas, I love the ones with a big cast--relationships in Korean society always seems so interconnected and they tend to have a strong Confucianist streak (according to TV). When those are portrayed (positively AND negatively), I find it really satisfying. No silly love-unto-death plotlines! And the ones with a big cast, especially when they show characters of different generations--relationships between parents and children, in-laws, business associates, etc, makes everything more richly layered.
erhu
I learnt the erhu when I was fifteen, and my erhu (a little battered at a corner, but still good) is a cheap student's model. Has a pretty good sound, though--maybe because of all the tortuous noise-making sessions I put it through. I haven't really practiced much for years, though, and I feel guilty about that. (I just tend to get distracted by other shinythings instruments.) I think my level is no better than 3rd grade--and an amateur 3rd grade at that--but I love my erhu still. Besides, I'd always thought that the erhu was pretty kickass--what other instrument uses a python's skin, I ask you?
The sad thing about the erhu is that it's really easy to pick up (after a short period of making slaughtered chicken sounds), but you reach a plateau very quickly after learning how to play "Happy Birthday". Well, maybe it's just me and my limited musical capability. But the most difficult song I have in my repertoire... "Sai Ma"--is a bare 3rd grade according to the Central Music Academy in Beijing. (In contrast, I can actually see myself trying for the 6th grade in guzheng--given more years of serious practice. Pride, maybe--but it actually seems within the realms of possibility.) But for erhu, I listen to "Pu Tao Shou Le" and I boggle, certain it's out of normal mortals' reach. >_>
madlovescience.Not fic, but the cliche/theme list for Blind Go is up!
***
Words from
svz_insanityBirds
Speaking as someone who's had the same bird icon ever since I got on LJ, I... like them? Not so much for real-life birds, actually, but I love birds in children's fairytales. Princesses who are turned into swans or nightingales... well, beats being turned into a frog.
Knitting
It's rapidly becoming a real hobby, instead of being one of those things that I just dabble in and then put away. The attraction for me--other than producing one useless scarf after another ('useless' for the tropics), and keeping my hands busy where they might otherwise reach for snacks while watching TV--is that it really does relieve stress. It was an amazing discovery. I can be in a towering rage, or feeling strung out enough to weep, but just let me start knitting, and I start to calm down after about ten minutes. I think of the times I used to sulk for days... well! It's invaluable for my peace of mind, even when I end up making mistakes. Of course, the dark side of knitting is that it addicts you to things like knitting books...
Jay Chou
I get fixated on one singer/entertainer for a number of years and start memorising all their songs, while ignoring everybody else. I think it started with Leslie Cheung, then Jerry Huang, then Jackie Cheung for the longest time. (And Andy Lau.) When Jay Chou started becoming famous with his first album, I was all "bah, these young 'uns"--and then I heard a Jackie Cheung song that Jay wrote, which got me interested enough to actually listen instead of swinging my walker. And there we go, instant fixation. I do think he's sometimes silly and he's not as good--sometimes--as he likes to make out, but that's fine. We all make allowances for the ones we love. A couple of my fics that are actually songfics of Jay Chou's songs, though I have of course craftfully deleted any overt reference.
Korean dramas
When they first started to become popular, I absolutely loathed them, mainly because most of the ones that I watched were romantic dramas comprising mostly of two girls and two boys and a lot of angst. Those stuck in the craw, and even today I still can't stand dramas that feature (mainly) a cast of four. (Stairway to Heaven? Ugh. Full House? Meaningless. Princess Hours? Dumb--if very pretty and affecting.) Then Dae Jang Geum came along, and it was good. And then my parents got hold of DVDs of historical Korean dramas (for variable value of historical) and those kicked ass for really good (if melodramatic) storylines and character development. For modern day dramas, I love the ones with a big cast--relationships in Korean society always seems so interconnected and they tend to have a strong Confucianist streak (according to TV). When those are portrayed (positively AND negatively), I find it really satisfying. No silly love-unto-death plotlines! And the ones with a big cast, especially when they show characters of different generations--relationships between parents and children, in-laws, business associates, etc, makes everything more richly layered.
erhu
I learnt the erhu when I was fifteen, and my erhu (a little battered at a corner, but still good) is a cheap student's model. Has a pretty good sound, though--maybe because of all the tortuous noise-making sessions I put it through. I haven't really practiced much for years, though, and I feel guilty about that. (I just tend to get distracted by other shiny
The sad thing about the erhu is that it's really easy to pick up (after a short period of making slaughtered chicken sounds), but you reach a plateau very quickly after learning how to play "Happy Birthday". Well, maybe it's just me and my limited musical capability. But the most difficult song I have in my repertoire... "Sai Ma"--is a bare 3rd grade according to the Central Music Academy in Beijing. (In contrast, I can actually see myself trying for the 6th grade in guzheng--given more years of serious practice. Pride, maybe--but it actually seems within the realms of possibility.) But for erhu, I listen to "Pu Tao Shou Le" and I boggle, certain it's out of normal mortals' reach. >_>