more questions
Jul. 31st, 2010 10:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaI’ve been busy, so the questions have been piling up, here are some answers to questions:
From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pearl:
1) Are you still taking Italian lessons? How are you going? Have any favourite stock phrases?
No, alas, I stopped after the first semester—I wound up having to miss a variety of classes due to appointments to do stuff in the lab with my boss, and I found out that I really don’t need to speak the language to live here—the only time I ever hear it is when I’m at the grocery store, and when paying with debit card one doesn’t even need to understand the numbers spoken by the clerk. My most used stock phrase is "mi dispiace, non parlo italiano", which is most likely to come up when a random person stops me on the street to ask something (directions?).
2) Do you have a favourite type of rock? (I don't know, do geologists get excited about certain types of rock?)
Yup—Metamorphic rocks are pretty! And, yes, you can divide geologists into groups by their preferred rock type(s). With those of us who are interested in metamorphic and/or igneous rocks (which are also pretty) looking with distain at the “soft rock” types who like sedimentary rocks.
3) Do you have a favourite book from childhood?
My very favourite early childhood book was called Madame Curie, and was an edited version of the biography her daughter Eve wrote about her soon after she died. I’ve since read the adult version, and was surprised at how little was really cut from the version I read and re-read so often as a child (and which was very old and yellow when I got it). When I was older I was given the Anne of Green Gables books—I think they’d count as my favourite series of books written for children.
4) When I think about it, you don't seem to write very often about recreational reading (or I haven't noticed!). Do you read any fiction genres for pleasure?
I am an avid reader of fantasy/science fiction books. Before I started my PhD project most of my free time was spent reading (and re-reading—I tend to re-read about three fiction books for every one new one I read). I didn’t used to keep a record, but when I started that degree I decided to record what I was reading for pleasure. I started in mid-year, but in the last six months of 2005 I made time to read 37 fiction books. In 2006 I read 55, 2007 I read 60 (I’m pretty certain that all of these numbers are considerably less than I read before starting the degree), but then in 2008 and 2009 I read only 28 books each year (something about focusing on finishing the degree!). So far this year I have read 21 books for pleasure, which number still looks very small to me. Alas, during the time I cut back on reading to have more time for my degree I picked up LJ, followed by the geoblogosphere and Facebook, since these things can, in theory, be read in tiny breaks before returning to reading. I strongly suspect that I’m spending the same amount of time a reading as I used to, it just isn’t all fiction anymore.
5) I've always wanted to know, do you have a Finnish SCA 'persona' to match that fantastic Finnish name?
In more than 25 years in the SCA I’ve never developed a persona! How would I choose where I’d want to be from, if I don’t know where I want to live?
When I joined as a young high school kid it was important to me to have a non-English (and not any other “popular” language, either) name, and since mom’s family came from Finland, it was as good of a choice as any. I’ve since found out that my name is constructed incorrectly, and it should be "Talventytär", meaning "daughter of winter" rather than "Talvi Tytär", meaning "winter daughter". If any of my Finnish contacts ever actually gets me documentation for that, I’ll change it with the College of Heralds. Apparently there is also a Finnish name that is similar to Kareina (which the College passed as “made up Russian”, since I created it by sticking a “Ka” in front of my modern name and an “n” in the middle).
Fromvittoriosa
1) Of all the works of art you've created (any medium: needlework, other textile...), which do you feel is your greatest accomplishment and why?
Oh, that is a hard one—there are many I like, but "greatest accomplishment" is different from "am quite happy with". I am actually quite proud of the word I did coordinating the costumes for the Tasmanian Band Harlequin. They do beautiful hand-made period instruments and perform period music, but used to do so in costumes that were only barely medieval-oid. I consulted with them on what periods of music they like best to do, looked through period illuminations with them, and designed their costumes (the girls fell in love with my bliaut when I wore it to one of their dances, and said that was what they wanted for themselves), then worked with them to make them—they did much of the sewing themselves, but I did a lot of the pretty hand-finishing work.
2) I know you love the mountains and have spent some time in the Alps this year. Have you visited any other Italian ranges, like the Dolomites or the Appenines? What have been your impressions of them?
Not yet—I’ve been doing just enough travel for work and manage to stay just far enough behind on what I think I should have accomplished that on the weekends I’m in the country I tend to spend most of them in the office alternating between work and e-mail. However, I once saw a movie at the Banff Festival of Mountain Films that showed someone paragliding from the base to the peaks of the Dolomites, and Wow!
3) Come vanno i lezioni della lingua italiano? :-) Non ne hai parlato da molto tempo.
Jeg har ikke studert italiensk i måneder, men jeg har praktisert litt norsk.
4) How did you get interested in geology?
I am totally going to cheat with this one, and refer you to this post in my science blog.
5) You write often about how much you enjoy live music, but are there any recording artists who are favorites of yours?
My favourite artist is Tania Opland, who was Oertha’s first Laurel for bardic arts, but who wound up leaving the SCA when she became a full time folk musician due to working evenings and weekends. I’ll be visiting her at her stone house in Ireland this weekend, and am really looking forward to it (pics of the house and the work they are doing to restore it on her web page). I also love the music of Harlequin (linked above).
Fromcallistotoni:
1. Any place you'd like to visit that you haven't yet?
I’ve love to get to Antarctica to see the mountains there. And to see the Himalayas. With luck I’ll eventually wind up doing field work in both places—there is no better way to get to know mountains than to study the rocks that they are made of.
2. What would it take for you to settle in one place for the rest of your life.
A decent climate. This means they have real winter. With snow on the ground. For months at a time. And the summers are never hot. Mountains. Pretty ones. With metamorphic rocks in them. An interesting research-based job at a uni (or related) in a small city or good sized town in such a location. With a strong SCA or other interesting (not late period) re-enactment community, a good contra dance and/or folk dance community. Grocery stories that are open seven days a week, and to a reasonably late hour in the evening. Local friends and/or lovers. A home of my own (to share or not with folk I care about). Preferably a modern style castle (though I’d happily settle for some other sort of stone building), with great views of the mountains and an easy commute to work.
3. You've met SCA people from all over the world. Obviously, there's a common interest in Medieval and Rennaissance history and, usually, making stuff. Have you found there to be anything else similar about SCA members worldwide?
While not *all* SCA folk are cut from the same cloth, a surprisingly number of us were the misfits in our youth—geeks, SciFi readers, shy people, whatever. We didn’t fit in, but we do here. Those of us who arrived with little to no social graces to speak of tend to learn them, but we also tend to be sympathetic to those who are still learning, because we’ve been there. I love the SCA—no matter where I go (so far) I’ve got friends I’ve never met waiting for me.
4. Any books you'd like to recommend?
I’m particularly fond of (in no particular order) Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni books, Katharine Kerr’s Deverry books, Tamora Pierce’s books set in Tortall her Circle of Magic books, George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire books, Ellen Kushner’s Riverside, Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children Series, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books,, L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books (which I’ve also got in Norwegian and Italian, and know the story well enough that if I open the foreign ones randomly I can work out where in the plot I am from my very limited vocabulary, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (and many of her other books as well), and many more, but the list is getting quite long enough…
5. If time and money were no object, what creative challenge would you like to take on?
I want a castle (ok small tower keep) to call home. Made from a variety of pretty metamorphic rocks, of different colours, perhaps spiralling the different colours up the tower? Or some other pretty use of the different rocks. I’d want to analyse the each of the rocks used, and select which were used for which part based upon their pressure and temperature and age of formation, so that the result were not only beautiful, but had meaning, at least to me.
I still owe some people some questions, but that will have to wait till another day, but I’ve not forgotten. Besides, it sometimes helps if they are spread out over a bit of time…
From
pearl:1) Are you still taking Italian lessons? How are you going? Have any favourite stock phrases?
No, alas, I stopped after the first semester—I wound up having to miss a variety of classes due to appointments to do stuff in the lab with my boss, and I found out that I really don’t need to speak the language to live here—the only time I ever hear it is when I’m at the grocery store, and when paying with debit card one doesn’t even need to understand the numbers spoken by the clerk. My most used stock phrase is "mi dispiace, non parlo italiano", which is most likely to come up when a random person stops me on the street to ask something (directions?).
2) Do you have a favourite type of rock? (I don't know, do geologists get excited about certain types of rock?)
Yup—Metamorphic rocks are pretty! And, yes, you can divide geologists into groups by their preferred rock type(s). With those of us who are interested in metamorphic and/or igneous rocks (which are also pretty) looking with distain at the “soft rock” types who like sedimentary rocks.
3) Do you have a favourite book from childhood?
My very favourite early childhood book was called Madame Curie, and was an edited version of the biography her daughter Eve wrote about her soon after she died. I’ve since read the adult version, and was surprised at how little was really cut from the version I read and re-read so often as a child (and which was very old and yellow when I got it). When I was older I was given the Anne of Green Gables books—I think they’d count as my favourite series of books written for children.
4) When I think about it, you don't seem to write very often about recreational reading (or I haven't noticed!). Do you read any fiction genres for pleasure?
I am an avid reader of fantasy/science fiction books. Before I started my PhD project most of my free time was spent reading (and re-reading—I tend to re-read about three fiction books for every one new one I read). I didn’t used to keep a record, but when I started that degree I decided to record what I was reading for pleasure. I started in mid-year, but in the last six months of 2005 I made time to read 37 fiction books. In 2006 I read 55, 2007 I read 60 (I’m pretty certain that all of these numbers are considerably less than I read before starting the degree), but then in 2008 and 2009 I read only 28 books each year (something about focusing on finishing the degree!). So far this year I have read 21 books for pleasure, which number still looks very small to me. Alas, during the time I cut back on reading to have more time for my degree I picked up LJ, followed by the geoblogosphere and Facebook, since these things can, in theory, be read in tiny breaks before returning to reading. I strongly suspect that I’m spending the same amount of time a reading as I used to, it just isn’t all fiction anymore.
5) I've always wanted to know, do you have a Finnish SCA 'persona' to match that fantastic Finnish name?
In more than 25 years in the SCA I’ve never developed a persona! How would I choose where I’d want to be from, if I don’t know where I want to live?
When I joined as a young high school kid it was important to me to have a non-English (and not any other “popular” language, either) name, and since mom’s family came from Finland, it was as good of a choice as any. I’ve since found out that my name is constructed incorrectly, and it should be "Talventytär", meaning "daughter of winter" rather than "Talvi Tytär", meaning "winter daughter". If any of my Finnish contacts ever actually gets me documentation for that, I’ll change it with the College of Heralds. Apparently there is also a Finnish name that is similar to Kareina (which the College passed as “made up Russian”, since I created it by sticking a “Ka” in front of my modern name and an “n” in the middle).
From
vittoriosa1) Of all the works of art you've created (any medium: needlework, other textile...), which do you feel is your greatest accomplishment and why?
Oh, that is a hard one—there are many I like, but "greatest accomplishment" is different from "am quite happy with". I am actually quite proud of the word I did coordinating the costumes for the Tasmanian Band Harlequin. They do beautiful hand-made period instruments and perform period music, but used to do so in costumes that were only barely medieval-oid. I consulted with them on what periods of music they like best to do, looked through period illuminations with them, and designed their costumes (the girls fell in love with my bliaut when I wore it to one of their dances, and said that was what they wanted for themselves), then worked with them to make them—they did much of the sewing themselves, but I did a lot of the pretty hand-finishing work.
2) I know you love the mountains and have spent some time in the Alps this year. Have you visited any other Italian ranges, like the Dolomites or the Appenines? What have been your impressions of them?
Not yet—I’ve been doing just enough travel for work and manage to stay just far enough behind on what I think I should have accomplished that on the weekends I’m in the country I tend to spend most of them in the office alternating between work and e-mail. However, I once saw a movie at the Banff Festival of Mountain Films that showed someone paragliding from the base to the peaks of the Dolomites, and Wow!
3) Come vanno i lezioni della lingua italiano? :-) Non ne hai parlato da molto tempo.
Jeg har ikke studert italiensk i måneder, men jeg har praktisert litt norsk.
4) How did you get interested in geology?
I am totally going to cheat with this one, and refer you to this post in my science blog.
5) You write often about how much you enjoy live music, but are there any recording artists who are favorites of yours?
My favourite artist is Tania Opland, who was Oertha’s first Laurel for bardic arts, but who wound up leaving the SCA when she became a full time folk musician due to working evenings and weekends. I’ll be visiting her at her stone house in Ireland this weekend, and am really looking forward to it (pics of the house and the work they are doing to restore it on her web page). I also love the music of Harlequin (linked above).
From
callistotoni:1. Any place you'd like to visit that you haven't yet?
I’ve love to get to Antarctica to see the mountains there. And to see the Himalayas. With luck I’ll eventually wind up doing field work in both places—there is no better way to get to know mountains than to study the rocks that they are made of.
2. What would it take for you to settle in one place for the rest of your life.
A decent climate. This means they have real winter. With snow on the ground. For months at a time. And the summers are never hot. Mountains. Pretty ones. With metamorphic rocks in them. An interesting research-based job at a uni (or related) in a small city or good sized town in such a location. With a strong SCA or other interesting (not late period) re-enactment community, a good contra dance and/or folk dance community. Grocery stories that are open seven days a week, and to a reasonably late hour in the evening. Local friends and/or lovers. A home of my own (to share or not with folk I care about). Preferably a modern style castle (though I’d happily settle for some other sort of stone building), with great views of the mountains and an easy commute to work.
3. You've met SCA people from all over the world. Obviously, there's a common interest in Medieval and Rennaissance history and, usually, making stuff. Have you found there to be anything else similar about SCA members worldwide?
While not *all* SCA folk are cut from the same cloth, a surprisingly number of us were the misfits in our youth—geeks, SciFi readers, shy people, whatever. We didn’t fit in, but we do here. Those of us who arrived with little to no social graces to speak of tend to learn them, but we also tend to be sympathetic to those who are still learning, because we’ve been there. I love the SCA—no matter where I go (so far) I’ve got friends I’ve never met waiting for me.
4. Any books you'd like to recommend?
I’m particularly fond of (in no particular order) Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni books, Katharine Kerr’s Deverry books, Tamora Pierce’s books set in Tortall her Circle of Magic books, George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire books, Ellen Kushner’s Riverside, Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children Series, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books,, L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books (which I’ve also got in Norwegian and Italian, and know the story well enough that if I open the foreign ones randomly I can work out where in the plot I am from my very limited vocabulary, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books (and many of her other books as well), and many more, but the list is getting quite long enough…
5. If time and money were no object, what creative challenge would you like to take on?
I want a castle (ok small tower keep) to call home. Made from a variety of pretty metamorphic rocks, of different colours, perhaps spiralling the different colours up the tower? Or some other pretty use of the different rocks. I’d want to analyse the each of the rocks used, and select which were used for which part based upon their pressure and temperature and age of formation, so that the result were not only beautiful, but had meaning, at least to me.
I still owe some people some questions, but that will have to wait till another day, but I’ve not forgotten. Besides, it sometimes helps if they are spread out over a bit of time…
