auntbijou | Five Random Questions from Wolfie...

A meme from wolfiekins....

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

So here is where I answer his questions to me! This should be interesting!

1. Describe your perfect day (we already know it would NOT include carnivorous parakeets!)

*laughs* Um, no, it WOULDN'T!! Let's see, my perfect day? Um... well, it would be loading up kids and husband into the minivan to hit the coast, probably Padre Island for a day on the beach. It wouldn't be too crowded, and the waves would be perfect for body-surfing with the little people. We'd get sand in uncomfortable places, find lots of really cool shells, including some inhabited by hermit crabs so we can watch them scuttle madly back into the water. Perhaps we'd decide to camp on the beach, too, and the kids would be so tired out from all their playing that they would fall soundly asleep, allowing the Husbandly One and I to get in some completely unrestricted snogging and growing-closer time while the sun gives its last hurrah over the waves with NO sand in uncomfortable places. If we didn't camp, then we'd load the sleepy kids into the van, and drive home, listening to our favorite music low on the radio, laughing about some of the funny things that happened over the day, sharing hot looks and letting our fingers tangle together until we get home, put the kids to bed, then sit on the back deck to chat, snuggle, and snog each other breathless. Yeah, that would be a pretty good day.

2. Due to a temporary, unexplained rift in the space/time continuum, you are able to invite any three persons (living, dead, famous, whatever) to your residence for an evening. Who are they and what do you do?

Hmmmm, well... I would definitely have my maternal great-grandfather there, because I would really, REALLY like to ask him why he sold the family farm, which was doing quite well, by the way, to the Catholic Church and moved everyone lock, stock, and barrel to Texas, and sent them scattering all over the state.

It would be interesting to talk to Anne MacCaffrey. Not only because I so enjoyed her Dragonrider series when I was a teenager, but because I would be interested to know what it was like to be a woman writing science fiction at a time when very few women were doing it at all. I read a description of a writer's workshop she attended with Harlan Ellison and James Blish, and it was... beyond fascinating. And then, she's a mom, so it would be useful to know how she balanced the demands of writing with those of her young family. Because it isn't easy at all. How did she do it without going mad? Or just... giving up?

And I would adore meeting Hayao Miyazaki, though I would probably be too overwhelmed to ask any questions or even talk. I adore his movies. I am in complete AWE of his movies. I think I would probably sit quietly and just be happy to listen to anything he had to say, even if I couldn't understand it at all. Yeah, I'm that much of an animation geek, so sad, innit? Maybe I'd recover enough to bake an enormous batch of giant ginger cookies for him, but... I dunno, it would be a toss-up!

3. How did you discover fandom, and what is the primary appeal for you?

You know, it's almost hard to remember how I got into this! I was looking up something for my daughter, who is a RABID Harry Potter fan. I first found the OFFICIAL Harry Potter site, then... I discovered MuggleNet. And then... I discovered fanfiction! OMG, the writing exercises I had been doing while working on my own stuff had a NAME??? I'm not sure how I discovered Adult Fan Fiction, but that's when I found out about SLASH!!! And I haven't looked back since. I guess the primary appeal is the thought that I am not the only perverted Harry Potter fan out there! And that there are so many really good stories out there, in ALL fandoms, not just the Potterverse. I think if my own contributions as writing exercises, and a positive reinforcement that maybe I'm actually a good writer after all. It's hard not to do the Sally Fields thing of "You like me, you REALLY like me!" but when I get my reviews, that's what I feel like. Surprised, stunned, and gratified all at once!

4. What are your five favourite films? (We can accept that the five HP films are a given!)

Hmmmm, let's see... my five favorite films? Um... in no particular order...
1." Princess Mononoke" It was the first Miyazaki film I ever saw, and I was so stunned. I had no idea Japanese anime could be so... beautiful,and detailed, and wonderful, and just... TOO MUCH! Every little thing, like... raindrops on rocks, wind blowing through a field of grass, the gleam of moonlight on leaves... it's all so... I'm still captivated. If Disney put HALF the effort into its animated features as Miyazaki does for his... *shakes head*
2."The Searchers" John Wayne should have gotten the Oscar for this movie. Really. His sense of isolation and desperation in this movie, looking for this child that he thinks he may have to kill, and when it comes to it, he just can't do it. He brings her home to joy and celebration, but he can't stay. This isn't for him, and he leaves, so quietly, and nobody even notices...he should have gotten the Oxcar. Not my favorite actor, but this particular movie... yeah...
3. "The Fifth Element" Oh come on, let's face it, it lacks content, but it's just FUN!! There's a character named RUBY ROD, fer gossakes!! It's got everything, silliness, confusing characters, explosions, martial arts scenes that boggle both mind and believability. The story has MAJOR plot holes... AND IT DOESN'T CARE!!
4. "Star Wars" Okay, when this movie came out in 1977, yes, I was one of those kids who raced into the theater to sit in the front row so that when the Death Star battle scene came up, I could sway with everyone else and get that dizzying sense of motion when the X-wing fighters dove into the "canyons" on the Death Star. It was the first movie I ever voluntarily saw more than once!
5. "Easter Parade" Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, singing and dancing together. What else can I say?

Of course, this list is fluid and ever-changing. I love movies, period, and I love old movies, modern films, foreign films, animation... if you like going to movies, you'd love me.

5. Describe the most exotic locale you've ever visited, and why it holds that honour.

Hmmmm, well, I'd have to say Montreal, Quebec. Why? Well, let's see, I was 18, and touring with a drum and bugle corps (I was in the colorguard). It was my first time being away from home and family for such an extended period, and this was the farthest away I'd ever been from home. Ever. It was... fascinating. And what really made it hit hard was the French, a language I had not heard spoken with any regularity since I was very small. Everything was in French, the signs, labels in the stores, everything. When people spoke to us, they spoke to us in French first, then English. The architecture, the food, it was all so different and exciting, and I never, ever forgot it. I'd like to go back just to see if my impressions from so long ago hold up.