Interests meme

[erikred]

LJ Interests meme results

1. china mieville:
   When we were lads and just beginning to play D&D, one of our favorite tricks was to cast Continual Light on a copper piece and affix it to the bottom of a scroll tube: voila! instant flashlight! China Mieville writes urban fantasy, fantasy built on the premise that just because you have elves and dwarves, you need not abandon common sense, engineering, social dynamics, and politics. It's often a bit more horror than straight fantasy, and there are rarely any Gandalfs to stop the raging Balrogs; still, the stories are, at their core, very human. That, and they make sense.
2. iain banks:
   Another author I can't put down. Iain Banks writes thrillers and space operas with an eye toward social consciousness and a wicked turn of phrase. He also has some of the most interesting names for ships.
3. kochi:
   Kochi, Japan, is where I lived for six years. It's located on the island of Shikoku, and it used to be so inaccessible from the mainland that it was used as a place to exile political unwanteds. Consequently, Kochi people are stubborn, willful, and enormously goodnatured. My wife, Yoko is from Kochi (and we met there, but that's another story), and I like to think of Kochi as the hometown I never had.
4. nakamura:
   Nakamura, Japan, is a city on the Shimanto River, west of Kochi. When I was living in Kochi, Nakamura was my vacation town, the place I could when the easy-going life in Kochi wasn't easy-going enough. Some of my favorite people live(d) there, including the dear Yokoyamas, the nicest/craziest family you've never met.
5. norse mythology:
   This explains it, I think.
6. ryoma sakamoto:
   Ryoma Sakamoto is considered the quintessential Tosan (Tosa was the old name for Kochi). A young samurai from a minor house, he founded one of the first commercial domestic shipping ventures, advocated wildly and unswervingly for Democratic reform and the restoration of the Emperor, and was cut down by Shogunate assassins for his temerity and rabble-rousing at an early age.
7. shimanto river:
   For several years in a row, my friends and I canoed down the Shimanto River. It is one of the cleanest, most beautiful rivers in Japan, and you can still canoe for hours without seeing another person along it. I've been up and down it, drunk and sober, clothed and not; I've jumped from its bridges, shot its rapids, forded its shallows, and, in one momentous afternoon, rerouted it currents through the judicious application of very large stones. It has given us much, and it took my good friend Reyes in return.
8. sumo:
   There are very few sports that can compare to the awesome sight of two behemoths rushing at each other in a homicidal rage. And now you can watch it from the comfort of your computer.
9. wtfiwwjp:
   Although I love Japan to bits, even I realize that Japan is also the source of oh-so-much wrongness. "Wtfiwwjp" stands for "Wtf is wrong with Japanese people?" If you really need a daily dose, check out the Wai Wai pages.

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.

Comments

[narwhale.livejournal.com]

Any suggestions on which books to start with for Iain Banks? His ship names have me sold already.