Questions about random things from EV:

[azurelunatic]

Questions from eternal_vows:

1. If there wasn't any financial restrictions, where in the world would you want to live?
I really like the SF Bay Area, but if there were a major transit line that is also on the coast, I think I would like to live there.

2. Favorite movie?
This is tough, because I do not often bond to movies! I think that The Fifth Element has to be somewhere up there, though.

3. Which writer in history is underrated? On the other hand, which writer in history is overrated?
Dan Brown's writing career needs to die a horrible flaming death. More people should read John M. Ford.

4. How many languages can you speak? (Which ones?) How many would you like to learn? (Which ones?)
I can only speak English with any reliability, though I have a handful of words here and there from at least five others. This is not actually useful. I would like to pick Mandarin back up again from where I left off in my father's wake, because that's very useful in the Bay Area; I'd also like Spanish and Russian for practical reasons and because they're both beautiful in different ways and because of friends; Japanese for entertainment; German to talk to more friends.

5. What is the clumsiest thing you've done?
That would have to be the time that I accidentally stabbed my arm on a steak knife that I had carelessly left point-up in a glass. It was unpleasant. I will show you the scar sometime.

Comments

[vass]

I love John M Ford's books, and more people should definitely read him, but I'm not sure how many more. I personally enjoy being confused, and I gather that you do too, but the taste is far from universal.

[azurelunatic]

Confusion is an opportunity for research and re-reading, and discussion. A book that I can traverse entirely alone in one pass can feel a little hollow.

[sophie]

And this makes me wonder what his books are about! They sound intriguing. :D

[pauamma]

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?226

[vass]

He wrote science fiction and fantasy, and was astonishingly erudite, and a really good guy. The sort of person who's smarter than anyone else in the room but never talks down.

Here's a poem of his, for a taste.

A good starting place with his novels is Growing Up Weightless, a coming-of-age novel set on the moon.

Unfortunately, most of his novels are out of print, and he didn't leave a will, so reprinting them is going to be a problem.

[azurelunatic]

You may be familiar with the poem that vass linked because for the longest time I had it on my LJ profile.

elisem was his partner.