dunh-dunh-DAAAAH

(well, it was either a fanfare or a Jaws theme, but I decided I wasn't that menacing)

Seattleites, I'll be in town in the not-too-distant future! I'm going to be spending a few days in the area after I get back from Hong Kong with my brother, and I shall be looking for much social interaction that doesn't involve haggling in a pidgin language. Plus, I imagine that by that point, I'll also be looking forward to not eating chinese food for a while.

I'll likely be staying with my folks in Maple Valley, but I'll be getting a rental so I'm mobile. Their phone number is (425)-432-4901. I'm going to be in town from Wednesday the 25th, through Sunday the 29th (I'm flying on the 24th and 1st).

I'd love to see as many of you as I possibly could. =-)

S'alright, catching the rolling bandwagon...

To start this off, lirrin has been kind enough to drum up some questions for me to answer in this crazy world of impromptu interviewing. I'd say that if you want to jump on as well, leave me a comment saying you want to be interviewed... I'll really try if you want to, before I hit the road (air), but I won't guarantee anything. Herewith:

1) The world is about to explode, and there's nothing to be done about it. You have the opportunity to escape via hand-held, one-shot time machine, and 5 minutes to get anything currently in your apartment that you can physically carry to take with you. To what time do you go, and what do you take?

Well, I've always been intrigued by three periods of civilization, so I'd have to pick one of them: early Imperial China (ca. 2nd or 3rd dynasty), pre-Caesarian Rome, or the height of the Renaissance (either Germany or England). As for what I'd bring, I'd be totally pragmatic, knowing my above choices: my parka, my camping first-aid kit, my scout knife. Then I'd get my photo collection, because it's the easiest, most meaningful set of mementos of what used to be.

2) If you had the opportunity to talk to yourself the summer before you entered EEP, what would you say to you? And would your younger self listen?

Sounds trite, but literally "Take time to stop and smell the roses." I'd advise myself to not take things so very seriously, and be willing and comfortable to change my mind at the drop of a hat. Don't be afraid of having to make a choice.

Would my younger self listen? Not really. He'd hear the words, but he'd never be able to internalize them.

3) What fictional book, TV show, movie or character has influenced you the most, and how?

Well, other than the series from which I took my name (Alan Dean Foster's series about a genetically engineered, teenaged empath), I'd have to say that I have most taken to heart the original world of Star Wars. Yes, George Lucas has made beaucoup bucks off of the marketing, but the world he originally created with Tatooine and Yavin IV has the most impact for me. For all that I enjoy noir, pulp fiction, classic fantasy, and all the extremes of 'speculative fiction', from the very simple no-shades-of-gray to the very mature-and-thoughtful, the rather simple lessons of Lucas' pseudo-Arthurian mythos appeals most strongly. I guess if I had to point to anything, I'd say that I've really internalized these: there is no excuse to not ever do your best; surfaces are very deceiving; and there is always an appropriate goal for everyone.

4) You have the chance to be immortal. Everyone else you know would remain mortal, and there might or might not be more immortals in the world. Do you take the opportunity or not?

Yes. For all that I'd eventually lose all of the people that I have known, there will always be new people to know and love. Not to say that I'd ever forget any of you, but life goes on, even in the relatively short span of one mortal life, and people come and go in everyone's life. I would just have a longer list of names than anybody else.

Plus, I'd have the time (and eventually the funds) to all of the damn travelling that I've always wanted to do. ;-)

5) What do you want to learn to do before you die that you haven't already learned?

How to speak Japanese and sign language (I've already got large chunks of Chinese and Spanish, but I have no hope of ever learning how to handle Finnish or Swahili). How to paint with watercolors. How to cook the perfect omelette. How to pull a 360 off of a ski jump. How to sing. How to speak in public without working myself up to triple-slurred-tongue speed.

How to love without devoting everything of myself. How to live comfortably and fully in the here and now. How to plan realistic and personal goals for myself that will give me a sense of some degree of purpose, for the numerous stages of my life. How to generate the energy within, to sustain me, when I do want to give and give and give of myself.

How to make friends with anyone, and how to keep them if so desired. How to get a social party to work, every time. How to run the perfect gaming session. How to entertain without being overbearing. How to find appropriate and thoughtful gifts for friends for any occasion.