Other hobbies

[grapeofdeath]

Mostly I'm a collector, but I also repair books. Right now I'm repairing all of my old Black Jack books.

[Rock's Sunglasses]

Why, I haven't posted here yet! Here comes the wall of text...

History is interesting, my favorite being European, for all its craziness. The teacher who got me interested in the first place quoted someone who said that the history of the region has been a never-ending effort to rebuild Rome, an idea that makes the subject at least 50% more fun. This interest of mine has quite an impact on my writing.

Music is always excellent, though I lack skill in actually making my own. I like a very strange variety. Electronic music is nice; video game soundtracks make excellent background music for working; I used to listen to an 80s station all the time when I was younger, so I have a soft spot for that music; I have something on my ipod from just about every part of the world; music from the early 20th century (20s, 40s, etc) is just plain cool...and so on. Also, I wish I knew of another soundtrack like that of the anime Metropolis; it is still my favorite CD. Currently, my other favorites are anything that Vangelis has ever touched; the album Mythodea is particularly something special to me.

I enjoy drawing, but not seriously; mostly I just sketch people and silly things I hear because I get the impulse. It's nothing I could ever make a living out of, as I rarely do complete pieces, but when I do, they're in pen and ink and kinda like this (slightly photoshopped, though, for the red):

If that reminds you of any short stories you've read, good. I had to draw something when I put it down.

As well, I enjoy writing, and am currently editing and re-editing a book-length piece with the aim of publishing it sometime. Never, ever will I take what I do more seriously than I need to--after all, I'm writing humor here. There are too many elitist writers who think that either being published makes their style the one everyone else ought to use or that if you haven't been published yet, your work must not be worth it. And who published your book again? Oh yes, your daddy or college friend. And how much of it did you write more for the "market" than as art? Because I've literally, unashamedly been told that conformity is the way to do it. Even if it works out for me, I'll never stop feeling equal to those just starting.
Aside from that dreaded rant-fest, my aforementioned piece is less of an alternate/satirical history than a dream had by an era. It is fairly surreal, humorous and suggestive of many kinds of old timey charm, from film noir to early B-movies to even old manga (hell yeah is Tezuka an inspiration). You know, like the kind of movie someone films in black and white even though color film has been around for decades.

Finally, if it means anything, college has opened up the world of physics and math to me. Or rather, maybe I have myself, having learned to view subjects I once feared as a challenge posed by nature itself rather than unattainable or something I have an inborn weakness in, because I don't. It was all in my head, and now people think I'm weird when I say I enjoy studying. Great things can hide behind the clouds of fear.

So, in summary, almost everything in some way but sports. And chess--I've been too afraid to play for years, but the last time I did, I failed hard again and again.