win or die

[pinkpolarity.livejournal.com]

Name: Liz
How did you find out about the community? If it's through an LJ user, please tell us who it is: Interests search on ASOIAF
Age: 40
Location: Virginia, US
Occupation: abstractor/proofreader




All About You

1. Describe your ideal house/home. Please go into as much detail as possible, and be sure to include your ideal geographical location in the description!. Assuming money and work are no object, I'd like a medium-sized house (a Cape Cod, perhaps, I've always been fond of those) vaguely near Boston, Massachusetts (longer winter and prettier seasons and large, active, diverse Pagan community). Somewhere that's a friendly neighborhood, kind of liberalish community that's not very wealthy and the people know and support one another and won't mind if you paint your door and trim in really bright colors. The house is well-built, warm, cozy, has bright-painted rooms including a craft room/office that gets a lot of afternoon sun. At least one wood-burning fireplace, a fenced back yard with a wooded front and lots of room for raised herb beds.

2. Name three things you are afraid of. Explain. Roaches. I'm phobic enough that I don't even like to say or type the word for fear the bloody things will come when called (we call them "r's" in this house). I'd gladly move into a townhouse or apartment were it not for the worry that shared walls will bring them, regardless of exterminators. Been deeply afraid of them since I was a little kid, and still occasionally have nightmares about them. We have a standing exterminator contract in part because this area has an ant problem, but also so that I can get them out here ASAP if I see one. I'm not fond of bugs in general, but it's not the level of phobia I have of those damn things.

Job loss and poverty. Even more than r's. I am disabled with three chronic pain disorders but still have a part-time work at home job, which doesn't pay well and cannot support us, so I am dependent on my husband's job. He is a contractor, and nearly got laid off this last year, and I've never in my life known fear like that, especially because his specialty is outdated and not in a lot of demand. I am on a lot of meds that are hard to pay for even with insurance, and impossible without it-- and my doctor won't see medicare patients (and no insurance will cover me with the pre-existing conditions I have, unless the system is reformed), and few other doctors will prescribe what I take in terms of painkillers (and nothing else works, we've tried everything) due to social/legal stigma. The only quality of life I have is due to the meds I take, without them the pain would literally be unbearable and I'd be unable to keep food down. Oh, and did I mention that the new position my husband has is stable, flexible... and he really hates it, but can't leave? Yeah, I worry horribly over this.

There are a lot of lesser fears, but those are the two big ones. I also fear heights-- I tried sky-diving before I became ill, and let's just say it didn't end very well (they mis-rigged my chute and I had to pull the reserve, and did so too low) and I'm lucky to be alive right now. That I'll never find the right religion for me, I've been Seeking for a long time. Trucks-- weird, but I've always had a fear of large trucks. Less so while I'm driving than walking, bizarrely enough.

3. Imagine you’re given the classic opportunity: a genie granting you three wishes. What would you wish for? Please be as elaborate as you can. Wishing for more wishes is not permitted!

The obvious one is health. For every disorder I have to go away tomorrow and leave me healthy and able to work again, go to school again, travel again, etc. But if I had to word it, it would be that the scientific community discovers and widely distributes a cure for each thing I have, so that others who have it would also be cured.

Second, enough money so that my husband and I and our families could live comfortably and pay for necessities and some minor luxuries without fear of job/insurance loss. Enough that my husband could go back to school and find a job he actually likes. Enough to travel even a little. Enough to donate to charity so that others who struggle could struggle less.

That actual, honest-to-goodness health care reform is realized in this country, including a single-payer system comparable to what the UK has, that accommodations for people with disabilities are made as they are needed without complaint, and that medication stigma (including the use of narcotic painkillers and medical marijuana) ends and patients in pain get the meds they need without fear of the government or fear of being called an addict. There's a hell of a lot more I've got on my wish-list along this line, but I'll start with this.

4. In your life so far, what accomplishment are you the most proud of? Why? You can list more than one if you have trouble deciding. ;) There's a part of me that wants to say, with all seriousness, surviving. That I'm still here and still fighting to have a decent life is meaningful to me, even if doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment. My marriage would be the other one. I've had a good, stable, happy marriage for twenty years. It has taken lots of work and lots of communication, and it's something that few of my family members have managed to achieve.

5. Which of the following is most important to you: Love, Money, Knowledge, Family, Friendship, Adventure, or Pleasure? Which is the least important to you? Please explain why for each choice. Love is most important, it's the glue that binds my life together and makes it worth living, and when you're nearly housebound all else pales in comparison. Love of both people and animals-- I'd be lost without my cats. (I'm not sure what it says about me that the most heartwrenching thing in ASOIAF for me was when Arya had to drive off Nymeria. I can't imagine having to lose that bond of love with my cats.) Least important: Adventure. That's what books/movies/games are for!

6. What's one quote (or passage, song lyric, etc.) that effectively describes you and your values? Explain. I'm rubbish at questions like these because I can't remember things like this, even if I love them when I read/hear them. I'll go with the one I thought important enough to put on my LJ: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny imposed upon the mind of man." by Thomas Jefferson. It describes my values *very well*.

7. How do you manage your money? On that note, how important is money/financial security to you? Go into as much detail as you can. You sure this isn't the "fear" question? I... don't manage my money well at all. Financial security would be this lovely thing, were it possible to attain-- as it is, my expenses just on necessities preclude much in the way of savings. We're living paycheck-to-paycheck, hoping to be able to fix up our house enough to sell it and get something cheaper somewhere cheaper. I should really pay a heck of a lot more attention to how my husband manages our money, since he's not a heck of a lot better at it than I am, but I'm so anxious about the whole damn thing that I don't ask to see records even when I should. Writing this might give me the impetus to do it, perhaps. But I like to think about money as little as possible, even when I'm constantly *worrying* about money, which is ridiculous.

8. Name (and elaborate on) some of your hobbies. What are your favorite things to do outside of school/the office? Read. I read voraciously, both fiction and non-fiction. Fantasy, SF, mystery, mythology, theology, history, politics... I'm happy I have a good local library! I also play a lot of video games, particularly World of Warcraft. I also sew altar cloths, worldbuild, research, and write (though not nearly as much as I should, or would like to).

9. Name (and elaborate on) your top three BEST and top three WORST qualities (personality-related, not physical). Please answer as fully as you can, as this is an important question.

Best: I'm honest and try to be honorable. I don't always succeed, but I put effort into becoming the kind of person I want to be, not just the person I am. When I've made mistakes, I admit them and try to make them right. I won't say I never lie, but I detest lies, don't want to hear them (I'd rather hear hard truths than pretty lies. I believe, as Joscelin said in Kushiel's Legacy, that truth cuts clean) and don't want to say them.

I'm passionate about the things I care about, and I'm especially passionate about injustice and cruelty (and especially cults-- long story, that). Would that I could *do* more with that passion, but it comes out where it can-- I'm quick (some say too quick, and I'm not sure I'd disagree) to defend others and stand up for their rights. Sometimes my ideas about honor get me in a hell of a lot of trouble, and sometimes I'm bloody pig-headed about them, but on balance I'd rather have high ideals than not have them. To me, they're the foundation of hope.

I'm curious, about everything. I'm not content with not-knowing, and I never stop learning or wanting to learn. I want to know how everything ticks. I also think I'm pretty creative with what I do with what I learn.

Bad: Taking things too seriously. It's not that I lack a sense of humor, I don't; and I laugh all the time at all kinds of things. I just can't tell very well when people are serious and when they're kidding, and I take myself more seriously than I probably should sometimes. I fear I've become the embittered feminist in the "how many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: that's not funny!" joke.

Fatalism/depression/despair/being a downer: I like to hope there's a day that will come when it feels less like walking on shifting ice, and I find equilibrium with my body, I find a supportive religious community where I fit and have a good relationship with the Gods, and friends who share my values and passions. But I also fear none of that will ever happen, and the way things are now is the way they'll always be, regardless of the moves I make to change them.

Way the hell too impatient and quick to anger. I need to learn to tolerate not-knowing, ambiguity, instability, and change better than I do. To be less quick to bite people's heads off (which can be hard, constant pain leads to a short fuse-- OTOH, it also makes me sarcastic, and able to produce rants that people enjoy reading). I need to remember that the world doesn't revolve around me and my needs.




A Song of Ice and Fire Related

1.Who are your favorite three characters in the series? Why? Tyrion, because he's witty, brilliant, compassionate, and does it all in a body that's "not supposed" to be worth anything, according to the society he lives in. Arya, because she's just so incredibly badass. I root for her more than any of them, and I hope GRRM reunites her with her wolf someday. Valar morghulis! Jon, I love his honor and his dedication. And if I was allowed a fourth character, I'd pick the direwolves, because they're awesome.

2.Who are your least favorite three characters in the series? Why?Gregor the Mountain, for being a bloody Karma Houdini in book 3. Cersei-- she's not redeemable to me, I don't care how she justifies her actions. Lysa, for being the biggest walking squick factor in the whole series, and that's saying something given the amount of High-Octane Nightmare Fuel that's in there. I get what made her that way, but *damn* she creeped me out. I have a thing about mothers who let their kids be monsters and don't lift a finger to stop them.

3.#1 Favorite moment in all of ASOIAF so far? Why? The incredibly karmic death of Tywin Lannister. I skipped through the book to read that scene before I actually sat down and read it, just because I really wanted him to get his. Justice for Tysha, dammit!

4. In your dream-world, how would you like to see the series end, and why? I honestly have no idea! I'd like to see Winterfell restored, but I'm not sure who I'd want to see leading it. I wouldn't mind seeing Tyrion become king. I want Arya to get her bloody wolf back! I want to see some stability for the peasants of Westeros. Beyond that, I just want to see what GRRM has in mind.

Comments

Tyrell

[cloud-wolf.livejournal.com]

I really see a lot of Stark here.