Interview Meme

Questions from sassy_fae:

1. You've got a few icons from the Geronimo Stilton series. Have you ever read any of them?
I have not. I think I own a copy of one that normanrafferty mailed me as a birthday present. I first heard about him when redstorm made an icon for me based on an image of Stilton, round about 2002, and later I made a bunch of my own.

2. Who was your hero when you were little?
From about 5th grade until 7th grade, it was probably Doc Savage. My parents bought be a set of five hardcover Doc Savage books around 1984. I think my favorites were Death in Silver, The Ghost Legion, and The Sargasso Ogre. Doc Savage has a good code to live by:

“Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.”

Not a bad creed, and one anyone can apply to his or her life, though, sadly, most of us don’t get a chance to fight invisible bank robbers.

I also admired and wanted to be (or be like) Reepicheep, various incarnations of Doctor Who (3rd, 4th, or 5th), Daniel Dravitt from The Man Who Would Be King or Hazel from Watership Down.

3. You've long been a connoisseur of the greasy spoon. Which one have you liked the best (and why)?
I generally say the D&D Diner in Jarvis, Ontario, though it’s actually not all that greasy. Before I left the Regional News, they’d opened a second one in the old Dixie Lee in Hagersville, but it wasn’t as good.

I’d eat there before attending early morning regional planning meetings in Townsend. It was especially pleasant in the winter, when they’d have a fire going. Bottomless coffee and a $3.49 special that was actually quite filling, plus you could sit near the fire and watch the sun rise along the main drag, or read a book while listening to farmers grumble good-naturedly about things. Late fall is also a good time to visit, as Jarvis does Halloween quite well – all cornstalks and scarecrows and giant pumpkins. It used to remind me of a Ray Bradbury short story.

The greasiest (and therefore, in a sense, “best”) spoon I frequented was the “Steak Queen” in Etobicoke, which had a thin patina of smoke and grease over the walls, and mini-arcade of broken and nearly broken video games, including a cabinet game called Dungeons & Trivia. They had watery coffee, cheese omelets made with Velveeta, and half the time the front door was broken.

4. Of all your dice, which is your favourite (and why)?
I have some tiny brown six-siders that came with my boxed set of Justice Inc. that I like well enough. I think velvetpage stole ‘em. I also have a fondness for the twenty-sided d10 “mud dice” I inherited from my friend Bill’s boxed set of MERPS, because they’re small and weird and fragile.

5. Where would you want to go on your next vacation, if cost was not an issue?
Hmm. There are several places I’d like to go, but probably the easiest would be the Outer Hebrides. I want to poke around and look at iron age ruins and so on, while still be able to understand the locals (mostly).

I’d also like to visit Ani.

The ruined city, not the person, though she is also very nice.

Fall Cons

Another fall is upon us, and once again I find myself feeling an intense desire to go to Ambercon Northwest. They have game slots based on Winnie the Pooh! It's a relaxed gaming convention at a resort hotel in the Pacific Northwest in the fall, with nature trails and everything. How can you lose?

I was invited to Phantasm in Peterborough this weekend, but it seems I won't be able to swing it this year. Next year for sure!