Intro

[raino]

I really used to love LJ before the big fade-out some 7-8 years ago and I've missed it a lot as it was. Connecting with people based on 1) text and 2) interests, having interesting discussions with people I've never met, and being able to easily determine which content to show to which group of people – that was awesome. I strongly hope DW is going to be as active as LJ once was. For the past several years I've been using my LJ account as a diary, but looking forward to using my DW account as a tool to interact with people.

Name: Raino

Age: 37

Location: Northern Europe

Gender: Female

Languages: I'm mostly writing in English. Occasionally a vent in Finnish.

Describe yourself in five sentences or less: Speculative and prone to obsessing about various topics from vintage romance to moon landings to antique lace machines to 9th century squatters in Tikal. Very much into science fiction. Monogamously married mom who daily interacts with others in the exact same life situation to the point of suffocating of similarity, so very interested in conversing with people who've made different life choices. Environmentally concerned and striving to make a positive impact on the world.

I mostly post about: Aesthetic observations. Far-fetched theories on cultural things. Trying to understand myself or other people. Particular obsession of the moment.

I rarely post about: stuff I could put on Facebook ie something that's readily connected to my day-to-day life.

My last three posts were about: Enjoyable feeling of being a foreigner during a recent trip, some bitching about other people's parenting (this is the first and hopefully last time to do that, so please don't worry it's my main interest!) and some thoughts about aesthetics of smoking.

How often do you post?: irregularly, a couple of times a month.

How about commenting?: Yeah sure! I've got so much pent-up commenting energy!

Comments

[dooriya]

you sound super interesting to me. perhaps we can be dw friends?

[raino]

Oh, thanks! I'd be glad to!

[dooriya]

lovely!

[rosefox]

You had me at "antique lace machines".

[raino]

Yay! There are not so many of us who understand the charm of a hulking five-tonne metal machine that creates spiderweb-like beautiful textiles.

[cosmolinguist]

You sound great, I'm adding you. :)

[raino]

Thanks, same here, you too! :)

[redbird]

I just looked at your last few entries and am adding you.

[raino]

Awesome! Thanks, I'll do to. I'm also a fan of (lenghty parenthetical asides) – trying to limit them to max one per sentence, but not always succeeding.

[neekabe]

Hey, you seem interesting (I mean I don't know much about lace but it's one of those things like embroidery where some day I will make the time to learn) . Add?

[raino]

Thanks! I'm happy to talk about lace, if you want to learn about it.

[jesse_the_k]

9th c Tikal squatters sound fascinating

Thanks for taking the chance to post here.

[raino]

I'm so glad I did, it's just like good old times again!

Here's shortly about the Tikal 9th c thing:
After the Maya society in Tikal & nearby areas collapsed and the city become practically uninhabited, people called Eznab moved in – just a few thousand compared to tens, even hundreds of thousands back when the city was at it's peak. They set up cooking fires in abandoned temples and slept in palace hallways. And they tried to follow the Maya rituals, which they understood to be crucial for the continuation of the world, but did not know how to do them properly, erecting stone stelae upside down etc. From their perspective, world had ended and yet they were trying to carry on. This is so fascinating, I can't for the life of me understand why there seems to be no movie or book or anything set in that time period.

What a post-apocalyptic novel that would be....

[jesse_the_k]

Highly creepy, and wonderful, images this brings to ind.

Can you point me to a book about this topic?

Re: What a post-apocalyptic novel that would be....

[raino]

No-one has written specifically about the Eznab, to most Maya researchers they are a somewhat annoying post-script to the interesting Maya civilization, those folks who came afterwards and moved things from their original positions to somewhere else basically just to frustrate archeologists. I've been reading everything google digs up and the last chapters of books about Tikal / Maya civilization.

Re: What a post-apocalyptic novel that would be....

[jesse_the_k]

Oh, that's doubly creepy!

So when you write your book about them you'll have the market to yourself.

[hitokage]

Sounds like we've made very different life choices (my post if you're curious), although Tikal caught my eye. XD

[raino]

Well, we are both writers :D I write non-fiction and for press for a living and then relax by writing fiction...

Honestly I'm bringing up the Mayan squatters everywhere, because I hope some writer somewhere finds the concept fascinating and gets inspired to write a whole novel about it. I'd so much want to read a book about them.

[hitokage]

There does seem to be a lack of Mayan historical fiction in the world, or else I've just not looked in the right places. I may have to figure out where in my day I can stuff time for research for NaNo. XD

[raino]

I also haven't found much anything. Aztecs are slightly more popular, but ancient Mayans... there definitely room for Mayan fiction in the world!

[virgosplaining]

Hi there, I'd love to add you :)

[raino]

Thanks! I added you too!

[flowerfuck]

Can I add you? I think I'd enjoy reading your writing :)

[raino]

Thanks, please go ahead! Adding you too!

[smile_n_cuddle]

I'd love to be friends! I'm a work-at-home bird mother (parrots) and I own my own business. I'm environmentally conscious and love to garden :)

[raino]

Let's be! I'm constantly torn between wanting to live in this city and wanting a garden – luckily my parents live in the countryside and have plenty of garden space, so I can fulfill my gardening urges there.

[smile_n_cuddle]

Garden space is nice for the occasional garden urges! It sounds like a happy medium!

I'm glad we met! I hope you're having a great week!

[swingandswirl]

Oooh, vintage romance? /intrigued/

also, you sound fun, may I add you?

[raino]

Please do!

I want to read romance, but it's got to be either science fiction with as strong speculative science portion as the emotional portion (and even so I've noticed I'm rather picky) or authentic pre-1930's like Ethel M Dell and her kind, and in that case I'm not at all picky, I'll read everything, no matter how silly, problematic, lopsided or over-the-top.

[jesse_the_k]

Do you read fanfic? I'd be delight to rec some truly nifty SFnal romance.

[raino]

Please do! I don't read fanfic regularly, but definitely not opposed to it. I'm more just daunted by how much of it is there, so recommendations are very welcome!

[jesse_the_k]

Cool. I've been meaning to do a "great SFnal AUs in fanfic" rec list, and now you've given me the perfect nudge.

[raino]

Please go ahead! I'm adding you too.

I was an exchange student in Tokyo 10 years ago, and keep going back. It's like this itch I have to scratch every four years or so :)
It's just too bad Japan is so far away from where I live, other than going to Japan I could quit flying altogether.

[gatheringrivers]

Hi! You sound interesting so I'm adding you. :)

[didotwite]

Hi, months later I'm adding you if that's ok?

[raino]

Definitely, welcome!