#neuroneptune

Five things that I like… about… myself? Erm…

I can be remarkably tenacious when I want to be. This is a trait which I like and dislike, depending on context.

I’m ridiculously curious. I don’t like to leave things unexplained, I want to know how everything works. Everything. I like when I can look at an object and understand it fully, from the subatomic level upwards. There are a few objects for which, this is true. But only a few.

If I consider you a true friend, I will go to great lengths for you if need be. You’ll always be welcome under my roof, you can help yourself to any tea in my kitchen, and I will defend you with everything I have. Provided I’m able to.

Errmm…

I’m fond of unusual hobbies. These have, in both past and present, included: firedancing, cocktail mixing, hatching and raising triops, graphic design, abstract painting, molecular gastronomy, contact juggling, playing jazz trumpet, poetry, airbrush/stencil art, urban exploration, chess, and keeping a tank full of pet shrimp. I guess I consider every new experience, however eccentric, to be valuable…

Oh yeah, tag people. Non-negotiable, huh?

jennhoney, neuroneptune, ladyofthelog, cassief, runetangclan, kittensandscience, cheekytica, the-modern-ephemeris, tinywrathfulartist, thefrontierwaseverywhere

Courtesy of jennhoney – thanks for the tag, Lolly Waffle!

Name: Xan

Nickname: Some of my friends like to call me Neko-Senpai (猫先輩)… 

Birthday: December 28th

Gender: Unspecified

Sexuality: Presently? Hopelessly optimistic daydreamers, and exciteable physicists with curly hair. Apparently.

Height: 172cm

Time zone: Japan Standard Time (JST)

What time and date is it there: 2014年9月2日. 40 past midnight.

Average hours of sleep I get each night: 6 hours 25 minutes. Not enough. I actually measure this. 

OTPs: Good books and rainy Sunday mornings.

The last thing I Googled was: Cosmic latte. It’s the average colour of the Universe. I wanted to check the RGB value.

First word that comes to mind: Scintilla

What I last said to a family member: ”Anyway, I’ll hold fire for now. Take care, speak soon.” (I have no family members in this time zone, so I tend to write to them.)

One place that makes me happy and why: Bookshops. I love being surrounded by books. It feels comforting. Actually, I have a deeper reason than just that books are cool. When I was a small child, my mother worked as a book reviewer for a local newspaper. She was constantly being sent books to review, and as a result they were stacked up here and there in various parts of my home. I grew up surrounded by books. Scarce wonder I still love to surround myself with them now.

How many blankets I sleep under: Only ever one. In midsummer, technically only half of one.

Favourite beverage: Mojito. Or matcha. Or lychee juice.

The last movie I watched in the cinema was: Frozen. With a good friend who has now been to see it at the cinema at least 4 times.

Three things I can’t live without: Notebooks, photons, freedom to spread my wings if I so choose.

A piece of advice for all my followers: The observable universe is 93 billion light years in diameter and 13.8 billion years old, and you are the product of 4 billion years of evolution. Behave accordingly.

You have to listen to this song: Still on my playlist is Kaze ni Naru (風になる) by Ayano Tsuji (つじ あやの). If you haven’t heard it you should. Also, Jimmy Wong’s cover of Want You Gone from Portal 2 is pretty awesome.

So I guess I should tag people? Feel free to answer and stuff. Or not. You know, whatever I guess…

So I was tagged in this by themagicoftheclit (your username always makes me giggle). Music memes! Always good! Putting iTunes on shuffle always feels like it has the potential to embarass me, even though I'm sure there's nothing too tragic in there. Oh well, let's see what happens...

"You can tell a lot about someone by the music they listen to. Hit shuffle on your iPod/Phone/iTunes/media player and write down the first 10 songs. Then pass this onto 10 people."

Manic Street Preachers – From Despair to Where

Jimi Hendrix – May This be Love

Mazzy Star – Rhymes of an Hour

Florence and the Machine – Drumming

Fu Manchu – California Crossing

Zero 7 – Give It Away

The Seatbelts – Waltz for Zizi

Brigitte – Quel Beau Dimanche

Eels – Woman Driving, Man Sleeping

Supergrass – Lose It

Actually, you know, that's not a bad playlist...

Tag people!

jennhoney, neuroneptune, pinkdaleks, caffeinatedcephalopod, physicsshiny, meanwhilenever, greatkiddontgetcocky, quantumreverie, null-hypothesis, mybullshitassl1f3

So I got tagged by anesthesia-and-airplanes for this, like, ages ago. Thank youuuuu! I'm so sorry for being lame and taking ages. It's been a busy couple of months. Bleh.

So six things about me right now...

While the typhoon which hit Japan did a lot of damage and injured a lot of people, on the plus side the wind seems to have blown away all of the humidity. It's cool now, the air is clear, and it's still kinda windy. Compared to the heavy humid weather over the past few weeks, I'm quite enjoying it.

I was planning on buying a new DSLR (I still don't have one after my old one got broken). But now I'm suddenly tempted to buy this thing which will turn my phone into a thermal infrared camera instead. Serious geek cred and awesomeness right there. Yes.

Still addicted to photographing stuff. But then I've been a photographer since I was 16, and using a digital camera since I was 17, so it's a habit now.

The research fellowship I'm on includes some outreach work in Japanese schools, so next week, I'm heading down to Shikoku to give a bunch of high school kids a talk about infrared astronomy. I'm quite looking forward to it. Also, everyone keeps telling me that if I'm in Shikoku, I should eat udon. This is good, because I like udon!

I seem to have acquired a minor addiction to Calpis. Lately, I just can't stop drinking it! Mmmmm... Milk oligosaccharides...

I need to read more. I keep promising myself that I will. The last book I read was Momo by Michael Ende. It's one of the loveliest stories I've read in a long long time!

I'm only going to tag 6 people if that's ok. Feel free to share facts. Or not. You know, it's up to you.

1) Writing, drawing, acting, dancing, or music?

Music! Mostly listening to, but also playing.

2) You’ve been caught in a radioactive blast! What’s your new bizarre superpower?

At last I can talk with dogs, like I've always secretly wanted. Or, more usefully, shapeshifting.

3) If you could only read one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be?

(this is a mean question, you know) Historical nonfiction.

4) What’s your idea of an adventure?

Going somewhere beautiful and eating something delicious while I'm there. (I am a simple creature, okay?)

5) You can bring one era’s clothing back into fashion; which do you choose?

I don't care as long as we all get snazzy capes.

6) Do you believe in “natural talent?”

Natural talent is good. Hard work is better.

7) What’s your dream pet?

A griffon.

8) What does your dream home look like?

Comfortable, cozy, and full of books.

9) Prose or poetry?

Prose.

10) Can you swim?

I only dog paddle.

11) Broomstick, magic carpet, or flying umbrella?

Flying carpet, are you kidding? Midair picnics! Multiple passengers! Questionable renditions of 'A Whole New World' at every opportunity!

 I tag cjk1701, silksieve, neuroneptune, geekethefreak, and warden-constable (but if you want to do it and you're not tagged, consider this a tag anyway)

My questions:

1) Favorite item of clothing you've ever owned?

2) Would you rather be slightly too cold or slightly too hot for the rest of your life?

3) Achievement you're proudest of?

4) If you had to trade voices with another person, who would it be?

5) What's your idea of a great vacation?

6) Morning person or night person?

7) You've been given a truckload of your favorite candy. What do you do with it?

8) What was the last thing you read?

9) If you could tailor-make the perfect job, what would it be?

10) What's your best personality trait?

Because I was tagged by the rather marvellous jennhoney!

You can tell a lot about someone by the type of music they listen to. Hit shuffle on your iPod, phone, mp3 player or whatever and write down the first 20 songs. One rule: No skipping!

No Doubt – Underneath It All

Charlotte Hatherley – White

The Bluetones – Mudslide

Bloc Party – Mercury (Herve Is In Disarray Remix)

David Bowie – Tumble and Twirl

Galileo Galilei – 花の狼

Our Lady Peace – The Wonderful Future

Glenn Miller – Who's Sorry Now?

Blondie – Call Me

The Bird and The Bee – Diamond Dave

Morcheeba – Col

Soundgarden – Mailman

Florence and the Machine – Never Let Me Go

Charles Wright – Express yourself

Rammstein – Spring

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Otherside

Eels – Daisies of the Galaxy

Pendulum – Blood Sugar

Rimsky-Korsakov – Alborado, from "Capriccio Espagnol"

Nine Inch Nails – The Perfect Drug

(For the record, I have several gigabytes of music. It gets more eclectic than this, believe me.)

Tag a bunch of people:

5: How are you feeling RIGHT now?

ANXIOUS BECAUSE THE QUESTION YELLING AT ME

But also pretty chill.

16: Did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize?

No.

17: Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?

Yes.

33: Name five facts about yourself.

I had a tumor (benign) in my knee. Then a nice doctor cut me open, shot a laser at it, and took it away.

I have a scar on my knee from my old career of shark-bear wrestling.

I CLICKED PUBLISH BEFORE I COULD COME BACK AND FINISH THIS ONE.

Um.

Yup.

41: If you could trade places with any person living or dead, who would you trade places with?