five random things

[threeplusfire]

Five questions from brightflashes:

1. What is the first Vonnegut book you read?
I'm fairly certain it was Godbless You Mr Rosewater and it remains possibly my favorite of all his novels.

2. What are your top 5 BPAL scents?
* Love in the Asylum (a limited edition from June 2005) - It has this beautiful rose with carnation and tonka. It is my favorite rose perfume ever.

* Tombstone - The combination of sassafras and cedar is addictive. Hands down, this one smells the best on me off all things I've ever tried.

*Villain - All the anti-heroes and wizards in my stories smell like this. The combination of lime and lavender is herbal and sinister and elegant all at once.

*Vampire Tears (a limited edition from September 2007) - This one always makes me shout 'Vampires cry candy hear tears!' It has this salty sweetness that reminds me of those chalky candy hearts in the best way.

*Quincy Morris (From the Dracula series autumn 2006) - I initially bought this one thinking it would be similar to Tombstone. It's the masculine counterpart, less sweet but more subtle. I love the combination of pear and leather.

3. What is the last book you really enjoyed?
Right now I'm reaidng Caitlin Kiernan's newest book, A is For Alien. It is superbly beautiful, creepy and full of frightening future visions. There's a richness to her prose that is like drinking something rare, deadly, sweet and bitter all at once.

4. What is something that you've never blogged about that you feel comfortable sharing?
(Hmm. That's hard, mostly because I'm trying to think of something I haven't written about.)
I often spent the night at my friend's house during late elementary school to early middle school. I really love blueberry muffins but always felt awkward and awful when they appeared in the morning at her house. Her mother bought this generic box mix instead of the Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. The muffins had a weird tangy, sour taste to them. I don't know why. This has always made me feel obscurely guilty.

5. What are your views on religion/spirituality?
I don't even know where to start with this one. I was raised without any religious teachings at all, which I don't recommend by the way. (I think it has a lot to do with my nihilistic nightmares.) In rebellion and searching for something, I converted to Roman Catholicism in 2000. Of course, I have a lot of issues with church policies on issues like homosexuality and the role of women in the church. Mostly I consider myself fumbling towards something. I love the ritual of worship in the Catholic church, the very physicality of which makes it easier for me to approach the invisible. I think we all need something, whatever it might be and that choice is a deeply personal one. I appreciate people who will have reasoned and reasonable discussions about their beliefs. I disagree with a lot of evangelism, finding it disrespectful and intrusive.

Comments

[n-o-m-i-c.livejournal.com]

I had no idea you were Catholic, nominally or otherwise.

I can identify with a lot of what you said in the fifth question. Nominally, I'm an atheist (or a tea-pot agnostic), but really I'm a sort of science-y Unitarian Universalist humanist.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I want to believe. I am filled with doubt. So it is all strange. It's sort of a fraught and weird thing, and as I've gotten a little older I've gotten more reluctant to talk about it publicly. Mostly because I just do not want to have arguments about why or why not - which all too often happens on the internet.

[n-o-m-i-c.livejournal.com]

No, I hate having arguments about it. Simple friendliness in any discussion goes a long way, and I don't really want to debate it with anyone, anyway. The exception is when it affects public policy and human decency.

The older I get, the more I find that I'm open-minded, and more genuinely interested in a person's beliefs and how they reach them, rather than interested in why they are wrong/right.

[n-o-m-i-c.livejournal.com]

BTW, part of me wants to believe, too. At the end of the day, even if I feel like it's all in our silly ape heads, mythology/religion/belief has some great metaphors for life.

[halfacork.livejournal.com]

May I have five questions miss?

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

1. Weasleys
2. Port
3. Drawing/Coloring
4. Crazy work stories
5. Lumos Nox!