five questions meme
Sep. 21st, 2007 04:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darren_strangerOkay, i gather the idea is to leave a comment if you want me to ask you five questions about yourself, which you then answer in your own journal in a similar post. Don't know how long it'll take me to come up with them (these answers took me all day) but i'll give it a shot.
My answers to five questions from
morgan303 are below the cut:
1. On a theme here (since you've mentioned you've got a definite "style"), tell us what your clothing says about you. Is there anything about you that it's missing? Which sort of outfit do you think would cover that?
I do believe that my clothes do reflect who i am, perhaps a bit too accurately in some ways. I've generally used clothes to identify my subcultural affinities, but these days that's become more a reflection of my mood and general self-image of the moment, as i rarely have any subcultural group around to be a part of. This mood can vary depending on what i'm interested in at a given time - eg the way i feel like dressing will be different after listening to rockabilly than when i've been reading books on new age meditation, though that often just involves minor variations of clothing or accessories (eg baggy black calico shirt and ankh pendant vs fitted black shirt and skull t-shirt). But since my moods in that sense are quite variable, most of my clothing tends toward a more neutral lowest-common-denominator of basic black that generally fits within most moods and subcultural identities, and so is not particularly adventurous (especially since i hardly go 'out' any more, so what i wear is usually only to the degree of 'dressing up' suitable for a visit to the local opp shops). When i do go out to something like a deathrock night, i do often feel underdressed compared to the people around me, about as much as i feel overdressed in all black among my polo-shirted taekwondo friends, but going to either extreme simply doesn't feel like 'me'.
As to what part of my self isn't reflected in my clothes, i'd probably nod toward the martial arts related interests, which is something i'd feel less confortable 'wearing on my sleeve' in that way for various reasons (beyond the odd dragon on a t-shirt, which i'd probably see as more a rockabilly style or something anyway).
2. I know that you feel quite passionately (as do I) about Old School Goth, and all the wonderful things it meant before it changed into its current incarnation. This incarnation doesn't seem to have much to say to us, but being that subcultures, like any branch of the cultural eco-system, *must* change and evolve, and this whole Emo thing will most likely go the way of all things...where do you see "goth" or whatever rises to take its place, in another 15 years? This can be the fanciful "speculative fiction" version, or something more grounded in today's reality, your choice. But tell us about your version of Future Goth, anyway!
To be honest, i haven't a clue. I'm not really involved in the 'scene' (or scenes) these days, so i have no idea where it's headed. From what glimpses i see, my best guess would be that the concept of 'goth' is going to fall out of fashion, as different sub-scenes denote themselves as 'deathrock' or 'dark electro' etc and new scenes like 'emo' arise without feeling any need to hitch their wagon to the label 'goth' at all. Whether any part of it will continue to use the g-word, or whether 'goth' will become a vague adjective with retro overtones, i don't know. Or maybe all of this is just my own addition to the tradition of "i'm not involved in the scene any more, so it must be dying". If it does survive though, in whatever shape or form, i'm sure in fifteen years there'll still be someone to lament that it's not like it was five years earlier.
3. Is there a single piece of culture (art, music, book, film, comic, whatever) that speaks to you more than everything else? if so, what izzit?
That's possibly the hardest question of them all. If you'd asked for a work that 'changed my life', it would be easy to pinpoint specific films, books, pop songs etc that had a big influence in the direction my life took at certain points of history. But picking a single work that 'speaks to me' now is difficult, if only because my own sense of identity is somewhat in flux and what might 'speak' to me one day wouldn't be as significant the next. Perhaps the closest i can come is Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper', if only because it's the first thing to mind as a song i've only just discovered the beauty of recently, and i guess it also speaks to the embryonic new-age hippy side of me that's been emerging lately (and perhaps the sense of change and impermanence that it characterises). But in truth, no, i really don't think there's a single piece of culture that speaks to me above all others.
4. Name three skills that you wish you had.
- Knowing what to say in those moments when it's hard to know what to say (eg when *hugs* isn't enough and armchair philosophising isn't appropriate).
- Friendship. Not the ability to make friends, but to know how to have friends, be there for people, play a supportive part in their lives, or just hang out and talk crap. Seriously, i have NFI about this stuff
- The ability to speak and act with confidence, friendliness and openness.
5. How has studying martial arts changed your outlook on life?
It's interesting that you frame that in terms of changing my *outlook*, as that's really where most of its influence has been (other changes being more a "work in progress" sort of thing).
I guess the main influence it's had is in a focus on self-improvement as a general principle in life, looking for ways to improve areas of weakness in myself. (Interestingly, there's an analogy in the quality assurance field which is quite appropriate to this approach - in years past, visiting auditors used to identify deficiencies in the system as "non-conformances", whereas these days they use the term "opportunity for improvement", which i find a good way to look at personal flaws as well). On a related note, the idea of what sort of person i believe a 'martial artist' should be also provides a useful model for the sort of person i want to be and the qualities and values i want to embody, as well as the idea of having a personal set of standards to aspire to (even if i do shy away from the wankery of terms like "warrior code" that some seem to enjoy).
One other change in outlook which has coincided with martial arts becoming a larger part of my life (though i can't say how much is a direct result) has been a shift in my own self-image and sense of identity, away from the concept of 'goth' being who i am, rather than a name for some of my interests and tastes. Now i more think of myself as a person with a range of interests, many of which come under the 'goth' umbrella, but not someone who's defined by that. This has partly come about from martial arts related interests taking up more of my attention, though it may have been a change that was due to happen anyway. One thing that really did make me realise it was a train of thought i had while studying the symbolism behind some of our taekwondo patterns, one in particular that's concerned with different qualities attributed to a 'learned man'. I found myself contemplating how much the idea of being a 'well-rounded' person appealed to me, and realised that that was really where i saw myself headed, rather than staying defined by the 'goth' box that i had begun to outgrow. It was also pleasing to realise that 'outgrowing' that box didn't actually mean losing interest in it or leaving any of those things behind, just expanding my range to a bigger picture that still included them. Again, this is probably more a natural evolution in my own life-view than specifically martial arts related, but it did play a pivotal role.
Gee, that took even longer than i'd expected.
I do believe that my clothes do reflect who i am, perhaps a bit too accurately in some ways. I've generally used clothes to identify my subcultural affinities, but these days that's become more a reflection of my mood and general self-image of the moment, as i rarely have any subcultural group around to be a part of. This mood can vary depending on what i'm interested in at a given time - eg the way i feel like dressing will be different after listening to rockabilly than when i've been reading books on new age meditation, though that often just involves minor variations of clothing or accessories (eg baggy black calico shirt and ankh pendant vs fitted black shirt and skull t-shirt). But since my moods in that sense are quite variable, most of my clothing tends toward a more neutral lowest-common-denominator of basic black that generally fits within most moods and subcultural identities, and so is not particularly adventurous (especially since i hardly go 'out' any more, so what i wear is usually only to the degree of 'dressing up' suitable for a visit to the local opp shops). When i do go out to something like a deathrock night, i do often feel underdressed compared to the people around me, about as much as i feel overdressed in all black among my polo-shirted taekwondo friends, but going to either extreme simply doesn't feel like 'me'.
As to what part of my self isn't reflected in my clothes, i'd probably nod toward the martial arts related interests, which is something i'd feel less confortable 'wearing on my sleeve' in that way for various reasons (beyond the odd dragon on a t-shirt, which i'd probably see as more a rockabilly style or something anyway).
2. I know that you feel quite passionately (as do I) about Old School Goth, and all the wonderful things it meant before it changed into its current incarnation. This incarnation doesn't seem to have much to say to us, but being that subcultures, like any branch of the cultural eco-system, *must* change and evolve, and this whole Emo thing will most likely go the way of all things...where do you see "goth" or whatever rises to take its place, in another 15 years? This can be the fanciful "speculative fiction" version, or something more grounded in today's reality, your choice. But tell us about your version of Future Goth, anyway!
To be honest, i haven't a clue. I'm not really involved in the 'scene' (or scenes) these days, so i have no idea where it's headed. From what glimpses i see, my best guess would be that the concept of 'goth' is going to fall out of fashion, as different sub-scenes denote themselves as 'deathrock' or 'dark electro' etc and new scenes like 'emo' arise without feeling any need to hitch their wagon to the label 'goth' at all. Whether any part of it will continue to use the g-word, or whether 'goth' will become a vague adjective with retro overtones, i don't know. Or maybe all of this is just my own addition to the tradition of "i'm not involved in the scene any more, so it must be dying". If it does survive though, in whatever shape or form, i'm sure in fifteen years there'll still be someone to lament that it's not like it was five years earlier.
3. Is there a single piece of culture (art, music, book, film, comic, whatever) that speaks to you more than everything else? if so, what izzit?
That's possibly the hardest question of them all. If you'd asked for a work that 'changed my life', it would be easy to pinpoint specific films, books, pop songs etc that had a big influence in the direction my life took at certain points of history. But picking a single work that 'speaks to me' now is difficult, if only because my own sense of identity is somewhat in flux and what might 'speak' to me one day wouldn't be as significant the next. Perhaps the closest i can come is Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper', if only because it's the first thing to mind as a song i've only just discovered the beauty of recently, and i guess it also speaks to the embryonic new-age hippy side of me that's been emerging lately (and perhaps the sense of change and impermanence that it characterises). But in truth, no, i really don't think there's a single piece of culture that speaks to me above all others.
4. Name three skills that you wish you had.
- Knowing what to say in those moments when it's hard to know what to say (eg when *hugs* isn't enough and armchair philosophising isn't appropriate).
- Friendship. Not the ability to make friends, but to know how to have friends, be there for people, play a supportive part in their lives, or just hang out and talk crap. Seriously, i have NFI about this stuff
- The ability to speak and act with confidence, friendliness and openness.
5. How has studying martial arts changed your outlook on life?
It's interesting that you frame that in terms of changing my *outlook*, as that's really where most of its influence has been (other changes being more a "work in progress" sort of thing).
I guess the main influence it's had is in a focus on self-improvement as a general principle in life, looking for ways to improve areas of weakness in myself. (Interestingly, there's an analogy in the quality assurance field which is quite appropriate to this approach - in years past, visiting auditors used to identify deficiencies in the system as "non-conformances", whereas these days they use the term "opportunity for improvement", which i find a good way to look at personal flaws as well). On a related note, the idea of what sort of person i believe a 'martial artist' should be also provides a useful model for the sort of person i want to be and the qualities and values i want to embody, as well as the idea of having a personal set of standards to aspire to (even if i do shy away from the wankery of terms like "warrior code" that some seem to enjoy).
One other change in outlook which has coincided with martial arts becoming a larger part of my life (though i can't say how much is a direct result) has been a shift in my own self-image and sense of identity, away from the concept of 'goth' being who i am, rather than a name for some of my interests and tastes. Now i more think of myself as a person with a range of interests, many of which come under the 'goth' umbrella, but not someone who's defined by that. This has partly come about from martial arts related interests taking up more of my attention, though it may have been a change that was due to happen anyway. One thing that really did make me realise it was a train of thought i had while studying the symbolism behind some of our taekwondo patterns, one in particular that's concerned with different qualities attributed to a 'learned man'. I found myself contemplating how much the idea of being a 'well-rounded' person appealed to me, and realised that that was really where i saw myself headed, rather than staying defined by the 'goth' box that i had begun to outgrow. It was also pleasing to realise that 'outgrowing' that box didn't actually mean losing interest in it or leaving any of those things behind, just expanding my range to a bigger picture that still included them. Again, this is probably more a natural evolution in my own life-view than specifically martial arts related, but it did play a pivotal role.
Gee, that took even longer than i'd expected.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-21 07:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-24 07:07 am (UTC)Okay, here goes:
1. How important is music in your life and what makes you feel that way?
2. Who are your kinda people?
3. What do you see as the three most significant (local/national/global) events of your lifetime and how do you feel about them?
4. What makes you feel proud?
5. The ALP under Kevin Rudd wins the next Federal election. What does this change about Asutralia?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-21 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-24 02:59 am (UTC)Okay, let's try these:
1. What are your three best qualities?
2. What qualities, values or character traits do you admire and respect most in people in general?
3. You take a look around you, smile and think "this is where i belong". Where are you?
4. Is goth a form of roleplaying? For that matter, is life a form of roleplaying?
5. In amongst the greed, ignorance, bigotry and deceit of the world, what is the brightest flame of hope that you can see?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-22 04:58 pm (UTC)I'll put my hand up for questions, though I'm likely to be a little slow at this rate.:)
no subject
Date: 2007-09-24 07:14 am (UTC)Ok, how about:
1. You spoke on another post about group identification as one function of
fashion. On the flipside, do you ever find that it serves as a barrier
between you and others, outside your identified group(s)? If so, how do you feel about any such barriers?
2. If you could live anywhere in the world other than Melbourne, where would you choose and why?
3. The human race is on trial. The charge is ongoing environmental vandalism, the penalty swift, painless annihilation. You have been chosen as counsel for the defence. What is the basis of your case?
4. Who, if anyone, is your number one role model?
5. Who, if anyone, is your number one anti-role model?