"What's Your Recomendation?" or "You Are What You Are Because Others Are, Too"

[Seil]

Here's the thing. I'm Seil. I don't really know what that means, but I'm poking around. I really love The Toxic Airborne Event, I'm currently reading The Curious Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde and my liver has applied for a transplant six or seven times. That's pretty much all I know. I just try to concern myself with what's going on around me at any given time. Me folks, though, are a different matter. They've raised (raising) four kids - each have their own things going on. Recently, I've spoken to them 'bout development and stuff.

Now, being generally (compared to me) genius level intellects, I asked them about books. See, a while back, my dad and I had a conversation - he always wanted to be a film maker, but never persued that dream 'cause he had a family to support. I asked him who influenced him and he started talking about books, authors who - he said - had he read when he was younger, would've defined his being, helped him to discover who he was... Among his list was Milan Kunderis, who wrote The Unbearable Lightness Of Being, the dude who wrote Don Quixote, and Ernest Hemmingway, who wrote A Movable Feast.

Now, tonight we all had dinner together - a rarity - and I asked me mum. "Dad's said that he's got a few people who are very inflluential - authors, musicians, directors... Is there anyone who you would view in that light?" (I asked, with my limited vocabulary.) Now, these are the people who looked after me when I scraped my knee. This was the woman who read me Thomas The Tank Engine books when I got scared of Jurassic Park, who I once picked a handful of dandelions. This was the man who... well, taught me about kindness and strength.

These are people who helped me become who I am today, and this was me asking who helped to define them - and I know one can include ones friends along with ones relatives. Now, they've both given me old books of theirs and turned me towards favoured musicians - I have a book backlog of stuff printed literally in the 1920's - and I wondered: what made you who you are?

So - Seil is asking questions again!

1) What - be it a relative, a friend, a pet, an epiphany - was it that was the turning point? Where did you fall in love with Chopin, at what point did you discover Kubrik, when did you first read Clevinger?

2) What is a current passion, love, secret that was recommended to you by a friend or family member?

3) What is something that you would recommend, be it music, artistry, cinematic or prose? (1 thing)

4) What was something you were fond of that you really dislike since you've gotten older?

5) Name the most influential person in your life, be it someone you know or otherwise.

[Krylo]

I leapt into being fully formed and perfect.

[Seil]

Like Athena, but with a penis.

I'll let others joke on that.

Anyways, whatever happend to the muses? (Musii?)

[Kerensky287]

Originally Posted by Seil

1) What - be it a relative, a friend, a pet, an epiphany - was it that was the turning point? Where did you fall in love with Chopin, at what point did you discover Kubrik, when did you first read Clevinger?

2) What is a current passion, love, secret that was recommended to you by a friend or family member?

3) What is something that you would recommend, be it music, artistry, cinematic or prose? (1 thing)

4) What was something you were fond of that you really dislike since you've gotten older?

5) Name the most influential person in your life, be it someone you know or otherwise.

1) Can you really point to one event that was a "turning point" for you? Because I can't really do that. I can look at several different things that have had influences on why I'm so different from who I used to be but nothing that shaped EVERYTHING, no world-changing revelation that refurbished my lifestyle.

2) ...Honestly, I find most things I like on my own. My biggest passion right now is writing and I literally started that on a whim. Nobody said to me, "Hey, you should write stuff." Nobody gave me a particular book that sparked a love of the written word.

So I guess I'm a pretty big fan of breathing. Breathing has been recommended to me by several people as an essential part of everyday life.

3) Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. Not even kidding. Yes, it's a fanfiction, but it's written by an author who is reasonably professional about it - he's a published scientist who has done a lot of great work with artificial intelligence. Almost everything he writes has some spin on "this is what you can accomplish if you learn to think properly," and MoR is no exception.

4) Religion.

5) Influential? Well, I'd say the most influential person is probably Gabe Newell because if it weren't for TF2/L4D2 I'd probably still be in university. But positive influences? Uhm.... can't really think of anybody, no.


EDIT: Also, Krylo, I could say something hilarious about that but I think the whole "Krylo crossdressed that one time" thing is kind of a dead horse.

[rwrloozerx]

I think death has been a bigger influence than life has for me. That seems really dreary and depressing, but it's true.
So,
1. The death of my father. I don't need the "Oh I'm so sorry." You asked the question, and it is the best answer I have.
2. Music. Like hardcore band geek. If you've never tried picking up a large piece of molded brass (or other instrument) and making strange pitches in a musical sequence, I recommend it.
3. Other then referring to number 2, The Pellinor Series. It's fiction, it isn't the most adult of books, but it honestly had an impact on me, and the story got me through some tough times.
4. I'm not all that old, but at loss for any other thing, I'd have to agree with Kerensky.
5. You've probably already assumed, but my father.

[Magus]

Well if you like a band called The Airborne Toxic Event you should probably read White Noise, it was a pretty interesting book. No idea if the band has anything to do with the book other than the band's name but there is an event in the book called that, and it plays into the main character's paralyzing fear of mortality rather humorously.

On to your questions:

1) What - be it a relative, a friend, a pet, an epiphany - was it that was the turning point? Where did you fall in love with Chopin, at what point did you discover Kubrik, when did you first read Clevinger?

Well I don't know about all that, but a yardsale provided me with a literal box load of Conan and Elric fantasy novels, along with a set of Lord of the Rings. Needless to say, I was hooked.

2) What is a current passion, love, secret that was recommended to you by a friend or family member?

Well, my brother was certainly the resident video games lover and introduced me to video games, we would go to yard sales and buy lots of NES games in the years after the SNES came out for small change, like a dollar would buy you an NES game pretty easy, or you'd run into somebody just selling a whole box for ten dollars or what have you and we spent a lot of time playing those. He also gave me his SNES when I was 8 or 9 with about ten games, so I have to say my brother did quite a bit in introducing me to the hobby and providing me with a lot of fun times. Video games kind of played into my writing hobby as well since if I remember correctly my first real writing piece was a few little Megaman fanfiction "books" replete with pictures that I would staple together. I've never been a real fanfiction writer, I've tried to focus more on original stuff, but growing up the adventures I read about in books, saw in movies, and played in video games fueled my play time with friends, be it swordfights with sticks or hiking through the woods on a quest or shooting lasers at each other, whatever it was, would be fueled by an appreciation of the fantastic more often than not. Sure we would play Schwarrzennage or Rambo sometimes but more often I wanted to stage a fight between Connor McLeod and the Kurgan.

3) What is something that you would recommend, be it music, artistry, cinematic or prose? (1 thing)

Well, this sounds almost like what would be your most favorite thing. I have a difficulty with that, though, because I like so many things. I guess I will choose a book because books to me are the most important thing and where the author can most easily pass on a message. Or I guess I'd rather choose an author. Read John Steinbeck. And not just The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men or The Pearl. Read all his novels and novellas.

If you're not interested in reading a whole plethora of novels or even reading in general...watch The Deer Hunter.

4) What was something you were fond of that you really dislike since you've gotten older?

This is difficult because there is a veneer of nostalgia on most things from my youth and I still enjoy them today even though I can see their faults. I mean I still watch episodes of Batman: The Animated Series or Batman Beyond or what have you sometimes. The same with books, I still enjoy a few of the young adult books that I read when I was younger, although usually the ones that coincidentally contained fairly adult themes and events (such as The Sword of the Spirits trilogy, for instance).

I would say I've certainly outgrown Barney, but who didn't? Power Rangers holds no interest for me, either...but I haven't outgrown Bugs Bunny.

5) Name the most influential person in your life, be it someone you know or otherwise.

Well can I be pretentious and say Shakespeare? No, well, then, Yasumi Matsuno, for creating deep strategic games that read like a novel. If there is an artistry in combining gameplay, plot, dialogue, cinema, etc. together it is in his games. For authors, I have recently fallen in love with Guy Gavriel Kay. If you can read a single novel by him, I would recommend either Tigana, or the first one I ever read by him, which I enjoy the most, which is A Song for Arbonne. Just wonderful books.

[Si Civa]

1. The first question can be pretty personal and tear jerking especially if I told about my very, very personal life which I won't speak in public, so I just think about all things creative and artistic in this!

While I've always been quite interested in drawing and being artsy fartsy without being actually skilled, I think turning point might have been when it become 'offically' hobby to me. Got me little bit deeper in that world and little bit more skilled (I pretend that I'm not techically good but have good ideas), and it was good time to get angst out without doing something completely stupid things during teenager years though I still did them more than enough.

Other, I think, is the moment when I bought Pink Floyd's The Wall (Saw that Water's Wall show here in Finland <3). When I was younger, I didn't listen too much music really, but had bought, listened and liked albums by Queen and Led Zeppelin and some other bands. But Pink Floyd kinda get me hooked more than any other band. Perhaps they are mellow, relaxing to my tasted? (Ummagumma is pretty scary album!) Or perhaps it's the melancholy they had after Syd went to the dark side of the moon.

Or the drugs, man, they're some wicked shit.

2. While this is old news, I read all Vonneguts novels in 2009. Had seen sister reading some of them and thought I would read them too. And I guess I quite enjoyed them because I read all of them. Or at least the good were good enough to allow Kurt have not too good ones too.

3. While I could say things like Queen II, The Who's Armenia City in the Sky song, Derek and the Dominoes, I just say Finnish band Kingston Wall is amazing.
Shine on me or perhaps Time, their cover of Hendrix's Fire. Or perhaps their first album's opener.

Sadly the guitarist and the main force of the band, Petri Walli, committed suicide at the age of 26. :/

4. I thought it would be cool to read Moby Dick. Then I actually did it. Not sure if it was worth of it at all. But then again that happened during the reading, so...

Also I don't like Tarkus by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It's just so completely uninteresting piece that drags far too long to mantain your interest to it.

5. I wouldn't like to list all the people 'cause I would probably forget somebody.

[Toast]

Originally Posted by Seil

[B]1) What - be it a relative, a friend, a pet, an epiphany - was it that was the turning point? Where did you fall in love with Chopin, at what point did you discover Kubrik, when did you first read Clevinger?

I don't think there are any turning points, not most of the time. Instead it's a continuity of decisions, made consciously or unconsciously, that brings us to where we are. I couldn't tell you what led me to psychology, because I don't know. I couldn't tell you what led me to my focus on death and meaning and existential psychology in particular, because I don't know.

2) What is a current passion, love, secret that was recommended to you by a friend or family member?

Like Kerensky, I also write creative fiction, and nobody really recommended or encouraged me to take it up. It was just something I wanted to do.

Even when I go extended periods of time without writing anything, which I have had to do a couple times, I'm still always creating stories in my head, they just don't always get put down on paper. It's as much a part of who I am as any other attribute.

3) What is something that you would recommend, be it music, artistry, cinematic or prose? (1 thing)

I couldn't name any one single thing, but I can name one kind of thing--books. Our Inner Ape by Frans de Waal, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, Anthropologist on Mars by Olivier Sachs, Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, The Discovery of Being by Rollo May. And that's just non-fiction.

I also recommend books by Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Richard Adams, Jane Lindskold, Roger Zelazny, Terry Prattchet, and more others than I could probably think to name.

4) What was something you were fond of that you really dislike since you've gotten older?

I would say religion, but I'm not sure it counts as I don't think I ever really liked it. Rather, it was something that I had to learn about first hand in order to put it aside and continue with my spiritual growth.

Other than that, there's nothing I can think of off hand that I outright dislike that I used to like.

5) Name the most influential person in your life, be it someone you know or otherwise.

I would have to name myself. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't make the decisions that led me here. If I'd made different decisions, I would be somewhere entirely different.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Originally Posted by Seil

1) What - be it a relative, a friend, a pet, an epiphany - was it that was the turning point? Where did you fall in love with Chopin, at what point did you discover Kubrik, when did you first read Clevinger?

2) What is a current passion, love, secret that was recommended to you by a friend or family member?

3) What is something that you would recommend, be it music, artistry, cinematic or prose? (1 thing)

4) What was something you were fond of that you really dislike since you've gotten older?

5) Name the most influential person in your life, be it someone you know or otherwise.[/B]

1.) First time I listened to the album ...Is a Real Boy by my now favorite band Say Anything everything changed. That's when it seemed like a whole new world opened itself up to me.

2.) My recent stint of writing plays and performance pieces is all a result of some people I know saying that I'd be good at it.

3.) The music of Say Anything. That music has changed my life.

4.) Religion. After a relative of mine died I decided to read the Bible and it was just the most defeating experience of my life. Everyone I knew looked to that book as if it had all the answers to life and I found nothing in there besides a moderately good message. I even went to church with a friend to see if I was missing something and I just could not see god in that house. With all the music they were playing it felt like a funeral party for the belief in god.

5.) My father. He is the reason I am the man I am today and one of the main reasons I want to continue being a good one. A close second would be my grandfather. The man grew up in Nazi Germany before coming to America and becoming an officer of the law, and a damn good one at that. He's the reason that I'm going to be working in law enforcement.

[Nique]

Here's the thing. I'm Seil. I don't really know what that means, but I'm poking around.

Seil, have you watched 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'? It's a really surprisingly great movie, but besides that - You're totally Ash. Go put a bandit mask on, you've earned it.

1)"What - be it a relative, a friend, a pet, an epiphany - was it that was the turning point? Where did you fall in love with Chopin, at what point did you discover Kubrik, when did you first read Clevinger?"

Like Seil I like to 'poke around'. I have a variety of interests in the realm of pop culture that have changed slowly over time. I guess the trigger would have to be watching tons of tv at a young age. TV was my gateway to a variety of genres of entertainment and nurtured my current interest in fantasy and sci-fi.

In retrospect, I wish I had nurtured a stronger love of reading and music, or just more intellectual pursuits overall because I think I'm pretty smart and would have enjoyed that but... well, that's just not the kind of family we were. I woke up at 5am on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons, I would watch old sitcoms every afternoon, and at least every other evening we'd watch primetime television. As a result I have an extremely detailed internal 'database' of TV and pop-culture trivia for someone who hasn't specifically studied the subject. Clearly I branched out but I would still say that I am quite, unintentionally, a big fan of television over movies, music, comics, books, and even video games as significant exposure to those things came at a much later age for me.

I will say that I really opened up to music in my late teens and early 20s. As a kid and teenager, my tastes in music were driven by some weird mechanism that made me think it was cool to join the Columbia Record Club and purchase Celine Dion's discography. Actually it was more like I really dug stuff like ABBA and whatever girly pop music was out at the time, but I couldn't go around saying that I listened to stuff like that so I was perpetually experimenting with my tastes in music and ended up listening to, I dunno, Linkin Park, Offspring, stuff I didn't really like that much. After I actually stopped caring what people thought I found it was easier to listen to a variety of music, and also find music that I actually enjoyed that wasn't completely lame.

2)"What is a current passion, love, secret that was recommended to you by a friend or family member?"

I'm really into video games now. I didn't get much exposure to games as a kid because Mom thought they were 'bad' (as opposed to all the TV watching?) but I really enjoyed playing when I had the chance. The hook for me was a friend of mine who had a Playstation, I loved playing with that thing. Now I have a modest collection of games from nearly every console since the NES and I just started an online game store.

Also by way of television: Doctor Who. Me and my wife just randomly decided to start watching it before the 5th series started and I can only think of one other show that I've ever really loved this much.

3)"What is something that you would recommend, be it music, artistry, cinematic or prose?"

Jonathan Colton, If you aren't already aware of him via Portal's 'Still Alive' and 'Want you Gone'. Musical geek-culture/ pop-culture referencing narratives fit me like a glove.

4)"What was something you were fond of that you really dislike since you've gotten older?"

I wouldn't say I dislike or hate anything specifically but I'm much more analytical than I was even 4 years ago. I don't have very much patience for weak premises in fiction so it's a little more difficult to enjoy some shows and movies anymore.

5) "Name the most influential person in your life, be it someone you know or otherwise."

My wife. Somehow she helps me see the world in a richer way than I used to.