Another Interview Meme...
Aug. 30th, 2004 07:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyes... This one from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
limyaael. The instructions and such are in a previous post. Comment for an interview -- even if you don't know me very well.
1) Evil aliens kidnap you and tell you that you have to associate with just one fandom for the rest of your life, or they'll anal-probe you. What fandom would you choose? Or would you let them anal-probe you?
There's a connection between my fanishness and my lower digestive tract? Damn you, kinky fangirl aliens!
Well, that anal probing is sounding tempting... but then I look at the sheer stupidity that can be associated with fandom. I think I would have to go with the anime Slayers -- the show itself has a lot of characters I like to work with for fanworks, and the fandom itself has settled down enouhg that there aren't shipper wars (Harry Potter fandom, I am looking at you), just the occasional shipper skirmish. And, all things considered, it is moderatly active.
2) What is the single most interesting astronomical phenomenon to you?
Well, a lot of them are interesting -- why I'm in the field, after all -- I think the Cosmic Microwave Background is kind of neat.
Okay, for about 300,000 years after the Big Bang , the universe was basically one big flourescent tube. Then, things cooled off enough for atoms to form from ions, and the universe suddenly went transparent. Since when we look into space, we look back into time (because it takes time for light to get to us -- think of it like the postal system. If a friend says in a letter she is doing something 'now' she means as of the time she wrote the letter, a few days ago), if we look back far enough, we can see this glow, which has been shifted into the microwave part of the spectrum by the expansion of the universe (think of the way a train heading away from you sounds lower in pitch. Microwaves are 'lower pitch' light than visible light)
So, anyways, the CMBG is interesting because first of all, it was the first confirmation of the Big Bang -- it was predicted by that theory before it was discovered. We know it looks mostly the same all around us. For that matter, we know that is true for other galaxies as well -- the microwaves interact with the gas in other galaxies, which we can observe. Furthermore, we are starting to observe the variations in the background which can tell us about things like the initial conditions of the universe and about how galaxies form... which leads us into the questions about dark matter and energy (read: hot topics).
3) "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple." Does this apply to you? If not, what other outrageous things are you looking forward to getting away with in your old age?
I think I am already a bit outrageous in my youth. I suppose I would like to have a cloak for the winter instead of a coat and dress in costume when I do my History of Astronomy lectures for Astro 101. Or, for that matter, just in general stop caring what the crowds think. I wish I could do that now -- for all my nerdishness, I don't 'freak out the mundanes' that often. Though peopel do give my Maxwell Genesis shirt funny looks, but I think that's because most peopel do not associate calculus and Bible quotes. I suppose the most important 'outrageous' thing I would like to do when I am old, is keep my hobbies. I wouldn't mind being a 70 year old who reads and draws comics and writes amatuer fiction.
4) You're stuck away from a computer, with no books and no television and no music and nothing to write things down on. How do you entertain yourself?
I assume nothing to write on means I can't draw either. Well, I can fall back on webcomic/novel/fanfic/gaming plotting and worldbuilding. I do most of that while walking anyways, so all I really need is my mind. Strangly enough, I think best when on my feet -- which drives my mother nuts, as I will pace the hallways when thinking.
Or, if there are people, I oculd be social and talk to them. I like people, even if they are not the kind of people I normally talk to.
5) Who are the most mockable people?
The narrowminded. See, the stupid or the ignorant at least have the possibility that they will learn otherwise. The narrowminded tend to stay that way, since they usually will not look outside their bubble. Therefore they are safe to laugh at. Of course, combining the two is even better...
limyaael. The instructions and such are in a previous post. Comment for an interview -- even if you don't know me very well. 1) Evil aliens kidnap you and tell you that you have to associate with just one fandom for the rest of your life, or they'll anal-probe you. What fandom would you choose? Or would you let them anal-probe you?
There's a connection between my fanishness and my lower digestive tract? Damn you, kinky fangirl aliens!
Well, that anal probing is sounding tempting... but then I look at the sheer stupidity that can be associated with fandom. I think I would have to go with the anime Slayers -- the show itself has a lot of characters I like to work with for fanworks, and the fandom itself has settled down enouhg that there aren't shipper wars (Harry Potter fandom, I am looking at you), just the occasional shipper skirmish. And, all things considered, it is moderatly active.
2) What is the single most interesting astronomical phenomenon to you?
Well, a lot of them are interesting -- why I'm in the field, after all -- I think the Cosmic Microwave Background is kind of neat.
Okay, for about 300,000 years after the Big Bang , the universe was basically one big flourescent tube. Then, things cooled off enough for atoms to form from ions, and the universe suddenly went transparent. Since when we look into space, we look back into time (because it takes time for light to get to us -- think of it like the postal system. If a friend says in a letter she is doing something 'now' she means as of the time she wrote the letter, a few days ago), if we look back far enough, we can see this glow, which has been shifted into the microwave part of the spectrum by the expansion of the universe (think of the way a train heading away from you sounds lower in pitch. Microwaves are 'lower pitch' light than visible light)
So, anyways, the CMBG is interesting because first of all, it was the first confirmation of the Big Bang -- it was predicted by that theory before it was discovered. We know it looks mostly the same all around us. For that matter, we know that is true for other galaxies as well -- the microwaves interact with the gas in other galaxies, which we can observe. Furthermore, we are starting to observe the variations in the background which can tell us about things like the initial conditions of the universe and about how galaxies form... which leads us into the questions about dark matter and energy (read: hot topics).
3) "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple." Does this apply to you? If not, what other outrageous things are you looking forward to getting away with in your old age?
I think I am already a bit outrageous in my youth. I suppose I would like to have a cloak for the winter instead of a coat and dress in costume when I do my History of Astronomy lectures for Astro 101. Or, for that matter, just in general stop caring what the crowds think. I wish I could do that now -- for all my nerdishness, I don't 'freak out the mundanes' that often. Though peopel do give my Maxwell Genesis shirt funny looks, but I think that's because most peopel do not associate calculus and Bible quotes. I suppose the most important 'outrageous' thing I would like to do when I am old, is keep my hobbies. I wouldn't mind being a 70 year old who reads and draws comics and writes amatuer fiction.
4) You're stuck away from a computer, with no books and no television and no music and nothing to write things down on. How do you entertain yourself?
I assume nothing to write on means I can't draw either. Well, I can fall back on webcomic/novel/fanfic/gaming plotting and worldbuilding. I do most of that while walking anyways, so all I really need is my mind. Strangly enough, I think best when on my feet -- which drives my mother nuts, as I will pace the hallways when thinking.
Or, if there are people, I oculd be social and talk to them. I like people, even if they are not the kind of people I normally talk to.
5) Who are the most mockable people?
The narrowminded. See, the stupid or the ignorant at least have the possibility that they will learn otherwise. The narrowminded tend to stay that way, since they usually will not look outside their bubble. Therefore they are safe to laugh at. Of course, combining the two is even better...
