Questions from meepettemu
Oct. 22nd, 2018 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexagonWhat do you like most about living where you live?
I live in a tiny and beautiful bubble like one of those weird fish that stays near a hot, undersea vent. Within two or three blocks of me, without crossing any major street, I can get to: my doctor, a grocery store, my gym, a pharmacy, coffee places, several restaurants. If I am willing to cross one major street and go another couple of blocks I can get haircuts, go to my dentist, and access a good subway line. As if this weren't enough, it's also one of the most highly educated and socially liberal places around, so the company's good.
If money and skill were no object, what would be your ideal job?
City planner. I love cities, designing things, puzzle-solving, nudging people by making good decisions easy, and daydreaming about the stuff in A Pattern Language. I just never knew that "city planner" was a thing anyone did, until I was in my mid-20s or so. And I'm still not sure they have the godlike powers I would hope for. :-)
What made you decide to bear a child?
Funny question... I haven't borne a child and I very definitely never will (because yay for getting Essure fourteen years ago)! I did decide to donate eggs a long time ago because I wanted to pass on my genes, and it turned out I could do that while also helping my friends. It's worked out really well (friends only).
How are you with flying?
I'm fine with the vast majority of it. I fit just fine into the seats, I don't find the sitting there to be that much worse than sitting for a standard workday, the noise is counteracted well enough with earplugs and I don't have panic reactions or anything. I like window seats and find there's often some discomfort from delaying bathroom trips enough to consolidate with the trips of other people in the row, but that's not so bad. What I don't like, though, is jetlag, and missing my kitties and all my usual home routines.
If you could put together a family, of famous people or others of choice, what would that constellation look like?
Interesting, and tricky. Kind of depends on what a family is -- do I need folks of various ages to be involved? My inclination is no, we'll be same-generation for the most part, and the last of us will just have to die alone. :P And because there aren't many people I know well enough to know if I want them in my family, I guess it'll be Norwood and Lion and my bug. Norwood's other girlfriend and Lioness can both come along if they promise to be nice. My family is otherwise missing women for me to be close to though, so I'll bring back Stencil andapfelsingail from the far-off cities they moved to -- they can be cousins, or something of the sort. (I'd say sisters, but I'm an only child and don't know what I might be getting into with that, so maybe I'll stick with cousins.)
My parents don't seem to be involved in this, which is fine. Heck, maybe I'll make it so that nobody has parents. Voila, holiday planning just got way easier and now we don't travel as much. We all take care of each others' pets when someone does go somewhere, though.
I live in a tiny and beautiful bubble like one of those weird fish that stays near a hot, undersea vent. Within two or three blocks of me, without crossing any major street, I can get to: my doctor, a grocery store, my gym, a pharmacy, coffee places, several restaurants. If I am willing to cross one major street and go another couple of blocks I can get haircuts, go to my dentist, and access a good subway line. As if this weren't enough, it's also one of the most highly educated and socially liberal places around, so the company's good.
If money and skill were no object, what would be your ideal job?
City planner. I love cities, designing things, puzzle-solving, nudging people by making good decisions easy, and daydreaming about the stuff in A Pattern Language. I just never knew that "city planner" was a thing anyone did, until I was in my mid-20s or so. And I'm still not sure they have the godlike powers I would hope for. :-)
What made you decide to bear a child?
Funny question... I haven't borne a child and I very definitely never will (because yay for getting Essure fourteen years ago)! I did decide to donate eggs a long time ago because I wanted to pass on my genes, and it turned out I could do that while also helping my friends. It's worked out really well (friends only).
How are you with flying?
I'm fine with the vast majority of it. I fit just fine into the seats, I don't find the sitting there to be that much worse than sitting for a standard workday, the noise is counteracted well enough with earplugs and I don't have panic reactions or anything. I like window seats and find there's often some discomfort from delaying bathroom trips enough to consolidate with the trips of other people in the row, but that's not so bad. What I don't like, though, is jetlag, and missing my kitties and all my usual home routines.
If you could put together a family, of famous people or others of choice, what would that constellation look like?
Interesting, and tricky. Kind of depends on what a family is -- do I need folks of various ages to be involved? My inclination is no, we'll be same-generation for the most part, and the last of us will just have to die alone. :P And because there aren't many people I know well enough to know if I want them in my family, I guess it'll be Norwood and Lion and my bug. Norwood's other girlfriend and Lioness can both come along if they promise to be nice. My family is otherwise missing women for me to be close to though, so I'll bring back Stencil and
apfelsingail from the far-off cities they moved to -- they can be cousins, or something of the sort. (I'd say sisters, but I'm an only child and don't know what I might be getting into with that, so maybe I'll stick with cousins.)My parents don't seem to be involved in this, which is fine. Heck, maybe I'll make it so that nobody has parents. Voila, holiday planning just got way easier and now we don't travel as much. We all take care of each others' pets when someone does go somewhere, though.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-24 08:59 pm (UTC)I feel like we might be on the verge of heavily engineered / planned cities popping up large scale.. there's not enough housing and there are still a lot of super remote areas in the US where a Musk or Bezos could throw up a smallish city pretty easily. Or maybe I just think a little too sci fi.
no subject
Date: 2018-11-14 03:25 pm (UTC)https://failedarchitecture.com/a-year-in-the-metabolist-future-of-1972/
"The building regulations have also changed and at 41 years old, Nakagin has exceeded the point at which most buildings are scheduled for demolition (30 years)".
Thirty years! Buildings are just babies at 30 years old!
There's a cool book about buildings evolving over time, even in the absence of conscious metabolist architecture, that I also recommend. It's called How Buildings Learn:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Buildings-Learn-Happens-Theyre/dp/0140139966/
no subject
Date: 2018-11-15 03:24 pm (UTC)The whole capsule / efficiency concept really fascinates me. I think reading about capsule hotels in 80's and 90's sci-fi started me down a path toward tiny houses and distributed/communal resources. (no need for a whole house when you spend 8 hours a day at work, couple hours at the gym, time at the library, eating out, etc, etc)
30 years certainly does seem short. I wonder what that's about. A side effect of over-engineering to survive typhoons and earthquakes? The speed of new development/growth in that area? pretty wild.
That book looks cool. Ill check it out!