Interests meme

[litlover12]

Comment on this post and I will choose six interests from your profile. You will then explain what they mean/why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.

I got this from charleygirl a couple weeks ago, and am just now getting around to it. And I still have yet another meme I'm supposed to do, but I can't remember who gave it to me. I am the world's worst at keeping track of memes. But anyway, now for this one! Here are my interests that she chose.

Broadway

I got into film musicals when I was 11 or 12. Part of that was, basically, because my mom wouldn't let us watch junk, so I got started watching old (clean) movies, and some of those just happened to be musicals. From there I guess it was only a matter of time until I got into stage musicals as well! First Les Miserables, and then The Phantom of the Opera, and then more and more and more. I got into the history of the musical and everything -- I actually started getting librettos from the library and reading them for fun, that's how musical theater geeky I got.

We're lucky to get a lot of good productions here in the D.C. area, so I've seen several musicals here. But the first one I actually saw on Broadway, in 1993, was Crazy for You. My dad took me on my first trip to NYC, just a couple of days, and we saw that one. It was heavenly!

(So I guess I really owe it all to my parents. Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

Other musicals I've seen on Broadway since then include Show Boat, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Chicago, Next to Normal, Catch Me if You Can, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Phantom. And a couple of straight plays: Lend Me a Tenor and A Steady Rain.

Country music

That also goes back to my parents. They spent a lot of time stationed in the South when they were first married, and picked up a taste for country music. Growing up, I was always hearing Kenny Rogers and Randy Travis and a lot of the golden oldies of country around the house. (Funniest memory of this: Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey," a maudlin little number about a dead wife. Only somehow I missed the death part and thought it was about a breakup. When he sang that she was "kinda dumb and kinda smart," I said to my mom, "He said she was kinda dumb! No wonder she left him!")

Here's an interesting tidbit, though: I recently found out that my great-grandfather Louis was fond of country, too -- though he never spent a day in the South -- and always used to listen to it on the radio. Funny, the things that run in families!

I got away from country for a while during college, when my best friend got me listening to Sinatra and his contemporaries. (You know how it is. These innocent young girls go off to college, and next thing you know, they've been seduced by the Rat Pack.) But years later, I started watching CMT on television a bit -- you know, back when they actually used to show music videos instead of reality shows -- and getting into country again. And now I listen to it all the time.

There've been a lot of changes over the years, of course. I'm not one of those who likes to go around saying, "This is real country music and that isn't." I don't think any one person has that kind of authority -- unless the ghost of Johnny Cash or Hank Williams should come back -- and I also think there's still a lot of good country music left. I even like some of the country-pop, though I'm generally partial to the more traditional sounds. But just lately, with the popularity of "frat boy country" and country/rap remixes and a lot of other unpleasant trends, I am starting to wonder if the good stuff might just get driven out altogether . . .

Gardening

I'm not a very dedicated gardener, I confess. More of a dabbler. I plant bulbs every year, and grow a couple of rosebushes, and that's about it. I enjoy it, though. Here's a pic from this spring's garden. I tried a new kind of tulip, salmon parrot tulips -- isn't that the best name ever? -- and they turned out pretty spectacular!

Jewelry

Short version: I love it. :-) I love the good stuff, and the cheap stuff, and everything in between. I love making it, too, though I don't get much time for it these days. One of my favorite things to make is bracelets with a theme -- here's one, and I'm currently making another one. I'll try to remember to post a pic when I'm done.

Can't blame my mother for this one -- she's not into jewelry at all, although sometimes my patient persuasion pays off and I can actually get her interested in putting a necklace on. But some of my other female relatives were really into it. My great-grandma Antoinette in particular -- she was a Depression farmwife raising nine kids, chasing the chickens around the barnyard, and pulling up dandelions to cook for dinner, but they say she never did any of it without putting on her jewelry first. A woman after my own heart.

Mysteries

What was my first mystery? I'm not sure. I used to read the Bobbsey Twin books as a child, and later The Westing Game, and in college I got into Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion, and Father Brown, and now I read and watch all kinds. Never read much Sherlock Holmes, though I'm remedying that now through audio books. I think it was because "The Speckled Band" in an elementary-school reading book scared the bejabers out of me as a child.

For someone who hates suspense, it's odd I like mysteries. I guess if a story is well-told enough, I can live with the discomfort for a little while! 

Piano

I started playing when I was almost five. Took lessons all the way through school, and then minored in it in college. I've kept it up more or less through the years. A couple of years ago my old teacher decided to teach again for a couple of years, and I gladly signed on with him again. It really seems to help having a teacher to push you and motivate you, and he's an awesome teacher. But he's retiring and moving to Michigan -- as it happens, I just had my last lesson with him this week. *sniffle* So now I've got to look for someone new. I don't want to give it up and just start drifting again; I want to try to stay motivated. I just hope I can find someone even half as awesome as he's been!

Let me know if you want to do the meme.

(And now to select about 9 million tags!!)

Comments

[spiderorchid81.livejournal.com]

This is interesting - yes, I'd like to do the meme. :)

I too got interested in musicals and old movies through my parents (although they weren't concerned about movies being "clean", it was more a matter of taste and fandom of classic actors/actresses). As a teenager I only liked old movies. Nowadays I like a lot of modern ones too but I'd still say the old movies have a very special fascination. You're lucky to able to actually see plays on Broadway, that sounds like a great experience.

I'm not a fan of country music but even I have to admit that some of the best voices are found in this genre. And perhaps it's simply something that appeals more to Americans just like we have probably a lot of customs and tastes that seem strange to you... :)

Gardening is fun. I love your tulips, they're very pretty!

You make your own jewelery? Now I'm impressed. I like pretty sparkly things too (especially earrings). Do you prefer a specific style (like art noveau or ethnic styles)?

Mysteries are awesome. I like that the genre has been around so long, there are so many varieties to choose from: Victorian, 1930s, paranormal, gay, historical, gothic... I agree, the most important part is that the story is well told. Suspense is nice too but I can't stand who-done-its with card-board characters. That's why I adore Dorothy Sayers so, her books are so much more than "just" mysteries.

I admire people who can play an instrument, that's a beautiful skill. Good luck with finding a new teacher. Do you play classical pieces or more modern music?

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

My teacher (who also used to be minister of music at our church) had me play a lot of classical -- the last pieces I did with him were a Brahms rhapsody and a Rachmaninoff prelude -- and also a lot of hymn arrangements, some of which were his own. He's an excellent arranger and writes some really challenging stuff. He also liked to have me take hymns and do my own arranging, though I was never good at it!

Totally on board about Sayers -- her characterization was brilliant. One of the reasons that Christie's cardboard characters drive me crazy!

I don't know that I gravitate to any particular style when I make jewelry -- unless "simple and basic" is a style. :-) As for materials, though, I like working with glass, crystals, and gemstones.

Glad you like the tulips! Thank you!

Okay, here you go: Art-nouveau, dance, history, orange-smell, pre-raphaelites, unicorns.

[spiderorchid81.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds like you're a very advanced learner - I hope you find someone who's an equally good teacher as your previous one.

Personally, I love Bunter... ^_^ I agree about Christie. The plots are well-crafted but the people are so uninteresting. I prefer the movie-versions of her books.

Beautiful. With materials like this "simple and basic" is the best choice - wouldn't do to have those things disappear behind too elaborate designs. ^_^

The tulips look like something from a Dutch still-life, I really like that.

On my way to answer the meme...