The Trickster
Created | Updated Jul 11, 2003
Utgard...
Hello.
This is the first of what will hopefully become a regular series of articles written for The h2g2 Post. In these articles, I'll be making desperate attempts to convey some of what goes on in my head. Hey, I'm just a crazy mixed-up guy 
.
I've been hanging around h2g2 for about two years now, ever since I happened to be talking to MaW about the Hitch-hiker radio series and he showed me this site. I've never looked back. Just around a bit.
A Typical Day in the Sixth Circle
I'm currently at college, taking an International Baccalaureate in six subjects (as is the norm): Physics, Chemistry, English, Maths, Psychology and Japanese. Phew! Of these, Japanese is currently my favourite as it is:
- Far more logical than English, or any Germanic/Latin based language for that matter
- Devoid of plurals
- A truly beautiful language to write
Anyway, the course is a lot of work, and rather boring. So I won't write about it, unless it spontaneously becomes interesting.
A typical day in my life is spent dragging myself around by the scruff of my volition*, thinking about writing, music and the world in general. I've been thinking a lot recently about the current 'troubles' and have come to several, often unpopular, conclusions on the subject, which I'll probably look at later.
Writing
Writing is something of a cathartic exercise for me, and has the added bonus of being possibly the most fun thing you can do without getting horribly messy. I've written a lot of short stories: or at least, begun writing them only to find that I have a better idea a few days later. I also write the occasional bit of poetry, and as I'm learning to play the guitar, some songs may soon emerge.
For some time now, I've been co-writing a novel with a RL friend (MaW again, folks), which is far from finished, and has taken a back seat to both our studies. Still, someday we're probably going to get it finished. It's not likely to ever be published, but it's a good exercise in creativity.
My most recent story, which I'm still working on, started life as a piece of GCSE coursework that never got finished. I stopped thinking that I'd be able to use it for my GCSEs when it hit 12 pages and was still not halfway through...* In the end, I recycled an old short story that I had written in half an hour. It got full marks, which goes some way to reinforcing the claim that exams are getting easier.
Reading
If I told you that I loved reading, you probably wouldn't be surprised. My favourite book is Nineteen Eighty-Four, and has been since I first read it five years ago. A lot of my friends have just read it, as it's on a reading list supplied by our college. Quite a few have actually skipped that part which deals with the reading of The Book. Everyone who's read Nineteen Eighty-Four will know that this is the most important and significant part of the whole novel, and the rest of it can only be truly understood by reading this section. Oh well. They don't know what they're missing.
I'm currently reading No Logo by Naomi Klein, and have Captive State, A People's Tragedy and Homage to Catalonia lined up ready to read next. As you can tell, I'm keen on the political stuff. For lighter reading, the other genre I enjoy is high-quality science fiction. Hey, where are you going? By high-quality I mean the likes of Arthur C Clarke, Frank Herbert and William Gibson. I love a good cyber/cypherpunk novel after a heavy read (if you're unfamiliar with the genre, think The Matrix or Blade Runner (the director's cut, naturally)).
Music
Music causes a lot of splits in the population. I tend to like a broad range of music, from Tchaikovsky to At The Drive-in. Hey, I'm an eclectic person! Still, I can't abide most manufactured music: I'll endure it up to a point, but that's it. I listen to music a lot when I write, or just before and just after writing, and it has a profound influence on the mood and content of the piece. Right now I'm listening to Muse. For my latest short story, it's Radiohead. For schoolwork it's anything from Eels to Lowgold to Propellerheads.
Respect for other people's tastes is something I try to retain. I don't like a lot of my friends' musical preferences, but that's their choice. Anyone who's doing their own thing is ok by me!
My Life On h2g2...
...has been so far rather uneventful. Still, there's a lot more to come, unless I get trampled to death by a stampeding mob of vigilantes or something.
Well, that's it for an introduction. I'll be back soon, with a more focused article. Until then, goodbye...
