Hi. I'm from Russia but don't worry, I'm fully transculturated and mostly house-trained. I can still cook you Russian food, occasionally, though, I suppose. If that is something you think you might like, you could try my mom's pie recipe! Also, I hope you love garlic salad.

I tinker with gadgets and I read books. I like bikes and I miss European cities.

I'm not squeamish. I will eat any insect that anyone else will eat and I have the photos to prove it.

I'm pretty laid-back, I guess. I may be a bit too laid-back for some people, in fact. If you're as laid back as I am, write me a message sometime. I mean, not soon, because that would be unlike you. Just, you know, do it whenever you get around to it. There's no rush.

I'm constantly finding awful typos in my essays that I overlooked the first five times I proofread them. Halp.

Working, going to school, slacking. At least that's what I'm doing with my time.

Picking things up and putting them back down.

Dreaming away.

W-something. A thing that starts with W, I'm sure of it.

Lilting, I hope.

Rhythm games. Yeah, like DDR.

People say I make them laugh. Are you laughing yet? What, no? Come on, I have a reputation to uphold here.

I'm good at dabbling in things. I can sort of play multiple musical instruments, for instance. I've dabbled my ass off in photography.

I am good furniture for cats. Have you been eyeing one of those giant tree things covered in carpet for cats to sit on? Is it just too expensive, too bulky, or too tacky? Don't bother - just have me around! Cats WILL sit on me. It's pretty great. EDIT: There's a cat sitting on me right now. (Well, not any more "right now" but at the time it was true.)

Incidentally, that means I'm good at being covered in cat hair so I hope you're not allergic.

How about some lists?

Things I like riding: motorcycle, bicycles, rollercoasters, snowboards (well, I can get down the hill without falling down about half the time, anyway.)

Gifts I wish I had but don't: perfect pitch, synaesthesia, telepathy.

Things at which I'm supposedly good: writing, empathy, eye contact, hugs and kisses.

Things at which I am really good: petting kittens, computers, eye contact with the floor.

People seem to notice my eyes or just my eyelashes first. Some people even envy the latter. To them, I say, haha, I have better eyelashes than you. I mean, I don't actually say it to their faces. Inwardly, though, I gloat a little.

It also seems that I look younger than I really am, for better or for worse.

I guess, I read more SF and fantasy than anything else. My favorite SF book from recent memory is The Birthday of the World by Le Guin; it's completely amazing. When I was little, I read a lot of Strugatsky brothers' novels and Jules Verne in translation. My favorite, most nostalgia-inducing Strugatsky book is Monday Beings On Saturday (see journal for a link to a translation of the whole thing online! It's a funny story involving Russian folk tale characters in a Soviet research institute. I hope you love it!)

I start more than one book at a time. I'm currently reading a book by Kir Bulychev. I'm also in the middle of the Abhorsen trilogy and one of Le Guin's early novels.

I used to read a lot of poetry.

You might be able to tell from one of my pictures that 1984 made an impression on me.

Music: http://www.last.fm/user/hmaon/

I like a lot of bleepy music, with breakbeats in it. I like electroclash. I like dance music that's ill-suited for dancing.

Then again, I also like folk music. I can play a tin whistle, a bit.

Then again, I've really only been listening to Le Tigre recently.

I also like video games, though not as much as before. (coughLIEScough.) OK, OK, I've been playing video games quite a lot again. At least one of them is DDR, though!

Movies? Uh... Walk On Water, The Lives of Others, most of the Kurosawa movies are among my favorites. In the near-distant past, I really enjoyed Persepolis and In Bruges. Hot Fuzz is my favorite comedy and Shaun of the Dead is my favorite zombie comedy. Oh, and Super Troopers is also great.

Food - yes. I like. I will eat almost anything. I ate Brood X cicadas (I got a sticker!! I like to brag about knowingly having eaten insects!) and silkworm larvae. Korean and Burmese dishes are awesome. I like pho. I also like Russian pirozhki (meat pies) like my mom makes them. Luckily, she's given me the recipe - but attempts to duplicate her results have so far turned out oddly bagel-like (but still nice.) Update: latest dough attempt was more flaky and good.

I guess the 6 things I couldn't exist without would have to be Up, Down, Strange, Charm, Truth, and Beauty (or Top and Bottom for the last two).

Sadly, I had to look that up.

I do float around in a ridiculous fantasy world sometimes, wherein I have superpowers.

Sometimes I think about how easy I have it, really.

therefore I think. Friday night is logical fallacy night.

When there's good scifi on TV, I'm getting together with friends and watching it. Otherwise, I probably think it's Thursday.

I post videos of cats on youtube. I'm that guy.

If you want TMI, I have a fetlife account. It's OK if you don't know what that is; maybe we can still be friends?

you've got giant spines on your back and you breathe radiation, I
guess?