(no subject)

[arliss]

1. What's the story behind your LJ user name?

I was named for my dad. My middle name is Arline, spelled with an i rather than an e. His name was Arlis, which I've always loved, and wished they'd just named me that. The extra s was an attempt to slightly feminize it, I think.

2. I know that you and H often take long rides in the country. Do you have a favorite route that you like to follow?

West. East leads to the coast, but before that is "down east," which is flatflatflat. I don't do well in flatlands. Holland was gorgeous, but you could see for miles across the polderland—look! Holsteins four miles away! We head for mountains. I'd love to live tucked back in a hollow somewhere, in a hobbit hole, or nearly. A house built of wood and rock that melds into the landscape. That's too claustrophobic for H—he wants to walk out the back (or front, matters little) door and step onto his boat and putt away. Water's important to him, and the mountain creeks and streams don't really count. Must be a sizeable lake, or the inland waterway, or the ocean. We gave our bass boat to StE, but H used to be an avid bass fisherman. Doesn't bank or pier fish, likes boats. Must have enough water to float a boat. I digress. For drives, mountain roads are good for the reflexes and the nooks and vistas are comforting. We love driving in and out of fog and rain, watching clouds crawl up the mountainsides, being above rainbows, seeing icicles sparkling off roadside rockfaces.

3. If someone were to give you an advance to write a book, fiction or non-fiction, what would you write about?

I'd like for the fiction to come back, but I think at this point it's unlikely. So, nonfiction. I seem still able to ramble on about minutiae. I actually have about half a book done on our feral rescue cat, with anecdotes of others we've had over the years. Yes, I know, gag me. But I don't anthropomorphise. It's about sharing space with another—alien—species, and I find that fascinating. Communicating that would be worthwhile, I think.

4. If you could change one thing about your house or property, what would it be?

Well, it's H's dearest wish to take a grader to the house, push it down and drive back and forth over it till it's pulverized, then blow up the site and sow what's left with salt. I'd love to give him the satisfaction, but we can't afford it. Aside from college and early marriage I've lived in this house my whole life, and every ounce of sentiment I ever had for it is gone. When we are finally free to leave I want never to see it again. So, literally? Sell it for top dollar—if that means ripping out oak floorboards and wide-milled casings and selling them to rehabbers, bulldozing the shell and selling to a developer, so be it. I walked the lot off, and we could put 7 or 8 houses, plus a two-lane loop, on the property, with lots the size of what's selling in the area right now. The money can fund a year or five's travel. I don't feel like I ever want to be tied to a house again.


5. You once sent me a card that had had pictures of fountain pens on the outside. Do you have many fountain pens? Do you have a favorite?

I do have more fountain pens than any one person needs. I used to use them for work, which required a certain amount of formal handwritten correspondence. I have my dad's 1930's Feathertouch Sheaffer, his name engraved on the barrel, my mom's Parker engraved with her name. The Parker doesn't work, but it's next on the list to send to Mirans. H gave me the Pelikan he got as a high school graduation gift. The Sheaffer and the Pelikan have been in service constantly since they were new. The first new fountain pen I bought for myself was a Parker Sonnet, and it writes beautifully, with a wonderfully flexible nib that responds to the change of pressure on the upstroke and downstroke, leaving a line that widens and narrows, accordingly. The year I left the soul sucking job, H gave me a white pearl Parker Duofold as a Christmas, birthday, Mother's Day, anniversary and Go You! gift for the year. And the year I finished the novel he gave me an Aspen Sheaffer Balance, which is my favorite of all my pens. It's the right weight, the right girth, the nib is soft and flexible, the ink feed is perfect, neither too scratchy nor too wet. I keep black, blue, red, green, and purple bottled inks (I like J. Herbin's. They're permanent, but they dry quickly, and the colors are vibrant—and many!) in pens with correspondingly colored barrels. The Aspen is my signature pen, and I keep deep sepia ink in it. When I'm writing fast, a fountain pen is best—it drags less than a pencil, ballpoint, felt tip, or even a gel pen—and the ink dries much faster than gel ink. I dislike and don't use disposable pens of any sort, or disposable cartridges, so soldierly dutiful fountain pens and bottled inks work for me, ethically and practically.


Provocative questions, DX. Thanks!

You know the drill, let me know if you want me to ask you questions. Yesss, ve haff qvestions.