Central Eastern Europe says hi

[AerialTriceratops]

Hi guys, I'm AerialTriceratops (:

 

I am and have always been the reading kind of nerd. I suck at playing videogames and fall asleep during movies (with some exceptions, of course) so I'm not really sure if that's the right place for me. But I hope it is.

 

As a child I was working out A LOT (my parents didn't leave me much of a choice). I hated it, and when I was old enough I gave up all physical activity. I was absolutely sure that I had been born to sit in the corner with my book and a cup of tea. Two years ago I discovered pole dancing and fell in love. Then last year I signed up for aerial silk classes and fell in love even deeper. Being high above ground and trusting my abilities on keeping me from falling is intoxicating. I know I started late (in my 20s- in acrobatics that means ancient) so everything is much more difficult (almost impossible) for me. That's discouraging, but I try not to think about it.

 

Things I like:

• books, books, books
• chocolate (although I try to trick myself into eating exclusively chocolate with 70% cacao)
• dinosaurs
• pole, aerial silks, lyra
• trying new things (lately: arduino and e-textiles)
• sleeping (I could do that for money)

My goals:

• a proper handstand (I'm pretty close to that one) and armstand (not so close)
• in pole dace: handspring
• in alerial silks: performing a simple drop
• lower my body fat percentage
• try aerial trapeze, hulahoop, and modern dance
• master the art of discipline!

My other, not fitness-related goals:

• do my PhD (in electronics)
• learn to sew

Also, English is not my native language, if you spot a mistake tell me so I can improve (:

 

Nice to meet you guys (: I hope there's place here for those who cannot play videogames (due to general clumsiness. To be honest I do play sometimes with my friends, but I'm always the last/worst/most frequently killed).

[Manarelle]

Hello AerialTriceratops! There is always room for any kind of nerd here, and you are certainly not alone in loving books. I have one or two games I'm decent at, but all on the computer; I just can't get the hang of console games for some reason. Aerial silk looks so amazing, but I've never found the time to do it; that's awesome that you found something you like! Congratulations!

 

PS: your English is fantastic. May I ask what your native language is? I'm a bit of a language nerd...

[AugustaAdaByron]

Welcome AerialTriceratops! Central Eastern Europe says hi back!

[AerialTriceratops]

@Manarelle thank you! I'm so excited to be here :> My mother tongue is polish. If you want to know anything about it don't hesitate to ask (we've got some pretty funny idioms)

 

@AugustaAdaByron hi Central Eastern Europe, nice to meet you! Poland, maybe?

 

Yay, I already made some friends (:

[Manarelle]

Aerial, 

    I'm always up for learning stuff in other languages! I don't speak Polish, but I do speak Russian, and I hear they share a lot of the same grammar. Unrelated: what sort of books do you read? I used to be big into science fiction, but lately I've gotten more into fantasy and some history. 

[Noname123]

Your English is excellent- awesome goals!

 

I'm trying to learn how to knit as I think I'd just make a mess of sewing- have you started any projects yet? 

[AerialTriceratops]

@Manarelle: I used to read fantasy books:

• Tolkien and Herbert (the usual stuff),
• polish writers (we have some decent ones actually),
• Terry Pratchett (books with Death, mostly),
• Rowling (I grew up with Harry),
• Haruki Murakami (does it count as fantasy? I heard it's called magical realism),
• Brandon Sanderson (the Mistborn trylogy is smashing, or the Warbreaker),
• Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials trilogy, ach, och),
• Lian Hearn (nothing like Tales of the Otori for a teenage girl),
• Tove Jansson (Moomins. I have all her books on Moomins).

Now I shifted towards non-fiction books:

• Richard Dawkins (The Greatest Show on Earth, ...),
• Jurgen Thorwald (The Century of the Detective, The Century of the Surgeon, ...),
• Irving Stone (The Agony and the Ecstasy),
• biographies of interesting people (Mata Hari, Marie Antoinette, Frida Kahlo, John Nash, ...),
• pop-science books (on the theories of Multiverse, Brief History of Time, ...),
• Bill Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything)
• Frank Abagnale (Catch me if you can),
• Joe Simpson (Touching the void), 
• Clare Longrigg (No questions asked, the secret life of women in the mob)

I tend to get excited in bookstores and buy more than I can actually read (a book about mummies! a book about surviving in a jungle! a book about Ferrari!). My boyfriend tries to control that shopping spree but rarely succeeds.

 

@Slates hi, thanks :> I was writing that post for an hour

I'm starting small: just finished that hoodie project

(the easy, not voice-sensitive version) and think about making plush toys with LEDs and EL wire in the distant future (: the trouble is, I really suck. How's your knitting?

[Noname123]

That's SO COOL!

 

My knitting...hahaha, I started to make a scarf and didn't pay attention to casting.....so now I'm 3/4 of the way through a giant purple scarf-blanket with tons of holes hahaha. Hoping my next project will go better!

[lululee]

yay for central eastern europe! and welcome

I like the discipline goal, something we all have to work on constantly....

[Trix]

@AerialTriceratops - I second that we have some decent writers - got any favourites ? Pity that so little is translated to English, but some things are. It's too late for The Witcher, but lately I was surprised to find that Ćwiek's Loki the Liar was partially published in English.

 

@Manarelle - a lot of grammar is shared between the Slavic languages, yes; but there'd be much less of accent stuff and more of noun conjugation stuff in Polish, if compared to Russian. But generally, it's possible to have a talk with one person speaking Polish and another speaking Russian, if both parties take care to speak slowly, and use lots of synonyms and gestures, as far as I know. The language difference is reported to become less noticeable the more alcohol was consumed, BTW, but the thesis isn't tested as much as the stereotypes would suggest.

[AerialTriceratops]

@Rys - ach, but that's so long ago since I was reading those. Maja Lidia Kossakowska, of course, and ZiemiaÅ„ski (Achaja)- you know, the girls' stuff (and loved it, still love it). Then there were Piekara (nice!) and Pilipiuk (not my thing). And then there's me and Great Master Sapkowski, we're not meant for each other (although both PC games were amazing and beautiful). I also read the first part of The Lord of the Ice Garden when it came out (that was 10 years ago, would you believe that), but got bored waiting for the second.

 

As I grow older I feel I'm losing my interest for fantasy in general and develop stronger feelings towards non-fiction and sci-fi. As a kid I was reading a lot of Lem's works and want to get back to those (Tales of Pirx the Pilot, Fables for Robots, Solaris, I am very fond of the memories I have of them).