Answers on a blogcard

[khaosworks]

From etherial:
How did you becme an Americaphile?

I was raised on comic books and British and American television. I've always been an Anglophile of sorts - not the the extent of affecting an accent or mannerisms, but just my basic literary and cultural background. So in that respect, I became an "Americaphile" the same way as any other American - I grew up with it. Now why is another question...

From kitanzi:
Why does the american Civil War fascinate you?

People talk about writing the Great American Novel. No need, because it's already been done - it's the Civil War. No other conflict had the same drama, the same pathos, the literal brother against brother conflict. It was a clash of politics, a clash of ideas. It was a national tragedy, and a national triumph. It changed the face of America, and its repercussions are still being felt today, 140 years after. Really, half the crap that happened to people there... you couldn't make it up. It's a great story.

From nrivkis
What made you become a lawyer?

Of the career options, what made me choose law? Mercenary reasons. I wanted to be a teacher, a writer, a lawyer. I thought being a lawyer could get me enough money so I could do the other two things. Plans never survive contact with the enemy, I guess.

From swisscheesed
Why are you a cheese snob?

Same reason why people are snobs about books, movies, art, food. One, they know what they like, and what they don't. Two, they enjoy being elitist about it. It's not that I can't eat processed cheese... it just simply tastes wrong once you've experienced the properly made stuff.

From goldispikes
Have you ever been married?

Yes. For about thirty seconds. Or nine months. Or three years. Time is relative.

From kyttn
How did you get involved in the filk community?

By accident, sort of. I showed up at my first Worldcon in Melbourne in 1999. There was no filk track, but I had just written "Do You Hear The Pipes, Cthulhu?" and I played it for a friend. Then I played it for several people. Then more people with guitars showed up. Eventually, we found a room, and it was me, Lynn Gold, Kathleen Sloan, Tracy S. Lunquist (whatever happened to her?) and a bunch of other Australian and New Zealand filkers (Dave Luckett and Craig Hilton among them) and we kept meeting in circle for the next few nights of the con. Kathleen suggested I show up the next year at Chicon, and in the interim, I started posting songs on rec.music.filk while Kathleen took "Pipes" and performed it at OVFF 1999. The rest... well, you know.

From xanthe42
With an overabundance of education, what made you decide to go to school again (rather than remaining an armchair historian)?

I needed a break from the law, and I figured that if I did my Master's in Law, there'd be (A) too much pressure to perform and (B) it kind of defeated the purpose of taking a break from the law. Besides, I wanted to see if I was any good at it. Never hurts to gain the qualifications for a career switch.

From folkmew
How the heck did you end up a judge?

They made me. Seriously. I was a Prosecutor for four years. Unlike the American system, judges at the lower levels, like myself are appointed rather than elected. As a Magistrate, the lowest rung on the judicial ladder, you don't need much experience - in fact, there are Magistrates who are appointed right out of law school when they join the Legal Service (i.e. the legal branch of the civil service. of which the judiciary is part of). It was just about time for me to be rotated to another department for "career development". I partially suspect that I got moved to the judiciary in specific because of an encounter I had with the Senior District Judge at a conference in London a couple of months before my move there.

From ladymondegreen
How do people pronounce your name in Singapore?

Same as they do anywhere else. "Chua" is pronounced like "schwa", except with a "chuh" sound instead of the "shuh". One syllable, not two.

Comments

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Cool, but actually, I meant your first name, which strikes me as very anglo for Singapore (though I'm probably wrong).

*hugs*
LMG

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see.

English first names aren't uncommon in Singapore - English is taught in schools as a first language, after all, and most Singaporeans can speak English - even if for some it's highly accented. So Terence is pronounced Terence.

Some of my older relatives kind of drop the "s" sound at the end, so I wind up being called "Taren" or "Talen".

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

You can guess though why I'd be interested in something like first-name pronounciation.

[eviltofu.livejournal.com]

So what is your favourite cheese?

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Depends on my mood. But if pressed, I'd have to say English Blue Stilton. Damn nearly killed me when I first tried it, but I've gotten rather fond of it.