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Normally, I wouldn't need such a thing, but my teacher is requiring information about Orson Scott Card that I can't find anywhere, so maybe someone here will know any of the following: - OSC's favorite book, food OR movie. - OSC's favorite song. - OSC's six most important people in his life. - OSC's favorite thing to do in his spare time. - OSC's goal in life.
Mr. Card... A little help here! Posts: 2 | Registered: Mar 2005
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I'm going to report this post and hope that our esteemed host notices. Because short of a personal reply, I'm not sure how you're going to get some of those answers. *grin*
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Your teacher is requiring this information? Heck, I don't even think I could answer those questions about myself!
Posts: 2149 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Holly, I'm OSC's kid, and though I can't really answer for him, I can give you a few better guesses than the lies Doc is feeding you
- OSC's favorite book, food OR movie. Honestly, I think he has so many of these, there is no way to pick one. But one of the earliest influential novels in his life was Foundation by Isaac Asimov.
- OSC's favorite song. Again, he listens to music incessantly, and is always trying out new artists. He does have a rare appreciation for Broadway, however, and loves to sing around a piano with friends and family members.
- OSC's six most important people in his life. He would probably immediately list off his wife and five children if you asked him this.
- OSC's favorite thing to do in his spare time. He plays Sid Meier's Civilization II incessantly while preparing to write. He also spends a lot of time jogging, watching movies, and picking up favorite TV shows on his DVR.
- OSC's goal in life. He has a lot, most having to do with the happiness and success of other people. He is a very generous man, and cannot stand to watch a friend or family member suffer a setback without offering some kind of help or support.
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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- OSC's favorite book, food OR movie. Let's go with food. Many favorites come and go, but over the whole length of my life, on average, the food that emerges most often right at the top of my sensual pleasure list is: Baskin-Robbins chocolate chip ice cream.
- OSC's favorite song. My sentimental favorite is Melissa Manchester singing "Midnight Blue," because it was part of my romance with the love of my life. Fortunately, that also happens to be my wife. But a close second is "Away in a Manger," which I sang every night, over and over, for hours at a time to one of my children who could not go to sleep without daddy-singing-time. And not far behind is "Teach Me to Walk in the Light," which is tied up with my own childhood and then the life of my son Charlie Ben. And then, probably, Captain and Tenille singing "Love Will Keep Us Together" - again because of that romance thing ...
- OSC's six most important people in his life. Kristine. Geoffrey. Emily. Charlie Ben. Zina. Erin Louisa.
- OSC's favorite thing to do in his spare time. It used to be Civilization II, but four months ago, in the crush of getting Magic Street and Shadow of the Giant written against seemingly impossible deadlines, I gave it up, and having broken the habit, I haven't gone back. My favorite thing now is to sit in front of our obscenely widescreen TV with Kristine and Zina and watch American Idol while making snide or appreciative comments.
- OSC's goal in life. To write and direct a romantic comedy that's even better and more successful than You've Got Mail. And no, I'm not joking.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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I'm still at the "What kind of assignment is that?" phase. Reading actual answers to the questions seems so secondary to that nagging feeling.
Posts: 2207 | Registered: Oct 2003
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You stopped playing Civ II?! Awesome! Now I can finally get you hooked on something else!
Heh heh, and by the way folks, my dad is being very kind not to embarrass me, but I'll admit that I was the kid who tortured him with insomnia and made him sing Away in the Manger all the time. Lucky for him, now it's my wife who has to deal with my inability to sleep ...
[ March 10, 2005, 01:14 AM: Message edited by: A Rat Named Dog ]
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Rivka, American Idol represents the Road Not Taken for me. I wanted to be a singer but lacked the courage to put myself on the line. It all ended when I sang a song in public that I was not adequately prepared to sing - forgot the words and humiliated myself. My confidence was shot. I took a different road. But on American Idol I see kids with the courage and determination (and talent!) that I didn't have. I admire them. Even the annoying ones.
Then, too, there's the fact that Simon Cowell is my hero. I think he is sometimes needlessly harsh or uncompassionate, but most of the time he is simply candid and absolutely right. For me, he is the true protagonist of the melodrama.
Meanwhile, Kristine and Zina and I watch and discuss and vote with passion and enthusiasm.
Hey, American Idol isn't a moral deathtrap like Survivor, where people are induced to stab each other in the back. The Idol contestants aren't also the voters. And in the end, the winners really do end up with recording careers. You may not be a fan of the winners, but then, I'm not a fan of a lot of singers who have extremely remunerative careers, but I don't mind that they exist or that their fans are happy with their miserable, contemptible performances and I would never say a word against them. It's live and let live, I say.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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Actually, I rather like many of the winners and near-winners. It's the show itself -- and its focus, as most of the "reality" shows, on humiliating participants -- that disturbs me.
The only reality show to date that I have been able to remotely stand was The Mole -- and even then, only the first one.
I think it was the chemist in me. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I just don't appreciate the fact that the contestants all fit neatly into vocal stereotypes. Not a huge fan of reality TV at all.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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SPOILER ALERT. [added later, after a complaint - though I've been saying this information for fifteen years ...]
I used Joseph Smith's life as a skeleton on which to hang the whole Alvin Maker story, but as with many of my plans, it quickly grew beyond the original conception. Seventh Son is markedly tied to JS's life, but the later books aren't particulary tied to him at all. I simply followed where the storylines led me. However, in the final volume Alvin's death will definitely resemble JS's murder in government custody, and Arthur Stuart will vaguely represent Brigham Young and Peggy will more closely resemble Emma Smith.
In the end, though, the Alvin Maker series turned out to be FAR more about American history than about Joseph Smith. And that's how it will be in the last volume as well.
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Geoff, you should get your dad to play Rome Total War. Of course he'll need a fairly powerfull computer, but it's well worth the invesment.
Posts: 796 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Darn it, OSC (edit: Or Mr. Card.. if you prefer. I forget politeness on the internet), spoiler tags!! Just because the book's not been written yet doesn't mean you can spoil it for everybody... Gosh!
Seriously though, in my heart I knew it, but my mind didn't want to think of it.
Edit: I think that the new addiction should be Hatrack... Joiiiin us... We are your fanbase...
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Wow. You should play Morrowind, Mr. Card. It's really a great game, and the only RPG I ever played at for more than one hour, because there's so much paths possibles that it's not boring at all and really a personal experiment !
Posts: 3526 | Registered: Oct 2001
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That this has morphed into a "recommend a new computer game for OSC" thread is both surprising and oddly sweet. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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HollyCarp... you have no idea how fortunate you are that you actually got a direct response to these questions, and so quickly. It must be your lucky day.
If I had just announced that for the past four months I'd been clean and sober from my wine addiction, would you folks be suggesting different alcoholic beverages I could try?
quote:It used to be Civilization II, but four months ago, in the crush of getting Magic Street and Shadow of the Giant written against seemingly impossible deadlines, I gave it up, and having broken the habit, I haven't gone back.
What, you never made the switch to Civ III? Civ IV will be out by the end of the year, supposedly.
Not that I'm one to criticize people who play old games. I play my NES at least as often as my GameCube. I had a computer specially built for me with obsolete parts just so I could play the original Civ again. So, yeah. . . .
quote:Darn it, OSC (edit: Or Mr. Card.. if you prefer. I forget politeness on the internet), spoiler tags!! Just because the book's not been written yet doesn't mean you can spoil it for everybody... Gosh!
What spoiler? That Alvin's going to die? We already knew that. Peggy said it right in one of the books. He's going to die in Carthage City. It's called "foreshadowing". Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Actually while I agree Civ2 and civ3 were great games in there own right there were sooo many things that annoyed me and they were somewhat lacking. Like sure I could guide a civilization throughtout the millenia the battle system was lacking. HOWEVER Hearts of Iron II is great and that is the game I REALLY REALLY suggest. a WWII rts were the grand campaign lasts from 1936 to 1949. Think of it as a combination of Risk and Axis and Allies but its all real time. You can pause the game or set the game speed to an acceptable speed. Its a grand strategy game were you can choose theoretically ANY nation in the 1936-1949 period (like denmark, nationalist china, etc) However for a busy writer like yourself sir I suggest it only as a game to play when you have free time or a holiday. It is a VERY flexible game you can save your multiplayer game and load it in single player and vice versa. So yeah very GOOD Game...
... though I got grounded for playing it too often...
If I had just announced that for the past four months I'd been clean and sober from my wine addiction, would you folks be suggesting different alcoholic beverages I could try?
In the spirit of the thread title and of the suggesting addictions I want to ask something that's been bugging me for a while. You never review West Wing in your columns, is this because you just don't watch it, or you watched it once or twice and didn't like it? (If it's the former and you want to try it, rent season one/two/three on DVD when Aaron Sorkin was still writing, the newer ones are just, in my opinion, aren't that great, typical TV drama writ large in American politics).
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West Wing was and is very well written and well-performed. It was the writers' smugness about leftwing political positions and their onesidedness that finally drove me away. But what's there to say in a review? It's well done, but I disagree ... people who want to be reassured in the vast superiority of the Left will be able to have a very well-written and well-acted reassurance. Those who don't think either side has any particular patent on virtue are still waiting for a political show to watch.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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Fair enough, I wasn't so much wondering why you didn't write about it as if that meant you didn't watch it, since minus the left-wing bias (which I agree exists in heaping quantities) it seemed right up your alley.
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I enjoy the West Wing, and I think that the addition of Alan Alda to the cast helps flesh out the grey areas that exist between the left wing and the right wing. This is especially nice for the 95% of us live our lives in that grey area.
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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My problem is that I spend much of my life straddling the grey area, with one foot in the Left and the other in the Right. Which places all those gray area people in between. This is why I never wear kilts.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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quote:But a close second is "Away in a Manger," which I sang every night, over and over, for hours at a time to one of my children who could not go to sleep without daddy-singing-time.
Heh, I seem to remember Maps in a Mirror stating a slighty different song was sung...
quote:So let me get this straight ...
If I had just announced that for the past four months I'd been clean and sober from my wine addiction, would you folks be suggesting different alcoholic beverages I could try?
Nah, just for computer games. (Well, probably not computer games since I own a Mac...which means my game addictions generally are limited to consoles.)
Posts: 290 | Registered: Sep 2002
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quote: My problem is that I spend much of my life straddling the grey area, with one foot in the Left and the other in the Right. Which places all those gray area people in between. This is why I never wear kilts.
Well, we all appreciate your modesty. I'd imagine that the terrible draft has somethign to do with it also.
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I'm a fan of Bo as well. He has a great voice, knows his style, and just is way cooler than all the Usher and Britney spears look alikes. I also like the music teacher guy (froget his name) he just seams like he would be an awesome teacher to have. Haven't been really impressed with thegirls, although the fro headed girl (I know that's an aweful description, but it's the best I have) is pretty good. She was reall good the other night.
Of course the very fact that I'm typing all this is evidence to the fact that I'm actually still watching. I usually quit after the original try-outs, but my wife has me hooked on still watching.
Posts: 1294 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I know of something I'm sure your son Geoff would be happy to get you addicted to, Katamari Damachy ; I think I spelt that right. It is totally addictive and fun. Or you could always get addicted to Hatrack, like many others have suggested. The two things I am addicted to are your fault, that is not a bad thing; in fact I thank you for them, Virtual Battle School, I love it; especially commanding Salamander Army, and, of course, the Hatrack River Forum. I'll stop babbling now.
I'd really appreciate it if you came to Utah sometime between September and April. That way, I could meet you and get you to sign something for my mom. Right now the weather's gorgeous, though I hear Provo's even better in the summer. Maybe not so much excema-inducing dryness, which even gets me down sometimes, so I can't blame you for not wanting to come.
Or, even better, you can just come to Arkansas between April and August, where rain actually comes out of the sky and it's woods beauty instead of desert beauty. There's a really nice Barnes and Noble in North Little Rock, then I can take my mom to meet you personally, even at the expense of having a potentially really nice Mother's Day present for her (if you were to come to Utah between September and April, that is).
I'm glad you have spare time between writing to kick back and talk to use on Hatrack, and I hope you have fun with the Bootcamp this year.
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Hearts of Iron II! Best Grand Strategy Game EVER! voted game of the year several times! Ranked 9.7 on soem websites the lowest was 8.4!
Posts: 1567 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Oh my! I didn't think the topic would get this great of a response.
Thank you so much guys! You are all so great. I have no idea why my teacher did that, it is so hard to find information on authors, and I thought I was going to have to make up something.. of course watching Spongebob was at the top of the list. Posts: 2 | Registered: Mar 2005
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