X-Authentication-Warning: phoenix.webslingerZ.com: sburnett owned process doing -bs Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 15:58:46 -0400 (EDT) From: Steve Burnett To: NYCgoth-L@necronomi.com Subject: Steve's fresh intro (long) Since I occasionally reply to posts but rarely choose to initiate conversations here, I feel I should post an introduction - the last one I did was a couple of years ago, and was minimal. First, I don't live in NYC, so if you're in NYC and looking for intros of people you're likely to run into on a regular basis, stop here unless you live in North Carolina. NYC is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I visit when I can (probably sometime in August/September is my next visit). On the other hand, if you're coming to North Carolina, I recently started a website for the scattered NC goth/industrial community at http://www.ncgoth.com/ . Say hello, I'll probably be here. What you see: Typically, a short (5'6" without the hats) Rasputin all in black (slacks, jacket, probably vest), with a lapel pin and ring(s) of sterling and a hat, typically a widebrim black leather fedora described as having "character", meaning it's manifestly not new. A huge beard and ponytail complete the effect. This combination down hyar in the south gets me lots of "You Jewish?" questions from idiots who miss the lack of ringlets (or "weren't you in that movie _Pi_ last year?"), the occasional Rob Zombie or ZZ Top joke. If I'm out clubbing, I tend to favor frock coats or tailcoats, and top hats - vaguely neo-Victorian. Love to dance when I can, but a knee injury periodically flares up and stops me from doing many things. Standard cocktail party-bar small talk info: I'm 33 and in a committed relationship (married for over eight years now) - as I haven't been knifed in my sleep I must be doing something right so far. I work as a system administrator with a batch of my friends as a web design shop (URL in the sigfile, minus my name part :) ). I also write - only nonfiction, and only computer topics so far. If you make the mistake of asking me about cross-platform heterogeneous system integration, I hope I have the good manners to remember to stop before you're overly bored. [an aside regarding the authorial habit above: the one thing I'm really tired of answering about writing is "when are you going to publish a novel, or poetry, or short stories?" Probably never: I'm horrid at poetry, and choose not to spend the time learning to craft a narrative. So, no novels. ] My childhood and adolesence give testimony to the myth of changelings - we'll stop there. High school was reading constantly and little to no socializing: I was tremendously overweight when younger, which no one who didn't know me then believes. Only exception to that were SF fandom, playing pool with older friends in bars I shouldn't have been in, and work in the theatre as stage or lights manager. (hmm, sysadmin, stage manager, occasional DJ, emergency medical technician - control freak? Maybe.... ) I'm tired of people describing their musical taste as eclectic - very well, we're *all* eclectic - ok, let's move on to the next topic. Suffice it to state that my musical tastes tend to cluster around ethereal gothic music (I'm a sucker for strings and big washes of sound, such as Dead Can Dance or Cocteau Twins) progressive rock (King Crimson, Pink Floyd), femvox (Tori Amos, the aforementioned DCD and Cocteau Twins), neoclassical (Michael Nyman, Philip Glass), and psychedelia (Legendary Pink Dots). Lots of other stuff depending on mood and situation ranging from Coil to John Zorn to Johnny Cash to DJ Spooky - I use music as ambience, atmosphere, motivation, inspiration, celebration, and so on - I DJ my life, I listen to my soundtrack. Here's some discs that I literally never get tired of, in no order: Jim Lampos, _Innuendoes of Lafayette_ Gary Numan, _Dawn_ (or _Exile_) John Paul Jones, _Zooma_ Legendary Pink Dots _Canta Mientras Puedas_ Delirium, _Semantic Spaces_ Mr. Bungle, _California_ The Cure, _Bloodflowers_ Pink Floyd, _Wish You Were Here_ Tori Amos, various concert performances If you really care about what I listen to in more detail, go hit the URL in the sigfile, find the Music section of my site - there's a link to a list of my CD collection. As to creating music, I play a Chapman Stick. Played clarinet and saxophone for about ten years, dropped it cold for about fifteen, then took up the Stick about three years ago. Making music does me emotional good, and it's still cheaper than therapy. Only recordings of me currently are some rough demos available over on mp3.com with a quartet we named 17 Cobwebs for Emily. Academic interests are aplenty, resulting in seven years of full-time college and walked away with three degrees (BA, BA, MS) in three different fields. When I'm not reading work-related material, I tend to be found with nonfiction in primatology (the lemurs), onomastic linguistics, constructed languages, or various biographies. Fiction tends towards sf/fantasy/horror and mystery or crime fiction, simply because Umberto Eco and Don DeLillo don't write fast enough for me. Typically I'm found working on a computer, listening to music while reading, out at a movie, club, or concert. I also do volunteer work for endangered species projects. Random questions i've been asked over the years and current answers: What's your favorite animal? Badgers, and a nocturnal lemur called an aye-aye. What's your favorite computer operating system? Macintosh and Linux. What's your favorite computer accessory? Headphones. What are your favorite comic books? Since The Invisibles are now gone, that'd be Planetary, The Authority, Sin City, and Transmetropolitan. If you grew up in a television series, which would it be? The Addams Family. What's your favorite Broadway musical? Jekyll and Hyde. Last two books read: Jim Carlton's _Apple Computer_ hackjob Arturo Perez-Reverte, _The Club Dumas_ (basis for the recent film _The Ninth Gate_) Daniel Keys Moran, _The Last Dancer_ Last live show seen: Legendary Pink Dots What's your preferred drink? neat: Snob single malt whiskey (the highlands such as Royal Lochnagar, not the lowlands such a Laphroaig that taste as if they left the peat in the bottom of the bottle), or Cointreau mixed: Black Orchid, White Russian. Favorite graphic artists: Alphonse Mucha, Roger Dean, Albrecht Durer, Hieronymus Bosch, Olivia Favorite poem: TS Eliot's _The Waste Land_ Favorite color? black, preferably black on black with black highlights Nicknames: Badger, Bogatyr (typically what I use for chat sessions) I thank you for your attention. regards, Steve -- onNow: The Unquiet Void, _Between the Twilights_ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Burnett Admin, webslingerZ sburnett@webslingerz.com http://www.webslingerz.com/sburnett