An Odyssey of Dreams

I got tagged by hamsterwoman last week. Perhaps it's a quirk that it took me so long to come up with quirks.

1) List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself
2) Tag seven people to do the same.
3) Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you want to tag whoever wants to do it.

( In no particular order save how they came to me. )

Now I tag buymeaclue, fuyu_no_fuhei, grailquestion, lareinenoire, mrsix, lunaratu, and solnishka.

I've been out of sight of a computer for about 24 hours. Surprisingly, I am not getting withdrawal jitters. ;P

As a result, I missed the beginning of sirduke's Literary Friending Frenzy. Go forth and friend!

Explain your LiveJournal name and its meaning. When you're done, tag as many people as there are letters in your name.

I spent far too much time figuring out what name to use for this LJ.

My first two role-playing characters had "Del" inside their names - Adelyn & Delwyn (also the y, but we'll get to that in a moment). As I didn't particularly like the real-life nickname my aunt had saddled me with shortly after my arrival in the states, fuyu_no_fuhei started calling me "Del" (also, her character called Adelyn that, so it wasn't a particularly difficult transition).

When I decided to create this LJ, I wanted to incorporate that, plus something of Slavic origin. And if I could somehow incorporate the meaning of my rl first name, that'd be cool, too. Sadly, "Adelina" and it's variants were taken. So I went back to "Adelyn" (which was also taken) because the Y is the first letter of my first name. After much wrangling with language and polling of friends, I settled on "Adelynne," which still has the meaning and the Y, even if it lacks anything resembling Slavic roots. So instead I use "Delinka" (a Russian diminutive of "Del") as my e-mail address.

I now tag: ekaterinn, garoul, grailquestion, lareinenoire, lunaratu, queenofthorns, rosamund, and the_jackalope.

A few days ago, queenofthorns assigned me the letter "L" for the 10-things-you-love meme. It took me quite a long time to come up with 10 things, and by the time I did, I had 11. Whoops. Here it is (in alphabetical order):

1. Languages - I think this one stems from my love of reading. Some of the earliest books I remember reading were translations, and it was always ingrained in me, even before we left the USSR, that I would need to know more than one language. They sound nice, each one with its own rhythm and style. Family and individuality. Communcation and my love of talking and writing also contribute, but there is, I think, an underlying unease about not knowing a language and not understanding what's said. It probably stems from immigrating - not understanding German, or Italian, and especially not English (and 2-5th graders are mean little bastards when you can't understand what they say). I don't ever want to be that helpless again.

2. Lannister, Jaime - ( ASoIaF Spoilers Through A Feast for Crows )

3. Lannister, Tyrion - ( ASoIaF Spoilers Through A Feast for Crows, once more )

4. Lavender - It's clean, soothing, and helps my migraines. I love the scent, as it can put me to sleep or revive my ability to think. Just breathing in lavender relaxes me, and it reminds me of undergrad evenings in my room, getting back massages from one of my housemates that allowed me to function during CS project all-nighters. It's odd that I miss that, but I do. There was a great deal of social that no longer happens now that I no longer live in a house with 5 people.

5. Left Hand of Darkness, The - ( Spoilers for... well, everything. )

6. Legends - Any kind, really. From folklore of Koschei the Undying and Ivan the Simple (and Baba Yaga, naturally) to the Celtic cycles, to Greek, Roman, Sumerian, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Egyptian, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few pantheons. I grew up with my dad telling me the latter and my mom telling me the former. I think it's the concise storytelling and what it says about human nature that really appeals. Kind of like balladry (which can be a subset, too) - storytelling skeleton where only the essentials remain over time.

7. Lilacs - Lilac is the first scent I remember clearly, even from Kiev. They were my late grandfather's favorite flower, and while I still lived in Ohio, every spring we'd cut a branch or two and put it at his gravesite. But even before he passed away, it wasn't spring until I smelled lilacs blooming. Then May seemed that much brighter and the sun more refreshing. My mom also loves lilacs - I can count on a vase of them if I go visit this month. They remind her of Kiev, blooming with tulips, poppies, and lilacs, and buckeye trees in the springtime. I know I shouldn't remember it, but I do recall wide boulevards of tall, shady, blooming trees.

8. Literature - Do I really need to explain this one, given the blather on books and characters above? Yes? Oh, well. ( Here goes... )

9. Logan Echolls - ( Vague S2 Spoilers )

10. Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The - Hoo-boy. ( Unrepentant squeeing )

11. Loreena McKennitt - Other people spent their angsty teenage years listening to Nine Inch Nails, and I did too. But the memories I have of high school inevitably end in driving home with Loreena McKennitt in my CD player and my girl friends singing along with Book of Secrets or The Visit. She's got a haunting, melodic voice that draws you in and enchants. And the influence ranges the world over - from Celtic myths and Tennyson to the Trans-Siberian railroad and Morocco. She might very well be the musical equivalent of my reading obsession.