So let's see what's in...
> Afke
>
Q: Who do you consider closest to you? Friend, relative, partner... And what is it that made you bond that way?
Phew. Hard to say. I might be a bit careful when it comes to bondings. I do have a lot of friends, and a family (at least the part that is still alive). But who is closest? Not entirely sure. But I guess it might still be my mom.
> Berit
>
Q: What is the worst smell you know?
Well, I have witnessed a lot of smells. Soft scent of things but also unbearable stench.
some solvents, plain hydrocarbons: not overly strong usually, but not really pleasant either
Amines: fairly strong sometimes, quite biting (ammonia as base compound, old toilets, urea decomposition, you know) (some compounds can be a lot nastier, e.g. putrescine / cadaverine)
Bromine: bromos (greek, "the stench"), well, it's a pure halogen, so it's stinging your nose, obviously
Stannyles: subtle smell, but invoking nausea (can't find something equivalent, but believe me you wouldn't like it. It's subtle, but still nasty.)
CS2 / H2S / Me2S / Me2SH: straight-forward offensive stench ("fart" and rotten eggs or pea soup left to stand 14 days in sunshine in a closed vessel, then opened)
R2PH: often with a sharp stench, rarely pleasant (people say it reminds them of garlic, but while garlic is kind of pleasant, this isn't, and the compounds are chemically different from anything garlic)
rotting (aerobic) sewage sludge: whoa, that stuff isn't artificial at all, thus it reminds you of things that you definitely should keep away from
R2Se / RSeH: nearly always unbearable stench, instantly hitting you
H2N-para-Ph-COOEt (Benzocaine): a fist right into the nerves of your nose, I think my nose hurt and I couldn't smell for an hour
I heard that TeH2 might be very nasty, too, but I haven't witnessed it. Yet.
![Wink ;)](http://www.elfquestfanart.com/Smileys/custom/wink.gif)
Also some things like smoking HCl, Cl2 and the likes will just sting and corrode your mucosas.
But I don't really have "psychological bonds" towards these smells so it is usually just plain displeasant.
> Maggie
>
Q: Are you inspired by other artists (you may consider better than yourself), or is looking at others work more likely to make you uninspired?
Again, hard to answer. If you compare yourself to the bests you might demotivate yourself a lot. (Or strive to get like them. Probably depends.)
But I do like to look at arts, thus I am definitely looking at other people's work. And of course I also do relate this now to other areas, music, science and so on.
Of course everyone is somehow inspired, influenced by others. You grow up by imitating your parents, idols, whatever.
So yes, I am most likely inspired by other people's art.
At calendard picture time I sometimes just look at random art and try to figure out how they technically did things. E.g. that sometimes light reflexes are actually just plain white spots.
> Tah-Marien
>
Q: What is your most memorial EQ moment...
There are a lot of moments that were interesting, impressive. Nothing life-changing maybe, or something that would work as a kind of verdict to apply to my own life.
But then, when I started reading it I might have seen it with different eyes that today.
> afke
> New Year's resolutions
>
Q: ... is there something you'd like to change in your life this year, something new you might like to try or learn? Do you also have an idea how to achieve this?
Probably a lot.
![Smiley :)](http://www.elfquestfanart.com/Smileys/custom/smiley.gif)
But there's wanting it, then taking the right steps and actually achieving it. Three different things.
It's a bit hard for me since I often feel like I am a little nutshell in the ocean of life. You know. Not the hammer. Not even the anvil. Rather the thing in-between that gets hammered.
I'd like to be in charge of my own life, but this is something you can hardly achieve in a western society.
For the simpler things: Maybe get into a relation, more spare time (means cutting out more things, dropping time-wasters) and energy to be creative and have time for my own self, do (even) more sports (already succeeded so far). But there is the burden of my specification, my qualification in science that usually leads to mediocrely paid jobs with high demand in time and nerves.
Oh, and get better in using several programs (darktable, inkscape, blender, /bin/bash, ... ). Also tinkering and coding. And traveling would be nice.
> Berit
>
Q:What was the moment when you felt that you loved something, not a person but something else, like wind or a season or something like that, what happened?...
There was no "moment" where "it hit me".
I love being outsides in my favourite places in nature - in the absence of human life (or at least loud, extroverted people that get on my nerves). I usually feel great. Simple as that.
Sometimes I feel the pain, though, cause I see that this is being destroyed by all those blind folks. Regardless if it is trees that get sick due to the climate catastrophy, or if it simply is platic litter in the middle of a forest.
The other thing is certain kind of music. I just feel like I lift off the ground.
> Startear
>
Q: What kind of nature do you guys enjoy the most? The coast, the forest or somewhere else?
Easy and uneasy to answer at the same time.
Forest. Ponds. Lakes. Coast. Rocks and mountains. Trees, plants, mushroom. Animals. Weatherscapes. Snow. Mild spring weather. All of it.
Plus: I like sciences. This also is nature. When you look at the very chemistry happening, something under a microscope and you have a faint grasp of the greatness you are witnessing...
> Czarine
>
Q: What are you addicted to? This can be also in a positive way.
Addiction might be a hard term, but anyway. I like things related to chocolate. I also like cheese and most yoghurts or some other milk derivatives. Well, generally a lot of foods.
I have a thing for a certain music. And nature, obviously. I used to like computer gaming but hardly find the time. P&P role playing and LARP. Not a strict addiction, but I'd not feel well without it.
Elves. Did I mention elves?
> Startear
>
Q: If you could have any control in how you were to die, be it in your sleep of old age or something else, how would you? If this is too triggering, who is your favorite musician?
1. Hard to say. But what Berit wrote sounds fairly pleasant.
2. Too many to mention.
![Wink ;)](http://www.elfquestfanart.com/Smileys/custom/wink.gif)
> Berit
>
Q: If you could suddenly eat something inedible, metal, plastic, you name it! what would you like to taste first?.
A bit weird to imagine. But yes, maybe there was something. It's a group of chemical compounds.
> Wildfire
>
Q: If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be and why?
I'm doing well with kittens. Though dogs can be fun, too. Or birds. Some mice a really cute. I probably won't utter any super-exotic wishes here like ice bears, armadillos or dragons.
![Wink ;)](http://www.elfquestfanart.com/Smileys/custom/wink.gif)
Kitteh is fine.
Question:
In lack of something else at this late hour here...
What do you think is the purpose of life?