The Friday Five is back!
Feb. 9th, 2018 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I've been thinking that I want to post here more often in 2018, because I truly enjoy keeping up with those of you who post regularly. I don't have much fannish content these days, and I'm not always good about updating on my own life, but two weeks ago
alisanne suggested just the solution:
thefridayfive, a DW community with weekly prompts. An excuse to get me writing when I'm enjoying the boring routine of everyday life and finding little to post about.
1. Where did you go the last time you took an airplane ride?
Hm. Cleveland, OH, for a professional conference. Direct flight, hurrah! I fly out of a smaller airport (DCA, the smallest of the three DC-area airports) because it's so close to me, but the price of that convenience is that I take a *lot* of connecting flights. (Like connecting in NYC between DC and Boston. It's all a little ridiculous.)
2. Are you a nervous flyer or a comfortable flyer?
Comfortable. Driving strikes me as dangerous--I've been in multiple car accidents myself, as have most people I know--and yet I've never known anyone to be hurt on a flight.
3. Window seat or aisle seat?
Window! never miss the chance to look out and see the city. Night flights are especially gorgeous. During a daytime departure, if the flight path's right, I can see my apartment building as I take off from my local airport.
4. What is the worst experience you've had flying?
Honestly, I haven't had many. Lots and lots of delays of course, but nothing overnight, so I can't complain. I suppose the worst was when I took sleeping pills on a trans-Pacific flight and didn't realize passengers would need to disembark on the way home. (Not sure why this was--it was billed as a non-stop flight, but there was a crew change in Bangkok.) I stumbled through customs and boarding feeling ill and completely disembodied before we all got back on the same plane and continued on.
Like I said, nothing to complain about!
5. What is the best experience you've had flying?
Getting there! A few years ago, the subway extended service on one of its lines up to my part of the city, so that I can now walk fifteen minutes, get on the subway, and disembark twenty minutes later AT THE AIRPORT ITSELF. So convenient.
By the way, I challenged my quieter flisters to post 17 times in 2017, and I think some of you met that challenge (and more) and now are entitled to a drabble. I'll follow up on that this week. Ready yourselves with prompts!
Also, I just discovered that DW has not been cross-posting my posts to LJ in months. (Sorry, LJ folks. I thought you were just being unusually quiet.) Has anyone else had that problem?
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1. Where did you go the last time you took an airplane ride?
Hm. Cleveland, OH, for a professional conference. Direct flight, hurrah! I fly out of a smaller airport (DCA, the smallest of the three DC-area airports) because it's so close to me, but the price of that convenience is that I take a *lot* of connecting flights. (Like connecting in NYC between DC and Boston. It's all a little ridiculous.)
2. Are you a nervous flyer or a comfortable flyer?
Comfortable. Driving strikes me as dangerous--I've been in multiple car accidents myself, as have most people I know--and yet I've never known anyone to be hurt on a flight.
3. Window seat or aisle seat?
Window! never miss the chance to look out and see the city. Night flights are especially gorgeous. During a daytime departure, if the flight path's right, I can see my apartment building as I take off from my local airport.
4. What is the worst experience you've had flying?
Honestly, I haven't had many. Lots and lots of delays of course, but nothing overnight, so I can't complain. I suppose the worst was when I took sleeping pills on a trans-Pacific flight and didn't realize passengers would need to disembark on the way home. (Not sure why this was--it was billed as a non-stop flight, but there was a crew change in Bangkok.) I stumbled through customs and boarding feeling ill and completely disembodied before we all got back on the same plane and continued on.
Like I said, nothing to complain about!
5. What is the best experience you've had flying?
Getting there! A few years ago, the subway extended service on one of its lines up to my part of the city, so that I can now walk fifteen minutes, get on the subway, and disembark twenty minutes later AT THE AIRPORT ITSELF. So convenient.
By the way, I challenged my quieter flisters to post 17 times in 2017, and I think some of you met that challenge (and more) and now are entitled to a drabble. I'll follow up on that this week. Ready yourselves with prompts!
Also, I just discovered that DW has not been cross-posting my posts to LJ in months. (Sorry, LJ folks. I thought you were just being unusually quiet.) Has anyone else had that problem?
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Date: 2018-02-09 10:52 pm (UTC)And you're such a calm person, I can see you being a good traveler. <3
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Date: 2018-02-11 07:09 pm (UTC)And thank you for thinking of me as a calm person! I'm all internal anxiety and constantly trying to take deep breaths, maintain perspective, and keep things peaceful. :) M.
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Date: 2018-02-09 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-11 07:10 pm (UTC)Also, I like your bus icon! M.
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Date: 2018-02-12 12:09 am (UTC)Thanks, it's one of the four lines that goes near my house (I don't drive, so I picked a well-served location).
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Date: 2018-02-12 02:15 am (UTC)Good point!
Hurrah for well-served locations! I don't drive either, and I'm on two major bus lines in addition to being about 15 minutes from the subway, so I'm as happy as a clam. One of the bus lines stops right outside our apartment building, so there are nights when I come home and basically fall off the bus and into bed, and I thank the transit gods as I go to sleep. :) M.
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Date: 2018-02-10 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-11 07:18 pm (UTC)I'm not sure what's coming up on the Friday Five site, but I love the idea of a prompt to get me going, particularly because I've never quite gotten over my feeling of shame that I don't have more fannish content to post here. Which is ridiculous for many reasons--first and foremost because I love chatting with folks regardless of what they post (daily minutiae or whatever) and thus should feel free to post whatever myself, and also because this is my hobby, and I can be as unproductive here as I want, right? *sigh* But I still feel like I don't have much to offer because I'm not reading or writing much these days. :(
Anyways, hope the Friday Five turn out to be fun for you, as I always enjoy hearing from you. M.
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Date: 2018-02-12 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-10 01:46 am (UTC)I'm glad you've not had any truly bad experiences with flying!
How do you occupy yourself during a flight? Do you read, write, or watch a movie? Or maybe just take the time to zone out and let your mind drift?
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Date: 2018-02-11 07:28 pm (UTC)I'm so lucky not to have had bad experiences flying! Because I know some folks have. (And heaven knows, these days armed guards are part of some of those bad stories.) I should knock wood to maintain my luck.
And I do need prompts! You're so good about just massaging what you're doing or thinking into something interesting. As I was saying to secret solitaire above, I'm always feeling bad i don't have more fannish content to post, though intellectually I know 1) I can post things other than fannish content and 2) this is my free time, and I shouldn't be feeling badly about it, regardless. *sigh* I have my issues. But thanks for saying you'd be interested in seeing more posts! I feel as if those of us who are still here on the journals are people who enjoy chatting as much as I do, and I should just embrace that and not worry so much. M.
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Date: 2018-02-11 09:48 pm (UTC)Did you create your journal for fannish reasons? If so, I can see it being difficult if you've built a space based on fandom and then end up moving away a bit. I wholeheartedly agree that you can post whatever you want- fannish or not- but like you said, intellectually knowing that is one thing... I hope you can find a balance with that as well!
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Date: 2018-02-12 02:10 am (UTC)The paying extra on the plane is such a headache, isn't it? Ugh. M.
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Date: 2018-02-10 02:17 pm (UTC)On the other hand, my last two flights were to and from London, so I shouldn't complain.
I'm glad you're planning to post more!
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Date: 2018-02-11 07:34 pm (UTC)As I said to Jesse above, I'm near bus and subway lines and don't have a car, so it's actually much easier for me to go to, say, Boston, than it is to visit a friend out in Charlottesville in rural Virginia.
JFK doesn't seem to be convenient for anyone--even friends who live in Brooklyn and Queens say it takes a long time to get out there. Is it better for the Long Island contingent, perhaps? LaGuardia has the same problem that DCA has--lots of short flights, since it's a smaller, close-in airport.
I do envy your trips to London! You seem like a very savvy traveler. We've just bought tickets to go this summer, so I'll have to revisit your posts to gather ideas. M.
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Date: 2018-02-11 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 12:48 am (UTC)I'm not sure how long the trip will be--our arriving and departing flights are three weeks apart, but we'll probably go someplace quieter and cheaper for half the trip. We may spend a night or two with a friend in south London and then a night or two in the Russell Square area? (That's where we used to go for inexpensive hotels, but it may not still be the best idea.) M.
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Date: 2018-02-12 01:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-11 02:17 pm (UTC)Your commute sounds brilliant!
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Date: 2018-02-11 07:39 pm (UTC)You've been lucky with travel, too, then! I know folks who've been stranded for days or paid huge huge fines for flight changes/issues that didn't seem to be their fault, so I know it can be much worse. *quick knock on wood* M.
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Date: 2018-02-11 09:25 pm (UTC)♥
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Date: 2018-02-11 11:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 12:41 am (UTC)There are not enough unhappy faces to express my feelings about them. M.
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Date: 2018-02-12 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 12:36 am (UTC)Wait, are you from around here, too? M.
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Date: 2018-02-12 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-12 04:48 pm (UTC)Hi, neighbor! :) M.