Hobbies and interests - members lists

Animals: Cats (am obsessed with cats. When I was a child I had fascinations with, say, falcons and otters, but the cat thing stuck because it's more day-to-day)

Speculative fiction (i.e. SF/Fantasy/Horror etc). Favourite horror writers: Stephen King, M. R. James. Favourite fantasy writer: probably Terry Pratchett. Favourite SF writers: Ursula le Guin, Joanna Russ, Geoff Ryman.

Other genre fiction. I prefer psychological suspense to detective-crime. I can read romance but the what you might call 'Alpha' (removed by mod) style of hero makes me want to throw a book at a wall.

Non-fiction. Particularly love Oliver Sacks' books of popular neuroscience, and will read a lot of stuff about the brain and the mind. Biographies/memoirs are also good. One of the best things I read this year was Beyond the Shock Machine, a book about the Stanley Milgram experiments where the journalist actually listened to/read the surviving materials, and came to a different conclusion: this wasn't to do with the *** (some people just want to obey orders), but the milieu in which ill-paid blue-collar workers brought up to respect academics and scientists were given very pushy demands to keep pushing the button. Because Milgram's scientists didn't just say, 'push the button', they bulldozered straight past a lot of emotional upset and objections and sometimes pleas to call an ambulance, for minutes on end, and the subjects of the experiment were just too nervous to make a stand and walk out.

TV: Obsessions including Dr Who, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and Sherlock. Also never miss an episode of Pointless or Only Connect, because I love quirky quizzes (less bothered about QI since it got a bit dumbed down).

Film: Hate action films, don't mind rom-coms. Was seriously confused by a lot of WALL-E as I'm an Aspie who thinks in words, and a lot of it was meant to come over as emotional/visual, which I have a harder time with. I sort-of like Peter Jackson's view of the Tolkien universe, but it can also drive me mad because he messes with so much that didn't need to be messed-with. There are a few films I really like but I can't think of any right now (which is making me feel silly).

Other: I would be lost without my portable brain (i.e. smartphone) and either of my lap things (one feline, one technological).

Animals: Cats (am obsessed with cats. When I was a child I had fascinations with, say, falcons and otters, but the cat thing stuck because it's more day-to-day)

Speculative fiction (i.e. SF/Fantasy/Horror etc). Favourite horror writers: Stephen King, M. R. James. Favourite fantasy writer: probably Terry Pratchett. Favourite SF writers: Ursula le Guin, Joanna Russ, Geoff Ryman.

Other genre fiction. I prefer psychological suspense to detective-crime. I can read romance but the what you might call 'Alpha' (removed by mod) style of hero makes me want to throw a book at a wall.

Non-fiction. Particularly love Oliver Sacks' books of popular neuroscience, and will read a lot of stuff about the brain and the mind. Biographies/memoirs are also good. One of the best things I read this year was Beyond the Shock Machine, a book about the Stanley Milgram experiments where the journalist actually listened to/read the surviving materials, and came to a different conclusion: this wasn't to do with the *** (some people just want to obey orders), but the milieu in which ill-paid blue-collar workers brought up to respect academics and scientists were given very pushy demands to keep pushing the button. Because Milgram's scientists didn't just say, 'push the button', they bulldozered straight past a lot of emotional upset and objections and sometimes pleas to call an ambulance, for minutes on end, and the subjects of the experiment were just too nervous to make a stand and walk out.

TV: Obsessions including Dr Who, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and Sherlock. Also never miss an episode of Pointless or Only Connect, because I love quirky quizzes (less bothered about QI since it got a bit dumbed down).

Film: Hate action films, don't mind rom-coms. Was seriously confused by a lot of WALL-E as I'm an Aspie who thinks in words, and a lot of it was meant to come over as emotional/visual, which I have a harder time with. I sort-of like Peter Jackson's view of the Tolkien universe, but it can also drive me mad because he messes with so much that didn't need to be messed-with. There are a few films I really like but I can't think of any right now (which is making me feel silly).

Other: I would be lost without my portable brain (i.e. smartphone) and either of my lap things (one feline, one technological).