(Re!)intro profile -- or "All About John"

[Queer as John]

***Name: 
John Walton

***Nicknames/IDs: 
Queer as John, Crazy Ivan, Wood's Keeper, The Purple Fag, Johngolas,
queerasjohn, qaj, percyneedsalife, jamesstanton, x_coldhands

***Age: 
21, so not much "something" in the "twenty-something", but there you go.

***Family: 
Two parents, older but generally cool (especially when on different
continents), two cats, Syska Chipmunkbane and Ashleigh the Six-Claw'd
Menace, boyfriend David in Australia -- another fandom relationship!

***Home 
For another week, The Hobbit-Hole, St Andrews, Scotland. After that,
Westchester County, NY.

***Birthday, Place of Birth:
12th of September, NYC -- manufactured in America of 100% British Parts.
Have lived, variously, in Stuy Town in NYC, a country house in Rome, in a
suburban condo townhouse in Westchester,  in a Benedictine Abbey in Devon,
in a small mansion in Herzliya-Pituach (north of Tel Aviv), a house in East
Jerusalem later bulldozed by the Israeli Defence Force, a boarding house
dating back to 1519 in Somerset, in a small house with a big garden in
Westchester, and in various flats in St Andrews, including my dear current
Hobbit-Hole, which I shall miss when I leave it next week.

***Education/Job/Role in Life etc:
*polishes badge* Next week I shall be receiving my MA (Honours, First Class,
roughly = summa cum laude) in International Relations from the University of
St Andrews. Would you like fries with that? My plans to teach English in
Beijing having been thwarted by SARS, I take up an internship with an IR
think tank in NYC in August -- after Nimbus - 2003, of course!

***Other things we might want to know about you:
Out and proud queer. Formerly Christian, vaguely Pagan though leaning
towards UUism at the moment. "Damn god-hating leftie baby-killing liberal
pinko commie fag". Long-distantly boyfriended. Am convinced I have a
long-lost evil twin named Bonnie. Never got the same result on a
Myers-Briggs test in my life although I think I'm generally introverted.
Currently in the final 80 lbs of a 200-pound weight loss journey thanks to
the Atkins diet. Avid Mac user. Insanely music-obsessed. The very first
people I came out to were the HPFGU chatters sometime in 2000 or 2001...and
never stopped. So this group has a wonderful resonance for me. *hug*

***First contact with Harry Potter:
Spring 2000 -- borrowed it from a bass in a choir I was singing in. Was at
the bookstore at 9am the following morning, skipped classes for a day and
just *read*.

***Favourite Potter things (books, characters, ships, fics, objets
d'Art, general enthusing):
I adore the Golden Snitch keyrings -- I have one hanging from every
shoulder-bag I own. Also adore the broomstick keyring I was given last
Christmas, and my "I'm A Harry Potter Fan" badge. I adore the Lego
figurines, two of which are in a terribly vulgar position on top of my
desktop Mac. My favorite mug is one from CaféPress with the old FA cover art
on it. Favorite HP book is PS/SS, and I hope fervently that an extended,
unedited edition is released after the publication of Book 7. I'm strictly
Swiss with ships, and have a soft spot for most characters -- even Ron,
though that's mainly because I wrote a fic from his perspective and now
don't actively despise him. I once fed my boss a vomit-flavored bean. And
wasn't fired. Go me!

***Extent of Potter obsession:
I'm the Center Square for Fandom Squares at Nimbus - 2003. 'Nuff said? No? I
Modded at HPFGU, am currently FA Ombudsman, am Chairman and President of the
Board of Directors of HP Education Fanon, Inc. (the parent nonprofit
corporation which organises Nimbus - 2003), have written various fics, play
Fred in the Nocturne Alley RPG, participate extensively in the LiveJournal
side of fandom, beta-read for various fandom authors, and once spent two
hours composing Hedwig's Theme by ear/memory for my mobile phone ring tune.

***Other interests/activities:
I've just returned from a 16-day Summer Tour by my University's Madrigal
Group, which I organised. I sing Tenor in that and several other choirs, and
am going to be auditioning for the NYC Gay Men's Chorus over the summer.
I've always wanted to see if I could sing male alto, and my tenor voice is
almost high enough -- I can comfortably hit high Cs. *polishes voice* I take
an active interest in gay and other minority rights issues, hold strong and
often controversial opinions on almost everything to do with international
relations and pretty much anything which interests me. I adore the Lord of
the Rings movie trilogy and (gasp!) prefer it in terms of story and
characterisations to the original Tolkien. Plus, Orlando Bloom v. hot. Spent
first viewing of LOTR:FOTR muttering "this is so much *better* than our
movie". Previous fannish obsession was Star Trek. Mildly obsessed with tea.
I'm highly active in the LiveJournal community (ask me if you'd like a code
to start your own journal), play James Stanton in The Lost Land (Susan
Cooper's The Dark Is Rising universe) RPG, play Bobby Drake in X-Project
(X-Men 2 movieverse) RPG, and am currently beginning to set up a queer
politics blog in the vague hope of eventually earning money from my writing.
I spent two summers teaching learning-disabled kids in the dyslexia and
autism spectrums in NYC in 2001 and 2002 and am certainly considering going
into the education field at some point. Also considering how I can become
further involved in the new civil rights movement.

***Current/recent reading:
Current: The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara 1: Ilse Witch (Terry Brooks) --
uninspiring, though interesting from a world-creation point of view.
Recent: The Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman) -- reread, excellent as ever;
Good Omens (Gaiman/Pratchett) -- genius. I'm looking forward to reading
books which aren't IR texts now I've finished my degree -- I'm a
biblioholic, and am currently mourning the fact that I simply *must* get rid
of some of my books from Uni as I can't move them back to the US.
RPG reading: The Lost Land, X-Project, Nocturne Alley.
Fic reading: Malfoy, P.I.; Irina's Mórrígna Trilogy; various bits of X-Men
fic, various bits of TDIR fic. Looking forward to more fic reading now
degree is over.

***Current/recent listening:
St Andrews University Madrigal Group: "Sing We and Chant It" (highly
recommended, makes excellent birthday present or gift for any occasion, very
reasonably priced too!).
Currently big on Sarah McLachlan, Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, Cry Cry
Cry, the Chicago soundtrack, Holly Cole, Erin McKeown, Talisman, the
soundtrack to the Buffy musical (OMWF for the obsessed!), Joan Baez, Andreas
Scholl, Elisabeth Schwartzkopf, and am currently being very skeptical about
Jewel's latest album, which is growing on me. I go to sleep listening to BBC
Radio 4 comedy via the web.

***Current/recent viewing:
I don't own a TV. I'd rather interact via the Internet and listen to music,
frankly. I'm a big fan of Queer as Folk and Buffy, and have annual marathons
of days and days of just watching when the episodes come out on DVD. I love
going to the cinema, even if it's alone. Recently watched Lilo and Stitch,
rewatched Dogma and Gosford Park.

My additions to this:

***Most Treasured Fandom Memories:
First Ever Fandom Meeting: NYC
...and all the other NYC-fen meetings!
Chicago, June 2002
Sheryll's and Amanda's visit to NY, including seeing Alan Rickman live...
COS in London
London in December 2002 (when I met the boyfriend)
MacT00bage
...and soon, Nimbus - 2003!

***For more info, see:
http://www.queerasjohn.com (due for a makeover soon)
http://queerasjohn.livejournal.com (particularly
http://queerasjohn.livejournal.com/info -- might be useful)

Again, am happy to give out LiveJournal codes to anybody who wants one -- I
adore LJ and would recommend it to anyone.

Wonderful to see so many old familiar faces here!

--John

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Queer as John || john at ...

AIM, YM & LJ @ QueerAsJohn || www.queerasjohn.com

I do not agree with what you say,
but I shall defend to the death your right to say it
and my right to call you a bloody idiot for saying it.
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