Warning: This is likely to get longish – I'm a child of Tolkien and never use one word where ten will do the same job...

1. Where are you? Tell us the story that got you there.
I live in a town in Massachusetts USA that, rather pretentiously, calls itself a city. I live here because I married a fellow from here who doesn't want to leave. I was born one town east of here, and lived my whole life until marriage one town east of that. We now live in the house that my husband's grandparents owned and I doubt we'll leave until we hit retirement, if then.

2. Why do you Moblog? And which of the posts on your Moblog are your favorite?
I moblog because I enjoy the combination of photography and blogging that it offers. I moblog HERE for the community. I followed Bronxelf and Geo here and never looked back.

Even though they aren't my best shots by any means, my favorites are my photos that I actually take with my phone and blog live. I would love to do that a lot more but Sprint, even though they have improved things a bit, still make it really difficult with too bloody many steps. We're considering moving on to a different carrier when we need new phones, hopefully someone else will make it easier!

I also love macro photography, and for that, my little point and shoot does pretty well.  I love to see the tiny details that otherwise would get missed, be it the tiny curls within the heart of a dandelion or the subtle emotional shadings of a conversation in a moblog's comments.  I can easily get so interested in that aspect of things, though, that I lose the big picture - and miss the opportunity to see/interact with it.  Thus the title of this post!

The photo I used for this post in my favorite macro that I've managed so far.  If I ever get a DSLR I want to explore the possibilities of macro a lot more.

This is my favorite recent one. I smile back at it. And Alfie's comment still cracks me up! :)

3. Whats the story behind your moblog username?
I know I've answered this one before...

*thinks*

Ah yes, here we are, I quote from a comment I left back when Nige asked about nicknames:

I've been on the Internet since 1989 (does anyone else fondly remember putting the phone receiver on a 300 baud modem to dial into a BBS?) and for years, I did the firstname_lastname thing, or firstinitiallastname, or variations. But it got to the point where I started to worry about personal security issues because of a few wingnuts on Usenet groups I frequented. So I decided to start using a nickname I had come up for one particular group. Silar is the name of a minor character from David Edding's Belgariad series who is described as fair of skin, dark of hair and eye, and "a silent woman, and her calm face seldom betrayed her emotions." Which pretty much describes me :-). The one problem with a short name like Silar is that it's short - and a lot of places require 6 characters. So I tacked on the 31 as that was my age when I started using it a lot.

I'm markedly less silent than I was then, and a lot more open about my emotions, but I've had the nick this long and it's comfortable now.

4. If you could take a year off, what would you do with it.
I'd devote it to changing my lifestyle to take much better care of myself, in the way of lifestyle changes to diet, exercise, sleep habits. I am working on that even around work but it would be easier if I didn't work.

5. If money, transportation and reservations did not need to be considered, where would you be having dinner tonight? What would you eat?
First, let me say I am SO VERY NOT A FOODIE. That being said, I'd be perfectly happy eating a few towns over at my favorite Asian restaurant, they do Japanese hibachi-style and it is SO good.

6. What is your favorite subject to talk about? Tell us about it.
Oh lordie, this a a tough one. Dogs, I think. In case ANYONE hadn't noticed, I love dogs. I've never met a dog I didn't like, and I like most dogs better than I like most people. Of course my favorites are my beloved JennyB and Bandit, followed closely by Gracie, my parent's Golden Retriever. As evidence of my dog obsession, when I was 10 I was mauled by a neighbor's maladjusted, abused “guard” Doberman Pinscer mix, and after getting out of the emergency room, Dad stopped at the pharmacy for my pain meds and antibiotics. When we walked out, there was a man there with a big, black dog. My first words were “Can I pet him?” :)

7. What trait do you most dislike in yourself and what trait do you most dislike in others?
I've worked very hard in the last few years to eliminate my dislike of myself about damned near everything – legacy of a seriously screwed up childhood. Now, the one self-sabotaging behavior I still do if I'm not careful is to procrastinate like mad, and then I need to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to get things done that would have been much easier if I'd started earlier.
Passive-aggressiveness from other people makes me insane. If you need something from me, just ask, already. If I'm doing something that bothers you, just TELL ME.

8. What trait do you most like in yourself and what trait do you most like in others?
Honesty, both ways. I spent WAY too many years being dishonest with myself and with others due, again, to leftovers from childhood. I no longer have the time or the patience for that crap.

9. What is your strongest memory from childhood?
Positive or negative? I have way more of the latter. One of the positives, though, is going to this beautiful little park with my grandfather a whole bunch of times one summer to feed the swans they still keep there.

10. What book have you most often recommended to others and why?
I'm very very leery of recommending books, as I've had a lifetime of learning that my tastes have nothing to do with the taste of others. That being said, I think everyone should at least give The Hobbit a try once (and move on to The Lord Of The Rings if you like it), and the first of the Dune novels should be required reading in every school. Lord knows it's more relevant and interesting than a lot of the crap they make kids read.

Posted by silar31