Happy Birthday, Quark!

[Scheherazade]

[CENTER]http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/7533/cakeub4.jpg

Happy Birthday, Quark!

We are not able to post Quark's interview today but it will be posted as soon as he returns.

[Pensive]

Hope you have a great birthday, Quark! :)

[sprinks]

happy birthday!! :)

[manolia]

Happy birthday :)

[motherhubbard]

happy birthday Quark
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc191/AWMHCM/birthday-cake.jpg

[sofia82]

Happy Birthday Quark! So long I didn't come here and happy to come just on your birthday! Best wishes in this beautiful day!

[papayahed]

Happy Birthday Quark!!


http://i30.tinypic.com/d8nkl.jpg

[wilbur lim]

WOW,the pictures of these cakes are captivating!

[Virgil]

What Quark has no interview? :lol: Where has he disappeared to? Without Janine to keep him under control Quark just goes off and disappears. :D

Happy Birthday Quark. :bday_2: :bday_2: Sorry I'm late.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii143/nasrws/Happy%20Birthday/HappyBirthdayUnbirthday.jpg


You're still too young to have unbirthdays, but hope you had fun.

[kiz_paws]

Sorry I am late, but hope that you had a very Happy Birthday! :bday_2:

[SleepyWitch]

Happy Birthday!

[Niamh]

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm239/julieta-star/happy.jpg

[Quark]

Wow, thanks everyone. Sorry to miss the party, but I was out on a two-week vacation and I just got back a few days ago. Thanks everyone for the party and the cake. I do feel bad, though, that I haven't stop in any one else's birthday party. I just don't visit the general chat section that much. I'll have to watch out more.

[Virgil]

That is so like Quark. Everyone shows up for his party and he forgets about it. :p ;)

[Janine]

What Quark has no interview? :lol: Where has he disappeared to? Without Janine to keep him under control Quark just goes off and disappears. :D

:thumbs_up Good idea - an interview with Quark would be fun. True enough, Virgil, I have to keep calling Quark back to the Chekhov thread and it is basically his baby, not mine...But, whenever I mention his name in there - presto z^z*&+z-:eek2: he does appear oddly enough.:goof: :nod:


Happy Birthday Quark. :bday_2: :bday_2: Sorry I'm late.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii143/nasrws/Happy%20Birthday/HappyBirthdayUnbirthday.jpg

I am stealing Virgil's greeting (it is so cute), since I just found out about this and obviously I am very late to wish you a belated b-day, but hope it was a

Very Very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!






You're still too young to have unbirthdays, but hope you had fun.

Yeah, really Quark, don't stop having birthdays until you are my age!;) :lol:

[Virgil]

:lol: Quark is oblivious to all of this. What exactly is a quark anyway? Where did he get that name from? :D

[Quark]

:thumbs_up Good idea - an interview with Quark would be fun.

Well, they've been waiting on me for five days now. Scher sent me some questions, but I haven't been anywhere near a computer in the last two weeks. Earlier today I sent my answers back, so the interview should be up soon. I'm as curious as anyone else to see what the interview looks like since I can hardly remember what I wrote.


I mention his name in there - presto z^z*&+z-:eek2: he does appear oddly enough.:goof: :nod:

I wasn't actually planning to post that night, as it was tiring drive back home, but then I noticed the name Janine in the recent posts. I had to stop in for a moment to at least say hi. It was good timing that I got in at exactly that moment--right when there was interest in another Chekhov story.


Yeah, really Quark, don't stop having birthdays until you are my age!;) :lol:

I do plan to count this one. Twenty-three is an improvement on twenty-two. I'm not sure at what point one should stop, but I'm certainly not there yet.


:lol: Quark is oblivious to all of this.

I was completely in the dark. Someone should have PMed me.


What exactly is a quark anyway? Where did he get that name from? :D

Quarks? They're the particles that make up and bind atoms, hence my title "of subatomic importance." All and all, it's a very nerdy name, but I thought it distinguished itself well with its Q and K. It stands out. The word was coigned by James Joyce in Finnegan's Wake--along with many other nonsense words. Since it was a word created by a novelist and used by scientists, I thought it sort of represented my interest in both science and literature. Besides, it was better than the other name (Freakzilla34) that I was thinking of using.

[downing]

Sorry I'm late. Hope you had a great birthday! Happy Birthday!

[SleepyWitch]

Quarks? They're the particles that make up and bind atoms, hence my title "of subatomic importance." All and all, it's a very nerdy name, but I thought it distinguished itself well with its Q and K. It stands out. The word was coigned by James Joyce in Finnegan's Wake--along with many other nonsense words. Since it was a word created by a novelist and used by scientists, I thought it sort of represented my interest in both science and literature. Besides, it was better than the other name (Freakzilla34) that I was thinking of using.

so your nickname has absolutely nothing to do with this handsome gentleman from DS9? :(
http://timstvshowcase.com/quark.jpg

[eyemaker]

Happy Birthday Quark!,or perhaps , belated Happy Happy Birthday! I'm wishing you all the best!

[Scheherazade]

An interview with Quark:

1 - How did you come about this site and what makes you keep coming back?

Originally, I joined because I wanted to get practice at writing. I had just switched majors from Meteorology to English, and nothing makes your writing appear worse than moving from the sciences to the humanities. What passes for lucid and well-written in a lab report becomes almost incoherent when put into an essay. LitNet seemed like a good idea because it would give me a chance to write in a relaxed, non-academic way, and give me a space to create a written style. Unfortunately, though, after two years on LitNet I discover that I still have no style.

2 - Have you visited other countries than your own and what did you like about it or not like?

I haven't done much foreign travel, but I did visit Italy once. The Roman ruins were probably my favorite part of the whole trip. I started in Florence, traveled south to Rome, and spent a day in Pompeii. The forum and Pompeii were the best sites in all of this. Pompeii was especially interesting because it was so open, and nothing was off-limits. I remember eating my lunch in the amphitheater and laying down on a mosaic floor.

3 - What are your favourite hobbies ?

Reading (obviously), but also drawing, writing, astronomy, awkwardly telling jokes, and fishing

4 - Do you have any pets?

No, it's been five years since I've had a pet. I used to have way too many, though. My parents owned a farmette with dogs, cats, fish, chickens, goats, sheep, etc, and so I had all the animal companionship one could handle before. I guess I just wanted to try things out without a pet for a while to see how that goes.

5 - What makes you happy?

I always like it when I discover a good book, place, song, or anything like that.

6. The last word you looked up in the dictionary?

Serac (si rak'), n., a large irregularity of ice, as a pinnacle, found in glacial crevasses.

The word came in a news article that I was reading. I forget what the story was about--maybe it was about glacial crevasses, I don't know--but the word stuck with me. It was just such an odd word. I've heard of floes of ice or cubes of ice, but seracs? The writer must have been quite the specialist on frozen water to throw that word out so casually.

7. If you could take one book, music album and one video with you to a desert island, what would they be?

I'm assuming that I'm stuck on this island for good, right? This isn't like a vacation to a desert island. No, I'm probably there with these three things for a while. In that case, I would want a book with lot of characters to keep me company. I definitely wouldn't pick something like Robinson Crusoe. Besides, that would be just way too ironic. Really, I'm torn between three books: Middlemarch, Great Expectations, and The Corrections. Can I just take three books with me?

8. What were your favourite things to do the past? What about now?

If we go back far enough my favorite things were chocolate milk, riding on my bike, and Calvin and Hobbes books. Since I was six, though, my interests have changed a little bit--although, I do still enjoy Calvin and Hobbes. Now, I enjoy reading and writing much more than I did, and also all the the other things I included in my answer to the hobbies question below.

9. What activities make you lose track of time?

Surfing LitNet makes one lose track of time. There's always so much going on, and I usually get caught up reading the entire record of posts in a long thread. Somewhere between post #1 and #472 I usually forget what time it is.

10. What makes you feel great about yourself?

Helping out in some way usually makes me feel good about myself. I suppose I like myself most when I'm giving a hand, lending advice, or doing anything that doesn't make me feel like a complete drain on the world's resources.

11. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)

Apparently I'm talented with a dry-erase marker. When I was substitute teaching I had a great many boring breaks in between classes, and so I killed time by drawing on the dry-erase boards. For whatever reason, this really impressed the students and teachers. Eventually, I started using this skill to entertain classes when the teacher wouldn't leave me a lesson plan. I filled many a period by making caricatures out of my students or drawing a composite sketch of their teacher from their descriptions.

12. What do people typically ask you for help in?

I get asked to solved everyone's basic math problems. Even though I'm English teacher now, people still remember me from my days in the sciences. They think that taking several Calculus classes must make you adept at simple arithmetic and geometry, and so I'm always consulted on tips or construction projects involving tight fits.

13. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

Well, I already teach English so this is an easy question for me.

14. The last book you bought/borrowed from the library?

The last book I checked out was Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.

15. Which book are you reading at the moment?

I'm reading my book of Chekhov stories since the Chekhov thread is starting a new story.

16. The last book you finished reading?

The Portrait of a Lady. There was a discussion about The Golden Bowl for a while here on LitNet, and it made me realize that there was still a lot of Henry James I hadn't read.

17. Favourite food? / Comfort food?

Does coffee count as a comfort food? Or is it technically a comfort beverage?

18. First novel you remember reading on your own?

I started reading in my teen years, so I'm guessing it was a Vonnegut novel I first read. I think might have been Cat's Cradle actually.

19. Which LitNet members would you like to meet in person if you could?

I'd like to meet the little group of posters we had on the D.H. Lawrence and Chekhov threads. Janine, Dark Muse, Virgil, and I posted every day in those discussion, and I would be curious to know the people I was talking to.

20. Favourite thread?

The Chekhov thread is an obvious favorite. We've read and discussed several stories by now and we've posted over 900 times.

21. Last food did you have?

I ate almost wok-full of stir-fry tonight. Having skipped that last two meals, I was rather hungry for this one.

22. Last person you hugged/kissed?

I was just at a family reuninion, so the last person I hugged was probably a relative.

23. What do you do (for a living) to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going?

I'm a college TA which barely counts as a living.

24. What are you studying? What would you like to do if you had to change your chosen career?

If I couldn't study and teach English, I would probably join professional wrestling. I'm told that only the best and brightest go there.

25. Least favourite book/song/movie?

I was recently forced to watch the movie Roadhouse which is now the worst film I have ever seen. It featured Patrick Swayze as James Dalton a bouncer/philosopher who utters some of the most hilariously bad lines ever written.

26. Which book do you wish you had written?

I wish I had the chance to write one of those eighteenth-century novels like Tom Jones that really defined the genre.

27. What is your favourite book cover?

There's a version of Paridise Lost that has a great book cover.

28. Most and least favourite characters from books?

My favorite characters are the troubled protagonists like Raskilnokov and Ahab, while my least favorite characters are the ones who might be interesting but never turn out to be like Tchitchikov from Dead Souls.

29. What should you be doing at the moment instead of answering these questions?

I should be intoducing myself to the rest of the grad students. I just entered an M.A. program and my school is trying to get the new students to talk about themselves a little bit.

30. One final word of wisdom for LitNet users?

Be patient when you start a new discussion. It's hard beginning a new topic because posters are often slow to respond, and it takes some time to build up interest. Unfortunately, many people don't stick around in their own threads long enough for discussion to get any momentum.

31. What would you like to ask the person to be interviewed after you?

"What would you change about LitNet?" I'm sure there's been many discussions about possible changes to LitNet, but I'm always curious to know what others would add or take away from the server.

[barbara0207]

Sorry I'm late. All the same: Happy birthday, Quark.:bday_2: :bday_2: :bday_2:

[Virgil]

Hey, Quark got an interview. That was great Quark. I didn't know you were meteorology student once. Now I can ask you about the weather, and this global warming nonsense. :p :D

[Niamh]

That was a great interview Quark!!!!:thumbs_up

[Janine]

The interview was great Quark! I knew you had a great sense of humor, little twisted at times, but a good one, so I laughed a lot. I would like it that we all could meet someday, too..all of us Lawrence and Chekhov devotees. And I am impressed, I did not know you were an English teacher, and one that doodles, as well...how grand is that? We must compare etchings sometime...hahaha.

PS: did you know that you were a Jeopardy question the other night? That is right - they asked 'what the smallest particle of an atom was called' or as you said 'the particles that make up and bind atoms' and the answer was QUARK! My sister actually got the answer right. Wow, I was impressed. I also had been wondering what your name stood for. I thought it was a computer program (software).

[Quark]

Thanks, everyone. I'll have to watch the "general chat" section more often so I can return the favor.


I didn't know you were meteorology student once. Now I can ask you about the weather, and this global warming nonsense. :p :D

Strangely enough, I didn't take any Meteorology classes as a Meteorology major. If I had stayed with it long enough I would have gotten to them, obviously, but I skipped out after only two years. I'm not sure whether almost taking Meteorology classes gives me any authority on the issue of global warming.


We must compare etchings sometime...hahaha.

I think you might be underwhelmed by my work, although I would be interested in yours. Have you ever posted any?


Wow, I was impressed. I also had been wondering what your name stood for. I thought it was a computer program (software).

so your nickname has absolutely nothing to do with this handsome gentleman from DS9? :(

I guess it's my turn to be confused. Is there a "Quark" computer program or sci-fi character?

[SleepyWitch]

I guess it's my turn to be confused. Is there a "Quark" computer program or sci-fi character?

I don't know about the computer program, but the guy I mean is a character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Quark, one of the most influential of modern Ferengi thanks to his location at Deep Space Nine when the Bajoran wormhole was discovered, owns Quark's Bar on DS9's Promenade, but hates being called a "barkeep," preferring "host" instead as he fancies himself an empathetic dispenser of advice as well as a goodwill ambassador and legitimate entrepreneur extrordinaire. ... In reality, he has the reputation of getting anything for a price — with the help of a network of sources who also help him keep a hand in most illegal or illicit trade and deals going on around the station...
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/DS9/character/1112445.html
he's one of the choolest characters on DS9, but I don't think you've got much in common

[Jozanny]

Hey Quark, I wanted to chime in! I am only just meeting you but enjoy your Chekov criticism;). Many happy returns, and now I am off for coffee and a strange breakfast because I am too lazy to go food shopping today!

Best wishes.