Atropos

Wow! After almost three years on swap-bot it´s finally time for a new profile text.

Hey! I´m Atropos.

Feel free to write to me in German, English, French, Latvian and Russian. :) I study Comparative Literature and Slavic languages at university. I´d like to think of myself as a world traveler- just spent a year in Latvia as a kind of German teacher. Now my tent is pitched right on the border between Asia and Europe for some time.

I would describe myself as of somewhat eclectic nature. The most obscure stuff can fascinate me for weeks. If you have a special hobby or job or something you always wanted to talk about, I´ll be glad to read about it. Deep-sea fishing, the history of your town, why you prefer sugar sprinkles over chocolate dipping… A few erratic fascinations of mine are: Aliens in the literature since the18th century, tatarian culture, old prussian mythology and language.

At the end of the day, I´m just as normal as the rest of us, trying to figure out this strange, surreal world.

"...But they had danced down the streets like dingledodies and I shambled after them as I´ve been doing all my life after people who interests me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk , mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everything goes Aww! What did they call such young people in Goethe´s Germany?!"

                  Jack Kerouac: "On the road"

Books are important to me, but my taste tends to be a little "promiscuous": I read prose and poetry, dramatically epic and incredible frolic ....everything, that is well written...and a lot of utter crap, too! Talking about genres, I´m also open to everything. Actually, the genre isn´t important at all and I think labelling books like this rarely makes sense. If story and characters are well-made and fascinating, even the topic can be insignificant. The best books are those that absorb us during only a few pages and suck us into their universe. If you think this one book has something special, unusual, even provocative - I´ll definitely give it a try! Wouldn´t it be wonderful to live like De Quincey "at home in a German ocean of literature, in a storm, flooding all the floor, the tables, and the chairs — billows of books"? Well, I´m doing my best! (And don´t ask me why it has to be a german ocean of literature. Anyway, it suits my case.)

Some favorites are: Tolkien, Kafka, Ray Bradbury, Dostoyevsky, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie, Bulgakov, Steven Brust, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Jeff Noon, Neil Gaiman, Kerouac and many many more. Talking

I´m not a fan of thrillers or romantic novels (chick-lit) though. That´s not my cup of tea.

At the moment I´m in love with old pirate novels (eg. by Rafael Sabatini), all kinds of adventure tales and utterly heroic crap.

       You want to make me happy? 
       Tell me about your recent reading 
       experiences. 
       The crazier, the better!

I´m also addicted to poems. I´ve no favorite poet, but I adore the works of R.M. Rilke, W.B. Yeats, Friedrich Nietzsche, Joachim Ringelnatz, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Charles Baudelaire.

To my own surprise a collection of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and adaptions has suddenly materialized on my book shelfs. If you are a fan as well, I´ll be happy to discuss the detectives universe with you. If you can point me in the direction of any other hidden gems connected to the Thin Man of Baker Street and his Doctor, feel free to do so.

I´m no musician myself, but without music, my life would be boring. I like Metal, Folk, Classical, Jazz, Country, and a lot of film soundtracks, too.

I´m crazy enough to worship old heroes like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors as well as Fred Astaire, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong.

I prefer small, but fantastic artists like Eric Fish, Das Holz, Denkerskind, Samsas Traum, Coppelius, The Chamber, Deine Lakaien...A Lot!

• Books

• Poetry

• stationairy, especially everything Air Mail-themed

• Souvenir

• Turtles and cats

• Feathers

• Pirates

• Drawings and doodles

• Fantasy and medieval stuff, pen-and-paper

• Book-crossing ( I´d welcome private book swaps)

• Writing with a quill (or a fountain-pen)

• Everything that´s strange (That includes strange things from other countries! Woooo...just surprise me!)

• Snow Globes

• Tea, Hot chocolate and Coffee

• Spice

• Autumn and Winter

• Thoughts

• Books

• Surprises

• Candles

• Face masks

• Vintage

• Creepy handwritings

• Foreign countries

• Knowledge (even if it´s useless)

• Books

• Villains!

(You could make me most happy by sending anything related to e.g. the Disney Villains.)

• Films and cinema in general (I love popcorn) That also includes DVD´s or film recommondations!

• Slytherin! (I always thought that Harry is a snivelling, small boy...^^)

• Favorite colors: Green, Blue, Dark Red

• I´m interested in: Literature, History, Philosophy, Art, Culture

• Getting up in the morning (would be lost without coffee)

• Pop

• The color pink

• I don´t drink Chamomile Tea! That´s the only sort of tea I really don´t like.

• Television (or better: the crap that is broadcasted)

• Hello Kitty and Sponge Bob or other trash

• Cheap jewellery

• Earrings - I´ve no pierced ears

• I don´t really like anything with stars, squares or hearts. I prefer it elegant!

Most of the swaps I participate in of late seem to be letter-writing swaps, so I thought it might help to say a word or two about my love for the (hand-)written word.

Theoreticaly, every single letter I recieve will brighten my day. Practicaly, long letters are always the best. Of course it´s not every one´s cup of tea to write page after page to a complete stranger ...but then again, if you don´t enjoy doing this, why participate in a penpal swap at all? Don´t be afraid to bore me. I´d rather read four pages about your neighbour´s habits, your dreams or your goldfish that half page of meaningless nothings.

Still, a letter is always part of a conversation. Just because it´s a swap doesn´t mean that I will not answer.