Re: CHAT: Coming out of the conlang closet

Just to stir the pot, I asked - or tried to ask - a set of people I didn't
know very well, only that they were in some way disabled and therefore on the
same seminar as I was - about mentioning conlanging as a hobby or interest of
mine at a job interview.

Most of them seemed to think that if Tolkien got away with his secret vice -
in his novel The Lord of the Rings - then I shouldn't be shy.

I don't know.  I like conlanging, it allows me to add something extra to my
conculturing, allows me  to let my characters get away with swearing and
cursing, all that sort of carry-on, gives a bit more depth to my novel, etc.
But most employers aren't exactly tuned into that wavelength.

Still, if the employer is interested and wants to know, then I'll bite the
bullet.  The good thing about LOTR-FOTR is that a lot more people now know
that Tolkien invented languages, and NZers are very proud of New Zealand
being the set of the LOTR movies, so they may make a bit more space for me.

Wesley Parish

On Fri, 31 May 2002 11:00, Sylvia Sotomayor wrote:
> Like most people on this list, I've only told a few highly select
> personal friends about my secret vice. I certainly never told anyone
> I work with.
>
> So imagine my surprise when, the other day, the Marketing Manager for
> the Chemistry list asked me about conlanging!
>
> It wasn't entirely out of the blue, as he had asked me about my
> academic background and I had mentioned Berkeley and linguistics, and
> he had recently read Jared Diamond, and we got on the topic of
> historical linguistics and the origin of language. And then he said
> something along the lines of "Have you heard about this group of
> people on the internet who make up languages for fun?" The tone was
> one of curiosity and not derision, so I said, "Well, yes. I'm one of
> them."
>
> He was very interested and we got to talking about these things. He
> created a script when he was in college, but that was as far as he
> ever got. He also played D&D back then.
>
> All in all, a fun experience and not one I expected out of a
> Marketing Manager who looks vaguely like a used car salesman.:-)
>
> -Sylvia
--
Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata."
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."